eNews – February 4, 2025
Housing bills to support and oppose, Photo speed enforcement bills crossover, Updates on legislation to watch...and more!
Tuesday, February 4, 2025/Categories: eNews
This edition of eNews is sponsored by Virginia Institute of Government - Weldon Cooper Center established in 1994, by the Virginia General Assembly, to provide training, technical assistance, and information resources to its member local governments. Learn more >.
In this issue:
Action Alerts
Budget
Transportation
Education
Elections
Artificial Intelligence & Technology
Courts & Public Safety
Labor & Commerce
Opportunities
Action Alerts
SUPPORT: SB932 in its current form; deals with ADUs/tiny houses in comprehensive plans
The bill could be up later this week in a Counties, Cities and Towns subcommittee
SB932 (Salim/Stanley) Counties, cities, and towns; comprehensive plan may include tiny homes or accessory dwelling units. This bill as passed by the Senate requires localities to consider tiny homes and accessory dwelling units when updating their comprehensive plan. It is very similar to a bill that was worked on by the Virginia Housing Commission over the summer and was a highly negotiated bill. VML supports the bill in its current form.
Talking Points:
- Localities are enacting common sense legislation related to tiny homes and accessory dwelling units with local input.
- This is the legislation that was agreed upon by local governments.
- VML supports local land use authority; this is a bill that supports local land use authority.
Action Requested:
Please contact the members of the House Counties, Cities and Town Committee (below) to let them know that you support this legislation as currently written!
VML Contact: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org
OPPOSE: HB2641 which requires localities to increase their total housing stock
Bill could be heard as early as Monday in the Senate Local Government Committee
HB2641 (Helmer) Statewide housing targets; requires localities to increase their total housing stock requires localities to increase their total housing stock every year and creates a “Housing Approval Board” that can overturn a local governing bodies decision on a residential project. The Board can provide a locality with a reprieve from the growth if they adopt prescriptive housing growth strategies as outlined in the bill and has not rejected more than 25% of new housing development over the past 5 years.
Key Points:
- This bill creates a board that could overturn local governing body decisions on zoning.
- Requires localities to force the creation of housing even if there is no need for housing.
- This is not a typical local government function
Action Requested:
Please contact the members of the Senate Local Government Committee (below) to let them know that you oppose this legislation!
VML Contact: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org
Budget
Strikingly similar House and Senate budgets suggest fiscal food fights may be limited this year
For the first time in recent memory, the House Appropriations (HAC) and Senate Finance and Appropriations (SFAC) Committees decided to meet at the same time on Sunday to unveil their budget proposals.
Planned or not, this small act of comity at this early stage of the budget process could be construed as the first sign that the HAC and SFAC were of like minds when they assembled their proposed budgets. It also suggests that those responsible for crafting a budget may have been discussing and aligning their fiscal plans in the days leading up to the roll-out, as evidenced by numerous budget amendments that were the same or nearly identical.
Further, it hints at a budget conference that may be less contentious than in prior years, at least between the House and Senate. The Governor, on the other hand, can’t be excited about what he saw from the amendments on Sunday as many of his signature initiatives fell by the wayside.
On the revenue side of the ledger, the House and Senate budgets jettisoned the Governor’s $1.1 billion car tax reimbursement proposal for low-income Virginia in favor of a broader, one-time tax rebate of $200 for individuals and $400 for joint filers at a cost of $978 million. The proposed budgets also increased the standard deduction by $250 for individuals and $500 for joint filers to $8,750 and $17,500 respectively and extended the higher standard deduction through January 1, 2027. Both budgets also captured savings from the Governor’s proposal to exempt tips from taxation, which failed to survive either chamber.
On the spending side, the House and Senate propose to eliminate a budget relic from the Great Recession, restoring $223 million for local school divisions for support staff positions. Further, the HAC and SFAC budgets added $53 million to provide additional support for students with special education needs, and approximately $137 million for a one-time bonus of $1,000 for teachers (with no local match required).
To offset the cost of these K-12 spending initiatives, the House and Senate budgets once again were in sync by proposing to:
- Eliminate $25 million for new College Partnership lab schools;
- Eliminate $50 million for the Virginia Opportunity Scholarships Program;
- Eliminate $50 million for School Performance Supports; and
- Reduce $62-65 million for a new K-12 State Assessment Contract.
In other areas, the House adds $50.0 million for the Stormwater Local Assistance Fund (SLAF), while the Senate adds $40.0 million for SLAF. Also, the House proposes a 1.0% bonus in FY 2026 for state employees, while the Senate suggests a 1.5% bonus in FY 2026.
One of the few significant differences between the House and Senate budgets relates to funding for the Children’s Services Act (CSA). The House budget reverses an action proposed by the Governor that would cap state reimbursements to localities for CSA-funded special education day placements if the cost of the placement increases more than 2.5 percent compared to the previous year.
The Senate, on the other hand, endorses the Governor’s recommendation to cap state funding for special education day placements, one of the fastest growing services within CSA. Further, the Senate budget quantifies the savings to the Commonwealth at $9.9 million. Of course, general fund savings to the state will come at the expense of localities each year, if the Senate approach prevails.
Later in the week, after VML staff has an opportunity to review the actual amendments proposed by the House and Senate, and not just the materials available thus far, we will provide additional input on VML’s budget priorities.
VML Contact: Joe Flores, jflores@vml.org
Transportation
House advances photo speed enforcement bill that diverts revenue from civil penalties to the state
Amendments possible in the Senate
HB2041 (Seibold) passed the House on Tuesday, February 4 on a vote of 54-44. HB2041 expands local authority to authorize, by ordinance, photo speed enforcement devices, including towns that do not have a police department, diverts civil penalties collected under a photo speed enforcement program to the state Virginia Highway Safety Improvement Program, and establishes new requirements for localities that operate photo speed enforcement programs.
When the bill passed out of the House Transportation Committee last week, the patron committed to work with localities on amendments to allow civil penalties collected under a photo enforcement program to be used locally for transportation safety improvements. Floor amendments were filed by the patron and then withdrawn before they could be considered by the House. VML staff anticipate that amendments similar to those withdrawn from consideration will be considered in the Senate.
The amendments to HB2041 that were withdrawn from consideration include:
- Direct localities to place any civil penalties in excess of program costs in a separate fund to be used for planning, design, and construction projects for traffic safety, speed management, and bicycle and pedestrian safety and local systemic safety improvements eligible for funding under the Virginia Highway Safety Improvement Program in the zones where photo speed enforcement is deployed before improvements are made in other locations in the locality.
- Set out the operational costs of a photo speed enforcement program that a locality may use civil penalties for: cameras and equipment, signs and speed display signs, contracts with vendors, and personnel costs.
- Reducing the civil penalty for a violation in a photo speed zone from $100 to $50 per violation.
- Additional reporting requirements for projects and initiatives localities are funding using civil penalties, the change in the number of summons over time, the number of unsuccessful prosecutions, the percentage of all vehicles receiving a summons.
- A hold harmless clause for programs in operation prior to July 1, 2025.
- A clause that should any locality misuse civil penalties they will be diverted to the Virginia Highway Safety Improvement Program for the reporting period.
VML Contact: Mitchell Smiley, msmiley@vml.org
Senate photo speed enforcement bill stripped of provision diverting revenue from civil penalties to the state
SB1209 (Obenshain) passed the Senate unanimously on Tuesday and is expected to be docketed in the Innovations Subcommittee of the House Committee on Transportation.
SB1209 was amended in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee on Monday morning to remove language that diverted locally collected civil penalties resulting from a violation issued under a photo speed enforcement program in a school or work zone. SB1209 creates new standards for the calibration of photo speed cameras similar to the current practice for other speed enforcement equipment, requires the vendor that operates a photo speed enforcement camera conduct a daily test of the accuracy of the device and report those findings to the local law enforcement agency. It also requires the vendor to include information on each summons that lets the recipient know they can request calibration information from the vendor. Upon request the vendor must provide information on the calibration of the device within 10 days of any request and failure to comply with these requirements will result in a $1,000 fine for the vendor to be paid into the Virginia Highway Safety Improvement Program.
VML Contact: Mitchell Smiley, msmiley@vml.org
Education
Education legislation status updates at crossover
Legislation that survived
HB1954 (Rasoul) Equity in public school funding and staffing; special education students; at-risk students; English language learner students; support services positions; report would establish the At-Risk Program to support programs and services for educationally at-risk students including prevention, intervention, or remediation. Services would include teacher recruitment efforts, English language learner programs, and hiring additional support staff. This bill also outlines certain funding requirements for the program. This includes various recommendations from the 2023 JLARC report regarding the Standards of Quality (SOQ).
HB1954 passed the House 61-34 and will now be sent to the Senate.
HB2032 (Reaser) Department of Education; English language learner students; data collection on expenditures would require state-funded add-ons to be provided to support English language learner students. The bill would require local funds to be obligated for add-ons determined by the local ability to pay. Lastly, the bill would require the DOE to develop and implement a data collection process related to English language learners.
HB2032 passed the House 67-31-1 and has been referred to the Senate Education and Health Committee.
SB1307 (McPike) Additional local sales and use tax to support schools; referendum. SB1307 would allow any county or city to impose a sales and use tax of up to one percent dedicated solely to school construction, renovation, and debt services If approved by a voter referendum. This version also stipulates that funds cannot be subsidized.
SB1307 passed the Senate 27-13.
Legislation that failed to survive
SB977 (Hashmi) Public schools; Standards of Quality; certain calculations; support services would require the Department of Education (DOE) to make changes to the Standards of Quality (SOQ) funding formula when calculating nonpersonal costs. One funding formula changes comes from the deduction of federal funds resulting in the examination of actual support costs versus current spending. Also, the bills would include an estimate of the cost of compensation for facilities staff. This includes various recommendations from the 2023 JLARC report regarding the SOQ.
SB977 was left in committee.
HB1831 (Simonds) Public schools; Standards of Quality; certain calculations; support services would require the Department of Education (DOE) to examine actual school division spending on support costs. The bill would also require support positions to be funded based on a calculation of prevailing costs eliminating the support cap.
HB1831 was incorporated into HB1954 (Rasoul).
SB1236 (Aird) Public schools; Standards of Quality; certain calculations; support services would require the Department of Education (DOE) to examine actual school division spending on support costs. The bill would also require support positions to be funded based on a calculation of prevailing costs, eliminating the support cap.
SB1236 was left in committee.
HB1594 (Clark) Average teacher salary in the Commonwealth; national average would require the Governor’s budget to include funding to ensure that teachers are paid at the national average for the 2026-2028 biennium budget.
HB1594 was left in committee
HB2164 (Cole) Public school funding; certain funding calculations / SB1149 (French) Public school funding; composite index of local ability-to-pay; use value of real estate devoted to certain uses would require the DOE to exclude the true value of real property eligible for certain disabled veterans and surviving spouse property exemptions in the locality when calculating the local composite index (LCI) for each school division.
HB2164 was tabled and SB1149 was passed by indefinitely.
HB2231 (Cherry) and SB1346 (Jordan) Public schools; Virginia Opportunity Scholarship Grant Program established would establish the Virginia Opportunity Scholarship Grant Program. This bill would provide grants for $5,000 per eligible student up to 10,000 students per year to be used exclusively for private education needs such as textbooks and uniforms. Eligible students are listed in the bill and will be managed by the Department of Treasury.
HB2231 was left in committee and SB1346 was passed by indefinitely.
VML Contact: Josette Bulova, jbulova@vml.org
Elections
Elections legislation status updates at crossover
Legislation that has survived
SB1009 (Salim) Elections; conduct of election; ranked choice voting; locally elected offices; report would allow local elections to be conducted by rank-choice voting. The State Board of Elections would be required to create standards and approve tabulation software on existing systems conducting rank choice voting elections as well as provide voter education materials on ranked choice.
SB1009 passed the House 21-19 and will now be sent to the Senate.
SJ253 (Surovell) Study; joint subcommittee to study the consolidation and scheduling of general elections in Virginia; report would create a two-year study on the feasibility of consolidating and scheduling of general elections. A 13-member joint subcommittee would be tasked with studying the potential and probable effects of moving some or all of Virginia’s state or local elections to even-numbered years coinciding with the federal election schedule. This change would require a constitutional amendment.
SJ253 was agreed to by the Senate.
HB1794 (Helmer) / SB1119 (VanValkenburg) Elections; primary dates; presidential year primaries would move all primary elections to be held on the presidential primary date. Concerning candidates for election in November of a presidential election year, the bill would lift the requirement that petition signatures must be collected after January 1.
HB1794 passed the House 78-20. SB1119 passed the Senate 27-11 and has been referred to House Privileges and Elections Committee.
HB1938 (Reid) Elections; general provisions; prohibited area; 150 feet. As amended, this bill would maintain the 40-foot prohibited area around polling places, electoral board meetings, and recount locations with an additional requirement of a five-foot prohibition around vehicles.
NOTE: Thank you to everyone who submitted feedback on the issue!
HB1938 passed the House 56-42 with an amendment.
Legislation that failed to survive
HB2139 (Walker) Elections; form of ballot; party identification; option for candidates for local offices would allow candidates for local office who have been nominated by a political party or in a primary election to be identified by a political party at the discretion of the candidate.
HB2139 was passed by indefinitely.
HB1566 (Green) Elections; absentee ballot security measures; watermark would require any ballot mailed to an absentee voter to be printed on a secure paper that incorporates a visible watermark that identifies the ballot as an official ballot to preserve ballot secrecy. While VML does not have a position on this bill, the potential local fiscal impact was concerning.
HB1566 was stricken from the docket.
SB1175 (Sutterlein) Elections; absentee voting in person; uniform availability would require in-person absentee voting to be available from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday during early voting and from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm on the first and second Saturday and Sunday before all elections. This removes the flexibility that local governing bodies currently have to establish hours of satellite locations and adds Sunday hours.
SB1175 was passed by indefinitely.
SB1404 (Pekarsky) School boards; method of selection; election required would mandate that all school boards be elected. Current law requires all school boards to be appointed, but they may become elected if approved by referendum. This bill would have affected 12 localities.
SB1404 failed to report in committee.
HB2478 (Zehr) Elections; absentee voting; drop-off locations for return of absentee ballots; 24-hour video surveillance requirement would require 24-hour video surveillance of all absentee ballot drop-off locations, including polling locations such as schools, government buildings, shopping malls, etc.
HB2487 failed to report in committee.
VML Contact: Josette Bulova, jbulova@vml.org
Artificial Intelligence & Technology
Artificial intelligence and technology legislation status updates at crossover
Legislation that has survived
HB2046 (Anthony) / SB1214 (Aird) High-risk artificial intelligence; development, deployment, and use by public bodies; work group; report would create requirements for the development, deployment, and use of high-risk artificial intelligence systems, as defined in the bill, by state public bodies. The bill would direct the Chief Information Officer (CIO) to develop, publish, and maintain policies and procedures concerning the development, procurement, implementation, utilization, and ongoing assessment of systems. This bill does not include counties, cities, or towns but does include a work group to determine the feasibility of extending this requirement to local governing bodies.
HB2046 passed the House 51-47 and SB1214 passed the Senate 40-0.
HB2094 (Maldonado) High-risk artificial intelligence; development, deployment, and use; civil penalties would create requirements for vendors to develop, deploy, and use high-risk artificial intelligence systems, as defined in the bill, to be enforced by the Attorney General. This bill comes as a recommendation from Joint Commission on Technology and Science this summer. It does not include any public bodies; however, it does mandate developers that local governments will use.
HB2094 passed the House 51-47.
HB2541 (Tran) Information Technology Access Act; digital accessibility would make several changes to the Virginia Information Technology Act to align the Virginia Code with Federal Standards all local bodies must comply with by 2026 or 2027. This bill would add small adjustments above federal standards.
HB2541 passed the House 97-0.
VML Contact: Josette Bulova, jbulova@vml.org
Courts & Public Safety
Slim chance remains for these problematic bills to be amended or defeated
HB1914 (Sullivan) Compensation for wrongful incarceration; compensation for certain intentional acts deals with compensation of wrongfully-convicted persons who are released from prison. The main element of the introduced bill removes the requirement that provides that additional compensation for intentional acts shall not become effective until the wrongfully incarcerated person releases any claims against the Commonwealth became a significant issue for every town and city with a police department. On the House floor, a provision specifically providing the inmate with the opportunity to sue the police for the original arrest and conviction.
The bill will likely be sent to the Senate Courts Committee.
SB894 (Russet Perry) / HB1730 (Delaney) Employer liability for Employee’s Bad Acts deal with employer liability for tort actions of its employees, provides that if an employee causes the death or injury to a “vulnerable victim”, the employer, whether it is a private or public employer, in many cases can be vicariously liable for the employee’s conduct.
The term “vulnerable victim” is defined in the bills as any person who “is at a substantial disadvantage relative to an employee due to circumstances, including such person’s physical or mental condition” or is a health care patient, a person under a disability, a resident in a long-term care facility, or a passenger on public transit.
For cities and towns, if the employee is carrying out a governmental function, the bill may have no effect. Case law from 2002 held that sovereign immunity shields an employee who is carrying out governmental functions who commits an intentional tort. For employees carrying out proprietary functions, there is no sovereign immunity.
Examples of proprietary functions:
- a water meter reader fights a person while on the job and injures the person;
- a bus driver intentionally harms a passenger;
- a trash truck worker intentionally injures someone;
- a maintenance worker intentionally harms someone.
VML contact: Mark Flynn, markkflynn@gmail.com
Labor & Commerce
Collective bargaining bills to watch
HB2495 (Askew) Collective bargaining by firefighters and emergency medical services providers authorizes firefighters and EMT employees of local governments to engage in collective bargaining through labor organizations or other designated representatives. The bill establishes the Fire Service Cooperation Board to administer it.
HB2764 (Tran) and SB917 (Surovell) repeal the prohibition on collective bargaining by public employees. The bills create the Public Employee Relations Board, which shall determine appropriate bargaining units of state and local government employees.
All these bills have passed their respective houses.
VML contact: Mark Flynn, markkflynn@gmail.com
Opportunities
Free in-person event: Municipal Autonomous Vehicle Forum happening Friday, March 14
VML Community Business Member MITRE Corporation welcomes all VML members to participate in this municipally-focused laboratory tour of MITRE ‘s extensive transportation and AI facilities, followed by a deep dive discussion into the future of municipal autonomous vehicle policies and planning.
This event will be held at MITRE’s headquarters at 7515 Colshire Drive, Mclean, VA 22012.
Register here >.
Note: There is no cost to attend, but registration is required.
What to expect:
Several of the nation’s leading experts on autonomous vehicles and infrastructure will participate in a panel discussion and roundtable with VML members. The discussion will include lessons learned, an exploration of the Commonwealth’s ongoing work with MITRE, and discussion of ongoing and future work with local governments and states around the country, including an upcoming Autonomy Blueprint for a VML member city.
About MITRE:
MITRE is the nation’s leading not-for-profit operator of Federally Funded Research Centers. Chartered by Congress in 1958, MITRE works in the public interest across various domains, including transportation, environment, cybersecurity, healthcare, and more, providing technical expertise and guidance to the U.S. government, as well as states and municipalities and international partners. In 2025, VML and MITRE are embarking on a research partnership to bring customized and specific technical expertise to VML members.
Contact: Jon Desenberg, State and Local Director, MITRE Labs, JDesenberg@mitre.org