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2021 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections

Chair: R. Creigh Deeds

Clerk: John Garrett
Staff: Brooks Braun
Date of Meeting: February 2, 2021
Time and Place: CANCELLED See Feb 4 Docket

S.B. 1109

Patron: Stanley

Voter referendum; issuance of state general obligation bonds for school facility modernization. Provides for a statewide referendum on the question of whether the General Assembly shall issue state general obligation bonds in the amount of $3 billion for the purpose of K-12 school building construction, repair, or other capital projects related to the modernization of school facilities. The results would be advisory only and are intended only to demonstrate the preference of the citizens of the Commonwealth on the issuance of such bonds. The bill provides that the referendum be held at the November 2021 general election.

S.B. 1153

Patron: Suetterlein

Elections; absentee voting; ballots to be sorted and results to be reported by precinct. Provides that absentee ballots processed at a central absentee precinct must be sorted by the precinct to which the voter who cast the absentee ballot is assigned and that the resulting vote totals from such ballots must be reported separately for each voter precinct.

S.B. 1377

Patron: Suetterlein

Campaign finance; special report for large pre-legislative session contributions; contributions in aggregate. Requires a special report for certain pre-legislative session contributions from a single person in excess of $1,000 or with an aggregate value in excess of $1,000. Currently, such special reports are required only for individual contributions in excess of $1,000.

S.B. 1444

Patron: Saslaw

Filing of campaign finance reports.

S.J.R. 270

Patron: Ebbin

Constitutional amendment (first reference); marriage. Proposes the repeal of the constitutional amendment dealing with marriage that was approved by referendum at the November 2006 election. That amendment to the Bill of Rights (i) defines marriage as "only a union between one man and one woman"; (ii) prohibits the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions from creating or recognizing "a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage"; and (iii) prohibits the Commonwealth or its political subdivisions from creating or recognizing "another union, partnership, or other legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage." The provisions of this section of the Constitution of Virginia are no longer valid as a result of the United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___ (June 26, 2015).

S.J.R. 271

Patron: Ebbin

Constitutional amendment (first reference); Governor's term of office. Permits a Governor elected in 2025 and thereafter to succeed himself in office. The amendment allows two four-year terms (either in succession or not in succession) but prohibits election to a third term. Service for more than two years of a partial term counts as service for one term.

S.J.R. 272

Patron: Locke

Constitutional amendment (first reference); qualifications of voters and the right to vote. Establishes that the sole qualifications to vote in the Commonwealth are being a United States citizen, at least 18 years of age, a resident of the Commonwealth, and registered to vote in accordance with the requirements set out in the Constitution of Virginia. The amendment further provides that any person who meets those qualifications has the right to vote and that such right cannot be abridged by law. The bill lifts restrictions on qualifications to vote for those who have been convicted of a felony or adjudicated to be mentally incompetent.

S.J.R. 274

Patron: Reeves

Constitutional amendment (first reference); immunity of legislators. Limits the immunity of legislators by allowing the arrest of a member of the General Assembly during the sessions of the respective houses upon issuance of process for arrest by a judge with authorization of the attorney for the Commonwealth or the law-enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the offense.

S.J.R. 275

Patron: Stanley

Constitutional amendment (first reference); public schools in the Commonwealth; equal educational opportunities. Requires the General Assembly to provide for a system of public schools in the Commonwealth with equal educational opportunities for all children and to ensure that all school-age children are provided with equal educational opportunities.

S.J.R. 289

Patron: Mason

Constitutional amendment (first reference); local government; sale of property; authority to grant perpetual easements to units of government. Allows easements on public property to be granted in perpetuity to a public body, political subdivision, or authority of the Commonwealth or to the United States of America or any of its departments or agencies. The requirement to advertise and publicly receive bids does not apply to easements conveyed to any such governmental entity.

S.J.R. 290

Patron: McPike

Constitutional amendment (first reference); legislative compensation; Legislative Compensation Commission. Establishes the Legislative Compensation Commission, charged with determining the salaries, allowances, and retirement benefits of the members of the General Assembly. Members would receive no compensation from the Commonwealth other than the compensation determined by the Commission. The Commission is established by appointment of the General Assembly every four years beginning July 1, 2026.

S.J.R. 310

Patron: Saslaw

Constitutional amendment (first reference); legislative sessions; length of regular sessions convened in odd-numbered years. Provides that a regular session of the General Assembly convened in odd-numbered years shall be for no longer than 46 days. Currently, sessions convened in such years are to last for no longer than 30 days. The authority of the General Assembly, with the concurrence of two-thirds of the elected members, to extend regular sessions for a period of no more than 30 days is unchanged.

S.J.R. 322

Patron: DeSteph

Study; Secretary of Administration; State Board of Elections; electronic return of voted military-overseas ballots; pilot program; report. Requests the Secretary of Administration to oversee and develop a charter and directives for the State Board of Elections to form a working group to study implementation of electronic return of voted military-overseas ballots. In conducting its study, the State Board of Elections with the working group shall study and develop initial instructions and procedures that (i) consider issues related to accessibility, auditability, authentication, verification, and security through encryption, in order to ensure that any process implemented would guarantee the accuracy and integrity of voted military-overseas ballots, and (ii) recommend (a) security measures necessary to reasonably secure the transmission, processing, and storage of voter data from interception and unauthorized access; (b) methods for verifying and authenticating the identity of the voter electronically when registering to vote and when requesting a ballot from and returning a ballot to the voter's jurisdiction; (c) methods for the encryption of voted ballots; and (d) a procedure for security reviews after an election. The study shall focus on implementation of electronic return of voted military-overseas ballots first as a limited pilot program in 2022, and later on a statewide basis.