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- Subject Index: Since 1995
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2018 SESSION
Chairman: Frank M. Ruff, Jr.
Clerk: Eric Bingham
Staff: Brooks Braun, Amigo Wade
Date of Meeting: January 15, 2018
Time and Place: 45 minutes after Adjournment/Senate Room 3 - Capitol
Patron: Lucas
Virginia Casino Gaming Commission; regulation of casino gaming; penalties. Creates the Virginia Casino Gaming Commission (the Commission) as the licensing body for casino gaming. The bill specifies the licensing requirements for casino gaming and imposes penalties for violations of the casino gaming law. Casino gaming shall be limited to localities that have passed a referendum on the question of allowing casino gaming in the locality. The bill also requires the Commission to establish a voluntary exclusion program allowing persons to voluntarily exclude themselves from the gaming areas of facilities under the jurisdiction of the Commission. In addition, the bill establishes the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund administered by the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to provide counseling and other support services for compulsive and problem gamblers, develop problem gambling treatment and prevention programs, and provide grants to supporting organizations that provide assistance to compulsive gamblers. The bill requires proceeds of the gross receipts tax and admission tax imposed on casino gaming operators to be paid as follows: (i) one percent into the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund, (ii) 10 percent to the locality in which the casino gaming operation is located, and (iii) 89 percent into the Toll Mitigation Fund, which shall be used to mitigate the tolls established to support construction and maintenance of the Dominion Boulevard Bridge and Roadway Improvement Project and the Downtown Tunnel/Midtown Tunnel/Martin Luther King Freeway Extension Project.
Patron: Lucas
Lottery Board; regulation of casino gaming; penalties. Authorizes casino gaming in the Commonwealth to be regulated by the Virginia Lottery Board (the Board). The bill specifies the licensing requirements for casino gaming and imposes penalties for violations of the casino gaming law. Casino gaming shall be limited to localities that have passed a referendum on the question of allowing a casino gaming establishment in the locality. The bill requires the Board to establish and implement a voluntary exclusion program allowing individuals to voluntarily list themselves as being barred from entering a casino gaming establishment or other facility under the jurisdiction of the Board. In addition, the bill establishes the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund administered by the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to provide counseling and other support services for compulsive and problem gamblers, develop problem gambling treatment and prevention programs, and provide grants to supporting organizations that provide assistance to compulsive gamblers. The bill requires proceeds of the gross receipts tax and admission tax imposed on casino gaming operators to be paid as follows: (i) one percent into the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund, (ii) 10 percent to the locality in which the casino gaming operation is located, and (iii) 89 percent into the Toll Mitigation Fund, which shall be used to mitigate the tolls established to support construction and maintenance of the Dominion Boulevard Bridge and Roadway Improvement Project and the Downtown Tunnel/Midtown Tunnel/Martin Luther King Freeway Extension Project.
Patron: Spruill
Mortuary science education; practical experience required. Requires every public institution of higher education that offers a degree in mortuary science to require students to complete practical experience in the areas of funeral service and embalming during the first year of such program. The bill also provides that a person who is duly enrolled in a mortuary education program may assist in embalming while under the supervision of a funeral service licensee or embalmer with an active, unrestricted license issued by the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers, provided that such embalming occurs in a funeral service establishment licensed by the Board and in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Board.
Patron: Edwards
Office of the Children's Ombudsman. Creates the Office of the Children's Ombudsman to provide ombudsman services, including investigation of complaints, advocacy, and information for children, parents, and citizens involved with child-serving agencies, defined in the bill. The bill provides for the Office of the Governor to conduct a needs assessment with the Department of General Services to provide for the office space needs of the Office of the Children's Ombudsman.
Patron: Edwards
Administrative Process Act; hearing officers; timely decisions. Provides that a hearing officer conducting a formal hearing on behalf of an agency shall render a recommendation or conclusion within the time period specified in such agency's written regulations or procedures. If the agency does not have regulations or procedures specifying a time period, the recommendation or conclusion must be rendered by the hearing officer within 90 days. The bill is the recommendation of the Administrative Law Advisory Committee and has been approved by the Virginia Code Commission.
Patron: Stanley
Regulation of the sale and use of consumer fireworks; criminal and civil penalties. Authorizes a person to sell consumer fireworks, defined in the bill, if he possesses a federal permit to sell fireworks, a permit issued by the Virginia Fire Services Board, and a local permit, if and as required by the locality where the sales facility is located. The bill directs the Board to establish requirements and a process for the issuance and renewal of permits for the sale of consumer fireworks. Among other requirements, a permittee is required to carry, with respect to each permitted facility, public liability and product liability insurance with minimum limits of $5 million to cover potential losses, damages, or injuries to persons or property as a result of the sales of consumer fireworks. The bill specifies certain requirements for facilities at which consumer fireworks are permitted to be sold, including prohibitions on an individual under 18 years of age (i) being admitted into any consumer fireworks retail sales facility, defined in the bill, unless accompanied by a parent, guardian, or responsible adult or (ii) working in any consumer fireworks retail sales facility. The bill prohibits a person from, among other acts, (a) selling consumer fireworks within the Commonwealth unless he is a permittee or an employee or agent of a permittee; (b) selling consumer fireworks from a place other than a permanent consumer fireworks retail sales facility; (c) selling consumer or permissible fireworks to an individual who appears to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs; (d) knowingly selling or otherwise furnishing consumer or permissible fireworks to an individual under 18 years of age; (e) purchasing, using, or possessing consumer or permissible fireworks if the individual is under 18 years of age; or (f) selling or storing fireworks that are not consumer fireworks as defined in a standard established by the American Pyrotechnics Association. Certain violations are punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. A person violating restrictions on the hours during which, or places where, consumer or permissible fireworks may be used is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $150 per violation. The bill also creates a seven percent tax on the purchase of all consumer fireworks. The bill provides that revenues from the tax shall be deposited into the Local Consumer Fireworks Fund, created by the bill, and shall be distributed evenly among all of the localities in which consumer fireworks are sold to be used to supplement the salaries paid to deputy sheriffs.
Patron: Peake
Virginia Lottery; interception of lottery prizes. Requires that if the winner of a Virginia Lottery prize of $25,000 or greater has received cash assistance through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program in the immediately preceding five years, the Department of Social Services shall be credited the amount of such assistance from the prize. The Department of Social Services shall use any such credited funds for programs aimed at assisting low-income Virginians in their efforts to become self-sufficient. The bill authorizes the Director of the Virginia Lottery to adopt rules or regulations to implement the provisions of the bill.
Patron: Locke
Virginia Residential Rent-to-Own Real Estate Contracts Act; civil penalties. Creates the Virginia Residential Rent-to-Own Real Estate Contracts Act that establishes contract requirements and prohibitions for installment land contracts and lease-option contracts as defined in the bill. Under the bill, a violation by a person who sells, or proposes to sell, real property under an installment land contract or lease-option contract constitutes a fraudulent act or practice for purposes of applying the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.
Patron: Locke
Landlord and tenant law; notice requirements; landlord's acceptance of rent with reservation. Changes the landlord and tenant law notice requirements for landlords to accept full or partial rent while continuing to proceed with a court action to obtain an order of possession and subsequent eviction by creating a single notice and removing the requirement for second notice for the time period between entry of an order of possession and prior to eviction. The bill provides that the landlord may accept full or partial payment of rent and still receive an order of possession and proceed with eviction if the landlord states in the written notice to the tenant that any payment of rent, damages, money judgment, award of attorney fees, and court costs would be accepted with reservation and not constitute a waiver of the landlord's right to evict the tenant from the dwelling unit. The bill also (i) provides that if a dwelling unit is a public housing unit or other housing unit subject to regulation by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, written notice of acceptance of rent with reservation need not be given to any public agency paying a portion of the rent under the rental agreement and (ii) removes language providing that if the landlord enters into a new rental agreement with the tenant prior to eviction, an order of possession obtained prior to the entry of such new rental agreement is not enforceable.
Patron: Ebbin
Nondiscrimination in public employment. Prohibits discrimination in public employment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, as defined in the bill. The bill also codifies for state and local government employment the current prohibitions on discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, or status as a veteran.
Patron: Stanley
Patient-Centered Medical Home Advisory Council; opioid addiction treatment pilot. Establishes the Patient-Centered Medical Home Advisory Council (Council) as an advisory council in the executive branch. The bill requires the Council to advise and make recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the agencies within his secretariat on health care reforms designed to increase access to and improve outcomes of treatment and recovery services for opioid addiction and opioid-related disorders through the use of a patient-centered medical home system.
The bill also requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, in partnership with community services boards, a hospital licensed in the Commonwealth, and telemedicine networks, to establish a two-year pilot program in Planning District 12 designed to provide comprehensive treatment and recovery services to uninsured or underinsured individuals suffering from opioid addiction or opioid-related disorders. The bill requires the Department and its partners to collaborate with the Patient-Centered Medical Home Advisory Council to develop the pilot program.
Patron: Stanley
Prescription Monitoring Program; veterinarians. Requires veterinarians who dispense controlled substances to report certain information about the animal and the owner of the animal to the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP). The bill requires veterinarians to register with the PMP and, when issuing a prescription to an animal for opiates that will last more than seven days, to request certain information from the Director of the Department of Health Professions regarding both the animal and the owner of the animal.
Patron: Marsden
Virginia Public Procurement Act; local labor use requirement for certain construction contracts; civil penalty. Adds to the Virginia Public Procurement Act (§ 2.2-4300 et seq.) the requirement that every public body, when engaged in procuring contracts for construction with a projected cost in excess of $500,000 paid for in whole by state or local funds, include in its specifications a requirement that at least 75 percent of the employees employed by contractors and subcontractors for the construction project be from the local labor market. The bill defines "local labor market" to mean every locality in Virginia and any county outside of Virginia if any portion of that county is within fifty miles of the border of Virginia. The bill provides that any contractor or subcontractor that cannot meet this requirement and has taken certain necessary steps may obtain a waiver of the requirement from the Virginia Employment Commission. The bill provides for a civil penalty in the amount of $100 per violation for any violation by a contractor or subcontractor of any provision of the measure.
Patron: Dance
Public employment; inquiries by state agencies and localities regarding criminal convictions, charges, and arrests. Prohibits state agencies from including on any employment application a question inquiring whether the prospective employee has ever been arrested or charged with, or convicted of, any crime, subject to certain exceptions. A prospective employee may not be asked if he has ever been convicted of any crime unless the inquiry takes place after the prospective employee has received a conditional offer of employment, which offer may be withdrawn if the prospective employee has a conviction record that directly relates to the duties and responsibilities of the position. A prospective employee may not be asked if he has ever been arrested or charged with a crime unless the inquiry takes place after the prospective employee has received a conditional offer of employment, which offer may be withdrawn if (i) the prospective employee's criminal arrest or charge resulted in the prospective employee's conviction of a crime and (ii) the crime of which he was convicted directly relates to the duties and responsibilities of the position. The prohibition does not apply to applications for employment with law-enforcement agencies or certain positions designated as sensitive or in instances where a state agency is expressly permitted to inquire into an individual's criminal history for employment purposes pursuant to any provision of federal or state law. The bill also authorizes localities to prohibit such inquiries.
Patron: Lewis
Secretary of Coastal Protection and Flooding Adaptation. Creates the executive branch position of Secretary of Coastal Protection and Flooding Adaptation (the Secretary). The Secretary shall be responsible for consolidating into a single office the resources for protection against coastal flooding threats and flooding adaptation. The Secretary also shall be the lead in developing and in providing direction and ensuring accountability for a statewide coastal flooding adaptation strategy. The bill requires the Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of Natural Resources, to identify sources of funding for implementation of strategies for coastal protection and flooding adaptation.
Patron: Barker
Administrative Process Act; exemption for certain regulations of the Board of Accountancy. Exempts from the public participation provisions of the Administrative Process Act regulations of the Board of Accountancy that are limited to reducing fees charged to regulants and applicants.
Patron: Edwards
Administrative Process Act; exemption for certain regulations of the Department of Veterans Services. Provides an exemption from the Administrative Process Act for the Department of Veterans Services when promulgating rules and regulations pertaining to the real property tax exemption for surviving spouses of members of the armed forces killed in action.
Patron: Ruff
Department of General Services; disposition of surplus materials. Permits employees departing state employment to purchase at fair market value mobile technology devices that an employer issued to the employee during the course of state employment. The bill requires the Virginia Information Technologies Agency to provide guidance to the Department of General Services in the development of policies, standards, and guidelines for the sale of mobile technology devices to departing state employees, including (i) the expungement of confidential data prior to the sale and (ii) the preservation of the departing employee's personal information.
Patron: Ruff
Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity; implementation of certification programs for small businesses; definition of small business; report. Changes the definition of small business, beginning July 1, 2019, to meet the small business size standards established by the regulations of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The bill provides that any business entity that the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity (the Department) has certified as a small business prior to July 1, 2019, shall have such certification extended for a three-year period. The bill also provides that the Director of the Department adopt regulations that will, beginning July 1, 2019, establish a three-year certification period for small businesses to be based on the dominant business activity of each small business entity. The bill (i) includes a definition of "dominant business activity"; (ii) provides for the Department to enter into a memorandum of understanding with appropriate agencies establishing provisions for the sharing of information consistent with the requirements of state and federal law; (iii) authorizes the Director to terminate a contract with any independent certifying entities to assist in the certification of small, women-owned, and minority-owned businesses based on performance or a written determination by the Director that continuing the contract is not practicable, and (iv) requires the Secretary of Commerce and Trade to evaluate the effect of the implementation of the new definition at three-year intervals, reporting to the Governor and General Assembly by December 1, 2022, and December 1, 2025.
Patron: Ruff
General contractors; waiver or diminishment of lien rights; subordination of lien rights. Provides that a general contractor may not waive or diminish his lien rights in a contract in advance of furnishing any labor, services, or materials. The bill further provides that, notwithstanding the prohibition against waiving or diminishing such a lien right, a general contractor may, prior to or after providing any labor, services, or materials, contract to subordinate his lien rights to prior and later recorded deeds of trust, provided that such contract is (i) in writing and (ii) signed by any general contractor whose lien rights are being subordinated pursuant to such contract.
Patron: Dunnavant
Common Interest Community Board; disclosure packets; registration of associations. Requires the Common Interest Community Board to include information regarding the meaning of developer control in its current one-page form that accompanies association disclosure packets that are required to be provided to all prospective purchasers of lots located within a development that is subject to the Virginia Property Owners' Association Act. The bill also requires the developer to file an annual report for the association of the development with the Common Interest Community Board within 30 days after the recordation of the declaration.
Patron: Peake
Statewide cancer registry; information on firefighters. Requires that the information physicians report on a patient diagnosed with cancer to the statewide cancer registry include information, with the patient's consent, regarding the patient's work history as a firefighter, if any, including (i) his status as a volunteer, paid on-call, or career firefighter; (ii) the number of years on the job; and (iii) a measure or estimate of the number and type of fire incidents attended. The bill also provides that one purpose of the statewide cancer registry is to collect data to evaluate potential links between exposure to fire incidents and cancer incidence.
Patron: DeSteph
Virginia Public Procurement Act; SWaM program; participation of service disabled veteran-owned businesses. Provides that contracts and subcontracts awarded to service disabled veteran-owned businesses shall be credited toward the small business, women-owned, and minority-owned business contracting and subcontracting goals of state agencies and state contractors.
Patron: Barker
Housing; installation and maintenance of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Creates a statewide standard for the installation and maintenance of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in rental property. The bill requires a landlord to (i) install a smoke alarm without retrofitting the installation site and (ii) certify annually that smoke alarms have been installed and maintained in good working order in a residential dwelling unit pursuant to the Statewide Fire Prevention Code (§ 27-94 et seq.) and the Uniform Statewide Building Code (§ 36-97 et seq.). The landlord is also required to install a carbon monoxide alarm upon request by a tenant; the installation and subsequent maintenance must be in compliance with the Statewide Fire Prevention Code and the Uniform Statewide Building Code. A tenant of a rental dwelling unit with a smoke alarm or both smoke and carbon monoxide alarms shall not tamper or remove such alarms. Under the bill, a reasonable accommodation must be made for persons who are deaf or hearing impaired, upon request. Localities that have enacted a fire and carbon monoxide alarm ordinance must conform such ordinances with these state standards by July 1, 2019. The bill also requires the Department of Housing and Community Development, in consultation with the Department of Fire Programs, to develop a form for landlords for use in certifying inspections that summarizes smoke alarm maintenance requirements for landlords and tenants. The bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Housing Commission.
Patron: Wexton
Equal pay irrespective of sex. Amends the existing law requiring equal pay for equal work irrespective of sex to (i) prohibit unequal provision of benefits and privileges on the basis of sex; (ii) prohibit employers from punishing employees for sharing salary information with their coworkers; and (iii) authorize a court to award reasonable attorney fees and costs to an employee who substantially prevails on the merits in an action for wrongful withholding of wages or benefits and privileges. The measure also deletes the exemption for employers covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act from the Commonwealth's prohibition on discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex.
Patron: Wexton
Virginia Fair Housing Law; unlawful discriminatory housing practices; sexual orientation and gender identity. Adds discrimination on the basis of an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity as an unlawful housing practice. The bill defines sexual orientation and gender identity.
Patron: Barker
Public accountants; issuance, renewal, and reinstatement of licenses. Changes from every 12 months to a time period set by the Board of Accountancy the renewal requirement for licenses granted to provide the license holder the privilege of using the CPA title. The bill contains an emergency clause.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Stanley
Local regulation of solar facilities. Provides that a property owner may install a solar facility on the roof of a dwelling or other building to serve the electricity or thermal needs of that dwelling or building, provided that such installation is in compliance with any height and setback requirements in the zoning district where such property is located as well as any provisions pertaining to any local historic district. Unless a local ordinance provides otherwise, a ground-mounted solar energy generation facility shall also be permitted, provided that such installation is in compliance with any height and setback requirements in the zoning district where such property is located as well as any provision pertaining to any local historic district. Any other proposed solar facility, including any solar facility that is designed to serve, or serves, the electricity or thermal needs of any property other than the property where such facilities are located, shall be subject to any applicable zoning regulations of the locality.
Patron: Cosgrove
Virginia Real Estate Time-Share Act; Common Interest Community Board; developer may obtain surety bond or letter of credit. Provides that in lieu of escrowing deposits made in connection with the purchase or reservation of a time-share product a developer may obtain a corporate surety bond or letter of credit with the Common Interest Community Board where the time-share project consists of more than 25 units. Currently, the developer is required to escrow the individual deposits for every purchase and file with the Board a bond or letter of credit or cash for the purpose of protecting all deposits.
Patron: Wexton
Advisory Board on Philanthropy and Social Innovation. Establishes the Advisory Board on Philanthropy and Social Innovation as an advisory board in the executive branch of state government for the purpose of advising the Governor and Cabinet Secretaries on matters related to the promotion and development of funding partnerships between the Commonwealth and philanthropic foundations. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2021.
Patron: Reeves
Virginia Public Building Authority; Military Mission Improvement and Expansion projects. Authorizes the Virginia Public Building Authority to finance or assist in the financing of certain activities connected with Military Mission Improvement and Expansion projects (MMIE projects), defined by the bill as a project or projects recommended by the Commission on Military Installations and Defense Activities and approved by the Governor that are designed to improve, expand, develop, or redevelop a federal or state military installation in order to enhance such installation's military value.