Budget Bill. Amends Chapter 854 of the2019 Acts of Assembly.
Virginia Retirement System; return to employment by certain retired employees. Provides that a political subdivision participating in the Virginia Retirement System may hire up to two retirees at a time to return to work in full-time positions. Such employees may receive their service retirement allowance during the subsequent period of employment provided that there was a bona fide break in service of one year between retirement and employment in the full-time position and that there was no prearrangement for reemployment. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
Senate Committee on Finance; Senate Committee for Courts of Justice; name change. Updates the Code of Virginia by providing that any reference to the "Senate Finance Committee" or the "Senate Committee on Finance" means the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations and any reference to the "Senate Courts of Justice Committee" or the "Senate Committee for Courts of Justice" means the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
Adoption and foster care; persons authorized to conduct home studies. Allows home studies for purposes of adoption or foster care placements to be conducted by any person who has completed the home study training program established by regulations of the Board of Social Services. Under current law, such home studies must be conducted by a local board of social services or licensed child-placing agency.
Study; Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety; firearm safety education in the Commonwealth's public schools; report. Requests the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety, in collaboration with the Department of Education, to study, develop, and recommend best practices for firearm safety education in the Commonwealth's public schools.
Hope Card Program; permanent protective orders. Requires the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia to develop and implement a Hope Card Program (the Program) for the issuance of a Hope Card to any person who has been issued a permanent protective order by any general district court, juvenile and domestic relations court, or circuit court. The bill states that a Hope Card issued pursuant to the Program shall be a durable, plastic, wallet-sized card containing essential information about the protective order, such as the identifying information and characteristics of the person subject to the protective order, the issuance and expiration date of the protective order, the terms of the protective order, and the names of any other persons protected by the protective order. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
Department of Education; School ConstructionFund and Program. Establishes the School Construction Fund asa special nonreverting fund in the state treasury and requires theDepartment of Education to establish the School Construction Programfor the purpose of providing grants from the Fund, subject to certainconditions, to school boards that leverage federal, state, and localprograms and resources to finance the design and construction ofnew school buildings and facilities or the modernization and maintenanceof existing school buildings and facilities.
Grandfathering certain nonconforming use. Removes the requirement that in order for a wall build on residential property to be grandfathered as a valid nonconforming use, the residential property owner must have been informed by a local official that such wall required no permit.
George Mason University; establishment of a school of medicine. States that it is the sense of the General Assembly that George Mason University shall be encouraged to take steps to investigate and pursue the potential of establishing a school of medicine in the Northern Virginia area.
Expungement of police and court records; pardons. Allows a person to petition for the expungement of the police and court records relating to such person's conviction for misdemeanors and certain felonies if he has been granted a simple pardon for the crime. The bill also allows a person to petition for an expungement of the police and court records relating to convictions of marijuana possession, underage alcohol or tobacco possession, and using a false ID to obtain alcohol, and for deferred disposition dismissals for possession of controlled substances or marijuana, underage alcohol or tobacco possession, and using a false ID to obtain alcohol, when all court costs, fines, and restitution have been paid, and five years have elapsed since the date of completion of all terms of sentencing and probation. Under current law, police and court records relating to convictions are only expunged if a person received an absolute pardon for a crime he did not commit. This bill incorporates SB 118 and SB 517.
State Police Officers' Retirement System; exceptionto mandatory retirement requirement. Allows an exception fromcompulsory retirement at age 70 for any member of the State PoliceOfficers' Retirement System (SPORS) who receives written approvalfrom his supervisor. Current law provides an exception from the compulsory retirement age only for members appointed by the Governor, memberselected by the people, or certain jail superintendents.
TANF; time limitations. Removes the time limitations on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) that limited Virginia Initiative for Education and Work (VIEW) participants to receiving TANF for a maximum of 24 consecutive months. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
