Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity; Small Business Procurement Enhancement Program established; report. Establishes the Small Business Procurement Enhancement Program (the Program) with a statewide goal of 42 percent of small business utilization in all discretionary spending by state agencies in procurement orders, prime contracts, and subcontracts. In addition, the bill (i) provides for a small business set-aside for competition among all small businesses for state agency purchases of up to $100,000 for goods, nonprofessional services, and construction and up to $80,000 for professional services and (ii) establishes certification criteria for participation in the Program by business operations on the basis of the total number of employees or annual gross receipts, averaged over the previous three years.
Commending the Virginia Maritime Association.
Commemorating the life and legacy of LeslieDevan Smith, Jr.
Towing fees. The bill raises from $25 to$30 the additional fee that can be charged for towing a vehicle at night, on weekends, or on a holiday. The bill requires localitiesin Planning District 8 and Planning District 16 to set such additionalfee at between $25 and $30. Current law requires such localitiesto set such additional fee at $25.
Celebrating the life of Samuel Hughes Melton,M.D.
Definition of law-enforcement officer; certain employees of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Adds special agents employed by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Office of the Inspector General to the definition of law-enforcement officer. The bill also grants such individuals the same authority and power as sheriffs to enforce the laws of the Commonwealth. Such individuals shall not be eligible for Line of Duty Act benefits.
Public institutions of higher education; admissions applications; criminal history. Prohibits each public institution of higher education, with the exception of the Virginia Military Institute, from (i) utilizing an institution-specific admissions application that contains questions about the criminal history of the applicant or (ii) denying admission to any applicant on the basis of any criminal history information provided by the applicant on any third-party admissions application accepted by the institution.
Carbon trading program; allocation of allowances; new facility. Directs the State Air Pollution Control Board (the Board) to allocate allowances for three years to any electric power generating facility that was permitted prior to the June 26, 2019, effective date of the Board's carbon trading regulations. The bill requires an accounting comparison to actual emissions at the end of the three-year period and the allocation of further allowances pursuant to Board regulations thereafter.
Vehicles stopped at crosswalks; prohibitionon passing. Prohibits the driver of a vehicle from overtakingand passing a vehicle stopped at a marked crosswalk to permit a pedestrianto cross the highway.
Department of Veterans Services; hyperbaricoxygen therapy; data collection. Allows the Department of VeteransServices (the Department) to contract with any hospital in the Commonwealththat furnishes the treatment option of hyperbaric oxygen therapyto provide hyperbaric oxygen therapy to any veteran in the Commonwealthwho has been certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairsor any branch of the United States Armed Forces as having post-traumaticstress disorder or traumatic brain injury. The Department shall includein any contract with such hospital to furnish hyperbaric oxygen therapythe requirement that data be collected to assess the efficacy ofhyperbaric oxygen therapy for veterans and any other informationdeemed relevant by the Department.
Virginia Fair Housing Law; unlawful discriminatory housing practices. Provides that it is an unlawful discriminatory housing practice for any political jurisdiction or its employees or appointed commissions to discriminate in the application of local land use ordinances or guidelines, or in the permitting of housing developments, on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status, or handicap. The bill also provides that it is an unlawful discriminatory housing practice for any political jurisdiction or its employees or appointed commissions to discriminate in the application of local land use ordinances or guidelines, or in the permitting of housing developments, because a housing development contains or is expected to contain affordable housing units occupied or intended for occupancy by families or individuals with incomes at or below 80 percent of the median income of the area where the housing development is located or is proposed to be located, unless the location of a development or proposed development is, at the time of municipal decision, within a census tract wherein more than 50 percent of the residential units house families or individuals at or below 80 percent of the area median income. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
Study; Virginia State Crime Commission; effectof abolishing jury sentencing on the justice system; report.Directs the Virginia State Crime Commission to (i) identify the mostcommon charges tried before juries within the Commonwealth and determinethe average sentence per charge as recommended by a jury; (ii) comparethe jury-recommended sentence to the average sentence for each identifiedcharge, factoring in alternative sentences and suspended time, asdetermined by a judge during a bench trial; (iii) identify any perceived negative impacts to the judicial system associated with abolishingthe practice of jury sentencing and make recommendations as to howthese potential negative impacts could be avoided; and (iv) determinethe feasibility of abolishing jury sentencing for noncapital offenseswithin the Commonwealth.
