Department of Motor Vehicles; information for veterans. Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to offer information on veteran services available in the Commonwealth to any person who identifies himself as a veteran on a document submitted to the Department for the purpose of a driver or vehicle transaction. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021.
Public school teachers; technical professionallicenses; eligibility criteria. Requires the Board of Education,pursuant to regulation, to permit any individual who seeks a technicalprofessional license to substitute the successful completion of anintensive, job-embedded, three-year program of professional developmentfor the nine semester hours of professional studies required forsuch license.
Reporting lost or stolen firearms; civil penalty. Requires that, if a firearm is lost or stolen from a person who lawfully possessed it, such person shall report the loss or theft of the firearm to any local law-enforcement agency or the Department of State Police within 48 hours after such person discovers the loss or theft or is informed by a person with personal knowledge of the loss or theft. The bill requires the relevant law-enforcement agency to enter the report information into the National Crime Information Center. A violation is punishable by a civil penalty of not more than $250. The bill provides that a person who, in good faith, reports the loss or theft is immune from criminal or civil liability for acts or omissions that result from the loss or theft. The immunity does not apply to a person who knowingly gives a false report. The bill does not apply to the loss or theft of an antique firearm.
Department of Motor Vehicles; release of information. Reorganizes and clarifies the responsibilities of the Department of Motor Vehicles regarding the management and distribution of information in its records. The bill limits the release of certain information in the Department's records and authorizes certain notices to be sent electronically or by postcard. The bill repeals sections of the Code (i) requiring the Department to furnish a certificate linking a license plate number to an individual and (ii) permitting the Department to publish personal information related to certain delinquent accounts online. The bill contains technical amendments and contains an emergency clause.
Restrictive covenants; certificate of release of certain prohibited covenants. Prohibits a deed containing a restrictive covenant from being recorded on or after July 1, 2020, and provides the form for a Certificate of Release of Certain Prohibited Covenants to be recorded to remove any such restrictive covenant.
Virginia Information Technologies Agency; required information security training program for state employees. Requires the Chief Information Officer of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (the CIO) to develop by November 30, 2020, and annually update a curriculum and materials for training all state employees in information security awareness and in proper procedures for detecting, assessing, reporting, and addressing information security threats. The bill requires the Commonwealth's executive, legislative, and judicial branches and independent agencies, beginning January 1, 2021, to provide annual information security training for each of its employees using the curriculum and materials developed by the CIO.
Industrial hemp extract; approval as food or ingredient; regulations; fund; emergency. Provides that an industrial hemp extract, as defined in the bill, is a food and is subject to applicable laws and regulations. The bill establishes (i) requirements for the production of an industrial hemp extract or a food containing an extract and (ii) conditions under which a manufacturer of such extract or food shall be considered an approved source. The bill authorizes the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt regulations establishing contaminant tolerances, labeling requirements, and batch testing requirements, and it provides that moneys collected under the chapter shall be deposited in the Virginia Industrial Hemp Fund, created by the bill. The bill directs the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry to report by November 1, 2020, a plan for the long-term sustainability of funding for the industrial hemp program. The bill contains an emergency clause and is identical to SB 918.
Sudden cardiac arrest prevention in student-athletes. Directs the Board of Education to develop, biennially update, and distribute to each local school division guidelines on policies to inform and educate coaches, student-athletes, and student-athletes' parents or guardians about the nature and risk of sudden cardiac arrest, procedures for removal from and return to play, and the risks of not reporting symptoms. The bill also requires local school divisions to develop and biennially update policies and procedures regarding the identification and handling of symptoms that may lead to sudden cardiac arrest in student-athletes.
Department of Professional and OccupationalRegulation; Board for Contractors; misclassification of worker prohibited.Provides that the Board for Contractors (the Board) shall requirea contractor to appropriately classify all workers as employees or independent contractors, pursuant to law. Any contractor who is foundto have intentionally misclassified any worker is subject to sanctionby the Board.
Voter registration by mail; certain first-time voters permitted to vote by absentee ballot. Adds to the list of exceptions to the requirement that first-time voters who registered to vote by mail must vote in person those voters who are entitled under current law to vote by absentee ballot because they are confined while awaiting trial or for having been convicted of a misdemeanor. This bill incorporates HB 185.
Financing clean energy projects. Authorizesthe Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy to sponsor a statewideclean energy financing program. The Department shall engage a privateentity through a competitive selection process to develop and administerthe program.
Dispensing cannabidiol oil and THC-A oil; non-Virginia residents. Provides that in addition to a patient or a patient's legal guardian who is a Virginia resident, a pharmaceutical processor may dispense in person to a patient or a patient's legal guardian who temporarily resides in Virginia as made evident to the Board of Medicine with a certification for cannabidiol oil and THC-A oil from a Virginia practitioner. The bill also makes clear that a practitioner who issues a written certification for cannabidiol oil must use his professional judgment to determine the manner and frequency of patient care and evaluation and authorizes such practitioner to utilize telemedicine, consistent with federal requirements for the prescribing of Schedule II through V controlled substances.
