RICHMOND, VA, 24 FEBRUARY 2019: The 2019 regular session of the Virginia General Assembly adjourned today, after approving amendments to the 2018-2020 Biennial Budget by votes of 97 to 1 in the House and 40 to 0 in the Senate.
The Senate Republican Caucus spearheaded the successful drive to refund directly to taxpayers all of the excess revenues paid by individuals because of changes resulting from the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The $1 billion tax relief and conformity plan advanced by Senate Republicans became the basis for successful legislation that was signed by Governor Ralph S. Northam (D).
Of the nearly 800 bills filed by members of the Virginia Senate, over 350 were approved by both chambers and forwarded to Governor Northam for action.
“This has been an exceptionally successful year for the priorities of Senate Republicans,” noted Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment, Jr. (R-James City). “The budget amendments the General Assembly approved include the largest tax relief for Virginians in years. The package also provides pay increases for our teachers, more funding for behavioral healthcare and to combat opiate abuse, and makes the investments required to preserve our AAA bond rating.
“Senate Republicans also passed legislation to increase options and improve the affordability of healthcare for Virginians. The sensible improvements we championed include lower-cost coverage options already approved by the federal government and implemented in other states. Virginians deserve the same affordable coverage options.
“We’ve also successfully passed legislation to strengthen our economy, improve the quality of education, and ensure the safety of our citizens.
“For a session most will remember for the headlines generated outside of the House and Senate chambers, what has taken place inside the Capitol will benefit the people of Virginia this year and beyond.”
Below is a select list of the final action on bills, grouped by topic, sponsored by members of the Senate Republican Caucus and approved by the Senate of Virginia by Crossover.
Strengthening the Economy and Creating Jobs
SB 999 (Stanley) Passed Senate 40-0
Defeated in House Subcommittee
Creates the Virginia Grocery Investment Program and Fund to help facilitate grocery stores in underserved communities.
SB 1099 (DeSteph) Passed Senate 35-5
Defeated in House Subcommittee
Requires Virginia state government to guide public bodies to purchase iron and steel made in the United States.
SB 1420 (Sturtevant) Passed Senate 35-5
Passed House 94-2
Allows co-working establishments to apply for ABC license.
SB 1425 (Dunnavant) Passed Senate 39-1
Passed House 62-34-2
Limits the amount of local repetitive taxes food trucks are required to pay.
SB 1495 (Chafin) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 98-1
Establishes the Virginia Rural Information Technology Apprenticeship Grant Fund and Program, awarding grants to small, rural information technology businesses.
SB 1523 (Ruff) Passed Senate 34-6
Left in House Appropriations
Creates a cabinet-level position in the Governor’s Cabinet for Secretary of Workforce Development.
SB 1589 (Dunnavant) Passed Senate 40-0
Left in House Appropriations
Creates the Virginia Works Portal, creating one-stop access for information on career paths, education, workforce development, and employment opportunities.
SB 1726 (McDougle) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 94-2
Deregulates happy hour pricing restriction, allowing restaurants to promote business.
Increasing Access to Quality Health Care
SB 1004 (Chase) Passed Senate 39-0
Passed House 97-0
Requires patients be made aware of their right to request an estimate for health procedures in hospitals.
SB 1027 (Sturtevant) Passed Senate 38-2
Passed House 51-47
Allows Virginians to purchase catastrophic health care insurance, which requires all ACA provisions, with low-cost, high-deductible health plans.
SB 1221 (Chafin) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 98-0
Expands opportunity for healthcare access through the use of tele-medicine.
SB 1240 (Reeves) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 51-46
Increases duration for short-term, limited-duration health care plans to match the federal rule.
SB 1358 (Wagner) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 99-0
Allows localities to establish healthcare clinics for locality employees, which include dental and vision coverage.
SB 1581 (Suetterlein) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 83-10
Codifies parental leave policy from Executive Order Number 12 (2018) to state employees, consisting of eight weeks of paid parental leave following birth, adoption, or foster placement.
SB 1596 (Dunnavant) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 90-5-1
Requires health insurance to consider amounts paid when considering contributions to out-of-network payments.
SB 1763 (Sturtevant) Passed Senate 40-0
Left in House Appropriations
Directs health carriers to address surprise billing, where certain health services are out of patient insurance network.
Expanding Opportunity through Education
SB 1015 (Stanley) Passed Senate 23-15
Passed House 56-42
Expands the Education Improvement Scholarships tax credit pre-kindergarten programs.
SB 1314 (Hanger) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 99-0
Requires children in state hospital and mental health facilities to participate in education and training programs.
SB 1368 (Norment) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 96-2
Lowers cost of Prepaid529 college savings plans by putting specific criteria to limit the amount of financial reserves paid in.
SB 1519 (Carrico) Passed Senate 39-1
Passed House 99-0
Allows University of Virginia at Wise to offer reduced rate tuition for prospective students who live in Southwest Virginia.
SB 1590 (Dunnavant) Passed Senate 39-1
Left in House Appropriations
Expands Virtual Virginia to all public schools.
Protecting Virginians & Reforming Criminal Justice
SB 1023 (Cosgrove) Passed Senate 40-0
Left in House Appropriations
Changes statutory requirements allowing retired law enforcement officers to serve as school resource officers.
SB 1179 (Stuart) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 95-3
Allows Virginian active-military to receive a concealed-carry permit from Virginia when stationed outside Virginia.
SB 1213 (Newman) Passed Senate 38-0
Passed House 99-0
Requires Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety to develop a case management tool for use by public elementary and secondary school threat assessment teams.
SB 1214 (Newman) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 98-0
Requires local school boards in which local law enforcement agency employs school resource officers to enter into memorandum of understanding with local law enforcement agencies that set forth powers and responsibilities of SROs.
SB 1215 (Newman) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 99-0
Requires each school board to develop training on safety procedures in the event of an emergency situation on school property, and that training to be delivered to students and employees at least once a year.
SB 1218 (Newman) Passed Senate 40-0
Left in House Education
Requires SOLs administered to students in grades 9 - 12 to include reading, writing, mathematics, science, and Virginia and U.S. history.
SB 1339 (Reeves) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 100-0
Omnibus bill addressing the deficiencies in the Department of Social Services agency in response to the JLARC report.
SB 1379 (McDougle) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 99-0
Requires copies of all discovered or known child pornography found during course of criminal investigation to be included in the Child Pornography Registry.
SB 1501 (Carrico) Passed Senate 35-5
Passed House 93-5
Requires those guilty of premeditated murder against law enforcement to serve a mandatory minimum of at least life in prison.
SB 1529 (Chafin) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 99-0
Expands fingerprinting for criminal offenses to address the missing 700,000 files from the criminal database.
SB 1602 (Obenshain) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 100-0
Omnibus bill addressing the 700,000 missing files from the Central Criminal Record Exchange.
SB 1661 (Peake) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 100-0
Requires local social services to conduct sex trafficking assessment upon receiving a complaint of suspected child abuse, and allow local departments to take child victims into custody.
SB 1669 (Vogel) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 98-0
Creates a Sex Trafficking Response Coordinator within the Department of Criminal Justice Services.
Improving Transportation
SB 1183 (Stuart) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 98-0
Specifies that emergency vehicles in performance of their official duties shall be granted free use of tolls.
SB 1468 (Black) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 99-1
Allows the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority to evaluate and rate transportation projects instead of the Department of Transportation.
SB 1749 (McDougle) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 99-0
Creates the Robert O. Norris Bridge and Statewide Special Structure Fund, tasked with reviewing current and future conditions of pavement and bridges in the Commonwealth.
SJ 254 (Black) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 73-26-1
Directs the Department of Transportation to study the feasibility of purchasing the Dulles Greenway.
Maximizing Virginia Energy
SB 1707 (Chafin) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 99-0
Creates the Southwest Virginia Energy Research and Development Authority to promote opportunities for energy development in Southwest Virginia.
Ensuring Transparency and Ethics
SB 1068 (Obenshain) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 90-3
Requires a two-year waiting period for members serving on Board of Visitors from accepting employment from a state-funded university or college.
SB 1087 (Obenshain) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 54-43
Puts in place decennial redistricting guidelines that freeze county redrawing until the General Assembly completes the process so that split precincts are prevented.
SB 1352 (McDougle) Passed Senate 22-18
Left in House Appropriations
Creates the Medicaid Fiscal Oversight and Accountability Office as an agency to prepare the Official Medicaid Forecast for oversight of Medicaid expenditures, review of fiscal impact of policy changes, and other oversight.
SB 1455 (Vogel) Passed Senate 35-2
Passed House 51-46
Reorganizes the Department of and State Board of Elections in response to the JLARC report on political bias.
SB 1577 (Suetterlein) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 99-0
Requires ballot for elected offices appear before any questions presented to voters.
SB 1579 (Suetterlein) Passed Senate 21-17
Passed House 53-46
Establishes decennial redistricting criteria.
SB 1696 (Wagner) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 98-0
Requires employers to provide employees with hourly paycheck stubs.
SB 1703 (Suetterlein) Passed Senate 40-0
Passed House 98-0
Requires Library of Virginia to catalogue and make available to the public all records delivered by an outgoing Governor within one year of delivery.
SB 1751 (Ruff) Passed Senate 37-1
Passed House 97-0
Requires DPOR to review licensure accounting each biennium, and in the event it takes in higher revenue than needed, requires DPOR to reduce licensure fees.
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Paid for by Virginia Senate Republican Caucus