By Mary Beth Washington
Special to The Tidewater News

RICHMOND
Del. Roslyn Tyler (D-75) has introduced the following bills and budget amendments for the 2015 General Assembly session:

• HB-1284 Charter; Town of Branchville. Moves the date of election of the mayor and members of the town council from June to November and extends their terms from two years to four years. The bill contains an emergency clause.

• HB-1374 Special license plates; disabled veterans. Permits all veterans who are receiving ongoing disability pensions to be issued disabled veteran license plates.

• HB-1484 Approval of annual budget for school purposes. Conforms the county budget preparation and approval process to that of municipalities

• HB-1588 Economic development policy for the Commonwealth; Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry. Adds the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry to the committee established to assist the Secretary of Commerce and Trade to develop during the first year of each new gubernatorial administration a comprehensive economic development policy for the Commonwealth.

• HB-2197 Broadband Advisory Council. Increases the membership of the Broadband Advisory Council from 11 to 15 by adding two additional legislative members, a representative from the Center for Rural Virginia, and the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry. The bill also provides that the Broadband Advisory Council will advise the General Assembly in addition to the Governor on policy and funding priorities to expedite deployment and reduce the cost of broadband access in the Commonwealth.

• Budget Item: Request funding to address hydrilla contamination an excessive growth in Lake Gaston, Lake Smith, Lake Chestin, Lake Anna and the Potomac River. The wide spreads of the hydrilla growth has affected tourism and recreation especially water sports, fishing and boating in Southside Virginia most prestigious lakes. Local governments are contributing; however, more treatments are required due to the steady growth over the last 7 years.

• Budget Item: Restores funding for coyote eradication and control. The program is administered in cooperation with U.S. Department of Agriculture and provides technical and direct control assistance to reduce or prevent predation through a variety of methods and strategies. Coyotes are a potentially serious threat to Virginia’s livestock industries.

• Co-patron HB-1512 Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $7.25 per hour to $15.15 per hour effective July 1, 2015, unless a higher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The $15.15 rate shall be adjusted annually thereafter to reflect increases in the consumer price index. The measure also eliminates provisions that address determinations of the wages of tipped employees.

• Co-patron budget amendment for the Department of Corrections, $16,500,000 the first year (2015) and $16,500.000 the second year (2016) from the general fund is appropriated to provide a 5 percent salary increase for state correctional officers.