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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
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2014 SESSION
Co-Chair: Charles J. Colgan - Co-Chair: Walter A. Stosch
Clerk: Patty Lung, Wesley Bland
Staff: Nicole Brenner, Mark Vucci
Date of Meeting: February 4, 2014
Time and Place: 9:00 a.m. - Senate Room B
Revised to add S.B. 627
Patron: Garrett
Crimes against nature. Clarifies that engaging in consensual sodomy is not a crime if all persons participating are adults, are not in a public place, and are not committing, attempting to commit, conspiring to commit, aiding, or abetting any act in furtherance of prostitution. The bill states that an emergency exists and it is in force from its passage.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Watkins
Motion picture production tax credit. Increases the percentage of the production company's qualifying expenses that can be taken as a refundable credit from 15 to 20 percent and increases the alternative option of taking the percentage of such expenses if the production is filmed in an economically distressed area of the Commonwealth from 20 to 25 percent. The bill also increases the total amount of the credit that can be given to taxpayers for bienniums after the 2010-2012 biennium from $5 million to $25 million and establishes a sunset of January 1, 2024 for productions that use interactive media production.
Patron: Puller
Livable Home Tax Credit. Increases the total amount of tax credits granted for the Livable Home Tax Credit program in any fiscal year from $1 million to $2 million and increases the total amount of tax credits made available through the program allocated for purchase or construction of new residences from $500,000 to $1 million and the total amount allocated for retrofitting or renovation of existing residences from $500,000 to $1 million. The bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Disability Commission.
Patron: Marsh
Brendon's Law; celebratory gunfire; penalty. Provides that any person who willfully discharges a firearm with no discernible or designated target within or into the limits of any city or town or within two miles of any occupied building and such conduct results in the death of another person is guilty of an offense punishable by confinement in a state correctional facility for not less than five nor more than 40 years. The bill also provides that such conduct that does not result in the death of another but does result in bodily injury to another person is a Class 3 felony. Finally, the bill provides that such conduct that does not result in the death or bodily injury to another is a Class 6 felony.
Patron: Newman
Virginia Retirement System; disability program for hybrid retirement plan participants. Provides that a disability program that provides income protection of at least 60% through the use of paid leave, or disability payments, is deemed a program comparable to the Virginia Retirement System's (VRS's) disability program for hybrid retirement plan participants, which an employer may provide in lieu of VRS's program.
Patron: Edwards
Publication of unlawful photographs; venue. Provides that it is a Class 6 felony for a person to publish on the Internet a photograph or video made in violation of the current law prohibiting filming, videotaping, or photographing a nonconsenting person in certain situations where there is an expectation of privacy. The bill also provides that venue for prosecution is the same as venue for computer crimes.
Patrons: Reeves, Ebbin
Purchase, etc., of tobacco products by minors; vapor products. Adds vapor products to the definition of tobacco products that cannot be sold to or purchased or possessed by a minor. The bill defines a vapor product as a noncombustible tobacco-derived product containing nicotine that employs a mechanical heating element, battery, or circuit that can be used to heat a nicotine solution.
Patron: Favola
Department of Social Services; annual review of payments made to TANF recipients and indexing of such payments to the Consumer Price Index. Requires the Department of Social Services to develop and implement a process for annually reviewing the amount of assistance paid to eligible recipients through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and indexing the amount of such payments in an amount equal to the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for the year immediately preceding the year in which the review occurs. The bill requires the Department to report to the Governor and the General Assembly on its progress in implementing the provisions of the act no later than December 1, 2014.
Patron: Marsden
Arrest photos on Internet. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for the owner of a website to both post an arrest photo and solicit, request, or accept money for removing the photograph.
Patron: McDougle
Deferred compensation plans for state and local employees. Authorizes the inclusion of a Roth contribution program in deferred compensation retirement plans for state and local government employees beginning July 1, 2015.
Patron: Carrico
Grand larceny and property injury; health and safety made an element of crimes where coal mine damaged; trespass; penalty.Defines certain offenses against coal mine property as grand larceny, injury to property, or trespass. The bill provides that larceny from a coal mine of any thing valued at $100 or more whose removal affects the health or safety of another constitutes grand larceny. The existing penalty for grand larceny is imprisonment for up to 20 years, or, in the discretion of the jury or the court, confinement in jail for up to one year and a fine of up to $2,500, either or both. The bill provides that intentional injury to property located at a coal mine where such damage is valued at more than $100 is a felony punishable by a fine of $3,000 to $10,000 or imprisonment for one to three years, or both, while unauthorized entry upon a coal mine property is expressly listed among the acts that may constitute a trespass. The bill contains technical amendments.
Patron: Carrico
Dextromethorphan Distribution Act; penalty. Provides that no pharmacy or retail distributor may knowingly or intentionally sell or distribute a product containing dextromethorphan (a cough suppressant found in many over-the-counter medications) to a minor and that no minor may knowingly and intentionally purchase such product. A violation is punishable by a $50 civil penalty. The bill also provides that a person who distributes or possesses with the intent to distribute unfinished dextromethorphan is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Patron: Carrico
Entitlement to certain sales and use tax revenues; City of Bristol and Washington County. Expands the payments of sales and use tax revenue generated on the premises of a public facility located in the City of Bristol used to pay bonds issued to construct the public facility to include a public facility located in a portion of Washington County, if the two localities agree.
Patron: Howell
Virginia College Savings Plan; incorporated government agency. Declares the Virginia College Savings Plan to be a body politic and corporate.
Patron: McEachin
Insurance; employees of public institutions of higher education or localities. Requires the state health plan, for employees of higher education, to provide means for coverage of any other class of persons as may mutually be agreed upon by the institution and the employee to be purchased. The bill also expands the list of people who may be provided certain types of insurance by a locality, adding the dependents of officers and employees of a locality, as well as the dependents of those employed by commissions and other entities controlled by or working closely with a locality, to the list of people to whom a locality may provide accident and health insurance. The bill expands the potential eligibility for health insurance programs to include the dependents of eligible members of volunteer fire or rescue companies and the dependents of retired officers and employees. The bill requires any locality providing insurance to dependents of employees to provide the same programs to dependents of constitutional officers in some cases.
Patron: Deeds
Statute of limitations; sexual crimes against minors. Extends the statute of limitations to one year after the victim reaches 18 years of age for the misdemeanor violations of the following crimes: carnal knowledge of consenting victim age 13 or 14 with minor less than three years older, carnal knowledge by employee of bail bond company, sexual battery, infected sexual battery failure to disclose, sexual abuse of a child age 13 or 14, attempted sexual battery, fornication, aiding prostitution or illicit sexual intercourse, adultery or fornication with person forbidden to marry, indecent liberties by children, tongue penetration of mouth of child under age 13, and consensual sexual intercourse with a child 15 or older. Under existing law, there is a one-year statute of limitations on most misdemeanors.
Patron: Deeds
Emergency custody; time limit. Extends the time that a person may be held pursuant to an emergency custody order to 24 hours. Currently, a person may be held for up to four hours, with an additional two-hour extension available upon a finding by a magistrate that good cause exists for an extension.
Patron: Deeds
Internet Crimes Against Children Fund; fee; Governor's Child Safety Test. Increases from $10 to $15 the additional fee placed upon each felony or misdemeanor conviction assessed as court costs and deposited into the state treasury and credited to the Internet Crimes Against Children Fund. The bill changes the amounts of the funds disbursed for specific programs. The bill permits each local school board to include as part of the program of physical fitness made available to all students the Governor's Child Safety Test, a program of instruction that will consist of at least eight hours of instruction per year on how to recognize, avoid, resist, and escape physical, sexual, and online threats and will result in a certificate signed by the Governor upon successful completion of the program.
Patron: Favola
DSS; amend the state plan for foster care and adoption assistance to include payments for individuals up to age 21. Directs the Department of Social Services to amend the state plan for foster care and adoption assistance to include payments for certain individuals up to the age of 21.
Patron: Howell
Kinship care; regulations. Directs the Board of Social Services to promulgate regulations governing kinship care placements within 280 days.
Patron: Carrico
Visually impaired students; Braille. Requires each visually impaired student to be evaluated by a certified Teacher of the Visually Impaired and requires the student to receive instruction in Braille or the use of Braille unless the team responsible for developing the student's IEP (IEP team) or the team responsible for developing the student's plan pursuant to § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (504 team) determines that instruction in Braille or the use of Braille is not appropriate to the student's educational needs. Current law requires a determination of the appropriateness of Braille but does not require the evaluation. The bill allows IEP teams and 504 teams to provide other specialized educational services and assistive technology devices in addition to Braille. The bill disallows the presence of some residual vision from precluding instruction in Braille and the use of Braille. The bill permits IEP teams and 504 teams to provide blind students with instruction in Nemeth Braille and the use of Nemeth Braille in addition to Braille.
Patron: Puckett
Reckless driving causing death or injury of certain persons. Punishes reckless driving that causes the death or serious physical injury of a law-enforcement officer, emergency medical services personnel, highway worker, or firefighter engaged in his duties as a Class 6 felony with a $2,500 mandatory minimum fine. The bill further requires the court to suspend the offender's driver's license for one year. In addition, the court may impose a civil penalty of up to $10,000 and the proceeds shall be deposited into the general fund.
Patron: Edwards
Trafficking in persons; penalties. Creates new felonies for trafficking in persons for forced labor or sexual servitude and adds the new felonies as a predicate criminal act under the criminal gang statute, as racketeering crimes, and to the functions of a multijurisdiction grand jury, and also allows seizure and forfeiture of property used in committing such felonies. The new felonies and the existing felony of receiving money for procuring a person are added to the rape shield statute. The bill also makes sexual servitude an affirmative defense to the crime of prostitution and allows a petition for a child in need of services to be substituted for a delinquency petition for certain minors arrested for prostitution, disallows the release of certain victim information, specifies law-enforcement protocol for victims who may not be legally present, requires persons convicted of the new felonies to pay restitution that compensates for the victim's labor, and creates a civil action for trafficked persons. The Secretary of Public Safety is required to convene an anti-trafficking committee and the Virginia Human Trafficking Victim Fund is created, which will be administered by the Department of Criminal Justice Services.
Patron: Reeves
Sex offenses prohibiting proximity to children; public libraries; penalty. Provides that any adult who is convicted of an offense prohibiting proximity to children, when the offense occurred on or after July 1, 2014, shall as part of his sentence be forever prohibited from knowingly and intentionally having any contact whatsoever with children that are not in his custody on the premises of any place that he knows or has reason to know is a public library. A violation is a Class 6 felony.
Patron: Reeves
Virginia Retirement System and local government retirement systems; investments. Authorizes the Virginia Retirement System and any local government retirement system to purchase investment grade life insurance policies and annuity policies on their members or retirees, provided that (i) the applicable retirement system offers a monetary benefit to a beneficiary selected by the member or retiree and (ii) the member or retiree consents to such retirement system having an insurable interest in him.
Patron: Watkins
Hybrid retirement program; local deferred compensation and cash match plans. Allows political subdivisions the option of establishing and administering their own deferred compensation and cash match plans if they elect not to participate in those plans administered by the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Retirement System for the hybrid retirement program. The bill also states that state or local entities are not liable for loss.
Patron: Hanger
Two-Year College Transfer Grant Program; amount of grant. Provides that the amount of the Two-Year College Transfer Grant an eligible student receives shall be based on the difference between the costs of tuition and mandatory educational and general fees paid by the recipient at a Virginia community college and either (i) for a student who transfers to a public institution of higher education, the cost of such tuition and fees at the public institution of higher education to which he has transferred or (ii) for a student who transfers to a private institution of higher education, the average cost of such tuition and fees at a Virginia four-year public institution of higher education. Current law provides for a fixed annual grant of $1,000 with an additional $1,000 per year for students pursuing certain undergraduate degrees. The bill also broadens eligibility for the Two-Year College Transfer Grant Program by including students whose Expected Family Contribution, as calculated by the federal government using the family's financial information reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), is no more than $12,000. Currently, the program is available only to students whose Expected Family Contribution is no more than $8,000.
Patron: Garrett
Sexual abuse of certain children; penalty. Raises the penalty for sexual abuse (a defined term) of a child aged 13 or 14 from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony.
Patron: Norment
Driving under the influence; first offenders; license conditions. Eliminates the requirement that a driver's license be suspended for one year for an adult first offender with a blood alcohol content under 0.15 and instead requires the offender to have an ignition interlock for one year.
Patron: Norment
Definition of law-enforcement officer; municipal park rangers. Adds sworn municipal park rangers who are conservators of the peace to the definition of law-enforcement officers.
Patron: Obenshain
Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry Act; solicitation of prostitution; minors. Amends the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry Act to add solicitation of prostitution from a minor.
Patron: Obenshain
Charter schools; personnel. Allows public charter schools to designate in their applications whether their employees will participate in the Virginia Retirement System. The bill directs the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Retirement System to develop procedures allowing school boards that approve such applications to exempt the charter school employees from participation. The bill also (i) requires at least 75 percent of public charter elementary school teachers to be licensed and at least 50 percent of public charter middle and high school teachers to be licensed and (ii) specifies that all teachers otherwise be "highly qualified," as defined by the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Patron: Norment
Incest; definitions of parent, etc.; penalty. Provides that for the purposes of the crime of incest, parent includes step-parent, grandparent includes step-grandparent, child includes a minor step-child, and grandchild includes a minor step-grandchild.
Patron: Puller
Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program; residency requirements. Deems certain surviving spouses and dependents of military service eligible for the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program if the service member through whom they claim eligibility (i) has had a physical presence in Virginia for at least five years immediately prior to the date on which the admission application to the public institution of higher education was submitted; (ii) had a physical presence in Virginia for at least five years immediately prior to his death; (iii) is deceased and the surviving parent of the qualifying child has had a physical presence in Virginia for at least five years immediately prior to the date on which the admission application to the public institution of higher education was submitted; and (iv) is deceased and the surviving spouse has had a physical presence in Virginia for at least five years prior to the date on which the admission application was submitted by the qualified spouse. Current law requires bona fide domiciliary status in Virginia in these circumstances.
Patron: Norment
DUI maiming; penalty. Raises the penalty for DUI maiming and for operating a motorcraft while intoxicated, causing permanent impairment, from a Class 6 to a Class 4 felony and creates a Class 6 felony when the offense causes serious bodily injury without maiming.
Patron: Wagner
Natural gas; incentives for expanded use as transportation fuel. Establishes financial and regulatory incentives for expanding the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) for transportation purposes in the Commonwealth. Vehicles fueled, wholly or partially, by natural gas are authorized to weigh up to 2,000 pounds more than the applicable weight limit, and the bill provides that limits on hauling hazardous materials over a bridge or through a tunnel do not apply to fuel required to propel the vehicle. The bill provides for the titling and registration of natural gas vehicles (NGVs) and converted natural gas vehicles, including a provision that the motor vehicle titling tax on NGVs apply to the value of such vehicle without a CNG or LNG system. The bill establishes a Natural Gas Vehicle Incentive Fund and grant programs through which moneys in the Fund may be expended for increasing public access to natural gas fueling stations, purchasing NGVs, or converting vehicles to natural gas. Revenues for the Fund come from moneys allocated by the Commonwealth Transportation Board; registration fees for NGVs; clean special fuel license plate fees; the Natural Gas Consumption Tax; severance taxes on natural gas; revenues from taxes on pipeline transmission and distribution companies, including the special regulatory revenue tax; and such other funds as may be appropriated. The bill also exempts natural gas home refueling appliances from the sales and use tax, allows taxicabs fueled by natural gas to move to the front of an airport queue, allows trucks bearing clean special fuel stickers to use high-occupancy vehicle lanes, and provides for the reimbursement of tolls for operators of NGVs. The bill further allows public access to state fueling areas and clarifies that refunds on motor fuel taxes apply to commercial equipment using natural gas. The measure requires the Department of General Services' plan for the replacement of state-owned or operated vehicles with alternative-fueled vehicles to include a provision requiring the purchase of NGVs rather than conventional vehicles or other vehicles that operate using alternative fuels whenever the life-cycle cost for such vehicles is not more than 10 percent greater than for conventional vehicles. The measure increases the membership of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Universities Clean Energy Development and Economic Stimulus Foundation to include a nonlegislative citizen member who shall represent an association advocating growth in North America of the use and acceptance of vehicles powered by natural gas. The purpose of the Foundation is expanded to include advancing the goal of increasing the number of NGVs operating within the Commonwealth. The powers of the Foundation's Board of Directors are augmented to include providing assistance to the Department of Motor Vehicles in its awarding of competitive grants and other incentives relating to NGV fueling facilities and related infrastructure, conversions of conventionally fueled vehicles to NGVs, and purchases of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) NGVs. The measure exempts certain materials provided to the Department of Motor Vehicles from the public records requirements of the Freedom of Information Act. Memoranda, staff evaluations, and other records prepared by the Department or its staff exclusively for the evaluation of grant applications are also exempted from the Act. The measure authorizes the Department to hold closed meetings to discuss or consider such records. The measure requires that CNG sold at retail for use as a motor fuel be dispensed in gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) units or diesel gallon equivalent (DGE) units and that LNG sold at retail for use as a motor fuel be dispensed in DGE units. The measure provides that, notwithstanding weights and measures equivalents published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a GGE of CNG shall initially be set at 5.66 pounds, a DGE of CNG shall initially be set at 6.38 pounds, and a DGE of LNG shall initially be set at 6.06 pounds. These levels may be changed pursuant to regulation adopted by the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services if changes occur in the energy content of motor fuels, in which event the Commissioner shall take into consideration whether the National Conference on Weights and Measures has adopted similar standards for dispensing CNG and LNG. Commencing January 1, 2015, any dispenser used for the sale of CNG or LNG at retail for use as motor fuel shall display the GGE or the DGE unit as the primary display information provided. The dispenser shall indicate (i) the number of GGEs or DGEs sold, (ii) the total sales price of the CNG or LNG dispensed, and (iii) the sales price per GGE or DGE of the CNG or LNG sold. The measure excludes any person who is not a public service corporation and who provides CNG or LNG fueling service at retail from the meaning of the terms "public utility," "public service corporation," or "public service company." The ownership or operation of a facility at which such a fueling service is sold, and the selling of such service from that facility, does not render the person a public utility, public service corporation, or public service company solely because of that sale, ownership, or operation. The provision of CNG or LNG fueling service by a person who is not a public utility shall not constitute the retail sale of natural gas if the natural gas furnished in connection with the provision of such service is used solely for transportation purposes. Providing CNG or LNG fueling service is declared to be a permitted natural gas utility activity of a certificated natural gas utility. A natural gas utility may establish a CNG home fueling appliance loan program under which it may offer to its residential customers the option to lease a CNG home fueling appliance from the utility at amounts that are subsidized by the utility. Finally, the measure requires the Virginia Port Authority to conduct a study of the issues related to the siting of LNG storage and refueling facilities in the Hampton Roads region for transportation purposes.
Patron: Favola
Possession of firearms following conviction of certain crimes; penalty. Prohibits any person who is convicted of stalking, sexual battery, or assault and battery of a family member involving the use of force from possessing, transporting, or carrying a firearm or any other weapon for a period of five years following his conviction. A violation would constitute a Class 6 felony. The bill also provides for the forfeiture of any weapon possessed, transported, or carried in violation of the prohibition. Finally, the bill provides for a process by which a violator may petition the circuit court for a reinstatement of his rights to possess, transport, or carry a weapon.
Patron: Stuart
Assault and battery of campus police and school security officers; penalty. Adds campus police officers and school security officers and includes all full-time or part-time school personnel to the list of persons for which an enhanced penalty applies if such person is victimized because of his position.
Patron: Obenshain
Controlled substance analogs; regulation by Board of Pharmacy; synthetic cannabinoids; penalties. Authorizes the Board of Pharmacy to place controlled substance analogs (a substance that has a substantially similar chemical structure to a controlled substance in Schedule I or II and that has or is intended to have the same or a greater stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system) into the list of controlled substances found in Schedule I or II via an expedited regulatory process. Such controlled substance analogs are subject to the same penalties as those for the actual drug. The bill also repeals the specific criminal penalties for possession, etc., of synthetic cannabinoids and places synthetic cannabinoids into the list of controlled substances in Schedule I, where they will be subject to the same penalties as those for other Schedule I controlled substances with the exception of simple possession, which will be penalized as a Class 1 misdemeanor instead of as a Class 5 felony.
Patron: Ebbin
Office of Immigrant Assistance created. Establishes in the Department of Social Services an Office of Immigrant Assistance to assist persons lawfully entering the United States and the Commonwealth for the purpose of becoming citizens. The Office shall provide (i) advice and assistance regarding the citizenship application process and (ii) assistance with finding and securing employment, housing, and services for which such persons may be eligible.
Patron: Watkins
Withdrawal from secondary highway system. Allows lane-mile payments of $12,529 for a county with a charter that borders four cities, which elects to withdraw from the secondary system after June 30, 2014. The bill also allows the Commissioner of Highways to enter into agreements with such counties that withdraw for traffic control.
Patron: Carrico
Lifetime concealed handgun permits; Department of State Police to issue; penalty. Provides for the issuance of concealed handgun permits that do not expire to Virginia residents upon payment of a one-time fee of $100, except that the fee for a person currently holding an unexpired permit is $50. Currently, the fee for issuing such permits is $50, and the permits must be renewed every five years with an additional $50 fee charged each time. Such lifetime permits will include a photograph of the permittee.
The bill also centralizes the issuance of concealed handgun permits with the Department of State Police, instead of current law which provides that the circuit court clerk for the jurisdiction where the applicant resides issues such permits. The Department of State Police must issue a permit within 45 business days of receipt of a completed application, unless the applicant is disqualified, and a replacement permit within 30 business days of receipt of a notarized statement from the permittee that the permit was lost or stolen. Permittees must notify the Department of State Police within 30 business days of any change in their address. The bill also requires the Department of State Police to conduct periodic background checks during the lifetime of any permit issued in the Commonwealth. The bill provides for a process by which a person whose permit application was denied or whose permit was revoked may appeal such determination. The Department of State Police will submit a report containing statistical information regarding the issuance of concealed handgun permits annually to the General Assembly.
The bill also requires the Department of State Police to charge a fee of $25 for the issuance of a permit to certain retired non-Virginia law-enforcement personnel (currently no fee is charged), $200 for the issuance of a nonresident permit (currently $100), $10 for the issuance of a replacement permit (currently $10 due to an address change or $5 for a lost or destroyed permit), and $50 for the transference of a nonresident permit into a resident permit.
Finally, the bill provides that any person who knowingly possesses a revoked or suspended permit is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and is guilty of a Class 6 felony if he is simultaneously in possession of a concealed handgun. The bill does not alter current penalties for carrying a concealed handgun without a permit.
The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2015.
Patron: Newman
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; training center residents; quality of care; disclosure. Requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to, before transferring any training center resident to another training center or to community-based care, provide written certification to the training center resident or his legally authorized representative that the receiving facility provides quality of care equal to or higher than that provided in the resident's current training center and that all permissible placement options have been disclosed.
Patron: Ruff
Community colleges; workforce training. Establishes the Community College Workforce Training Grant Program to provide a $1,000 incentive payment to a community college for each student who (i) has successfully completed a noncredit workforce training program at the community college and (ii) subsequently obtains an industry-recognized certification or license in a high employer demand field in the region served by the community college, with such fields to be identified by the State Board for Community Colleges.
Patron: Black
DMAS; teledentistry pilot program. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to create a two-year pilot program to provide dental services to school-age children who are eligible to receive pediatric dental services through the Smiles for Children program in school divisions in which at least 50 percent of the elementary students have not been examined by a dentist within the preceding 12 months or have no dental home of record. Participating dentists will provide supervision of dental hygienists through the use of teledentistry.
Patron: Norment
Renewable energy property tax credits. Establishes, beginning with taxable year 2014, tax credits for placing into service renewable energy property. The credit would equal 40 percent of the costs paid or incurred to place the renewable energy property into service, not to exceed $2.5 million for any individual piece of renewable energy property. The bill provides that credits in excess of $250,000 would be allowed in three equal taxable year installments. The amount of tax credits otherwise allowed would be proportionally reduced to reflect any public grants, bonds, or other public moneys used in funding the renewable energy property. The bill defines renewable energy as energy derived from sunlight, wind, falling water, biomass, waste, landfill gas, municipal solid waste, wave motion, tides, or geothermal power, but not including energy derived from coal, oil, natural gas, or nuclear power.
The Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy would administer the tax credit program. The Department would be authorized to issue up to $10 million in renewable energy property tax credits each fiscal year.
The bill would allow the tax credits to be carried forward for five taxable years or to be transferred or assigned to other persons for use.
Patron: Obenshain
Department of Criminal Justice Services; human trafficking policy. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish compulsory training standards and publish and disseminate a model policy or guideline for law-enforcement personnel involved in criminal investigations or assigned to vehicle or street patrol duties to ensure that law-enforcement personnel are sensitive to and aware of human trafficking offenses and the identification of victims of human trafficking offenses.
Patron: Ebbin
Virginia community college mental health services pilot program. Requires the Virginia Community College System to create a pilot program to establish a plan or contract with community groups or both to provide mental health services to uninsured students and such other students as the System may identify at eight community college campuses in the Commonwealth, as determined by the System. The bill requires a central program manager for the pilot program. The bill provides that the provision of mental health services will continue through June 30, 2016, or until funds are no longer available, whichever occurs sooner.