Governor, Legislature Begin Laying Out Proposals to Close Massive Deficit

Governor Tim Kaine will propose budget cuts this week that are intended to close a deficit expected to climb as high as $4 billion, according to the latest legislative estimates. Following interim cuts made by the Governor earlier this year, his administration made clear that, in light of the scope of the projected budget deficit, there would be no sacred cows in the 2009 legislative session and no program area could be expected to be held harmless-- including education, public safety and health care. Read more

Coming to Richmond in 2009…Government Transparency

Among the biggest controversies of the 2008 General Assembly session was a decision of the House Rules Committee, chaired by Speaker Bill Howell (R-Fredericksburg), that prohibited recorded votes from being taken in House subcommittees. According to critics, this allowed for legislation to be swept aside and put out to pasture, with no identification of those members who wanted to consider a measure-- or, as importantly, no fingerprints of those who wanted a measure killed without it ever seeing light of day. Read more

Brian Moran Resigns Seat to Run for Governor Full Time

Alexandria Delegate Brian Moran resigned his seat in the Virginia House of Delegates last week in order to campaign full time for Governor. The surprise announcement came less than a month before the General Assembly reconvenes on January 14 for the 2009 session. Read more

Governor’s Climate Change Commission Issues Recommendations

The Virginia Commission on Climate Change, established by Governor Kaine one year ago, was charged with preparing a proposed action plan for reducing statewide greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 30 percent by 2025, in accordance with the goals of the Virginia Energy Plan. The Commission’s recently adopted final report contains over one hundred specific recommendations, including several ideas for improving energy efficiency and promoting greater reliance on renewable energy sources. Read more

Housing Commission Wraps up Work; New Leadership Determined

The Virginia Housing Commission held its last meeting of the 2008 legislative interim in December. Several issues of concern to AOBA had been forwarded to it by the General Assembly, with a charge for additional study and to provide recommendations for any further action during the 2009 session. AOBA served on several work groups established by the Commission to review and discuss these proposed bills. Read more

AOBA Weighs in on Alexandria’s Draft Sustainable Development Policy

The city of Alexandria recently shared a draft policy on sustainable development with members of its Sustainable Development Working Group, in which AOBA participates. The draft policy is not intended to take the form of an ordinance, which would involve a more rigid application process. The more flexible, policy approach was taken by city staff in response to feedback provided by AOBA and other stakeholders. Read more

Arlington Defers Consideration of Troublesome Comp Plan Language on Transportation

After hearing from AOBA and numerous other industry stakeholders, the Arlington County Board voted last weekend to defer consideration of Comprehensive Plan language ostensibly aimed at “managing” levels of service of transportation infrastructure in Arlington. The proposed provisions, championed by County staff, would determine the level of “requested” contributions from property owners to offset impacts of new development. Read more

Governor, Legislature Begin Laying Out Proposals to Close Massive Deficit

Governor Tim Kaine will propose budget cuts this week that are intended to close a deficit expected to climb as high as $4 billion, according to the latest legislative estimates. Following interim cuts made by the Governor earlier this year, his administration made clear that, in light of the scope of the projected budget deficit, there would be no sacred cows in the 2009 legislative session and no program area could be expected to be held harmless-- including education, public safety and health care.

In the meantime, the leadership in the Republican-controlled House of Delegates has issued a press release announcing its plans to trim that chamber’s spending by $1.1 million this year – approximately 15 percent of its operating expenses. The budget cuts will include suspended use of the state plane for legislator travel, elimination of study committees and support staff, reductions in office supply and furniture budgets, and job sharing. The House leadership further indicated that it would support no earmarks or amendments to the state’s two-year budget which do not pertain to core state services.

Coming to Richmond in 2009…Government Transparency

Among the biggest controversies of the 2008 General Assembly session was a decision of the House Rules Committee, chaired by Speaker Bill Howell (R-Fredericksburg), that prohibited recorded votes from being taken in House subcommittees. According to critics, this allowed for legislation to be swept aside and put out to pasture, with no identification of those members who wanted to consider a measure-- or, as importantly, no fingerprints of those who wanted a measure killed without it ever seeing light of day. This appears set to change, however, in the 2009 Session: House leadership says that, because of increased operational efficiency resulting from new rules capping the number of bills that may be submitted, votes in subcommittees can now be recorded and placed online for viewing by the public.

Brian Moran Resigns Seat to Run for Governor Full Time

Alexandria Delegate Brian Moran resigned his seat in the Virginia House of Delegates last week in order to campaign full time for Governor. The surprise announcement came less than a month before the General Assembly reconvenes on January 14 for the 2009 session. Moran is presently in a three-way contest for the Democratic nomination with Charlottesville state Senator Creigh Deeds (who was also the Democrats’ 2005 Attorney General nominee), and Terry McAuliffe, former Democratic National Chairman and Hillary Clinton for President Campaign Chairman.

Early polling conducted by Rasmussen Reports showed Brian Moran as the most likely Democrat to defeat Attorney General Bob McDonnell, the Republican gubernatorial nominee; the results showed Moran leading McDonnell by a margin of 41 to 37. Creigh Deeds is presently polling even with McDonnell at 38 percent, while Terry McAuliffe trails McDonnell 41 to 36.

Moran’s resignation leaves a vacancy for the position of Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. Fellow Northern Virginian Delegate Kris Amundson, who represents the Mount Vernon area, may be in line to succeed him in that post. Meanwhile, Governor Kaine has called a special election for January 13 to determine who will serve out Moran’s unexpired House term. The political parties had to choose their nominees by Wednesday of this week, and two Democratic candidates quickly emerged to represent the heavily Democratic-leaning district: Ariel Gonzales, Director of Congressional Affairs for the American College of Radiology and former President of Prince William County Young Democrats; and local community activist Charniele Herring. Herring, who had already been seen as the frontrunner by virtue of having received Moran’s endorsement, defeated Gonzales in a “firehouse” primary held Tuesday night. On the Republican side, Joe Murray, an aide to Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina, was elected in a 3-way primary, taking less than 50 total votes cast.

Governor’s Climate Change Commission Issues Recommendations

The Virginia Commission on Climate Change, established by Governor Kaine one year ago, was charged with preparing a proposed action plan for reducing statewide greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 30 percent by 2025, in accordance with the goals of the Virginia Energy Plan. The Commission’s recently adopted final report contains over one hundred specific recommendations, including several ideas for improving energy efficiency and promoting greater reliance on renewable energy sources. Also included was a surprise recommendation: that all new commercial buildings should meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) or equivalent energy standards. The Governor’s office has pledged action on the Commission’s report, but it is not yet clear which recommendations will be drafted into legislation for the 2009 session.

Housing Commission Wraps up Work; New Leadership Determined

The Virginia Housing Commission held its last meeting of the 2008 legislative interim in December. Several issues of concern to AOBA had been forwarded to it by the General Assembly, with a charge for additional study and to provide recommendations for any further action during the 2009 session. AOBA served on several work groups established by the Commission to review and discuss these proposed bills. In the end, AOBA was successful in convincing the Commission to vote against recommending any further action on any of these proposed measures. Among those were proposals to: 1) mandate the retrofit of automatic sprinkler systems in all high-rise residential properties; 2) allow for jurisdiction-wide rental inspection programs; and 3) add source of income to the list of prohibited considerations under fair housing law.

Something we already know will be on the agenda for next year, however, is housing discrimination. The Commission received a presentation from Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME), an advocacy organization for low-income and affordable housing, regarding the organization’s recent investigative “Audit of Housing” in Hampton Roads. The study purported to reveal significant incidences of racial discrimination and failures to comply with the Fair Housing and/or Americans with Disabilities Acts. Recommendations for legislative action and response will be considered by the Commission during the legislative interim following the 2009 session.

The final meeting also saw Hampton Senator Mamie Locke (D) elected by her peers to be the next Chairman of the Commission, replacing retiring Delegate Terrie Suit (R). Senator Locke, who has been serving as Vice Chairman of the Commission, presently serves as Chairman of the Senate Committee on General Laws & Technology, which oversees much of the legislation of importance to AOBA members; Delegate John Cosgrove (R-Chesapeake) will fill the Commission’s Vice Chair position being vacated by Senator Locke. AOBA maintains a strong working relationship with both members of this leadership team, and expects to work positively with them on issues that are referred for review by the General Assembly.

AOBA Weighs in on Alexandria’s Draft Sustainable Development Policy

The city of Alexandria recently shared a draft policy on sustainable development with members of its Sustainable Development Working Group, in which AOBA participates. The draft policy is not intended to take the form of an ordinance, which would involve a more rigid application process. The more flexible, policy approach was taken by city staff in response to feedback provided by AOBA and other stakeholders. The draft policy is intended to make clear the city’s priorities for new construction and development design, including energy efficiency, water conservation and a building’s overall carbon footprint. AOBA still maintains concerns, however, that insufficient incentives have been included in the draft policy.

Throughout the working group’s deliberations on the policy, AOBA has vociferously advocated for retaining flexibility and avoiding a policy that 1) will prove too rigid in its application of standards to achieve stated priorities, and 2) fails to recognize that additional costs on private sector partners will be imposed . In particular, AOBA voiced concern with a proposed baseline requirement that nonresidential projects must comply with LEED Silver and ENERGY STAR or equivalent standards, without any concessions being provided by the city to help property owners reach those goals. AOBA has urged additional consideration of incentives, including density bonuses, expedited permitting, tax credits, relaxation of parking requirements and other means of offsetting building costs, as essential measures to round out the tool box and help bring beneficial projects to fruition.

Arlington Defers Consideration of Troublesome Comp Plan Language on Transportation

After hearing from AOBA and numerous other industry stakeholders, the Arlington County Board voted last weekend to defer consideration of Comprehensive Plan language ostensibly aimed at “managing” levels of service of transportation infrastructure in Arlington. The proposed provisions, championed by County staff, would determine the level of “requested” contributions from property owners to offset impacts of new development.

Of specific concern to AOBA and other commercial real estate participants was information included as appendices documents; these included transportation demand management matrices and formulas for determining “appropriate” property owner contributions which suggested contributions beyond those generally addressed through the project approval process. The concessions recommended could, based on the type of development project, include annual contributions to Arlington County Commuter Services, provision of shower and locker facilities for bicyclists, membership subsidies for car-share vehicles, unbundling of residential and commercial parking, and provision of transit fare subsidies, with annual compliance reports required. Initial drafts had even gone so far as to include provisions that would effectively dictate “progressive employee policies” in tenant lease agreements.

To its credit, the Board opted to postpone consideration of the proposed appendices language, and to move forward, instead, with broader language setting forth the County’s vision for future growth. In the deliberations, several members of the Board made clear that they shared the concerns expressed by AOBA and others and did not think it appropriate to include such language in the Comprehensive Plan.