Sen. Richard Stuart

Amends the powers and responsibilities of the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to regulate toll road operators under the Virginia Highway Corporation Act of 1988. The measure adds requirements that toll rates not materially discourage the public's use of the toll road, that the cost of operating the toll road be reasonably apportioned across all toll road users based on the relative distance each class of user travels on the toll road such that the toll rates are established in a reasonable and nondiscriminatory manner in relation to the benefit obtained, and that toll rates shall provide the operator with no more than a reasonable return. In addition, the measure (i) requires the SCC, by October 1, 2019, to initiate an investigation into the tolls charged by all operators subject to the Act and to issue a ruling by April 1, 2020, on its investigation as to whether the current tolls charged by the operator comply with such new requirements; (ii) prohibits the SCC from using the fact that any incremental return resulting from increased traffic related to a relative change in potential toll users that is greater than zero on a cumulative basis as the sole basis for finding that the operator's return exceeds a reasonable level as specified in such new requirements, during any future complaint proceeding; (iii) requires the SCC, in its initial investigation, to develop a baseline from which it can measure the relative change in potential toll users and directs how the incremental return shall be computed; (iv) prohibits an operator from seeking a toll increase that attempts to raise its return above the reasonable level; (v) requires the full disclosure, in public financial reports to the SCC, of the details of any related party transactions; and (vi) establishes a presumption that any related party transactions shall be presumed to be imprudent and excluded from costs used for any purpose, including but not limited to costs of lobbyists, excessive compensation, and entertainment expenses, unless the operator provides information showing that at least three separate competitive bids demonstrate that the operator could not have achieved better contract terms from a third party.

Advances conformity of the Commonwealth's tax code with the federal tax code to December 31, 2018, starting with taxable year 2018. The bill increases, starting with taxable year 2018, the amount of the standard deduction (i) from $3,000 to $6,000 for an individual or for married persons filing separately and (ii) from $6,000 to $12,000 for married persons filing jointly. Starting in 2019, the bill adjusts Virginia's standard deduction by the percentage increase in the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) for the previous taxable year. In taxable year 2026, the standard deduction would return to $3,000 for an individual or a married person filing jointly and $6,000 for married persons filing jointly, coincident with the expiration of the individual income tax provisions of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Beginning in taxable year 2020, the individual tax brackets and the personal deductions will also be adjusted by the percentage increase of the C-CPI-U for the previous taxable year.

Directs the Department of Taxation (the Department) to require a remote seller to collect sales and use tax if the seller has more than $100,000 in annual gross revenue from sales in Virginia or at least 200 sales transactions in Virginia and requires a marketplace facilitator, which enables marketplace sellers to sell in Virginia through its marketplace, to collect sales and use tax if its annual gross revenue from facilitated sales in Virginia exceeds $100,000 or it facilitates at least 200 sales transactions in Virginia. The bill provides that the obligation of remote sellers and marketplace facilitators to collect sales and use tax shall not apply to transactions occurring before July 1, 2019.