Bills, bills, bills: What’s up Week 4?

Bills, bills, bills: What’s up Week 4?
Bills, bills, bills: What’s coming up week 4?
Bills bills, bills: What’s up week 4?
Virginia Progressive Legislative Alert Newsletter
January 26, 2020

As we’re starting to get closer to the crossover date (2/11) when each house has to finish work on their own bills, and take up bills that originated in the other house, dockets and committee meetings will start to be very long. So there’s a LOT going on this week!

Check out some important bills on the docket this week:
Legislative Update


Voting rights being heard in House and Senate committees

Tuesday morning in the House, and afternoon in the Senate:

  • Same day voter registration: HB187 (Simon-HD53) HB201 (Ayala-HD51), and SB74 (Deeds-SD25) to pilot or create a same-day registration program allowing registration and absentee in person voting on Election Day. 
  • Automatic voter registration: HB219 (Lopez-HD49) HB235 (Cole-HD28) SB219 (Marsden-SD37) SB278 (Barker-SD39) and SB887 (Ebbin-SD30) automatically transmits to Dept of Elections voting info for anyone providing appropriate identification at the DMV during their transactions. 

Monday afternoon in House Elections Subcommittee and Tuesday afternoon in the Senate:

  • National Popular Vote Compact: HB177 (Levine-HD45) HB199 (Price-HD95) SB399 (Ebbin-SD30) would enter Virginia into the National Popular Vote Compact, an agreement to award all our electors in a Presidential election to the winner of the popular vote, if and only if enough other states have joined the compact to amount to a majority of the total electors in the US. 
  • Ranked choice voting: HB360 (Rasoul-HD11) creates a jungle-style primary with ranked choice voting in the general election; HB1103 (Hudson-HD57) creates a ranked-choice voting pilot for local elections; and SB892 (Ebbin-SD30) would allow localities to use ranked choice voting in local elections. 
Unions and worker’s rights in Senate and House Commerce and Labor

Monday PM in Senate Commerce & Labor, and Tuesday PM in House Labor & Commerce subcommittee:

  • Minimum wage increases: SB7 (Saslaw-SD35), SB73 (Locke-SD2), SB81 (Marsden-SD37), SB816 (Morrissey-SD16), HB395 (Ward-HD92), HB433 (Foy-HD2), HB615 (Plum-HD36) raise the minimum wage by increments to $15.
  • Prevailing wage: SB8 (Saslaw-SD35), SB180 (Favola-SD31), HB114 (Kory-HD38), and HB1203 (Tran-HD42) would require contractors on public works projects to pay the prevailing (union) wage rate.  
  • Earned sick leave: SB481 (Favola-SD31), SB1069 (Barker-SD39), HB418 (Cole-HD28) would require employers to provide paid sick time to employees. 
  • Fair share fees: SB426 (Saslaw-35) allows an employer and union to agree that nonunion employees must pay the share of union fees that cover their fair share of collective bargaining costs. Not quite a repeal of right to work, but works in same direction.
  • Paid Family Medical Leave: HB825 (Foy-HD2) would establish a paid family and medical leave program through the Virginia Employment Commission.
…and more bills to watch
  • Virginia Health Exchange: SB226 (Edwards-SB21), SB598 (Hanger-SD24), SB732 (McClellan-SD9) would create Virginia’s own health exchange marketplace, under SCC oversight, to facilitate purchase/sale of qualified health/dental plan, as announced by Governor Northam in his budget.
  • Environmental bills in Senate Energy Subcommittee: Monday afternoon SB710 (McClellan-SD9) the Solar Freedom Bill removing obstacles to rooftop solar projects, SB851 (McClellan-SD9) the Virginia Clean Economy Act setting goals and standards for renewable electricity and efficiency, SB998 (Lucas-SD18) to allow Dominion to recover the costs of offshore wind investments, and more, will be heard.
  • Transportation funding: Monday afternoon in House Transportation subcommittee, HB1414 (Filler-Corn-HD41) to overhaul the structure of transportation funding, including increasing the gas tax, lowering registration fees, new safety requirements such as universal seat belt wearing; and an alternative fuel vehicle highway use fee. Part of Governor Northam’s budget.

If any of the above bills are important to you, now is the time to contact your legislators and tell them how this bill affects you and your family. Contact information for Delegates and Senators can be found HERE; if you aren’t sure who represents you, put your address in HERE to find out.
Virginia Progressive Legislative Alert Network

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Virginia 22116-2612 United States
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