Redistricting; Virginia Redistricting Commission; standards and criteria. Establishes the Virginia Redistricting Commission (the Commission) pursuant to Article II, Sections 6 and 6-A of the Constitution of Virginia. The Commission, tasked with establishing districts for the United States House of Representatives and for the Senate and the House of Delegates of the General Assembly, will consist of eight legislative commissioners and eight citizen commissioners. The legislative commissioners consist of four members of the Senate of Virginia and four members of the House of Delegates, with equal representation given to the political parties having the highest and next highest number of members in their respective houses. The citizen commissioners are chosen by a selection committee consisting of five retired judges of the circuit courts of Virginia, from lists submitted to the selection committee by the Speaker of the House of Delegates, the leader in the House of Delegates of the political party having the next highest number of members in the House of Delegates, the President pro tempore of the Senate of Virginia, and the leader in the Senate of the political party having the next highest number of members in the Senate. The bill contains eligibility requirements for the citizen commissioners, including restrictions on holding or having held partisan national or state public office. As part of the application process for service on the Commission, the Division of Legislative Services acts as a repository for applications submitted by interested persons and is tasked with screening out applicants who are ineligible or submit incomplete applications. The applications of the citizen candidates selected by political leadership and submitted for consideration to the selection committee are public records.The bill also directs the Division of Legislative Services to provide staff support to the Commission in the redistricting of congressional and state legislative districts. The Commission is required to submit to the General Assembly plans of districts within certain time periods, and the bill sets out criteria by which the districts are to be drawn, including equal population, racial and ethnic fairness, communities of interest, contiguity, and compactness. The bill prohibits a map of districts from unduly favoring or disfavoring any political party when considered on a statewide basis.The bill provides for the preparation and use of adjusted population data for redistricting and reapportionment purposes to reflect the reallocation of persons incarcerated in federal, state, and local correctional facilities. Persons incarcerated in such a facility whose address at the time of incarceration was in the Commonwealth are to be counted at that address and persons incarcerated in such a facility whose address at the time of incarceration was outside of the Commonwealth or cannot be determined are to be counted at the facility.Provisions to ensure public participation in the redistricting process are included.If efforts to establish districts fail, the Supreme Court of Virginia is responsible for establishing districts, and the bill directs the Court to enact rules and procedures for doing so. The rules and procedures enacted by the Court are required to allow public participation in the Court's redistricting deliberations, to provide for the Division of Legislative Services to provide staff support and technical assistance to the Court, and to ensure districts established by the Court adhere to constitutional and statutory criteria. The bill directs the Court to appoint two special masters to assist in the establishment of districts, from lists submitted by the legislative leaders of the majority and minority political parties.The bill has a contingent effective date of November 15, 2020, provided that the voters approve the amendments to Article II of the Constitution of Virginia, amending Section 6 and adding Section 6-A, at the November 2020 general election.
Commending Cornerstones, Inc.
State income tax; amended return notice;interest accrual period. Provides that any taxpayer who is requiredto file an amended federal income tax return shall receive writtennotice from the Department of Taxation whether such requirement alsorequires the taxpayer to file an amended state tax return with the corresponding updated information. This written notice shall detailthe amount of additional taxes owed by the taxpayer, if any, as aresult of the amended federal filing and the amount of overpaymentthat shall be refunded to the taxpayer, if any, or a request forthe taxpayer's information needed by the Department to compute theamount of additional taxes owed or to be refunded. The bill shortensthe interest accrual period for good faith state income tax returnfilings with understatements of the amount owed to the period fromthe time a bill and notice of additional tax assessment is mailedby the Department of Taxation to a taxpayer until such assessmentis paid. Current law defines the interest accrual period as fromthe time the return was required by law to be filed until paid.
Celebrating the life of John W. Gerdelman.
Commending the Chesapeake Bay Commission.
Authority to defer and dismiss a criminal case. Provides that a trial court presiding in a criminal case may, after any plea or trial, with or without a determination, finding, or pronouncement of guilt, and notwithstanding the entry of a conviction order, upon consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, upon its own motion with the consent of the defendant, or with the agreement of the defendant and the Commonwealth, defer proceedings, defer entry of a conviction order, if none, or defer entry of a final order, and continue the case for final disposition, on such reasonable terms and conditions as may be agreed upon by the parties and placed on the record, or if there is no agreement, as may be imposed by the court. The bill provides that final disposition may include (i) conviction of the original charge, (ii) conviction of an alternative charge, or (iii) dismissal of the proceedings.
Electric utilities; electric school bus pilot program. Authorizes Dominion Energy Virginia to implement a pilot program under which it will deploy electric school buses in participating school divisions in its service territory. The initial phase of the pilot program is limited to the deployment of 50 electric school buses at a cost of up to $13.5 million. In each of the five years thereafter, the pilot program may be expanded by up to 200 additional electric school buses at a cost of up to $54 million per year. The pilot program provides that (i) the utility may use vehicle-to-grid technology to access electricity in the storage batteries of the electric school buses when they are not in use and (ii) the primary purpose of electric school buses is student transportation and if the Phase II utility's use of the battery compromises the school boards' ability to transport the students either through bus unavailability or insufficient charge, then the Phase II utility will compensate the school board. The duration of the pilot program shall not exceed 10 years, though the utility may petition the State Corporation Commission to make it permanent. Program costs, including the incremental cost of the electric school buses, are recoverable through the utility's base rates.
Commending the Virginia State Police.
Capital outlay plan. Updates the six-year capital outlay plan for projects to be funded entirely or partially from general fund-supported resources.
Electric utility regulation; energy efficiency standard. Requires Dominion Energy Virginia (DEV) and American Electric Power (AEP) to achieve incremental net annual savings in accordance with a schedule that starts in 2021, when savings are required to be at least 0.35 percent of the average annual energy retail sales by that utility in the three preceding calendar years, and increases the level of required savings until 2027 and thereafter, when savings are required to be at least two percent of the utility's average annual energy retail sales in the three preceding calendar years. The measure requires the utilities to retain an independent, qualified third-party evaluator to determine the utility's incremental net annual savings and other benefits of the program. The measure requires the State Corporation Commission, for any year that a utility meets the annual energy efficiency standard, to allow for the additional recovery of a margin on its program's operating expenses through a rate adjustment clause that provides the utility with a margin equal to the general rate of return on common equity. The Commission is directed to award an additional 20 basis points for each 0.1 percent of annual savings in excess of the required amount of savings, with a cap on total performance incentive awards in any year of 10 percent of the utility's total energy efficiency spending in that year. The measure also (i) increases the portion of the approved costs of certain utility energy efficiency programs that are required to be allocated to programs designed to benefit low-income, elderly, and disabled individuals from five percent to 15 percent of the approved costs of such programs and adds veterans to be benefited from such programs; (ii) requires the energy efficiency stakeholder process established for the purpose of providing input and feedback on the development of electric utilities' energy efficiency programs to include the participation of certain Commission personnel who participate in approval and oversight of utility efficiency programs; (iii) directs the Commission to increase the utility's rates to recover for revenue reductions related to energy efficiency programs if the revenue reductions have caused the utility, during the test period or periods under review, to earn more than 50 basis points below a fair combined rate of return on its generation and distribution services or, for any test period commencing after December 31, 2012, for DEV and after December 31, 2013, for AEP, more than 70 basis points below a fair combined rate of return on its generation and distribution services; (iv) allows certain large general service customers to avoid participation in energy efficiency programs and to avoid paying for the costs of such programs through a rate adjustment clause upon receiving an exemption from the Commission; and (v) provides that certain energy efficiency pilot programs may be deemed to be in the public interest.
Memorializing the Congress of the United Statesto support the Humane Cosmetics Act of 2019. Urges the Congress of the United States to support S. 2886 and H.R. 5141, theHumane Cosmetics Act of 2019.
Electric utilities; mandatory renewable energyportfolio standard. Replaces the existing voluntary renewableenergy portfolio standard (RPS) program with a mandatory renewableenergy portfolio standard program that requires each electric utilityto generate or purchase increasing percentages of electric powerthat is generated from renewable energy sources. The required percentagesstart at 14 percent of the total electric energy sold in 2021. Thereafterthe required percentages increase in steps until 2050 and thereafter,in which years 100 percent of the total electric energy sold is requiredto be renewable energy. The measure also requires that the sourcesof renewable energy be derived from one of several tiers, with requiredpercentages varying over time. A utility that fails to comply withan RPS standard established for a year is required to pay a deficiencypayment. The moneys paid as deficiency payments will be distributedby the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy to programs for low-income,disability, veteran, and age-qualifying energy efficiency programsand renewable energy programs, energy efficiency measures for publicfacilities, and administrative costs. The measure also requires theState Corporation Commission to implement an energy storage deploymenttarget of 2,400 megawatts by 2035.
