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Bills Were Watchingweek of February 10, 2014 Page 1

Virginia Chamber Legislative Position Key:

The Virginia Chamber SUPPORTS this bill.

The Virginia Chamber OPPOSES this bill.

This bill supports a Blueprint Virginia initiative.

www.vachamber.com/blueprint
http://www.vachamber.com/blueprinthttp://www.vachamber.com/blueprinthttp://www.vachamber.com/blueprint

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Legislation of Interest to the Virginia Business Community

**denotes a change

Economic DevelopmentBill Patron Summary Position

HB873 Jones

Ports tax credits. Changes Virginia's ports-related tax credits by increasing the annual amount ofinternational trade facility tax credits that may be issued from $250,000 to $1.25 million, decreasingthe annual amount of barge and rail usage tax credits that may be issued from $1.5 million to$500,000, and allowing a taxpayer to be eligible for the port volume increase tax credit and the bargeand rail usage tax credit if the taxpayer meets the criteria for both. The bill reduces from 10 percentto five percent the minimum annual increase in cargo transported through a maritime port that is acondition of eligibility for the international trade facility tax credit. The bill also makes roll-on/roll-offcargo eligible for the international trade facility, port volume increase, and barge and rail usage taxcredits. The provisions of the bill would become effective for taxable years beginning on or afterJanuary 1, 2014.

Education and WorkforceBill Patron Summary Position

HB30/SB30 Jones/Stosch Item 135 (M) --Funding to recruit and retain teachers in STEM subjects

HB30/SB30

Jones/Stosch

Item 210 (O)funding to implement SySTEMic Solutions initiative to address needs in STEM

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HB30/SB30

Jones/Stosch

Item 136Improve flexibility of the Virginia Preschool Initiative and use of kindergarten readinessassessment programs

HB30/SB30

Jones/Stosch

4-10.00Implement Virginia Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2011

HJ1 GreasonStudy; Teacher Career Ladder program; report.Requests the Department of Education to studyand make recommendations regarding the feasibility of implementing a Teacher Career Ladderprogram in the Commonwealth.

HB35HB42HB333HB386

HB577HB610SB131

KoryHabeebGreason

Comstock

StolleRobinsonNewman

School calendar. Makes local school boards responsible for setting the school calendar anddetermining the opening day of the school year and eliminates the post-Labor Day opening

requirement.

HB1008 Byron

Voluntary apprenticeships. Conforms provisions of Virginia's voluntary apprenticeship program tofederal law in order to ensure the Department of Labor and Industry's continued recognition as aState Apprenticeship Agency. Changes include transferring to the Commissioner of Labor andIndustry powers that currently may be exercised by the Apprenticeship Council and removing theexemption for apprentices currently in the Virginia Minimum Wage Act.

HB1009 Byron

Workforce development. Changes the name of the Virginia Workforce Council to the Virginia Boardof Workforce Development and provides that Virginia Board of Workforce Development staff is to beprovided by the Chief Workforce Development Officer. The bill provides that the lead staff shall

supervise the subordinate staff of the Board and that subordinate staff of the Board shall beindependent of any other state agency that provides workforce services. The bill increases themembership of the Board by adding the Director of the Virginia Jobs Investment Program or hisdesignee and the Adjutant General of the National Guard. The bill replaces the Governor as theChief Workforce Development Officer, provides that the Governor now appoints the Chief WorkforceDevelopment Officer, and sets out the qualifications for this position. The bill requires the Board todevelop initiatives to increase the number of private and nonprofit training vendors serving theVirginia Workforce Network, created in the bill. The bill also requires the Board to create a militarytransition assistance committee to advise the Board and the Chief Workforce Development Officer onreforms necessary to (i) connect more employers to transitioning military personnel and trailingspouse through transition assistance programs, thereby reducing the veteran unemployment rate tono more than the statewide unemployment average; (ii) better integrate the Veterans Employment

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Representatives and Disabled Veterans Outreach Program into all Vi rginia Workforce Centers; (iii)standardize all veteran service qualifications statewide; and (iv) el iminate all process andqualification barriers for veterans to ensure that qualified veterans have access to training andemployment services within 10 business days after their first request for services. The bill containstechnical amendments.

SB539 Howell

Secretary of Education; annual report. Requires the Secretary of Education, on or before October1 of each year, to report to the Governor and the General Assembly on the Commonwealth's effortsto promote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education; career readiness; andcareer and professional certification at all levels of education.

Employment LawBill Patron Summary Position

HB32 Morrissey

Minimum wage.Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $7.25 perhour to $8.50 per hour effective July 1, 2014, unless a higher minimum wage is required by thefederal Fair Labor Standards Act. The act will expire at such time as the federal minimum wageequals or exceeds $8.50 per hour.

HB93 Krupicka

Employment applications; inquiries regarding criminal arrests, charges, or convictions;penalty.Prohibits state agencies and private employers from including on any employmentapplication a question inquiring whether the prospective employee has ever been arrested orcharged with, or convicted of, any crime, subject to certain exceptions. A prospective employee maynot be asked if he has ever been convicted of any crime unless the inquiry takes place after theprospective employee has received a conditional offer of employment, which offer may be withdrawnif the prospective employee has a conviction record that bears a rational relationship to the duties

and responsibilities of the position. A prospective employee may not be asked if he has ever beenarrested or charged with a crime unless the inquiry takes place after the prospective employee hasreceived a conditional offer of employment, which offer may be withdrawn if (i) the prospectiveemployee's criminal arrest or charge resulted in the prospective employee's conviction of a crime and(ii) the crime of which he was convicted bears a rational relationship to the duties and responsibilitiesof the position. A private employer who violates the provisions of this section is subject to a civilpenalty not to exceed $100 for each violation.

HB422 Davis

Prohibiting certain local government practices that would require contractors to providecertain compensation or benefits. Prohibits local governing bodies from establishing provisionsthat would require a wage floor of any other employee benefit or compensation, above what isotherwise required by state or federal law, to be provided by a contractor to its employees as part ofa local government contract. Any such provisions previously adopted by a local governing body thatdid not receive the approval of the General Assembly shall be considered null and void.

HB536 PlumMinimum wage. Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $7.25 perhour to $8.25 per hour effective July 1, 2014, and to $9.25 per hour effective July 1, 2015, unless ahigher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

HB794 LeMunyon

Nonsolicitation agreements. Establishes five requirements for a valid and enforceablenonsolicitation agreement between an employer and an employee, including a requirement that therestrictions imposed by the agreement are protective of the employer's legitimate business interest.The requirements do not apply to nonsolicitation agreements between an employer and an employeewho owned greater than five percent of the ownership interests of the employing business entity.Absent an agreement to the contrary, the solicitation activities that are restrained, prohibited, orotherwise restricted by a nonsolicitation agreement shall not be increased or expanded as a result ofthe employer being acquired by merging with another business entity. The measure requires courtsin actions seeking enforcement of, or challenging the enforceability of, a nonsolicitation agreement to

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award attorney fees and costs to the prevailing party. The measure does not apply in proceedings todetermine the enforceability of agreements entered into prior to July 1, 2014.

HB833 Keam

Safe days for employees. Requires private employers to allow an employee safe days, with pay, ifthe employee or a family member is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking or is afamily member of a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Employers are required toprovide employees with 32 hours per year of safe day time i f the employee has less than 120 monthsof employment with the employer, and 40 hours per year of safe day time if the employee has 120 ormore months of employment with the employer. Safe leave is leave from work that is used to allowthe employee to obtain for the employee or the employee's family member, as applicable, (i) medical

attention needed to recover from physical or psychological injury or disability caused by domesticviolence or sexual assault; (ii) psychological or other counseling; (iii) relocation due to the domesticviolence, sexual assault, or stalking; or (iv) legal services. Employers are prohibited from dischargingordiscriminating against an employee because the employee exercises the right to safe days.

SB590 MarsdenMinimum wage. Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $7.25 perhour to $8.25 per hour effective July 1, 2014, and to $9.25 per hour effective July 1, 2015, unless ahigher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

EnergyBill Patron Summary Position

HB155 R. Marshall

Interstate Offshore Energy Compact established.Creates the Interstate Offshore EnergyCompact to secure the right of the member states to execute leases for the production anddevelopment of oil and natural gas resources three miles or more off the Atlantic shorelines of their

respective states and to suspend the operation of any conflicting federal laws, rules, regulations, andorders within their states. The bill also creates the Interstate Offshore Energy Advisory Commissionto study issues related to offshore energy development that are of particular concern and makenonbinding recommendations related to offshore energy policies to the member states forconsideration by the legislatures of the member states. The bill provides that the compact becomeseffective within a member state upon adoption of the compact by at least two member states andconsent of the United States Congress.

HB363 Kory

Electric utility regulation; approval of generation facilities.Requires the State CorporationCommission, in its consideration of an application for approval of an electrical generation facility, toconsider environmentaleffects not expressly governed by a permit or expressly considered by apermitting authority, including carbon emissions and the overall impacts of new and existing facili tieson the health and welfare of the residents of the Commonwealth. The measure also removesprovisions that prohibited the Commission from imposing additional conditions with respect to suchmatters.

HB949/SB519

Hugo/Wagner

Natural gas utilities; upstream supply infrastructure projects.Authorizes a natural gas utility torecover eligible costs of eligible natural gas supply infrastructure projects. A plan for recovery of suchcosts may provide the utility with an option to receive the gas or sell the gas at market prices. Themeasure also (i) provides that the transportation of natural gas by pipeline, without providing serviceto end users within the territory, shall not be considered operating in the territory of another certificateholder; (ii) bars the State Corporation Commission from approving the construction of a natural gascompressor station in an area without the locality's certification only if the area is zoned exclusivelyfor residential use; and (iii) expands the definition of a strategic natural gas facility to include a naturalgas transmission company that adds design day deliverability or designed send out of at least100,000 dekaTherms per day in the aggregate. The bill exempts open season capacity acquisitionsor releases between a public service company and an affiliated interest from the requirement that theCommission approve contracts entered into by a public service company.

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HB1224 OQuinn Natural gas-fueled electric generation facilities; incentives.

HJ76 Herring

Study; mandatory renewable energy portfolio standard program; report.Directs theCommission on Electric Utility Regulation to study the establishment of a mandatory renewableenergy portfolio standard program for the Commonwealth. The study will (i) address issuesassociated with transitioning from the existing voluntary renewable energy portfolio standard programto a mandatory program, (ii) determine the costs and benefits that would be associated with requiringelectric utilities to meet varying levels of renewable energy portfolio standard goals, (iii) recommend

measures to address electric utilities that do not meet the program's goals, and (iv) determine if it isfeasible and advisable to require that all electric utilities in Virginia participate in a mandatoryrenewable energy portfolio standard program.

EnvironmentBill Patron Summary Position

HB1261 ChafinVirginia Energy Plan; incorporate a Carbon Dioxide Emission Control Impact Study andperiodic interim updates to the Plan.

SB48 Stuart

Prohibition on oil and gas drilling.Prohibits the drilling for oil and gas in the Eastern VirginiaGroundwater Management Area. When the General Assembly enacted the GroundwaterManagement Act in 1973, it declared that the continued, unrestricted usage of groundwater iscontributing and will contribute to pollution and the shortage of groundwater, thereby jeopardizing the

public welfare, safety, and health. The Act recognized that the state has the right to the reasonablecontrol of all groundwater resources in order to conserve, protect, and beneficially utilize thegroundwater of the Commonwealth. The bill would apply to groundwater and the associated aquifersin the coastal plain of Virginia. The bill would also require the Department of Environmental Quality toadopt regulations protecting surface and ground water resources before the Department of Mines,Minerals and Energy issues a drilling permit in those areas of Tidewater where such activity isallowed.

Bill amended to allow oil and gas drilling in Eastern Virginia, but only after the Department ofEnvironmental Quality develops regulations. Regulations to be completed by mid-2016.

SB615 Carrico

Regulating carbon dioxide emissions.Establishes the process for adopting state carbon dioxide(CO2) requirements consistent with the emission guidelines the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) intends to propose under 111d of the Clean Air Act for regulating CO2 emissionsfrom existing fossil fuel-fired electric generating units in June 2014. The bill requires the State Ai rPollution Control Board to establish separate CO2 performance standards for coal-fired and gas-firedelectric generating units on a case-by-case basis, and based on the best system of emissionreduction that has been adequately demonstrated and can be reasonably achieved throughmeasures undertaken at each unit, without requiring the unit to switch fuel. The bill requires theBoard to consider on a case-by-case basis whether less stringent performance standards than thoserequired by EPA's Emission Guidelines are warranted, taking into account seven enumerated criteria.Once the Board determines appropriate performance standards, the Board, to the "maximum extentpermissible," is to implement the performance standards through flexible regulatory mechanisms,including emissions averaging or emissions trading. Finally, the bill prohibits the state from submitting

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any 111d plan to EPA inconsistent with the bill, except as is necessary to comply with federalregulations.

General BusinessBill Patron Summary Position

HB167 Ramadan

Virginia Business One Stop electronic portal program; participation by State CorporationCommission.Advances the date, from June 30, 2018, to June 30, 2017, by which the StateCorporation Commission is required to fully integrate processes and forms into the BusinessPermitting Center administered by the Department of Business Assistance and to process all formswithin 48 business hours from the time the applicant submits the form electronically. The bill alsorequires the Commission, by December 1, 2014, to implement a hyperlink from its website to theCenter that will facilitate the collection by the Center of a user's information to populate any formsthat will be required to be completed at a future date. Biannual progress reports are to be provided tothe Secretary of Commerce and Trade, who is directed to oversee the implementation of theseprovisions. Representatives of the Commission, the Department, and the Secretary are directed tomeet no less frequently than monthly to further the collaboration to identify, develop, and implementenhancements to the Business One Stop and eFile systems to provide for an improved citizenexperience

HB168 Ramadan

Clerk of the State Corporation Commission; secure online system; articles of dissolution;emergency. Requires the clerk of the State Corporation Commission, by July 1, 2014, to ensure thatthe Commission's eFile electronic registration system is secure. The system shall be deemed secureif it (i) provides a means to verify the identity of users; (ii) designates each user as having access withregard to one or more specified business entities; and (iii) allows users to access information

regarding, and to make changes to records in the system affecting, only a business entity for whichthe user is designated. The measure also directs the clerk to ensure that any articles of dissolution ofa stock or nonstock corporation that are filed in his office are signed by the chairman, a vice-chairman, the president, or any other of its officers authorized to act on behalf of the corporation whoare listed as a director or principal officer on the corporation's most recently filed annual report. Thebill has an emergency clause.

HB313 D. Marshall

Clerk of the State Corporation Commission; unauthorized filings.Authorizes the clerk of theState Corporation Commission, upon determining that a person who executed or delivered abusiness entity document to the clerk's office lacked the authority to act on behalf of the businessentity, to refuse to accept the document for filing. The clerk is further authorized under suchcircumstances to summarily remove a filed document, correct the records, and notify the affectedbusiness entity. The measure also includes stylistic and technical changes.

Health CareBill Patron Summary Position

HB30/SB30

Jones/Stosch

Medicaid Reform and Expansion through market based principles.

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HB33/SB484

Habeeb/Stuart

Pediatric oral health benefits; reasonable assurance of provision.Declares that a health carrierthat makes available in the small group market or individual market a health benefit plan that doesnot include the minimum essential pediatric oral health benefits required under the federal AffordableCare Act shall be deemed to have obtained reasonable assurance that the pediatric oral healthbenefits are provided to the plan's purchaser if (i) at least one qualified dental plan offers suchbenefits and is available for purchase, (ii) the health carrier prominently discloses that its plan doesnot provide the required benefits, and (iii) the entity offering the qualified dental plan providing therequired benefits is licensed to provide them in the Commonwealth.

LegalBill Patron Summary Position

HB375/SB150

OQuinn/Stuart

Patent infringement; assertions made in bad faith.Prohibits any person from making in bad faithan assertion, allegation, or claim that a resident of the Commonwealth is infringing a patent. Themeasure creates a cause of action for damages and an injunction against a person threatening tobring legal action for alleged patent infringement. A court that finds that a target of an assertion ofpatent infringement has established a reasonable likelihood that the person has made the assertionin bad faith shall require the person to post a bond in an amount equal to the target's costs to litigatethe claim and amounts reasonably likely to be recovered as damages. The Attorney General or anyattorney for the Commonwealth is empowered to issue civil investigative demands, acceptassurances of voluntary compliance, and seek injunctions. The target of a bad faith assertion or anyother person aggrieved by a violation may bring an action to recover actual damages, fees, and costsand obtain equitable relief. If the violation was willful, damages may be increased to the greater ofthree times the actual damages sustained or $50,000.

HB398 Fariss

Statutes of limitation; accrual.Provides that in civil actions to recover for damage to property orinjury to person, if the injury was not reasonably discoverable on the date it was sustained, thestatute of limitations does not begin to run until the date that injury was discovered or should havebeen discovered. Under current law, in most cases the limitations period begins to run from the datethe injury was sustained. No change is made to the law governing limitations periods in medicalmalpractice cases.

SB232 PetersenService of process on domestic corporations.Allows process on a Virginia corporation to beserved on its registered agent by posting a copy of the process on the front door or main entrance ofthe corporation's registered office.

SB251 McEachinGrand larceny; threshold.Increases from $200 to $1,000 the threshold amount of money taken orvalue of goods or chattel taken at which the crime rises from petit larceny to grand larceny. The bill

increases the threshold by the same amount for the classification of certain property crimes.

Military & Veterans AffairsBill Patron Summary Position

HB30/SB30

Jones/Stosch

Item 461 (F)--Funding to support the Virginia Values Veterans Program.

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HB30/SB30

Jones/Stosch

Item 144 (M)Funding to support pilot program to assist Virginia veterans and military members incompleting degree and professional programs

HB730 Lingamfelter

Secretary of Public Safety; Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security; transfer ofcertain powers and duties. Renames the Secretary of Public Safety as the Secretary of PublicSafety and Homeland Security and reassigns duties currently assigned to Secretary of VeteransAffairs and Homeland Security relating to homeland security. The bill renames the Secretary of

Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. The bill alsoincorporates portions of the JLARC report relating to improvements to Virginia's homeland securityactivities. The bill contains numerous amendments to accomplish this transfer of powers and duties.The bill contains an emergency clause.

SB18 Locke

Unemployment compensation; quit to follow military spouse.Provides that good cause forleaving employment exists if an employee voluntarily leaves a job to accompany the employee'sspouse, who is on active duty in the military or naval services of the United States, to a new military-related assignment established pursuant to a permanent change of duty order from which theemployee's place of employment is not reasonably accessible. The measure applies only i f the stateto which the spouse is transferred has a similar provision, unless the transfer involves members ofthe Virginia National Guard relocated within the Commonwealth. Benefits paid to qualifying claimantsshall be charged against the pool rather than against the claimant's employer. The measure also

repeals Chapter 878 of the 2009 Acts of Assembly, which is similar to this measure but did not takeeffect because the contingency in its third enactment was not satisfied.

ProcurementBill Patron Summary Position

HB346/SB165

James/Locke

Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995; additional requirements for certain comprehensiveagreements. Provides that no comprehensive agreement providing for the lease, operation, ortransfer of ownership of a qualifying transportation facility under the Public-Private Transportation Actwith a total value of more than $1 billion and having a substantial negative impact on the taxrevenues of an affected jurisdiction or substantially increasing the taxes, fees, or expenses that wil lbe paid by residents of an affected jurisdiction may be executed by a state agency unless (i)approved by the Governor and (ii) a bill that includes a specific description of the proposedagreement and its anticipated expenditures and revenues is passed by the General Assembly.

HB349 James

Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 and Public-Private Education Facilities andInfrastructure Act of 2002; additional requirements for comprehensive agreements.Providesthat no comprehensive agreement providing for the lease, operation, or transfer of ownership of aqualifying transportation facility under the Public-Private Transportation Act or a qualified projectunder the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act with a total value of $1 billion ormore shall be executed by a state agency unless (i) approved by the Governor and (ii) a bill thatincludes a specific description of the proposed agreement and its anticipated expenditures andrevenues is passed by the General Assembly.

HB1136 Joannou

Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995; approval of schedule of tolls and fees.Prohibits theinclusion in a comprehensive agreement under the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 of aschedule of tolls or user fees for a road, highway, tunnel, or bridge unless the General Assembly, byjoint resolution, has approved the schedule. The measure also requires that any user fees providedfor in a comprehensive agreement be set forth in a schedule that has been approved by the General

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Assembly.

SB26 Alexander

Public comment and access; presentation to Committees of the General Assembly.Increasestime periods for public comment and submission of competing proposals and transparency inagreements pursuant to the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995. The bill also requires apresentation to the Transportation Committees, Senate Finance Committee, and HouseAppropriations Committee of the General Assembly for projects in excess of $1 billion.

SB91 AlexanderComprehensive agreement; reduced rates for commuters.Requires comprehensive agreementsunder the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 to include a provision providing for reduced ratesfor commuters who use the facility at least 20 times per month during a 12-month period.

Small BusinessBill Patron Summary Position

HB321/SB362

Landes/Saslaw

Entrepreneur-in-Residence Program. Creates the Entrepreneur-in-Residence Program, a pilotprogram administered by the Secretary of Commerce and Trade to improve outreach by stategovernment to the private sector. The objectives of the program are to (i) strengthen coordinationand interaction between state government and the private sector on issues relevant to entrepreneursand small business concerns and (ii) make state government programs and operations simpler,easier to access, more efficient, and more responsive to the needs of small business concerns andentrepreneurs. Under the bill, entrepreneurs-in-residence serve without compensation but, at thediscretion of the head of the agency they were appointed to serve, may receive reasonable andnecessary expenses incurred in the discharge of their duties. The program was created by Chapter788 of the Acts of Assembly of 2013 but will not become effective unless reenacted by the 2014

Session of the General Assembly. The program has a 2017 sunset date.

HB932/SB492

Landes/McWaters

Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority; Department of Small Business andSupplier Diversity; administration of the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.Changes theadministration of the Virginia Jobs Investment Program from the Department of Small Business andSupplier Diversity to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority.

TaxBill Patron Summary Position

HB30/SB30

Jones/Stosch

3-5.10 INTANGIBLE HOLDING COMPANY ADDBACK--Notwithstanding the provisions of 58.1-402(B)(8), Code of Virginia, for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2004:

(i) The exception in 58.1-402(B)(8)(a)(1) for income that is subject to a tax based on or measuredby net income or capital imposed by Virginia, another state, or a foreign government shall be limitedand apply only to the portion of such income received by the related member, which portion is

attributed to a state or foreign government in which the related member has sufficient nexus to besubject to such taxes; and

(ii) The exception in 58.1-402(B)(8)(a)(2) for a related member deriving at least one-third of itsgross revenues from licensing to unrelated parties shall be limited and apply only to the portion ofsuch income derived from licensing agreements for which the rates and terms are comparable to therates and terms of agreements that the related member has actually entered into with unrelatedentities.

HB480/SB515

Villanueva/Wagner

Domestic international sales corporations; income taxation.Exempts a domestic internationalsales corporation (DISC) and any income attributable to a DISC from income taxes.

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HB617 Davis

Personal property tax; classification.Creates a classification for personal property tax ratepurposes of property owned by a business during its first two years of operation, if the business'sannual gross revenues do not exceed $100,000. A locality may impose a rate of tax on such propertythat is lowerthan the rate on the general class of tangible personal property.

HB1220/SB623

Comstock/McDougle

Research and development expenses tax credit. Increases beginning with taxable year 2014 theamount of the credit allowed from 15 percent of the first $167,000 to 15 percent of the first $234,000of Virginia qualified research and development expenses, and from 20 percent of the first $175,000to 20 percent of the first $234,000 of Virginia qualified research and development expensesconducted in conjunction with a Virginia institution of higher education. The bil l increases themaximum annual amount of tax credits that may be issued each fiscal year from $5 million to $10million. The bill allows a pass-through entity to elect to receive and claim any credit at the pass-through entity level in lieu of the credit being allocated to the individual partners, members, orshareholders of the pass-through entity. Finally, the bill requires any taxpayer applying for the creditto provide information to the Department of Taxation relating to the number of full-time employees ofthe taxpayer; the taxpayer's industry sector; the area, discipline, or field of Virginia qualified researchperformed by the taxpayer; the taxpayer's total gross receipts for the relevant taxable year; andwhether the qualified research was performed in conjunction with a Virginia institution of highereducation.

TechnologyBill Patron Summary Position

HB30/SB30

Jones/Stosch

1-119Funding for the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Investment Authority; Foster development

of Virginia-based technology, biosciences, and energy companies; expand initiatives in cybersecurity; expand broadband; and promote modeling and simulation in new growth industries.

HB1270 MinchewCenter for Rural Virginia created, pursuant to Virginia Code 2.2-2720, to prepare a ruralbroadband underserved area report.

TourismBill Patron Summary Position

HB460/SB46

Kilgore/Watkins

Income tax; motion picture production credit.Changes the motion picture production income taxcredit by (i) increasing the percentage of qualifying expenses eligible to be claimed from 15 percentto 20 percent, and from 20 percent to 25 percent for productions in an economically distressed areas,

(ii) increasing the total biennium cap for all such credits from $5 million to $25 million, and (iii) havingthe credit expire on December 31, 2023. The bill also requires the Department to publish informationregarding the credit regardless if it does not prevent the identification of the taxpayer claiming thecredit. The bill is effective for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2014.

TransportationBill Patron Summary Position

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HB2 Stolle

Allocations within highway construction districts.Provides that funding allocations for theNorthern Virginia highway construction district and the Hampton Roads highway construction districtbe made by giving priority to the projects expected to provide the greatest congestion reductionrelative to the cost of the project and that funding allocations for the seven other highwayconstruction districts be made by giving priority to either (i) the projects expected to provide thegreatest congestion reduction relative to the cost of the project or (ii) the projects that promoteeconomic development and promote commerce and trade. The bill provides for the choice to bemade by each locality within the seven highway construction districts and for each highwayconstruction district to determine the majority choice and submit it to the CommonwealthTransportation Board. Allocations by the Board using the priorities in the bill will begin July 1, 2015.

HB1090 Villanueva

Smart Travel Program to incorporate new technologies and innovations in transportation.Requires Secretary of Transportation and Department of Transportation to revise and update thestate's Smart Travel Program of 2006 by evaluating and incorporating, where appropriate, new smartroad technologies and other innovations in transportation.

HB1095 Peace

Innovation and Technology Transportation Fund. Creates the Innovation and TechnologyTransportation Fund to fund pilot programs and fully developed initiatives pertaining to high-techinfrastructure improvements with five percent of the annual amount allocated by the CommonwealthTransportation Board.

HB1100 Yancey

CTB Six-Year Improvement Program. Requires that the Commonwealth Transportation Board'sSix-Year Improvement Program give priority to either projects that are expected to provide thegreatest congestion reduction relative to the cost of the project or projects that promote economicdevelopment and promote commerce and trade within the highway construction district where theyare located.

Unemployment InsuranceBill Patron Summary Position

HB22 Kory

Unemployment compensation; benefit ratio.Provides that an employer's payroll, for purposes ofcalculating its benefit ratio and state unemployment tax rate, shall be deemed to be $1 when theemployer's taxable payroll for the applicable 12-month period is not more than $1. The measureeliminates the necessity of dividing the employer's benefit charges by a payroll amount of $0, whichproduces an infinite benefit ratio and results in an assessment of state unemployment taxes at thehighest rate.

HB798 Lopez

Unemployment compensation; Self-Employment Assistance Pilot Program; report.Establishesthe Self-Employment Assistance Pilot Program (Program), under which up to 100 unemployedindividuals receive unemployment compensation while they are establishing their own businessesand becoming self-employed. Participants receive an allowance in lieu of weekly regular benefit

payments and may use the allowance for entrepreneurial training, business counseling, and technicalassistance. The bill provides for the Virginia Employment Commission to develop and implement theprogram and to report annually to the Governor and the General Assembly on (i) the total number ofparticipants, (ii) the fiscal status of the Program, and (iii) any other information that will assist indetermining the viability of the Program.

SB18 Locke

Unemployment compensation; quit to follow military spouse.Provides that good cause forleaving employment exists if an employee voluntarily leaves a job to accompany the employee'sspouse, who is on active duty in the military or naval services of the United States, to a new military-related assignment established pursuant to a permanent change of duty order from which theemployee's place of employment is not reasonably accessible. The measure applies only if the stateto which the spouse is transferred has a similar provision, unless the transfer involves members ofthe Virginia National Guard relocated within the Commonwealth. Benefits paid to qualifying claimants

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shall be charged against the pool rather than against the claimant's employer. The measure alsorepeals Chapter 878 of the 2009 Acts of Assembly, which is similar to this measure but did not takeeffect because the contingency in its third enactment was not satisfied.

SB110 Stanley

Unemployment compensation; short-time compensation program.Establishes a short-timecompensation program that provides employers with the option of reducing the hours worked byemployees, while permitting the employees whose hours are reduced to receive partialcompensation for lost wages. Program participation requires Virginia Employment Commissionapproval of a plan, which must provide that the reduction in hours of work is in lieu of a layoff of anequivalent percentage of employees and that employees' health and retirement benefits cannot bereduced or eliminated under the plan. The measure requires the Commission to submit reports onthe program's implementation and accomplishments, with recommendations to improve itseffectiveness. The measure becomes effective January 1, 2015.

SB266 Stanley

Unemployment benefits; financial literacy course; volunteer service.Allows recipients ofunemployment benefits to extend their benefits through completion of a financial literacy course andvolunteer service at a nonprofit organization.

Amended: Unemployment benefits; financial literacy course.Requires the Virginia EmploymentCommission (VEC), either by itself or in collaboration with workforce service partner entities, toprovide information to all unemployment benefits claimants and job seekers on courses in financial

literacy. Such courses shall be at no cost to claimants and to job seekers and may be offered onlineor in any other medium the VEC deems appropriate.

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919 East Main Street Barry DuValSuite 900 President & CEORichmond, VA 23219 [email protected]

www.vachamber.com Keith MartinVice President of Public Policy and General [email protected]

(804) 237-1456

Ryan DunnVice President of Business & Government [email protected](804) 237-1455

Samantha QuigManager of Government Affairs

[email protected](804) 237-1457

Mark BarrettPublic Policy [email protected](804) 237-1464
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.vachamber.com/http://www.vachamber.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.vachamber.com/mailto:[email protected]

BWW week of 2 10 14 v2

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