VEDA FALL CONFERENCE Richmond, Virginia
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VEDA FALL CONFERENCE Richmond, Virginia Virginia Legislative Update September 18-20, 2019 Presentation Overview 2019 Economic Development Accomplishments 2019 Budget Accomplishments 2019 General Assembly Elections 2 2019 Session Accomplishments • HB 2356 (C. Jones) and SB 1255 (Ruff) creates the Major Headquarters Workforce Grant Fund for the Amazon project • HB 2021 (James) reauthorizes the Va. Investment Performance Grant/Va. Economic Development Incentive Grant Programs • HB 2182 (Austin) and SB1681 (Mason), which deals with DGS and surplus property. Provides an opportunity for economic development entities to purchase surplus property for economic development purposes • HB 1840 (Marshall), which allows a pilot program to facilitate construction of electric transmission facilities to Business parks 3 2019 Session Accomplishments • SB 1695 (Wagner) and HB 2738 (Bagby) which allows acquisition of rights-of-way for economic development sites for public utilities • HB 2180 (Rush) and SB 1370 (Norment) creates a Semiconductor Manufacturing Grant Fund for the Micron project. 4 2019 Budget Accomplishments • VJIP funding, $2.7 million, which restores the funding close to the $3 million level that we requested in FY20 • Business Ready Sites Program, increases funds $2,000,000 in FY19. May include sites of at least 25 acres; also allows up to $2,000,000 may be utilized for characterization of publicly or privately- owned sites. No public funds associated with this program may be utilized to develop any sites owned exclusively by private interests unless such private interests contractually commit to refund the Commonwealth for its investment at the time the property is sold or leased for an eligible or ineligible use" • Increase Enterprise Zone Grant Fund by $1.0 million in FY20 to reduce pro-ration of the Real Property Improvement Grant 5 2019 Budget Accomplishments • $16.6 million Tech Talent Investment Fund which is designed to increase the number of computer science and related degrees that are needed for companies such as Amazon which invests in Virginia's workforce • $50 million for the Semiconductor Manufacturing Grant for our commitment to Micron; which is the first year payment • The first $40 million collected as a result of the online sales tax legislation will go to reserves for the Amazon custom incentive grant 6 2020 Legislative Initiatives Fully Fund VJIP Increase Marketing Funding Business Ready Sites Custom Workforce 7 2019 Elections 8 Virginia State Level-2017 Election Impact • The Republicans held a 66-34 majority in the House heading into the 2017 election • The following key members of the House of Delegates lost in November 2017: – House Majority Caucus Whip-Jackson Miller – Chair of the Transportation Committee-Ron Villanueva – Chair of Science and Technology Committee-Rich Anderson – Chair of Militia, Police, and Public Safety-Scott Lingamfelter – Vice Chair of Health, Welfare, and Institutions and Budget Conferee-John O’Bannon – Chair of the Appropriations General Government and Capital Outlay Subcommittee and Budget Conferee-Tag Greason – House Majority Caucus Chairman and Vice Chair of the Transportation Committee, Delegate Tim Hugo, narrowly held onto his seat in Northern Virginia 9 Virginia State Level-Where We are Today • Virginia 2019 election includes all 140 seats in the House of Delegates and Senate – The 100-member House is up for election every two years in Virginia – The 40-member Senate is up for election every four years in Virginia • Legislative Branch – House 51-48 Republican Control – Senate 20-19 Republican Control – 2019 Election-all 140 General Assembly seats • Executive Branch – Governor Ralph Northam (D) – Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax (D) – Attorney General Mark Herring (D) o Second straight election cycle where Democrats have swept all three statewide races (2013 & 2017) 10 Virginia Redistricting Overview • January 2019 – Panel of judges chose a redistricting map for Virginia’s House of Delegates • February 1, 2019 – Deadline for both sides to file objections • March 18, 2019 – U.S. Supreme Court heard the GOP-led House of Delegates appeal • June 17, 2019 – U.S. Supreme Court dismisses the Virginia House of Delegates appeal in Virginia House of Delegates v. Bethune- Hill of a lower courts findings that some of Virginia’s legislative districts were racially gerrymandered – In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled the Virginia House of Delegates lacked standing in the case and that only the Attorney General (Democrat Mark Herring) of Virginia has standing to appeal the decision from the lower courts – AG Mark Herring declined to challenge the lower courts ruling • New legislative map will be in place for the next two years with an estimated 425,000 voters from Richmond to Virginia Beach moved to new House districts 11 Virginia Redistricting Overview Continued-House Impact • Ultimately, pundits believe this Supreme Court ruling is favorable to Democrats as many Republican Delegates will reside in districts with a Democratic majority of voters. – 66th House District: The 66th House District is currently represented by Speaker Kirk Cox (R). Speaker Cox has been a member of the House since 1990. Sheila Bynum-Coleman (D) and Linnard Harris (I) are running against Cox. The effect on partisan performance as a result of redistricting takes the 66th District from 25.5-point R leaning to 6.5-point D leaning, resulting in a 32-point shift in favor of Democrats. – 76th House District: The 76th House District is currently represented by Delegate Chris Jones (R). Delegate Jones is the current House Appropriations Chair and has been a member of the House since 1998. Clint Jenkins (D) is running against Jones. The effect on partisan performance as a result of redistricting takes the 76th District from 12.2-point R leaning to 15.2-point D leaning, resulting in a 27.4-point shift in favor of Democrats. – 91st House District: The 91st House District is an open seat currently held by Republican Delegate Gordon Helsel who announced his retirement. Martha Mugler (D) is running against Colleen Holcomb (R). The effect on partisan performance as a result of redistricting takes the 91st District from 11.5-point R leaning to 8.3-point D leaning, resulting in a 19.8-point shift in favor of Democrats. – 94th House District: The 94th House District is currently represented by Delegate David Yancey (R). Delegate Yancey is the current House Transportation Chair and has been a member of the House since 2012. Shelly Simonds (D) and Michael Bartley (I) are running against Yancey. The effect on partisan performance as a result of redistricting takes the 94th District from 4.5-point D leaning to 18.1 D leaning, resulting in a 13.6-point shift more in favor of Democrats. 12 Additional House Contests • Ultimately, pundits believe there are 12 to 15 House districts potentially in play. – 40th House District: The 40th House District is currently represented by Majority Caucus Chairman Tim Hugo (R). Delegate Hugo has been a member of the House since 2003. Delegate Hugo narrowly won his 2017 bid by just over 100 votes and is one of the few remaining Northern Virginia Republicans. Dan Helmer (D) is running against Hugo. – 68th House District: The 68th House District is currently represented by Delegate Dawn Adams (D). Delegate Adams defeated a long time Republican incumbent in 2017 (Loupassi-since 2008). Garrison Coward (R) is running against Adams. Republicans believe this may be a seat they can take back after it flipped in 2017. – 73rd House District: The 73rd House District is held by Delegate Debra Rodman (D) who is running for a Senate seat. Delegate Rodman defeated a long time Republican incumbent in 2017 (O’Bannon-since 2001). Rodney Willett (D) is running against Mary Margaret Kastelberg (R). Republicans believe this may be a seat they can take back after it flipped in 2017. – 85th House District: The 85th House District is currently represented by Delegate Cheryl Turpin (D) who is running for a Senate seat. Delegate Turpin defeated incumbent Rocky Holcomb in 2017 (Republican held seat since 1984). Alex Askew (D) is running against Rocky Holcomb (R). Republicans believe this may be a seat they can take back after it flipped in 2017 with Rocky Holcomb running to retake his seat. 13 Senate Contests • The Senate Republicans are mostly playing defense in 2019 with no clear avenues for potential pick ups. – 13th Senate District: The 13th Senate District is currently represented by Republican Senator Dick Black (R). Senator Black is retiring at the end of his term, leaving the 13th an open Senate seat. Delegate John Bell (D) and Geary Higgins (R) are running for the open seat. Pundits believe this Senate seat is likely to flip from R to D. – 7th Senate District: The 7th Senate District is an open seat formerly held by Republican Frank Wagner (R) who stepped down to take a post in the administration. Delegate Cheryl Turpin (D) and Jen Kiggans (R) are running for the open seat. Pundits believe this will be a race to watch. – 10th Senate District: The 10th Senate District is held by Republican Senator Glen Sturtevant (R). Ghazala Hashmi (D) is running against Sturtevant. Pundits believe this will be a race to watch. – 12th Senate District: The 12th Senate District is currently represented by Republican Senator Siobhan Dunnavant (R). Delegate Debra Rodman (D) is running against Dunnavant. Pundits believe this seat will be a race to watch. – 17th Senate District: The 17th Senate District is currently represented by Republican