RD183 - 2004 Catalog of State and Federal Mandates on Local Governments


Executive Summary:
BACKGROUND TO THE CATALOG

In response to increasing interest in the effect of mandates on localities, the 1993 General Assembly enacted legislation directing the Commission on Local Government to compile and annually update a catalog of State and federal mandates imposed on the Commonwealth's local governments, including, where available, a summary of the fiscal impact of any new mandates. (*1) This 2004 edition of the catalog published by the Commission on Local Government includes mandates identified as of September 2003. (*2) As in previous years, the Commission examined all legislation passed by the 2003 General Assembly session, surveyed executive branch agencies, and contacted the local government associations (the Virginia Association of Counties and the Virginia Municipal League) for information on new mandates and mandates not previously identified.

In the development of this document, the Commission adhered to the definition of "mandate" originally adopted by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) which defines a mandate as a State or federal constitutional, statutory, or administrative action that places a requirement on local governments. (*3) This definition encompasses three categories or types of mandates: compulsory orders, conditions of financial aid, and the regulation of optional activities. Under this classification scheme, "compulsory orders" require local government compliance regardless of receipt of aid or other circumstances. Mandates termed "conditions of financial aid" require compliance only if the locality accepts the State or federal assistance in question. Finally, mandates classified as "regulation of optional activities" result from State or federal regulation of activities that local governments undertake voluntarily.

ASSOCIATED STATE OVERSIGHT OF MANDATES

In addition to requiring that mandates be cataloged, the General Assembly has taken several other steps to monitor the effects of mandates on Virginia's local governments. (*4) For example, the legislature has directed the Division of Legislative Services to refer to the Commission on Local Government any bills introduced in the General Assembly that may require one or more local governments to render a new service or expand an existing service, or require a net reduction in revenues by any county, city, or towns. The Commission on Local Government must then conduct an investigation of such bills and prepare fiscal impact estimates to be filed with the Clerk of the House of Delegates for distribution to legislators considering those measures. These fiscal impact statements alert legislators to any adverse fiscal impacts that might result from the proposed legislation.

Further, in order to examine the fiscal as well as other impacts of existing mandates on localities, all State executive branch agencies are required to review periodically the mandates on local governments that they administer, and to report which, if any, might be altered or eliminated without interruption of local service delivery or undue threat to the health, safety, and welfare of citizens of the Commonwealth.6 However, no mandate may be required to be reassessed by the administering agency more than once every four years. The Commission on Local Government is responsible for coordinating the scheduling of the assessments and for notifying the Governor and the General Assembly when an agency assessment recommends the alteration or elimination of a mandate.

The assessment of mandates by executive agencies is governed by Executive Memorandum 1-98 (EM 1-98) that took effect in October 1998, superseding EM 5-94 which had guided the assessment process from its inception. (*7) Mandates adopted subsequent to the publication of JLARC's 1993 Update and those mandates in existence when the 1993 Update was published but not identified at that time have been scheduled for assessment during periods after July 1, 1996. (*8) To that end the Commission on Local Government annually establishes a schedule for the assessment of those new and previously unreported mandates. (*9) In any case, no mandate becomes subject to assessment until it has been in effect for at least twenty-four months.

Finally, by action of the 1996 General Assembly, the Virginia Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relationships (ACIR), upon the request of the Virginia Association of Counties, the Virginia Municipal League, or any local governing body, may review the cost estimates prepared by the Commission on Local Government in its annual assessment of fiscal impact bills as well as any executive agency assessments of mandates. The ACIR must report annually its findings, if any, to the Governor and the General Assembly. (*10)

ORGANIZATION OF THE CATALOG

Generally

The 2004 edition of the catalog provides an inventory of all the State and federal mandates on local governments in Virginia that had been identified as of September 2003. The catalog is organized into two parts. Part A contains those mandates administered by the executive agencies of the Commonwealth, and Part B lists the remaining mandates which either are administered by nonexecutive agencies or exist without State administrative oversight. In all, 532 mandates are included in the catalog. Of the total, 439 mandates subject to critical review by executive agencies are included. This represents a net decrease of 3 reviewable mandates (0.7%) from the 442 such mandates listed in the 2003 edition. This decrease is primarily due to programs being eliminated by legislation or combined, at agency request, with other programs. (*11)

Part A

Part A of the catalog lists those mandates administered by executive branch agencies and subject to assessment pursuant to the provisions of EM 1-98. They are cataloged according to administering agency. Each mandate has a separate entry containing standardized data, including a short title; a unique code number; a brief description of the mandated action; identification of the type of mandate; the name of the administering agency and the relevant secretariat; the statutory, regulatory, or constitutional authority on which the mandate is based; the mandate assessment period, if applicable; the assessment finding, where available; and additional applicable comments. (*12)

Part B

Part B lists those mandates not subject to assessment because they are administered by nonexecutive branch agencies or because there is no State administrative oversight of the required action. Each entry for the mandates listed in Part B includes the same general information as those in Part A, but in this section references to the secretariat, assessment period, and assessment finding have been omitted.

Appendices

Detailed supplementary materials are provided in the appendices. Appendix A includes a copy of EM 1-98 which governs the mandates assessment process and contains a sample of the standardized format agencies are required to follow in conducting their assessments. Appendix B offers a complete listing of the current schedule of assessment periods. Appendix C provides a separate listing of the changes in mandates since the publication of the 2003 edition: (1) new mandates, (2) newly identified mandates, (3) those mandates which have been expanded, (4) mandates which have been eliminated, and (5) other changes. 13 Appendix D provides a separate listing of the principal federal mandates that affect Virginia's localities, with a brief description of the mandate and a listing of the authorizing measure. Examples of all of these federal mandates can be found with complete entries in Parts A and B of the catalog. Appendix E provides a table showing the number of mandates by type and by administering agency and secretariat. Finally, Appendix F includes a summary of the provisions of the Code of Virginia that apply to mandates, followed by the precise wording of the statutes.

Indices

Two indices are provided to help the reader find information easily. The first, which precedes the introductory materials, lists each mandate by administering agency, short title, and page number. The second, found at the end of the volume, provides key word guides to the relevant entries and page numbers in the catalog.
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(*1) Code of Virginia § 15.2-2903(7).
(*2) As was the case with previous editions, this most recent update is founded upon the prior research of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission published in its two catalogs of mandates: the 1992 study, Catalog of State and Federal Mandates on Local Governments (H. D. 53/1992) and the 1993 Update: Catalog of State and Federal Mandates on Local Governments (R. D. 2/1994; hereinafter referred to as the 1993 Update).
(*3) 1993 Update. It is important to note that, as a result, this catalog does not include those requirements imposed on local governments by judicial decision nor by burden resulting from a reduction of State or federal financial assistance without a corresponding decrease in required services, which arguably also constitute mandates that can significantly affect localities.
(*4) For a complete listing of the Virginia statutes regarding mandates on localities, see Appendix F.
(*5) Code of Virginia § 30-19.03.
(*6) Code of Virginia §§ 2.2-613 and 15.2-2903(6).
(*7) Under the provisions of EM 5-94, agency assessments of mandates were to be conducted in two phases, the first ending March 31, 1995, and the second ending June 30, 1996. By the end of the second phase, all mandates identified in JLARC's 1993 Update and administered by executive branch agencies had been assessed. A parallel assessment process is also under way by which executive branch agencies will critically review their existing and proposed regulations. See Executive Order 21 (2002) -"Development and Review of Regulations Proposed by State Agencies "-- and Code of Virginia § 2.2-4007 (economic impact analysis of proposed regulations). The Department of Planning and Budget is responsible for conducting fiscal impact analyses, for reviewing agency assessments, and for making recommendations to the Governor regarding the regulations.
(*8) As of January 14, 2004, 842 approved executive agency assessments were filed with the Governor and the General Assembly. Those filings included 100% of those mandates in existence at the commencement of the assessment process in 1994. Consistent with § 15.2-2903 of the Code of Virginia and Executive Memorandum 1-98, which authorize the reassessment of mandates after a four-year period, the Commission began the administration of a second round of assessments early in 1999 and a third round in mid 2003.
(*9) See Appendix B for a complete schedule of assessment periods.
(*10) Code of Virginia § 2.2-2507.
(*11) See Appendix C, Changes in Mandates Since Issuance of 2003 Catalog of State and Federal Mandates on Local Governments.
(*12) Code numbers for mandates administered by executive agencies and subject to assessment are derived from the official abbreviations for the secretariat, followed by the official abbreviation for the administering agency and a three-digit number. Mandates not subject to review are identified as follows: judicial branch mandates begin with the letters "JUD," followed by the official abbreviation for the appropriate court, and a three-digit number; legislative branch mandates begin with the letters "LEG," followed by the official abbreviation of the agency, and a three-digit number; independent agency mandates begin with the letters "IND," followed by the official abbreviation for the agency, and a three-digit number; mandates without State oversight begin with the letters "NSO," followed by a three-digit number.
(*13) Expanded mandates are those which, by legislative action, have been broadened with respect to the requirements placed on local government.