General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2008>Constitutional Amendments

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Constitutional Amendments

Failed

F HB6

Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); property exempt from taxation. Provides for a referendum at the November 2008 election on approval of a proposed constitutional amendment relating to property tax exemptions. The proposed amendment authorizes the General Assembly to enact legislation that will allow localities by ordinance to exempt or partially exempt from real property taxes, or defer real property taxes on, up to 20 percent of the value of residential or farm property that is the owner-occupant's primary dwelling and lived in continuously. This bill is identical to HB 272 and SB 9. This bill has been incorporated into HB 11.
Patron - Brink

F HB272

Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); property exempt from taxation. Provides for a referendum at the November 2008 election on approval of a proposed constitutional amendment relating to property tax exemptions. The proposed amendment authorizes the General Assembly to enact legislation that will allow localities by ordinance to exempt or partially exempt from real property taxes, or defer real property taxes on, up to 20 percent of the value of residential or farm property that is the owner-occupant's primary dwelling and lived in continuously. This bill is identical to HB 6 and SB 9. This bill has been incorporated into HB 11.
Patron - Miller, P.J.

F HJ3

Constitutional amendment (second resolution); property exempt from taxation. Authorizes the General Assembly to enact legislation that will allow localities by ordinance to exempt from real property taxes, or defer real property taxes on, up to 20 percent of the value of residential or farm property that is the owner- occupant's primary dwelling and lived in continuously. This resolution is identical to HJR 56 and HJR 121. This resolution has been incorporated into HJR 4.
Patron - Brink

F HJ56

Constitutional amendment (second resolution); property exempt from taxation. Authorizes the General Assembly to enact legislation that will allow localities by ordinance to exempt from real property taxes, or defer real property taxes on, up to 20 percent of the value of residential or farm property that is the owner- occupant's primary dwelling and lived in continuously. This resolution is identical to HJR 3 and HJR 121. This resolution has been incorporated into HJR 4.
Patron - Miller, P.J.

F HJ121

Constitutional amendment (second resolution); property exempt from taxation. Authorizes the General Assembly to enact legislation that will allow localities by ordinance to exempt from real property taxes, or defer real property taxes on, up to 20 percent of the value of residential or farm property that is the owner- occupant's primary dwelling and lived in continuously. This resolution is identical to HJR 3 and HJR 56. This resolution has been incorporated into HJR 4.
Patron - Moran

F SB9

F SJ6

Carried Over

C HB11

Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); property exempt from taxation. Provides for a referendum at the November 2008 election on approval of a proposed constitutional amendment relating to property tax exemptions. The proposed amendment authorizes the General Assembly to enact legislation that will allow localities by ordinance to exempt or partially exempt from real property taxes, or defer real property taxes on, up to 20 percent of the value of residential or farm property that is the owner-occupant's primary dwelling and lived in continuously. If approved by the voters, the amendment will take effect January 1, 2009. This bill incorporates HBs 6 and 272.
Patron - Albo

C HJ4

Constitutional amendment (second resolution); property exempt from taxation. Authorizes the General Assembly to enact legislation that will allow localities by ordinance to exempt from real property taxes, or defer real property taxes on, up to 20 percent of the value of residential or farm property that is the owner- occupant's primary dwelling and lived in continuously. This resolution incorporates HJR 3, HJR 56, and HJR 121.
Patron - Albo

C HJ18

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); property tax exemption for certain veterans. Directs the General Assembly to exempt from taxation real property that is the principal residence of a veteran (or widow or widower of a veteran) if the veteran has been determined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its successor agency pursuant to federal law to have a 100 percent combat-related, permanent, and total disability.
Patron - Lingamfelter

C HJ19

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); assessments of real property and tax rates. Provides that assessments of real property shall not increase annually by more than one percent plus the percentage increase, if any, in the rate of inflation. Increases in the rate of taxation on real property are limited to one percent per year.
Patron - Frederick

C HJ20

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); restriction on entities that may impose taxes. Prohibits any entity from imposing taxes other than the Commonwealth, counties, cities, towns, or regional governments. The resolution grandfathers any such taxes imposed prior to the effective date of the amendment.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

C HJ21

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); restriction on entities that may impose taxes. Prohibits any entity from imposing taxes other than the Commonwealth, counties, cities, towns, or regional governments. The amendment applies to such taxes imposed before the effective date of the amendment but not to any such taxes collected before the effective date of the amendment.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

C HJ28

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); Virginia Redistricting Commission. Establishes the Virginia Redistricting Commission to redraw Congressional and General Assembly district boundaries after each decennial census. Starting in 2010 and every 10 years thereafter, the Virginia Supreme Court chooses four members of the five-member commission from lists of three nominees from the leaders of each of the two political parties having the highest and next-highest membership in the General Assembly; these four select a fifth member who is chairman. The Commission is directed to create an efficient system of representation based on standards that include the current Constitution's standards on population equality, compactness, and contiguity, and additional standards to minimize splits of localities. Commissioners cannot have held public or political party office in the preceding five years.
Patron - Moran

C HJ29

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); Transportation Funds. Requires the General Assembly to maintain permanent and separate Transportation Funds to include the Commonwealth Transportation Fund, Transportation Trust Fund, Highway Maintenance and Operating Fund, Priority Transportation Fund, and other funds dedicated to transportation by general law. All revenues dedicated to Transportation Funds on January 1, 2009, by general law, other than a general appropriation law, shall be deposited to the Transportation Funds, unless the General Assembly by general law, other than a general appropriation law, alters the revenues dedicated to the Funds. The amendment limits the use of Fund moneys to transportation and related purposes. The General Assembly may borrow from the Funds for other purposes only by a vote of two-thirds plus one of the members voting in each house, and the loan or reduction must be repaid with reasonable interest within three years.
Patron - Moran

C HJ36

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); Board of Education. Provides for the appointment of the members of the Board of Education as follows: four members, including a member designated as president, appointed by the Governor; three members appointed by the House of Delegates; and two members appointed by the Senate, in accordance with the rules of each house. Members are to be appointed for four-year terms. Terms are staggered. No person may be appointed to more than two consecutive full terms. Members in office when the amendment takes effect will serve until their successors are appointed. Presently, the Constitution provides that all nine members are appointed by the Governor.
Patron - Purkey

C HJ37

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); Governor's term of office. Permits the Governor to succeed himself in office. The amendment allows two four-year terms (either in succession or not in succession) but prohibits election to a third term. The amendment allows Governors elected in 2009 and thereafter to serve two successive terms. Service for more than two years of a partial term counts as service for one term.
Patron - Purkey

C HJ38

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); property tax exemption for certain veterans. Directs the General Assembly to exempt from taxation real property that is the principal residence of a veteran (or widow or widower of a veteran) if the veteran has been determined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its successor agency pursuant to federal law to have a service-connected, permanent, and 100 percent total disability.
Patron - Ware, O.

C HJ48

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); Transportation Funds. Requires the General Assembly to maintain permanent and separate Transportation Funds to include the Commonwealth Transportation Fund, Transportation Trust Fund, and Highway Maintenance and Operating Fund. All revenues dedicated to Transportation Funds on January 1, 2009, by general law, other than a general appropriation law, shall be deposited to the Transportation Funds, unless the General Assembly by general law, other than a general appropriation law, alters the revenues dedicated to the Funds. The amendment limits the use of Fund moneys to transportation and related purposes. The General Assembly may borrow from the Funds for other purposes only by a vote of two-thirds plus one of the members voting in each house, and the loan or reduction must be repaid with reasonable interest within four years.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

C HJ67

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); payment of sales or use taxes in advance of collections. Prohibits any law that requires a person to pay to the Commonwealth any funds in anticipation of the collection of sales or use taxes by that person for the Commonwealth.
Patron - Saxman

C HJ70

Constitutional amendments (first resolution); Virginia Redistricting Commission. Establishes a 13-member Virginia Redistricting Commission to redraw Congressional and General Assembly district boundaries after each decennial census. Provides procedure for appointment of Commission members and standards to govern redistricting plans including the current Constitution's standards on population equality, compactness, and contiguity and additional standards to minimize splits of localities and to prohibit consideration of incumbency and political data. The amendments also provide for 40 senators and 100 delegates rather than the present ranges of 33 to 40 senators and 90 to 100 delegates.
Patron - Plum

C HJ120

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); Virginia Redistricting Commission. Establishes the Virginia Redistricting Commission to redraw Congressional and General Assembly district boundaries after each decennial census. Appointments to the 13-member Commission are to be made in the census year as follows: two each by the President pro tempore of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Delegates, minority leader in each house, and the state chairman of each of the two political parties receiving the most votes in the prior gubernatorial election. The 12 partisan members then select the 13th member by a majority vote, or, if they cannot agree on a selection, they certify the two names receiving the most votes to the Supreme Court, which will name the 13th member. The Commission is directed to certify district plans for the General Assembly within one month of receipt of the new census data or by March 1 of the year following the census, whichever is later, and for the House of Representatives within three months of receipt of the census data or by June 1 of the year following the census, whichever is later. The standards to govern redistricting plans include the current Constitution's standards on population equality, compactness, and contiguity and additional standards to minimize splits of localities and to prohibit consideration of incumbency and political data. This resolution is identical to SJ 5.
Patron - Amundson

C HJ122

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); real estate tax partial exemption. Requires localities to compute real estate taxes based on no more than a five percent increase in the assessed value on the primary residence of an owner after he has occupied it for five years. The taxes of any new owner of the dwelling shall be based on fair market value until the new owner has occupied the dwelling for five years.
Patron - Loupassi

C HJ123

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); due process of law; obligation of contracts; taking of private property; prohibited discrimination; jury trial in civil cases. Defines the term "public uses" and specifies permitted public uses for which private property may be taken. The definition is the same definition enacted in 2007 and set out in § 1-219.1 of the Code of Virginia.
Patron - Joannou

C HJ124

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); English as the official language of the Commonwealth. Provides that English is the official language of Virginia, that the provision is self-executing, and that the General Assembly may pass laws to implement the provision.
Patron - Joannou

C HJ180

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); Governor's term of office. Extends the Governor's term to six years, continues the prohibition on successive terms, and provides six-year terms for the lieutenant governor and attorney general since the terms for those offices are set by reference to the term of the governor.
Patron - Barlow

C HJ181

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); Virginia Redistricting Commission. Establishes the Virginia Redistricting Commission to redraw congressional and General Assembly district boundaries after each decennial census. Appointments to the 11-member Commission are to be made in the census year by the most recently retired Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court. Appointments are to be made to represent each congressional district. Persons to be appointed to the Commission shall be retired justices or judges of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, or circuit courts. The Commission is directed to certify district plans for the General Assembly within thirty days of receipt of the new census data and for the House of Representatives within sixty days of such receipt.
Patron - Barlow

C HJ182

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); restoration of civil rights. Authorizes the General Assembly to provide by general law for the restoration of civil rights for persons convicted of felonies who have completed service of their sentence including any period or condition of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. The present Constitution provides for restoration of rights by the Governor. The amendment retains the right of the Governor to restore civil rights and adds the alternative for restoration of rights pursuant to general law.
Patron - Hall

C HJ245

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); school boards. Amends Section 7 of Article VIII to state that the General Assembly may provide by general law or special act that responsibility for supervision of schools may be exercised by a local governing body and the locality's chief administrative officer rather than a school board.
Patron - Poisson

C SJ5

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); Virginia Redistricting Commission. Establishes the Virginia Redistricting Commission to redraw Congressional and General Assembly district boundaries after each decennial census. Appointments to the 13-member Commission are to be made in the census year as follows: two each by the President pro tempore of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Delegates, minority leader in each house, and the state chairman of each of the two political parties receiving the most votes in the prior gubernatorial election. The 12 partisan members then select the 13th member by a majority vote, or, if they cannot agree on a selection, they certify the two names receiving the most votes to the Supreme Court, which will name the 13th member. The Commission is directed to certify district plans for the General Assembly within one month of receipt of the new census data or by March 1 of the year following the census, whichever is later, and for the House of Representatives within three months of receipt of the census data or by June 1 of the year following the census, whichever is later. The standards to govern redistricting plans include the current Constitution's standards on population equality, compactness, and contiguity and additional standards to minimize splits of localities and to prohibit consideration of incumbency and political data. This resolution is identical to HJ 120.
Patron - Deeds

C SJ7

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); restoration of civil rights. Authorizes the General Assembly to provide by general law for the restoration of civil rights for persons convicted of nonviolent felonies who have completed service of their sentence including any period or condition of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. The present Constitution provides for restoration of rights by the Governor. The amendment retains the right of the Governor to restore civil rights and adds the alternative for restoration of rights pursuant to general law.
Patron - Miller Y.B.

C SJ8

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); property tax exemption for certain veterans. Authorizes the General Assembly to exempt from taxation real property that is the principal residence of a veteran (or widow or widower of a veteran) if the veteran has been determined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its successor agency pursuant to federal law to have a service-connected, permanent, and 100 percent total disability. This resolution is identical to SJ 10.
Patron - Puller

C SJ10

C SJ48

Constitutional amendment (first resolution). Authorizes the General Assembly by general law to classify separately real estate devoted to historical uses and to permit localities to provide tax relief for such real estate.
Patron - Stuart

C SJ59

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); Virginia Redistricting Commission. Establishes the Virginia Redistricting Commission to redraw Congressional and General Assembly district boundaries after each decennial census. Appointments to the five-member Commission are to be made in the census year from a list of 15 retired judges prepared by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as follows: one each by the Governor, President pro tempore of the Senate, and Speaker of the House of Delegates and those three Commission members to appoint two additional members from the list. However, the last two appointments will be made by the minority party leaders of the Senate and House of Delegates if the Governor, President pro tempore, and Speaker are all members of the same party. The five members shall elect one of their number to serve as chairman. The Commission is directed to submit to the General Assembly district plans for the General Assembly within one month of receipt of the new census data or by March 1 of the year following the census, whichever is later, and for the House of Representatives within three months of receipt of the census data or by June 1 of the year following the census, whichever is later. The General Assembly may amend the Commission's plan by a two-thirds vote not to affect any district's population by more than two percent. The standards to govern redistricting plans include the current Constitution's standards on population equality, compactness, and contiguity and additional standards to minimize splits of localities and to prohibit consideration of incumbency and political data. If the General Assembly fails to pass the plan, the Supreme Court will devise the final plan.
Patron - Miller, J.C.

C SJ60

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); assessment of property for tax purposes. Provides that tax assessments made by any county, city, or town of real property used by its owners solely for single family residential purposes may, by ordinance adopted by the local governing body, be reduced on an annual basis in an amount up to the first $100,000 of the assessed value, provided that such property has been the primary residence of its owners for at least five years.
Patron - Miller, J.C.

C SJ73

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); property exempt from taxation. Directs the General Assembly to enact legislation that will permit localities to provide for a partial exemption from, or deferral of, local real property taxes on a taxpayer's primary residence and up to five acres of land associated with his residence.
Patron - Hanger

C SJ88

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); taking of private property for public uses. Establishes limitations on takings of private property. Except for property taken for public service companies or railroads, property may not be taken if the primary purpose of the taking is private financial gain, private benefit, an increase in tax base or tax revenues, or an increase in employment. No more property shall be taken than is necessary to achieve the stated public use.
Patron - Obenshain

C SJ91

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); Transportation Funds. Requires the General Assembly to maintain permanent and separate Transportation Funds to include the Commonwealth Transportation Fund, Transportation Trust Fund, Highway Maintenance and Operating Fund, and Priority Transportation Fund. All revenues dedicated to Transportation Funds on January 1, 2009, by general law, other than a general appropriation law, shall be deposited to the Transportation Funds, unless the General Assembly by general law, other than a general appropriation law, alters the revenues dedicated to the Funds. The amendment limits the use of Funds moneys to transportation and related purposes. The General Assembly may borrow from the Funds for other purposes only by a vote of two-thirds plus one of the members voting in each house, and the loan or reduction must be repaid with reasonable interest within the three years. The amendment also limits the use of general and other non-transportation funds for transportation purposes except for certain debt service payments and, additionally, in an amount not to exceed $80 million in any fiscal year.
Patron - Norment

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General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2008>Constitutional Amendments

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