The 2017 General Assembly session is scheduled to adjourn sine die tomorrow, Saturday, February 25th. Both chambers are scheduled to vote on the $107 billion budget bill, HB 1500, today. Below, you’ll find a recap of some of the items that were included in the final budget conference report that may impact your business. We were pleased that the General Assembly restored funding to the regional economic development activities of the Virginia Growth and Opportunity Board (GO Virginia), and also supported a budget amendment to require state agencies to notify the General Assembly when they return federal grants, a measure that will promote transparency.

On Monday, Speaker Bill Howell announced that he does not plan to seek re-election and will retire after serving for 30 years in the Virginia House of Delegates. Howell has served as Speaker for the past 15 years, and has been a steadfast advocate for policies that improve our business climate. We join the many Virginians thanking him for his exemplary service to the Commonwealth and wish him well in his retirement.  You can read his full statement on his retirement  here . On Wednesday, the House Republican Caucus elected current House Majority Leader Kirk Cox as Howell’s successor as Speaker, and Delegate Todd Gilbert as the new House Majority Leader.

As the General Assembly session comes to a close,  our government affairs team will begin working on the 2017 Legislative Report Card, our annual publication that provides analysis of legislators support for the business community’s priorities. We’ll release the 2017 Report Card at our Annual Dinner on May 11. I hope you’ll make plans to join us for this and other upcoming events. We will also be monitoring the Governor’s actions on legislation and will be updating “Bills We’re Watching” to reflect the final result of the bills we tracked.

Following this issue, Chamber Briefings will resume its normal monthly schedule given the adjournment of the 2017 General Assembly Session. Be on the lookout for our next update in March!