Next Wednesday, April 15th, legislators will return to Richmond for the General Assembly's Veto Session to take action on bills that Governor McAuliffe amended or vetoed. Two bills that we supported during the 2015 session, HB1608 and HB2395 were vetoed. The bills would need a 2/3 majority vote to override the vetoes next week.

 

Since the General Assembly Session adjourned, we've been busy working on developing our 2015 Legislative Report Card. The Legislative Report Card analyzes the General Assembly's support for initiatives that will help move Virginia forward and provides analysis on each legislator's support for the business community's priorities as outlined in Blueprint Virginia. The Legislative Report Card will be released on May 7th at our 2015 Awards Recognition and 91st Annual Dinner. We hope that you will be able to join us.

 

We also are looking forward to a number of other upcoming events, including the Energy and Sustainability Conference next week on April 14th, the 2015 Fantastic 50 Awards Banquet on April 30th, and the Virginia Health Care Conference on June 4th. More details on our upcoming events can be found below. 

New Law Combines Dates of Sales Tax Holidays

 

Legislation enacted during the 2015 General Assembly and signed by Governor McAuliffe (SB 1319, Acts of Assembly, Chapter 382) combines the three existing sales tax holidays into one, three-day holiday in August.  As the legislation takes effect on July 1, 2015, it does not affect the May, 2015 hurricane preparedness holiday.

 

Virginia currently offers three "holiday" periods during which specified tangible personal property may be purchased exempt of the Retail Sales and Use Tax: a week-long exemption on hurricane preparedness items in May, a three-day exemption on school supplies and clothing in August, and a four-day exemption on items designated as Energy Star or WaterSense in October.

 

The legislation consolidates all three of these holidays into the same August weekend each year, beginning in 2015, but will not take effect until after the May, 2015 hurricane preparedness holiday.  As such, in 2015 only, there will be a hurricane preparedness holiday in May, followed by the consolidated three-day holiday in August for hurricane preparedness items, clothing, school supplies, and Energy Star and WaterSense items.

 

The May hurricane preparedness holiday will begin on Monday, May 25, 2015 and end on Sunday, May 31, 2015.  The August consolidated holiday will begin on Friday, August 7, 2015 and end on Sunday, August 9, 2015.  

The ACA's impact on businesses

 

A new survey by the Society of Human Resource Management released in March found about 14% of businesses have reduced part-time hours and another 6% plan to do so. Another 5% of companies already reduced or plan to reduce the total number of employees.

 

According to the survey, employers are reducing hours to avoid the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) employer mandate, which requires companies to provide health insurance to all workers that work 30 or more hours a week. The law's employer mandate went into effect this year for organizations with 100 or more full-time employees, requiring those companies to provide health insurance for 70% of their employees. That figure goes up to 95% in 2016 and all employees beyond that date. In 2016, the mandate will go into effect for businesses with 50-99 full-time employees.  

 

The survey found that 77% of companies faced higher health care plan costs this year compared to 2014 and 6% saw their costs decrease.

 

 

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Westfields Marriott Washington Dulles
 

The names of fifty of Virginia's fastest growing companies will be announced at the twentieth annual Virginia's Fantastic Fifty Banquet on April 30th at the beautiful Westfields Marriott in Chantilly.

Nearly 500 attendees are expected to attend the glittering ceremony as we salute the winners for their entrepreneurial success and contribution to Virginia's economic vitality.

The banquet is preceded by a large Networking Reception which connects the winning companies and sparks many new business deals.

The Virginia Fantastic 50 Awards is the only program that highlights 50 of Virginia's fastest growing companies on a statewide basis and is open to all types of businesses. The honor roll of winners is touted in the local and statewide media, providing well deserved publicity for their success.

  

Tickets: 

$125 (Individual)

$1225 (Table of 10) 

For hotel reservation information, please click here.