City of Alexandria, Virginia
________________
MEMORANDUM
DATE: FEBRUARY 7, 2022
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: JAMES F. PARAJON, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Update on the 2022 Virginia General Assembly.
BODY
_________________________________________________________________
ISSUE: Update on the 2022 General Assembly Session.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council approve the legislative positions included in Attachment 1 (Recommended Positions on Bills of Impact to the City), as recommended by Council’s Legislative Subcommittee (Mayor Wilson and Councilmember McPike) at the January 28, 2022 meetings.
DISCUSSION: The 2022 General Assembly Session began on Wednesday, January 12. The 2022 Session is a “long” 60-day Session and will adjourn sine die on Saturday, March 12. Other dates of note for the 2022 Session include: Tuesday, February 15 is “Crossover,” the last day for each house to act on its own legislation, except Budget Bills Sunday; February 20 is “Budget Sunday” when the Senate Finance and House Appropriations complete action on the Budget Bills; and Monday, March 7 is the last day for committee action on remaining bills
Sarah Graham Taylor, the City’s Legislative Director, will continue to represent the City at the General Assembly during the 2022 General Assembly Session.
In total 2,468 bills were filed this session. City staff have reviewed over 300 of those bills. Recommended positions on 100 bills have been completed by staff, approved by the Legislative Subcommittee on January 28, 2022, and are included in the attached documents for your approval.
Legislative Package - The City’s 2022 Legislative Package has the proposals organized into two sections - Legislative Principles and Legislative Priorities.
The section of Legislative Principles is structured around the City’s Strategic Plan and creates a clear nexus between the City’s goals and the legislative and funding measures necessary for us to achieve these goals. In general, the Legislative Principles are broadly crafted and focus on comprehensive legislative strategies rather than specific legislative tactics.
A number of pieces of legislation that align with and support the City’s Legislative Principles have been filed, including bills related to voter access, energy efficiency, marriage equality, common sense gun legislation, recycling, broadband access, mitigation of inland flooding, expansion of tree canopy, and legislation to make the temporary provision allowing restaurants to sell “take home” mixed beverages permanent.
The City’s Legislative Priorities are the issues the City intends to continue to focus significant attention on and the issues that we intend to ask our General Assembly delegation to engage in on behalf of the City.
Legislation that aligns with and supports the City’s Legislative Priorities that is still under consideration includes legislation to:
• Require electric utilities to report and public reliability metrics and provide information on the nexus between distribution and transmission infrastructure investment and reliability - SB 280, HB 414
• Require a homeowner purchase a land survey upon purchasing a home in a historic district - SB 286
• Reinstate local authority to regulate vehicle exhaust noise -HB 632, SB 180
• Reallocate TRIP funding to support low and no-fare public transit - HB 142, SB 342
• Expand data and information sharing among agencies serving crossover youth - SB 326
• Expand wo can serve to support local Children’s Services Act funded programs - SB 435, HB 427
• Continue to increase funding for the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Prevention Fund - SB 299 (continued to 2023)
• Protect residents experiencing housing insecurity, including SB 284, HB 160
• Increase opportunities for electronic participation in public meetings - HB 444
• Implement the recommendations of the General Assembly’s Joint Subcommittee to Study Comprehensive Campaign Finance Reform - HJ 53
• Increase energy efficiency in buildings and strengthen energy conservation building codes in buildings - SB 452, HB 701 and HB 905
The City also has budget requests in the Governor’s outgoing budget (SB 30/HB 30), including $40 million in funding for the Alexandria Combined Sewer Outfall project and $500,000 in funding for the restoration and renovation of Douglass Memorial Cemetery. In addition, staff has worked on budget amendments to support the study and implementation of programs to ensure parents have access to adequate and effective legal representation in child welfare proceedings, stand up a work group to study inland flooding, and increase funding for the City’s Douglass Memorial Cemetery project.
ATTACHMENT: Recommended Positions on Bills of Impact to the City Discussed at the
January 28, 2022, Legislative Subcommittee Meeting
STAFF:
Laura Triggs, Deputy City Manager
Sarah Taylor, Assistant City Manager, Legislative Director