The 2019 General Assembly convened on January 9. In odd-numbered years, the legislators meet in a “short session”. As such, the 2019 session will adjourn on February 23. “Crossover” happens when each chamber (House + Senate) finish their review, debate and approval of bills, and sends it to the other chamber for a similar process. This date occurred on February 6. Nearly 2,000 bills were submitted this year of which 1,202 were introduced by the House and 793 by the Senate. In addition, over 300 resolutions were put forth for consideration.
AIA Virginia has nearly 60 bills on its radar. Some, we actively engage and others we monitor due to another organization being better positioned to take the lead. Unfortunately, many energy/Greenhouse gas reduction bills did not gain traction.
The following provides a breakdown of bill types and quantities that AIA Virginia engaged and/or tracked:
Procurement: 16
Site/Utility/Stormwater: 9
School Safety/Improvements: 7
Business and Taxation: 6
Energy and Climate Impact: 5
Licensing/Regulatory: 3
Resiliency: 3
Human Resource Benefits: 2
Statute of Repose/Statute of Limitations: 2
Building Code: 1
Historic Tax Credit: 1
STEAM: 1
Below is a list of key legislative victories that AIA Virginia has heavily influenced this session:
HB 1738 – Delegate Rush
School buildings; plans to be reviewed by a professional trained and experienced in crime prevention
Passed House; Passed Senate Committee on Education and Health
AIA Virginia worked with Delegate Rush to add language to this bill that ensures every public school building, addition or alteration will have its designed reviewed by an individual or entity with professional expertise in building security and crime prevention through building design techniques.
HB 1796 – Delegate Cole
Virginia Public Procurement Act; competitive negotiation; price for professional services
Defeated in House General Laws Subcommittee
AIA Virginia worked actively to defeat this bill that would have allowed public bodies to request price information in a RFP for professional services
HB 2072 – Delegate Bell
Virginia Public Procurement Act; competitive negotiation for professional services
Defeated in House General Laws Subcommittee
AIA Virginia worked actively to defeat this bill that would have allowed public bodies to conduct negotiations simultaneously with the top two ranked offerors.
HB 2168 – Delegate Yancey
School Innovation, Modernization, and Competiveness, Commission on; established.
Passed House; Referred to Senate Committee on Rules
AIA Virginia has a commitment from Delegate Yancey to support our recommendation for an architect to be appointed to this newly formed commission as a non-legislative member.
HB 2198 – Delegate Gilbert
Virginia Public Procurement Act; exempts counties cities, etc. with population greater than 3,500
Passed House; Referred to Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology
This is AIA Virginia’s bill to close the QBS “loophole” that currently exists in the law. Due to an administrative drafting error to a 2013 bill that attempted to clarify components of the Virginia Public Procurement Act, the requirement for QBS has been eliminated. We realized this when Arlington County began to exploit this “loophole” in its solicitation of professional services. This bill corrects this drafting error.
HB 2804 – Delegate LaRock
Virginia Public Procurement Act; professional and information technology project services contracts
Defeated in House General Laws AIA Virginia actively engaged with the Subcommittee Chairman to defeat this bill that would have required design professionals working for state agencies to install software that allows for verification of the number of hours worked on a project using a computer.