AGENDA DATE: 7/15/2020
TITLE:
Title
Proposed 2021 Legislative Priorities
BODY
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Consider the Proposed 2021 Legislative Priorities
ITEM TYPE: Regular Action Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Richardson, Kamptner
PRESENTER (S): Greg Kamptner
LEGAL REVIEW: Yes
REVIEWED BY: Jeffrey B. Richardson
BACKGROUND: Each year the Board considers and approves its legislative priorities. The Board then meets with the County's local delegation from the General Assembly to discuss these priorities and submits them to the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission (TJPDC), the Virginia Association of Counties (VACo), and the Virginia Municipal League (VML). Other initiatives are sometimes added prior to the General Assembly session.
Attachment A is a summary of the bills adopted by the General Assembly in 2020 that may have the greatest interest to the Board, including those that were the Board's 2020 legislative priorities. Following is a brief summary of those Board priorities and how they fared:
* Allowing In-kind resources for volunteer firefighting and emergency service providers: HB 343/SB 465 adopted. See Attachment A, Section 8(B).
* Regulating carrying specified loaded weapons in public areas: Failed; alternative legislation in SB 35/HB 421 adopted. See Attachment A, Section 4(A).
* Local control of war monuments and memorials: SB 183/HB 1537 adopted. See Attachment A, Section 4(B).
* Equal taxing authority for counties: HB 785/SB 588 adopted to put counties closer on par with cities' taxing authority. See Attachment A, Section 10(A).
* Increasing the minimum tree canopy to be preserved during development: HB 1624 would have expanded current enabling authority and it was continued to 2021; another bill regarding preserving trees in Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas was adopted. See Attachment A, Section 3(B).
* Biscuit Run funding: A budget amendment would have provided $5,000,000 the first year and $5,000,000 the second year from t...
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