Local lawmakers aim to target energy, rail

While the upcoming General Assembly session will be dominated by debate over the state budget — and a projected $2.9 billion revenue shortfall — Charlottesville-area lawmakers also will file an array of other bills on issues such as energy efficiency at the University of Virginia, expanded passenger rail service and sales of Nelson County whiskey.

Del. Watkins M. Abbitt Jr., an independent from Appomattox, said he plans to file a bill that would allow on-site sales of whiskey distilled and bottled at a 95-acre facility set to open in Lovingston by late summer 2009.
Once Eades Distillery begins operations, its Scottish distillery equipment is expected to produce five or six different styles of double-malt whiskey, potentially attracting tourists to Nelson County and sparking economic development.
Abbitt does not plan to file many additional bills, he said, because lawmakers will have little time during the session that convenes Jan. 14 to focus on much beyond the state’s ongoing fiscal woes and any other legislation that cannot wait until 2010. His priority during this session, he said, will be to minimize the impact of budget cuts on Virginia’s rural areas.
“Everybody’s going to have to make cuts,” said Abbitt, whose district includes a large swath of southern Albemarle County, as well as Nelson County, Buckingham County and eastern Fluvanna County. “I just want to make sure we don’t have a higher percentage of those cuts.”

Del. David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, meanwhile, plans to submit several non-budget bills for consideration during the 46-day session.
One bill, Toscano said, would allow Virginia to subsidize passenger rail service in the long term without raising taxes. A state fund already exists to help pay for capital projects for private railroad companies such as Norfolk Southern and CSX. Toscano’s bill would allow that fund to also pay for passenger rail operations. With such a revenue stream, he said, it might increase the long-term viability of Amtrak’s efforts to offer daily service between Lynchburg and Washington, including a stop in Charlottesville.
Renewable energy
Toscano also plans to introduce a bill that would allow non-residential buildings to install larger devices that generate electricity through solar power or other renewable energy sources. Under current law, he said, a public or private building can only install a device that generates a maximum 500 kilowatts. Toscano’s bill would raise that cap to 2 megawatts.
To encourage local governments and businesses to install renewable power generating devices, Toscano’s bill would also allow owners to sell any extra electricity back to the utility companies at a retail price. Power companies currently pay a wholesale price when buying excess power from energy-generating homes and businesses. Several other states, including Pennsylvania, California and New Jersey, already allow retail prices for such sales, Toscano said.

Regional transit authority

Toscano will likely carry a bill conceived by local officials in Charlottesville and Albemarle County to establish a regional transit authority to oversee an expansion of the local bus system. He believes the bill has a good chance of winning approval, as it does not call for higher taxes and would bring about greater coordination between the localities when it comes to public transit.
“What’s not to like about that?” he said.
Toscano has also asked the state’s division of legislative services to draft a separate bill that would allow Charlottesville and Albemarle County to raise either the gas tax or the sales tax to pay for local transportation projects. Many questions remain unanswered about the idea, he said, and it has a less than certain fate.
“The first question is, is this an appropriate time to place any additional tax burden on the public? Another question is whether it would be a gas tax or sales tax? Do we want to Balkanize our transportation system so every region sets their own taxes to pay for transportation projects?” Toscano said.

Bell’s bills

Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle County, also has a handful of bills he plans to file.
One of Bell’s bills would allow UVa to keep any money it saves from undertaking energy-efficient measures, rather than sending the savings back to the state’s general fund.
Another bill, he said, would allow people with mental illness who are on medication to sign a document that gives guidance for their medical care when they are not on medication. For example, Bell said, a person with mental illness could sign the form — called an advance medical directive — to instruct caregivers to make the person take their medication, even if they refuse at the time.
Yet another bill would allow localities across Virginia to voluntarily establish sexual assault resource teams to coordinate the efforts of police, advocacy groups, hospital workers and prosecutors. The idea, pitched by Kristine Hall, a Charlottesville-based official with the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance, aims to increase the chances of criminal convictions in sexual assault cases.