2012 General Assembly Update

We crossed the General Assembly halfway point, "Crossover", on Tuesday. The House of Delegates has now completed action on all House bills and begun to take action on the 403 bills that passed out of the Senate. The State Senate has begun to take action on the 603 bills that passed the House of Delegates. The chart is a breakdown of bills passed by the House at Crossover by subject. 

The House continued our commitment to making our state government as efficient and effective as possible. Our top priority in the area of government reform is to ensure that current and future state employees have a reliable retirement system. House Bill 1130 will allow existing or new government employees the option of choosing a defined contribution plan, similar to the 401(k) plans used throughout the private sector. Other major government reform bills include House Bill 1291 and House Bill 1295, which will eliminate a number of boards and commissions and reduce mandates on local government.

Last, but certainly not least, we are committed to ensuring the safety of the citizens of the Commonwealth. We passed a number of public safety measures that will increase penalties for drunk drivers, pedophiles, and rapists. We also passed two bills that will codify the castle doctrine to allow for homeowners to defend themselves from an intruder without fear of civil or criminal prosecution.

Transportation:

Addressing our transportation challenges continues as a major House priority.  The House successfully passed initiatives increasing funds for transportation projects, ensuring that greater representation on key Boards and Commissions, and providing expanded usage of HOV lanes in Hampton Roads.
HB85 - HOV lanes; extends sunset provision on use by vehicles with clean special fuel license plates.  (passed 95-3)  
HB601— Includes that the Secretary of Transportation as a principal member on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Board of Directors.
HB813 — Reorganizes and improves operations at the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority. (passed 100-0)
HB1183 — Improves governance at the Virginia Port Authority, creates the Route 460 Corridor Interstate 85 Connector Economic Development Zone to promote the use of the Port of Virginia, extends sunset provisions on several tax credits, and increases the number of eligible Commissioners serving from Hampton Roads. (passed 97-2)
HB1245 — Changes the composition of the Metropolitan Washing Airports Authority, and improves accountability. (passed 97-0)
HB1248—Provides for the construction, maintenance, and funding of transportation by increasing the dedicated portion of the sales and use tax from 0.5 percent to 0.75 percent over a period of seven years, and makes important structural and operational improvements to the transportation system. (passed 65-35)
HB876 —Transfers the administration and collection of the motor vehicle fuels sales tax imposed in certain transportation districts from the Department of Taxation to the Department of Motor Vehicles.  (passed 100-0)

Bills You Will Not Be Seeing on the State Senate Floor:

Some bills were not so successful in getting through the House of Delegates.  Among some of the measures the House defeated are:
HJ140 - study the sale of marijuana in ABC stores;
HB124 Plastic bags; imposes a tax of 20 cents on those used by purchasers. 
HB1159 Shark fins; bans possession, sale, etc., penalty. 

To keep Virginia’s economic recovery on track and to not further burden Virginia businesses and families, the House of Delegates successfully blocked all tax increases proposed.   A total of eleven tax increase measures were defeated that would have meant an estimated fiscal impact ranging from $2.0 million to $744.4 million in increased taxes for Virginia families and businesses.

House Budget Preview:

The House Appropriations Committee will meet on Sunday to release it's amended budget to the full House floor. With Crossover behind us, the primary focus for the second half of Session now turns to the state budget. On Thursday, Delegate Lacey Putney, Chairman, House Appropriations Committee, gave a preview of the House budget. He summed up the House budget when he said, "Our [budget] will provide additional funding for both our public schools and our local governments so that they can keep local taxes low, use one-time savings to fund non-recurring costs such as capital projects, minimize the amount of new debt, provide full funding of the VRS contribution rates, reduce the burden on Virginia’s businesses with fewer and lower fees, provide additional support to attract new industry and promote tourism, and make the largest investment in over a decade to our colleges and universities."

Following Delegate Putney’s speech, Majority Leader Cox rose to highlight the additional funding for localities and K-12 public education included in the House budget. The House’s budget puts nearly $580 million in new funding into our children’s classrooms and begins the process to restore funding for localities that had been cut in prior year budgets.  

Economic Development & Support for Small Businesses:

Delegate Landes, Chair of the Economic Development, Agriculture, and Natural Resources  Subcommittee of House Appropriations, reported that "We are seeing the “fruits” of our investments in Virginia’s growing wine industry.  Since 2005, the full economic impact of wine and wine grapes on the Virginia economy has more than doubled, from $362 million to $747 million, a 106 percent increase.  During the same time period, the number of wineries increased by 49 percent and wages from jobs at wineries and vineyards increased 86 percent increase.  The budget that will be before you next week will continue our work over the last two years to better fund job creating programs and initiatives, such as the Advanced Manufacturing Initiative, increased support for international marketing at the Economic Development Partnership and increasing funding at the Virginia Tourism Authority to market all the benefits that Virginia offers.  Recognizing that it is always important to look toward future opportunities, the budget will support investments in commercial space flight as well as wind energy development."

The House Appropriations Committee will eliminate fees that increase the cost of doing business. Our goal this session, through the passage of these important initiatives, is to create an even stronger environment in Virginia for sustained job creation and economic development growth for years to come.  

Increasing Our Commitment to Our Most Vulnerable Citizens: 

• 160 new ID waiver slots each year of the biennium to transition individuals from state training centers to the community
• 225 new ID waiver slots each year to address the community urgent care waiting list,
• 25 new DD waiver slots each year, and
• serve 1,000 individuals through a new individual and family support program designed to keep them at home and avert the need for institutional care.

 Visitors:

If you have not visited the State Capitol recently, please come for a visit.  It is great to see a steady stream of visitors coming to Richmond to watch your state government in action.  I have had the opportunity to visit with several groups who dropped by the Capitol this week.  Visitors who stopped by the office included the Catholic Conference and the Hampton Roads Realtors Association.

Contact Me

As always, my staff and I are here in Richmond to serve you. We want to hear what you think about the legislation pending before the House, or if there is anything we can do to help you in dealing with a state agency. My office can be reached by phone at (804) 698-1083 or by email at DelCStolle@house.virginia.gov . If you are planning to visit Richmond during Session, I encourage you to visit me in Room 422.

Thank you again for allowing me to serve as your Delegate.  Check my website regularly at http://ChrisStolle.com to keep up with the latest news, videos, and photos from the Capitol.

Regards,


Christopher P. Stolle, M.D.
Member, House of Delegates
83rd District I