Dear Friend,
Spring is on the horizon and I am looking forward to enjoying the beauty of a Virginian bloom and all the festivities that accompany it. On the legislative front, the General Assembly has concluded its work for now and adjourned sine die. Now, the legislature waits for the Governor to take action on the bills sent to his desk. We will reconvene on April 12 to take action on his amendments and vetoes. Below is a wrap-up on what the General Assembly has sent to the Governor for review, in addition to other state and local news.
2023 Session Wrap-Up
The 2023 Session saw over 1,800 House & Senate bills and over 1,000 resolutions from the two bodies introduced between. Over 800 House & Senate bills are being sent to the Governor’s desk. The Governor has 6 weeks to take action, listed below, on the bills.
Sign the bill into law.
Send the bill back to the General Assembly with amendments. The House & Senate then vote on adoption of these amendments.
Veto the bill which the House & Senate can override if 2/3rds of each chamber votes to do so.
Take no action on the bill. The bill will become law without the Governor’s signature.
Below is a review of some topics that were considered by the General Assembly this Session, and what will and what will not be making it to the Governor’s desk. This is by no means a comprehensive recap. If you are interested in specific pieces of legislation or are curious about action on a certain topic, reach out to my office at 804-698-1069 or by email at Delegate.Carr@BetsyCarr.org.
“Skinny Budget”
The General Assembly’s most important piece of legislation each year is the budget bill. Even numbered years see the adoption of a fresh, biennial budget, while odd-numbered years, like 2023, see consideration of amendments and tweaks to the biennial budget. While Virginia technically has a budget spanning 2022-2024, the General Assembly was not able to agree to changes to this budget.
At a minimum, there were 4 items that needed to be passed this Session to meet financial commitments. The 4 items in the conference report that were passed serve as a stopgap budget. It is unknown if and when the General Assembly may reconvene to consider further budget amendments.
As I mentioned in last week’s newsletter, the 4 items in the “skinny budget” are:
Over $250 million in funding for public education that reflects the combined impacts of technical adjustments to average daily membership (ADM), sales tax forecasts, and program participation rates. It also provides $16 million to ensure no school receives less funding than was communicated by the Department of Education due to their technical error.
Over $900 million in funding to the “rainy day fund” to meet constitutionally required deposits.
$250 million to the Virginia Retirement System to continue addressing unfunded liability.
An additional $100 million to the Capital Supplement Pool to address supply chain issues and inflation that have been driving up the cost of previously approved capital projects. With this deposit, the supplement pool will have $450 million within it.
Utility Rate Reform
This year several bills were introduced to lower ratepayer bills and reform oversight of Dominion rate-setting. A pair of Dominion-backed House & Senate bills (HB1770 & SB1265) were the most notable bills on this topic. I opposed these bills in their original forms on grounds that they were going to be a bad deal for ratepayers and would weaken the Virginia Clean Economy Act. However, these bills were heavily amended throughout Session and by sine die, were in a posture that had allowed groups like the Virginia Poverty Law Center & the Sierra Club of Virginia to change their position from oppose to neutral.
As passed by the General Assembly, this legislation will do the following.
First, it moves $350 million worth of rate adjustment clauses (the list of specific items on your electric bill) into Dominion’s base electricity rate, which will result in a small reduction in residential customers’ monthly bill.
Second, it will give the State Corporation Commission (SCC) full oversight to adjust electricity rates, on a biennial review schedule beginning July 1 of this year. This increases oversight and will allow regulators to review the costs people are paying to Dominion more frequently and ensure they are proper.
In addition to rate-setting oversight, the SCC will gain full discretion on the methodology that is used to determine Dominion Energy’s return on equity, or profit. The SCC will receive this authority in 2025 following a 2-year transition period in which Dominion’s profit margin will be set at 9.7%, an increase from their current rate of 9.35%.
The SCC will also be given additional tools, namely bond securitization, to determine how best to deal with the rising and volatile cost of natural gas and fossil fuels while protecting customers during the transition to renewable energy.
You can read more about this legislation in The Virginia Mercury here, and in The Richmond Times-Dispatch here.
Solitary Confinement
A bipartisan effort (HB2487) to eliminate the practice of solitary confinement in Virginia State Prisons is heading to the Governor’s desk. You can read about this inspiring piece of bipartisan legislation from Leader Don Scott and Delegate Glenn Davis in this article from The Washington Post (note: link may be paywall restricted).
Automatic License Plate Readers
A pair of bills (HB1437 & SB1165) were introduced to allow law enforcement to install and operate automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) in right of ways maintained by VDOT. Although these bills were poised for easy passage, concerns arose over data-protection concerns and fear that this bill would allow a network of ALPRs to collect millions of data points that could be manipulated by artificial intelligence. These bills were ultimately defeated.
Abortion
Several bills were introduced this Session that aimed to restrict (HB2278, HB1488, SB1483) or ban access (HB1395) to abortions. These bills and other related ones were all defeated.
Cannabis
This past Session has left the topic of a state-regulated, recreational cannabis market on hold. Although the 2021 Session allowed for limited, legal possession of cannabis by adults age 21 and older, further creation of a regulatory framework has been stymied by Republican control of the House and a disinterest in pursuing the topic.
While no legislation was passed to establish a regulatory framework for the sale of recreational cannabis, legislation was passed (HB2294 & SB903) to tighten enforcement on hemp-derived products that contain intoxicating amounts of THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis. Another piece of legislation (SB1233) will provide marijuana advertising restrictions. These bills are headed to the Governor for action. You can read more about this legislation in this article.
The lack of a budget compromise has put the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority (VCCA) in a tough position. The Governor and the House’s budget proposals included a sharp reduction in the VCCA’s budget. The VCCA was created to be the state’s lead authority on enforcement and regulation of cannabis in Virginia, with additional responsibility of leading awareness and education campaigns. The VCCA is in a waiting period to see what, if any, additional budget action may bring to their agency funding. The Governor and House had proposed reducing this year’s funding from $8.2 million to $3 million and next year’s from $11.2 million to $3 million. Read more on this in this article from The Virginia Mercury.
School Choice
A priority of Governor Youngkin’s was expanding “school choice,” which implies removing money from public school funding to allow more students to pursue private education. Several bills were introduced on this subject. HB1508 gained the most traction. This bill would have created the “Virginia Education Success Account Program,” a savings fund that would allow parents of currently enrolled public school students to divert public school funding in to a savings account that could be applied to private school tuition. This bill failed to pass the House.
Workplace Protections for Sexual Harassment Victims
HB1895 is heading to the Governor for action. This bill would prohibit non-disclosure agreements if they would bar discussion on past conduct, a problem that gained national attention when former Fox News Anchor, Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against her former employer. These contracts have prohibited victims of sexual harassment from pursuing legal justice.
My Bills
Four of my bills are heading to the Governor. Three of these bills were brought to me by constituents and the fourth came from the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission’s (JLARC) 2021 Affordable Housing Report.
HB1738 seeks to ensure virtual public access is available for public meetings.
HB1744 establishes transferability of home studies for adoption & foster care processes. This will reduce barriers and streamline existing processes to help more children be adopted or be placed in nurturing foster homes.
HB1765 adds rehabilitative service groups to the fire company definition. These groups help prevent fatigue related death and injury at active fire scenes.
HB2046 tasks the Department of Housing & Community Development with establishing and updating a statewide housing needs assessment.
Richmond City Budget
Richmond City Council has announced their schedule of City Budget work sessions.
The Mayor’s budget will be announced Monday, March 6 and the next City Council work session will be the following Monday, March 13.
You can find the schedule at this link.
Wassmer Foundation Scholarship
The Wassmer Foundation has established a scholarship in honor of the late Mike Wassmer, former President of Capital One’s Credit Card Business. The Foundation will award up to 5 scholarships valued at $30,000, paid out evenly over the student’s 4 college years. The Wassmer Foundation is now accepting applications.
Applications are due March 15. Visit their website for more information and to apply.
Community Resources
Utility Help: Dominion Energy has several bill payment assistance programs. You can view their entire list of programs at this link, which includes housing assistance and scam awareness resources. Additionally, the Virginia Poverty Law Center has a utility helpline for those struggling to pay their bills. You can file a client intake form on their website.
Legal Aid: The Legal Aid Justice Center provides legal aid on a variety of practice areas. Visit their website for more information. In addition, Virginia Poverty Law Center has a legal aid hotline that can be reached at (866) 534-5243.
Housing: The Virginia Poverty Law Center has an eviction aid helpline that can be reached at 833-663-8428. Additional eviction resources can be found at Housing Opportunities Made Equal’s website. Virginia Housing has several resources. Prospective and current homeowners can visit this link for educational resources. Renters can find educational resources from Virginia Housing at this link.
Community Events
Richmond Public School’s 6th Annual Fine Arts Festival will be March 11, 10 AM - 4 PM at Huguenot High School. Visit the RPS website for more information on this event and other events celebrating the Fine Arts in Richmond Public Schools Month.
Maymont will host a slate of events on Saturday, March 4, for World Wildlife Day. View program information at this link. Additionally, Mansion tours will resume March 8. Visit Maymont’s website for ticketing information.
Riverfront Canal Cruises will begin on April 1. These 40 minute tours include historic narration. Ticketing information is available here.
The American Civil War Museum’s final special Black History Month program will be on March 4, 11 AM - 4 PM. More information available here.
The Library of Virginia’s exhibition, “200 years, 200 stories,” celebrating their 200 year history continues. Visit their website for more information
The Richmond Symphony will perform chamber classics at Hardywood Craft Brewery March 9, 6:30 PM. Visit their website for ticketing information.
The Black History Museum will host a book reading & signing, March 4, 1 - 3 PM with the Honorable John Charles Thomas, the first African American Justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia. He will be reading from his new book The Poetic Justice: A Memoir. More information is available here.
The Valentine Museum marks their 18th Annual Richmond History Makers Celebration, March 7, 5:30 - 7 PM, at Virginia Union University. This year the Valentine is celebrating a 120 year partnership with Richmond Public Schools and will offer free tickets to Richmond area teachers. More information is available at this link.
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will have an “Open Studio Sunday” March 5, 12 - 3 PM. This is a free event for families to participate in an art project. More information is available at their website. Additionally, Wednesdays, 6-8 PM are Jazz Nights. You can find scheduled acts at this link.
The Virginia Museum of History & Culture will host Pulitzer Prize winning author Stacy Schiff for a lecture on March 12, 4 PM. Visit this link for ticketing information.
The Science Museum of Virginia will host a “Girls in Medicine Camp-In” on March 25, for an overnight experience focusing on optometry and ophthalmology. More information at their website.
The Visual Arts Center offers art classes for adults and children on topics such as woodworking, sewing, drawing and much more. Visit their website to see the schedule.
Thank You
It is an honor to serve in the House of Delegates. Please never hesitate to contact me at delegate.carr@betsycarr.org or 804-698-1069 if I can be helpful to you.
Sincerely,
Betsy