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2013 SESSION

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Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology

Chairman: Frank M. Ruff, Jr.

Clerk: Michael Adams, Jocelyn Lance
Staff: Amigo Wade
Date of Meeting: January 28, 2013
Time and Place: Monday, 45 minutes after Senate adjourns, Senate Rm A, GAB

S.B. 714 Va. Toll Mitigation Act & Virginia Casino Gaming Commission; regulation of casino gaming, penalties.

Patron: Lucas

Virginia Toll Mitigation Act; Virginia Casino Gaming Commission; regulation of casino gaming; penalties. Creates the Virginia Casino Gaming Commission as the licensing body for casino gaming. The bill sets up the regulatory system for casino gaming and provides penalties for violations of the casino gaming law. Proceeds of the gross receipts tax and admission tax imposed on casino gaming operators will be paid into the Toll Mitigation Fund, which shall be used to mitigate the tolls established to support construction and maintenance of the (i) Dominion Boulevard Bridge and Roadway Improvement Project and (ii) Downtown Tunnel/Midtown Tunnel/Martin Luther King Freeway Extension Project. Under the bill, a referendum of the location of a casino gaming operation shall be limited to localities within the Hampton Roads Transportation District, and no initial license to operate a casino gaming operation may be issued unless a regional referendum approving casino gaming has been conducted and approved.

S.B. 765 Legal notices; advertisement on websites by Towns of Damascus and Glade Spring.

Patron: Carrico

Advertisement of legal notices on websites by the Towns of Damascus and Glade Spring. Allows each of the Towns of Damascus and Glade Spring to publish required legal notices on the locality's website instead of advertising them in a newspaper having a general circulation in the locality.

S.B. 781 Women-owned and minority-owned businesses; enhancement measures.

Patron: McEachin

Virginia Public Procurement Act; women-owned and minority-owned businesses; remedial measures. Provides that the Governor shall require state agencies to implement appropriate enhancement or remedial measures consistent with prevailing law when a persuasive analysis exists that documents statistically significant disparity between the availability and utilization of women-owned and minority-owned businesses.

S.B. 791 State Inspector General, Office of; performance review of state agencies.

Patron: Garrett

Performance review of state agencies. Requires that the Office of the State Inspector General conduct a performance review of each executive branch agency at least every four years. The effective date of the bill is July 1, 2015.

S.B. 822 Statewide Fire Prevention Code; fees charged by State Fire Marshal.

Patron: Puckett

Statewide Fire Prevention Code; State Fire Marshal; fees. Changes approval authority over fees that may be charged by the State Fire Marshal to recover enforcement costs from the Board of Housing and Community Development to the Virginia Fire Services Board.

S.B. 827 Federal statutes or regulations; implementation of regulatory stringency standard.

Patron: Garrett

Regulatory stringency standard. Requires any state agency that is authorized to implement a comparable federal program to receive statutory authorization to promulgate any regulation that is more stringent than the federal statute or regulation. By July 1, 2014, these agencies are required to complete a review of their regulations to determine whether each regulation (i) is more stringent than the comparable federal law or regulation and (ii) whether there is statutory authorization for the regulation that is found to be more stringent. When an agency determines that a more stringent regulation has not been authorized by a state statute the agency is required to amend the regulation to bring it into compliance with the federal law or regulation, or the General Assembly has to enact legislation authorizing the more stringent standard. If neither condition has been met within one year of the agency's determination that its regulation is more stringent than the comparable federal law or regulation, the regulation is deemed to be null and void.

S.B. 841 Uniform Statewide Building Code; establishment of occupancy standards for residential dwelling unit.

Patron: Locke

Uniform Statewide Building Code; establishment of occupancy standards for residential dwelling units by owners or managing agents. Authorizes an owner or managing agent of a residential dwelling unit to develop and implement reasonable occupancy standards restricting the maximum number of occupants permitted to occupy the dwelling unit, provided such standards comply with the federal standards established under federal laws and regulations. The bill also authorizes an owner or managing agent to restrict the number of occupants in a dwelling unit to two persons per bedroom and clarifies that such restriction will not be enforceable under the provisions of the Uniform Statewide Building Code.

S.B. 860 State entities; procurement by using public-private partnerships.

Patron: Lucas

Procurement by state entities using public private partnerships; Public-Private Transportation Act; Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002. Provides that no real property asset that produces annual average revenue for the Commonwealth of $10 million or more over the five most recent fiscal years, or $10 million revenue for the Commonwealth in the most recent fiscal year, may be (i) the subject of any lease, concession agreement, or similar type of agreement that transfers to a nongovernmental entity possession or control of the asset for more than 10 years at a time, including any renewal, (ii) sold, or (iii) securitized as a part of a qualified transportation facility under the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 or a qualified project under the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002 unless it has been declared to be surplus property. The bill also requires any comprehensive agreement for a qualifying transportation facility where the responsible public entity is a state entity to provide a summary containing the major business points of the agreement to the Public-Private Partnership Advisory Commission for review and comment. In addition, the bill provides that any proposed comprehensive agreement for a qualifying transportation facility, when the responsible public entity is an agency or institution of the Commonwealth, that (i) creates state tax-supported debt, (ii) requires a level of appropriation beyond the appropriation received by the responsible public entity in the most recent appropriation act, or (iii) alters the Commonwealth's discretion to change the level of services or the funding for such services over time must be reviewed by the General Assembly prior to execution.

S.B. 889 Virginia Freedom of Information Act; local school boards to hold electronic communication meetings.

Patron: Black

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; electronic communication meetings; school boards. Allows local school boards to hold electronic communication meetings to the same extent allowed currently for state public bodies. The bill contains technical amendments.

S.B. 990 Virginia Public Procurement Act; bid match preference for Virginia businesses.

Patron: Miller

Virginia Public Procurement Act; bid match preference for Virginia businesses. Provides a bid match preference for Virginia business. Under the bill, a Virginia business has an opportunity to match the lowest bid of an out-of-state bidder if the bid of a Virginia business is within five percent of the lowest bid of an out-of-state bidder.

S.B. 1004 Landlord and tenant law; early termination of rental agreements by victims of family abuse.

Patron: Howell

Landlord and tenant law; early termination of rental agreements by victims of family abuse or sexual assault. Provides that a tenant who is a victim of (i) family abuse, (ii) sexual abuse, or (iii) criminal sexual assault may terminate a rental agreement under certain circumstances. The bill details the instance under which termination may be sought and the process that must be followed by the tenant to effect the termination.

S.B. 1081 Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995, etc.; additional requirements.

Patron: Miller

Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 and Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002; addition requirements for comprehensive agreements. Provides that no comprehensive agreement providing for the lease, operation, or transfer of ownership of a qualifying transportation facility under the Public-Private Transportation Act or a qualified project under the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act with a total value of $1 billion or more shall be executed by a state agency unless (i) approved by the Governor and (ii) a bill that includes a specific description of the proposed agreement and its anticipated expenditures and revenues is passed by the General Assembly.

S.B. 1091 Risk management plan; local participation.

Patron: Hanger

Local participation in risk management plan. Provides that participation by constitutional officers in the Department of the Treasury%92s risk management plan shall be determined by the local governing body of the locality served by the officers rather than by the State Compensation Board. Also, local governments and constitutional officers choosing not to participate in the risk management plan shall not be subject to payment of any premium or administrative costs.

S.B. 1123 Virginia Shakespeare Festival; designating as official Shakespeare festival.

Patron: Norment

State Shakespeare  Festival designated. Designates the Virginia Shakespeare Festival held in the Williamsburg as the official Shakespeare festival of the Commonwealth.

S.B. 1125 Virginia Condominium Act; casualty insurance for common areas.

Patron: Norment

Virginia Condominium Act; casualty insurance for common areas. Specifies the items that must be insured under a master casualty policy obtained by a unit owners' association or executive organ or the association to cover the common elements of a condominium.

S.B. 1137 SCC; one-stop small business permitting program.

Patron: McWaters

One-stop small business permitting program; State Corporation Commission. Requires the State Corporation Commission to fully integrate processes and forms into the business registration and permitting center. The Commission is also required to process all forms within 48 business hours from the time an applicant submits a form electronically.

S.B. 1170 Virginia Public Procurement Act; resident employment and apprenticeship participation.

Patron: Deeds

Virginia Public Procurement Act; resident employment and apprenticeship participation; required contract provisions. Requires all public bodies to include in every contract of more than $100,000 that involves the performance of work within the Commonwealth provisions requiring the contractor to agree (i) that 51 percent of all positions created in performance of the contract be filled by Virginia residents, (ii) that 35 percent of the total hours worked by apprentices in positions created in performance of the contract be performed by Virginia residents, and (iii) to use the Virginia Employment Commission as the first source of referral for obtaining qualified applicants for any new position. Under the bill, "new position" does not include a position that is filled by a current employee of the contractor or an individual who was previously laid off by the contractor. The required provisions do not apply to any contracts for the procurement of professional services.

S.B. 1176 State Inspector General; powers and duties.

Patron: Ruff

State Inspector General; powers and duties. Grants additional powers to the State Inspector General relating to audit functions of state and nonstate agencies. The bill reorganizes the State Inspector General's powers and duties and generally reorganizes the law relating to the Office of the State Inspector General. The bill contains technical amendments.

S.B. 1177 Virginia Workforce Council; powers and duties.

Patron: Ruff

Virginia Workforce Council; composition; powers. Provides for the Virginia Workforce Council to review the state's annual plan for postsecondary vocational education activities authorized under the federal Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 2301 et seq.) to ensure that the plan is aligned with the state's plan for coordinating programs authorized under Title I of the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 USC §2801 et seq.) and the federal Wagner-Peyser Act (29 U.S.C. § 49 et seq.). The bill also (i) adds the chair of the board of directors of the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and a representative of kindergarten through grade 12 education providers to the Council, (ii) removes from the Council the position for a second representative of labor in addition to the president of the Virginia AFL-CIO, and (iii) provides for the Secretaries of Commerce and Trade, Education, and Health and Human Resources to appoint designees to serve on the Council.

S.B. 1195 Entrepreneur-in-Residence Program; created.

Patron: Saslaw

Entrepreneur-in-Residence Program. Creates the Entrepreneur-in-Residence Program, a pilot program administered by the Secretary of Commerce and Trade to improve outreach by state government to the private sector. The objectives of the Program are to (i) strengthen coordination and interaction between state government and the private sector on issues relevant to entrepreneurs and small business concerns, and (ii) make state government programs and operations simpler, easier to access, more efficient, and more responsive to the needs of small business concerns and entrepreneurs. The program has a 2017 sunset date.

S.B. 1197 Virginia Public Procurement Act; contracts for architectural or professional engineering services.

Patron: Saslaw

Virginia Public Procurement Act; contracts for architectural or professional engineering services by certain localities. Authorizes localities within Planning District 8 to enter into individual contracts for architectural or professional engineering services up to $5 million. Planning District 8 is composed of the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William, the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park, and the towns of Dumfries, Herndon, Leesburg, Purcellville and Vienna. Currently, the authority to enter into such contracts is limited to localities and local authorities, sanitation districts, metropolitan planning organizations or planning district commissions with populations in excess of 80,000.

S.B. 1224 Virginia Fair Housing Law; unlawful discriminatory housing practices.

Patron: Locke

Virginia Fair Housing Law; unlawful discriminatory housing practices. Adds lawful source of income to the list of unlawful discriminatory housing practices. The bill defines lawful source of income as any income used by a person to pay for the purchase or lease of a dwelling including (i) public assistance, (ii) any manner of gross income, (iii) federal supplemental security income benefits, (iv) child support, and (v) any federal, state, or local housing assistance, regardless of whether the funds are paid directly to the person or to a landlord or other third party for the benefit of the person. The bill also authorizes the governing body of any county, city, or town to enact an ordinance in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Fair Housing Law, provided such ordinance includes protections against discrimination that are at least as protective as those provided by the law.

S.B. 1239 Uniform Statewide Building Code; enforcement by towns.

Patron: Herring

Uniform Statewide Building Code; enforcement by towns. Provides that if any town does not elect to enforce the Uniform Statewide Building Code, then such enforcement shall be the responsibility of the county in which the town is situated. The bill also provides that the enforcement by the county shall be with equal dignity as the county does in unincorporated areas of the county and no agreement between the town and the county shall be required as a prerequisite for the county to perform this obligation. The bill contains technical amendments.

S.B. 1246 Virginia Public Procurement Act; multiple project contracts for engineering services.

Patron: Colgan

Virginia Public Procurement Act; multiple project contracts for architectural or professional engineering services relating to construction. Raises, for certain local public bodies, the maximum cost of architectural or professional engineering services for all projects in one contract term of a multiple project contract from $500,000 to $1.5 million, and raises the maximum cost of architectural or professional engineering services for any single project from $100,000 to $500,000 for airports and aviation transportation projects. For a locality or authority or sanitation district with a population in excess of 80,000, the bill raises the maximum cost of such services from $1 million to $2 million.

S.B. 1263 VA FOIA; meeting by electronic communication means by certain committees, etc. of State bodies.

Patron: Stuart

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; meeting by electronic communication means by certain committees, subcommittees, etc., of state public bodies; personal matters. Authorizes an advisory public body, defined as any state public body classified as advisory pursuant to § 2.2-2100 or any committee, subcommittee, or other entity, however designated, of a state public body created to advise the state public body, to meet by electronic communication means without a quorum of the advisory public body being physically assembled at one location, provided, among other requirements, the meeting is conducted utilizing a combined audio and visual communication method.  The bill requires any advisory public body holding this kind of electronic communication meeting to make an audiovisual recording of the meeting, which recording shall be preserved by the advisory public body for a period of three years from the date of the meeting.  The bill also enhances the annual reporting requirements for any public body authorized to conduct electronic communication meetings and requires the FOIA Council to develop a form that an authorized public body must make available to the public at any such meeting for public comment.  The above described provisions of the bill by its terms will expire on July 1, 2014. Finally, the bill allows a member of any public body to participate in a meeting by electronic communication means due to personal matters under certain circumstances. Currently, such remote participation is allowed only for emergency, medical condition, or distance from the meeting location of more than 60 miles. The bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council.

 

S.B. 1264 VA. FOIA; access to criminal and other records.

Patron: Stuart

Freedom of Information Act; access to criminal and other records held by public bodies engaged in criminal law-enforcement activities. Reorganizes § 2.2-3706 of the Freedom of Information Act relating to access to criminal records and other records held by law-enforcement agencies. The only substantive changes in the bill are to (i) expand to the state law-enforcement agencies the ability to withhold portions of noncriminal incident information and (ii) allow law-enforcement agencies to make a verbal response for requests for criminal incident information. The bill also clarifies that personnel records of persons employed by a law-enforcement agency are not noncriminal records, but subject to the personnel records and background investigation records exemptions. The bill contains technical amendments and is a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council.

S.B. 1267 Contractors, Board for; licensure of tree care service providers, penalties.

Patron: Ruff

Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; Board for Contractors; licensure of tree care service providers; penalties. Requires the licensure of tree care service providers by the Board for Contractors as of January 1, 2014. The Board shall not issue a license until the applicant has furnished evidence of financial responsibility, consisting of a liability insurance policy that protects persons who suffer legal damages as a result of the performance of tree care services. Performing tree care services without a license or without the required liability insurance is punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. A public utility is not obligated to move lines or cables until the person seeking to perform the tree care services provides the utility with evidence that such person is a licensed tree care service provider. The measure also requires that a tree care service provider give customers a signed statement affirming that the provider has the required liability insurance and that the customer's property insurer shall have no liability for damages to the property of the customer and for injuries to the persons performing the tree care services.

S.B. 1307 DPOR; Director authorized to purchase information technology and telecommunication goods & services.

Patron: Wagner

Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; Director; purchase of information technology and telecommunications goods and services. Authorizes the Director of the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation to purchase the information technology and telecommunications goods and services on behalf of the Department. Currently, information technology and telecommunications goods and services for the Department are required to be procured by the Virginia Information Technologies Agency.

S.B. 1315 Virginia Property Owners' Association Act; limitation on amendment to declaration.

Patron: Black

Virginia Property Owners' Association Act; amendment of declaration; control of association by declarant. Provides that if there is any lot owner other than the declarant, then the declarant may not amend the declaration to extend the period of declarant control, including the power to appoint and remove some or all of the members of the board of directors or to exercise powers and responsibilities otherwise assigned to the board of directors or association, unless the amendment is agreed to by 100 percent of the votes of the association. In addition, the bill provides that the association disclosure packet shall contain a statement setting forth information regarding the transfer of control of the board of directors or association to the lot owners, including (i) the number of lots in the recorded subdivision, (ii) the current number of members on the board of directors, (iii) the number of members of the board of directors who are appointed by the declarant, and (iv) the method for determining the point when the transfer of control will take place.

S.B. 1316 Wetland delineator; requirements for certification.

Patron: Blevins

Board for Professional Soil Scientists, Wetland Professionals, and Geologists; requirements for certification as a wetland delineator. Removes the requirement that experience in wetland delineation prior to applying for certification as a wetland delineator must have occurred under the supervision of a certified professional wetland delineator.

S.B. 1320 Job investment and incentive grant programs; information to verify employment status.

Patron: Ruff

Job investment and incentive grant programs; information to verify employment status. Authorizes state entities awarding grants or other incentives that are based on employment goals to require the recipient to provide copies of the employer quarterly payroll reports provided to the Virginia Employment Commission to verify the employment status of any position included in the employment goal.

S.B. 1325 Professional counselors, etc.; Board of Counseling to establish specified fees for licensure, etc.

Patron: Barker

Board of Counseling; fees. Requires the Board of Counseling to establish, among other fees, specified fees for the licensure and certification of professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, substance abuse treatment practitioners, substance abuse counselors, substance abuse counseling assistants, and rehabilitation providers.

S.B. 1334 Virginia Freedom of Information Act; exemption for Commonwealth's Attorneys' Services Council.

Patron: Norment

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; records exemption for the Commonwealth's Attorneys' Services Council. Provides an exemption from the mandatory disclosure requirements of FOIA for records of a proprietary nature produced or collected by or for faculty or staff of the Commonwealth's Attorneys' Services Council, other than the Council's financial or administrative records, in the conduct or as a result of instructional programs, study, or research on scientific, technical, or scholarly issues, whether sponsored by the Council alone or in conjunction with another governmental body or a private concern, where such records have not been publicly released, published, copyrighted, or patented.

S.B. 1346 Charitable gaming; sale of pull tabs & other instant bingo games by volunteer fire departments, etc.

Patron: Lucas

Charitable gaming; sale of pull tabs and other instant bingo games. Authorizes certain volunteer fire departments or rescue squads or auxiliary units thereof to sell instant bingo, pull tabs, or seal cards one hour immediately preceding the conduct of any regular or special bingo game provided the instant bingo, pull tabs, or seal cards are sold in accordance with Charitable Gaming Board regulations. The bill contains technical amendments.

S.B. 1350 Supplier Diversity and Entrepreneurial Advocacy, Department of; created.

Patron: McWaters

Department of Supplier Diversity and Entrepreneurial Advocacy created. Creates the Department of Supplier Diversity and Entrepreneurial Advocacy by consolidating the powers and duties of the Department of Business Assistance and the Department of Minority Business Enterprise. The bill eliminates the Department of Business Assistance and the Department of Minority Business Enterprise. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2014, and contains numerous technical amendments to accomplish this consolidation.

S.B. 1359 Funeral services; adds to definition of next of kin.

Patrons: Howell, Barker

Funeral services; next of kin. Adds any person recognized as the legal spouse of the decedent under the laws of another state to the definition of next of kin for the purposes of making decisions regarding funeral arrangements for the decedent.

S.B. 1362 Metropolitan Washington Airports; conditions upon Governor's authorization of Amendment No. 4.

Patron: Black

Place conditions upon the Governor of Virginia's authorization of AMENDMENT NO. 4 to the LEASE of the METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON AIRPORTS between THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA acting by and through THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION and THE METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON AIRPORTS AUTHORITY.