Here’s a list of some of the bills drafted by lawmakers from Southwest and Southside Virginia that weren’t discussed in the accompanying General Assembly session wrap story.
Broadband
The General Assembly passed a combined House and Senate bill that gives the commonwealth a referee in disputes related to broadband deployment.
“Make ready” was the buzz phrase centering the legislation. Lawmakers including the bills’ sponsors — House Majority Leader Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, and Sen. David Marsden, D-Fairfax County — said that delays in getting utility poles ready for new broadband lines could cause the state to lose part of the $750 million government pandemic funding that Virginia has dedicated to getting the internet to its most rural locations.
Funds from the federal American Rescue Act of 2021 expire at the end of 2026, and the state would have to return any unspent money.
The bill gives the State Corporation Commission power to settle disputes between internet service providers and electric utilities over timing and cost, based on rules borrowed from the FCC, which would presumably speed the work process. Previously, the state had no such arbiter.
Legislators, ISPs and utilities also expressed worries about how much new or replacement poles will cost and who will pay for them. Thursday’s compromise budget bill addressed that with a proposed $30 million in fiscal year 2025 from the general fund to the Department of Housing and Community Development for the Virginia Make Ready Initiative.
The budget also includes $10 million per year over fiscal years 2025 and 2026 for the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative, or VATI, which administers funding for broadband installation projects. Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s biennial budget proposal included no VATI funding for 2026, and Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Herndon, wanted to make sure the funding continued through the federal deadline.
Economic development
A proposal by Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, which would designate small motor sports facilities as historic landmarks and make them enterprise zones for tax purposes, passed the House by a 94-5 vote last week after advancing in the Senate with unanimous approval in February.
Education
Sen. Bill Stanley filed SB 27, which would establish a Public School Trades Incentive Fund and Program. It would provide grants to school districts to restore programs that teach students skilled trades that lead to earning industry-recognized certifications or credentials. The Senate passed the proposal in early February by a unanimous vote, but it was killed by a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee a few weeks later.
Elections
Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, sponsored a measure that provides that when a candidate’s name appears on the primary ballot but they do not receive their party’s nomination, their name must not be printed on the ballots for that office in the succeeding general election.
SB 109 underwent several incarnations in both chambers until the full Senate approved a conference report by a 38-2 vote on Tuesday.
Similar proposals introduced by Del. Joe McNamara, R-Roanoke County, and Del. Tommy Wright, R-Lunenburg County, also found the legislature’s approval. McNamara’s HB 90 and Wright’s HB 55 cleared both chambers with bipartisan support.
Energy
Legislation to create a shared solar program for Appalachian Power customers and expand Dominion Energy’s existing program cleared both the House and Senate and now awaits a decision by the governor.
[Disclosure: Dominion is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.]
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax County, sponsored SB 255, while Del. Rip Sullivan Jr., D-Fairfax County, sponsored HB 108; the now-identical bills would create a 50-megawatt shared solar program in Appalachian Power’s service territory. Surovell’s SB 253 and Sullivan’s HB 106 would expand Dominion’s existing program from 200 megawatts to 350.
Shared solar programs allow an electric utility customer to buy energy from a participating third-party solar company without needing to own solar panels themselves. Advocates say shared solar programs promote clean energy and can help people save money, but opponents say the programs shift costs onto other ratepayers.
Meanwhile, Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico County, proposed SB 697 to prevent local governments from enacting blanket ordinances forbidding solar projects — a so-called “ban on bans” — unless at least 4% of the locality’s land was used for solar panels.
As the bill progressed through the session, VanValkenburg emphasized that his proposal didn’t require localities to approve solar projects — rather, it required them to consider such projects on an individual, case-by-base basis.
The bill was one example illustrating a state-versus-local tension that presented itself multiple times during the General Assembly session, with lawmakers debating who should have authority to approve new large solar projects as Virginia works to meet state-mandated renewable energy goals but as more localities resist such projects.
The Democrat’s bill passed the Senate on a party-line vote but a House committee chose to carry it over to next year so it could be discussed further.
Legislation that would let the state’s two largest utilities seek approval to start charging customers for the development costs of small modular nuclear reactors also won approval in both chambers of the General Assembly.
SB 454, sponsored by Sen. David Marsden, D-Fairfax County, applies only to Dominion Energy and due to House amendments would set a cap of $1.75 as the top amount customers could be charged per month. It would expire in five years.
Originally, the Senate bill applied to both Dominion and Appalachian Power, but Appalachian was stripped out because a similar proposal, sponsored by Del. Israel O’Quinn, R-Washington County, focused only on Appalachian. It will sunset in 10 years.
O’Quinn said earlier that the bill would allow the utility to only collect costs related to the early site permitting process. Under this legislation, both utilities would have to get approval for rate adjustments from the State Corporation Commission.
SMRs became a hot topic after Youngkin announced in October 2022 that he planned to build a commercial SMR in Southwest Virginia. SMRs are smaller, simpler versions of traditional nuclear reactors and can be built in a factory and shipped to a site, which saves time, reduces the risks and is cheaper than constructing a large reactor.
Both Dominion and Appalachian Power have expressed interest in SMRs, but neither has made any decisions.
Prescription drugs
Legislation aimed at lowering the cost of medicine by setting limits on how much Virginia consumers would pay for certain medications passed the House by 50-47 last month.
SB 274, sponsored by Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, and Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, would create a Virginia Prescription Drug Affordability Board, an independent body of health and medical experts that would allow Virginia to set reasonable rates for certain high-cost, burdensome prescription drugs. The measure had cleared the Senate with bipartisan support on a 23-16 vote in early February.
Sales tax for schools
The Senate by a 27-12 vote approved a sweeping proposal that would allow all Virginia localities to impose a local sales tax hike of up to 1%, with the revenue used only for the construction or renovation of schools once such a levy is approved in a voter referendum.
Under current law, only Charlotte, Gloucester, Halifax, Henry, Mecklenburg, Northampton, Patrick and Pittsylvania counties and the city of Danville are authorized to impose a local sales tax increase, should voters approve it in a referendum.
But HB 805, sponsored by Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, which had previously cleared the House by 69-28, would extend the same opportunity to all localities in the commonwealth.
‘Skill’ games
Both chambers of the legislature backed legislation that would establish a regulatory framework and tax structure for “skill” games, benefiting small businesses and generating an estimated $200 million in tax revenue for the commonwealth.
SB 212, sponsored by Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, and Sen. Timmy French, R-Frederick County, among others, passed in the Senate by 32-8 and in the House by 51-45. The House passed the companion measure, HB 590, last month, also on a bipartisan 65-34 vote, followed by a unanimous vote in the Senate.
Tax code
The General Assembly passed legislation that would count “heated tobacco products” sold in Virginia as cigarettes, assuring that the commonwealth will continue to benefit from the millions of dollars that have been pouring into the state after a nationwide settlement with tobacco companies in the 1990s.
Carried by Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, HB 1099 was introduced on behalf of the Office of the Attorney General. It would classify these products as cigarettes to ensure Virginia’s continued compliance with the Master Settlement Agreement, under which the state receives about $140 million each year from tobacco companies to fund economic development projects and public health initiatives.
The proposal advanced in the state Senate on a unanimous vote last month clearing the House of Delegates by a vote of 89-9.
Miscellaneous bills
The Senate in January unanimously passed SB 26 by Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, which would allow drinking alcohol at campgrounds on private property, and the measure cleared the House by 91-5 vote last week.
It might also be easier to claim roadkill for dinner after the Senate by a 37-3 vote passed HB 1025. The legislation, sponsored by Del. Tony Wilt, R-Rockingham County, would allow anyone who finds a bear, deer, elk or turkey dead on the roadway to claim the animal, with certain requirements. Current law only allows the driver of the vehicle that killed the animal to claim it, and limits those animals to bear and deer.
Bills with implications unique to Southwest and Southside
The Senate last week by 38-1 passed HB 1511 by Del. Eric Phillips, R-Henry County, that would require Martinsville to hold a referendum before any reversion to town status can be approved. The measure had previously cleared the House with unanimous approval.
A measure that would change the way the Virginia Brownfield and Coal Mine Renewable Energy Grant Fund and Program can allocate money is headed to the governor’s desk. SB 25, sponsored by Sen. Travis Hackworth, R-Tazewell County, cleared the House 93-6 last month. Under current law, the fund is prohibited from allocating money unless there are federal funds available to cover the cost. Hackworth’s bill would eliminate that provision.
A bill to study whether to create a Secretary for Rural Affairs was continued until next year. SJ 21 by state Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, passed the Senate without opposition and was approved 17-0 by the House Rules Committee, but the House Appropriations Committee decided to put off consideration until 2025. A similar measure, HJ 32, by Del. Israel O’Quinn, R-Washington County, was also delayed until 2025. Both bills had risen out of a law review article by University of Virginia Anthony Block and then-law student Antonella Nichols making the case for such a position.