What Prince William wants from Richmond

Prince William County, Va. — While the holidays are on the minds of many area residents, it won’t be long until state legislators head back to Richmond to convene the 2012 General Assembly on Jan. 12. The annual meeting of the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate, the primary lawmaking bodies in the state, each year introduce new legislation that, if ultimately passed, is signed into law by the governor.

Prince William County officials have made it clear what legislative priorities they support for the upcoming session:

Transportation

• Prince William County supports long-term solutions to fully address the significant transportation infrastructure needs of the region and Commonwealth.
• The County strongly opposes shifting maintenance responsibilities for the state’s road system onto local governments.

Economic Development

• Prince William County supports George Mason University’s request for $3.2 million for planning a Life Sciences building at the Innovation Prince William campus.
• Prince William County supports Northern Virgini Community College’s request for $35 million for aWorkforceDevelopmentCenter at the NVCC Woodbridge campus.
• The County supports changes to legislation that would improve sales tax incentives to better attract data centers to the County and the Commonwealth as a whole.

Public Safety

• Prince William County requests reinstatement of state funding for Police Departments that has been cut every budget year since FY 08 (adopted). Since then, Prince William County has seen a cumulative reduction of $2,825,966 in these funds, which has resulted in the loss of sworn officer positions, civilian positions and reduced training and equipment for the department.

Land Use

• Prince William County opposes reduction in local land use authority, as land use decisions are best addressed at the local level.
• Prince William County requests revisions to restrictions that delay collection of cash proffers until final inspection of a home. Home builders pay these funds to local governments to offset the infrastructure impacts of new development. It is preferable to begin the necessary infrastructure improvements at the same time as the development is occurring.

Pension Reform

• In the event that the General Assembly considers changes to the public employee pension system,Prince William County requests the ability to manage the implementation of such changes. This flexibility in managing the changes would include the timing of implementing any changes, and the manner in which it is executed, which best will allow the County to maintain financial prudence and protect the interests of the organization’s employees.