Celebrating the life of Joseph Alexander.
Commending the Philippine Cultural Center ofVirginia.
Commending Lieutenant Colonel Alexander SemyonVindman, USA Ret.
Workers' compensation; presumption of compensabilityfor COVID-19. Establishes a presumption that COVID-19 causingthe death or disability of firefighters, emergency medical servicespersonnel, law-enforcement officers, first responders, health careproviders, and school board employees is an occupational diseasescompensable under the Workers' Compensation Act. The provisions ofthe bill will be effective retroactive to January 1, 2020.
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; VirginiaParole Board member votes. Provides that individual votes of the members of the Virginia Parole Board shall be public records andsubject to the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of InformationAct.
Assault and battery; penalty. Eliminates the mandatory minimum term of confinement for a simple assault or an assault and battery committed against a judge; magistrate; law-enforcement officer; correctional officer; person directly involved in the care, treatment, or supervision of inmates; firefighter; or volunteer firefighter or any emergency medical services personnel. The bill provides that any person charged with such offense where the degree of culpability is slight, a jury or the court may find the accused not guilty of such offense but guilty of a simple assault or assault and battery, punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also provides that before any arrest, indictment, or service of a petition in the case of a juvenile is made for an alleged assault and battery against a law-enforcement officer, such alleged assault and battery shall be investigated by another law-enforcement officer who was not the subject of such alleged assault and battery and the arrest, indictment, or service of a petition shall be approved by the attorney for the Commonwealth.
Parole; notice and certification; monthly reports. Provides that the Department of Corrections (the Department) shall release a prisoner no sooner than 21 business days after the date of notification by the Virginia Parole Board (the Board) to the appropriate attorney for the Commonwealth of the decision to grant parole. The bill authorizes the Board to make such notification electronically and by certified mail; under current law only certified mail may be used. The bill requires that the monthly reports issued by the Board regarding actions taken on the parole of prisoners (i) be published on the last day of the month and (ii) include the offenses of which prisoners considered for parole were convicted, the jurisdictions in which such offenses were committed, and the amount of time served by such prisoners. However, a prisoner's name shall be included on report only if the attorney for the Commonwealth and any victims have been notified; otherwise, inclusion on the report is delayed to the following month. The bill requires that when notice is sent to a victim of the victim's right to present evidence to the Board of the impact that the release of a prisoner will have on the victim, such notice shall also be sent to the attorney for the Commonwealth and the director of the victim/witness program of the jurisdiction in which the prisoner's offense occurred.
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; law-enforcement criminal incident information; criminal investigative files. Adds criminal investigative files, defined in the bill, to the types of law-enforcement and criminal records required to be released in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Under current law, the release of criminal investigative files is discretionary. The bill also allows a law-enforcement agency or attorney for the Commonwealth to petition a court of record for permission not to release criminal incident information that would otherwise be subject to release, if the release of such information is likely to jeopardize an ongoing investigation or cause certain other harms.
Commissioner of Health; nursing home and assisted living facility employees and residents; priority for testing; COVID-19 pandemic. Provides that the Commissioner of Health shall ensure that residents and employees of any nursing home or assisted living facility receive first priority for any testing indicating the existence of the COVID-19 virus in the Commonwealth.
Board and Commissioner of Health; emergencyorders and regulations; duration. Provides that any emergencyorder or regulation adopted by the Board of Health shall be validfor no more than 30 days and that such order may be extended by theBoard of Health for a subsequent period of 30 days but that in nocase shall such emergency order or regulation be valid for more than18 months from the effective date of the initial order or regulation.The bill also provides that in any case in which the Commissionerof Health exercises the authority of the Board of Health to enactan emergency order or regulation, such order or regulation shall bevalid for no more than 30 days from the effective date of the orderor regulation unless the Board of Health adopts an order or regulationto such effect.
Rapid diagnostic testing; essential workers; emergency. Requires the Commissioner to ensure that priority for access to any rapid diagnostic testing indicating the existence of the COVID-19 virus that is already available in the Commonwealth go to essential workers in the Commonwealth. Priority for access to such testing shall include the following groups: (i) health care providers; (ii) law-enforcement officers; (iii) emergency medical services personnel and emergency medical services providers; (iv) firefighters; (v) employees of nursing homes and adult day care centers and assisted living facilities; (vi) public and private elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth; (vii) public institutions of higher education and private institutions of higher education; (viii) private providers licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; and (ix) employees at child day centers, family day homes, and early childhood care and education entities. The bill contains an emergency clause.
Law-enforcement officer; duty to render aid; duty to report wrongdoing by another law-enforcement officer; penalty. Requires any law-enforcement officer on duty who witnesses another person suffering from a serious bodily injury or a life-threatening condition to render aid and makes it a duty to report acts of wrongdoing committed by another law-enforcement officer. Any law-enforcement officer who fails to render such aid or report such acts of abuse, fraud, misconduct, or wrongdoing committed by another law-enforcement officer shall be subject to disciplinary action, including dismissal, demotion, suspension, or transfer of the law-enforcement officer. The bill also penalizes as a Class 1 misdemeanor the failure of any law-enforcement officer, who has actual knowledge of the commission on duty of a criminal offense by another law-enforcement officer, to report such wrongdoing, defined in the bill. The bill also amends the definition of "bias-based profiling" to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
