Cole Touts Legislative Successes

RICHMOND, Va. – The General Assembly session ended on schedule Saturday night. During the 60-day session, the General Assembly dealt with more than 2,800 bills and resolutions.

A final state budget has yet to be adopted as Senate Democrats have taken the budget hostage in a dispute over committee assignments; because of this the General Assembly immediately called itself into special session to continue work on passage of a final budget. “I am extremely disappointed that the Senate Democrats would hold the budget hostage for partisan political reasons,” said Delegate Mark Cole, R-88. “They are behaving like their counterparts in Washington by refusing to pass a budget. The longer they delay the more difficult it will be localities and schools to plan their budgets for next year, and transportation projects may have to be postponed.”

Twenty bills and three resolutions patroned by Delegate Mark Cole have passed the General Assembly and been sent to Governor McDonnell for his review. Additionally, as Chairman of the House Privileges and Elections Committee, Cole guided the committee as it considered 115 bills and resolutions including reviewing the Governor’s appointments to various boards and commissions.

Several of Chairman Cole’s bills addressed issues regarding elections and voting. The one which received the most publicity was House Bill (HB) 9 which requires that a voter show identification prior to voting. HB 63 clarifies how provisional ballots should be handled in order to ensure a fair and accurate count. Several other bills (HB 623, HB 38, HB 37, HB 57, HB 58, and HB 60) make changes to increase efficiencies for the State Board of Elections and local registrars. HB 1133 and HB 1151 clarify who may circulate petitions and define the district boundaries for petitions for statewide and congressional candidates. “I think we made a lot of improvements to the electoral process this year that will enhance the integrity of our elections,” Cole said.

HB 490 was legislation requested by the Governor and makes changes to several boards and commissions to improve efficiency and save money. HB 35 reduces the period of limitation for the collection of state taxes from 10 years to seven in order to be consistent with Federal IRS tax policy. HB 385 corrects an oversight in the code that prohibited Industrial Development Authorities from refinancing debt of educational organizations; they could back the original financing, but were prohibited from refinancing. This will allow IDA’s and colleges to save money by taking advantage of lower interest rates. HB 141 protects some personal information included in correspondence to local elected officials from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

HB 384 adds the National Guard to those eligible for Veterans’ hiring preference for state government. “Considering how often National Guard units have been called to active duty and deployed to combat zones in recent years, I think it is appropriate that they receive the same advantages as other Veterans,” Cole stated.

HB 22 deals with local ‘gun buyback’ programs. It requires that the locality adopt an ordinance prior to conducting the buyback to ensure it is done in an orderly and safe fashion, and also requires that the locality offer any guns purchased by the program for sale of licensed firearms dealers in order to recoup the costs of the program.

Delegate Cole sponsored legislation (HB 10) to reduce the negative impact of the local BPOL (Business, Professional, and Occupational Licenses) tax. The BPOL tax is a gross receipts tax on business that is probably one of the most unfair taxes imposed in the Commonwealth. Since it is a tax on gross receipts and not on income or profits, businesses that are just getting by or even losing money still have to pay the tax – which can force them out of business. While the legislation passed the House, the Senate decided to continue to study the issue for another year.

Additionally Delegate Cole co-patroned important legislation that passed including: House Joint Resolution (HJ) 3 to amend Virginia’s Constitution to strengthen private property rights; HJ 49 which is the Governor’s executive reorganization plan to streamline portions of state government; and HB 1295 which reduces mandates on local government.

The General Assembly also passed significant reforms of the Virginia Retirement System (VRS). Senate Bill (SB) 498 and HB 1130 change to the current defined benefit retirement plan to a hybrid defined benefit / defined contribution plan for new employees starting in 2014. SB 497 requires local government employees to begin contributing to their retirement plan, just has state employees were required to do two years ago.

“We had to take action to keep VRS solvent for the long term; to make sure it will be there for our state and local employees as has been promised,” said Cole. “I am hopeful that the steps we took this year will do just that.”

Cole represents the 88th District in the Virginia House of Delegates, which is comprised of portions of Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Fauquier Counties, and the City of Fredericksburg.

-Press release