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2007 General Assembly Update

 Week Ending 01/26/07

During the second full week of the 2007 General Assembly, action was taken, either in sub-committee or full committee, regarding legislation involving minimum wage, smoking prohibition, BPOL Tax, just to mention a few that have an impact on the retail industry. Click here for the Retail 2007 Profile.

Transportation

The revenue proposal to authorize Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads to increase their commercial property real estate rate by .30 cents is being met with opposition from a coalition of business owners in the Hampton Roads area.

The resolution to the transportation has a long way to go before a House and Senate agreement is reached.

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Electric Restructuring

During the last week, negotiations have continued between the electric utility providers and the Coalition for Fair Electric Rates (CFER), with the Attorney General’s Office moderating. On Wednesday of this past week, the topic of discussion was electric aggregation. George Peyton was invited to sit in on the discussions and speak to the need for aggregation. In his comments to the group, it was stated that if aggregation was part of the legislation going forward, aggregation of small commercials was important to maintain a level playing field for all commercial. The original proposal by Dominion Virginia Power was to allow single commercial customers with 5 mega watts to have retail choice. This provision would have let a large big box retailer to combine all their Virginia locations under one meter and go to the open market to shop for lower electric rates. Dominion Virginia Power has now agreed to add language to their proposed legislation, which would allow aggregation with a provision that the aggregating group apply and receive approval from the State Corporation Commission. The RMA will support this amendment and work to have it included in all legislation going forward.

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Minimum Wage

On Thursday January 25th, 8 bills were heard that would have increased the Minimum Wage. These bills ranged from Del. McEachin’s bill that would raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 on July 1, 2007 to Del. Callahan’s version that would have raised the minimum wage to $8.15 over a three year period and increasing it each year thereafter by adjusting the rate to reflect changes in the consumer price index.

The RMA and other Associations and Chambers opposed any increase at the State Level. Congress will most likely reach an agreement that will increase the minimum wage this year. All legislation to raise the minimum wage was defeated in sub-committee. There was an attempt to bring the bills back up before full committee; however, the attempt was voted down.

The Senate versions of the minimum wage increase were heard on Monday January 29th.  Sen. Colgan's SB 1327 was passed in the Senate Commerce & Labor Committee to increase the minimum wage to $6.50 on July 1, 2007.  This measure will be voted on this week on the Senate floor. 

ACTION NEEDED! - If this issue is important to you, click here for the list of Virginia State Senators and call them and let them know your opposition to this increase.

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Sales Tax Holiday

The attempt to include computers up to $1,500 and computer components in the sales tax holiday failed to report from the House Finance Committee. In future years, when the actual cost of the Sales Tax Holiday is known, the RMA will pursue the inclusion of computers and an increase in the dollar limit for school supply items.

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BPOL Tax

Business Professional Occupational License Tax

The RMA supports the outright repeal of this unfair tax on gross receipts. There is legislation by Del. Frederick that would repeal the BPOL tax. This bill will have the RMA’s support but will not likely gain support by other members of the House Finance Committee. Localities will argue that if the General Assembly takes away there BPOL Tax revenue, they would have no way to replace the loss revenue. The RMA would support a study conducted by a neutral party that would look at alternatives to BPOL. We will encourage Del. Frederick to introduce similar legislation in the 2008 General Assembly.

Motor Fuel Tax Exempt from BPOL
Legislation from both the House and Senate has now passed that will exempt motor fuel tax from gross receipts. Both the House and Senate version include a retroactive clause.

The RMA spoke in opposition to HB 2929, patroned by Del. Miller, which would have authorized any county, city or town to impose a BPOL license fee in an amount not to exceed $1,000. Under current law the maximum license fee is $50. The bill was defeated.

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Smoke Free Act

The Senate Committee on Education and Health passed a bill that would prohibit smoking indoors in most building, including restaurants. The House version of the bills were heard in General Laws sub committee and were defeated, however another bill patroned by Del. Griffith that would require posting of a sign, “Smoking Permitted” on the entrance to any building which allowed smoking passed.

The RMA will work with other interested organizations to defeat the bills. A property owner should have the right to choose if they want their building to be smoke free or permit smoking.

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Record Disposal

HB 2600, introduced by Del. Plum received opposition from every business lobbyist group. This bill would require businesses to take all reasonable measures to protect against unauthorized access to or use of personal information and require the disposal by means of burning, pulverizing or shredding of papers containing personal information. The personal information would include at minimum, a post-it note to any document that contains personal information. With the strong opposition, Del. Plum struck his bill.

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If you have any questions about this legislation, please contact George Peyton, VP, Government Relations at (804) 334-2932.