HB1606 – The Cash Now Act directs the department of treasury to immediately begin proactively distributing unclaimed property fund held by the Commonwealth, putting money back in Virginian’s pockets instead of waiting on residents to go to an obscure website and filing a form to ask the state to give them their own money.
HB1757 – This bill ensures that indigent defenders will not face different court and attorney costs if they are assigned a court appointed attorney or if they utilize a public defender.
HB2029 – This law clarifies to localities the range of tools they have to offer elderly and disabled property tax debtors relief. For folks on a fixed income, rising property values are a huge threat to their abilities to pay taxes and their grocery and utility bills. This law makes sure that localities are informed of their ability to offer settlements or payment plans to lower the tax burden for Virginia’s most vulnerable residents.
HB 407 – Child Care Subsidy Program – This law permanently established COVID era access for families on WIC and/or Medicaid. Now any family that receives WIC/Medicaid is eligible support in the Child Care Subsidy Program.
HB 558 – Constitutional amendment; property tax exemption for certain surviving spouses – Virginia has long had a property tax exemption for surviving spouses of military members who were killed in action. However, this meant anyone who “died in the line of duty” did not qualify and the state effectively had a penalty for families whose servicemembers didn’t “die the right way”. Phil’s amendment expanded the constitutional provision to ensure that any surviving spouse of a servicemember who died in service of the country would receive property tax exemption on their home, honoring all of the families who sacrifice for our safety.
HB 855 – Home Energy Assistance Program; Bd. of Social Svcs. to allow applications to be submitted all year – LiHEAP helps needy families lower costs on energy bills. However the application window for the program is only open for 2 months a year. This law directs the Dept. Of Social Services to accept applications year round, removing a needless barrier between families and financial relief.
HB 862 – Electric utilities; integrated resource plans, grid-enhancing technologies and advanced conductors. – Virginia’s State Corporation Commission has oversight on power companies’ ability to set rates and build infrastructure. This law requires that producers submit yearly integrated resource plans showing how they intend to incorporate Grid Enhancing Technologies into the grid. GETs are hardware and software tools that maximize the effectiveness of the existing grid. This law ensures that producers show the Commonwealth either that they’re using all tools at their disposal to maximize the existing grid or explaining why they are not utilizing cheaper options before spending more money that ratepayers ultimately have to cough up.
HB 896 – Deferred or installment payment agreements; exempt from payments if sole income is Social Security. – This law protects courts from taking Social Security funds from debtors if those funds are the debtors sole source of income. It also protects those debtors from being sent to collections. It also prohibits courts from considering Social Security funds when determining the timeline of payment.
HB 1458 – Chief Resilience Officer of the Commonwealth; moves position under the Governor, etc. – This law established a Chief Resiliency Officer for the Commonwealth, centralized all resiliency efforts, and brought statewide resiliency efforts under one roof to leverage local, state and federal funds. It also established the Interagency Resiliency Working Group to make sure departments communicate and share all resources on resiliency efforts.
