Civil actions; determination of indigency.Sets out the factors to be considered by the court in its determinationof a person's indigency for the purpose of determining inabilityto pay fees or costs in a civil action. The bill also provides thata person is presumed unable to pay if he is a current recipient ofa state or federally funded public assistance program or he is representedby a legal aid society. The bill provides that the presumption isrebuttable except in the case of a no-fault divorce.
Nuclear energy; strategic plan. Directs the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, and the Secretary of Education to work in coordination with the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority to develop a strategic plan for the role of nuclear energy in the Commonwealth's overall strategy for moving toward renewable and carbon-free energy. The plan shall be completed by October 1, 2020, and updated every four years thereafter. This bill is identical to HB 1303.
Menstrual supplies; availability; public elementary, middle, and high schools. Requires each school board to make tampons or pads available, at all times and at no cost to students, (i) in such accessible locations as it deems appropriate in each elementary school in the local school division and (ii) in the bathrooms of each middle school and high school in the local school division. This bill is identical to SB 232.
Additional sales and use tax in Charlotte County;appropriations to incorporated towns for educational purposes.Authorizes Charlotte County to impose an additional local sales anduse tax at a rate not to exceed one percent, as determined by thegoverning body, if initiated by a resolution of the local governingbody and approved by the voters at a referendum. The bill requires the governing body to specify in the enacting ordinance the timeperiod, not to exceed 20 years, for which the tax would be imposed.Revenue from the tax shall be used solely for capital projects fornew construction or major renovation of schools in the locality enactingthe tax. The bill removes the limiton the amount that Charlotte County may appropriate to an incorporatedtown that has not complied with the provisions of its charter relatingto the elections of local officials. Under current law, such amountis limited to the amount the town would have received from localsales and use tax for educational purposes if such election had been held. Under current law, only HalifaxCounty has the authority to impose such taxes and make such appropriations.
Withholding of income for child support; independent contractors. Clarifies that income earned by an independent contractormay be withheld by court order for payment of child support obligations.
Underground pipelines and conduit and electrical transmission lines; agriculture. Requires a utility company installing an underground pipeline or conduit with an inside diameter greater than 12 inches or an underground electric transmission or distribution line of greater than 115 kilovolts in capacity to mitigate the effects of the project if the project disturbs 10,000 square feet or more of agricultural land. The bill directs the State Corporation Commission to adopt regulations requiring the utility company to remove topsoil from the planned construction site and either redistribute it to graded areas elsewhere on the land of the affected property owner or store it nearby, protected from erosion and compaction, for later redistribution on the disturbed area.
County manager plan; election of board members by instant runoff voting. Provides that, in a county operating under the county manager plan of government (Arlington County), elections to nominate candidates for and to elect candidates to the board of supervisors may be conducted by instant runoff voting, which the bill describes as the method of casting and tabulating votes in which (i) voters rank candidates in order of preference, (ii) tabulation proceeds in rounds such that in each round either a candidate or candidates are elected or the last-place candidate is defeated, (iii) votes for voters' next-ranked candidates are transferred from elected or defeated candidates, and (iv) tabulation ends when the number of candidates elected equals the number of offices to be filled. The bill provides that the State Board of Elections may promulgate regulations governing elections determined by instant runoff voting. The bill provides that any costs incurred by the Department of Elections related to technological changes necessary for the implementation of ranked choice voting pursuant to the bill shall be charged to the localities exercising the option to proceed with ranked choice voting.
Public School Security Equipment Grant Act of2013; eligible security equipment; vaping detectors. Classifiesvaping detectors as eligible security equipment under the PublicSchool Security Equipment Grant Act of 2013.
Provisional voting; reorganization of sections;technical amendments. Reorganizes sections related to provisionalvoting and makes related technical amendments. This bill is a recommendationof the Virginia Code Commission.
Public institutions of higher education; in-state tuition; refugees and individuals with certain Special Immigrant Visas. Provides that an individual is eligible for in-state tuition charges regardless of domicile if he is admitted to the United States as a refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157 within the previous two calendar years or received a Special Immigrant Visa that has been granted a status under P.L. 110-181 § 1244, P.L. 109-163 § 1059, or P.L. 111-8 § 602 within the previous two calendar years, and upon entering the United States, the individual resided in the Commonwealth and continues to reside in the Commonwealth as a refugee or pursuant to such Special Immigrant Visa.
Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services. Reorganizes provisions of the Code related to the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services. The State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is relocated in the Code and the Respite Care Grant Program is eliminated. The bill also calls for additional education services to be provided by the Department with respect to Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.
Cemeteries; acquisition of abandoned lots in cities and certain towns. Removes references to courts of equity, improves readability, and makes technical changes. The bill also removes population brackets and replaces them with the names of specific counties.
