Virginia Bills

Directs the Department of Social Services, in coordination with the Commission on Youth, to develop a process and standardized survey to gather feedback from children aging out of foster care.

Moves the requirement that a child be a citizen or legal resident of the United States from the definition of "child with special needs" to the eligibility criteria for the adoptive parents of such child to receive adoption assistance. The bill modifies the exception to the eligibility requirement that efforts be made to place the child in an adoptive home without the provision of adoption assistance to include consideration of the child's best interest due to factors such as the child's development of significant emotional ties with his foster parents while in their care, provided that the foster parents wish to adopt the child. Under current law, the exception is limited to situations in which the child has developed emotional ties with his foster parents and the foster parents wish to adopt the child. The bill modifies other requirements for a child with special needs to receive certain types of adoption assistance and for a child who is between the ages of 18 and 21 to receive adoption assistance. The bill also provides that a representative of the Department of Social Services shall negotiate all adoption assistance agreements with both existing and prospective adoptive parents on behalf of local departments of social services.

Requires the general registrars to consider the number of active registered voters and historical election data, including voter turnout, when determining the number of ballots to order to be printed for an election. This bill is identical to

Adds to both the Criminal Justice Services Board (the Board) and its Training Committee one citizen member representing community interests. The bill also replaces the member of the Board representing the Virginia Crime Prevention Association, which is no longer in existence, with a member representing the Virginia Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators. The bill also directs the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, in consultation with the Governor, to review the current composition of the Board and develop a plan for restructuring the Board in order to improve its efficiency in carrying out its duties and to submit the plan by December 1, 2017, to the Chairmen of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice.

Requires the Board of Health to adopt regulations to include neonatal abstinence syndrome on the list of diseases that shall be required to be reported. This bill is identical to

Increases from four to eight the number of banquet licenses a brewery or winery may obtain for events in any one-year period, provided that the event for which a banquet license is obtained is (i) at a place approved by the Board and (ii) conducted for the purposes of featuring and educating the consuming public about beer or wine products, respectively. The bill also specifically provides that such wine or beer manufacturer is limited to eight banquet licenses for such events per year without regard to the number of wineries or breweries, respectively, owned or operated by such manufacturer or by any parent, subsidiary, or company under common control with such manufacturer. The bill contains a technical amendment.

Increases the maximum amount of civil penalties that may be assessed by the Commissioner of Labor and Industry for certain violations of occupational safety and health laws from $7,000 to $12,471 and for willful or repeated violations of such laws from $70,000 to $124,709. The measure also requires the Commissioner annually to increase the maximum civil penalty amounts, starting in 2018, by an amount that reflects the percentage increase, if any, in the consumer price index from the previous calendar year. This bill is identical to