General Assembly Inventories, Virginia Water Resources Research Center

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Water in the 2024 Virginia General Assembly
Raflo, Alan (Virginia Water Resources Research Center, 2024)
In the tables below (starting on page 2), the Virginia Water Resources Research Center lists 151 measures in the 2024 Assembly dealing with water resources. The bills may affect water directly, such as bills on fishery management, water and sewer systems, or water quality standards; or indirectly by dealing with land uses, energy uses, or energy production, all of which can affect aquatic habitat, water use, water pollution, or climate-change impacts. The list also includes the Budget Bills, which have major effects on water through funding of water-related agencies, as well as occasionally through policy statements approved during the budget process.
Water in the 2023 Virginia General Assembly
Raflo, Alan (Virginia Water Resources Research Center, 2023)
In the tables below (starting on page 2), the Virginia Water Resources Research Center lists 135 measures in the 2023 Assembly dealing with water resources directly or indirectly, including two budget bills amending the current state budget that runs through June 30, 2024. The 2023 General Assembly convened on January 11 and adjourned on February 25. This was a so-called “short session,” which is held in all odd-numbered years. “Long sessions” of 60 days are held in even- numbered years. A reconvened (“veto”) session A reconvened (“veto”) session, for the purpose of considering vetoes or recommendations from the governor, was held on April 12. During long sessions, the Commonwealth’s budget for the upcoming two years is set; amendments to the current biennial budget may be considered both in short and long sessions.
Water in the 2022 Virginia General Assembly
Raflo, Alan (Virginia Water Resources Research Center, 2022)
In the tables below (starting on page 2), the Virginia Water Resources Research Center lists 156 measures in the 2022 Assembly dealing with water resources directly or indirectly, including bills related to the current biennial budget (through June 30, 2022) and the proposed budget for the 2022-2024 biennium. The 2022 General Assembly convened on January 12 and adjourned on March 12. On March 23, Gov. Glenn Younkin called back the Assembly for a special session to begin on April 4 for the purpose of passing a biennial state budget for fiscal years 2023 and 2024; the governor’s proclamation calling back the Assembly is online at this link (as of 5-17-22). As of 5-17-22, a biennial budget had not been passed and the General Assembly was still officially in special session. A reconvened (“veto”) session, for the purpose of considering vetoes or recommendations from the governor, was held on April 27, 2022. More information about the Assembly’s normal schedule and duration is available in “About the General Assembly,” online at this link. The General Assembly’s main Web page, http://virginiageneralassembly.gov/index.php, offers several useful features, including member lists, session calendars, live video of floor sessions, and information on legislative processes. The Legislative Information System (LIS) Web site, http://lis.virginia.gov/lis.htm (also at http://leg1.state.va.us), provides lists and summaries of all bills, searchable by topic, member, committee, etc.
Water in the 2021 Virginia General Assembly
Raflo, Alan (Virginia Water Resources Research Center, 2021)
In the tables below, the Virginia Water Resources Research Center lists 95 measures in the 2021 Assembly dealing with water resources directly or indirectly, including two bills amending the current state budget that runs through June 30, 2022.The 2021 General Assembly convened on January 13 and was initially scheduled for 30 days, a so-called “short session,” which is held in all odd-numbered years. (Often, short sessions are extended by the Assembly to 46 days; any session may be extended for up to 30 days; “long sessions” of 60 days are held in even-numbered years.) On February 4, 2021, Gov. Ralph Northam called for a special session of the Assembly to begin on February 10 and extend the overall session to 46 days (earlier in 2021, the Assembly failed to approve a session extension). The reconvened (“veto”) session was held on April 7 (the sixth Wednesday after adjournment of the session). During long sessions, the Commonwealth’s budget for the upcoming two years is set; amendments to the current biennial budget may be considered both in short and long sessions. More information about the Assembly’s normal schedule and duration is available in “About the General Assembly,” online at this link.
Water in the 2020 Virginia General Assembly
Raflo, Alan (Virginia Water Resources Research Center, 2020)
The 2020 Virginia General Assembly session convened January 8 and adjourned March 7. The reconvened (“veto”) session was held April 22. A special session called by Governor Ralph Northam to deal with impacts of the coronavirus pandemic began on August 18 and adjourned November 9. Information on the General Assembly is available online at https://virginiageneralassembly.gov// In the tables below (starting page 2), the Virginia Water Resources Research Center lists 211 measures in the regular session (January to March) of the 2020 Assembly dealing with water resources directly or indirectly, including two bills amending the current state budget that runs through June 30, 2020, and two bills setting the state budget for July 1, 2020-June 30, 2022 (as passed prior to the special pandemic- required session that started in August 2020).
Water in the 2019 Virginia General Assembly
Raflo, Alan (Virginia Water Resources Research Center, 2019)
The 2019 Virginia General Assembly session convened January 9 and adjourned February 24. The reconvened (“veto”) session was held April 3. In the tables below (starting page 2), the Virginia Water Resources Research Center lists 134 measures in the 2019 Assembly dealing with water resources directly or indirectly, including two bills determining the state budget.
Water in the 2018 Virginia General Assembly
Raflo, Alan (Virginia Water Resources Research Center, 2018)
In the tables below, the Virginia Water Resources Research Center lists 168 measures in the 2018 Assembly dealing with water resources directly or indirectly (that is, though energy or other land-use activities). Please note that this list may not capture all General Assembly bills that could affect water resources.
Water in the 2017 Virginia General Assembly
Raflo, Alan L. (2017)
The 2017 Virginia General Assembly session convened January 11 and adjourned February 25. All non- revenue bills were to be filed by January 20. The reconvened (“veto”) session was held April 5. In the tables below, the Virginia Water Resources Research Center lists 167 measures in the 2017 Assembly dealing with water resources directly or indirectly, including two budget bills.
Water in the 2016 Virginia General Assembly
Raflo, Alan L. (2016)
The 2016 Virginia General Assembly session convened January 13 and adjourned March 11. All bills were to be filed by January 22. The session adjourned on March 11 (one day before the scheduled adjournment date). The reconvened (“veto”) session was held April 20. In the tables below, the Virginia Water Resources Research Center (the Water Center; online at http://www.vwrrc.vt.edu/) lists 151 measures in the 2016 Assembly dealing with water resources directly or indirectly, including four budget bills.
Water in the 2015 Virginia General Assembly
Raflo, Alan L. (2015)
The 2015 Virginia General Assembly session convened January 14, and all bills had to be filed by January 23. The session adjourned on February 27 (one day before the scheduled adjournment date). The reconvened (“veto”) session was held April 15. In the tables below, the Virginia Water Resources Research Center (the Water Center; online at http://www.vwrrc.vt.edu/) lists 158 measures in the 2015 Assembly dealing with water resources directly or indirectly, including two budget bills and three bills related to the Commonwealth’s budget process. The list also includes seven proposed amendments to the Virginia Constitution, dealing with the budget process, food production, and transportation financing.
Water in the 2014 Virginia General Assembly
Raflo, Alan L. (2014-11)
The 2014 Virginia General Assembly (online at http://virginiageneralassembly.gov/) convened January 9 and adjourned March 8. During the session, the Assembly considered 2899 measures, the proposed biennial budget for 2014-16, and amendments to the 2012-14 budget. The General Assembly was not able to agree on a biennial budget during the regular session, so a special session convened on March 24, 2014, and amendments for the 2012-14 budget were passed that day and approved by the governor on April 1. After several weeks of disagreements among the House of Delegates, Senate, and the governor, on June 23 the budget for the upcoming biennium received final approval. The normal reconvened session—for the General Assembly to consider vetoes or amendments by the governor—was held April 23. In this article, Virginia Water Central lists 161 measures in the 2014 Assembly (including six budget bills) dealing with water resources directly or indirectly. The list comes from the Legislative Information System (LIS) Web site, at http://leg1.state.va.us, in the categories indicated by sub-headings below. Bill summaries were also taken from LIS (edited in some cases for space or clarity). Bills are listed under only one category, even if LIS listed them more than once. The categories searched and the bills listed include all those with direct water relevance (such as bills in the “Water and Sewer Systems” category) as well as those with a potential or indirect relevance to water (such as bills dealing with land conservation and energy- efficiency, two activities that ultimately affect water resources). Water Central’s list below does not necessarily include all bills that potentially affect Virginia’s water resources. Within each category, bills are listed in order of their bill number, using the following abbreviations: HB = bill started in House of Delegates; HJ = joint resolution started in the House; SB = bill started in the Senate; and SJ = joint resolution started in the Senate. Numbers in the left-hand column have been added by Water Central for cross-referencing among the bills. A box at the end of the article lists several topics and bills from the 2014 Assembly that received attention in various news media. For a selection of online news articles about water-related legislation in the 2014 Assembly, please visit the Virginia Water Central News Grouper at http://vawatercentralnewsgrouper.wordpress.com/category/2014-virginia-general-assembly/.
Water in the 2013 Virginia General Assembly
Raflo, Alan L. (2014-01)
The 2013 Virginia General Assembly convened January 9 and adjourned February 23. The reconvened session— for the General Assembly to consider vetoes or amendments by the governor—was held April 3. During the session, the Assembly considered 2899 measures along with amendments to the 2012-14 biennial state budget. In this article, Virginia Water Central lists 143 measures in the 2013 Assembly (including nine budget or appropriations-process bills) dealing with water resources directly or indirectly. The list comes from the Legislative Information System (LIS) Web site, at http://leg1.state.va.us, in the categories indicated by sub-headings below. Bill summaries were also taken from LIS (edited in some cases for space or clarity). Bills are listed under only one category, even if LIS listed them more than once. The categories searched and the bills listed include all those with direct water relevance (such as bills in the “Water and Sewer Systems” category) as well as those with a potential or indirect relevance to water (such as bills dealing with land conservation and energy-efficiency, two activities that ultimately affect water resources). Water Central’s list below does not necessarily include all bills that potentially affect Virginia’s water resources. Within each category, bills are listed in order of their bill number, using the following abbreviations: HB = bill started in House of Delegates; HJ = joint resolution started in the House; SB = bill started in the Senate; and SJ = joint resolution started in the Senate. Numbers in the left-hand column have been added by Water Central for cross- referencing among the bills. A table at the end of the article lists several topics and bills from the 2013 Assembly that received attention in various news media. For a selection of online news articles about water-related legislation in the 2013 Assembly, please visit the Virginia Water Central News Grouper at http://vawatercentralnewsgrouper.wordpress.com/category/2013-virginia-general-assembly/.
Water in the 2012 General Assembly
Raflo, Alan L. (2012-07)
The 2012 Virginia General Assembly convened January 11 and adjourned March 10. A Special Session on the state budget convened March 10 and adjourned May 15 with passage of the budget. The reconvened session—for the General Assembly to consider vetoes or amendments by the governor—was held April 18. During the session, the Assembly considered 2876 measures, passing 1616 of them, defeating 934, and continuing 326 to next year’s session. The Assembly also considered amendments to the 2010-12 biennial state budget and the new 2012-14 budget. In this article, Virginia Water Central lists 171 measures in the 2012 Assembly (including six budget bills) dealing with water resources directly or indirectly. The list comes from the Legislative Information System (LIS) Web site, at http://leg1.state.va.us, in the categories indicated by sub-headings below. Bill summaries were also taken from LIS (edited in some cases for space or clarity). Bills are listed under only one category, even if LIS listed them more than once. The categories searched and the bills listed include all those with direct water relevance (such as bills in the “Water and Sewer Systems” category) as well as those with a potential or indirect relevance to water (such as bills dealing with land conservation and energy-efficiency, two activities that ultimately affect water resources). Water Central’s list below does not necessarily include all bills that potentially affect Virginia’s water resources. Within each category, bills are listed in order of their bill number, using the following abbreviations: HB = bill started in House of Delegates; HJ = joint resolution started in the House; SB = bill started in the Senate; and SJ = joint resolution started in the Senate. Numbers in the left-hand column have been added by Water Central for cross- referencing among the bills. A table at the end of the article lists several topics and bills from the 2012 Assembly that received attention in various news media. For a selection of online news articles about water-related legislation in the 2012 Assembly, please visit the Virginia Water Central News Grouper at http://vawatercentralnewsgrouper.wordpress.com/category/2012-virginia-general-assembly/.
Water in the 2009 Virginia General Assembly
(Virginia Tech. Virginia Water Resources Research Center, 2009-04)
The 2009 Virginia General Assembly convened January 14 and adjourned February 28. The reconvened (“veto”) session was held April 8. During the session, the Assembly considered 2893 measures (2576 introduced in this session and 317 continued from the 2008 session). This year’s “short session” Assembly also considered amendments to the 2008-10 biennial state budget. In this article, Virginia Water Central lists 189 measures in the 2009 Assembly that dealt with water resources directly or with activities that are likely to affect water. The list comes from the Legislative Information System (LIS) Web site, at http://leg1.state.va.us, in the categories indicated by sub-headings below. Bill summaries were also taken from LIS (edited in some cases for space or clarity). Bills are listed under only one category, even if LIS listed them more than once. The categories searched and the bills listed include all those with direct water relevance (such as bills in the “Water and Sewer Systems” category) as well as those with a potential or indirect relevance to water (such as bills dealing with land conservation and energy-efficiency, two activities that ultimately affect water resources). Water Central’s list below does not necessarily include all bills that potentially could affect Virginia’s water resources.
Water in the 2004 Virginia General Assembly
(Virginia Tech. Virginia Water Resources Research Center, 2004-04)
The 2004 Virginia General Assembly convened January 14 and was scheduled to adjourn March 13, with a reconvened (“veto”) session planned for April 21. The main issue in this session was the competing budget proposals (for fiscal years 2005 and 2006) from the governor, House of Delegates, and Senate. The Assembly could not agree upon a budget bill by March 13, so the session was extended for three days. With still no agreement in place, the governor called a special budget session commencing March 17; as of April 13, the legislators had not reached final agreement.
Water in the 2001 General Assembly
Virginia Water Resources Research Center (Virginia Water Resources Research Center, 2001)
The 2001 Virginia General Assembly lasted from January 10 to February 24. The House of Delegates and Senate considered 2645 bills and resolutions. By our reckoning, 123 of these had something to do with water resources or water-related activities. This count is based on information available on the General Assembly’s Legislative Information Service (LIS) Web-site, http://leg1.state.va.us. To find water-related legislation, we searched nine LIS categories: conservation; drainage, soil conservation, sanitation, and public facilities districts; fisheries and habitat of tidal waters; game, inland fisheries, and boating; health; mines and mining; waste disposal; waters of the state, ports, and harbors; and water and sewer systems. Beginning on page 2, we present the resulting list of 102 bills and resolutions, along with summaries based on text found at the LIS’ Web-site. Our inventory is divided first into “Passed” and “Failed” and second into the nine categories listed above. Twenty-one other measures that were identical or very similar to measures in our list are noted at the end of the article. No budget bill was passed this year. In our list, consecutive numbers to the left of each measure are for cross-referencing purposes and have no legislative significance. The actual bill or resolution numbers identify a measure’s legislative origin, as follows: HB: bill started in the House of Delegates; HJ: joint resolution started in the House; SB: bill started in the Senate; and SJ: joint resolution started in the Senate. Our use of “etc.” indicates the necessary omission (due to space) of a substantial portion of the summary provided by the LIS. Abbreviations used for Virginia agencies are listed at the end of this article (page 9). Following the bill inventory we present a sample of opinions from Virginia newspaper editors on the main issues in the 2001 Virginia General Assembly.
1998 General Assembly Legislation Related to Water
Virginia Water Resources Research Center; Manfre, Joseph (Virginia Water Resources Research Center, 1998)
The Virginia General Assembly held its regular session from January 14 to March 17, then reconvened April 22-23 to respond to the governor’s vetoes. A special session on April 23-24 passed the budget along with car-tax and school-construction-grant legislation. During the regular session, 2152 bills were considered (939 passing, 651 failing, and 562 carried over until 1999), along with 730 joint resolutions (580 passing, 115 failing, and 36 carried over). Among all this legislative action were 97 water-related bills and joint resolutions.1 (Hereafter, we will use “bills” to include both bills and joint resolutions.) To identify bills related to water, we used the Legislative Information System’s subject index, looking first under two categories: “Waters of the State, Ports and Harbors” and “Water and Sewer Systems.” Of the 97 bills listed below, 73 were in one of these two categories. We then found 24 other pertinent bills under these categories: Conservation; Fisheries and Habitat of Tidal Waters; and Game, Inland Fisheries and Boating.
Water in the 2000 Virginia General Assembly
Virginia Water Resources Research Center (Virginia Water Resources Research Center, 2000)
The Virginia General Assembly held its 2000 session from January 12 to March 10. Lawmakers considered 3,172 bills and resolutions (compared to 2,735 measures considered in 1999). Of these, 125 were water-related; that is, their provisions would have an impact on water resources or on water-related activities. To identify these water-related bills, Water Central used the Internet site of the General Assembly’s Legislative Information Service (http://leg1.state.va.us/). Using the system’s subject index, we checked the following nine categories: 1 = Waters of the State, Ports and Harbors; 2 = Water and Sewer Systems; 3 = Fisheries and Habitat of Tidal Waters; 4 = Game, Inland Fisheries, and Boating; 5 = Drainage, Soil Conservation, Sanitation, and Public Facilities Districts; 6 = Health; 7 = Conservation; 8 = Mines and Mining; 9 = Waste Disposal. Our list includes all bills found under categories 1, 2, and 3. For categories 4—9, we include only those bills that appear, from the bill summary, to have a potentially significant impact on water resources or their management. For example, some solid-waste bills are included, but others are omitted because their provisions would affect water resources only marginally. Most land-conservation measures are included, however, because land use directly impacts water resources. On the bottom of page 5 we list passed bills for which the governor subsequently recommended changes (often minor). None in our list were vetoed. The legislature considered the governor’s recommended changes at its reconvened session (the “veto session”) on April 19. Following the bill inventory is a Feature Article from the June 2000 Water Central examining bills that received the attention of various water-resource and public-policy professionals.
The Volume of Water Bills in the 1999 Virginia General Assembly
Virginia Water Resources Research Center (Virginia Water Resources Research Center, 1999)
The Virginia General Assembly held its 1999 session from January 13 to February 27. During the regular session, lawmakers considered 2,735 bills and resolutions, compared to 2945 measures considered in the longer 1998 session. Of the more than 2,700 bills and resolutions that legislators debated in 1999, 115 were—in some way—water-related; that is, their provisions would have had some impact on water resources or on water-related activities, such as boating and fishing. To identify these water-related bills, we used the Internet site of the General Assembly’s Legislative Information Service (http://leg1.state.va.us/). Using the system’s subject index, we checked first the two categories under which most water-related bills fall: “Waters of the State, Ports and Harbors” and “Water and Sewer Systems.” We then searched under several other relevant categories, which are identified in the list of bills that begins on page 2. Our list includes solid-waste bills because water quality is a key issue in current solid-waste discussions. Due to space, however, the list does not include 14 measures dealing with land conservation or taxation, although these measures may eventually affect water resources. Nor does the list include the final budget bill, HB 1450, which of course determines any water-related funding, such as in the budgets of natural-resource agencies. One passed water-related bill, HB 2272 (Impact of piers on oyster grounds), was vetoed by the governor. Following the bill inventory is a Feature Article from the June 1999 Water Central examining bills that received the attention of various water-resource and public-policy professionals.
Water in the 2005 Virginia General Assembly
Virginia Water Resources Research Center (Virginia Water Resources Research Center, 2005-12)
The 2005 Virginia General Assembly convened January 12 and adjourned February 27, with a reconvened (“veto”) session on April 6. The legislature considered 3363 measures (2938 introduced this year and 425 carried over from last year); 1610 measures passed both houses, while 1753 failed. (No legislation carried over from this year, because it was the second year of a two-year Assembly, with elections scheduled for November 2005). Among the most important business was consideration of amendments to the current biennial state budget. This article lists 126 measures related to water resources or to land activities with a potential impact on water. The list came from the Legislative Information Service (LIS) Web site, at leg1.state.va.us. The measures were located by searching the following LIS subject categories: Conservation; Drainage, Soil Conservation, Sanitation, and Public Facilities Districts; Fisheries and Habitat of Tidal Waters; Game, Inland Fisheries and Boating; Health; Mines and Mining; Waste Disposal; Water and Sewer Systems; and Waters of the State, Ports and Harbors. This list of water-related bills is organized by the LIS categories (alphabetically). Where LIS listed bills under more than one category, this article places the bill in category that seemed most appropriate (no bills are listed under Health or Mines and Mining). Within each category, bills are listed in order of their bill number, using the following abbreviations: HB = bill started in House of Delegates; HJ = joint resolution started in the House; SB = bill started in the Senate; and SJ = joint resolution started in the Senate. The bill summaries were taken directly from LIS, with some editing for space, clarity, or emphasis. Water Central has numbered the bills consecutively to help refer readers from one bill to another; these numbers, however, have no legislative significance. A table on page 2 lists bills that received significant press attention, according to Water Central’s reading of several state newspapers.