Here are some of the bills involving legislators from Southwest and Southside that were acted on Friday in the General Assembly. You can look up all the bills before the legislature and their status here: https://lis.virginia.gov/home.
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House committee rejects study into expanding VCU dental school
The House of Delegates Higher Education Subcommittee voted down a bill by Del. Eric Phillips, R-Henry County, on the table that would have launched a study into the possibility of expanding Virginia Commonwealth University’s Dental School into the southern part of the state.
“Southern Virginia, rural Virginia, frankly most of Virginia, faces a severe dental provider shortage,” Phillips said in his presentation to the committee ahead of the 6-4 vote against the measure, HB 2778.
He noted that there are counties in rural Virginia that have no dentists. According to a 2021 study, there are 4.6 dentists per 10,000 residents statewide, with lower ratios in rural counties, he said.
The initiative is meant to complement and not compete with VCU’s Richmond campus, Phillips said. The study was estimated to have cost $75,000 if it were to be completed.
Matt Conrad, a VCU spokesperson, said that when the companion bill was presented in the Senate last week, the patron, Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, referenced using the study as potential means of not pursuing replacement of existing facilities on the university’s Richmond campus.
Stanley’s bill was reported from the Senate Rules Committee and re-referred to the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee on Friday through a unanimous vote.
“We very much need to prioritize the facilities here in the city of Richmond,” Conrad said on Monday.
He noted that the university does see the need for increased access to dental health care services in rural and underserved urban areas, and would be open to exploring other opportunities to bring services to rural Virginia.
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McNamara tries to eliminate sales tax on food and personal hygiene products, effort fails
A bill introduced by Del. Joe McNamara, R-Roanoke County, to reduce the remainder of Virginia’s food tax, was killed in a subcommittee Monday.
“We currently have a 1% food tax. I know we all have an interest in making life more affordable for our citizens,” McNamara said during his presentation of HB 2006 to the House of Delegates Finance subcommittee Monday morning.
He noted that Virginia is one of about eight states that still has a food tax in place.
McNamara said that his effort would have a fiscal impact on the state but asked that the bill be kept alive for consideration by the Appropriations Committee.
Supporters of the bill noted that the tax is regressive, which means lower income people spend a greater percentage of their income on the tax and feel more acutely the effects of inflation. Opponents of the bill argued that localities would lose revenue or rely on the state to provide replacement revenue.
His bill did not receive a motion, effectively killing it.
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McNamara tries to establish a maximum tax rate on prepared meals and beverages, measure dies
A bill patroned by Del. Joe McNamara, R-Roanoke County, that would cap the tax rate for prepared meals and beverages at 4% was killed in subcommittee Monday morning.
Currently, he said, there are localities that have a 10% tax rate on meals and beverages. He pointed to Bristol, specifically.
“We have some of the highest tax rates in the country,” he said.
His bill, HB 2004, required that if a tax rate is above 4%, it should go to referendums to allow voters to determine what the rate should be.
Supporters of the bill argued that both restaurants and consumers are feeling an economic squeeze, and that in localities with high tax rates, the localities at times make more money off of restaurant transactions than the restaurant does. Opponents of the bill argued that the tax allows for a reduction in reliance on property tax by localities, that the status quo is the best way to maintain diversified tax revenue and that to reduce the tax could result in a decrease in tax revenue of tens of millions of dollars.
McNamara’s bill did not receive a motion, effectively killing it.
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Senate Finance OKs incentive bill for Microporous construction at the Berry Hill Megasite
A bill that would create a new lithium-ion battery manufacturing grant fund to support the Microporous plant that is slated for construction at the Berry Hill Megasite in Pittsylvania County, patroned by Sen. Tammy Mulchi, R-Mecklenburg County, was successfully reported from the Senate Finance Committee on Monday morning.
The bill, SB 1207, would create a fund of roughly $60 million that would be paid out in multiple installments between 2026 and 2045. It was reported from the committee after its companion bill in the House successfully made it out of committee on Wednesday.
