Standards of Quality; state funding; ratiosof teachers to English language learners. Requires state funding, pursuant to the general appropriation act, to be provided pursuantto Standard 2 of the Standards of Quality to support divisionwideratios of English language learner students in average daily membershipto full-time equivalent teaching positions as follows: (i) for eachEnglish language learner identified as proficiency level one, oneposition per 25 students; (ii) for each English language learneridentified as proficiency level two, one position per 30 students;(iii) for each English language learner identified as proficiencylevel three, one position per 40 students; and (iv) for all other English language learners, one position per 58 students. Currentlaw requires 17 full-time equivalent instructional positions for each1,000 students identified as having limited English proficiency.
State Air Pollution Control Board; public notification. Requires that the Air Pollution Control Board require the applicant to take certain public notice actions, prior to granting any variance to an existing regulation or issuing any permit for (i) a new fossil fuel-fired generating facility with a capacity of 500 megawatts or more, (ii) a major modification to an existing source that is a fossil fuel-fired generating facility with a capacity of 500 megawatts or more, (iii) a new fossil fuel-fired compressor station facility used to transport natural gas, or (iv) a major modification to an existing source that is a fossil fuel-fired compressor station facility used to transport natural gas, if the Board finds that there is a locality particularly affected by such variance or permit.
Commission to Study Slavery and Subsequent De Jure and De Facto Racial and Economic Discrimination Against African Americans; report; sunset. Creates the Commission to Study Slavery and Subsequent De Jure and De Facto Racial and Economic Discrimination Against African Americans to (i) study the current impact and long-term inequities of slavery and the subsequent state-sanctioned de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination practiced against African Americans and (ii) make recommendations to the General Assembly on appropriate remedies. The bill requires the Commission to annually submit a report on its interim activity and work to the Governor and the General Assembly. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2022.
Behavioral health providers; barrier crimes; exceptions. Adds additional crimes to the list of barrier crimes for which an exception is available in the case of employment with an adult substance abuse or mental health program at community services boards and private providers of behavioral health services licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. The bill also allows the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to hire individuals convicted of various barrier crimes in a position of employment at a state facility if the Department determines that the individual has been rehabilitated successfully and is not a risk to individuals receiving services.
Institutions of higher education; sexual violencepolicies; immunity from disciplinary action; certain students whomake reports. Requires the Virginia Community College System,Richard Bland College, each baccalaureate public institution of highereducation, and each nonprofit private institution of higher educationto include in its sexual violence policy a requirement that any enrolledstudent who (i) reports to any individual employed by the institutionthat an act of sexual violence occurred on campus, in or on a noncampusbuilding or property, or on public property, as such terms are definedin relevant law, and (ii) the institution determines, as a resultof any investigation relating to such alleged act of sexual violence,committed a separate, unrelated, nonviolent act that violates theinstitution's code, rules, or set of standards governing student conduct is immune from disciplinary action for such violation.
E-911 dispatchers; training in telecommunicator cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency medical dispatch. Requires each public safety answering point (PSAP) to provide training and equipment for each of its dispatchers in high-quality telecommunicator cardiopulmonary resuscitation (TCPR) instruction, which is defined in the measure as the delivery by trained 911 telecommunicators of high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation instruction for acute events requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation, including out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. The measure (i) requires the State Board of Health to adopt regulations that establish training and equipment standards and (ii) authorizes a PSAP to enter into reciprocal agreements with another PSAP to transfer callers to the other PSAP at times that the initial PSAP does not have a trained dispatcher on duty able to provide TCPR. The measure establishes immunity from civil damages for dispatchers who instruct a caller on TCPR. The measure also requires each operator of a PSAP to implement a requirement that each of its dispatchers complete an Emergency Medical Dispatch education program by July 1, 2024, and to conduct ongoing quality assurance of its TCPR program. This bill is identical to HB 727.
Commission on Civic Education; sunset and funding; membership. Repeals the sunset provision for the Commission on Civic Education and repeals a prohibition on the use of general funds to support the work of the Commission. The bill also increases and adjusts the makeup of the Commission's membership.
Office of the Children's Ombudsman established. Establishes the Office of the Children's Ombudsman as a means of effecting changes in policy, procedure, and legislation; educating the public; investigating and reviewing actions of the State Department of Social Services, local departments of social services, child-placing agencies, or child-caring institutions; and monitoring and ensuring compliance with relevant statutes, rules, and policies pertaining to children's protective services and the placement, supervision, treatment, and improvement of delivery of care to children in foster care and adoptive homes. The Office of the Children's Ombudsman is headed by the Children's Ombudsman, who is appointed for a term of four years by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the General Assembly. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
Local disposable plastic bag tax. Authorizes any county or city, beginning no earlier than January 1, 2021, to impose a tax of five cents per bag on disposable plastic bags provided to consumers by certain retailers, with certain bags being exempt from the tax. The bill allows every retailer that collects the tax to retain a portion of the five-cent tax and provides that the revenue accruing to the county or city shall be used for certain purposes including environmental cleanup and the provision of reusable bags. The measure authorizes the Tax Commissioner to administer the tax. This bill incorporates SB 26 and SB 198 and is identical to HB 534.
Firearm transfers; criminal history record information checks; penalty. Requires a background check for any firearm transfer and directs the Department of State Police (the Department) to establish a process for transferors to obtain such a check from licensed firearms dealers. A transferor who sells a firearm to another person without obtaining the required background check is guilty of a Class 6 felony. The bill also provides that a transferee who receives a firearm from another person without obtaining the required background check is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill exempts transfers (i) between immediate family members; (ii) that occur by operation of law; (iii) by the executor or administrator of an estate or by the trustee of a testamentary trust; (iv) at firearms shows in accordance with law; (v) that are part of a buy-back or give-back program; (vi) of antique firearms; (vii) that occur at a shooting range, shooting gallery, or any other area designed for the purpose of target shooting, for use during target practice, a firearms safety or training course or class, a shooting competition, or any similar lawful activity; or (viii) that are temporary transfers that (a) occur within the continuous presence of the owner of the firearm or (b) are necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm. The bill removes the provision that makes background checks of prospective purchasers or transferees at firearms shows voluntary. The bill also provides that the Department shall have three business days to complete a criminal history record information check before a firearm may be transferred. The bill establishes an appropriation for the fiscal impact of the bill and authorizes the Director of the Department of Planning and Budget to allocate such appropriation among the agencies and programs impacted by the bill. This bill incorporates HB 355.
Memorials for war veterans. Provides that a locality may remove, relocate, contextualize, cover, or alter any monument or memorial for war veterans located in its public space, except in a publicly owned cemetery, regardless of when erected and removes certain criminal and civil penalties for such removal, relocation, or alteration. Current law makes it unlawful to disturb or interfere with such monuments or memorials or to prevent citizens from taking proper measures and exercising proper means for the protection, preservation, and care of such monuments or memorials. The bill requires that such locality initiate such process by passing a resolution stating its intention and (i) formally request the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (Department) to prepare a report that, at a minimum, sets forth the background of the person or people depicted on the monument or memorial, the circumstances surrounding the establishment of the monument or memorial, and whether the monument or memorial qualifies for placement on the Virginia Landmarks Register or the National Register of Historic Places; (ii) no sooner than 30 days after publication of the report on its website, hold a public hearing to solicit comments; (iii) no sooner than 10 days after completion of the public hearing, vote whether to remove, relocate, contextualize, cover, or alter the monument or memorial; such motion requires an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to the governing body for passage. The bill authorizes the local governing body to call for an advisory referendum prior to voting on such motion; and (iv) for a period of 30 days, offer the monument or memorial for relocation and placement to any museum, historical society, government, or military battlefield. The bill provides that the local governing body shall have sole authority to determine the final disposition of the monument or memorial.The bill repeals an 1890 act of assembly related to the placement of a statue in the City of Alexandria and does not apply to a monument or memorial located on the property of a public institution of higher education within the City of Lexington. This bill incorporates SB 560 and SB 620.
Nutrient credit use; land-disturbing activity by wastewater utility. Provides that when a publicly owned wastewater treatment works conducts land-disturbing activities in order to construct or expand a facility, it may comply with the water quality requirements associated with such land-disturbing activities by generating and using point source nutrient credits, point source phosphorus credits, and sediment credits through the operation of its existing treatment facilities. The bill requires the treatment works to notify the Department of Environmental Quality of its plan, to adopt a ratio of 10 point source nitrogen credits for each point source phosphorus credit used, and to classify the credits as permanent using a means acceptable to the Department. The bill limits to 10 pounds per year the application of point source phosphorus credits to a single project other than a water reclamation and reuse project.
