A MEMBERS ONLY PUBLICATION
March 1, 2024
2024 General Assembly, Week 7 Summary
By Nick Clemente, Chamber Vice President, Government Relations
The seventh full week of the 2024 General Assembly session is in the books. Adjournment is 8 days out on March 9th. Monday, March 4th, is the last day for legislative committees to act on bills. If a committee doesn’t hear the bill by then, it is effectively dead. I want to highlight that this week the Chamber signed a letter, led by the Northern Virginia Technology Council, advocating for an exemption for business-to-business transactions under the proposed digital tax in the budget. You can see it here.

Last week, following the publishing of our weekly summary, the House budget, HB 30 passed, 75-24. The Senate budget, SB 30 passed, 38-2. The House and Senate budgets are entirely different from Governor Youngkin’s. While the House and Senate budgets have similar priorities, they also include some differences. Most notably, the House budget included funding for the arena and WMATA, while the Senate budget didn’t include either; however, even with the different budgets, House and Senate Democrats have the leverage in the negotiations with the Administration.

For Governor Youngkin to accomplish his top priority, bringing the Capitals and Wizards to Virginia, he will need to concede to some Democratic priorities. So far, he has already proposed $332 million for toll reduction between Portsmouth and Norfolk. Additional concessions for the Governor appear to also include an increase in the minimum wage; creation of a legal marketplace for cannabis; permission for a voter referendum for a casino in Petersburg; and legalization of electronic “skill games.”

These negotiations will primarily be handled by the Budget Conference Committee, which was announced this week. On the House side, the Democrat Conferees are Appropriations Chair Luke Torian, Delegate Mark Sickles, Delegate David Bulova and Delegate Betsy Carr – while the House Republican Conferees are Delegate Terry Austin and Delegate Rob Bloxom. The Senate Democrat Conferees included Senate Finance Chair Louise Lucas, Senator Creigh Deeds, Senator Jennifer Boysko and Senator Mamie Locke. The Republican Senate Caucus will be represented by Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle and Senator Todd Pillion.

After the Budget Conference Committee finalizes the budget, they will present it to the House and Senate, where it is voted on again before heading to the Governor’s desk. Upon completion of the General Assembly, 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.

For this week's summary, I’ll start by providing an update on 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.
Scenes from Week 7
This week was a busy one for Nick, along with Dr. David Ramadan, Ed.D. The two met with Delegate Geary Higgins, Delegate Wren Williams, Delegate Alex Askew, Delegate Mike Cherry, Delegate Rob Bloxom, Delegate Kannan Srinivasan, Delegate Mike Webert, Senator Tara Durant, in addition to others –advocating on our members' and the region's behalf.
TOPLINE UPDATES
Potomac Yard Entertainment District
As noted previously, one of the Chamber’s top priorities this session is bringing the Washington Capitals and Wizards to Virginia. Youngkin’s proposal to create a state authority to finance the entertainment district in Alexandria is in the House spending plan, but not the Senate’s.

The House budget language incorporates Appropriations Chair Luke Torian’s HB 1514; however, the legislative vehicle will not advance in the Senate because Senate Finance Committee Chair Louise Lucas has decided she will not give it a hearing. Lucas had done the same to the Senate’s stand-alone arena bill (SB 718), proposed by Senate Majority Leader Scott A. Surovell, allowing it to die before crossover.

That said, the discussions regarding the arena will continue until the final moments of the legislative session. This is because the provision for establishing a state sports and entertainment authority, which would manage the Potomac Yards Entertainment District’s creation, was incorporated into the "caboose" budget bill (HB 29)– that adjusts the funding for the ongoing fiscal year. While there remains an opportunity to finalize a deal, it's important to note that the 'price' of the deal continues to escalate. We maintain a cautious optimism regarding the possibility of a deal; however, with every day passing, the prospects diminish.  
Metro Update
The Chamber is continuing to work with the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance (NVTA) to find a sustainable path for WMATA. We are still advocating for the General Assembly to establish a financial oversight commission to end WMATA’s continuing cycle of crisis. Furthermore, we believe this reform commission needs to have robust resources and expertise to develop a solution for long-term success. We also believe the commission should have representation from labor and businesses. See Jason Stanford of NVTA and Dr. Terry Clower of George Mason University’s op-ed on this topic, here.
 
The Senate budget that passed did not include any additional money for WMATA; however, the passed House budget included $149.5 million over the next two years. The Chamber and NVTA believe that Senator Lucas’s bold leadership, to ask questions before putting in money for WMATA, provides an opportunity to create a robust, comprehensive, and well-funded oversight commission to evaluate WMATA’s financial challenges. To advance our efforts, this week we met with members of the General Assembly to advocate for tying Metro funding to the establishment of an oversight commission.
 
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 Greater Washington Region depends on it. If we don't evaluate the bigger picture today, we won't have the tools or resources to fix WMATA long-term.
Virginia Community College System (VCCS) Update
As noted last week, there are budget amendments that will benefit VCCS that the Chamber strongly supports. The House budget would provide $12.3 million for workforce talent expansion and $20 million, over the span of two years, for affordable access, retention, and degree production. In addition, the House budget added $7.8 million, over a two-year period, for financial aid of workforce credential programs. Funding for VCCS was also earmarked in SCHEV’s budget, including $7.75 million in financial aid to increase credentials in six industry sectors aligned to GO Virginia Regions: energy, information technology, manufacturing, skilled trades, and transportation.

Furthermore, Both the House and Senate budgets maintained the additional $9.2 million in the introduced budget to support the New Economy Workforce Credentials Grant (“FastForward”). The House budget adds five new academic CIP (classification of instructional program) codes to the list of programs that students can utilize to qualify for G3 funding. These include the following: Cooking and Culinary Arts, Elementary Education and Teaching, Secondary Education and Teaching, General Engineering, and Hospitality Administration and Management. 
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 the provisions of the Virginia Literacy Act. Passed Senate, 39-0 and House, 99-1. 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.
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 referred to Senate Finance.

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

HB 570 Prescription Drug Affordability Board; established, drug cost affordability review, report. BOTH BILLS PASSED.

Introduced by Delegate Karrie Delaney passed 52-46 and referred to Senate Finance. 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.
Introduced by Delegate Charniele Herring. This expands broadband access. You can see our support letter here. Passed House, 99-0 and referred to Senate Finance. The Chamber supports this.

HB 1125 Virginia Business Ready Expedited Permitting Program; established. PASSED.
Introduced by Delegate Betsy Carr. This will streamline permitting for mega-site deals. Passed 94-5 and passed Senate Finance, 14-0. 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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