2017 General Assembly Session Review

The Virginia General Assembly adjourned its 46-day session sine die on February 25th. During that time, the General Assembly considered nearly 2,335 bills, of which over 900 were transmitted to Governor McAuliffe for his consideration.

The top issue for legislators during the 2017 Session was addressing the $1.2 billion budget shortfall that was announced in late 2016. In December, Governor McAuliffe submitted to the General Assembly, his proposed amendments to the Fiscal Year 2016 - 2018 Biennial Budget. This budget process is the final one between Governor McAuliffe and the General Assembly as he is in his final year in office. Governor McAuliffe will have the opportunity to submit a new biennial budget in December and the next Governor will have the opportunity to propose amendments to the General Assembly in January.

Throughout the session, the House and Senate worked in a collaborative fashion to address priority needs with limited resources. From the beginning of the session, legislators indicated that their top budget priority was restoring a three percent pay raise to state employees that was conditionally funded in the FY16-FY18 Biennial Budget but was eliminated due to the budget shortfall. The General Assembly also sought to address the severe staffing challenges at the Virginia State Police by providing a $7,000 increase in starting salary as well as increased pay for veteran officers. The General Assembly ultimately approved the amendments to the biennium budget in a bi-partisan fashion. The budget bill passed in the Senate 40-0 and in the House of Delegates 96-1.

The General Assembly also focused considerable attention on addressing the opioid epidemic that has ravaged communities throughout Virginia. Late last year, Governor McAuliffe declared that the opioid epidemic in the Commonwealth was a public health emergency. Indeed, the Virginia Department of Health has estimated that more than one thousand people have died from fatal opioid overdoses in the past year. The General Assembly recognized the need for action and passed a series of bills aimed at helping curb opioid abuse through placing restrictions on prescribers and reducing the availability of opioid pharmaceuticals. These legislative initiatives were a joint effort between the Administration, the General Assembly and key stakeholders. Vectre worked with a number of our clients in support of these initiatives.

The 2017 General Assembly Session was also the final legislative session for Speaker Bill Howell (R-Stafford), who announced that he would step down after thirty years in the House, and fifteen years as Speaker. Following the announcement by Speaker Howell, the House Republican Caucus acted quickly to elect a new leadership team for 2018. That team includes Delegate Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights) as Speaker Designee and Delegate Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) as Majority Leader Designee. Delegate Tim Hugo (R-Clifton) will remain the Majority Caucus Chairman and Delegate Jackson Miller (R-Manassas) will remain Majority Whip.

So far, there have been five other retirement announcements including Delegate Mark Dudenhefer (R-Stafford) who announced at the end of 2016 that he would not be seeking another term in the House of Delegates, Delegate Daun Hester (D-Norfolk) who is running for Treasurer of Norfolk, Delegate Rick Morris (R-Suffolk), Delegate Peter Farrell (R-Goochland) and Delegate Jimmie Massie (R-Henrico). It is possible that there will be additional retirements over the coming few months.

There was also a change in the leadership of the Senate of Virginia. Due to the election of Congressman Don McEachin to the United States House of Representatives, the Senate Democratic Caucus needed to elect a new Chairman. The Democratic Caucus elected Senator Mamie Locke (R-Hampton) to serve in that role.

The Vectre team delivered a number of significant legislative victories for clients during the 2017 Session. In particular, the Vectre lobbyists successfully championed legislation that allows for the expedited scheduling of new drugs upon their approval by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), legislation that clarifies a recent ruling by the Department of Taxation regarding a local licensing tax, legislation that modernizes the regulations for Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), legislation that establishes a permanent regulatory framework for Property Transportation Network Companies (PTNCs) and legislation related to the sale of alcohol products at Virginia ABC stores.

These initiatives were in addition to the advocacy work Vectre did on behalf of its other clients. There were a significant number of legislative proposals introduced in the 2017 Session related to the budget, transportation, tax policy, data privacy, the regulation of water and wastewater utilities, Certificate of Public Need (COPN) for hospitals, Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), procurement, commercial development, energy, libraries and higher education. Our team responded by successfully advocating our clients' positions to members of the General Assembly on these issues.

The 2017 Session was a productive one for the Commonwealth, its citizens and Vectre's clients.