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From Senate Rules: “A Committee on Finance, 15 Senators, to consider matters concerning auditing; bills and resolutions for appropriations; the budget of the Commonwealth; claims; general and special revenues of the Commonwealth; all taxation and all matters concerning the expenditure of funds of the Commonwealth.”

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• VA Legislative Information Systems (LIS)

Subcommittees

Meets on: Friday at 8:00 a.m. in Subcommittee Room #1 5th Floor, Pocahontas Building

Members:   Creigh Deeds(Chair),  Janet Howell,   Emmett Hanger,  Mamie Locke,  Tommy Norment  Dick Saslaw

Capital Outlay

Meets on: Friday at 8:00 a.m. in Subcommittee Room #1 5th Floor, Pocahontas Building

Members:  Creigh Deeds (Chair), Janet Howell,  Emmett Hanger,
Mamie Locke,   Tommy Norment,  Dick Saslaw

Claims

Meets on: Meets on Monday at upon adjournment of full committee in Senate Room A, Pocahontas Building

Members:  John Edwards (Chair),  Louise Lucas,   Chap Petersen,   Jill Vogel

Economic Development and Natural Resources

Meets on: Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. in Subcommittee Room #1, 5th Floor, Pocahontas Building

Members: Dave Marsden (Chair),   Janet Howell,    Emmett Hanger,  Frank Ruff,  Dick Saslaw

General Government

Meets on: Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. in Leadership Conference Room, 6th Floor, Pocahontas Building

Members: Chap Petersen (Chair),   Adam Ebbin,  Mamie Locke,  Steve Newman,  Tommy Norment,   Jill Vogel

Health and Human Resources

Meets on: Monday at 4:00 p.m. in Subcommittee Room #1 5th Floor, Pocahontas Building

Members: Janet Howell (Chair),  George Barker,  Creigh Deeds,  Adam Ebbin,  John Edwards,  Emmett Hanger,  Jennifer McClellan,   Jill Vogel

Higher Education

Meets on: Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. in Subcommittee Room #1, 5th Floor, Pocahontas Building

Members: Mamie Locke (Chair),  Janet Howell,  John Edwards,  Tommy Norment,  Frank Ruff,  Dick Saslaw

K-12 Education

Meets on: Thursday at 3:00 p.m. in Subcommittee Room #1, 5th Floor, Pocahontas Building

Members: Dick Saslaw (Chair),  Janet Howell,  Jennifer McClellan,  Steve Newman,  Tommy Norment

Public Safety

Meets on: Meets on Monday at upon adjournment of full committee in Senate Room A, Pocahontas Building

Members: Louise Lucas (Chair),  Adam Ebbin,  John Edwards,  Dave Marsden,  Tommy Norment,  Chap Petersen,  Frank Ruff

Resources

Meets on: Meets on Monday at upon adjournment of full committee in Senate Room A, Pocahontas Building

Members: Janet Howell (Chair),  George Barker,  Jennifer McClellan,  Steve Newman,  Tommy Norment

Transportation

Meets on: Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. in Subcommittee Room #1, Pocahontas Building

Members:  George Barker (Chair),  Creigh Deeds,  Emmett Hanger,  Dave Marsden,  Jennifer McClellan,  Steve Newman,  Dick Saslaw

Bills

Bills reported out 

SB 1102 Personal care aides; DMAS shall establish an orientation program for certain aides. Requires the Department of Medical Assistance Services to establish an orientation program for all personal care aides who provide self-directed services through the Medicaid program.

SB 1103 Virginia Freedom of Information Act; Virginia Parole Board member votes.

SB 1104 Parole; notice and certification, monthly reports. Provides that the Department of Corrections shall release a prisoner no sooner than 21 business days after the date of notification by the Virginia Parole Board (the Board) to the appropriate attorney for the Commonwealth of the decision to grant parole.

SB 1105 Post-conviction relief; previously admitted scientific evidence, report. Provides that a person who was convicted of a felony offense, or who was adjudicated delinquent of an offense that would have been a felony offense if committed by an adult, may petition the Court of Appeals to have his conviction vacated.

SB 1106 Public School Assistance Fund and Program; created. Creates the Public School Assistance Fund and Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, for the purpose of providing grants to school boards to be used for the purposes of repairing or replacing the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electrical, or plumbing systems or the roofs of public elementary and secondary school buildings in the local school division, including financing costs for such repairs and replacements.

SB 1108 General district courts; jurisdictional limits. Increases from $25,000 to $50,000 the maximum civil jurisdictional limit of general district courts for civil actions for personal injury and wrongful death.

SB 1112 Research and development expenses; tax credit available against the bank franchise tax.

SB 1113 Communicating threats of death or bodily injury to a person with intent to intimidate; penalty. Provides that any person 18 years of age or older who communicates a threat in writing to another to kill or to do serious bodily injury to any other person and makes such threat is guilty of a Class 5 felony.

SB 1119 Law-enforcement agencies; body-worn camera systems. Creates a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Body-Worn Camera System Fund to assist state or local law-enforcement agencies with the costs of purchasing, operating, and maintaining body-worn camera systems.

SB 1125 Parole Board; notice of parole of prisoner to victim. Requires the Parole Board, within seven days of making any decision regarding the parole of a prisoner, to provide written or electronic notice of such decision to the victim of the crime for which the prisoner was incarcerated, unless the victim has submitted a written request to forgo such notice.

SB 1127 Charitable gaming; conduct of instant bingo, network bingo, pull tabs, and seal cards. The bill modifies the list of organizations that may conduct charitable gaming and requires such organizations to obtain a permit from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; however, the bill exempts certain organizations from the permit application and audit fees.

SB 1130 Personal property tax; exemption for motor vehicle of a 100 percent disabled veteran.

SB 1134 Refunding bonds; alters the principal and interest requirements. Alters the principal and interest requirements, maturity date, and allowable discount for previously issued refunding bonds.

SB 1145 Commonwealth of Virginia Higher Educational Institutions Bond Act of 2021; created.

SB 1146 Income tax, state; conformity with the Internal Revenue Code. Advances Virginia’s date of conformity with the Internal Revenue Code from December 31, 2019, to December 31, 2020.

SB 1147 Nurse Loan Repayment Program; certified nurse aide. Expands eligibility for the Nurse Loan Repayment Program to include certified nurse aides who meet criteria determined by the State Board of Health.

SB 1150 Military Spouse Liaison; position created in Department of Veterans Services, report.

SB 1155 Capital outlay plan; repeals existing six-year capital outlay for projects to be funded.

SB 1156 Technology Development Grant Fund; created.

B 1158 Port of Virginia tax credits; extends the sunset date. Extends the sunset for the international trade facility tax credit, the barge and rail usage tax credit, and the port volume increase tax credit from taxable years before January 1, 2022, to taxable years before January 1, 2025.

SB 1162 Tax credit; agricultural best management practices. Creates an enhanced individual and corporate income tax credit for taxable years 2021 through 2024 for the implementation of certain agricultural best management practices by the taxpayer that are required as part of a certified resource management plan.

SB 1163 Agricultural equipment; establishes a refundable individual and corporate income tax credit. Establishes for taxable years 2021 through 2024 a refundable individual and corporate income tax credit for 25 percent of expenditures, up to a maximum of $17,500, made for the purchase of conservation tillage and precision agriculture equipment certified by the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board.

SB 1165 Death penalty; abolition of current penalty.

SB 1170 Isle of Wight County; authorized to impose an additional local sales and use tax to support schools.

SB 1188 Virginia Agriculture Food Assistance Program and Fund; established and created.

SB 1193 Dairy Producer Margin Coverage Premium Assistance Program; established.

SB 1196 Teachers and other licensed school board employees; cultural competency. The bill requires teacher, principal, and division superintendent evaluations to include an evaluation of cultural competency.

SB 1197 Virginia housing opportunity; tax credit established.

SB 1201 Energy storage systems; definitions, tax exemption, revenue share for systems .Amends the definition of electric supplier to include certain battery storage facilities with a storage capacity greater than 25 megawatts and subjects such facilities to central assessment by the State Corporation Commission.

SB 1204 George Mason University; management agreement with the Commonwealth.

SB 1207 Solar and energy storage projects; siting agreements throughout the Commonwealth.

SB 1210 Permit fee schedules; DEQ to revise current schedule for nonhazardous solid waste mgmt. facilities.

SB 1211 Vehicle registration fees; imposes an additional fee to be deposited into Public Safety Trust Fund.

SB 1212 New River Valley Passenger Rail Station Authority; creation of authority in Planning District 4. Authorizes the creation of a regional passenger rail station authority in Planning District 4 to assist in the creation and maintenance of passenger rail in the region.

SB 1221 Loudoun County; operation of local health department.

SB 1226 Compensation Board; determining staffing and salaries for an attorney for the Commonwealth. Provides that the Compensation Board shall consider workload totals comprehensively, including the use of diversion programs and specialty dockets, when determining staffing and funding levels for an attorney for the Commonwealth and the office.

SB 1227 Hormonal contraceptives; payment of medical assistance for 12-month supply. Directs the Board of Medical Assistance Services to include in the state plan for medical assistance a provision for the payment of medical assistance for the dispensing or furnishing of up to a 12-month supply of hormonal contraceptives at one time for Medicaid and Family Access to Medical Insurance Security (FAMIS) enrollees.

SB 1250 Firearm rentals; criminal history record information check required, penalty. Provides that for the purposes of conducting a criminal history record information check for a firearm transfer, the term “rent” includes a temporary change in dominion or control of a firearm for use at or on the premises of a dealer’s business location in exchange for money or other consideration.

SB 1251 Virginia Retirement System; technical amendments.

SB 1252 Coal tax credits; sunset dates. Sunsets the Coal Employment and Production Incentive Tax Credit and Coalfield Employment Enhancement Tax Credit after tax year 2021 and prohibits the allocation of such credits on and after January 1, 2022.

SB 1254 Sports betting; clarifies certain procedures.Clarifies the types of events on which sports betting is allowed.

SB 1257 SOQ; school board to provide at least three specialized student support positions

SB 1258 Solar projects; erosion and sediment control. Requires any locality that does not operate a regulated MS4 and for which the Department did not administer a VSMP as of July 1, 2020.

SB 1261 Court of Appeals; expands jurisdiction, increases from 11 to 17 number of judges on Court.

SB 1262 Restricted permit; prepayment of fines and costs. Provides that any person who is otherwise eligible to receive a restricted permit to operate a motor vehicle shall not be required to pay in full his fines and costs before being issued such restricted permit.

SB 1275 Workers’ compensation; presumption of compensability for certain diseases. Provides that the occupational disease presumption for death caused by hypertension or heart disease will apply for salaried or volunteer emergency medical services personnel.

SB 1278 Charitable gaming; regulations of operators of Texas Hold’em poker games. Clarifies that the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (the Department) has specific authority to approve and regulate operators of both Texas Hold’em poker games and Texas Hold’em poker tournaments.

SB 1279 Veterans Services, Department of; initiatives to reduce unemployment among veterans.

SB 1282 Greenhouse gas emissions inventory; regulations. Directs the Department of Environmental Quality to conduct a statewide baseline and projection inventory of all greenhouse gas emissions and to update such inventory every four years.

SB 1284 Commonwealth Clean Energy Policy; established.

SB 1298 Tourism improvement districts; authorizes any locality to create. Authorizes any locality to create a local tourism improvement district plan, consisting of fees charged to businesses and used to fund tourism promotion activities and capital improvements.

SB 1300 Inmates; Board of Local and Regional Jails to review services provided during pregnancy, etc. Directs the Board of Local and Regional Jails (the Board), in consultation with a stakeholder work group, to (i) identify and analyze all obstetric and gynecological services and any other services provided by local and regional jails to inmates during pregnancy, pregnancy termination, labor and delivery, and postpartum recovery.

SB 1301 Correctional facilities; use of isolated confinement. Prohibits the use of isolated confinement in state correctional facilities and juvenile correctional centers, subject to certain exceptions.

SB 1302 Crisis Call Center Fund; created, consistency with federal guidelines.

SB 1305 Virginia Public Procurement Act; construction contracts, subcontractor workforce requirements. Requires all public bodies in a locality with a population in excess of 25,000 and covered institutions, defined in the bill, to include in every construction contract of more than $500,000 certain provisions related to the outsourcing of subcontracted work, which a contractor shall agree to during the performance of such contract.

SB 1307 School-based health services; Bd. of MAS to amend state plan for services to provide for payment. Directs the Board of Medical Assistance Services to amend the state plan for medical assistance services to provide for payment of medical assistance services delivered to Medicaid-eligible students when such services qualify for reimbursement by the Virginia Medicaid program.

SB 1310 Virginia Human Rights Act; application of laws applicable to employee safety and payment of wages. Provides that individuals who are engaged in providing domestic service are not excluded from employee protection laws and laws regarding the payment of wages.

SB 1313 Children’s Services Act; funds expended special education programs.

SB 1314 Education and Labor Market Alignment, Office of; established.

SB 1315 Criminal proceedings; consideration of mental condition & intellectual & developmental disabilities. Permits the admission of evidence offered by the defendant concerning a defendant’s mental condition at the time of an alleged offense, including expert testimony, is relevant, is not evidence concerning an ultimate issue of fact.

SB 1316 Child care providers; background checks, portability. Exempts prospective employees and volunteers of certain child care providers from statutory background check requirements where the individual completed a background check within the previous five years.

SB 1318 Interagency Environmental Justice Working Group; established, report.

SB 1321 Confirmatory adoption; expands the stepparent adoption provisions. Expands the stepparent adoption provisions to allow a person who is not the child’s stepparent but has a legitimate interest in the child to file a joint petition for adoption with the child’s birth parent or parent by adoption.

SB 1326 Local cigarette taxes; regional cigarette tax boards. States that it is the policy of the Commonwealth, where practical, to encourage local cigarette stamping and tax collection to be accomplished through regional cigarette tax boards, defined in the bill.

SB 1328 State-Funded Kinship Guardianship Assistance program; created.

SB 1333 Pharmaceutical processors; permits processors to produce & distribute cannabis products.

SB 1336 Restricted permits to operate a motor vehicle; ignition interlock systems. Provides that in any criminal case for reckless or improper driving where a defendant’s license to operate a motor vehicle, engine, or train is subject to revocation or suspension and the court orders a defendant, as a condition of probation or otherwise, to enter into and successfully complete an alcohol safety action program.

SB 1338 Telemedicine services; remote patient monitoring services. Requires the Board of Medical Assistance Services to include in the state plan for medical assistance services a provision for the payment of medical assistance for remote patient monitoring services provided via telemedicine.

SB 1339 Police and court records; expungement and sealing of records, Expungement Fee Fund created.

SB 1350 Transportation funding; statewide prioritization process, resiliency. Requires the Commonwealth Transportation Board to determine whether a project has been designed to be resilient when evaluating projects for the Six-Year Improvement Program and consider resiliency when establishing the Statewide Transportation Plan.

SB 1354 Chesapeake Bay; wastewater treatment, Enhanced Nutrient Removal Certainty Program established.

SB 1357 Through-year growth assessment system; Board of Education shall establish.

SB 1360 Virginia Human Rights Act; nondiscrimination in employment, sexual harassment. Clarifies, by defining sexual harassment and workplace harassment, what constitutes an unlawful employment practice if engaged in by an employer.

SB 1362 Employers; reporting outbreaks of COVID-19, effective clause. Requires that, upon determination that a worksite cluster of COVID-19 has occurred at a workplace with 50 or more employees, the Department of Health (the Department) shall make a report available to the public on a website maintained by the Department.

SB 1363 Local and Regional Jails, State Board of; membership, powers and duties, effective clause. Restores the authority of the State Board of Local and Regional Jails.

SB 1365 Data Governance and Analytics, Office of; created.

SB 1367 Line of Duty Act; Virginia licensed health practitioners required to conduct medical reviews.

SB 1375 Workers’ compensation; presumption of compensability for COVID-19. Establishes a presumption that COVID-19 causing the death or disability of firefighters, emergency medical services personnel, law-enforcement officers, and correctional officers is an occupational disease compensable under the Workers’ Compensation Act.

SB 1380 Electric utilities; electric school bus projects. Authorizes electric utilities to partner with school divisions to implement projects designed to encourage the proliferation of school buses that are fueled in whole or in part by electricity.

SB 1382 Firearms; purchase, etc., following conviction for assault and battery of a family member. Prohibits a person who has been convicted of assault and battery of a family or household member from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm.

SB 1387 Students; eligibility for in-state tuition. Provides that students who meet the criteria to be deemed eligible for in-state tuition regardless of their citizenship or immigration status shall be afforded the same educational benefits, including financial assistance programs administered by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

SB 1389 Real property; required disclosures for buyer to exercise due diligence, flood risk report. Requires the Real Estate Board (the Board) to make available on its website a flood risk information form, the details of which are outlined in the bill.

SB 1391 Pretrial data collection; VCSC to collect and disseminate on an annual basis. Requires the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission to collect and disseminate, on an annual basis, statewide and locality-level data related to adults charged with criminal offenses punishable by confinement in jail or a term of imprisonment.

SB 1392 Consumer Data Protection Act; establishes a framework for controlling and processing personal data. Establishes a framework for controlling and processing personal data in the Commonwealth.

SB 1395 Discrimination; prohibited in voting and elections administration, etc. Prohibits any voting qualification or any standard, practice, or procedure related to voting from being imposed or applied in a manner that results in the denial or abridgment of the right of any United States citizen to vote based on his race or color or membership in a language minority group.

SB 1396 Onsite Sewage Indemnification Fund; use of Fund for grants to certain property owners. Authorizes the State Board of Health to use the Onsite Sewage Indemnification Fund to provide grants and loans to property owners with income at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines to repair failing onsite sewage systems or install onsite sewage systems on properties that lack adequate sewage disposal.

SB 1398 Retail sales and transient occupancy taxes; room rentals. Provides that retail sales and hotel taxes on transient room rentals shall be computed on the basis of the total charges or the total price paid for the use or possession of the room.

SB 1401 Standards of Learning; reduces total number & type of required assessments to minimum requirements. Reduces the total number and type of required Standards of Learning assessments to the minimum requirements established by the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended.

SB 1402 Trout fishing in stocked waters; equalizes for residents and nonresidents requirements to fish.

SB 1403 Retail Sales and Use Tax; exemption for personal protective equipment.

SB 1405 Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back (G3) Fund and Program; established.

SB 1406 Marijuana; legalization of simple possession, penalties. Eliminates criminal penalties for simple possession of marijuana, modifies several other criminal penalties related to marijuana, and provides for an automatic expungement process for those convicted of certain marijuana-related crimes.

SB 1411 Peanuts; extends sunset date of excise tax on all peanuts grown in Virginia.

SB 1418 Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity Fund; grants, waiver or reduction of capital investment. Provides that, for grants from the Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity Fund, capital investment and local match requirements may be reduced or waived based on the creation of telework jobs that pay an average wage of at least 1.2 times the Virginia minimum wage.

SB 1423 Data centers; sales and use tax exemption, identifying a “distressed locality.”

SB 1425 Data centers; expands sales and use tax exemption. Provides that if a data center operator qualifies for the exemption in one locality and seeks to qualify in another, it shall be required to meet a reduced job creation requirement of 25 jobs for purposes of qualifying in the other locality.

SB 1428 Alcoholic beverage control; operation of government stores, sale of low alcohol beverage coolers. Prohibits the Board of Directors (the Board) of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority from selling in government stores low alcohol beverage coolers not manufactured by licensed distillers.

SB 1429 Southwestern Va. Mental Health Institute; Governor to lease a portion of property to Smyth County.

SB 1436 Eligible Health Care Provider Reserve Directory; established.

SB 1438 Combined transient occupancy and food and beverage tax; technical amendments.

SB 1442 Public defender office; establishes an office for the County of Chesterfield.

SB 1443 Mandatory minimum sentences; elimination, modification of sentence to mandatory minimum term. Eliminates all mandatory minimum sentences of confinement from the Code of Virginia.

SB 1461 Bribery in correctional facilities; penalty. Provides that any person who (i) offers, confers, or agrees to confer upon another any pecuniary benefit as consideration for the recipient to act in the unlawful delivery of items or contraband to prisoners or (ii) receives any pecuniary benefit or other consideration to act in in the unlawful delivery of items or contraband to prisoners shall be guilty of bribery, punishable as a Class 4 felony.

SB 1462 Virginia Digital Equity Pilot Program and Fund; established, report, sunset date.

SB 1465 Illegal gambling; skill games, definitions, enforcement by localities and Attorney General. Provides that any person who conducts, finances, manages, supervises, directs, or owns a gambling device that is located in an unregulated location is subject to a civil penalty of up to $25,000.

SB 1469 Opioid Abatement Authority; established, Fund created, report, membership.

SB 1471 Alcoholic beverage control; local special events license, taxes and fees. Allows the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority to increase the frequency, duration, and designated area of events held under a local special events license upon the request of a locality after adoption of an ordinance allowing such increases.

Bills Passed

SB 1112 Research and development expenses; tax credit available against the bank franchise tax. Research and development tax credits. Provides that the research and development expenses tax credit and the major research and development expenses tax credit shall be available against the bank franchise tax for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2021. Under current law, the credits are available only against the individual and corporate income tax. This bill is identical to HB 1916.

SB 1130 Personal property tax; exemption for motor vehicle of a 100 percent disabled veteran. Personal property tax exemption; motor vehicle of a disabled veteran. Provides that one motor vehicle of a veteran who has a 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability shall be exempt from local taxes. This bill is the enabling legislation for a constitutional amendment ratified by the voters of the Commonwealth at the November 2020 general election.

SB 1134 Refunding bonds; alters the principal and interest requirements. Refunding bonds; emergency. Alters the principal and interest requirements, maturity date, and allowable discount for previously issued refunding bonds. The bill contains an emergency clause and has an expiration date of June 30, 2023. This bill is identical to HB 2179.

SB 1145 Commonwealth of Virginia Higher Educational Institutions Bond Act of 2021; created. Bonds for public institutions of higher learning; emergency. Authorizes issuance of bonds in an amount up to $34,136,000 for revenue-producing capital projects at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The bill contains an emergency clause and is identical to HB 2178.

SB 1146 Income tax, state; conformity with the Internal Revenue Code. Conformity of the Commonwealth’s taxation system with the Internal Revenue Code. Advances Virginia’s date of conformity with the Internal Revenue Code from December 31, 2019, to December 31, 2020. The bill deconforms from the suspension of the overall limitation on itemized deductions and the reduction in the medical expense deduction floor for taxable year 2017 and taxable years on and after January 1, 2019, and from the provisions of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) related to the net operating loss limitation and carryback, a loss limitation applicable to taxpayers other than corporations, the limitation on business interest, and certain loan forgiveness and other business financial assistance. The bill provides an individual and corporate income tax deduction or subtraction, as applicable, of up to $100,000 for Rebuild Virginia grants and certain amounts related to Paycheck Protection Program loans.

SB 1254 Sports betting; clarifies certain procedures. Sports betting; technical amendments. Clarifies the types of events on which sports betting is allowed. The bill clarifies that a permit issued to a casino operator shall not count toward the maximum of 12 permits that the Director of the Virginia Lottery can issue and makes technical amendments related to the interaction between sports betting law and casino gaming law.

SB 1155 Capital outlay plan; repeals existing six-year capital outlay for projects to be funded. Capital outlay plan. Updates the six-year capital outlay plan for projects to be funded entirely or partially from general fund-supported resources. This bill is identical to HB 2177.

SB 1156 Technology Development Grant Fund; created. Technology Development Grant Fund created. Creates the Technology Development Grant Fund to make grant payments to a qualified technology company that makes a capital investment of at least $64 million at a facility in Fairfax County and creates at least 1,500 new full-time jobs at the facility. A qualified technology company would be eligible for an aggregate of $22.5 million in grants paid over four years if it meets performance parameters and complies with the terms of a memorandum of understanding agreed upon by the company, the Commonwealth, and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority.

SB 1158 Port of Virginia tax credits; extends the sunset date. Port of Virginia tax credits; sunset. Extends the sunset for the international trade facility tax credit, the barge and rail usage tax credit, and the port volume increase tax credit from taxable years before January 1, 2022, to taxable years before January 1, 2025.

SB 1162 Tax credit; agricultural best management practices. Tax credit; agricultural best management practices. Creates an enhanced individual and corporate income tax credit for taxable years 2021 through 2024 for the implementation of certain agricultural best management practices by the taxpayer that are required as part of a certified resource management plan. The enhanced tax credit is equal to 50 percent of the first $100,000 expended in implementing certain agricultural best management practices, and each amount shall be consistent with the rate offered for each eligible practice under the Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost-Share Program. The bill retains a tax credit for 25 percent of expenses made for all other agricultural best management practices that are not eligible for the enhanced credit rate but increases the maximum amount of expenses to which one can apply the 25 percent credit from $70,000 to $100,000. A taxpayer may not claim credit for the same practice in the same management area under both the 25 percent and enhanced 75 percent credits. The aggregate amount of credit claimed per taxpayer shall not exceed $75,000 per year, and the aggregate amount of individual and corporate credits claimed among all taxpayers and credits shall not exceed $2 million per year. The bill sunsets the existing agricultural best management practices tax credits after taxable year 2024. This bill is identical to HB 1763.

SB 1163 Agricultural equipment; establishes a refundable individual and corporate income tax credit. Tax credits of agricultural equipment. Establishes for taxable years 2021 through 2025 a refundable individual and corporate income tax credit for 25 percent of expenditures, up to a maximum of $17,500, made for the purchase of conservation tillage and precision agriculture equipment certified by the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board as reducing soil compaction or improving precision of pesticide and fertilizer application or injection. The bill expires the existing individual and corporate income tax credits for conservation tillage equipment and purchase of advanced technology pesticide and fertilizer application equipment after taxable year 2020. Under current law, an individual or corporate taxpayer is allowed nonrefundable credits of up to $4,000 for conservation tillage equipment purchases and up to $3,750 for advanced technology pesticide and fertilizer application equipment purchases, which credits may be carried over for five years.

SB 1197 Virginia housing opportunity; tax credit established. Virginia housing opportunity tax credit. Establishes, starting in taxable year 2021, a Virginia housing opportunity tax credit, which is equal to the amount of the federal low-income housing tax credit allocated or allowed by the Virginia Housing Development Authority to a low-income building that is eligible for the federal credit. The credit would be nonrefundable and could be carried forward for up to five years.

SB 1201 Energy storage systems; definitions, tax exemption, revenue share for systems. Tax exemptions for energy storage systems. Declares that energy storage systems are included in the definition of certified pollution control equipment and facilities, making energy storage systems exempt from state and local taxation. The bill defines “energy storage system” as equipment, facilities, or devices that are capable of absorbing energy, storing it for a period of time, and redelivering that energy after it has been stored. The tax exemption applies only to certain projects with alternating current (AC) storage capacity of more than five megawatts and less than 150 megawatts. The bill also allows localities to assess a revenue share of up to $1400 per megawatt on energy storage systems. The bill provides that on July 1, 2026, and every five years thereafter, the maximum amount of the revenue share that a locality may impose on energy storage systems as well as certain solar energy projects shall be increased by 10 percent. No increase may be made to any revenue share imposed by a locality on a solar energy project or energy storage systems for which an application has been filed with the locality and such application has been approved prior to January 1, 2021. The bill defines energy storage systems as electric suppliers whose property shall be assessed by the State Corporation Commission. This bill is identical to HB 2006.

SB 1204 George Mason University; management agreement with the Commonwealth. George Mason University; management agreement. Provides a management agreement between the Commonwealth and George Mason University pursuant to the Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act (§ 23.1-1000 et seq.). This bill is identical to HB 1986.

SB 1251 Virginia Retirement System; technical amendments. Virginia Retirement System; technical amendments. Makes technical amendments to provisions of the Code of Virginia relating to the Virginia Retirement System to reflect recent changes to federal law and conform terminology to federal law. This bill is identical to HB 2181.

SB 1252 Coal tax credits; sunset dates. Sunset of coal tax credits. Sunsets the Coal Employment and Production Incentive Tax Credit and Coalfield Employment Enhancement Tax Credit after tax year 2021 and prohibits the allocation of such credits on and after January 1, 2022. The bill provides that if Coal Employment and Production Incentive tax credits were earned prior to January 1, 2022, the credit holder may claim the credits in subsequent tax years pursuant to the applicable carryover requirements of current law; however, such credit holders would be limited to claiming $1 million in carryover credits per taxable year. The bill directs the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy to convene a stakeholder process to report by December 1, 2021, on recommendations for how the Commonwealth can provide economic transition support to the coalfield region. This bill is identical to HB 1899.

SB 1326 Local cigarette taxes; regional cigarette tax boards. Local cigarette taxes; regional cigarette tax boards. States that it is the policy of the Commonwealth, where practical, to encourage local cigarette stamping and tax collection to be accomplished through regional cigarette tax boards, defined in the bill. The bill directs the Department of Taxation to establish a task force to develop methods for modernizing the local cigarette tax collection system and provide assistance as appropriate to localities seeking to form new regional cigarette tax boards.

SB 1398 Retail sales and transient occupancy taxes; room rentals. Retail sales and transient occupancy taxes on room rentals. Provides that retail sales and hotel taxes on transient room rentals shall be computed on the basis of the total charges or the total price paid for the use or possession of the room. For those cases in which a hotel or similar establishment contracts with an intermediary to facilitate the sale of the room and the intermediary charges the customer for the room and such facilitation efforts, the bill requires the intermediary to separately state the taxes on the bill or invoice provided to the customer and to collect the taxes based upon the total charges or the total price paid for the use or possession of the room. The bill requires an amount equal to the estimated state sales tax revenue generated from the tax on accommodations fees to be appropriated to the Virginia Tourism Authority each fiscal year to be used for promoting tourism.

SB 1403 Retail Sales and Use Tax; exemption for personal protective equipment. Sales tax; exemption for personal protective equipment; emergency. Establishes a retail sales and use tax exemption for personal protective equipment, defined in the bill. The exemption is available to any business that has in place a COVID-19 safety protocol that complies with the Emergency Temporary Standard promulgated by the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry and that meets other criteria. The exemption sunsets on the first day following the expiration of the last executive order issued by the Governor related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the termination of the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard and any permanent COVID-19 regulations adopted by the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board. The bill contains an emergency clause and is identical to HB 2185.

SB 1423 Data centers; sales and use tax exemption, identifying a “distressed locality.” Sales and use tax exemption for data centers. Reduces the job creation requirement to qualify for the sales and use tax exemption for data centers in a distressed locality from 25 to 15 jobs. Under current law, such data centers must create at least 25 new jobs. The bill also redefines what criteria are used to identify a distressed locality; under the bill, a locality qualifies as distressed if it has an unemployment rate that is greater than the statewide unemployment rate and a poverty rate that exceeds the statewide poverty rate. The bill requires all data centers claiming the exemption to report certain information to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority (the Authority). The Department of Taxation, in collaboration with the Authority, would aggregate and publish such information biennially.

SB 1438 Combined transient occupancy and food and beverage tax; technical amendments. Combined transient occupancy and food and beverage tax; technical amendments. Provides that, for purposes of the combined transient occupancy and food and beverage tax that is currently authorized for Rappahannock and Madison Counties, the rate limit for such tax shall be the same as if the two taxes were imposed separately. The bill also eliminates the referendum requirement for the food and beverage component of the combined tax, consistent with Chapters 1214 and 1263 of the Acts of Assembly of 2020, which eliminated the referendum requirement for the food and beverage tax generally.

Commissions & Boards

Joint Subcommittee on the Future Competitiveness of Virginia, Higher Education

Source: Webpage

The Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees shall each appoint four members from their respective committees to a Joint Subcommittee on the Future Competitiveness of Virginia Higher Education to (a) review ways to maintain and improve the quality of higher education, while providing for broad access and affordability; (b) examine the impact of financial, demographic, and competitive changes on the sustainability of individual institutions and the system as a whole; (c) identify best practices to make the system more efficient, including shared services, institutional flexibility, and easily accessible academic pathways; (d) evaluate the use of distance education and online instruction across the Commonwealth and appropriate business models for such programs; (e) review current need-based financial aid programs and alternative models to best provide for student affordability and completion; (f) review the recommendations of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission on the study of the cost efficiency of higher education institutions and make recommendations to their respective committees on the implementation of those recommendations; (g) study the effectiveness and value of transfer students; (h) evaluate the effectiveness of dual enrollment in reducing the cost of higher education; and (i) study the effectiveness of preparing teachers to enter the K-12 system.

Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission

Source: Webpage

The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) is a key component of the legislative oversight function in Virginia. Legislative oversight is an important part of government accountability. It is how the Virginia General Assembly ensures that the funds it has appropriated are used effectively and efficiently by state and local agencies. Legislative oversight is also how the General Assembly assesses the performance of the agencies and programs it creates.

Auditor of Public Accounts (APA)

Source: Website

The Auditor of Public Accounts (APA) is the legislative external auditor for the Commonwealth of Virginia’s agencies, colleges, universities and municipal courts.

Governor’s Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates

Source: Webpage

Review revenue estimates with respect to economic assumptions and the general climate of the Commonwealth.

Joint Subcommittee on Local Government Fiscal Stress

Source: Webpage

The goals and objectives of the Joint Subcommittee will be to review (i) savings opportunities from increased regional cooperation and consolidation of services, including by jointly operating or merging small school divisions; (ii) local responsibilities for service delivery of state-mandated or high priority programs, (iii) causes of fiscal stress among local governments, (iv) potential financial incentives and other governmental reforms to encourage increased regional cooperation; and (v) the different taxing authorities of cities and counties.

Joint Subcommittee to Evaluate Tax Preferences

Source: Webpage

To oversee the evaluation of Virginia’s tax preferences, including but not limited to tax credits, deductions, subtractions, exemptions, and exclusions.

Board of Trustees Veterans Services Foundation

Source: Webpage

The Foundation shall (i) administer the Veterans Services Fund (the Fund), (ii) provide funding for veterans services and programs in the Commonwealth through the Fund, and (iii) raise revenue from all sources including private source fundraising to support the Fund.