Government Data Collection and DisseminationPractices Act; exemptions; email addresses of licensed professionals.Modifies current law to provide that electronic mail addresses ofpersons applying for or possessing a license to engage in the practiceof any profession in the Commonwealth may also be disseminated, inaddition to such person's name and address, by the agency maintainingsuch information.
Virginia Public Procurement Act; local arbitration agreements. Allows a participating locality, for any procurement solicitation or contract exceeding $10,000 for goods and services,to require the bidder or offeror to disclose certain informationregarding pre-dispute arbitration clauses, defined in the bill, in employment, civil rights, and consumer disputes, and provides thata locality may consider the policies and practices related to arbitrationof each bidder and offeror. The bill also provides that a participatinglocality shall require the bidder or offeror to provide written orelectronic submissions to allow the locality to ascertain (i) whetherthe bidder or offeror requires persons with whom it is in a work relationshipor prospective work relationship to sign or otherwise enter intoa contract containing a pre-dispute arbitration clause that wouldcover an employment or civil rights dispute and (ii) whether thebidder or offeror requires consumers to sign or otherwise enter intoa contract containing a pre-dispute arbitration clause that wouldcover a consumer or civil rights dispute as a condition of purchasingproducts or services, downloading mobile applications, or using websites.The bill authorizes a participating locality to cancel, terminate,or suspend, in whole or in part, the contract of any contractor thathas violated a provision of the bill and to declare the contractorineligible for further contracts with such locality for up to fiveyears.
Parole; notice and certification; monthly reports. Provides that the Department of Corrections shall release a prisoner no sooner than 21 business days after the date of notification by the Virginia Parole Board (the Board) to the appropriate attorney for the Commonwealth of the decision to grant parole. The bill authorizes the Board to make such notification electronically and by certified mail; under current law only certified mail may be used. The bill requires that the monthly reports issued by the Board regarding actions taken on the parole of prisoners (i) be published on the last day of the month and (ii) include the offenses of which prisoners considered for parole were convicted, the jurisdictions in which such offenses were committed, and the amount of time served by such prisoners. However, a prisoner's name shall be included on report only if the attorney for the Commonwealth and any victims have been notified; otherwise, inclusion on the report is delayed to the following month. The bill requires that when notice is sent to a victim of the victim's right to present evidence to the Board of the impact that the release of a prisoner will have on the victim, such notice shall also be sent to the attorney for the Commonwealth and the director of the victim/witness program of the jurisdiction in which the prisoner's offense occurred. This bill incorporates SB 1293.
Failed to pass
Industrial hemp; federal hemp producer license; emergency. Updates Virginia's industrial hemp laws to address the new hemp producer license issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The bill changes drug laws to exclude the industrial hemp possessed by a federally licensed hemp producer from the definition of "marijuana" and to exclude certain amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in such industrial hemp from the prohibition on THC. The bill exempts federally licensed hemp producers from state industrial hemp registration requirements and adds such producers to the list of those eligible to receive funds from the Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Fund.The bill makes other changes to industrial hemp laws, including (i) excluding from the definition of "dealer" any retail establishment that sells a completed product containing industrial hemp; (ii) making optional the monitoring and random testing of industrial hemp by the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services and authorizing the random sampling of such hemp; (iii) removing the requirement that the Attorney General of the United States be notified when a Virginia grower, dealer, or processor exceeds the federal THC limit; and (iv) directing the Commissioner to adopt regulations establishing a fee structure for registration.Finally, the bill exempts employees of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services from prosecution for possession or distribution of industrial hemp when possession is necessary in the performance of their duties. The bill contains an emergency clause.
Elimination of mandatory minimum sentences; modification of sentence to mandatory minimum term of confinement for felony offenses. Eliminates mandatory minimum sentences of confinement for certain crimes. The bill also provides a petition process for a person who was convicted or adjudicated delinquent of certain felony offenses committed prior to July 1, 2021, sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of confinement for any such felony offense, and remains incarcerated in a state or local correctional facility serving the mandatory minimum term of confinement for any such felony offense to petition the circuit court that entered the original judgment or order to (i) suspend the unserved portion of such mandatory minimum sentence, (ii) place such person on probation for such time as the court shall determine, or (iii) otherwise modify the sentence imposed. The bill provides that such petition shall be filed by July 1, 2024.
Parked cars; VDOT right-of-way. Authorizes vehicles to be stopped or parked in an unoccupied Department of Transportation right-of-way adjacent to a highway in case of an emergency, accident, or mechanical breakdown. The bill clarifies that the term "emergency" includes retrieving a companion animal from a highway or area adjacent to a highway.
Environmental justice; interagency working group. Establishes the Interagency Environmental Justice Working Group as an advisory council in the executive branch of state government to further environmental justice in the Commonwealth and directs each of the Governor's Secretaries to designate at least one environmental justice coordinator to represent the secretariat as a member of the Working Group. The bill provides that the Working Group shall expire on July 1, 2031. The bill directs each state agency, no later than October 1, 2021, to adopt an agency-specific environmental justice policy that requires an evaluation of the environmental justice consequences of any covered agency action, requires a consideration of the environmental justice consequences or cumulative impacts of the administration of regulations, and contains other features, including robust public participation plans for residents of environmental justice communities and fenceline communities potentially affected by a covered agency action.
Virginia Public Procurement Act; construction contracts; requirement to submit list of subcontractors. Requires bidders or offerors on contracts for construction of $250,000 or more to submit along with their bid or proposal a list of all subcontractors, regardless of tier, that the bidder or offeror intends at the time of submitting the bid or proposal to use on the contract to perform work valued at $50,000 or more, including labor and materials. The bill requires such list to include certain information about each contractor. The bill also requires the bidder or offer to submit (i) a statement declaring that the bidder or offeror has reviewed the qualifications and performance history of each subcontractor and found such qualifications and performance history to be sufficient to qualify the subcontractor to perform the subcontract work and (ii) a statement indicating that the bidder or offeror has received a written statement from each subcontractor verifying that such subcontractor (a) has not defaulted on any projects within the last three years, (b) is not currently suspended or disbarred by any public body, and (c) is not currently in bankruptcy. The bill allows the public body to disqualify any listed subcontractors, but requires the public body to notify the bidder or offeror of such disqualification and allow the bidder or offeror reasonable time to find a qualified replacement. The bill provides that any bidder or offeror that does not submit the required list and statements may have its bid or proposal disqualified, and any bidder or offeror that is found to have knowingly provided false information pursuant to this section shall be debarred from contracting with any public body for a period of up to one year. The bill requires compliance with its provisions for bids or offers on contracts for construction of $250,000 or more with localities with a population in excess of 50,000, but provides that compliance is optional for bids or offers on contracts for construction of $250,000 or more with any other locality. The provisions of this bill do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2022 Session of the General Assembly.
Standards of Learning assessments; reduction; report. Reduces the total number and type of required Standardsof Learning assessments to the minimum requirements established by the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, asamended. The bill requires the Department of Education to annuallyreport on the estimated projected and actual savings from the implementationof the bill and report the amount of such savings to the Governorand the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and theSenate Committee on Finance and Appropriations no later than the first day of each Regular Session of the General Assembly. The billalso requires that such amount be included in the total for DirectAid to Public Education in any general appropriation act.
Study; Department of Rail and Public Transportation; transit equity and modernization; report. Requests the Department of Rail and Public Transportation to conduct a two-year study of transit equity and modernization in the Commonwealth,with emphasis on transit services and engagement opportunities for underserved and underrepresented communities.
Vacant buildings; registration. Removes the requirement that a building meet the definition of "derelict building," and instead requires that such building potentially endanger the public health, safety, or welfare in order for the Town of Clifton Forge, the Town of Pulaski, in a conservation and rehabilitation district of the town, the Town of Timberville, and any city to require, by ordinance, the owner or owners of buildings that have been vacant for a continuous period of 12 months or more to register such buildings on an annual basis and pay an annual registration fee not to exceed $100 to defray the cost of processing such registration.
