A MEMBERS ONLY PUBLICATION
March 8, 2024
2024 General Assembly, Week 8 Summary
By Nick Clemente, Chamber Vice President, Government Relations
The eighth full week of the 2024 General Assembly session is nearly in the books; adjournment being reached tomorrow. In case you missed it last week, I want to highlight a letter the Chamber signed that advocates for an exemption for business-to-business transactions under a proposed digital tax in the budget. You can see it here.

For this week’s summary, I’ll start by providing an update on the budget; then some topline stories; then details about the bills we are closely tracking; followed by bills that we are monitoring. If you are tracking a bill, please contact me at nclemente@novachamber.org.
BUDGET UPDATES
The Senate and House budget conferees have come to an agreement on the state budget. In the two budget bills, SB 30 and HB 30, Democrats gutted Youngkin’s plan to overhaul Virginia’s tax code. They retained, however, a provision in the Governor’s budget that would impose a tax on digital goods; the Senate budget originally applied the tax to transactions between businesses, as well as sales to consumers, while the House bill only includes a sales tax on consumers. However, the Chambers decided to adopt the Senate version of the digital tax, which they project will raise over a billion dollars of tax revenue. As noted above, the Chamber strongly opposes this.

It is believed that this additional funding is supposed to go towards education. In the announcement of the agreement between the two Chambers, they noted it restores $229 million in funding for local school divisions that Governor Youngkin had dropped. In addition, it also contains an unprecedented boost for public education according to Senate Finance Chair Louise Lucas and House Appropriations Chair Luke Torian.
Now that the budget differences are resolved between the House and Senate, they will present it to their respective Chambers; after each Chamber approves the budget, it will be sent to Governor Youngkin; upon receiving it, the Governor can use his line-item veto and send those changes back to the legislative branch for their review – at the April 17th reconvene session.
TOPLINE UPDATES
Potomac Yard Entertainment District
As noted previously, one of the Chamber’s top priorities this session has been bringing the Washington Capitals and Wizards to Virginia. Unfortunately, the House and Senate budgets will not include the creation of a state stadium authority to finance the Potomac Yard Entertainment District – effectively killing the deal.

Theoretically, Governor Youngkin could insert the stadium authority language in a budget amendment – forcing a floor vote at the reconvened session. He could also call a special session to consider a new arena bill. With that said, the likelihood of either strategy succeeding is very low and the 'price' for legislative agreement escalates with each passing minute. 
Metro Update
The Chamber is continuing to work with the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance (NVTA) to create a sustainable Metro system. We continue to advocate for the General Assembly to establish a financial oversight commission to end WMATA’s continuing crisis cycle. Furthermore, we believe this reform commission needs to have robust resources and expertise to develop a solution for long-term success.

Senate Finance Chair Louise Lucas had left additional funding for Metro out of the Senate budget. The House included $149.5 million over two years in its budget; however, on Sunday, Senator Lucas announced on X, that she had decided to include Metro funding, "after securing commitments for the long term reform that METRO needs." Senator Lucas added, “we will be monitoring this situation closely on behalf of all taxpayers in Virginia who are stepping in to help save this system.” We continue to seek clarification on this.

The Chamber and NVTA believe that Senator Lucas’s bold leadership to tie commitments to reform to additional money for WMATA is key to solving WMATA’s long-term financial challenges. The Chamber and NVTA have been working with Senator Adam Ebbin and Northern Virginia leaders to strengthen SJ 28, which passed the Senate by voice vote and the House, 97-0. This resolution creates a Virginia-based Commission to evaluate long-term solutions for Metro and Northern Virginia Transit Systems.

Senator Ebbin has added language to the resolution, including a representative from the Northern Virginia business community on the technical working group. He has also agreed to expand the scope of the Commission’s work to include issues such as: the impact of telework, land use plans in high-capacity transit corridors, capital funding prioritization, and governance and structural issues – that keep leading to funding instability. While the Senate Budget includes $500,000 for the Commission, the House Budget currently provides no additional funding. This funding is critical to the Commission’s success, and we are continuing to seek clarity in the final budget.

The Chamber and NVTA are dedicated to putting WMATA on a sustainable path for long-term success. The economic competitiveness of Northern Virginia, and the Washington Region, depends on it. To accomplish the financial stability of Metro, we need to commit to long-term results – rather than short-term fixes.
NOTEWORTHY LEGISLATION
The following are noteworthy bills that are worthy of flagging for our members.

SENATE BILLS
SB 14 Sales and use tax, local; additional tax authorized in all counties & cities to support schools. EACH BILL PASSED BOTH CHAMBERS.
Introduced by Senator Jeremy McPike. Would allow localities to increase their sales tax by 1% to fund school construction if approved by voters. Passed Senate, 27-13 and House, 68-28. The House version, HB 805 introduced by Delegate Sam Rasoul, passed House 69-28 and Senate, 27-12.

SB 624 Public education; student literacy measures. PASSED BOTH CHAMBERS.
Introduced by Senator Louise Lucas. This clarifies provisions of the Virginia Literacy Act. Passed Senate, 39-0 and House, 99-1. Governor Youngkin has until March 8th to sign. The Chamber supports this.

SB 635 Alcoholic beverage control; sale and delivery of mixed beverages & pre-mixed wine off-premises. EACH BILL PASSED BOTH CHAMBERS.
Introduced by Senator Aaron Rouse. This allows cocktails to be sold for delivery. Passed Senate, 40-0 and House 82-16. House version, HB 688 introduced by Delegate Jay Leftwich, passed 81-18 and Senate 40-0. See our support letter here. The Chamber supports this.
HOUSE BILLS
HB 1 Minimum wage; increases wage to $13.50 per hour effective January 1, 2025. EACH BILL PASSED BOTH CHAMBERS.
Introduced by Delegate Jeion Ward. This increases the minimum wage to $15.00 by January 1, 2026. Passed House, 51-49 and Senate 21-18. Senate version, SB 1 introduced by Senator Louise Lucas, passed Senate 21-19 and House 51-47. Youngkin said he will veto this.

HB 107 Electric Vehicle Rural Infrastructure Program and Fund; established and created. PASSED BOTH CHAMBERS.
Introduced by Delegate Rip Sullivan. This would assist developers with non-utility costs from the installation of EV charging stations. Passed House, 71-27 and Senate, 28-12.

HB 335 Employment; determining wage of tipped employee. PASSED BOTH CHAMBERS.
Introduced by Delegate Debra Gardner. Federal law already requires this. Passed House, 49-47 and Senate, 20-19. The Chamber opposes this.

HB 570 Prescription Drug Affordability Board; established, drug cost affordability review, report. EACH BILL PASSED BOTH CHAMBERS.
Introduced by Delegate Karrie Delaney passed 52-46 and Senate, 25-15. Senate version, SB 274 introduced by Senator Creigh Deeds passed Senate 23-16 and House, 50-47. You can see our concerns here. The Chamber opposes these.

HB 800 Public service companies; pole attachments; cable television systems and telecommunications. PASSED BOTH CHAMBERS.
Introduced by Delegate Charniele Herring. This expands broadband access. You can see our support letter here. Passed House, 99-0 and Senate, 40-0. The Chamber supports this.

HB 1125 Virginia Business Ready Expedited Permitting Program; established. PASSED BOTH CHAMBERS.
Introduced by Delegate Betsy Carr. This streamlines mega-site deals. Passed 94-5 and Senate, 40-0. The Chamber supports this.
BILLS THE CHAMBER IS WATCHING
Senate Bills
House Bills
CONCLUSION
Thank you for your time! If anyone has any questions, concerns, or would like to participate in the weekly update calls on Friday at 8:30 AM, please contact me at nclemente@novachamber.org! 

Sincerely,

Nick Clemente
WE ADVOCATE ON YOUR BEHALF
To find out more about the Chamber's advocacy work, visit us online or contact Nick Clemente, Chamber Vice President, Government Relations, at nclemente@novachamber.org with any questions or concerns.
Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce
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