Law-enforcement officer; duty to render aid;duty to report wrongdoing by another law-enforcement officer. Requires any law-enforcement officer on duty who witnesses another personsuffering from a serious bodily injury or a life-threatening conditionto render aid and makes it a duty to report acts of wrongdoing, definedin the bill and including bias-based profiling, committed by anotherlaw-enforcement officer on duty. Any law-enforcement officer whofails to render such aid or report such wrongdoing committed by anotherlaw-enforcement officer shall be subject to disciplinary action,including dismissal, demotion, suspension, or transfer of the law-enforcementofficer. The bill also expands the definition of "bias-based profiling,"a practice banned for sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, other local law-enforcement officers, and State Police officers in the performance of their official duties, to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
Law-enforcement civilian oversight bodies; deputy sheriffs. Adds a sheriff's office to those law-enforcement agencies that may be overseen by a law-enforcement civilian oversight body created by a locality and adds a nonprobationary deputy sheriff of a sheriff’s office to those law-enforcement officers who are subject to such body if created by a locality. The bill provides that any disciplinary determinations made by the law-enforcement civilian oversight body on any nonprobationary deputy sheriff shall be advisory only and that if the sheriff's office declines to implement such disciplinary determination, the office shall create a public written record of its rationale for declining to implement the recommended disciplinary determination.
Virginia Public Procurement Act; determinationof responsibility; local option to include criteria in Invitationto Bid. Allows localities to include in the Invitation to Bidcriteria that may be used in determining whether any bidder, notjust any bidder who is not prequalified by the Virginia Departmentof Transportation as under current law, is a responsible bidder.
Unlawful dissemination of unsolicited, obscene image of self to another; penalty. Provides that any person who, with the intent to coerce, harass, or intimidate, disseminates to any person 18 years of age or older any unsolicited, obscene videographic or still image created by any means whatsoever that depicts himself totally nude, or in a state of undress so as to expose his own genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female breast is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Redistricting; Virginia Redistricting Commission; transparency in redistricting process; reallocation of prison population. Requires meetings and hearings of the Virginia Redistricting Commission to be livestreamed, whether held virtually or in person, and to allow for public comment. Meetings and hearings that are held in person are required to be conducted in different regions of the Commonwealth, including the Northern Virginia region, the Central Virginia region, the Hampton Roads region, the Southside region, and the Southwest region. An additional public hearing is required to be held in the event that the initial plan for districts submitted by the Commission is rejected by the General Assembly. If adjustments are made to a proposed plan at any stage in response to public comment, the adjusted proposed plan is required to be published on the Commission's website and a public hearing is required to be held. The bill subjects the Supreme Court of Virginia and the special masters appointed by the Court for the establishment of districts to the same requirements and restrictions to which the Commission is subject, including provisions related to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and the ban on ex parte communications. Additionally, the bill changes the reallocation of persons incarcerated in federal, state, or local correctional facilities whose address at the time of incarceration was located outside of the Commonwealth or cannot be determined. Currently, such persons are counted as residing at the location of the facility in which he's incarcerated; under the bill, such persons would not be included in the locality's population count and instead would be allocated to a state unit not tied to a specific determined geographic location.
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; barrier crimes. Amends the current barrier crimes requirements for the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Department) to provide that the Department, community services boards, children's residential facilities, and licensed providers shall not hire for compensated employment at a state facility, permit to be hired as a private provider, approve as a sponsored residential service provider, approve to be a volunteer, approve to provide contractual services, or permit to enter into a shared living arrangement with a person receiving medical assistance services any person who has been convicted of any offense set forth in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of the definition of barrier crime in § 19.2-392.02 (i) within the 10 years prior to the application date for employment, and may hire a person who has been convicted of such offenses more than 10 years prior only if he has not been convicted of any other crime within the 10 years prior to the application date, or (ii) if such person continues on probation or parole or has failed to pay required court costs for such offenses set forth in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of the definition of barrier crime in § 19.2-392.02. Under current law, with some exceptions, the Department, community services boards, and licensed providers shall not hire for compensated employment persons who have been convicted of any offense set forth in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of the definition of barrier crime in § 19.2-392.02.
Electric utilities; triennial review. Makes various changes to procedures under which the State Corporation Commission reviews the earnings and sets the rates of investor-owned incumbent electric utilities. The bill requires the Commission, in determining a fair rate of return on common equity for an investor-owned utility, to consider the average of either (i) the returns on common equity reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission for the three most recent annual periods for which such data is available by not less than a majority of a selected peer group of the utility or (ii) the authorized returns on common equity that are set by the applicable regulatory commissions for the same selected peer group. Under current law, the Commission is required to set such return not lower than either such average. The bill provides that in a triennial review proceeding, certain utility generation and distribution costs that are not proposed for recovery under various cost recovery mechanisms, at the Commission's discretion, may be attributed to the test periods under review and deemed fully recovered or, if the utility has earned below a certain threshold, may be deferred for recovery over future periods. Under current law, such attribution is required unless the utility has earned below a certain threshold, in which case deferred recovery of the costs is required. The bill requires the Commission to direct that 100 percent of the amount of a utility's earnings above a certain threshold be credited to customers' bills. Under current law, the Commission is required to direct that 70 percent of such overearnings be credited to customers' bills. The bill provides that if revenue reductions related to energy efficiency measures or other programs cause a utility to earn below a certain threshold, or if for reasons other than revenue reductions the utility earns below a certain threshold, the Commission may order increases to the utility's rates for generation and distribution services necessary to recover such revenue reductions. Under current law, the Commission is required to order such an increase. The bill eliminates provisions that limit any rate reduction ordered by the Commission in the first triennial review of Dominion Energy Virginia after January 1, 2021, to $50 million in annual revenues. The bill provides that the Commission may determine that certain capital investment amounts by a utility may offset any customer bill credit amounts. Under current law, such the Commission is required to determine that such investments offset customer bill credit amounts. The bill provides that in any triennial review the Commission may order any rate increase or decrease to a utility's rates for generation and distribution services it deems necessary and appropriate, so long as the resulting rates provide the utility with the opportunity to fully recover its costs and earn an authorized rate of return on its generation and distribution services. The provisions of the bill apply to all triennial reviews, including the first triennial review of Dominion Energy Virginia conducted after January 1, 2021.
Electric utility regulation; purchasing from competitive suppliers. Authorizes individual retail customers of electric energy to purchase electric energy provided 100 percent from renewable energy from any licensed competitive supplier of electric energy, including any incumbent electric utility. Currently, such customers may purchase electric power from such suppliers, other than an incumbent electric utility that is not the incumbent electric utility serving the exclusive territory in which the customer is located, only if their incumbent electric utility does not offer an approved tariff for electric energy provided 100 percent from renewable energy. The measure also provides that a cooperative utility customer eligible to take service under a tariff for electric energy provided 100 percent from renewable energy is prohibited from purchasing electric energy provided 100 percent from renewable energy from a licensed supplier, except such customer is authorized to continue purchasing renewable energy pursuant to the terms of a power purchase agreement in effect on the date the cooperative serving it filed with the Commission such tariff for electric energy provided 100 percent from renewable energy for the duration of such agreement. The measure requires that, within three months after the enactment of this act or within three months after beginning to offer a 100 percent renewable energy product to residential customers, whichever is later, licensed competitive suppliers that offers 100 percent renewable energy to residential customers in the service territory of Dominion Energy Virginia or Appalachian Power, to submit a proposal to the State Corporation Commission for consideration and approval to offer discounted service to low-income customers. The measure requires such proposal to include a 100 percent renewable product to be offered to a minimum number of low-income customers at a rate ten percent lower than the incumbent electric utility’s standard residential rate for non-renewable supply service for a minimum initial term of twelve months.
Electric utilities; triennial review; ratesof return. Provides that the State Corporation Commission, in any triennial review proceeding, including the first triennial review proceeding conducted after January 1, 2021, for Dominion EnergyVirginia, may use any methodology it finds consistent with the publicinterest to determine fair rates of return on common equity for the utility's generation and distribution services. In any such triennialreview, regardless of whether the utility earned above or below itsauthorized rate of return during the test period under review, theCommission also may order any increases or decreases to the utility'srates for generation and distribution that it deems necessary andappropriate, as long as the resulting rates provide the utility with the opportunity to (i) fully recover its costs of providing its servicesand (ii) earn an authorized rate of return.
Electric utilities; period costs. Provides that in a triennial review proceeding, certain utility generation and distribution costs that are not proposed for recovery under various cost recovery mechanisms, at the State Corporation Commission's discretion, may be attributed to the test periods under review and deemed fully recovered or, if the utility has earned below a certain threshold, may be deferred for recovery over future periods. Under current law, such attribution is required unless the utility has earned below a certain threshold, in which case deferred recovery of the costs is required. The bill also eliminates provisions that limit any rate reduction ordered by the State Corporation Commission in the first triennial review of Dominion Energy Virginia after January 1, 2021, to $50 million in annual revenues and provides that in any triennial review, regardless of whether the Commission has ordered bill credits, the utility earned above its authorized rate of return during the test period under review, or the utility has made a request regarding any customer credit reinvestment offsets, the Commission may order any rate reduction it deems necessary and appropriate unless it finds that the resulting rates will not provide the utility with the opportunity to (i) fully recover its costs of providing its services and (ii) earn not less than a fair combined rate of return on its generation and distribution services. The provisions of the bill apply to the first triennial review of Dominion Energy Virginia conducted after January 1, 2021. This bill incorporates HB 1835.
Unemployment compensation; benefits; suitable work; benefits charges. Provides that, under specific conditions related to the COVID-19 virus, work will not be deemed suitable and benefits will not be denied to any otherwise eligible individual for refusing to accept new work if (i) the individual presents satisfactory evidence that such individual (a) has tested positive for COVID-19, (b) has been otherwise directed by a physician to quarantine due to COVID-19, or (c) is providing care for an immediate family member who has tested positive for COVID-19; or (ii) the individual has a reasonable belief, based on satisfactory evidence, that the workplace is unsafe because it does not meet governmental-mandated COVID-19 health and safety standards for the workplace, including standards issued by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Department of Labor and Industry, or the Department of Health, or through an executive order or directive issued by the Governor. The bill provides, that for individuals who refuse to accept an offer of work based on such conditions, no benefits charges will be deemed to be the responsibility of the previous employer, unless the individual has refused an offer to return to work to his previous employer because the individual has a reasonable belief that the workplace is not in compliance with the Department of Labor and Industry's standards for the prevention of COVID-19. The provisions of the bill expire 30 days after the expiration or revocation of all states of emergency declared by the Governor related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Employment; retaliatory discharge of employee;Workers' Compensation. Prohibits an employer or other personfrom discharging or taking other retaliatory action against an employeeif such action is motivated by the knowledge or belief that the employeehas filed a claim or taken or intends to take certain actions underthe Virginia Workers' Compensation Act. Currently, retaliatory dischargesare prohibited only if the employer discharges an employee solely because the employee has taken or intends to take such an action.
