Mortgage brokers; prohibition on dual compensation. Clarifies the existing provisions that prohibit a licensed mortgagebroker from negotiating, placing, or finding a mortgage loan thatwill be used to finance the purchase of residential property if themortgage broker or its affiliate is acting as a real estate broker,agent, salesman, or firm in connection with the sale of the propertythat will secure the loan and receiving a commission or other thingof value for such services. Mortgage brokers who were licensed by the State Corporation Commission as of February 25, 1989, remainexempt from the prohibition if they furnish the prescribed writtennotice to the borrower.
Pipeline construction; certification requirement; minimum diameter; stop work orders. Reduces from 36 inches to 24 inches the minimum inside diameter of a natural gas transmission pipeline for which an individual Virginia Water Protection Permit, rather than a general permit, is required to conduct activities in wetlands or state waters or an additional upland activity certification is required to obtain a Clean Water Act Certification. The bill reduces from 15 percent to 10 percent the minimum grade of a slope on which any construction activities will trigger the requirement for such additional upland activity certification. The measure requires the Department of Environmental Quality, within five business days of the issuance of a stop work instruction, to notify the pipeline company of specific corrective measures that shall be completed and approved by the Department before any land-disturbing activity may be resumed. The bill authorizes the State Water Control Board, in addition to the Department, to issue such stop work instructions and adds requirements and restrictions on any further construction once such an instruction is issued.
Pipeline construction projects; violations; cumulative effect; civil penalties. Directs the State Water Control Board to adopt regulations to penalize the accrual of violations of the State Water Control Law by any large natural gas transmission pipeline construction project. The bill requires the regulations to provide that, for every 10 such violations in one calendar month, the Board shall issue an accrued cumulative impact violation order that includes a civil penalty of $32,500. If a project accrues a total of 20 such violations in one calendar month, the Board shall additionally, after notice and hearing, initiate proceedings to halt work on the entirety of the project, with work to remain halted until corrective action is taken and is approved by the Board.
Opioid addiction treatment pilot program. Requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Department), in partnership with community services boards, a hospital licensed in the Commonwealth, and telemedicine networks, to establish a two-year pilot program in Planning District 12 designed to provide comprehensive treatment and recovery services to uninsured or underinsured individuals suffering from opioid addiction or opioid-related disorders. The bill requires the Department and its partners to collaborate with a work group established by the Department of interested stakeholders to develop the pilot program. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
Prohibiting sale, transport, etc., of assault firearms,certain firearm magazines, silencers, and trigger activators; penalties.Expands the definition of "assault firearm" and prohibits any personfrom importing, selling, transferring, manufacturing, purchasing, possessing,or transporting an assault firearm. A violation is a Class 6 felony. The billprohibits a dealer from selling, renting, trading, or transferring from hisinventory an assault firearm to any person. The bill also prohibits a personfrom carrying a shotgun with a magazine that will hold more than seven roundsof the longest ammunition for which it is chambered in a public place; underexisting law, this prohibition applies only in certain localities. The billmakes it a Class 6 felony to import, sell, transfer, manufacture, purchase,possess, or transport large-capacity firearm magazines, silencers, and triggeractivators, all defined in the bill. Any person who legally owns an assaultfirearm, large-capacity firearm magazine, silencer, or trigger activator onJuly 1, 2020, may retain possession until January 1, 2021. During that time,such person shall (i) render the assault firearm, large-capacity firearmmagazine, silencer, or trigger activator inoperable; (ii) remove the assaultfirearm, large-capacity firearm magazine, silencer, or trigger activator fromthe Commonwealth; (iii) transfer the assault firearm, large-capacity firearmmagazine, silencer, or trigger activator to a person outside the Commonwealthwho is not prohibited from possessing it; or (iv) surrender the assaultfirearm, large-capacity firearm magazine, silencer, or trigger activator to astate or local law-enforcement agency.The bill further states that any person who legally owns anassault firearm on July 1, 2020, may retain possession of such assault firearmafter January 1, 2021, if such person has obtained a permit from the Departmentof State Police to possess an assault firearm in accordance with proceduresestablished in the bill. A person issued such permit may possess an assaultfirearm only under the following conditions: (a) while in his home or on hisproperty or while on the property of another who has provided prior permission,provided that the person has the landowner's written permission on his personwhile on such property; (b) while at a shooting range, shooting gallery, orother area designated for the purpose of target shooting or the target range ofa public or private club or organization whose members have organized for thepurpose of practicing shooting targets or competing in target shooting matches;(c) while engaged in lawful hunting; or (d) while surrendering the assaultfirearm to a state or local law-enforcement agency. A person issued such permitmay also transport an assault firearm between any of those locations, providedthat such assault firearm is unloaded and secured within a closed containerwhile being transported. The bill also provides that failure to display thepermit and a photo identification upon demand by a law-enforcement officershall be punishable by a $25 civil penalty, which shall be paid into the statetreasury. The bill also requires the Department of State Police to enter thename and description of a person issued a permit in the Virginia CriminalInformation Network (VCIN) so that the permit's existence and current statuswill be made known to the law-enforcement personnel accessing VCIN forinvestigative purposes.
Virginia Minimum Wage Act; exclusions. Eliminatesthe exclusion in the Virginia Minimum Wage Act for persons whoseemployment is covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of1938 (FLSA) and for persons whose earning capacity is impaired byphysical deficiency, mental illness, or intellectual disability.The measure also exempts, until July 1, 2024, from the Virginia MinimumWage Act any person who is paid pursuant to a special certificatethat provides for the employment of individuals whose earning orproductive capacity is impaired by age, physical or mental deficiency,or injury at wages lower than the minimum wage otherwise requiredby the FLSA.
Definition of incapacitated person; particularclinical diagnosis. Specifies that a particular clinical diagnosisshall not alone be sufficient evidence that an individual is an incapacitatedperson within the meaning of the definition of incapacitated person.
Employment; disclosure of terms. Requires every employer of employees who are 18 years of age or older who work for daily wages or are employed to work on a project for a total of 10 days or less, with some exceptions specified in the measure, to furnish to such employees, at the time of the employee's hiring, a written disclosure of information regarding the terms of employment, including the name and address of the employer, the rate of pay and basis thereof, and the regular payday. The measure also requires employers to notify its employees in writing of any changes to this information.
Duties of drivers of vehicles approaching stationary vehicles displaying certain warning lights; penalty. Makes a driver's failure to (i) move into a nonadjacent lane on a highway with at least four lanes when approaching a stationary towing vehicle or incident or traffic management vehicle displaying flashing, blinking, or alternating amber lights or (ii) proceed with due caution and maintain a safe speed when passing such a vehicle reckless driving, which is punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. Under current law, such offense is a traffic infraction punishable by a fine of not more than $250, and a failure to so move or proceed with due caution when approaching other such listed vehicles is reckless driving.
School Divisions of Innovation; local assessments. Allows a local school board, when applying for its school division to be designated as a School Division of Innovation, to apply to the Board of Education to replace the Virginia Studies and Civics and Economics Standards of Learning assessments with local assessments that include performance-based assessments. The bill requires any such application to (i) demonstrate that the proposed local assessment requires that students demonstrate the knowledge and skills required by the relevant Standards of Learning and that students demonstrate one or more of the skills and qualities of critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, or citizenship and (ii) provide evidence of the local school board's capacity to administer and score performance-based assessments.
Method of nominating party candidates; incumbentselection. Removes the power of incumbent officeholders in somecases to insist on a primary as the method of nominating politicalparty candidates and removes the power of General Assembly incumbentsseeking reelection to determine the method of nomination. These provisionsof law were held to be unconstitutional by the United States Courtof Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in 6th Cong. Dist. RepublicanComm. v. Alcorn, 913 F.3d 393 (January 9, 2019). The bill doesnot affect the current power of duly constituted authorities of thepolitical party to determine the method of nominating party candidates.
Consumer finance companies. Requires theState Corporation Commission, as a condition of licensing a consumerfinance company, to find that the applicant will not make consumerfinance loans at the same location at which the applicant makes paydayloans or motor vehicle title loans. The measure also (i) sets theminimum and maximum amounts of a consumer finance loan at $500 and$35,000, respectively; (ii) requires that such loans be installmentloans with a term that is not less than six months nor more than 120 months; (iii) sets the maximum annual interest rate on such loansat 36 percent; (iv) authorizes late payment fees of $20, providedthat they are set forth in a contract; (v) authorizes loan processingfees of the greater of $75 or five percent of the principal amountof the loan but not to exceed $150; and (vi) increases from $15 to$25 the amount of a bad check fee.
