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Local Issues

Candidates for Upcoming November 6th Elections

Click on the links below for the candidates for upcoming November 6th elections

• Chesterfield County
• Goochland County
• Hanover County
• Henrico County 
• Powhatan County
• Board of Supervisors elections throughout the Commonwealth
• House of Delegates (all districts)
• Senate of Virginia (all districts)

State Issues

Smoking Ban—Definition of a Restaurant

Governor Kaine asked the State Health Commissioner to develop a common sense definition of a restaurant that may be used in the event legislation is proposed to ban smoking in restaurants.  Click here for the most recent draft to the current definitions in the Code of Virginia. If this draft is considered as proposed legislation it will require changing the term restaurant to food establishment in several yet undetermined sections of the Code. 

A public meeting is scheduled for all interested parties on Tuesday, August 21, 2007 at 1:30 p.m. in House Room 1 in the Capitol.

FEDERAL Issues*

*© 2007. NRF Enterprises, Inc. used with permission.

• NRF Introduces Model Legislation on Organized Retail Crime for States
• House to Hold Hearing on Credit Card Interchange Fees
• NRF Tells Committee Interchange Practices Violate Antitrust Law
• Retail theft prevention tips
• Tax breaks help businesses cope with minimum-wage hike
• Bill Would Restrict Use of Social Security Numbers
• Feds to clamp down on illegal hiring
• Credit card fee issues not yet solved
• Tough new employment rules worry some industries
• States take new look at pharmacy in-store clinics

NRF Introduces Model Legislation on Organized Retail Crime for States

In an effort to help educate state legislators about the growing problem of organized retail crime, NRF has created a comprehensive package detailing organized retail crime for members of NRF’s State Association Council. Click here for the full article.

House to Hold Hearing on Credit Card Interchange Fees

One of NRF's top priorities will be addressed next week when the House Judiciary Committee's Antitrust Task Force holds the first congressional hearing of the year on the $40 billion in credit card interchange fees charged annually to merchants and consumers by Visa, MasterCard and their member banks. Click here for the full article.

NRF Tells Committee Interchange Practices Violate Antitrust Law

NRF this week urged Congress to address soaring credit card interchange fees, testifying before a House committee that interchange practices are a violation of federal antitrust law that will cost consumers more than $40 billion this year. Committee members were largely receptive, sharply questioning whether the hidden fees are "harming merchants and ultimately consumers." Click here for the full article.

Retail theft prevention tips

Retail theft costs U.S. retailers more than $33 billion a year, and employee theft is the largest threat to companies, according to Entrepreneur. This article offers a list of standard controls that can be implemented to help detect inventory and cash-register theft, including maintaining rotating employee assignments and taking regular physical inventories. Entrepreneur

Tax breaks help businesses cope with minimum-wage hike

Small-business owners are benefiting from tax breaks passed by Congress that were aimed at softening the blow of legislation that will raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour in three incremental steps by 2009. Even business owners in the District of Columbia and 30 other states, where local law already sets the minimum wage higher than the first federal step to $5.85, can tap into the breaks. The biggest benefit for small-business owners is a greater deduction for new purchases. BusinessWeek

Bill Would Restrict Use of Social Security Numbers

A House committee has approved broad legislation that would restrict the use of Social Security numbers despite warnings from NRF and other groups that the measure could interfere with legitimate business uses of the numbers and even backfire in its attempt to fight identity theft. Click here for the full article.

Feds to clamp down on illegal hiring

The Federal government is expected to announce strict new rules requiring employers to fire employees with false Social Security numbers and will back up those rules with increased workplace raids, The New York Times reports. The Department of Homeland Security proposed the rules last year but held off on implementation until Congress completed its debate on potential new immigration legislation, which died in the Senate. The New York Times

Credit card fee issues not yet solved

Both the Federal Reserve Board and Congress are proposing changes that would restrain credit card company charges that have angered both lawmakers and consumer groups. Many consumers remain shocked and upset by the fees they're seeing on their bills, but the companies say their policies are more fair than they used to be. "My message to credit card companies has been clear: Abusive and unfair credit card practices must end -- period," says Senate Banking Committee Chair Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. USA TODAY

Tough new employment rules worry some industries

A number of sectors are preparing for potential worker shortages as the Bush administration moves toward toughening rules related to employing illegal immigrants. Agriculture is concerned about labor needs during this year's harvest, although Scott Vinson of the National Council of Chain Restaurants says that industries that employ mostly legal work forces can rely on certain safe-harbor provisions built into the new rules. The Wall Street Journal

States take new look at pharmacy in-store clinics

Spurred by physician groups, several states are taking a new look at pharmacy in-store clinics that use nurse practitioners to diagnose and treat ailments. Some states have responded by setting limits on patient visits, requiring disclosure of credentials and indicating whether a doctor is present; others have loosened restrictions on the clinic practice. The Wall Street Journal

Links

State Government Links

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