Bill Text: VA HJR33 | 2024 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Distressed localities; JLARC to study potential effects of revising distribution of 599 funding.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-13 - Left in Rules [HJR33 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-HJR33-Prefiled.html
WHEREAS, the Code of Virginia sets out a distribution formula for calculating the amount of 599 funds distributed to eligible localities; and
WHEREAS, in recent years, the General Assembly has instead specified in the appropriation act that localities' allocations in a given fiscal year are to be based on a standard, across-the-board percentage increase or decrease; and
WHEREAS, the distribution formula has, in effect, been superseded during those years by the instructions in the appropriation act; and
WHEREAS, distressed localities with high crime and poverty rates would benefit from additional 599 funding; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission be directed to study the potential effects of revising the distribution of 599 funding to distressed localities with high crime and poverty rates.
In conducting its study, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall (i) examine the recent allocations of 599 funding provided for in the appropriation act, (ii) confer with distressed localities to determine the necessity of additional 599 funding, and (iii) determine the effect on crime and poverty rates in localities that receive additional funding.
Technical assistance shall be provided to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission by the Virginia Municipal League and the Virginia Association of Counties. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission for this study, upon request.
The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall complete its meetings by November 30, 2024, and the chairman shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary of its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly. The executive summary shall state whether the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission intends to submit to the General Assembly and the Governor a report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document. The executive summary and report shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.
