Things are really moving along now in the General Assembly. All the bills have been filed and are working their way through each of the houses. At this time, we’re actively working or monitoring at least 49 bills, with a few more still to be evaluated by the Government and Industry Affairs and Joint Legislative Committees.
There are two licensure bills that we’ve been closely watching. The first bill, HB499, has the potential to open the door to unlicensed practice. We’re collaborating with several other professions to recommend amendments to sure up protections for the health, safety and welfare of the public and we feel fairly confident that this amendment will be accepted by the bill’s patron. The other, (HB838), likely arose out of the “ban the box” movement and is related to disclosure of criminal history. This bill is expected to be continued to the 2017 session.
There are a number of bills that will be of interest to small firms. We’re following four bills related to health care/benefits requirements for small businesses. Several bills this session were designed to close a loophole which opened up when the federal government redefined what constitutes a small business relative to the Affordable Care Act. (Since Virginia was already in alignment with the Act, this change left a number of small businesses in a difficult spot.) There was broad support across the aisle in both houses and HB58 was signed by the Governor on Jan. 26. Two other bills are related to leave requirements. SB274 and HB7 require private employers to provide paid sick days. HB7 has already been tabled and the SB274 has been assigned to committee. We’ll keep you posted on its progress.
Two bills redefining what qualifies as a small business are under consideration and could substantially impact those small businesses who do work with the Commonwealth. HB971 arose out of a workgroup which studied the issue following the last session. SB119 simply aligns Virginia’s definitions with the federal SBA definitions. We’re also studying how HB130 might impact those firms who operate as LLCs.
Of course, public procurement and Qualifications Based Selection (QBS) continue to be issues that capture our attention. Twenty of the bills we’re watching are – in one way or another – related to these topics. Much of our work on procurement this session has been focused on ensuring that contract negotiation actually takes place in the negotiation stage of the procurement process. We’ve worked closely with procurement professionals across the state and feel hopeful that, in addition to some progress on the legislative front, we’ll have the opportunity to engage in some joint educational programming.
There are a handful of bills related to the advertising requirements of RFPs, transportation, water managements, building code and even teacher licensure that we’re tracking relative to our legislative agenda put forward in the Virginia Accord.
As always, we welcome your participation as a member of our Government and Industry Affairs group. Email rgeorge@aiava.org if you’d like to get involved.