The 2020 Virginia General Assembly hit its full stride this week as the new House and Senate leadership began hearing legislation in committees and subcommittees. We saw initial movement on a few key Virginia REALTORS^® legislative proposals.

Thursday, January 16, 2020, marked the first legislative action on our Association Health Plans legislation. SB 235, sponsored by Senator George Barker, would allow associations, like the Virginia REALTORS^®, to pool membership in a large group to potentially negotiate better insurance rates for members.

After about 45 minutes of deliberation, SB 235 reported out of the Senate General Laws & Technology Subcommittee on Health Insurance on a 3-0 vote. This puts the bill in a good posture when it is considered by the full committee, which will likely happen next week.

Also, on our agenda is HB 176—to allow for a limited 4-day extension on the right of rescission in a property owners/condo owners association—and HB 788—to remove restrictive covenants from land records—passed out of the House General Laws Housing Subcommittee on 8-0 votes. Sen. Jeremy McPike’s SB 388, which clarifies the start 45-day timeline to return a security deposit, reported out of Senate General Laws & Technology on a 14-0 vote.

You can find more details about our 2020 Legislative Agenda on our website.

Member (or Association or Local Visit) Highlight:

On Thursday, the Virginia REALTORS^® Government Relations team welcomed members from the Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS^® to the Capitol as our first local association Hill Visit of 2020. The group met with Delegates and Senators to advocate on behalf on REALTORS^®, your business, and your clients.

We look forward to more local association visits throughout the Session.

Members of CAAR on their 2020 Hill Visit.