Dear , There are only four more days of the 2020 General Assembly (counting today), but several key issues are still in play: Paid Sick Days. Our Paid Sick Days Senate bill (SB 481), should be on the floor of the Senate and the House of Delegates in the next two days. Then, we hope, on to the Governor! Thank you for helping make this issue a priority in the Virginia General Assembly. Minimum Wage Increase. The conferees have been named for working out a compromise between the House (HB 395) and the Senate (SB 7) versions of the minimum wage bills. The conferees are Delegates Ward, Krizek and Fariss and Senators Saslaw, Surovell and Newman. VICCP is advocating a final bill that looks more like the House bill than the Senate bill. We are deeply concerned about the regionalism proposal in the Senate version (SB 7), as well as continuing the exemption for agricultural workers, the new exemption of students 22 years and younger, and the training wage provision.
Driver’s Licenses for All. The conferees have been named to work out the differences between the House Driver’s License Bill (HB 1211) and the Senate Driver’s Privilege Card Bill (SB 34). They are Delegates Tran, Guzman and Davis, and Senators Surovell, Boysko and Hanger. The bills are still very different. Advocates are particularly worried about privacy concerns.
In-State Tuition. The bills to allow all who meet the Virginia residency requirements to receive in-state tuition (HB 1547ER) has passed both houses and will go to the Governor this week. Wage Theft Reforms. Our wage theft reform bills have passed both the House and the Senate. Two have already been sent to the Governor for signing (HB 336 and SB 49ER). Several should be sent to the Governor in the next day or two (HB 123, SB 78, and SB 48ER). One bill, HB 337, has been sent to a Conference Committee. The conferees are Delegates Price, Bourne, Ware and Senators Spruill, Lewis and Obenshain. One other bill, SB 838, will go to conference, but the conferees haven’t been named yet. We have seen amazing progress on many bills this year. Comprehensive Predatory Lending Reform. Predatory lending bills (HB 789 and SB 421) have passed both chambers and should be sent to the Governor soon. Environmental Justice. The bill codifying the Environmental Justice Council (HB 1042ER) has been signed into law by the Governor! The bills to establish environmental justice as the policy of the Commonwealth (HB 704 and SB 406) have passed both chambers and should be sent to the Governor soon. Energy Burden. There are many good bills to reduce the energy burden on low-income Virginians and promote clean energy. We’ve been active on a few bills and are following many others. The bills to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and use some of the revenue to invest in energy efficiency (HB 981 and SB 1027) have passed both chambers and will be sent to the Governor. A bill (HB 1450) to create an energy efficiency standard passed both the House and Senate, but a Conference Committee has been requested. The Senate conferees are Senators Stuart, Mason and Peterson. The House conferees have not yet been named. The bill to restore State Corporation Commission oversight to Dominion Energy (HB 1132) passed out of the House by a bipartisan vote of 77-23, but unfortunately it was killed in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee. I suspect you may be tired of getting action alerts from us. Trust me – we’re tired of sending them! But as you can see from this report, our action together has made an incredible difference for many low-income Virginians. Thank you for your hard work. Kim Bobo
Executive Director
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