With well over two thousand bills filed for this session, I was curious to see what our local urban delegates and senators have chief-patroned this year. So here’s what they’re up to:

Delegate Brink has patroned HB 1260, which proposes that the Uniform Statewide Building Code should also apply to buildings or structures built on state-owned property and that the Department of General Services would act as the building official for all such buildings. He has also patroned HB 1314 which contemplates providing financial incentives equal to twenty percent of delinquent taxes collected by tax collectors, chargeable to the taxpayer in addition to the amount of the delinquent taxes.

Senator Whipple has also patroned two bills. SB 665 would clarify the authority of the Common Interest Community Board relating to disciplinary actions and fact finding procedures. SB 681 suggests delaying the effective date for the stormwater management regulations passed last session for a year.

Adam Ebbin, via HB 1222, proposes that electric utilities establish a fund to allow voluntary contributions by customers so that the SCC can use the money to incentivize projects that incorporate photovoltaic devices, solar water heating devices, or solar space heating. He also thinks that HOT lane shoulder widths should be wide enough to handle transit vehicles, HOV service does not deteriorate, and ingress and egress from local connector streets are adequately addressed (see HB 1223). Delegate Ebbin also thinks vehicles used in abductions should be forfeited (HB 1113) and that your income tax filings should be due on April 15 to sync up with the federal deadline, rather than May 1st (HB 1278).

Delegate Englin wants online political advertisements to be subject to disclosure requirements regardless of space to do so (HB 1261) and wants to see automatic acceptance of service members to Virginia colleges who were in the top 10% of their graduating class (HB 274).

Senator Ticer wants to amend the charter of the City of Alexandria so that the board of review of real estate assessment is composed of nine members rather than five members, with five members appointed by the circuit court and four members appointed by city council (SB 572) and to allow for TDRs in zoning ordinances in localities with the urban county executive form of government (SB 636). She also would like to see a license plate for recycling advocates (SB 709) and some careless driving offense proposals (SB 566). She also proposes relaxing campaign contribution reporting requirements for local officials (SB 723).

Delegate Hope thinks that the Commonwealth Transportation Board ought to give first priority to funding transit operating costs rather than transit capital projects (HB 421), wants to prohibit smoking in all public buildings (except certain portions of corrections facilities) (HB 1351), and most notably, is chief patron of the Green Public Buildings Act (joined by Brink and Ebbin) (HB 1264), which would require all new construction public buildings over 5,000 SF (or renovations amounting to over 50% of the value of the building) to achieve LEED Silver certification or Green Globes two globe standards, achieve energy savings that exceed ASHRAE 90.1-2004 standards by at least 15 percent for new construction and 10 percent for major renovation, and to provide water use savings of at least 25 percent over the baseline standard established in the federal Energy Policy Act of 1992.