Driving under the influence; remote alcohol monitoring; penalty. Provides that in the case of an adult offender's first conviction of driving under the influence when the offender's blood alcohol content was less than 0.15, upon motion of the offender, the sole restriction of the offender's restricted driver's license shall be the prohibition of the offender from operating any motor vehicle not equipped with a functioning, certified ignition interlock system for one year without any violation of the ignition interlock system requirements. The bill provides that if a person is ineligible to receive a restricted license, a court may instead authorize such person to use a remote alcohol monitoring device, refrain from alcohol consumption, and participate in an alcohol safety action program; such provisions of the bill shall become effective on July 1, 2021. The bill provides that tampering with a remote alcohol monitoring device is a Class 1 misdemeanor. This bill incorporates SB 154 and SB 520.
Department of Transportation; at-risk infrastructure; report. Directs the Department of Transportation, in collaboration with the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency, to (i) identify public transportation infrastructure at risk of flooding or deterioration due to flooding in Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and Lynchburg; (ii) develop recommendations for managing such assets; and (iii) report its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Transportation by the start of the 2021 Session of the General Assembly.
Petition for writ of actual innocence. Provides that a person who was convicted of a felony or who was adjudicated delinquent by a circuit court of an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult may petition for a writ of actual innocence based on biological evidence or nonbiological evidence regardless of the type of plea he entered at trial. Under current law, such person may petition for a writ based on biological evidence if he entered a plea of not guilty, and any person, regardless of the type of plea he entered at trial, may petition for such writ if he is sentenced to death or convicted or adjudicated delinquent of murder or a felony for which the maximum punishment is imprisonment for life. The bill also (i) allows a writ of actual innocence based on nonbiological evidence to be granted if scientific testing of previously untested evidence, regardless of whether such evidence was available or known at the time of conviction, proves that no trier of fact would have found proof of guilt of the person petitioning for the writ, provided that the testing procedure was not available at the time of conviction, and (ii) eliminates the provision that limits a petitioner to only one writ of actual innocence based on nonbiological evidence for any conviction. The bill provides that the petitioner must prove the allegations supporting either type of writ of actual innocence by a preponderance of the evidence. Currently, the petitioner must prove such allegations by clear and convincing evidence. Finally, the bill clarifies that the Attorney General may join a petition for a writ of actual innocence filed in connection with an adjudication of delinquency. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
Suspension of driver's license for nonpayment of fines or costs. Repeals the requirement that the driver's license of a person convicted of any violation of the law who fails or refuses to provide for immediate payment of fines or costs be suspended. The bill also removes a provision allowing the court to require a defendant to present a summary prepared by the Department of Motor Vehicles of the other courts in which the defendant also owes fines and costs. The bill requires the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles to return or reinstate any person's driver's license that was suspended prior to July 1, 2019, solely for nonpayment of fines or costs. Such person does not have to pay a reinstatement fee. The bill contains an emergency clause and incorporates SB 10, SB 514, and SB 814.
Funeral directors and embalmers; Board to promulgate regulations for licensure. Directs the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers to promulgate regulations that establish requirements of licensure for funeral directors and embalmers.
Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy; electric vehicle rebate working group. Establishes a working group to determine the feasibility of an electric vehicle rebate program. The working group will report on its findings and recommendations by November 1, 2020.
Cannabidiol oil and THC-A oil; sample testing.Directs the Board of Pharmacy to require that, after processingand before dispensing cannabidiol oil and THC-A oil, a pharmaceuticalprocessor make a homogenized sample available from each batch of product for testing at an independent laboratory meeting Board requirements.
Alcoholic beverage control; distiller licenses;monthly revenue transfers. Allows the Board of Directors of theVirginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority to include in any agreementit enters into with a licensed distiller for the sale of alcoholicbeverages provisions that allow monthly revenue transfers from thedistiller to the Board to be submitted electronically and to be limitedto the amount due to the Board in applicable taxes and markups. Underlaw that is set to become effective on July 1, 2020, the Board isrequired to allow such electronic submission and to limit such monthlyrevenue transfers to the amount due to the Board in applicable taxes and markups. The bill also removes the provision, which would otherwisebecome effective on July 1, 2020, that requires the Board to waiveany case fee charged to a licensed distiller for moving spirits whensuch spirits are moved by employees of the distiller.
Abandoned, unattended, or immobile vehicles;minimum weight. Limits the current prohibition on and remediesfor abandoned, unattended, or immobile vehicles to vehicles thatweigh at least 75 pounds.
Alcoholic beverage control; definition of resort complex. Expands the definition of "resort complex" to include facilities that (i) are operated by a corporation that operates as a management company which, as its primary function, makes available (a) vacation accommodations, guest rooms, or dwelling units and (b) golf, ski, and other recreational facilities to members of the managed entities and the general public and (ii) have or manage a minimum of 140 private guest rooms or dwelling units contained on not less than 50 acres, whether or not contiguous to the licensed premises. Such facilities will be permitted to obtain a mixed beverage restaurant, on-premises wine and beer, or on-and-off-premises wine and beer license.
Provision of abortion. The bill expands who can perform first trimester abortions to include, in addition to physicians, physician's assistants licensed by the Board of Medicine, and nurse practitioners or certified nurse midwives jointly licensed by the Board of Medicine and the Board of Nursing. The bill eliminates all the procedures and processes, including the performance of an ultrasound, required to effect a pregnant person's informed written consent to the performance of an abortion; however, the bill does not change the requirement that a pregnant person's informed written consent first be obtained. The bill removes language classifying facilities that perform five or more first trimester abortions per month as hospitals for the purpose of complying with regulations establishing minimum standards for hospitals. This bill incorporates HB 1060.
Tethering animals; adequate shelter and space. Provides that the outdoor tethering of an animal does not meet the requirement of adequate shelter during a hurricane warning or tropical storm warning or if the animal is not safe from predators or well suited or equipped to tolerate its environment. The bill provides that unless an animal control officer has inspected an animal's individual circumstances and determined it to be safe from predators and well suited and equipped to tolerate its environment, no such outdoor tethering during a heat advisory, a severe weather warning, or a period when the temperature is 85 degrees Fahrenheit or higher or 32 degrees Fahrenheit or lower shall constitute the provision of adequate shelter. The measure increases the minimum tether length required to constitute adequate space to 15 feet in length or four times the length of the animal, whichever is greater. Current law requires the tether to be at least 10 feet in length or three times the length of the animal, whichever is greater. The bill provides an exception for a case in which an animal control officer, having inspected an animal's individual circumstances, determines that a shorter tether of at least 10 feet or three times the length of the animal makes the animal safer, more suited, and better equipped to tolerate its environment than a longer tether would. This bill is identical to HB 1552.
