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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: February 4, 2013
Time and Place: Monday, 45 minutes after Senate adjourns, Senate Rm A, GAB
REVISED - For the Addition of SB 1371

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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 1344 Higher Education, State Council for; accrediting agencies.

Patron: Petersen

The State Council for Higher Education; accrediting agencies. Prohibits the State Council of Higher Education from recognizing or relying on the ratings of any national or regional accrediting agency unless such agency is certified by the Council.

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. 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. 1369 Virginia Riverboat Gaming Commission; created, penalties.

Patron: Lucas

Virginia Riverboat Gaming Commission; regulation of riverboat gaming; penalties. Creates the Virginia Riverboat Gaming Commission as the licensing body for riverboat gaming. The bill sets up the regulatory system for riverboat gaming and provides penalties for violations of the riverboat gaming law. The bill contains technical amendments.

S.B. 1371 Virginia Freedom of Information Act; repetitive requests; remedies.

Patron: Stuart

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; repetitive requests; remedies. Allows a public body to petition the appropriate court for additional time to respond to a request for records when the request is one of a series of requests by the same requester and a response by the public body within the time required by this chapter will prevent the public body from meeting its operational responsibilities. The bill also authorizes a court, in any action to enforce the provisions of FOIA, to decline to order production of the requested records if the evidence shows that the frequency or volume of the record requests made by the petitioner (i) constitutes an unreasonable burden on the resources of the public body, (ii) will prevent the public body from meeting its operational responsibilities, or (iii) has been made to evade the payment of any charges assessed in accordance with FOIA. The bill contains technical amendments.