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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
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Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2019 SESSION
Co-Chair: Thomas K. Norment, Jr. - Co-Chair: Emmett W. Hanger, Jr.
Clerk: John Garrett
Staff: Lisa Wallmeyer
Date of Meeting: February 18, 2019
Time and Place: Upon Adjournment of Commerce & Labor Committee Senate Room A
Add HB 2005 & HB 2280, HB 1735 HB 2028 HB 2168 & HJr 610
Patron: Carr
Virginia Public Procurement Act; high-risk contracts; report. Requires the Department of General Services (DGS), the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA), and the Office of the Attorney General, as appropriate, to review contract solicitations and contracts for any public contract with a state public body for goods, services, insurance, or construction that meets the definition of high-risk contract provided in the bill. The bill directs DGS and VITA to develop guidelines for state agencies to use when assigning staff to administer high-risk contracts and requires that such guidelines (i) provide that any staff designated as a contract administrator must have prior contract administration experience and (ii) direct an agency's chief procurement officer to communicate to such contract administrator, when he first assumes his role, his responsibilities for effectively administering the contract. Some provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date for implementation for certain high-risk contract review processes.
Patron: Robinson
Commission on Student Behavioral Health created. Establishes the Commission on Student Behavioral Health as a legislative branch commission. The purpose of the Commission shall be to (i) assess the efficacy of developing and implementing a statewide behavioral health and suicide prevention hotline that students may use to report threats of violence or receive real-time counseling services; (ii) review the current school counselor-to-student ratio, and whether the realignment of counseling responsibilities proposed by the House Select Committee on School Safety is improving schools' ability to provide counseling services to students; (iii) review the current roles and responsibilities of school nurses, psychologists, and social workers in schools and determine whether a realignment of responsibilities could improve or streamline behavioral health services offered to students; (iv) evaluate the efficacy and costs of providing enhanced behavioral health services in schools delivered through partnerships established between school divisions and local departments of social services and community services boards; (v) assess the effectiveness of de-escalation and other alternative disciplinary policies when interacting with students suffering from behavioral health challenges; (vi) examine the value of additional teacher training requirements on student behavioral health, such as mental health first aid; and (vii) examine other topics related to student behavioral health identified by the Commission. The Commission shall consist of 12 members as follows: seven members of the House of Delegates, of whom two shall be members of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, two shall be members of the House Committee on Education, two shall be members of the House Committee on Appropriations, and one shall be a member at-large, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates; and five members of the Senate, of whom two shall be members of the Senate Committee on Education and Health, two shall be members of the Senate Committee on Finance, and one shall be a member at-large, to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules. The Commission may appoint, employ, and remove an executive director and such other persons as it deems necessary and determine their duties and fix their salaries or compensation within the amounts appropriated therefor. The Commission may also employ experts who have special knowledge of the issues before it. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Commission, upon request. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2021.
Patron: Marshall
Virginia Regional Industrial Facilities Act; revenue sharing; composite index. Requires the Department of Taxation's calculation of true values as applied to the Commonwealth's composite index of local ability-to-pay to take into account an arrangement by localities entered into pursuant to the Virginia Regional Industrial Facilities Act whereby a portion of tax revenue is initially paid to one locality and redistributed to another locality. The bill requires such calculation to properly apportion the percentage of tax revenue ultimately received by each locality. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021.
Patron: Peace
Duties of drivers of vehicles approaching stationary vehicles displaying certain warning lights; penalty. Makes a driver's failure to move into a nonadjacent lane on a highway with at least four lanes when approaching a stationary vehicle displaying flashing, blinking, or alternating blue, red, or amber lights, or, if changing lanes would be unreasonable or unsafe, to proceed with due caution and maintain a safe speed, reckless driving, which is punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. Under current law, a first such offense is a traffic infraction punishable by a fine of not more than $250, and a second such offense is punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Patron: Bell, Robert B.
Maiming, etc., of another; driving while intoxicated; operating watercraft while intoxicated; penalties. Increases from a Class 6 felony to a Class 4 felony the punishment for a person who, as a result of driving while intoxicated or operating a watercraft or motorboat while intoxicated in a manner so gross, wanton, and culpable as to show reckless disregard for human life, unintentionally causes the serious bodily injury of another person resulting in permanent and significant physical impairment. Creates a Class 6 felony for such driving or operation that unintentionally causes the serious bodily injury of another person.
Patron: Robinson
Virginia College Savings Plan. Makes several changes to the provisions that establish the Virginia College Savings Plan (the Plan), including (i) permitting the Plan to maintain an independent disbursement system for the disbursement of prepaid tuition contract benefits and (ii) requiring each prepaid tuition contract entered into on or after July 1, 2019, to include provisions for the application of tuition prepayments, at a rate equal to the percentage of enrollment-weighted average tuition at public institutions of higher education to be determined by the board, at (a) public institutions of higher education, (b) accredited nonprofit independent or private institutions of higher education, and (c) non-Virginia public and accredited nonprofit independent or private institutions of higher education, provided that no such payment is less than the sum of tuition prepayments made, less any fees as determined by the board.
Patron: Aird
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); eligibility. Makes eligible for TANF any person who is between the ages of 18 and 19 years old and a full-time student in a secondary school or in the equivalent level of career and technical education. Under current law, such persons are eligible for TANF if regularly attending, and expected to graduate from prior to turning 19 years of age, a secondary school or the equivalent level of career and technical education.
Patron: James
Virginia Community College System; certain registered apprenticeships; uniform instruction. Requires the Virginia Community College System, in consultation with the Department of Labor and Industry, to develop and deliver uniform, related instruction for registered apprenticeships in high-demand programs, as determined by the Virginia Board of Workforce Development and the Virginia Employment Commission, and for which coursework is not otherwise available. The bill requires such instruction to be available statewide and to be delivered in a face-to-face, online, or blended format.
Patron: Campbell, R.R.
Legislation increasing or beginning regulation of an occupation; evaluation required. Provides that when any legislative bill requiring the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation to increase or begin regulation of an occupation is filed during any session of the General Assembly, the Board for Professional and Occupational Regulation shall prepare an evaluation of the legislation using criteria outlined in current law that the Board is required to use whenever the Board determines that a particular occupation should be regulated or that a different degree of regulation should be imposed on a currently regulated occupation.
Patron: McQuinn
School boards; staffing ratios; guidance counselors. Changes the name of guidance counselors to school counselors and requires school boards to employ school counselors in accordance with the following ratios: in elementary schools, one hour per day per 75 students, one full-time at 375 students, one hour per day additional time per 75 students or major fraction thereof; in middle schools, one period per 65 students, one full-time at 325 students, one additional period per 65 students or major fraction thereof; and in high schools, one period per 60 students, one full-time at 300 students, one additional period per 60 students or major fraction thereof. Such ratios would be effective with the 2019-2020 school year.
Patron: Carr
Department of Human Resource Management; review of employee recruitment, retention, and compensation; report. Requires the Director of the Department of Human Resource Management to perform an annual review of recruitment and retention trends and certain statuses related to classified job roles across state agencies. The bill also provides for the Director to biennially, on or before September 1 of each odd-numbered year, submit a report to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance on (i) the classified job roles that should receive higher salary increases based on identified recruitment and retention challenges, (ii) the appropriate amount by which the salary of such classified job roles should be increased, and (iii) cost estimates for funding any salary increases.
Patron: Watts
Prostitution-related crimes; minors; penalties. Increases from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony 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 list of offenses for which registration in the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry is required, (b) the definition of violent felony for the purposes of the sentencing guidelines, (c) the list of predicate criminal acts that constitutes the definition of 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, which the bill also changes to include any person under 18 years of age, and (2) placing or leaving one's wife in a bawdy place. The bill contains technical amendments.
Patron: Murphy
Public institutions of higher education; veterans; withdrawal; tuition refund. Requires each public institution of higher education to provide a refund of the tuition and mandatory fees paid by any veteran student for any course from which he is forced to withdraw, for the first time, due to a service-connected medical condition during a semester, as certified in writing to the institution by a physician licensed to practice medicine who treated the veteran student for such medical condition.
Patron: Carroll Foy
School boards; public institutions of higher education; College and Career Access Pathways Partnerships. Permits each local school board to enter into College and Career Access Pathways Partnerships (Partnerships), currently referred to as agreements, with comprehensive community colleges or other public institutions of higher education or educational institutions that offer a career and technical education curriculum. The bill requires any such Partnership to (i) specify the options for students to take courses as part of the career and technical education curriculum that lead to course credit or an industry-recognized credential, certification, or license concurrent with a high school diploma, (ii) specify the credit, credentials, certifications, or licenses available for such courses, and (iii) specify available options for students to participate in pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs at comprehensive community colleges concurrent with the pursuit of a high school diploma and receive college credit and high school credit for successful completion of any such program. Current law allows local school boards to enter into agreements with such institutions but does not specify course credit as being part of the agreements.
Patron: Rush
Department of Criminal Justice Services; definition of law-enforcement officer; security division of the Virginia Lottery. Removes from the definition of law-enforcement officer, as it applies to an investigator who is a sworn member of the security division of the Virginia Lottery, the requirement that such investigator be a full-time member of the division.
Patron: Yancey
Establishment of the Commission on School Innovation, Modernization, and Competitiveness. Establishes the legislative Commission on School Innovation, Modernization, and Competitiveness (the Commission), consisting of 22 members, including 12 legislative members, eight nonlegislative citizen members, and two ex officio members, to develop and oversee the implementation of a goal and strategic plan for (i) promoting and increasing public high school student participation in dual enrollment courses, industry certifications, and state licensure examinations, (ii) modernizing public elementary and secondary school buildings throughout the Commonwealth, (iii) achieving the Commonwealth's teacher compensation goal and (iv) ensuring high quality at the student and school division levels. The Commission sunsets on July 1, 2022.
Patron: Head
Child day programs; exemptions from licensure. Adds to the list of programs that are not considered child day programs and are not subject to licensure (i) programs of recreational activities offered by a local government, staffed by local government employees, and attended by school-age children and (ii) programs offered by a local school division, operated for no more than four hours per day, staffed by local school division employees, and attended by children who are at least four years of age and are enrolled in public school or a preschool program within such school division. Under law that takes effect July 1, 2019, such programs are considered child day programs that are exempt from licensure and subject to certain health and safety requirements administered by the Department of Social Services. Under the provisions of the bill, however, such child day programs shall remain subject to safety and supervisory standards established by the local government or school division offering the program.
Patron: Landes
Public institutions of higher education; executive officers; salaries. Provides that no salary of any executive officer of a public institution of higher education hired on or after July 1, 2019 shall exceed the midpoint of the Level I Range for agency heads set forth in Part 4 of the general appropriation act, provided, however, that (i) the governing board of any institution located in Planning District 8 may adjust the salary of any such executive officer by no more than 19 percent of such midpoint and (ii) the governing board of any institution may supplement the salary of any such executive officer with private gifts, endowment funds, foundation funds, and income from private gifts and endowments.
Patron: Miyares
Public institutions of higher education; tuition and fees; foster care youth. Requires each associate degree-granting public institution of higher education (i.e., Richard Bland College and each comprehensive community college) and each baccalaureate public institution of higher education to provide a grant for the payment of tuition and certain fees for any Virginia student who (i) (a) has received a high school diploma or has passed a high school equivalency examination approved by the Board of Education and was in foster care or in the custody of the Department of Social Services or is considered a special needs adoption at the time such diploma or certificate was awarded or (b) was in foster care when he turned 18 and subsequently received a high school diploma or passed a high school equivalency examination approved by the Board of Education and (ii) meets certain other criteria. Under current law, such grants are limited to tuition and fees for Virginia students who are enrolled at comprehensive community colleges.
Patron: Adams, L.R.
Timber sales; theft; accounting; penalty. Provides that a person who buys and removes timber from a landowner's property is guilty of larceny if he fails to pay the landowner by the date specified in their agreement or, if there is no written agreement, within 60 days of removing the timber. The bill provides that a person who is convicted of larceny of timber shall be ordered to pay three times the value of the timber removed. The bill also provides that, following the passing of the payment deadline, a buyer's failure to pay within 10 days of receiving a demand for payment shall constitute prima facie evidence of the buyer's intent to violate the larceny provision. An exception exists for a purchaser who made payment to a person he believed in good faith to be the rightful owner of the timber.
The bill requires a timber buyer, in certain cases, to furnish at the request of the landowner an accounting of each load removed from the property, with all supporting documentation. A person who fails to provide such information, or who provides false information, is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.
The bill extends from 30 days to 90 days the period during which the owner of land on which a person encroached and cut timber has the right to notify such trespasser and to appoint a timber estimator to determine the amount of damages and directs the State Forester to assist landowners and law-enforcement agencies with regard to reported cases of timber theft.
Patron: Gilbert
Prostitution and human trafficking related crimes; minors; penalty. Increases from a Class 3 felony to a Class 2 felony and imposes a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 25 years for the following crimes if minors under 15 years of age are involved: (i) pandering; (ii) receiving money for procuring a person for the purpose of prostitution, forced labor, or child pornography; (iii) receiving money from the earnings of a person engaged in prostitution; and (iv) commercial sex trafficking.
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: Thomas
Mass transit providers; loss of certain operating funds. Provides that any mass transit provider that receives funds from the Commonwealth Mass Transit Fund and that incurs a loss in operating funds as a direct result of the performance-based allocation process set forth in Chapter 854 of the Acts of Assembly of 2018 shall be eligible for supplemental funds. The total amount of supplemental funds available shall not exceed $3 million.
Patron: Bell, Robert B.
Prostitution and sex trafficking; offenses involving a minor; penalties. Provides that any person who commits an act of aiding prostitution or illicit sexual intercourse or using a vehicle to promote prostitution or unlawful sexual intercourse, when such act involves a minor, is guilty of a Class 6 felony. Under current law, such acts are punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill adds the two new felony offenses to (i) the definition of "violent felony" for the purposes of sentencing guidelines, (ii) the definition of barrier crimes for the purposes of background checks for employees or volunteers providing care to children or the elderly or disabled, (iii) the definition of predicate criminal acts for street gangs, (iv) the definition of racketeering activity under the Virginia Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organization Act, (v) the list of violations that a multi-jurisdiction grand jury is responsible for investigating, and (vi) the list of offenses requiring registration in the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry. The bill also adds felony prostitution and felony human trafficking offenses to the definition of "violent felony" for the purposes of sentencing guidelines. The bill also provides that each violation of commercial sex trafficking is a separate and distinct felony. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia State Crime Commission.
Patron: Jones, J.C.
School resource officers; compulsory minimum training standards. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish compulsory minimum training standards for certification and recertification of law-enforcement officers serving as school resource officers that are specific to the role and responsibility of a law-enforcement officer working with students in a school environment. The bill requires every full-time or part-time law-enforcement officer employed as a school resource officer after July 1, 2020, to comply with such compulsory minimum training standards within a period of time fixed by the Criminal Justice Services Board.
Patron: Levine
Cruelty to animals with intent to intimidate or threaten a household member; penalty. Makes any violation relating to cruelty to an animal a Class 6 felony when such violation is carried out with the intent to coerce, intimidate, or harass a family or household member.
Patron: Cox
Public institutions of higher education; institutional partnership performance agreements. Permits any public institution of higher education to propose in conjunction with the six-year plan process, and the General Assembly to adopt by reference in the general appropriation act, an institutional partnership performance agreement that advances the objectives of the Virginia Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2011 by aligning the strategies, activities, and investments of the institution, the Commonwealth, and any identified partners concerning (i) college access, affordability, cost predictability, and employment pathways for undergraduate Virginia students and (ii) strategic talent development and other high-priority economic initiatives of the Commonwealth. The bill contains provisions relating to mandatory and permissive contents of, the approval process for, and the legal effect of any such agreement.
Patron: Landes
High school graduation requirements; capstone project. Directs the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to require students, beginning with first-time ninth grade students in the 2022-2023 school year, to complete a senior capstone project, portfolio, performance-based assessment, or structured experiment that relates to a work-based learning, service-learning, or community engagement activity and aligns with and further develops the knowledge and skills attained through such work-based learning, service-learning, or community engagement activity.
Patron: Orrock
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and Virginia State University; joint plan for new degree program. Requires Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and Virginia State University to jointly develop and report to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the House Committee on Education, and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than the first day of the 2020 regular session of the General Assembly a plan for the establishment of a baccalaureate or other degree program that prepares graduates to be effective career and technical education teachers in order to address persistent teacher shortages in career and technical education subject areas in the Commonwealth.
Patron: Sickles
Redistricting; Geographic Information System maps required; review by the Department of Elections. Requires the clerk of the county, city, or town to send a Geographic Information System (GIS) map, along with the ordinance containing a description of the boundaries, to the local electoral board, the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the Department of Elections, and the Division of Legislative Services when redistricting local election districts or making any changes to the local election districts or precincts. If a county, city, or town does not have GIS capabilities, the locality may request the Department of Elections to create a GIS map on its behalf and the Department of Elections shall create such a map. The bill requires the Department to review any ordinance and GIS map received and compare the boundaries contained within with the information in the voter registration system to ensure voters have been assigned to the correct districts and to notify localities of any corrections that may be necessary. The Department is further required to maintain and make available on its official website maps showing the current election district and precinct boundaries of each county and city.
Patron: Bell, Robert B.
Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund; amount of award. Removes the current $600 limit placed on the amount that may be awarded to a crime victim for total loss of earnings resulting from incapacity. The bill also increases from $5,000 to $10,000 the maximum amount a claimant may be awarded from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund for expenses directly related to funeral or burial costs and increases from $25,000 to $35,000 the maximum aggregate award received by a claimant as a result of an injury or death.
Patron: Rush
Absentee voting; no-excuse in-person available beginning on second Saturday immediately preceding election. Allows for any registered voter to vote by absentee ballot in person beginning on the second Saturday immediately preceding any election in which he is qualified to vote without providing a reason or making prior application for an absentee ballot. The bill makes absentee voting in person available beginning on the forty-fifth day prior to the election and ending at 5:00 p.m. on the Saturday immediately preceding the election. The bill retains the current provisions for voting an absentee ballot by mail or in person prior to the second Saturday immediately preceding the election, including the application requirement and the list of statutory reasons for absentee voting.
Patron: Knight
Study; Secretary of Natural Resources; the effects of wind tide flooding in the Southern Watershed; report. Requests the Secretary of Natural Resources to study the effects of wind tide flooding in the Southern Watershed. In conducting the study, the Secretary shall (i) coordinate with and provide resources to the City of Virginia Beach to assess the impacts of wind tide flooding in the Southern Watershed, (ii) research the viability of a range of solutions aimed at addressing the root causes and effects of wind tide flooding in the Southern Watershed, (iii) identify the time frames and economic costs of various solutions, and (iv) make recommendations for state action based on all relevant factors.