General Assembly Crosses Over - What Does That Mean for Hospitality- & Tourism-Related Legislation?

The Virginia General Assembly has officially reached the halfway point of the legislative session, also known as crossover. At this point, any bills that have not passed the house of origination are now dead for the year.

The Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association would like to take a moment to share with you an update on some of the major legislative proposals we have been following.
2021 VRTLA Legislative Wins

  • Right to Work Repeal: HB1755 would have repealed Virginia’s Right to Work law. It was left in the House Labor and Commerce Committee to die and never received a vote; however, an attempt by the bill patron to bring it directly to the floor of the House of Delegates was also defeated. VRLTA was OPPOSED to this legislation.
  • Heat Illness Prevention Requirements: HB1785 and SB1358 would have directed the the Safety and Health Codes Board to adopt regulations establishing standards to prevent heat illness for both indoor and outdoor settings and allowed employees to bring suit against an employer for violations of the standards. Both bills were struck at the request of the patrons in the House Labor and Commerce Committee, and Senate Commerce and Labor Committee. VRLTA was OPPOSED to this legislation.
  • Hazard Pay Requirements for Essential Employers: HB2015 would have required that essential employers would be required during a declared state of emergency and stay-at-home order to pay one-half times the essential workers' regular rate of pay during the closure order and provide PPE. At VRLTA’s urging this measure was amended to specifically exclude hospitality related businesses from being required to comply. The measure was defeated in the House Appropriations Committee by a vote of 21-0. VRLTA was NEUTRAL after it was amended.
  • Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program: HB2016, and SB1330 would have created a family and medical leave insurance program that would be managed by the state and funded by payroll taxes on both employees and employers. SB1219 would direct the State Corporation Commission to review and make recommendations on the establishment of a private marketplace for the sale of Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance and examine incentives that could be provided to encourage employers to offer such policies. HB2016, was killed in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Agriculture and Natural Resources 8-0. SB1330 was defeated in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee by a vote of 12-3, and SB1219 was passed by the Senate by a vote of 24-13. VRLTA was OPPOSED to HB2016 and SB1330, and SUPPORTIVE of SB1219.
  • Employers Requiring COVID-19 Vaccination of Employees: HB2242, SB1449, and SB1450 would have all prohibited employers from having the ability to require that employees obtained a COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of employment. HB2242 was killed in the House Health, Welfare, and Institutions Committee on a vote of 18-3, SB1449 was dispatched in the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee on a vote of 11-1-1, and SB1450 was defeated in the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee on a vote of 10-4. VRLTA was OPPOSED to all of these bills.
  • ABC Mobile Retailer License: HB2136 and SB1346 would have created a mobile retailer license that would have allowed beer and wine trucks to sell beer and wine during events in designated areas. HB2136 was defeated in the House General Laws ABC/Gaming Subcommittee by a vote of 7-1, and SB1346 was dispatched in Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services by a vote of 11-2-1. VRLTA OPPOSED these bills.
Measures Still in Play After Crossover

VRLTA Supports:

  • Online Travel Agency Loophole: Both HB2158 and SB1398 would close the Online Travel Agency Loophole that companies like Expedia use to avoid remitting the full amount of sales and lodging taxes to Virginia and its localities. These bills would also direct the revenues collected from the sales tax to a Tourism Marketing Fund that would be administered by the Virginia Tourism Corporation and appropriate tourism marketing grants to localities in Virginia. HB2158 was struck in the House Finance Committee at the request of the patron but with the express acknowledgement that the House Finance Committee fully committed its support to passage of the Senate bill. SB1398 passed the Senate on a vote of 34-5. VRLTA is SUPPORTIVE of these bills.
  • Third Party Food Delivery Service Agreements: HB2062 would institute a requirement that food delivery services like UberEats, GrubHub, and others must reach an agreement with the restaurant that authorizes the platform to process or deliver food from that restaurant. HB2062 passed the House on a vote of 90-8. VRLTA SUPPORTS this legislation.
  • Tax Conformity and PPP Deductibility: HB1935 and SB1146 would both conform Virginia’s tax code to reflect that of the federal tax code including allowing businesses that received a PPP loan to exclude the forgiven loan amount from their income, but each has a cap that limits the deductions related to business expenses of their PPP loans. The House version limits the deduction up to $25,000, while the Senate version has a $100,000 cap. HB1935 was passed 55-43 in the House, and SB1146 was passed in the Senate by a vote of 39-0. VRLTA is SUPPORTIVE of the higher deduction amount and is advocating for hospitality businesses to be allowed to have even larger deductions.
  • Tourism Improvement Districts: SB1298 would allow localities to establish tourism improvement districts (TID) which is a novel approach for financing tourism promotion and marketing through the collection of fees on hospitality related businesses. It also requires that the locality must obtain approval from a majority of the businesses for the creation of the TID and fee. The funds collected would be placed into a lockbox and used exclusively for tourism promotion be managed a board of the businesses or the DMO. SB1298 passed the Senate by a vote of 37-0. VRLTA is SUPPORTIVE of this bill.
  • Alcohol To-Go: HB1879 and SB1299 would both extend the current COVID-19 Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) standards on cocktails to-go through July 1, 2022 and would concurrently direct the Virginia ABC to establish a workgroup of stakeholders to examine what requirements would be necessary to make cocktails to-go permanent and develop a report that would be provided to the General Assembly for their action during the 2022 General Assembly Session. HB1879 was reported from the House by a vote of 90-8, and SB1299 was passed 38-1 in the Senate. VRLTA is SUPPORTIVE of these bills.
  • ABC License and Fee Reform: HB1845 would delay certain provisions of the ABC License and Fee reform legislation from last year until July 1, 2022 and allow on-premises licensees for beer and wine to sell it for off-premises consumption. HB1845 was passed in the House by a vote of 98-0. VRLTA is SUPPORTIVE of this legislation.
  • ABC Outdoor Refreshment Areas License: HB1738, HB2051, HB2266, and SB1471 would all restructure the local special events license into the outdoor refreshment area (ORA) license. The ORA license would expand the number of local special events that are permitted and increase the license fee to cover the costs with administration. In order to be able to qualify for the increased number of events, the locality must pass an ordinance authorizing it. HB1738 was left in the House General Laws Committee, HB2051 was incorporated into HB2266. HB2266 passed the House by a vote of 91-5. SB1471 passed 38-0 in the Senate. VRLTA is SUPPORTIVE of these bills.
  • Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program: SB1219 would direct the State Corporation Commission to review and make recommendations on the establishment of a private marketplace for the sale of Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance and examine incentives that could be provided to encourage employers to offer such policies. VRLTA SUPPORTS SB1219.
VRLTA Opposes:

  • Mandatory Paid Leave: HB2103, HB2137, and SB1159 would all require that employers have to provide up to five days of paid sick leave. SB1159 is slightly different as it would require employers with 25 or more employees that provide sick leave to allow the employee to use up to five days of that leave for the care of an immediate family member. HB2103 was left in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Compensation and General Government, HB2137 was passed by the House by a vote of 54-46, and SB1159 was stricken at the request of the patron. VRLTA is OPPOSED to this legislation.
  • Mandatory State-Run Retirement Program: HB2174 would establish a state-run individual retirement account savings program that is mandatory for all employers with five or more employees that don’t already have a qualifying retirement savings program for employees. Employers are not required to contribute to the plan but must establish an account and complete payroll deductions for employees that do not opt-out; however, the employers have no liability related to the program. The program would be established no later than July 1, 2023. HB2174 was passed by the House on a vote of 56-44. VRLTA is OPPOSED to this legislation.
  • Styrofoam Food Service Container Ban: HB1902 would prohibit restaurants and other food service vendors from being able to use polystyrene food containers and would impose civil penalties for violations. HB1902 passed the House on a vote of 58-40. VRLTA is OPPOSED to this legislation.
Didn't Go Our Way

  • Minimum Wage Increases: HB2270 would have delayed the effective dates of scheduled minimum wage increases. Under this bill, the minimum wage increases would have started on January 1, 2022 rather than May 1, 2021. Unfortunately, HB2270 was killed in the House Labor and Commerce Subcommittee #1 on a 5-3 vote. VRLTA SUPPORTED this legislation.
  • Games of Skill Extension: HB1880 would extend the allowance for current games of skill by an additional year from July 1, 2021 to July 1, 2022. This legislation was left in the House General Laws Committee; however, there may be a budget amendment made that would allow for them to continue for an additional year. VRLTA SUPPORTED this legislation.
As you can see many industry priorities are advancing and those that would be harmful to hospitality and tourism businesses are being defeated, but there are still several bills that would be harmful to the hospitality and tourism industry that we are working to defeat.

Should you have questions or concerns, please contact VRLTA Director of Government Affairs Robert Melvin at robert@vrlta.org.