2022 VIRGINIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY - City of Chesapeake, Virginia

2022
VIRGINIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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FY2022

Legislative Package

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Overview of Session
• Governor’s Budget Introduced
 Thursday, December 16, 2021

• First Day of Session
 Wednesday, January 12, 2022

• Legislation Crossover
 Mid February

• Last Day of Session
 Mid March

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Save the Date
November 15, 2021   Pre-filing Begins
November 29, 2021   Draft legislation to be pre-filed to Legislative Services by 5:00 pm
December 16, 2021   Governor releases proposed budget
December 31, 2021   All drafts of legislation to be pre-filed available for review by
                    midnight
January 7, 2022     Redrafted and corrections for legislation to be pre-filed to
                    Legislative Services by 5:00 pm
January 11, 2022    All drafts of legislation to be pre-filed available by noon
January 12, 2022    Pre-filing ends at 10:00 am
January 12, 2022    First Day of Session
    TBD             Budget amendments due

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Legislative Package Formulation
• Seeking input from City Council and City Departments
• Seeking Council’s vision to develop our priorities
• Working with City membership associations
• Participating via focus groups and General Assembly commissions
  across the Commonwealth
• Working with the Commonwealth’s Legislative Affairs Liaisons

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Who do we partner with?

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Proposed Legislative Initiatives
• Amend Chesapeake Charter (§ 5.04. Operating budget
  preparation)
• Amend Chesapeake Airport Authority (§ 3. "Chesapeake
  Airport Authority”)
• Catalytic Converter Theft (§ 18.2-23 and 18.2-108.01)
• Court Ordered Land Partitions Notification
• Authority to Require Analysis of Water (§ 32.1-176.5)
• Funding for BrassTRAX

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Amend Chesapeake Charter
(§ 5.04. Operating budget preparation)

Request to remove language from Section 5.04 of the City
Charter that states: “A minimum of 6% of the total general
fund revenue shall be reserved upon the adoption of the
City’s annual operating budget and shall be restricted for
emergency use and cash flow needs which occur throughout
the year.” Currently, the City has many other reserves which
are available for these same purposes.

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Amend Chesapeake Airport Authority
(§ 3. "Chesapeake Airport Authority.”)
Request that the Chesapeake Airport Authority enabling
legislation be consistent with the approved changes in 2017,
and to clarify that the Airport Authority members serve at the
pleasure of City Council.
 The City proposes amending the Chesapeake Airport Authority to
  delete “Members of the Authority shall be subject to removal from
  office in like manner as are State, county, town and district officers
  under the provisions of §§ 15.1-63 to 15.1-66, inclusive, of the Code of
  Virginia.”

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Catalytic Converter Theft
(§ 18.2-23 and 18.2-108.01, Code of Virginia)
Amend two sections of the Code of Virginia to make the act of
stealing & distributing stolen catalytic converters from motor
vehicles a Class 1 Misdemeanor.
 Between 2020 and 2021, we have seen a 75% increase in catalytic
  converter thefts. I believe this increase is in part due to the pandemic
  and the rise in the prices of precious metals.
 The state of North Carolina passed legislation that was signed by
  Governor Cooper that made it a Class 1 Misdemeanor to steal or
  distribute stolen catalytic converters.

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Court Ordered Land Partitions Notification
The City of Chesapeake requests legislative action that
would require a notice to the local government any time
a court ordered partition is being issued, thereby giving
the locality the opportunity to respond to the request.

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Authority to Require Analysis of Water
(§ 32.1-176.5, Code of Virginia)
The City requests that Chesapeake be added to the list of local governments

Adding Chesapeake to the list of other local governments helps us by:
 Gives us the ability, but does not require us, to adopt an ordinance to establish
  reasonable testing requirements to determine compliance with existing federal or
  state drinking water quality standards and require that such testing be done prior to
  the issuance of building permits.
 Such testing requirements shall apply only to building permit applicants proposing to
  utilize private ground water wells as their primary portable water source.
Currently:
We have identified that groundwater in many locations in Chesapeake does not meet
Safe Drinking Water Act standards, with exceedances in fluoride, iron, manganese, salt,
various particulates from coal ash, fuel tanks spills.

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Funding for BrassTRAX
The City requests funding to acquire a BrassTRAX machine that will allow the
Chesapeake Police Department to use Integrated Ballistic Identification System (IBIS)
technology to solve crimes by allowing the entry of cartridge case information onto
an IBIS network. BrassTRAX captures high-resolution 2-D images and precise 3-D
topographic information of significant areas of interest in a crime scene.
 The City requests $200,000 from the state to purchase a BrassTRAX machine to give
  our detectives the ability to network with other jurisdictions and solve crimes with
  relevant data in real time while relieving the state lab of the majority of the
  workload.
 Acquiring this device will greatly aid in the swift resolution of crimes committed
  against citizens within the Commonwealth.
 Currently, when our officers collect cartridge casings from crime scenes the state
  crime lab is tasked with processing the evidence.

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Proposed Legislative Positions
• Marijuana-related Police   • Permanent Supportive
  Training                     Housing
• Crisis Response and Marcus • Foster/Kinship Care
  Alert
                             • Public Notice of
• Workforce-Ready Students Advertisement
• School Modernization and • Tree Canopy Standards
  Construction
• Additional Circuit Court
  Clerks
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