Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Legislative Updates topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Staff reports progress on General Assembly work, fiscal-impact volunteers and bills of interest
Summary
Staff told the Commission they completed 109 Legislative Assessment Summaries and 24 fiscal impact statements; volunteers increased to 38 for fiscal impact work and staff highlighted bills affecting broadband, short-term lodging, and fiscal distress monitoring.
Commission staff summarized recent work related to the 2017 General Assembly and other initiatives. Policy Administrator J. David Conmy reported that staff produced 109 Legislative Assessment Summaries for bills assigned to DHCD and that overall trends in the Commission budget are "trending over budget" through February, though he said the trend appeared smaller than at the January meeting.
Senior Public Finance Analyst Ali Akbor said staff produced 24 Fiscal Impact Statements and that volunteer participation in the FIS process increased to 38 volunteers this year, 18 of whom were new. The volunteers represented 20 counties, 10 cities, two towns, one school and four professional organizations; not all volunteers responded to FIS requests through the volunteer web portal.
Ms. Dahlman presented a handout summarizing bills of interest to local governments, citing issues such as broadband deployment, wireless infrastructure, short-term residential lodging (AirBnB), compensation and benefits, land use and FOIA/ethics. Mr. Conmy described budget amendments including a two percent salary raise proposal for teachers and constitutional officers, partial cuts to GO Virginia funding, and a budget directive for the Auditor of Public Accounts to develop a fiscal distress early warning detection system.
Commissioners discussed producing a summary of responsive localities to show participation rates and asked staff to draft a thank-you letter to volunteers. Staff will prepare the letter for Chair Linderman's review.
