Transportation safety. Adopts several initiatives related to transportation and safety, including: (i) making it illegalto possess an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle, (ii)requiring all passengers in a vehicle to wear safety belts and makingfailure to wear a safety belt a primary offense, (iii) prohibitingthe use of handheld personal communication devices, (iv) establishinga speed monitoring program in highway safety corridors that usesa vehicle sensor to take a picture of a vehicle traveling more than10 miles over the speed limit, subjecting the driver to a monetary fine, and (v) allowing localities to lower the speed limit below25 miles per hour in business and residential districts. The Commissionerof the Department of Motor Vehicles will establish an advisory committeeto oversee education and enforcement of policies such as the seatbeltand hands-free provisions. The bill also changes the vehicle inspectionsafety program to only require inspections of salvage vehicles thathave been rebuilt for highway use, converted electric vehicles, andoff-road motorcycles that have been converted to on-road use. Thebill contains numerous technical amendments.
Commending the Honorable Marie Yovanovitch.
Designating June 29, in 2020 and in each succeedingyear, as Virginia Day.
Local Food and Farming Infrastructure Fund and Grant Program; political subdivisions. Establishes the Local Food and Farming Infrastructure Fund and directs the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to establish a Local Food and Farming Infrastructure Grant Program for infrastructure development projects that support local food production and sustainable farming. The bill directs the Department to award grants to political subdivisions for projects that include the establishment or maintenance of farmers markets; businesses or organizations that manage the aggregation, distribution, and marketing of food products primarily from local and regional producers; and primarily locally owned processing facilities. Any political subdivision that is awarded a grant is required to oversee the spending of the grant and provide an annual report and a final report to the Department. The bill provides parameters for the payment of the grant amount to each political subdivision and establishes requirements for verification of compliance with award criteria by such political subdivision.
Electric utilities; electric school bus projects. Authorizes Dominion Energy Virginia to implement projects designed to encourage the proliferation of school buses that are fueled in whole or in part by electricity, along with associated charging and other infrastructure, for the purpose of transporting students and that may also serve as electric grid stabilization or peak shaving resources. Under an electric school bus project, Dominion Energy Virginia may (i) purchase, own, manage, or control electric school buses, along with associated charging or other infrastructure; (ii) enter into third-party agreements for the purchase, lease, or use of electric school buses, along with associated charging or other infrastructure; (iii) enter into agreements with any school board of any public school division located in the Commonwealth for joint ownership of or for leasing on commercially competitive terms of electric school buses, along with associated charging or other infrastructure; (iv) provide financial incentives or rebates to any school board to promote or facilitate the purchase and ownership by such public school board of electric school buses, along with associated charging or other infrastructure; and (v) engage in other activities to promote the development and proliferation of electric school bus transportation in the Commonwealth. The bill also provides a tax exemption for electric school buses and associated charging and other infrastructure that is related or incidental to an authorized electric school bus project.
School boards; teachers; planning time and planning periods. Requires each local school board to ensure that each elementary school teacher has an average of one 45-minute period per school day of planning time and that each middle and high school teacher is provided an average of one planning period per school day or the equivalent, which shall be at least 45 minutes or one class period, whichever is longer. The bill permits local school boards and teachers to enter into an appropriate contractual arrangement providing for compensation in lieu of such planning time or period. Under current law, public elementary school teachers are guaranteed at least an average of 30 minutes of planning time per school day during a school week.
Nominating a person to be elected to a circuitcourt judgeship.
Celebrating the life Matthew Wayne Shepard.
Uyghurs; human rights crisis. Recognizesthe human rights crisis related to the internment of Uyghurs andother Central Asian ethnic minorities.
Notifying the Governor of organization.
License restrictions for minors; use of handheldpersonal communications devices. Clarifies that the prohibitionon the use of a wireless communications device by the holder of aprovisional driver's license applies whether or not the device isbeing used for communication purposes. The bill exempts the use ofapplications for solely navigation purposes and global positioningsystems provided that the driver does not enter information into or manually manipulate the device or system while operating the vehicle.
School boards; teachers; planning time and planning periods. Requires each local school board to ensure that each elementary school teacher has an average of one 45-minute period per school day of planning time and that each middle and high school teacher is provided an average of one planning period per school day or the equivalent, which shall be at least 45 minutes or one class period, whichever is longer. The bill permits local school boards and teachers to enter into an appropriate contractual arrangement providing for compensation in lieu of such planning time or period. Under current law, public elementary school teachers are guaranteed at least an average of 30 minutes of planning time per school day during a school week. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
