City of Hampton, State Legislative Issues, Legislative Priorities

Legislative Priorities - 2008 General Assembly Session

Short Title	Brief Explanation of Request
Air Force Cyber Command	Recently, the Air Force publicly indicated that they will create a new stand up command, entitled Cyber Command. Cyber Command's mission is to provide combat ready forces trained and equipped to conduct sustained offensive and defensive operations through the electromagnetic spectrum, and fully integrate these with air and space operations. For a number of reasons, Hampton city staff believes that the city has a number of assets and resources which make Hampton a viable choice for the physical location of this new command. It has been estimated that the command will bring with it a significant number of new, high-paying jobs. However, both federal and state resources will need to be tapped in order to fully promote the city's interest and suitability for this initiative, including members of our congressional delegation, members of our General Assembly delegation, Governor Kaine, and members of the governor's staff.
NIA Research Building	Budget amendment to support an additional research building as part of the National Institute of Aerospace's campus. The building would allow Langley Visiting Professors, as well as NIA researchers, the ability to conduct research on NIA's campus. It has been proposed that city staff work with NIA to try to secure state and federal funding for this project.
HRTA Modeling and Simulation Study	A modeling and simulation study to examine the impact of the HRTA's currently approved projects on congestion relief in the Hampton Roads region.
Reimbursement for Expenses Related to Fort Monroe	Since May 2005, when Fort Monroe appeared on the BRAC list, the City of Hampton has expended approximately $1,000,000 to navigate through the BRAC process. This expenditure includes costs related to the HUD Homeless Screening process, the environmental characterization and clean-up process, legal fees, etc. Because the vast majority of the property belongs to the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the rest reverts back to the federal government, the city is seeking reimbursement for the funds it has expended over the past two years.
Pilot Wireless Project	Budget amendment request for the commonwealth to fund a pilot wireless project to deploy wireless within a mixed-use section of Hampton to study its effects on economic development, digital inclusion, impact on education, benefits to public safety and social services, and financial modeling of open wireless networks.
Workforce Development Study	Study resolution for a workforce community audit needs assessment to build off of the economic and labor market trends data captured in some of our existing environmental scans. The assessment could allow an outside researcher/consultant to conduct structured research on the employment and training needs of the local business community. Based on input from other workforce systems, the assessment would take approximately 6 months and involves 300 stakeholders ensuring that a wide range of populations and business sectors have input on specific regional job training needs. From the assessment, we could develop a strategic economic and workforce development plan which would highlight most importantly ways to address the creation of a business driven curriculum in our schools. The study could be used to: Internally to set our own work agenda and develop individual job goals and objectives for staff Guide the workforce dev initiatives of our partners and community based organization Focus resources more efficiently and serve targeted groups, i.e. businesses, schools, etc. Address the workforce needs of businesses, schools, and community. Keep agenda in front of potential users
400th Anniversary Celebration	Funds to Support Hampton's 400th Anniversary - Proposed events include a number of major historical events during 2010, including Founder Day, a year-long celebration with themed months pertaining to Hampton's vast history [$400k], Hampton's Sister Cities (Anyang, South Korea-Pietermaritzburg-Msunduzi, South Africa-Vendome, France-Southampton, England) special programs and events [$40k], updating of the 375th Anniversary edition of Hampton: From the Sea, to the Stars Book, highlighting the past 50 years of Hampton history, publishing Historical Markers & Landmarks of Hampton booklet with map, a 2010 Family Reunion, hosting a reunion with 400 Hampton families, and an African American Commemoration. This is also an excellent opportunity to sustain the excitement about Virginia as a historical tourist destination similar to the enthusiasm that the Jamestown 2007 celebration garnered. The program is expected to cost over $1 million. State financial assistance is appropriate as the Commonwealth will benefit from the enhanced tourism visitation associated with this effort.
Predatory Lending	Payday and car title lending are fairly well recognized statewide problems. While the availability of short-term loans is important, it is equally important that state law provide adequate protections for consumers so that they are not charged exorbitant interest rates to obtain necessary cash-flow. The City of Hampton supports legislation to eliminate or, at the least, restrict the ability of these companies to charge exorbitant interest rates. Hampton City Council Resolution Supporting Placing Restrictions on or Eliminating Predatory Lending in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
White Marsh Remedies	The Hampton City Council is seeking a budget amendment and legislative remedy to restrict the ability of development of the White Marsh area.
Virginia Enterprise Zone Program	The Virginia Enterprise Zone Program, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, offers incentives to companies to create jobs, build buildings, or renovate/expand buildings. However, over the past few years, the General Assembly has not fully funded the program, and therefore, companies have received a pro-rated share of the amount for which they qualify (last year companies received $0.60 on the $1.00).
Communications Tax Legislation Amendments	In 2006, the Virginia General Assembly passed HB 568, the legislation to significantly restructure local telecommunications taxes. The bill significantly repealed the direct authority of local governments to administer nearly half a billion dollars in tax revenue. Local revenues have been replaced with newly created state-administered taxes. Despite the City of Hampton's, and a number of other localities', repeated attempts to convey our concerns with the proposed legislation throughout the 2006 legislative session, the bill was passed. In addition, localities were given repeated assurances that we would not lose revenue as a result of this tax reform. Unfortunately, our initial reservations have become a reality: since the legislation was implemented in January 2007, local governments across the Commonwealth, including the City of Hampton, have experienced a considerable loss of revenue as a result of the passage of HB 568. The City of Hampton supports efforts to increase rates, in particular the E-911 rate
K-12 Rebenchmarking	Localities are spending an estimated $2.8 billion annually on K-12 operating expenses above the state's SOQ match requirements - 57 percent of the total dollars spent on K-12 education in Virginia. On average, Virginia localities shoulder a much higher share of K-12 funding than in other states. SOQ prevailing methodology does not use current data for cost-sharing with localities, lagging behind in figures for projected enrollment. The City of Hampton supports efforts to augment the state's share of SOQ funding to alleviate this additional burden to the localities.
Eminent Domain	Legislative passed during the 2007 General Assembly session now severely restricts the ability of local housing authorities to condemn land in the redevelopment process. In addition to this legislation, a constitutional amendment was proposed (and defeated) to limit the power of eminent domain by disallowing the ability of making amendments to this provision without the passage of another constitutional amendment.