General Assembly

Passed

P HB840

Powers and duties of the Division of Capitol Police. Allows the Capitol Police to enter into contracts or agreements with other agencies or localities in the same manner as local governments as may be necessary to carry out the Division's law-enforcement duties.
Patron - Sherwood

P HB1391

Virginia Bicentennial of the American War of 1812 Commission. Establishes the Virginia Bicentennial of the American War of 1812 Commission to prepare for and commemorate the 200th anniversary of the war. Composed of 12 members, the Commission is authorized to plan commemorative events and activities, encourage research to promote historical literacy and understanding of the war, and support organizations throughout the state as they plan commemorative events. A special nonreverting fund is established to support the Commission's activities. The Commission expires July 1, 2015. This bill is identical to SB 383.
Patron - Cox

P HB1441

Duties of the Division of Legislative Services. Adds to the duties of the Division of Legislative Services the responsibility for providing an annual report to the General Assembly regarding the status of all reports, actions, or data collection required by legislation enacted by the General Assembly, except the appropriation act, or otherwise requested by the General Assembly of agencies and collegial bodies.
Patron - Orrock

P HB1529

Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Awards Committee. Clarifies that the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Awards Committee may reduce the scholarship award to any student to ensure that, when the award is added to other financial assistance received by the student, the award does not produce a total of financial assistance in excess of the annual costs of tuition, excluding fees and expenses, and textbooks. Currently, state law requires that the award shall not exceed these annual costs. This bill requires all approved educational agencies enrolling scholarship recipients and receiving award disbursements on the behalf of such students to notify the Committee and the State Council of Higher Education prior to the start of each term, regarding the total of other financial assistance received by such students. Also, technical amendments have been made to conform provisions pertaining to the dual enrollment of students to the established procedures, protocol, and requirements for dual enrollment of college level students as currently in effect in the Commonwealth. This bill is a recommendation of the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Awards Committee.
Patron - Abbitt

P SB383

Virginia Bicentennial of the American War of 1812 Commission. Establishes the Virginia Bicentennial of the American War of 1812 Commission to prepare for and commemorate the 200th anniversary of the war. The Commission is authorized to plan commemorative events and activities, encourage research to promote historical literacy and understanding of the war, and support organizations throughout the state as they plan commemorative events. A special nonreverting fund is established to support the Commission's activities. The Commission expires July 1, 2015. This bill is identical to HB 1391.
Patron - Martin

P SB464

Virginia Commission on Energy and Environment. Establishes the Virginia Commission on Energy and Environment as a legislative study commission to review and recommend steps to implement the Virginia Energy Plan. The Commission is charged, among other things, to (i) undertake studies and gather information and data, (ii) make recommendations as may be necessary to accomplish its purposes as set forth in the legislation, (iii) make special studies of and reports on measures to secure Virginia's energy future, (iv) establish advisory committees composed of persons with special expertise not represented by individuals serving on the Commission, (v) seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants or donations to enable the Commission to carry out its objectives, (vi) review and make recommendations on legislation affecting energy policy to the General Assembly, and (vii) report annually on its activities during the preceding year to the Governor and the General Assembly. This bill also incorporates SB 627, which proposed to establish a similar executive branch study commission.
Patron - Whipple

P SB749

Public-Private Partnership Advisory Commission. Corrects the staff support for the Commission to require that technical assistance will be provided by the Department of General Services. In addition, this bill requires that, prior to entering into negotiation of an interim or comprehensive agreement, a responsible public entity receiving detailed proposals from private entities for a qualifying project must also submit a copy of such agreement to the chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations and Finance, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, and the Director of the Department of General Services. Further, the responsible public entity must provide a copy of the proposed interim or comprehensive agreement, together with a report describing the extent to which the Commission's recommendations were addressed in the agreement, to the chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations and Finance, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, and the Director of the Department of General Services at least 30 days prior to the execution of the agreement.

Senate Bill 749 also contains technical amendments to delete duplicative language.
Patron - Stosch

Failed

F HB126

Reporting total new state government positions created. Directs the staff of the House Appropriations Committee to report to the members of the House of Delegates the total number of new positions created by appropriations acts each year, along with a cumulative total every second year.
Patron - Purkey

F HB201

Appropriation act and budget bills; searchable electronic copies. Requires the Auditor of Public Accounts to maintain on its website an electronic copy of the current appropriations act and any amendments thereto, and an electronic copy of any budget bill submitted for a new biennium, and all amendments thereto. The electronic copies shall be completely and easily searchable by the citizens of the Commonwealth using a commercial search engine. This bill is incorporated into HB 1360.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

F HB796

Commission on Climate Change. Establishes a Commission on Climate Change in the legislative branch of government with 11 members to develop a Climate Change Action Plan that: (i) characterizes the quantity and source of greenhouse gas emissions in the Commonwealth; (ii) identifies the potential impacts and effects of increasing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations on the state; (iii) identifies actions necessary to prepare for and mitigate the likely consequences of climate change; (iv) quantifies a greenhouse gas reduction target; (v) identifies and evaluates both state and regional climate action plans that address climate change and greenhouse gas emissions; and (vi) identifies economically viable programs, policies, and actions that are needed to meet state targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In its development of the Climate Change Action Plan, the Commission shall consider demand-side energy conservation by utilities and consumers; expanding renewable energy portfolios; rate decoupling; time-of-use pricing; mandatory energy efficiency measures; and transportation demand management. Wherever possible, the Commission shall examine opportunities to couple greenhouse gas reductions with economic development and other market based approaches to statewide greenhouse gas reductions. This bill incorporates HB 676.
Patron - Englin

F HB920

General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act; prohibited conduct concerning certain transactions and lobbyist relationships. Prohibits any legislator from voting on a bill or in any manner participating in a legislative transaction if the legislator's partner, agent, or other associate, or an entity with which the legislator is affiliated, receives compensation as a lobbyist with respect to that bill or transaction. Violations of the prohibition are subject the jurisdiction of the appropriate House or Senate Ethics Advisory Panel and to discipline under the Act.
Patron - Joannou

F HB963

Legislative efficiency review program. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to quadrennially review the operations of each house and all agencies in the legislative branch to develop recommendations for improving efficiency. The bill authorizes JLARC to contract for services to perform the review through a competitive procurement process that complies with the Virginia Public Procurement Act. The Commission is required to report to the General Assembly by the first day of the 2009 Regular Session, and thereafter, every four years.
Patron - Shannon

F HB1095

Virginia Commission on Bioscience and Biotechnology. Establishes the Virginia Commission on Bioscience and Biotechnology within the legislative branch of state government for the purpose of studying and advancing the development and enhancement of the biosciences and biotechnology in the Commonwealth, and reviewing and implementing appropriate and efficacious recommendations of recent state and national research investigations in these disciplines, including the Governor's Commission on Biotechnology. The Commission is also charged, among other things, to review, continue, and expand the work of the Governor's Commission on Biotechnology, and to develop a strategic plan that will foster bioscience and biotechnology research in the Commonwealth and establish Virginia as a national and global leader in the field.
Patron - Sickles

F HB1163

Information for state taxpayers. Requires the Auditor of Public accounts to add to the datatbase he is required to make available to citizens regarding the Commonwealth's expenditures and other information for the most recent ten fiscal years, an interactive program so that state taxpayers may input any amount of their state income and sales taxes and be provided information on how such amount has been apportioned in the current fiscal year and would have been apportioned in each of the previous ten fiscal years on the highest five categories of expenditures for the applicable year. This bill is incorporated into HB 1360.
Patron - Saxman

F SB525

Uranium mining. Establishes the Virginia Uranium Mining Commission, as a legislative branch advisory commission to assess the risks and benefits of developing uranium resources in Virginia.
Patron - Wagner

F SB787

Carried Over

C HB1238

Commonwealth Realignment Commission. Creates the Commonwealth Realignment Commission in the legislative branch of state government. The purpose of the Commission is to (i) review the operations of state agencies and state-funded programs with a view toward the reduction of nonessential programs and expenditures; (ii) examine and promote methods of providing a portion or all of select government-provided or government-produced programs and services through the private sector by a competitive contracting program; and (iii) advise the Governor and the General Assembly of the Commission's findings and recommendations. The Commission shall consist of 10 members of the House of Delegates appointed by the Speaker thereof, of whom at least five shall be members of the House Appropriations Committee, and five members from the Senate appointed by the Privileges and Elections Committee of the Senate, of whom at least two shall be members of the Finance Committee, and the Auditor of Public Accounts, ex officio, who shall have no voting privileges. The bill also eliminates the Commonwealth Competition Council and contains technical amendments. This bill was continued to the 2009 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
Patron - Saxman

C SB555

Auditor of Public Accounts; auditing services. Provides that auditing services for city and county officials and executive branch agencies handling state funds may be performed by licensed independent certified public accountants in lieu of such services being performed by the Auditor of Public Accounts. Such officials and agencies would be authorized to contract with licensed independent certified public accountants for such auditing services. If the Auditor of Public Accounts performs such auditing services, he would be authorized to charge a fee that does not exceed the reasonable cost for similar services provided by a licensed independent certified public accountant. Any savings to the Commonwealth from any decrease in general fund appropriations to the Auditor of Public Accounts would be appropriated to executive branch agencies handling state funds to pay for auditing services.
Patron - Obenshain

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