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President's Message
Wednesday, February 17th marked crossover at the General Assembly, the halfway point after which each house may only hear bills that originated in the other. This week, we wanted to provide you with an update on some of the big items we've been tracking this session--you can find this full update below.
The House and Senate are expected to unveil their budgets this weekend. Our team will be evaluating what is included and we'll provide you with an update on the budget next week.
As always, you can find our Bills We're Watching on our website at www.vachamber.com.
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Bills We're Watching
Our bill tracking system, "Bills We're Watching," provides a quick and easy way for our members to stay abreast of all legislation pertinent to business. Short, concise summaries of each bill are provided along with the Chamber's "thumbs-up" or "thumbs-down" position.
Click on the image above to view Bills We're Watching. |
Crossover Update
Wednesday marked crossover at the General Assembly, the halfway point after which each house may only hear bills that originated in the other.
Budget discussions will ramp up in the next few weeks, and we'll be keeping an eye on some big-ticket items, including investments in education and workforce development, additional funding for Dulles International Airport and the Port of Virginia, funding for GO Virginia and enhancing the R&D tax credit, to name a few.
Pro-Business Legislation lives on:
Workforce Training--HB66/SB576 establish the New Economy Workforce Credential Grant Fund and Program. This is a paradigm shift in the way we incentivize workforce training. Through industry-credential attainment for high-demand occupations at community colleges and higher education centers, the funds for the program will be exclusively for non-credit workforce training programs leading to industry-recognized credentials of high-demand occupations. Both of these bills have passed their house of origin and now cross over.
Right to Work--A constitutional amendment (HJ2) to put Virginia's 'Right to Work' laws into the constitution has passed both the House and the Senate and will now go to voters this fall. Virginia's current law states that an individual cannot be denied employment for refusing to join a labor union, but including right to work in the Constitution solidifies this important pro-business policy.
Regulatory Reform--The skills gap keeps the economy from growing, employers from hiring, and people from improving their prospects. HB499 helps ensure that the state is regulating professions and organizations in the least restrictive way. The bill has passed the House and now moves to the Senate for approval.
GO Virginia--A business led initative to foster regional collaboration among businesses, government and education leaders to help achieve shared economic goals.- HB834/SB449 establishes the Growth and Opportunity Board, the framework for local regional boards, and the "GO! Grant" program to provide start-up funding for innovative and transformational projects to boost private sector growth. Both of these bills passed their house of origination and now cross over to the other.
- HB846/SB459 create the Virginia Collaborative Economic Development Performance Grant Fund, which incentivizes localities to work together on economic development by allowing the participating localities to receive a portion of the tax revenues resulting from the collaboration. Both of these bills passed their house of origination and now cross over to the other.
Charter Schools--In 2015 the House and Senate passed SJ256, a constitutional amendment on charter schools. In Virginia, constitutional amendments must pass the General Assembly in two consecutive years and then be voted on statewide in order to be ratified. Therefore, two constitutional amendments on charter schools were introduced in 2016. SJ6, this year's Senate version, was unfortunately rejected by the Senate on February 15th with a vote of 19-21. However, the House has passed HJ1, which will now move over to the Senate. The House version will have to pass the Senate in order for the amendment to appear on the ballot this fall.
Virginia International Trade Corporation--With the vast majority of economic growth expected to occur outside the United States over the next several decades, Virginia must ensure that it implements and maintains innovative international trade programs in order to help our businesses grow and expand. HB 858 creates a public-private partnership that optimizes existing international trade development programs of the state with federal and local resources. The bill passed the House with a vote of 99-0 and now moves to the Senate.
Clean Power Plan, Requiring General Assembly Approval of Virginia's Plan--HB2/SB21 have both passed their respective house of origination and now cross over.
Prevailing Wage--HB1371 prevents a locality from enacting any policy that requires an employer within the locality to provide an employee with a wage or employment benefit that exceeds the requirements of state or federal law. The bill has passed the House and now moves to the Senate.
Anti-business Legislation Defeated
In "Bills We're Watching," The Virginia Chamber singled out 40 pieces of legislation that would have hurt Virginia's business climate in this legislative session. Our government affairs and public policy team has been working over the last several months to educate lawmakers on the effect these bills would have on businesses in Virginia. Thanks to that advocacy, 39 of those bills had been defeated at crossover, while the 40th was defeated in the House later in the week.
Raising the Punitive Damages Cap--SB111 would have raised Virginia's punitive damages cap to $500,000. Although the bill made it out of the Senate, the bill was defeated in the House this week. The Virginia Chamber led a coalition of business groups in opposing this bill.
Minimum Wage Increases--A host of bills to increase Virginia's minimum wage were introduced this session, but they have all been defeated.
Paid Sick Leave--HB7 would have made sick leave benefits mandatory for employers. The bill was defeated.
Business Records--HB743 would have required employers to open up their books to the Commissioner of Labor "upon request." The bill was defeated.
Anti-Pipeline Bills--The Virginia Chamber is supportive of an "all of the above" energy strategy, including expansion of Virginia's natural gas infrastructure. A number of bills were introduced that would make this process more difficult. They have all been defeated. |
Interested in International Expansion? Take Advantage of VITAL!
The Virginia Chamber is proud to partner with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership on VITAL, the Virginia International Trade Alliance. As a VITAL partner, our member companies have access to steeply discounted rates for international market research as well as international trade shows and international trade missions facilitated through VEDP.
Click below for more information:
If you or a company that you work with is interested in learning more about VITAL, please contact Samantha Quig, Deputy Director of Communications, at [email protected] or 804-237-1457.
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