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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
- Summaries: Since 1994
Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2018 SESSION
Co-Chair: Thomas K. Norment, Jr. - Co-Chair: Emmett W. Hanger, Jr.
Clerk: John Garrett
Staff: Lisa Wallmeyer
Date of Meeting: February 28, 2018
Time and Place: 9:00 AM Committee Room B Ground Floor Pocahontas Building
Patron: Knight
Overweight permits for hauling Virginia-grown farm produce; bridges and culverts. Provides that no vehicle issued an overweight permit for hauling Virginia-grown farm produce, regardless of the vehicle's axle weights or axle spacing, shall cross any bridge or culvert in the Commonwealth if the gross weight of such vehicle is greater than the amount posted for the bridge or culvert as its carrying capacity. Current law requires specific weight limitations based upon axle weights or axle spacing.
Patron: Bulova
Administrative Process Act; guidance documents. Exempts guidance documents, defined in the bill, from the requirements of the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.), provided that the agency that developed the guidance document certifies that the document conforms to the definition of a guidance document. Each guidance document is then subject to a 30-day public comment period through the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall website, after publication in the Virginia Register of Regulations and prior to final publication by the agency. If a comment received during the public comment period asserts that the guidance document is contrary to state law or regulation or that it should not be exempt, the adoption of the guidance document shall be delayed an additional 30 days, during which time the agency shall address the comments and provide a response in writing. The bill also provides that guidance documents do not include agency (i) rulings and advisory opinions, (ii) forms and instructions, (iii) bulletins and legislative summaries, (iv) studies and reports, and (v) internal manuals and memoranda.
Patron: Stolle
Special Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Adaptation and Protection. Creates the executive branch position of Special Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Adaptation and Protection (the Assistant). The bill provides that the Assistant shall be the lead in developing and in providing direction and ensuring accountability for a statewide coastal flooding adaptation strategy. The bill directs the Assistant to initiate and assist with economic development opportunities associated with adaptation, to advance academic expertise at the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding and Resiliency, and to pursue federal, state, and local funding opportunities for adaptation initiatives.
Patron: Rush
Restoration of firearms rights; report to State Police. Provides a mechanism for reporting to the Department of State Police when a circuit court restores a felon's right to possess, transport, and carry a firearm, ammunition for a firearm, or a stun weapon. The bill provides that if a court enters an order restoring a felon's right, the order shall contain the felon's name and date of birth and the clerk of the court shall certify and forward the restoration order to the Central Criminal Records Exchange (CCRE). The bill provides that the Department of State Police, upon receipt of the restoration order, shall enter the felon's name and description in the CCRE so that law-enforcement personnel accessing the CCRE will be aware of the order's existence. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2019.
Patron: Brewer
Carnal knowledge of pretrial or posttrial offender; bail bondsmen; penalty. Increases to a Class 6 felony from a Class 1 misdemeanor the penalty for an owner or employee of a bail bond company that posted bond for a person to carnally know such person if the owner or employee has the authority to revoke the person's bond.
Patron: James
Department of Juvenile Justice; placement of certain individuals in independent living arrangement. Permits the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) to place in an independent living arrangement an individual who is between the ages of 16 and 21 and who was in the custody of DJJ immediately prior to such placement. The bill also permits the Department of Social Services to provide independent living services to such individuals who are placed in an independent living arrangement and to individuals who are between 18 and 21 years of age who, immediately prior to their commitment to DJJ, had been in the custody of a local board of social services.
Patron: Bell, Robert B.
Sex offenses prohibiting entry onto school property; penalty. Provides that an adult who has been convicted of any felony offense for which registration on the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry is required where the victim of the offense was a minor is guilty of a Class 6 felony if he enters or is present (i) upon any property he knows or has reason to know is a public or private elementary or secondary school or child day center property during school hours and during school-related or school-sponsored activities; (ii) upon any property during hours when such property is being used by such a school for school-related or school-sponsored activities; or (iii) on any school bus. Under current law, only an adult who has been convicted of a sexually violent offense is guilty of a Class 6 felony for entering or being present upon such property.
Patron: Murphy
First offense assault and battery against a family or household member; enhanced penalty. Provides that the deferral and dismissal of a first offense of assault and battery against a family or household member will be treated as a prior conviction for the purpose of determining whether a person is eligible for the enhanced Class 6 felony penalty for assault and battery against a family or household member, which applies on the basis of a person's prior convictions.
Patron: Kilgore
Property conveyance; Department of Conservation and Recreation; Natural Tunnel State Park. Authorizes the Department of Conservation and Recreation to accept, without consideration, certain real property in Scott County measuring approximately 1.85 acres in total.
Patron: Kilgore
Required local effort for basic aid; debt service on projects in certain school divisions. Permits any local school board that governs a school division (i) in which the locality is designated as fiscally at-risk or fiscally distressed by the Appalachian Regional Commission in the most recent fiscal year or is determined to have above-average fiscal stress or high fiscal stress by the Virginia Commission on Local Government in its most recent "Report on the Comparative Revenue Capacity, Revenue Effort, and Fiscal Stress of Virginia Counties and Cities" and (ii) for which the composite index of local ability to pay is less than or equal to 0.2000 to expend up to 25 percent of the required local effort for basic aid for debt service on school building capital renovation or construction projects. The bill provides that in the event that the school division no longer meets such criteria, the local school board shall develop and implement a plan to readjust expenditures of the required local effort for basic aid over the course of no more than four fiscal years. The bill also provides that in the event that a school division that no longer met such criteria and that developed such plan subsequently meets the criteria again, the local school board may seek the approval of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to amend such plan. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2030.
Patron: Head
Virginia Fire Services Board; powers and duties; modular training program for volunteer firefighters. Directs the Virginia Fire Services Board to develop a modular training program for volunteer firefighters for adoption by local volunteer fire departments that shall include (i) Firefighter I and Firefighter II certification pursuant to standards developed by the National Fire Protection Association and (ii) an online training program.
Patron: Landes
Virginia Public Procurement Act; exemption for Virginia-grown food products; required documentation. Requires a public body to accomplish procurement by obtaining written informal solicitation of a minimum of three bidders or offerors if practicable and including a written statement regarding the basis for awarding the contract when purchasing Virginia-grown food products under the current exemption from the Virginia Public Procurement Act for the purchase of Virginia-grown food products for use by a public body where the annual cost of the product is not expected to exceed $100,000.
Patron: Jones, S.C.
Transportation processes in the Commonwealth; responsibilities of transportation entities; funding. Expands the responsibilities of the Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment of the Secretary of Transportation (Office). The bill clarifies the residency requirements for the urban and rural at-large members of the Commonwealth Transportation Board (Board) and provides that no member of a governing body of a locality is eligible to be appointed to the Board during his term of office. The bill provides that the Board's Six-Year Improvement Program shall only commit funds from the State of Good Repair Program, the High Priority Projects Program, or the Highway Construction District Grant Programs to a project or program if such commitment is sufficient to complete the project or program. The bill changes the timing of reports from annually to biennially, expands the requirements of the biennial report provided by the Commissioner of Highways, and requires the Office to submit a biennial report as described in the bill. The bill decreases the maximum matching allocation that the Board may make to a locality from $10 million to $5 million and provides that such funds can be used for the maintenance of highway systems. The bill changes the amount of Commonwealth funds allocated to the Board for revenue-sharing from no less than $15 million and no more than $200 million to not in excess of $100 million or seven percent of funds available for distribution by the Board from all funds made available for highway purposes, whichever is greater.
Patron: Jones, S.C.
Capital outlay plan. Updates the six-year capital outlay plan for projects to be funded entirely or partially from general fund-supported resources.
Patron: Jones, S.C.
Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority. Clarifies (i) that the members of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) Authority appointed by the Governor and the Joint Rules Committee are voting members of the Authority, and (ii) the authority of VEDP to direct the Attorney General to enforce contracts related to the award of economic incentives. The bill increases the number of members on: (i) VEDP's Committee on Business Development and Marketing from nine to 10, and (ii) the Committee on International Trade from eight to nine. The bill also extends to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) the existing closed meeting exemption for discussion of portions of the VEDP strategic, marketing, and operational plans that are exempt from public disclosure. Current law requires that VEDP report on these plans to the JLARC subcommittee on economic development but does not provide an exemption for discussion of the portions of those plans not subject to public disclosure.
Patron: Knight
Conveyance of Little Island Coast Guard Station. Authorizes the Department of Conservation and Recreation to convey all of its right, title, and interest in a parcel in Virginia Beach within Little Island Park known as the Little Island Coast Guard Station in exchange for property adjacent to Little Island Park that provides public access to Back Bay.
Patron: Orrock
Pet shops; sale of dogs; maintenance and availability of records. Amends the definition of "pet shop" and requires any pet shop that sells dogs to post a notice stating that USDA APHIS Inspection Reports are available prior to purchase. The bill requires the shop to (i) maintain a written record containing such reports and other detailed information about each dog, (ii) make the record available to purchasers and other parties, (iii) maintain the record for two years after selling a dog, and (iv) transmit certain information to the Office of the State Veterinarian on a schedule established by that office.
Patron: Hope
Medical and mental health treatment of prisoners incapable of giving consent. Establishes a process for the sheriff or administrator in charge of a local or regional correctional facility to petition a court to authorize medical or mental health treatment for a prisoner in such facility who is incapable of giving informed consent for such treatment. The process parallels the existing process for the Director of the Department of Corrections to seek authorization to provide involuntary treatment to prisoners in state correctional facilities. The bill provides that the treatment ordered may be provided within a local or regional correctional facility if such facility is licensed to provide such treatment. If statutory procedures are followed, the service provider does not have liability based on lack of consent or lack of capacity to consent unless there is injury or death resulting from gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct.
Patron: Byron
Office of Telework Promotion and Broadband Assistance; Broadband Advisory Council; expiration. Extends the expiration of the Office of Telework Promotion and Broadband Assistance and the Broadband Advisory Council from July 1, 2018, to July 1, 2028.
Patron: Price
Office of the Qualified Education Loan Ombudsman. Establishes the Office of the Qualified Education Loan Ombudsman (the Office) within the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. The Office's duties include (i) receiving, reviewing, and attempting to resolve complaints from qualified education loan borrowers; (ii) compiling and analyzing data on such complaints; (iii) assisting qualified education loan borrowers to understand their rights and responsibilities under the terms of qualified education loans; (iv) providing information regarding the problems and concerns of qualified education loan borrowers; (v) analyzing and monitoring the development and implementation of applicable laws and policies; and (vi) disseminating information concerning the availability of the Office to assist qualified education loan borrowers and any other participant in qualified education loan lending, with qualified education loan servicing concerns. The Office is further required to establish and maintain a qualified education loan borrower education course by December 1, 2019.
Patron: Thomas
Virginia Information Technologies Agency; additional duties of CIO; cybersecurity review. Requires the Chief Information Officer of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency to (i) conduct an annual comprehensive review of cybersecurity policies of every executive branch agency, with a particular focus on breaches in information technology that occurred in the reviewable year and any steps taken by agencies to strengthen cybersecurity measures, and (ii) issue a report of his findings to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance, which shall not contain technical information deemed security sensitive or information that would expose security vulnerabilities.
Patron: Toscano
Department of General Services; disposition of surplus motor vehicles. Provides that the Department of General Services shall permit surplus motor vehicles to be donated prior to public sale or auction to Virginia community college educational foundations granted tax-exempt status under § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code that operate car donation programs that assist low-income students participating in noncredit workforce training programs with overcoming transportation-related barriers to employment.
Patron: Brewer
Kinship Guardianship Assistance program. Creates the Kinship Guardianship Assistance program (the program) to facilitate child placements with relatives and ensure permanency for children for whom adoption or being returned home are not appropriate permanency options. The bill sets forth eligibility criteria for the program, payment allowances to kinship guardians, and requirements for kinship guardianship assistance agreements. The bill also requires the Board of Social Services to promulgate regulations for the program.
Patron: Austin
Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services; availability of testing services. Requires the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services, or any other laboratory with which the Department of Health has contracted, to provide screening tests for time-critical disorders for newborns and children seven days a week. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2019.
Patron: Leftwich
Enhanced Public Safety Telephone Services Act. Establishes requirements regarding the implementation of next generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) service. By July 1, 2023, the 9-1-1 Services Board (the Board) is required to develop and implement NG9-1-1 transition plans to migrate public service answering points and originating service providers from E-911 to NG9-1-1. The measure alters the formula and criteria for the Board's distribution of funds from the Wireless E-911 Fund. The measure also repeals provisions regarding (i) notices that providers of Voice over Internet protocol service are required to give to subscribers regarding access to E-911 service; (ii) plans for access by Voice over Internet protocol service subscribers to obtain E-911 service; and (iii) the Board's Wireless Carrier E-911 Cost Recovery Subcommittee.
Patron: Hugo
Felony homicide; certain drug offenses; penalty. Provides that a person is guilty of felony homicide, which constitutes second degree murder and is punishable by confinement of not less than five nor more than 40 years, if the underlying felonious act that resulted in the killing of another involved the manufacture, sale, gift, or distribution of a Schedule I or II controlled substance to another and (i) such other person's death results from his use of the controlled substance and (ii) the controlled substance is the proximate cause of his death. The bill also provides that venue for a prosecution of this crime shall lie in the locality where the underlying felony occurred, where the use of the controlled substance occurred, or where death occurred. This bill serves to overrule the Court of Appeals of Virginia decision in Woodard v. Commonwealth, 61 Va. App. 567, 739 S.E.2d 220 (2013), aff'd, 287 Va. 276, 754 S.E.2d 309 (2014).
Patron: Cline
Virtual Virginia; enrollment. Requires enrollment in the Virtual Virginia online learning program during the school year to be open, on a space-available basis, to each public high school student in the Commonwealth and each high school student in the Commonwealth who receives home instruction.
Patron: Watts
Prostitution-related crimes; minors; penalties. Increases to a Class 6 felony from a Class 1 misdemeanor the penalties for the following crimes if a minor is involved: (i) keeping, residing in, or visiting a bawdy place; (ii) aiding prostitution; and (iii) using vehicles to promote prostitution. The bill also adds felony violations of these offenses to (a) the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry, (b) the definition of violent felony for the purposes of the sentencing guidelines, (c) the list of predicate criminal acts for street gangs, (d) the list of offenses that may constitute racketeering under the Virginia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, and (e) the offenses that may be investigated by a multi-jurisdiction grand jury. The bill also makes applicable to all persons, regardless of the gender of the victim, the crimes of (1) assisting or aiding in the abduction of or threatening to abduct a female under 16 years of age for the purpose of concubinage or prostitution and (2) placing or leaving one's wife in a bawdy place.
Patron: Landes
Special Workforce Grant Fund; creation. Creates the Special Workforce Grant Fund to award grants to certain e-commerce companies that make a capital investment at a facility in Fairfax County of at least $84 million and create at least 1,500 new full-time jobs at such facility. The grants would be paid out over a period of three years on the basis of investment and job-creation progress. The total aggregate amount of grants that may be paid is $10.5 million.
Patron: Landes
Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority; Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity; Office of Small Business Assistance and Certification; small business development programs. Abolishes the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity and transfers its functions and programs to the newly created Office of Small Business Assistance and Certification under the Secretary of Administration and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority. Administration of the Small Business Jobs Grant Fund Program, the Small Business Investment Grant Fund, and the small business loan programs of the Small Business Financing Authority are transferred to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority. Functions related to certification and procurement enhancement for small, women-owned, and minority-owned business and administration of the one-stop small business permitting program are transferred to the Office of Small Business Assistance and Certification.
Patron: Cline
Violation of protective order or stalking; third or subsequent offense; penalty. Expands the offenses for which a conviction of a third or subsequent offense, when the offense is committed within 20 years of the first conviction and when either the instant or one of the prior offenses was based on an act or threat of violence and the instant and prior offenses arise out of separate incidents, is a Class 6 felony with a mandatory minimum term of confinement of six months from violating a protective order to any combination of violating a protective order or stalking.
Patron: Byron
Commonwealth Broadband Chief Advisor. Establishes the position of Commonwealth Broadband Chief Advisor (Chief Advisor) within the Office of the Secretary of Commerce and Trade to serve as Virginia's single point of contact and integration for broadband issues, efforts, and initiatives and to increase the availability and affordability of broadband throughout all regions of the Commonwealth.