City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: JANUARY 7, 2019
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
PREVIEW OF THE 2019 GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION AND STATE BUDGET
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ISSUE: Preview of the 2019 General Assembly Session, including an overview of the Governor Northam's proposed budget amendments for Fiscal Years 2019/2020.
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 Vice Mayor Bennett-Parker) at their January 4, 2019 meeting.
DISCUSSION: The 2019 General Assembly Session will begin on January 9 and is scheduled to adjourn on February 23. This is a short legislative session with the General Assembly in session for just 45-days this year. Sarah Taylor, the City's Legislative Director, will continue to represent the City in Richmond during the General Assembly Session.
The deadline for the introduction of legislation is Friday, January 18. As of January 3, almost 500 bills and numerous resolutions have been introduced and are in the process of being reviewed by staff, with recommended positions on 79 bills already completed by staff, approved by the Legislative Subcommittee, and included in the attached documents for your approval.
City Priority Legislation: The City's 2019 Legislative Package included three priority items: securing funding for the City's CSO project, securing funding and/or financing opportunities for school construction and renovation, and protecting funding for localities.
The Governor's proposed amendments to the current biennial State budget included $25 million in Virginia Public Building Authority (VPBA) bonds for the City's CSO project. We are certainly pleased to see that funding included in the...
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