Category: Advocacy News

On February 8th, the 2021 General Assembly session adjourned sine die. Nearly immediately thereafter, the General Assembly convened a Special Session on February 10th which adjourned sine die on March 1st.  The General Assembly considered 1,476 pieces of legislation, which is well short of the 2,000-3,000 bills typically considered. This decrease was due to the bill limits set by each body, 7 bills for each House member, and 12 bills for each Senate member.

This General Assembly session was unique in other ways as well. For example, the House of Delegates adopted an entirely virtual format, which had members participating remotely from their home districts. The Senate of Virginia opted for a hybrid model and conducted in-person floor sessions and committee meetings at the Science Museum of Virginia. For both bodies, public participation in committee and subcommittee meetings was limited to virtual testimony. This means that lobbying consisted solely of communication through text messaging, calls, and videoconferences.

Week after week, you saw the bills that we were actively engaging and monitoring. As such, this article will focus on the three main legislative victories for our organization this session.

Defeat of HB 2259 – Governor; issuance of licenses to persons denied by regulatory board

This bill provides that the Governor may issue a license of the kind granted by a regulatory board under the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation or the Department of Health Professions to any person whose application for such license to such board has been denied. AIA Virginia believes that the process in place for regulating architecture should not be circumvented. It has successfully served in protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the general public as it takes into consideration the education, experience, and examination required for licensure. We actively opposed this legislation and it was successfully defeated.

An active stakeholder on HB 5002 – Establish Small Business & Women-owned & Minority-Owned Business Procurement Enhancement Programs.

Governor Ralph Northam announced the results of the Commonwealth’s disparity study, which demonstrate the need for the narrowly tailored race – and gender-conscious measures to increase equitable opportunities for women – and minority-owned businesses in state contracting. The outcomes of the study will guide the Northam Administration’s ongoing work with General Assembly leaders to increase supplier diversity and equity in the state procurement process. Read the executive summary of the 2020 disparity study here.

AIA Virginia supported this legislation, however it did not pass in its current form. Due to our support, the Administration has committed to giving AIA Virginia a seat at the table during the discussions to retool the legislation for reintroduction.

That’s right.

We will be at the table on this very important piece of the equity discussion.

Tax Conformity via HB 1935 and SB 1146

Each year the General Assembly decides which federal tax provisions the Commonwealth will conform to so Virginians know which provisions apply when filing their state income tax returns. Because of the pandemic, Congress passed numerous federal tax changes in the CARES Act and Consolidated Appropriations Act to provide immediate relief to struggling employers.

Specifically, two tax provisions were provided to PPP loan recipients 1) forgiven loans would not be taxable and 2) business expenses paid with those loan proceeds could be deducted.

Both bills included the income exclusion provision. There was a question regarding what to include regarding deductibility [$25,000 in one bill vs. $100,000 in the other bill]. AIA Virginia was part of a 43-Member Coalition that successfully advocated for the $100,000 deduction cap. This provides full deductibility to almost 80% of Virginia businesses who received a PPP loan.

These three victories are quite substantial in any legislative environment, notwithstanding a virtual General Assembly. Please continue to support our efforts by investing in our PAC at www.aiavapac.org.

Every investment matters!

If you have any questions, please reach out to Executive Vice President, Corey Clayborne, FAIA at cclayborne@aiava.org

The regular session adjourned sine die on Monday, February 8^th. Governor Northam called a Special Session immediately following which commenced on that Wednesday and will adjourn sine die on Monday, March 1.

ICYMI: Governor Ralph Northam announced the results of the Commonwealth’s disparity study, which demonstrate the need for narrowly tailored race- and gender-conscious measures to increase equitable opportunities for woman- and minority-owned businesses in state contracting. The outcomes of the study will guide the Northam Administration’s ongoing work with General Assembly leaders to increase supplier diversity and equity in the state procurement process. Read the executive summary of the 2020 disparity study here.

To encourage woman- and minority-owned business participation in the procurement process, the Commonwealth will support a substitute to House Bill 1784, patroned by Delegates Jeion Ward and Rodney Willett and Senators Jennifer McClellan and Mamie Locke. This bill would establish an overall goal of 23.1 percent discretionary spending with woman- and minority-owned businesses. This percentage represents the average of the participation of woman- and minority-owned businesses in state procurement work over the past five years and their availability for state procurement work. This would apply to discretionary spending in categories from which the Commonwealth derives procurement orders, prime contracts, and subcontracts. This legislation also codifies Governor Northam’s goal of procuring at least 42 percent discretionary spending from SWaM-certified businesses.

In addition, the bill establishes a new division at the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity (DSBSD) that will work closely with the Department of General Services (DGS), Virginia’s primary procurement agency, to ensure that the SWaM-certified business goal of 42 percent and the woman- and minority-owned business goal of 23.1 percent are met each year, and there is appropriate monitoring of prime contractor compliance.

The study found that 13.4 percent of total state contracts were awarded to woman- and minority-owned businesses from 2014 to 2019. The most recent disparity study was published in 2011, found that only 2.82 percent of all state contracts were awarded to woman- and minority-owned businesses. While these results show improvement, the 2020 study also found that woman- and minority-owned businesses would be expected to receive 32.8 percent of state contracting dollars based on their availability to provide goods and services to the Commonwealth, demonstrating that there is more work to do.

The full results from the 2020 disparity study are available here.

The substitute bill is HB 5002 in which we have been working with the Administration to ensure that there is more equity in contract awards and administered in a way that can be fairly and effectively implemented.

Below, you will find an update of the organization’s “Active”, “Monitor”, and “Dead” lists.

ACTIVE
These bills are being actively lobbied by Williams Mullen, AIA Virginia, and ACEC Virginia. This does not necessarily mean we are testifying before committees on all of these bills. It could mean that we are engaged in conversations with bill patrons or other industries that can alter the legislation’s outcome.

HB 1811 – Helmer – Virginia Public Procurement Act; preference for energy-efficient and water-efficient goods.

HB 2001 – Helmer – State and local buildings, certain; building standards.

HB 2227 – Kory – Uniform Statewide Building Code; amendments, energy efficiency and conservation.

HB 5002 – Ward – Small Business & Women-owned & Minority-owned Business Procurement Enhancement Programs; establish.

SB 1209 – Petersen – Subcontractor’s employees; liability of general contractor for wages.

SB 1305 – McPike – Virginia Public Procurement Act; public works contracts, subcontractor workforce requirements.

SB 1384 – Surovell – Virginia Public Procurement Act; local arbitration agreements.

MONITOR
AIA Virginia is watching bills placed in this category.  Often, we are watching bills because they are of interest and we want to remain informed.  When this is the case, it is often another organization taking the lead due to its specific expertise and political relationships.  If amendments are introduced that make a bill in this category detrimental to our profession, then it is moved to the ACTIVE list and we engage.  There are some bills that AIA Virginia does not take a position on.  An example of this would be bills that define “small business”.  Because of the composition of our membership, we would not want to take action that would hurt any of our members.

HB 1800 – Torian – Budget Bill.

HB 1849 – Simonds – Virginia Public Procurement Act; participation in apprenticeship training programs, etc.

HB 1935 – Watts – Income tax, state; conformity with the Internal Revenue Code.

HB 2063 – Mullin – Virginia Overtime Wage Act; overtime compensation employees, penalties.

HB 2071 – Convirs-Fowler – Transportation funding; statewide prioritization process, resiliency.

HB 2137 – Guzman – Paid sick leave; employers to provide to certain employees.

HB 2177 – Torian – Capital outlay plan; repeals existing six-year capital outlay for projects to be funded.

HB 2178 – Torian – Commonwealth of Virginia Higher Educational Institutions Bond Act of 2021; created.

HB 2221 – Hayes – Environmental permits; community and environmental justice outreach.

HB 2288 – Williams Graves – Va. Public Procurement Act; construction contracts, requirement to submit list of subcontractors.

HB 2327 – Krizek – Prevailing wage rate; public contractors.

SB 1100 – Howell – Budget Bill.

SB 1109 – Stanley – Voter referendum; issuance of state general obligation bonds for school facility modernization.

SB 1155 – Howell – Capital outlay plan; repeals existing six-year capital outlay for projects to be funded.

SB 1209 – Petersen – Subcontractor’s employees; liability of general contractor for wages.

SB 1284 – Favola – Commonwealth Clean Energy Policy; established.

SB 1350 – Lewis – Transportation funding; statewide prioritization process, resiliency.

DEAD
The following depicts the bills of interest to AIA Virginia that were introduced but were not successful.  This list is expected to grow as the General Assembly advances. 

HB 1741 – Campbell, R.R. – Va. Public Procurement Act; contract clause requiring subcontractor reporting of certain payments.

HB 1755 – Carter – Right to work; repeals provisions of Code that refers to denial or abridgement.

HB 1784 – Ward – Small Business Procurement Enhancement Program; established, report.

HB 1787 – McNamara – Income tax, state; establishes an exclusion for Paycheck Protection Plan loan forgiveness.

HB 1794 – Davis – Collective bargaining; prohibited considerations during negotiations.

HB 1857 – Subramanyam – Virginia Public Procurement Act; architectural and professional engineering term contracting.

HB 1937 – Rasoul – Green New Deal Act; establishes a moratorium, effective January 1, 2022, etc.

HB 1974 – Rush – Architects & professional engineers; exemptions from license requirements for onsite sewage systems.

HB 2015 – Ayala – Essential workers; hazard pay, employer to provide personal protective equipment, civil penalty.

HB 2016 – Ayala – Paid family and medical leave program; Virginia Employment Commission required to establish.

HB 2093 – O’Quinn – School Construction Fund and Program; created and established.

HB 2103 – Reid – Certain public & private employers to provide earned paid sick time.

HB 2143 – Miyares – COVID-19 virus; immunity from civil claims related to the transmission of or exposure to the virus.

HB 2237 – McQuinn – Virginia Public Procurement Act; project labor agreements, transportation projects.

HB 2246 – LaRock – State agencies; automatic workforce management verification software.

HB 2259 – Scott – Governor; issuance of licenses to persons denied by regulatory board. [OPPOSED]

HB 2306 – VanValkenburg – Va. Public Procurement Act; contract clause requiring subcontractor reporting of certain payments.

HJ 552 – Levine – Recurrent inland and urban flooding across the Commonwealth; joint subcommittee to study.

SB 1186 – Hashmi – Landfill siting; historic preservation.

SB 1224 – Boysko – Uniform Statewide Building Code; amendments, energy efficiency and conservation.

SB 1330 – Boysko – Paid family and medical leave program; Virginia Employment Commission to establish.

SB 1352 – Lewis – Flood Control and Commonwealth Flood Control Board, Department of; established, report.

SB 1362 – Lewis – Employers; reporting outbreaks of COVID-19.

SB 1419 – Marsden – Project labor agreements; public interest.

SB 1449 – Chase – COVID-19 immunization; prohibition on requirement, employment discrimination prohibited.

SB 1450 – Chase – COVID-19 vaccination; discrimination in employment prohibited.

If you have any questions, please feel free to submit them to Corey Clayborne, FAIA at cclayborne@aiava.org