The General Assembly is working hard to get through roughly 1200 pieces of legislation prior to this Friday’s crossover deadline. rvatech/ has been well represented throughout the opening weeks of the session. CEO Nick Serfass has testified in support of numerous aspects of our policy agenda, which continues to move forward:

  • The G3 program (HB2204) has passed the House of Delegates, while the Senate companion (SB1405) is pending in the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee

  • Legislation ordering a state review of the implementation of Computer Science Education (HB1885) has advanced with broad support.  

  • The General Assembly is so far advancing two pieces of legislation to increase flexibility for utilizing data center sales and use tax exemptions (HB2273/SB1423), furthering our efforts to remain a leading state for data centers.

 

Some other items are still pending in committees during this final week, but are expected to be taken up soon:

 

  • Legislation allowing more flexibility for economic development projects (SB1418) that utilize remote work will be considered in the Senate later this week.

  • We have opposed legislation similar to HB2246 in recent years. This bill would require vendors to utilize certain workforce verification software, and we continue to oppose this legislation.  So far it has not been docketed. 

  • Several budget items will be acted on Sunday when House and Senate budget proposals are released, including broadband funding, workforce training programs, and funding for state agency IT upgrades.

 

The House of Delegates passed the Consumer Data Protection Act (HB2307) last week, and the Senate will take action on their version later this week.  The bill establishes a framework for controlling and processing personal data in Virginia for those entities controlling or processing personal data on at least 100,000 consumers, or entities deriving more than 50% of gross revenue from the sale of personal data and controlling or processing data on more than 25,000 consumers. An important aspect of this legislation is that enforcement authority is limited to the Attorney General of Virginia, whereas some similar proposals have sought to allow private right of action from consumers.  The patron previewed this legislation at the rvatech/ legislative luncheon before the session.  The legislation has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2023 to allow further updates and tweaks to the law, as well as to allow businesses to prepare for compliance.