VAR Brokers Digest

Welcome to a special Tuesday edition of Capitol Connections. Today marks "Crossover," the point at which each chamber of the General Assembly must have acted on their own legislation and passed their bills to the other chamber.

As of today, 1887 legislative measures have survived the subcommittee and committee process, with the House of Delegates left to deal with approximately 175 bills and the Senate with approximately 67 on the floor today.

Bills that will be taken up in the coming hours include VAR's initiatives to:

Reform the POA Act
Protect your vested rights
Protect you as property managers from mold claims
Correct the disclaimer form
Protect landlords from zealous local governments

This will be a long day for legislators. While the Senate will most likely get out by the early afternoon, the House of Delegates could go well into the night, as we anticipate fierce debate in that chamber.

Delegates are already weary from their debates yesterday when they blew through dozens of bills in a marathon 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. floor session.

VAR Bills pass the House and Senate

After several weeks of waiting, we saw significant forward momentum with the VAR legislative agenda.

HB 1076 - POA Reform Bill: Passed the House of Delegates 98 - 0

SB 158 - Automated Value Model disclosures: Passed the Senate 40 - 0

HB 1098 - Wet Settlement Act: Passed the House of Delegates 99 - 0

HB 1397 - Disclosure Amendment: Passed the House of Delegates 98 - 0

HB 221 - Civil Immunity for Mold Claims: Passed the House of Delegates 99 - 0

SB 232 - Civil Immunity for Mold Claims: Passed the Senate 39 - 0

HB 445 - Overcrowding Enforcement Provisions: Passed the House of Delegates 98 - 0

HB 1078 - Vested Rights Reform: Passed the House of Delegates 98 - 0

HB 1114 - Firm Management: Passed the House of Delegates 98 - 0

HB 720 - Landlord and Tenant Definition: Passed the House of Delegates 99 - 0

VAR helps defeat numerous measures

Along with helping pass bills that are good for you as a REALTOR^®, a small-business person, a property owner and your clients' interests, VAR lobbyists are hard at work protecting you and your clients from bills that we oppose as an industry.

The Bill Review Committee identified 47 measures to be actively opposed. As of today, 40 of those measures have been killed in either the House of Delegates or the Senate.

Proffer reform bill to be debated on the Senate floor

SB 768, the bill proposed by the Home Builders Association of Virginia, will be debated on the Senate floor today.

This bill, which will do away with cash proffers and replace them with impact fees, passed the Senate Finance Committee last week and now awaits a vote by the full Senate later today.

Without the grantors tax, VAR has been willing to begin negotiating with the homebuilders and with local governments, many of which have expressed concerns about the bill.

Should SB 768 pass the Senate, VAR staff will continue to work with the interested parties as well as members of the House in an effort to gain consensus on the bill.

Read a story about the issue in today's Examiner.

Mortgage bills referred to the Virginia Housing Commission

Several measures dealing with the mortgage industry and with the sub-prime fallout have been recommended for study by the Virginia Housing Commission, slated to begin in May.

VAR has long been closely involved in the proceedings of the Virginia Housing Commission and will recommend REALTORS^® with a lending background to be appointed to the group.

[REALTOR® Day on the Hill Information]

Want to be part of our team?

There are three easy ways to make the REALTOR^® voice heard during this General Assembly session:

1) Be a key contact. If you're on a first-name basis with a legislator, please contact Blake Hegeman (bhegeman@varealtor.com) to join our list of key contacts. As a friend of an elected official, you are one of VAR's best resources when we are trying to communicate our key messages.

2) Respond to Calls to Action. Periodically throughout the session, you may receive e-mail alerts asking you to contact your legislators on an important REALTOR^® issue. The more members who respond, the more impact we have on getting our issues through - or keeping harmful legislation from passing.

3) Attend REALTOR^® Day on the Hill TOMORROW! Join your fellow REALTORS^® and speak with your legislators in person about the issues that matter to your business. Following the day's events, be sure to attend our Legislative Reception to meet and mingle with state lawmakers at the Jefferson Hotel.