Department of Education; recommendations forimproving civic education. Requires the Department of Educationto develop and report to the Board of Education, the Governor, andthe Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committeeon Education and Health no later than July 1, 2021, recommendationsfor improving civic education for each public elementary and secondaryschool student in the Commonwealth, including strategies for (i)expanding their level of civic knowledge, (ii) increasing their respectfor the political history of the Commonwealth and the United States,(iii) mitigating the politically polarizing effects that the mainstream media can have on such students, and (iv) helping such students become civically and politically engaged in a rational and civil manner.
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. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
Virginia Public Procurement Act; considerationof best value concepts for construction services. Permits publicbodies to consider best value concepts when procuring constructionservices. Under current law, public bodies may consider best valueconcepts only when procuring goods and nonprofessional services.
Bear damaging crops; kill permit. Requires the Director of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to authorize the killing of bear when they are found to be responsible for damaging crops, including during a harvest. The bill prohibits the Director from authorizing nonlethal control measures unless they are specifically requested by the owner or lessee of the land where the crop damage occurred.
School boards; paid maternity leave benefit policy. Requires each school board to establish a paid maternity leave benefit policy to grant any mother who has been employed full time by the school board for at least two years and who gave birth to or adopted a child 12 weeks of paid sick leave, in addition to any other sick leave to which such individual is otherwise entitled, to care for such child. Each such policy shall include provisions relating to (i) any payroll contributions that may be required to finance all or any part of the implementation of the paid maternity leave benefit, (ii) the amount and value of the maternity leave benefit, (iii) the computation of the duration of the paid maternity leave benefit, (iv) the period within which the paid maternity leave benefit shall be used, (v) intermittent use of the paid maternity leave benefit, (vi) employment protection for mothers who use the paid maternity leave benefit, (vii) the coordination of the use of the paid maternity leave benefit and any other leave pursuant to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq., and (viii) any other consideration deemed relevant by the school board.
Flavored nicotine vapor product; prohibition;penalty. Prohibits the sale or distribution at retail of a flavored nicotine product. The bill provides that any person who violatesthis prohibition is guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor.
Lane filtering; motorcycles. Authorizesthe operator of a two-wheeled motorcycle to pass another vehiclethat is stopped or traveling at no more than 10 miles per hour inthe same lane, provided that there are at least two lanes of travelin each direction, such motorcycle does not exceed a speed of 20miles per hour, and the operator executes such passing safely.
Income tax deduction; primary and secondaryschool tuition or home instruction expenses. Provides an incometax deduction beginning in taxable year 2020 for education expenses incurred by the parent or guardian of a child under the age of 18. Qualifying education expenses for the deduction are defined in thebill as tuition for a primary or secondary school in the Commonwealth,or expenses directly related to the home instruction of children.
Peer-to-peer vehicle sharing platforms; regulation; insurance; taxation. Establishes taxation, insurance coverage,sale of insurance, disclosure, safety recall, airport operation,and recordkeeping requirements for peer-to-peer vehicle sharing platforms,as defined in the bill.
Virginia Public Procurement Act; definitions; best value; clarification. Amends the definition of best value in the Virginia Public Procurement Act.
Product safety; flame retardants; regulations; fund; civil penalty. Prohibits the manufacture or sale in the Commonwealth, beginning July 1, 2021, of upholstered furniture intended for residential use or any product that is intended to come into close contact with a person younger than 12 years of age if such upholstered furniture or product contains any flame-retardant chemical listed in the bill. The bill requires the manufacturer of any prohibited product to notify sellers of the prohibition by March 31, 2021, and requires a manufacturer to recall by that date any products that it has sold in violation of the prohibition. Casual or isolated sales of previously owned products containing the listed chemicals are exempted from the prohibition. The bill subjects any manufacturer in the Commonwealth that manufacturers a product in violation of the provisions of the bill to a civil penalty of $5,000 for a first offense or $10,000 for a second or subsequent offense, and it directs the funds collected to the Virginia Product Safety Fund, created by the bill. Finally, the bill directs the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt regulations to carry out the provisions of the bill and to impose the chemical prohibition on certain other consumer products.
Required local effort for basic aid; debt service on projects in certain school divisions. Permits any local school board that governs a school division (i) in which the locality is designated as fiscally at-risk or fiscally distressed by the Appalachian Regional Commission in the most recent fiscal year or is determined to have above-average fiscal stress or high fiscal stress by the Virginia Commission on Local Government in its most recent "Report on the Comparative Revenue Capacity, Revenue Effort, and Fiscal Stress of Virginia Counties and Cities" and (ii) for which the composite index of local ability to pay is less than or equal to 0.2000 to expend up to 25 percent of the required local effort for basic aid for debt service on school building capital renovation or construction projects. The bill provides that in the event that the school division no longer meets such criteria, the local school board shall develop and implement a plan to readjust expenditures of the required local effort for basic aid over the course of no more than four fiscal years. The bill also provides that in the event that a school division that no longer met such criteria subsequently meets the criteria again after developing a plan, the local school board may seek the approval of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to amend such plan. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2032.
