Accrual of cause of action; diagnoses of nonmalignant and malignant asbestos-related injury or disease. Provides that a diagnosis of a nonmalignant asbestos-related injury or disease shall not accrue an action based upon the subsequent diagnosis of a malignant asbestos-related injury or disease and that such subsequent diagnosis shall constitute a separate injury that shall accrue an action when such diagnosis is first communicated to the person or his agent by a physician. The bill is intended to reverse Kiser v. A.W. Chesteron, 285 Va. 12 (2013). This bill is identical to HB 781.
Public schools; school resource officers andschool security officers; data. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services, in coordination with the Department of Educationand the Department of Juvenile Justice, to annually collect, report,and publish data related to incidents involving students and schoolresource officers or school security officers. The bill also requiresthe Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety to analyze and disseminatesubmitted data.
Same-sex marriages; civil unions. Repeals the statutory prohibitions on same-sex marriages and civil unions or other arrangements between persons of the same sex purporting to bestow the privileges and obligations of marriage. These prohibitions are no longer valid due to the United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___ (June 26, 2015). This bill incorporates SB 39 and is identical to HB 1490.
Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; notice of termination to contain legal aid information. Provides that no notice of termination of tenancy served upon a tenant receiving tenant-based rental assistance through (i) the Housing Choice Voucher Program, 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(o), or (ii) any other federal, state, or local program by a private landlord is effective unless it contains on its first page, in type no smaller or less legible than that otherwise used in the body of the notice, the statewide legal aid telephone number and website address. This bill is identical to SB 115.
School resource officers and school security officers; training standards. Requires school resource officers and school security officers to receive training specific to the role and responsibility of a law-enforcement officer working with students in a school environment that includes training on (i) relevant state and federal laws; (ii) school and personal liability issues; (iii) security awareness in the school environment; (iv) mediation and conflict resolution, including de-escalation techniques such as physical alternatives to restraint; (v) disaster and emergency response; (vi) awareness of cultural diversity and implicit bias; (vii) working with students with disabilities, mental health needs, substance abuse disorders, or past traumatic experiences; and (viii) student behavioral dynamics, including current child and adolescent development and brain research. This bill is identical to HB 1419.
Sales tax exemption; gun safes. Establishes an exemption from retail sales tax for a gun safe with a selling price of $1,000 or less. The bill defines a gun safe as a safe or vault that is (i) commercially available, (ii) secured with a digital or dial combination locking mechanism or biometric locking mechanism, and (iii) designed for the storage of a firearm or of ammunition for use in a firearm. Under the bill, a gun safe does not include a glass-faced cabinet. The bill sunsets on July 1, 2025.
Child support; assignment of tax credits. Providesthat the court may assign a party in a child support proceeding theright to claim any credits resulting from the income tax dependencyexemption for any child or children of the parties for federal andstate income tax purposes.
Spousal support; reservation of right to seek;material change of circumstances. Provides that, unless otherwiseprovided by stipulation or contract, or unless otherwise orderedby the court, a party seeking to exercise his reserved right to spousalsupport shall be required to prove that a material change of circumstanceshas occurred as a prerequisite for the court to consider exerciseof such reservation.
Partition of property. Incorporates major provisions of the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act. The bill provides that in partition actions the court shall order an appraisal to determine fair market value of the property, unless the parties have agreed to the value of the property or to another valuation method. The bill also provides factors to be considered by the court when making an allotment of the property when there is a dispute among the parties. The bill further provides that if the court orders a sale of property in a partition action, the sale shall be conducted on the open market, unless the court finds that a sale by sealed bids or at auction would be more economically advantageous to the parties as a group. The bill outlines the procedure for such open-market sale. This bill is identical to HB 1605.
Access to minor's child-care records by parent. Provides that, absent a court order, a minor's records from a child day center or family day home shall not be withheld from a parent of such minor, regardless of whether the parent has custody of such child.
Local law-enforcement agencies; body-worn camera systems. Requires localities to adopt and establish a written policy for the operation of a body-worn camera system, as defined in the bill, that follows identified best practices and is consistent with Virginia law and regulations, using as guidance the model policy established by the Department of Criminal Justice Services prior to purchasing or deploying a body-worn camera system. The bill also requires localities to make such policy available for public comment and review prior to its adoption. The bill requires the Department to establish a model policy for the operation of body-worn camera systems and the storage and maintenance of body-worn camera system records.
Virginia Human Rights Act; racial discrimination; hair. Provides that the terms "because of race" and "on the basis of race," and terms of similar import, when used in reference to discrimination in the Code of Virginia and acts of the General Assembly, include traits historically associated with race, including hair texture, hair type, and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks, and twists. This bill is identical to HB 1514.
