HB1010: Criminal fiscal impact statement; bills resulting in a net increase of period of imprisonment.

HOUSE BILL NO. 1010

Offered January 8, 2020
Prefiled January 7, 2020
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 30-19.1:4 and 30-28.18 of the Code of Virginia, relating to fiscal impact statements for bills resulting in a net increase of periods of imprisonment or commitment.
Patron-- Herring

Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 30-19.1:4 and 30-28.18 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 30-19.1:4. Increase in terms of imprisonment or commitment; fiscal impact statements; appropriations for operating costs.

A. The Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission shall prepare a fiscal impact statement reflecting the operating costs attributable to and necessary appropriations for any bill which would result in a net increase in periods of imprisonment in state adult correctional facilities. The Department of Planning and Budget shall annually provide the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission with the operating cost per inmate.

B. The Department of Planning and Budget, in conjunction with the Department of Juvenile Justice, shall prepare a fiscal impact statement reflecting the operating costs attributable to and necessary appropriations for any bill that would result in a net increase in periods of commitment to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice.

C. The requirement for a fiscal impact statement includes, but is not limited to, those bills which add new crimes for which imprisonment or commitment is authorized, increase the periods of imprisonment or commitment authorized for existing crimes, impose minimum or mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment or commitment, or modify the law governing release of prisoners or juveniles in such a way that the time served in prison, or the time committed to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice, will increase.

D. The fiscal impact statement of any bill introduced on or after July 1, 2002, that would result in a net increase in periods of imprisonment in state correctional facilities or periods of commitment to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice, shall include an analysis of the fiscal impact on local and regional jails, state and local pretrial and community-based probation services agencies and juvenile detention facilities.

E. No bill described in subsection A or B shall be (i) reported from a standing committee to the House of Delegates or the Senate or (ii) passed by the House of Delegates or the Senate unless a fiscal impact statement for the current version of the bill has been prepared, and the amount of the estimated appropriation is reflected in the fiscal impact statement is printed on the face of the bill or reported or passed as an amendment to such bill. The amount of the estimated appropriation reflected in the fiscal impact statement shall be printed on the face of each such bill, but shall not be codified. If the agency responsible for preparing the fiscal impact statement does not have sufficient information to project the impact, the fiscal impact statement shall state this, and the words "Cannot be determined" shall be printed on the face of each such bill.

F. The fiscal impact statement shall include, but not be limited to, details as to any increase or decrease in the offender population. Statements prepared by the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission shall detail any necessary adjustments in guideline midpoints for the crime or crimes affected by the bill as well as adjustments in guideline midpoints for other crimes affected by the implementation of the bill that, in the opinion of the Commission, are necessary and appropriate.

G. The agency preparing the fiscal impact statement shall forward copies of such impact statements to the Clerk of the House of Delegates and the Clerk of the Senate for transmittal to each patron of the legislation and to the chairman of each committee of the General Assembly to consider the legislation.

H. For each law enacted which results in a net increase in periods of imprisonment in state correctional facilities or a net increase in periods of commitment or the time committed to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice, a one-year appropriation shall be made from the general fund equal to the estimated increase in operating costs of such law, in current dollars, of the highest of the next six fiscal years following the effective date of the law. "Operating costs" means all costs other than capital outlay costs.

I. The Corrections Special Reserve Fund (the Fund) is hereby established as a nonreverting special fund on the books of the Comptroller. The Fund shall consist of all moneys appropriated by the General Assembly under the provisions of this section and all interest thereon. Any moneys deposited in the Fund shall remain in the Fund at the end of the biennium. Moneys in the Fund shall be expended solely for capital expenses, including the cost of planning or preplanning studies that may be required to initiate capital outlay projects.

§ 30-28.18. Requests for drafting bills or resolutions; bills to conform to request; public access.

A. All requests for the drafting of bills or resolutions by the Division shall be submitted in person, in writing, or by voice transmission. Each request shall contain a general statement respecting the policies and purposes that the requester desires incorporated in and accomplished by the bill. All written requests shall be signed by the person submitting them. Neither the Director nor any employee of the Division shall reveal to any person outside of the Division, except to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems in fulfilling its duties as provided in § 30-34 or for the preparation of any fiscal impact statement required under § 30-19.1:4, the contents or nature of any request or statements except with the consent of the person signing such request. Exceptions to this general rule are as follows:

1. When the Director or an employee receives a request that is substantially the same as one previously received, he may, unless specifically directed not to do so by the person first submitting such request, so inform the person submitting the similar request;

2. Unless specifically directed otherwise, the Director or employee may reveal the nature of a request when seeking information from anyone to assist in drafting the bill; and

3. Copies of all floor substitute bills, conference committee reports, and substitute bills accompanying a conference committee report shall be placed in a secure electronic file immediately following the final drafting of the legislation and may be accessed by either the Clerk of the House of Delegates or the Clerk of the Senate or their employee designees after such legislation is offered for introduction in either house.

Bills drafted by the Division shall conform to the statements submitted with the request or any supplementary instructions submitted by the person who originally made the request.

B. All legislative drafting requests and accompanying documents shall be maintained by the Division as permanent records. Each of these separate files shall be considered the property of the requester and no one other than members of the Division staff shall have access to any such file without the specific approval of the requester.

C. All legislative drafting requests from the Governor, a Governor's Secretary, the Lieutenant Governor, the Attorney General, or the head of any judicial, legislative, or independent agency shall be submitted to the Division on or before the same deadline applicable to members of the General Assembly for submitting legislative drafting requests for legislation to be prefiled to the Division, as established by the procedural resolution adopted by the General Assembly, or in default thereof, as adopted by the Joint Rules Committee. Requests from the Governor may also be submitted in accordance with the procedures established by the Rules Committees of the House of Delegates and the Senate for the conduct of business during a legislative session.