Pending Legislation Chart - Virginia Senate 2006

Bill Number	Patron	Description	Status	Position
SB 3	Williams	Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner. Provides for election of the Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner by the Commonwealth Transportation Board with the consent of the Governor for a term of four years. In the event of a vacancy, an Acting Commissioner would be appointed by the Governor until the vacancy is filled by the Commonwealth Transportation Board. The salary of the Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner would be fixed by the Commonwealth Transportation Board.	(S) Committee Referral Pending	NP
SB 29	Chichester	Budget Bill. Relating to the appropriation of funds for the 2004-06 biennium	(S) Committee Referral Pending	NP
SB 30	Chichester	Budget Bill. Appropriations of the Budget submitted by the Governor of Virginia providing a portion of revenues for the two years ending respectively on the thirtieth day of June, 2007, and the thirtieth day of June, 2008.	(S) Committee Referral Pending	NP
SB 59	Reynolds	Commonwealth Transportation Board; bonds for Route 58 Corridor. Authorizes the Commonwealth Transportation Board to issue bonds in an additional amount not to exceed $299 million to fund certain specified transportation projects in the Route 58 Corridor.	(S) Committee Referral Pending	NP
SB 76	Houck	Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); disclosure of procurement records under the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 (PPTA) and the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002 (PPEA). Revises the current FOIA exemption for records submitted by a private entity to a responsible public entity under the PPTA and the PPEA and formalizes the earmarking process or the protection of trade secrets, financial records, and other records submitted by a private entity, by requiring a written request for an exclusion from disclosure by the private entity and for a written determination by the responsible public entity that such records will be protected from disclosure under certain circumstances. The bill also amends the PPTA and PPEA to require a public entity to post all accepted conceptual proposals, whether solicited or not. The required posting for responsible public entities that are state agencies, departments, and institutions, shall be on eVA (the Department of General Service's web-based electronic procurement program) and for responsible public entities that are local public bodies, posting shall be on the responsible public entity's website or by publication, in a newspaper of general circulation in the area in which the contract is to be performed, of a summary of the proposals and the location where copies of the proposals are available for public inspection. Local public bodies may also post on eVA, in the discretion of the local responsible public entity. The bill also requires at least one copy of the proposals shall be made available for public inspection. The bill provides that nothing shall be construed to prohibit the posting of the conceptual proposals by additional means deemed appropriate by the responsible public entity so as to provide maximum notice to the public of the opportunity to inspect the proposals. The bill also requires the responsible public entity to provide an opportunity for public comment 30 days before the execution of an interim or comprehensive agreement. The bill provides that once the process of bargaining of all phases or aspects of an interim or comprehensive agreement is complete, but before an interim or a comprehensive agreement is entered into, a responsible public entity shall post the proposed agreement. Once an interim or comprehensive agreement has been executed, all procurement records, excluding trade secrets, financial information, and cost estimates, are available to the public upon request. The bill is a recommendation of the Freedom of Information Advisory Council.		NP
SB 126	O’Brien	Highway maintenance and construction by state employees. Increases the limit on the value of highway maintenance and construction projects that may be carried out by state employees from $300,000 to $1 million.		D
SB 127	O’Brien	Sales and use tax; dedication of portion of revenue to local transportation and education. Provides that 0.25% of the sales and use tax revenue shall be returned to the locality in which it was collected to be used for transportation, and that 0.25% of the sales and use tax revenue shall be returned to the locality in which it was collected to be used for education purposes.		NP
SB 555	Stolle	Commonwealth Transportation Safety Fund; court-ordered payments for certain offenses related to the operation of motor vehicles. Establishes the Commonwealth Transportation Safety Fund, to be used to fund capital projects and operations necessary to improve the safety of the Commonwealth's roads, and to provide for increased law-enforcement on Virginia's interstates and roads through the Highway Safety Corridor Program. Upon conviction of certain dangerous driving offenses and traffic infractions for which the Department of Motor Vehicles assigns 6 demerit points, a court shall order the offender to make a payment into the Fund. The court shall collect the payments on behalf of the Commonwealth, and remit the payments to the Fund.		NP
SB 666	Saslaw, Howell	Public-Private Transportation Act; comprehensive plans. Provides that a qualifying transportation facility, title or easement to which is held by the Commonwealth or any agency or authority thereof and the rights to develop or operate which have been granted to a private entity through a concession, shall be subject to the provisions of Title 15.2 in the same manner as a facility of the Commonwealth, except that the private entity shall comply with the certain provisions relating to the affected jurisdiction's comprehensive plan.		NP
SJ 58	Norment	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, 2006, 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.		NP
SJ 60	Williams	Study; Virginia's future transportation needs; report. Establishes a 10-member joint subcommittee to conduct a two-year study of the role of the Commonwealth and its agencies in meeting Virginia's future transportation needs.		NP
SJ 78	Rerras	Constitutional amendment (first resolution); highway and transportation trust funds. Provides that the Highway Maintenance and Operating Fund and the Transportation Trust Fund established in 1986 will be permanent and separate funds and will be funded annually by the General Assembly by appropriations of the revenues generated by the 1986 package of tax and fee increases and the revenues from all other sources that were appropriated to the Funds in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005. The amendment limits the use of Fund moneys to transportation and related purposes.		NP
SJ 83	Cuccinelli	Constitutional amendment (first resolution); Transportation Trust Fund. Provides that the Transportation Trust Fund established in 1986 will be a permanent fund and be funded annually by the General Assembly by appropriations equivalent to the revenues generated by the 1986 package of tax and fee increases or the appropriation for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005, whichever is greater. The amendment limits the use of Trust Fund moneys to highway construction, improvements, administration, and maintenance, and to improve public transportation, railways, seaports, and airports. The General Assembly may borrow from the Fund for other purposes or reduce the level of required appropriations to the Fund only by a three-fifths vote of members in each house and the loan or reduction must be repaid within four years.		NP
SJ 86	Saslaw	Sale or lease of Dulles Toll Road (Omer L. Hirst-Adelard L. Brault Expressway); report. Establishes a 10-member joint subcommittee to study the desirability and feasibility of selling or leasing the Dulles Toll Road (Omer L. Hirst-Adelard L. Brault Expressway) to a private operator.		NP
SJ 88	Quayle	Establishing a joint subcommittee to study the Integration of Transportation Planning and Land Use Planning; report. Establishes the 27-member joint subcommittee to study strategies, technologies, techniques, and actions that will improve the integration of transportation and land use planning. Specifically, the Commission shall consider the following issues: 1. Tools the state and local governments will need to assure that the transportation infrastructure is adequate to serve increasing demand caused by a growing population; 2. Institutional arrangements that should be recommended to improve state/local coordination; 3. Incentives to encourage regional and multi-modal approaches that will be necessary to address Virginia’s growing transportation problems; and 4. Ways to encourage alternative development patterns that will improve mobility through other means than motor vehicles and reduce the demands on, and the cost of maintaining, Virginia’s transportation infrastructure.		NP

Bill Number	Patron	Description	Status	Position
SB 14	Puller	HOV lanes. Prohibits imposition and collection of tolls for use of HOV lanes by vehicles having the required number of occupants.	(S) Committee Referral Pending
SB 124	O’Brien	Primary and secondary highway construction funds allocations. Revises the formulas used to allocate primary and secondary highway construction funds so that such funds are allocated on the basis of population.
SB 140	O’Brien	Estate tax. Conforms the amount of Virginia estate tax due from an estate to the maximum amount of the federal estate tax credit for state estate taxes, as permitted under federal estate tax law, as such law shall be amended from time to time. Under current law the amount of Virginia estate tax cannot be less than the federal credit under federal law as such law existed on January 1, 1978.
SB 193	Williams	Allocation of highway construction funds for rail projects. Allows the Commonwealth Transportation Board to allocate up to 10% of funds available for highway construction to undertaking and financing of rail projects that, in its determination, will result in mitigation of highway congestion.
SB 196	Williams	Construction by state and local employees. Allows local employees to build roads that are funded by the State.
SB 254	Howell	Sales and use tax; exemption for certain contractors. Exempts from paying the sales and use tax any person who contracts on or after July 1, 2006, to perform services for and provide tangible personal property for consumption or use by the Commonwealth, any political subdivision of the Commonwealth, or the United States, if the Commonwealth, political subdivision, or the United States certifies that title to such tangible personal property will pass to such governmental entity.
SB 267	Whipple	Sales and use tax; increase in certain localities. Imposes an additional 0.25% sales and use tax in Arlington County, Fairfax County, the City of Alexandria, the City of Fairfax, and the City of Falls Church if approved by ordinance by the governing bodies of those localities whose population comprise at least 90% of the population in all of such localities. The bill is effective the first day of the month following 60 days from the date of such approval. The revenue is to be used solely for each locality's financial obligations to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
SB 271	Whipple	Virginia Public Procurement Act; purchase of certain insurance in construction projects. Allows a public body to purchase an owner-controlled insurance program in connection with any public construction contract. The bill defines owner-controlled insurance program and provides that no contractor or subcontractor can be required to provide insurance coverage for a construction project if that specified coverage is included in an owner-controlled insurance program in which the contractor or subcontractor is enrolled.
SB 285	Norment	Highway construction districts; Gloucester County. Transfers Gloucester County from the Fredericksburg highway construction district to the Hampton Roads highway construction district.
SB 304	Williams	Commonwealth Transportation Board. Provides for election of 11 of the 17 members of the Commonwealth Transportation Board by members of the General Assembly on the basis of congressional districts.
SB 307	Williams	Urban Highway Congestion Mitigation Fund. Establishes the Urban Highway Congestion Mitigation Fund, consisting of an annual allocation by the Commonwealth Transportation Board of $250 million from funds available for highway construction projects. The Fund would be used to make allocations and grants to cities and urban counties for the construction of highway projects that would result in substantial mitigation of local and regional highway congestion.
SB 329	Wagner	Transportation construction and maintenance. Revises Virginia's transportation construction and maintenance allocation system in accordance with recommendations made by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to the 2002 Session of the General Assembly.
SB 397	Hanger	Interstate Route 81 improvements. Directs the Virginia Department of Transportation to immediately halt all negotiations with STAR Solutions under the Public-Private Transportation Act for the construction of improvements to Interstate Route 81 in Virginia. This bill contains an emergency clause.
SB 423	Williams	Highway construction districts. Replaces VDOT's current nine highway construction districts with seven and specifies the territory embraced within each district. The size of the Commonwealth Transportation Board is also reduced by two to accommodate the reduction in the number of Board members appointed on a district-residence basis.
SB 425	Williams	Interstate Public-Private Transportation Partnership Compact. Establishes the Interstate Public-Private Transportation Partnership Compact.
SB 478	Colgan	Sales and use tax; exemption for certain contractors. Exempts from paying the sales and use tax any person who contracts on or after July 1, 2006, to perform services for and provide tangible personal property for consumption or use by the Commonwealth, any political subdivision of the Commonwealth, or the United States, if the Commonwealth, political subdivision, or the United States certifies that title to such tangible personal property will pass to such governmental entity.
SB 504	Norment and others	Estate tax. Conforms the amount of Virginia estate tax due from an estate to the maximum amount of the federal estate tax credit for state estate taxes, as permitted under federal estate tax law, as such law shall be amended from time to time. Under current law the amount of Virginia estate tax cannot be less than the federal credit under federal law as such law existed on January 1, 1978.
SB 523	Newman	Vehicle lengths; exemption. Provides an exemption from the vehicle length limit for tractor-semitrailer combinations where the length of the semitrailer does not exceed 53 feet. Allows the Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner to restrict the operations of such tractor-semitrailer combinations from certain roads based on a safety and engineering analysis.
SB 614	Wagner	Virginia-North Carolina Interstate Toll Road Compact. Establishes the Virginia-North Carolina Interstate Toll Road Compact to set, impose, and collect tolls for use of Interstate Route 85 and Interstate 95.
SB 630	Cuccinelli	Sales and use tax revenue dedicated to the Transportation Trust Fund. Increases the amount of sales and use tax revenue dedicated to the Transportation Trust Fund from an amount generated by a 0.50 percent sales and use tax, to an amount generated by a 0.75 percent sales and use tax.

SENATE

Legislation VTCA Is Tracking

Legislation Of Interest