Selling, giving, or distributing fentanyl; penalties.Provides that any person who sells, gives, or distributes a substancehe knows or should know contains two milligrams or more of any mixtureor substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl, includingits isomers, esters, ethers, salts, and salts of isomers, to anotherperson without such person's knowledge that the substance sold, given,or distributed contains fentanyl is guilty of attempted murder ofthe second degree. The bill also provides that if such sale, gift,or distribution results in the death of the other person from hisuse of the substance containing fentanyl, then the person who sold,gave, or distributed the substance is guilty of murder of the seconddegree. The bill also makes it a felony punishable by not less thanfive nor more than 40 years, three years of which are a mandatoryminimum, and a fine not to exceed $1 million for a person to transportinto the Commonwealth by any means with intent to sell or distribute 100 milligrams or more of fentanyl.
Line of Duty Act; campus police officers; privatepolice officers. Provides employees of contributing nonprofitprivate institutions of higher education, defined in the bill, andcontributing private police departments, defined in the bill andincluding airport police officers employed by the Lynchburg RegionalAirport Police Department, with the benefits granted to employees of participating employers under the Line of Duty Act. The bill clarifiesthat the Line of Duty Act shall not apply to any private institutionof higher education or private police department that is not a contributingnonprofit private institution of higher education or contributingprivate police department, respectively.
Minimum wage and overtime wages; civil actions. Provides that an employer that violates minimum wage or overtimeprovisions is liable to the employee for the applicable remedies,damages, or other relief available in an action brought pursuantto the civil action provisions currently available for the nonpaymentof wages. Such provisions currently available provide that an employeemay bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction to recover payment of the wages, and the court is required to award the wagesowed, an additional equal amount as liquidated damages, plus prejudgmentinterest thereon, and reasonable attorney fees and costs. If thecourt finds that the employer knowingly failed to pay wages to anemployee, the court is required award the employee an amount equalto triple the amount of wages due and reasonable attorney fees andcosts. Such actions are required to be commenced within three yearsafter the cause of action accrued.
School-connected overdoses; policies relatingto parental notification and response; requirements. Requireseach division superintendent or his designee to notify the parentof each student in the local school division of any school-connectedoverdose, defined as any verified overdose that occurs on schoolpremises during or after regular school hours or during school-sanctionedactivities whether on or off school premises, within 24 hours oflearning of the overdose and to include in such notification as muchinformation as is known about the circumstances surrounding the overdose. The bill requires the Board of Education to establish guidelinesfor school-connected overdose response and parental notificationpolicies, including (a) a model action plan for each school boardto follow in responding to the overdose, including communicatingand coordinating with the Department of Education and the local law-enforcementliaison or local law-enforcement agency that employs the school resourceofficers for such school division, and (b) criteria for issuing theparental notification to ensure sensitivity to the privacy interestsof any affected individuals.
Income tax; interest; employer retention credit. Provides authority to the Tax Commissioner to waive interest on taxpayersthat received a federal employer retention tax credit. Such waivershall only be permissible if the taxpayer was eligible for and received the federal tax credit, filed an amended return, and was found tohave an additional tax liability due to the reduction in deductiblewages that resulted from claiming the credit.
Limitation on sentence upon revocation of suspensionof sentence; technical violations; penalty. Provides that a courtmay impose not more than 30 days of active incarceration upon a firsttechnical violation of the terms and conditions of a suspended sentenceor probation and may impose not more than 90 days of active incarcerationfor a second technical violation. Under current law, the court isprohibited from imposing active incarceration for a first technicalviolation and there is a presumption against imposing a sentenceof a term of active incarceration; however, if the court finds, bya preponderance of the evidence, that the defendant committed theviolation and he cannot be safely diverted from active incarceration through less restrictive means, the court may impose not more than14 days of active incarceration.
Department of Transportation; design-buildengineer regulations. Directs the Department of Transportationto promulgate regulations clarifying that design-build contractorsare not required to employ a professional engineer on staff in orderto qualify to submit a proposal for or be awarded a transportationproject.
Civil penalties for violations of zoning ordinance; short-term rentals. Allows any locality to adopt a uniform scheduleof civil penalties for the violation of provisions of the zoningordinance related to short-term rentals. The schedule of civil penaltiesshall not exceed (i) $500 for the initial violation, (ii) $1,000 for the second violation, or (iii) $1,500 for the third or subsequentviolation, with each day during which the violation is found to haveexisted constituting a separate offense. The bill provides that designationof a particular zoning ordinance violation for a civil penalty shallbe in lieu of criminal sanctions, and except for any violation resultingin injury to persons, such designation shall preclude the prosecutionof a violation as a criminal misdemeanor, unless such civil penaltiestotal $5,000 or more.
Magistrates; appointment and supervision.
Provider contracts; pharmacies; refusal to fillcertain prescriptions. Requires a provider contract between ahealth carrier or its pharmacy benefits manager and a pharmacy orits contracting agent to contain a specific provision allowing thepharmacy to refuse to fill a prescription for a drug that is reimbursedbelow the actual cost of the medication.
Study; JLARC; solar development; agriculture,forestry, and environment; report. Directs the Joint LegislativeAudit and Review Commission to study the impact of utility-scale solar development in the Commonwealth on agriculture, forestry, andthe environment.
Special justice fees; emergency custody andvoluntary and involuntary civil admissions. Increases the fee that a special justice receives for presiding over emergency custodyand voluntary and involuntary civil admissions hearings from $86.25to $143.75 for each commitment hearing and from $43.25 to $70 for each certification hearing.
