Paramilitary activities; penalty. Provides that a person is guilty of unlawful paramilitary activity if such person brandishes a firearm or any air or gas operated weapon or any object similar in appearance while assembled with one or more persons with the intent of intimidating any person or group of persons with any firearm, any explosive or incendiary device, or any components or combination thereof. Such unlawful paramilitary activity is punishable as a Class 5 felony.
Cemeteries; grass cutting. Exempts land used for the interment of human remains owned by an individual, family, property owners' association, or church from a local ordinance requiring certain owners of property to cut the grass, weeds, and other foreign growth on such property.
Prostitution; touching the unclothed genitals or anus of another; penalty. Provides that any person who touches the unclothed genitals or anus of another with the intent to sexually arouse or gratify for money is guilty of prostitution, which is punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also provides that any person who receives any money on account of procuring for or placing in a house of prostitution any person for the purpose of causing such person to engage in the touching of the unclothed genitals or anus of another person with the intent to sexually arouse or gratify is guilty of a Class 4 felony. As introduced, this bill is a recommendation of the Virginia State Crime Commission.
Income tax exclusion; student loan forgiveness; disabled veterans. Excludes from Virginia adjusted gross income any income received by a totally and permanently disabled veteran from student loan debt cancellation or discharge for taxable years 2020 through 2025.
Economic development programs; reporting requirements.Eliminates the requirement that the Governor provide a biannualreport that includes information regarding grants and loans awardedfrom the Commonwealth's Development Opportunity Fund during the immediatelypreceding six-month period for economic development projects to theChairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations and Finance andthe Senate Committee on Finance. The bill also clarifies the duedates for plans and reports to be prepared and submitted by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority to various individualsand repeals the requirement that the Secretary of Commerce and Tradeprovide an annual report on the effectiveness of economic developmentprograms in the Commonwealth. The bill contains technical amendments.
State Council of Higher Education for Virginia;Veteran Student Transition Grant Fund and Program. Establishesthe Veteran Student Transition Grant Fund as a special nonreverting fund in the state treasury and requires the State Council of HigherEducation for Virginia to establish the Veteran Student TransitionGrant Program for the purpose of providing grants from the Fund ona competitive basis to a public institution of higher education,private institution of higher education, or group of such institutionsthat proposes a new and innovative program or research project relatingto improving the transition of veteran students from military to higher education or from higher education to the civilian workforce.
Compensation for wrongful incarceration; annuity term. Provides that for a person wrongfully convicted of a felony who receives as compensation an annuity from the Commonwealth the annuity period shall be the person's life expectancy if his life expectancy is less than 25 years, if he so chooses. Under current law, the annuity period is 25 years for all such persons regardless of life expectancy.
Department of Education; data collection; school counselor positions. Requires the Department of Education to collect data from school boards regarding their ability to fill school counselor positions, including (i) the number of school counselors employed in elementary, middle, and high schools in the local school division; (ii) the number and duration of school counselor vacancies; (iii) the number, role, and license type of other licensed counseling professionals employed by the school board; and (iv) information about their preferences for meeting updated school counselor to student ratios with other licensed counseling professionals. The bill requires the Department to report the results of such data collection to the Governor, the Secretary of Education, the House Committee on Appropriations, and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations no later than December 1, 2020.
Teachers employed in accredited private elementaryand secondary schools; provisional licenses; extension. Requiresthe Board of Education to extend for at least one additional year,but for no more than two additional years, the three-year provisionallicense of a teacher employed in an accredited private elementaryor secondary school upon receiving from the school administratorof such school (i) a recommendation for such extension and (ii) satisfactoryperformance evaluations for such teacher for each year of the originalthree-year provisional license. The provisions of the bill mirror current law relating to the extension of provisional licenses forpublic school teachers.
Classification of solar energy and recyclingequipment. Provides that, for purposes of the real property taxexemption for certified solar energy and recycling equipment, theexemption shall be retroactive to the date of installation if thetaxpayer obtains certification from the Department of EnvironmentalQuality within one year of installation. Under current law, the exemptionis effective in the next tax year after the taxpayer obtains certification.
Auditor of Public Accounts; duties; Commonwealth Data Point. Updates terminology and changes the level of information provided on the Commonwealth Data Point website in the areas of (i) total fiscal revenues and spending, (ii) population estimates, (iii) student enrollment, and (iv) taxable income. The bill also removes requirements to include information that is outdated or unavailable, including the total number of households in the state and the comparison of revenues computed on a per capita basis and as a percentage of personal income.
Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Area;hydraulic fracturing prohibited. Prohibits hydraulic fracturing,as defined in the bill, in the Eastern Virginia Groundwater ManagementArea.
