Provides that any candidate for a constitutional office who has been nominated by a political party or in a primary election shall be identified on the ballot by the name of his political party. Currently, only candidates for federal, statewide, and General Assembly offices nominated by a political party or in a primary election are so identified.
Left in General Laws
Provides that the statewide technical criteria for stormwater management that were adopted by the State Water Control Board during 2011 and became effective July 1, 2014, shall be applicable to those land-disturbing activities that are subject to a stormwater management permit that was initially issued prior to July 1, 2014, where notice of transfer of such permit to another party is provided to the Department of Environmental Quality after December 31, 2020, but no land-disturbing activities have commenced before such provision of notice. The bill creates exceptions for projects involving certain governmental bonding or public debt financing and for land-disturbing activities that are served by existing stormwater management facilities.
Authorizes any electric cooperative to (i) if it does not hold a membership interest in a utility aggregation cooperative, petition the Commission for approval of one or more rate adjustment clauses for the timely and current recovery from customers of the costs of generation facilities, modifications to generation facilities, or pumped hydroelectricity generation and storage facilities; or (ii) adopt any other cooperative's voluntary rate, voluntary program, or voluntary tariff.
Left in Rules
Left in Rules
Adds a definition of "personal use of campaign funds" and prohibits the use of contributions, or conversion of items acquired using contributions, to a candidate or campaign committee for a strictly personal purpose with no intended, reasonable, or foreseeable benefit to the candidate's campaign or public office. Complaints of alleged violations may be made to the State Board of Elections (the State Board) by any person who contributed to the candidate or candidate's campaign committee. The subject of the complaint has 30 days to either (i) reimburse the campaign committee the complained-of amount or (ii) provide to the State Board documentation or other evidence that the use of the campaign funds had an intended, reasonable, or foreseeable benefit to the campaign or the candidate's public office. If the subject of the complaint provides such documentation or other evidence, the State Board shall review the response made by the subject of the complaint and determine whether the use of campaign funds had any intended, reasonable, or foreseeable benefit to the campaign or the candidate's public office. The State Board shall assess a civil penalty, in an amount not to exceed $250, against a complaining party who is found to have filed a frivolous complaint. The bill amends the Freedom of Information Act to allow closed meetings for the State Board to review complaints related to the personal use of campaign funds. If the State Board determines that there were no intended, reasonable, or foreseeable benefits and the complained-of amount has not been reimbursed, it shall call a public hearing. If the complaining party declines to participate in the hearing, the complaint shall be dismissed. A person found by a unanimous vote of the State Board to have willfully and knowingly violated the prohibition on personal use of campaign funds must repay to the campaign committee the amount unlawfully converted to the personal use of the candidate or a member of the candidate's immediate family and must return to the complaining party the full amount of the complaining party's contribution to the campaign. The State Board may also assess an additional civil penalty, in an amount not to exceed $250. The person found to be in violation may seek review under the Administrative Process Act. The bill authorizes the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council (the Council) to issue formal advisory opinions regarding the provisions governing the personal use of campaign funds pursuant to the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act of 2006 (§ 24.2-945 et seq.). A person who has relied on such an opinion in good faith after he provides full disclosure of the facts will not be subject to the penalties outlined in the bill. In addition, the Council will be required to develop and publish guidance on the provisions of the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act that prohibit the personal use of campaign funds. The bill has an effective date of July 1, 2020.
Left in Local Government
Passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N)
Requires the owner or operator of any coal combustion residuals (CCR) unit, defined in the bill to include a coal ash pond or landfill, within the Chesapeake Bay watershed at Bremo Power Station, Chesapeake Energy Center, Chesterfield Power Station, and Possum Point Power Station to close such CCR unit by removing all of the CCR for (i) recycling, known as encapsulated beneficial use, or (ii) deposition in a permitted and lined landfill that meets certain federal standards. The measure requires that any owner or operator beneficially reuse no less than 6.8 million cubic yards in aggregate of such removed CCR from no fewer than two of the sites. Such a closure project shall be completed within 15 years of its initiation and shall be accompanied by an offer by the owner or operator to provide connection to a municipal water supply for every residence within one-half mile, or if such connection is not feasible, the owner or operator shall offer to provide water testing for any such residence.
Allows a retired law-enforcement officer to continue to receive his service retirement allowance during a subsequent period of employment by a local school division as a school security officer. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriations act. The bill incorporates
Passed House with amendment BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N)
