General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2006>General Assembly

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General Assembly

Passed

P HB65

Commission on Unemployment Compensation. Repeals the expiration date of the Commission on Unemployment Compensation. This bill is identical to SB 79.
Patron - Purkey

P HB542

General Assembly and State and Local Government Conflict of Interest Act. Makes several amendments so the General Assembly and State and Local Government Conflict of Interest Acts include (i) clarifying that individual stocks and amounts should be listed, (ii) requiring net rather than gross amounts regarding disclosure of business interests, (iii) requiring disclosure of previously deferred compensation when the filer has begun to receive such compensation, (iv) requiring disclosure of payments made by a filer to a lobbyist for representation, (v) adding definitions for "deferred compensation," "deferred compensation plan," and "contingent liability," and (vi) revising the definition of "close financial association." The bill also provides an extension for filing deadlines under the Acts that may fall on a weekend or a legal holiday. The bill is the recommendation of the HJR 186 (2004) Joint Subcommittee Studying Conflicts of Interests and Lobbyist Disclosure Filings.
Patron - Griffith

P HB614

Special Advisory Commission on Mandated Health Insurance Benefits; staffing. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to provide staff assistance to the Special Advisory Commission on Mandated Health Insurance Benefits. JLARC would join the State Corporation Commission's Bureau of Insurance and the Health Department in staffing the Special Advisory Commission. JLARC is charged with assessing, analyzing, and evaluating the social and economic costs and benefits of any proposed mandated health insurance benefit or mandated provider, and reporting its findings to the Special Advisory Commission.
Patron - O'Bannon

P HB788

Joint Commission on Health Care. Extends the sunset provision for the Joint Commission on Health Care for three years, to July 1, 2010.
Patron - Morgan

P HB885

National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL). Provides that the Director of the Division of Legislative Services is a Commissioner rather than an Associate Commissioner as currently provided under NCCUSL's Constitution.
Patron - Griffith

P HB886

Duties of the Division of Legislative Services and the Division of Legislative Automated Systems. Moves from DLS to DLAS the responsibility for the preparation and publication of the annual liaison booklet designating information officers of state departments, agencies, boards, and commissions.
Patron - Griffith

P HB1074

General Assembly; additional compensation. Clarifies that members of the General Assembly are not entitled to receive additional compensation for attending meetings of boards, commissions, and other bodies when the General Assembly is in active session. In addition, when a house has a pro forma session, members who attend meetings held in the buildings on Capitol Square will not be entitled to additional compensation. They will be expected to attend the session to receive the session per diem.
Patron - Dudley

P HB1178

General Assembly; Senate and House Committees on Standards of Conduct. Provides that membership of the Committee on Standards of Conduct of the House and Senate Rules Committees will be determined by the rules of each house. This bill incorporates HB 1142.
Patron - Rapp

P HB1233

Manufacturing Development Commission. Establishes the Manufacturing Development Commission as a legislative commission to assess the manufacturing needs in the Commonwealth and formulate legislative and regulatory remedies to ensure the future of the manufacturing sector in Virginia. The bill also provides that the Secretary of Commerce and Trade serve ex officio. The provisions of this act expire on July 1, 2009. In addition, if the Commission is not funded during its first year of study, the Joint Rules Committee must approve its expenses. However, if the Commission is not funded for any year thereafter, the provisions of this act shall expire July 1 of the fiscal year that the Commission fails to receive funding. This bill is identical to SB 261.
Patron - Purkey

P HB1440

Virginia Sesquicentennial American Civil War Commission. Establishes the Virginia Sesquicentennial American Civil War Commission to prepare for and commemorate the 150th anniversary of Virginia's participation in the American Civil War.
Patron - Howell, W.J.

P SB19

Administrative Law Advisory Committee. This bill provides that the chairman of the Administrative Law Advisory Committee may be a member of and must be appointed by the Virginia Code Commission. Other amendments to the bill allow, rather than require, the representation from certain entities and limits the total membership of the Advisory Committee to 12 members.
Patron - Mims

P SB79

Commission on Unemployment Compensation. Repeals the expiration date of the Commission on Unemployment Compensation. This bill is identical to HB 65.
Patron - Watkins

P SB261

Manufacturing Development Commission. Establishes the Manufacturing Development Commission as a legislative study commission. The Commission will be responsible for assessing manufacturing needs and formulating legislative and regulatory remedies to ensure the future of the manufacturing sector in Virginia. The Commission will expire July 1, 2009. This bill is identical to HB 1233.
Patron - Wagner

P SB438

Joint Commission on Health Care. Extends the sunset provision for the Joint Commission on Health Care to July 1, 2010, allowing the Commission to continue for another three years.
Patron - Lambert

P SB443

Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Program and Fund; penalty. Strengthens and modifies the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Program and Fund to accomplish the purposes of the Program more effectively and efficiently. This bill enhances and increases educational opportunities for eligible persons by adding certain career and technical education postsecondary schools in the Commonwealth and the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) to the list of approved education programs in which recipients may enroll. This bill also (i) provides that awards may be used to cover the costs of textbooks for approved education programs; (ii) clarifies the duration of awards for career and technical education and training programs, and CLEP; (iii) authorizes the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Awards Committee to determine approved education programs to preserve the purpose for which the Program was created; (iv) exempts scholastic records, personally identifiable information, scholarship applications, confidential letters and statements, and certain other related information pertaining to applicants and recipients of scholarships awarded by the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Awards Committee, and deliberations of the Committee relating to the review and consideration of awards, scholarship renewal, setting the annual maximum scholarship award, and the cancellation, rescindment, or recovery of awards from FOIA; (v) provides definitions; (vi) authorizes the Awards Committee to cancel, rescind, and recover awards; (vii) allows students to take courses of a religious or theological nature to satisfy undergraduate elective requirements for a liberal arts nonreligious degree; (viii) requires applicants to sign acceptance forms, affirming the submitted information and agreeing to pursue the education program for which the award was given to its completion; (ix) establishes criteria for the renewal of awards; (x) requires education agencies to credit promptly student accounts after awards have been disbursed; and (xi) makes certain technical amendments. In addition, the second and third enactment clauses of Chapter 753 and Chapter 834 of the 2005 Acts of Assembly are repealed. The second enactment clause of these chapters permitted students enrolled in approved education programs upon the expiration of the Program to complete their course of study. The third enactment clauses of these chapters provided that the State Council of Higher Education must review and approve the application for renewal of scholarship awards to students who were enrolled in approved education programs upon the expiration of the Program. This bill is a recommendation of the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Awards Committee.
Patron - Lambert

P SB711

Commission on Electric Utility Restructuring. Authorizes the Commission on Electric Utility Restructuring to appoint persons who are not members of the Commission to any subcommittee that the Commission may establish. The measure also specifically authorizes the Commission to evaluate and assess the implications of the scheduled expiration of capped rates.
Patron - Norment

Failed

F HB7

General Assembly; introduction limits. Prohibits a member of the General Assembly from introducing more than a combined total of 12 bills, joint resolutions, and resolutions during any regular session of the General Assembly. Exceptions to this limitation include legislation that (i) commends, congratulates, or memorializes and is not referred to a standing committee under the rules of the respective house; (ii) relates to the administration of government and is introduced at the request of the Governor; (iii) involves the confirmation of gubernatorial or circuit court appointees or the election of judges or other officials by the General Assembly; and (iv) affects the procedures or schedule of the General Assembly. The provisions of the bill will expire on July 1, 2008.
Patron - Purkey

F HB687

General Assembly; office allowances. Provides an alternative office expense allowance arrangement for General Assembly members. Members may continue the present nonvouchered arrangement or change to an accountable plan within the meaning of the Internal Revenue Code regulations. Under the alternative plan, members will be required to substantiate their business expenditures on a quarterly basis and return any amount in excess of the substantiated expenses. The bill also provides a separate office equipment allowance not to exceed $2,000 during a two-year period. Members will be required to submit a voucher and accompanying receipts prior to receiving payment for equipment expenses. The Clerk of the House of Delegates and the Clerk of the Senate, under the direction of their respective Rules Committees, are required to establish policies in their houses regarding the transfer of office equipment purchased with the allowance to the Commonwealth when the equipment falls into disuse or the member leaves office. The Clerks must submit by November 1, 2006, the policies and forms needed to implement the bill to their respective Rules Committees for approval.
Patron - Brink

F HB740

Virginia Code Commission. States explicitly that the Code Commission is authorized to publish a renumbered code and delineates savings provisions to assure that references to prior and new code provisions are given effect. The bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Code Commission.
Patron - Landes

F HB837

Virginia Budget Office. Establishes in the legislative branch a Virginia Budget Office.
Patron - Frederick

F HB1052

Tax legislation; sunset date. Requires a sunset date on all taxation bills that add new taxes or increase tax rates.
Patron - Reid

F HB1142

General Assembly; Senate and House Committees on Standards of Conduct. Incorporates provisions of the rules of the Senate and the House of Delegates that relate to membership on the Rules Committee subcommittee on Standards of Conduct of each house. This bill was incorporated into HB 1178.
Patron - Cline

F HB1365

Joint Commission on Transportation Accountability. Creates the Joint Commission on Transportation Accountability to carry out close legislative oversight of state agencies with transportation responsibilities.
Patron - Wardrup

F HB1377

The Keep Our Promise Act of 2006. Reinstates the Personal Property Tax Relief Act of 1998 at 100 percent reimbursement for qualifying vehicles effective January 1, 2007.
Patron - Frederick

F HB1477

Bills that create or increase fees; consideration by House Finance Committee or Senate Finance Committee. Provides that the House Finance Committee and Senate Finance Committee, before considering any revenue bill that creates or increases a fee of the Commonwealth, may require a written report from the Department of Taxation that includes any or all of the following: (i) when the fee was first established; (ii) the dates and amounts by which the fee has increased over the past 10 years; (iii) the purpose for the revenue from the fee, and whether any amounts of such revenue have been spent for other purposes in the past 10 years; (iv) the total annual amount of revenues raised from the fee in each of the past 10 years; and (v) the estimated amount of revenues that will be generated by the proposed increase and the reason for the increase.
Patron - Lingamfelter

F SB20

First-day introduction of VRS bills; 2007 Code Project. Moves the requirement concerning the first-day introduction VRS bills into a separate section so that it may be placed with other similar sections that establish first-day introduction deadlines for certain types of bills. This is a recommendation of the Code Commission as part of the 2007 Code Project.
Patron - Mims

F SB174

Public-Private Transportation Act; Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act; guidelines; Public-Private Partnership Advisory Commission. Requires the review of the terms and conditions of interim or comprehensive agreements for qualifying projects under the Public-Private Transportation and Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Acts by the appropriating body before the final execution of such agreements by the responsible public entity. "Appropriating body" is defined in the bill as the body responsible for appropriating or authorizing funding for the project. The bill also requires specific provisions to be included in the guidelines that must be adopted by responsible public entities (RPE's) under each of the Acts. In addition, the bill establishes the Public-Private Partnership Advisory Commission to review the terms of the interim and comprehensive agreements prior to signing by state RPE's and to provide nonbinding, advisory opinions regarding the terms of such agreements.
Patron - Wampler

F SB208

Office of Children's Services Ombudsman. Creates, within the legislative branch, the Office of Children's Services Ombudsman. The mission of the office is to protect children and parents from harmful agency action or inaction; investigate the acts of state and local administrative agencies adversely affecting children; recommend appropriate changes toward the goals of safeguarding the rights of children and parents; and promote higher standards of competency, efficiency, and justice in the administration of child protection and child welfare laws. The office is to be headed by a Director appointed by the Joint Rules Committee. The bill also contains an exemption from the Freedom of Information Act for active investigations conducted by the office.
Patron - Edwards

F SB693

The Council on Capitol Square. Establishes a permanent council to operate, maintain, and preserve Capitol Square, which includes the State Capitol, the Executive Mansion, the Bell Tower, and the area surrounding the Capitol enclosed by the iron fence installed in 1818 and its extension. The council will have the sole authority to coordinate and approve any additions, improvements, or renovations and will oversee the state-appropriated funds for the operation, maintenance, and renovation of Capitol Square.
Patron - Norment

Carried Over

C HB954

Auditor of Public Accounts; powers. Provides that authorities, commissions, districts, or other political subdivisions, the members of whose governing body are not elected by popular vote, and any legal entity created by those bodies shall be subject to periodic external reviews in accordance with the provisions of the Legislative Program Review and Evaluation Act. The bill also authorizes the Auditor of Public Accounts or his legal representatives to examine the accounts and books of these entities at the request of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.
Patron - Joannou

C SB705

Joint Commission on State Government Programs. Creates the Joint Commission on State Government Programs as a legislative agency. The bill sets out the Commission's membership, terms, staffing, and powers and duties.
Patron - Stolle

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General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2006>General Assembly

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