Commending the Honorable Michael J. Cassidy.
Employer-mandated vaccinations for COVID-19;discrimination prohibited; civil penalties. Prohibits an employerfrom requiring its employees to receive a vaccine for the preventionof COVID-19. The bill prohibits an employer from discrimination againstan employee because the employee has or has not received a vaccinefor the prevention of COVID-19. The bill also provides for civil penalties not to exceed $10,000 by an employer with fewer than 100employees or $50,000 by an employer with 100 or more employees foreach violation of the bill's provisions.
Charitable institutions and associations; local appropriations to faith-based organizations. Allows localities to make appropriations to nonprofit faith-based organizations that provide community services in the locality for nonreligious purposes and regardless of recipients' faith affiliation.
Department of Corrections; earned sentence credits. Repeals the four-level classification system for the awarding andcalculation of earned sentence credits currently set to go into effecton July 1, 2022. Under current law, a maximum of 4.5 sentence credits may be earned for each 30 days served.
Prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine and ivermectinfor treatment of COVID-19. Provides that licensed health careproviders with prescriptive authority may prescribe, administer,or dispense hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin to a patient with aclinical diagnosis of COVID-19. The bill prohibits the Board of Medicinefrom initiating a disciplinary action against a licensed health careprovider solely for prescribing, administering, or dispensing hydroxychloroquineor ivermectin to a patient with a clinical diagnosis of COVID-19,provided such clinical diagnosis and treatment has been documentedin the patient's medical record by such licensed health care provider.
Mandatory judicial retirement age. Increasesthe mandatory judicial retirement age from 73 to 75. This increasein mandatory retirement age includes judges subject to mandatoryretirement during the 2022 Regular Session of the General Assemblyand allows any sitting judge who has attained age 73 and has submitteda notice of retirement but not yet retired to revoke the notice ofretirement by written request. The bill requires the revocation ofany certification of need to fill the vacancy determined by the JudicialCouncil or Committee on District Courts based on the original noticeof retirement if a written request to revoke the notice of retirementis submitted by the judge. The bill contains an emergency clause.
Class 1 felonies; mandatory minimum term ofimprisonment for life. Provides that any person convicted ofa Class 1 felony who was 18 years of age or older at the time ofthe offense and is not determined to be a person with intellectualdisability shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonmentfor life.
Virginia Human Rights Act; nondiscrimination in places of public accommodation and certain private establishments; face coverings. Prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodations including public and private elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education and certain private establishments because the individual is or is not wearing a face covering for the purpose of preventing the transmission of COVID-19.
Criminal cases; sentencing by jury. Providesthat if a jury finds a person guilty of a criminal offense, suchjury shall ascertain the punishment of the offense. Under currentlaw, unless the accused has requested that the jury ascertain punishment,the court shall fix punishment after the accused has been found guiltyby a jury.
Voter registration; registration permittedup to and including the day of the election. Repeals a provisionthat would permit any person who is qualified to register to voteto register to vote in person up to and including the day of theelection, notwithstanding any deadline for the close of registration records. The repeal will limit the persons who are entitled to registerto vote after the close of registration records to (i) any member of a uniformed service of the United States who is on active duty,(ii) any person residing temporarily outside of the United States,and (iii) the spouse or dependent residing with someone listed in(i) or (ii).
Voter identification; identification containinga photograph required. Requires presentation of a form of identificationcontaining a photograph in order to vote. The bill repeals the provisionsof law permitting a voter who does not have one of the required formsof identification to vote after signing a statement, subject to felonypenalties for false statements, that he is the named registered voterhe claims to be. Instead, the bill provides that such voter is entitledto cast a provisional ballot.
Voter registration; verification of social security numbers; provisional registration status. Requires the general registrars to verify that the name, date of birth, and social security number provided by an applicant on the voter registration application match the information on file in the Social Security Administration database or other database approved by the State Board of Elections (the State Board) before registering such applicant. If the information provided by the applicant does not match the information in such database, the applicant (i) is provisionally registered to vote and notified as to what steps are needed to be fully registered to vote and (ii) is permitted to vote by provisional ballot but such ballot shall not be counted until the voter presents certain information. The bill also requires the general registrars to verify annually no later than August 1 that the name, date of birth, and social security number in the registration record of each registered voter in the registrar's jurisdiction match the information on file with the Social Security Administration or other database approved by the State Board and, in accordance with current law, to initiate the cancellation of the registration of any voter whose registration record information does not match the database information. The State Board is authorized to approve the use of any government database to the extent required to enable each general registrar to carry out the provisions of this bill and to promulgate rules for the use of such database. The Department of Elections is required to provide to the general registrars access to the Social Security Administration database and any other database approved by the State Board. The Department of Elections is further required to enter into any agreement with any federal or state agency to facilitate such access. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2024.
