2018 General Assembly Session Recap

Dear Friend:

Last week, the Senate of Virginia adjourned Sine Die. I had a relatively successful session. I introduced
61 bills and 21 budget amendments. Twenty-three of my bills crossed over to the House of Delegates, thirteen
are en route to the Governor, and several of my budget items were included in the Senate’s proposed budget. I
have outlined a few highlights of the session so that you can see what we worked on this year.

Surovell Bills
I passed the following bills out of the General Assembly this year:

• SB 21 – Misdemeanor-Felony Threshold: The General Assembly finally agreed to raise Virginia’s lowest-
in-nation misdemeanor-felony threshold to $500. I have carried this bill for nine years.
• SB 22 –Security Freeze Fees: Bill lowers the fee for security freezes on credit reports to $5.
• SB 89 – Child Testimony: Facilitates remote video child testimony at abuse proceedings.
• SB 95 – Security Freeze Facilitation: Clarifies documents that parents can use to freeze child’s credit.
• SB 609 – Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court Minor Jurisdiction: Confirms juvenile court judge’s
discretion to reduce charges after conviction if child follow through on rehabilitation plan.
• SB 614 – Spousal Support: Requires non-modifiable spousal support to be specifically stated in post-
divorce agreements. Reverses 2004 Court of Appeals case.
• SB 615 – Withholding of Spousal Support: Confirms courts’ authority withhold spousal support in
payroll withholding orders.
• SB 622 – Secondary Roads for Utility Undergrounding: Facilitates utility undergrounding on primary
roads served by transit (e.g. U.S. 1) by allowing local government to tap three different funding streams.
• SB 722 – HOA Record Redaction: Prohibits homeowners associations from withholding documents their
members if documents contain non-disclosable information and requires production of documents with
information redacted.
• SB 769 – Beer Museum: Allows the Virginia Beer Museum in Front Royal, Virginia to sell beer for on-site
consumption.
• SB 772 – Norfolk 4 Claims: Provides at least $7 million including $3.4 million state dollars for sailors who
were coerced into false confessions for rape by corrupt detective who is currently incarcerated in
Norfolk, Virginia.
• SB 789 – Sexting Education: Rolled into SB 101 which educates children about the dangers of sexting.
• SB 807 – Coal Ash Moratorium: Extends coal ash pond closure moratorium and continues study process
for twelve months to allow coal ash recycling companies to make contractually binding proposals and
provide better estimates before legislative action next year.

The following bills were continued for study over this year to be considered in 2019:

• SB 93 – Three Strikes Modification: Clarifies that individuals convicted of three burglaries and two other
felonies are eligible for parole unless they were out of jail between each conviction.
• SB 611 – Motor Vehicle Insurance Limits: Would require increase in minimum required insurance on
Virginia auto insurance policies to $40,000 for property damage.
• SB 613 – Local Government Witnesses: Provides that when a local governing body is named as a
witness, it shall designate one or more members of such body to serve as a deponent on its behalf
similar to corporations.
• SB 625 – Consumer Finance Regulation: Caps interest rates for state licensed consumer finance lenders
at 36%. Passed the Senate 37-2, before being continued until next year by the House.
• SB 630 – Freedom of Information Act: Creates consequences for record destruction to avoid Virginia’s
Freedom of Information Act or illegally certifying closed local government sessions.
• SB 705 – Home Disclosure Packets: Would require sellers to disclose total amount of unfunded capital
reserves in homeowner associations before purchasing home.
• SB 706 – Homeowner Association Reserve Studies: Clarifies consequences to homeowner and condo
association boards for failing to correctly disclose capital reserve deficits to homeowners.
• SB 770: Mobile Absentee: Authorizes localities to use a recreational vehicle to gather early votes.
• SB 771: Overseas Absentee: Provides that absentee ballots postmarked on or before the date of the
election are eligible votes when the absentee ballot arrives before close of business the second business
day before the State Board of Elections meets.
• SB 765: Coal Ash - Water Testing: Requires the owner or operator of any coal ash pond in the
Chesapeake Bay watershed that is closed by capping in place to complete a survey of all drinking water
wells within one mile of the pond.
• SB 766: Coal Ash - Citizen Group Data: Authorizes the Department of Environmental Quality to use
results of citizen water quality testing as evidence in enforcement actions.
• SB 767: Coal Ash - Permit Flexibility: Authorizes the Director of the Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ) to delay the issuance of a permit for the closure of a coal ash pond if DEQ determines that
the closure plan shows any insufficiency or flaw.
• SB 768: Coal Ash – No Cost Recovery for Capping in Place: Any costs incurred by investor-owned
electric utilities associated with closure in place of a coal ash landfill or surface impoundment are not
eligible to be considered when examining rate changes.
• SB 808: Cost Recovery for Coal Ash Recycling: Abolishes Dominion’s restriction on reviewing utility rates
and applies all over earnings for the last two years to be spent on coal ash remediation.
• SB 938: Child Support for Independent Contractors: Provides child support enforcement authorities
with ability to collect child support from independent contractors such as Uber and Lyft which are
currently not required to withhold child support from paychecks.
Utility Regulation and Coal Ash Cleanup
One major headline from this session will be the “Dominion Bill.” This bill will do a number of things:

• It prevents Dominion from keeping 30% of over-earnings and giving over earnings to shareholders.
• It increases solar and wind investments by ten-fold, from 500 megawatts to 5,000 megawatts.
• Increases contributions from Dominion’s shareholders – not ratepayers – for low income energy
assistance.
• Requires significant new investments in energy efficiency programs.
• Confirms and increases ratepayer investments in utility undergrounding programs for areas with older
infrastructure including most of the 36th Senate District.

The legislation was supported by Governor Northam, the Virginia League of Conservation Voters and the
Natural Resources Defense Council and was unopposed by the Sierra Club and Virginia Conservation Network. It
is not the bill I would have written, but what I would have written would never have passed this legislature and
we needed to take action to take back Dominion’s profits in light of Trump’s repeal of the Clean Power Plan and
significant corporate tax cut.

Importantly, the bill also takes $450 million of over-earnings and applies it to incurred coal ash
remediation costs - the 36th District has one of four coal ash waste dumps in the Commonwealth that needs to
be cleaned up. Using these profits to pay down these costs now will lower the overall remaining cost of the coal
ash cleanup which will make it easier to justify future investments in coal ash recycling.

Metro Funding
The Senate and the House both considered Metro funding packages. The Senate plan contributed
Virginia’s full share of $154 million per year. The money would come from implementing a floor on the Northern
Virginia regional gas tax, creating a new hotel tax, and a new grantor’s tax (a tax on home sales). The bill also
imposes a 3% cap on increases in annual Metro expenses and governance reforms. I fought to ensure that the
funding model did not take away funds from plans to widen and improve the U.S. 1 corridor. I voted for the
Senate bill.

Unfortunately, the House refused to agree to any new taxes which would mean that monies that are
currently intended to help widen U.S. 1 would need to be reprogrammed for Metro or Fairfax County would
have to implement an additional property tax increase. We are counting on Governor Northam to make
amendments to this bill so we have a solution that is more workable.

Medicaid Expansion
After substantial negotiation between Democrats, Republicans, Senators, Delegates, and the Governor,
the General Assembly failed to adjourn Sine Die with a budget because of our disagreements over Medicaid
Expansion. Accepting federal dollars to expand Medicaid frees up about $250 million per year in Virginia
revenue which could be reprogrammed to secondary education, safety net, public safety, and environmental
protection. It also would create about 30,000 jobs in Virginia and provide basic dignity to low income working
Virginians.

Other Legislative News

I helped shepherd Delegate Rip Sullivan’s bill to legalize BYOB at non-profit Virginia swimming clubs.
There are probably two dozen such clubs in the 36th District. After July 1, 2018, you can eat a burger and drink a
beer at your pool without fear of prosecution. I also supported legislation to simplify the deployment of 5G
technology in the Commonwealth.
Looking Ahead
As I continue to represent our community I will be as accessible and transparent as possible about my
legislative goals and views on state policy. There is much more information on my online newsletter, The Dixie
Pig, regarding this past session’s legislation, the budget, and my views on a number of issues. You can find it at
scottsurovell.blogspot.com or my website at www.scottsurovell.org.

I am also happy to answer any questions you have about my legislation, votes or policy positions. My
staff is available to help constituents regarding any difficulties you have navigating state agencies or state policy.
You can email me at scottsurovell@gmail.com or send me a letter:

Senator Scott A. Surovell

P.O. Box 289
Mount Vernon, VA 22121
Office - 571.249.4484

It is an honor to serve you in Richmond.

Sincerely Yours,

Delegate Scott A. Surovell

44th District