The 2003 General Assembly adjourned on Saturday, February 22. The predominant features of the Session were a commitment to leave town with a balanced budget and to position as best as possible for elections in November. We consider the Session a success basically because we held our own with transportation funding. It could have been much worse.

Bills that passed both chambers will now go to Governor Warner for his action. The General Assembly will re-convene on April 2 to consider any modifications or vetoes by the Governor on engrossed legislation.

Below is a brief summary listing some of the legislation VRTBA addressed on your behalf this Session:

HB 1936 (Nixon) – Prompt Payment to Subcontractors. As drafted, this would have slowed down payments to subcontractors (from 7 days after payment to 90 days). VRTBA worked with the patron to amend the bill excluding our industry. The bill was eventually stricken by the patron.

HB 2050 (Woodrum) – Payment Bonds. VRTBA worked with the patron to ensure that contractors will be able to require subcontractors to provide bonds. The bill passed both the House and Senate.

HB 2192 (McQuigg) – Reverse Auctioning. VRTBA worked with the Administration and the patron to ensure that reverse auctions will not be used to procure items pertaining to the construction industry. The bill passed the House and Senate.

HB 2490 (Tata) & SB 1123 (Norment) – Estate Taxes. These proposals eliminate Virginia’s estate taxes in line with the Federal reductions. VRTBA was part of an active coalition that supported these bills. They both passed, but it is very likely that the Governor will veto them. The margin of passage would lead one to believe that his veto can be overridden but the Governor will be lobbying hard to change the minds of some of those who voted for these measures.

HB 2750 (Rollison) – Commonwealth Private Investment Inducement Act of 2003. Would have dedicated one-third (the auto insurance portion) of the annual insurance license tax revenue (about $106 million annually) to leverage bonds for road construction. These funds were to be provided for transportation as a result of legislation in the 2000 General Assembly but have yet to be appropriated. This bill easily passed the House but was defeated in the Senate Finance Committee. Concern was expressed over the bonds affecting the state debt capacity and the proposed formula by which funds were allocated. VRTBA actively supported.

HJR 645 (McDonnell) – Constitutional Amendment to Protect Transportation Funds. This became the one bill of its type that moved forward after several others were rolled into it. Numerous interest groups and legislators supported this concept, including VRTBA. It was overwhelmingly passed by the House but killed by the Senate Finance Committee.

SB 704 (Miller) – Increase in User Fees. This proposal would have added the 4½% sales tax to the retail price of gasoline. VRTBA actively supported this measure but it was summarily defeated in the Senate Finance Committee.

SB 1257 (Miller) – Indexing of the Gas Tax. This proposal would have created a means for indexing the motor fuels tax. VRTBA lobbied in support of this bill but it was also defeated in the Senate Finance Committee.

SB 1322 (Williams) & HB 2823 (Crittenden) – Preference for Virginia Firms. VRTBA opposed these bills that would have required public bodies to grant a preference to in-state firms. Both were defeated.

For additional information on other legislation, please visit our Government Affairs page.