Virginia Bills

Provides that Charitable Gaming Board regulations relating to charitable gaming development, including game variations for the conduct of raffles, bingo, network bingo, and instant bingo games, shall be exempt from the Administrative Process Act, provided that (i) such variations result in games that are consistent with the provisions of charitable gaming law and Board regulations, (ii) such regulations are published and posted, and (iii) the Board files a copy of any such regulations with the Registrar of Regulations. This bill is identical to

Requires the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center (the Center) to encourage the development and delivery of workforce training in collaboration with educational institutions serving the region, with a focus on critical shortage areas and the needs of industry. The bill replaces the superintendent of the Halifax County Public Schools as an ex officio member of the board of trustees of the Center with a superintendent of a public school division located in the Southside region appointed by the Governor. The bill also broadens the eligibility requirements to serve as one of the representatives of business and industry on the board of trustees. The bill requires the board of trustees to seek opportunities to collaborate with local comprehensive community colleges to meet specialized noncredit workforce training needs identified by industry. However, if the local comprehensive community college is unable to meet such needs, then the board may seek to collaborate with other education providers or provide Center-delivered specialized noncredit workforce training. This bill is identical to

Allows a licensed residential real estate appraiser, certified residential real estate appraiser, or certified general real estate appraiser to provide an evaluation of real estate or real property in connection with certain real estate-related financial transactions. This bill is identical to

Provides that any high school family life education curriculum offered by a local school division may incorporate age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the law and meaning of consent.

Removes the president of Bluefield College from the board of trustees of the Roanoke Higher Education Authority. This bill is identical to

Establishes a process for amending death certificates to change the name of the deceased, the deceased's parent or spouse, or the informant; the marital status of the deceased; or the place of residence of the deceased when the place of residence is outside the Commonwealth. This bill is identical to

Harmonizes the penalties for driving under the influence (DUI) and commercial DUI. The bill imposes a $250 mandatory minimum fine for a first offense of commercial DUI and mandatory minimum sentences of five days if the person's blood alcohol level was at least 0.15 and 10 days if the person's blood alcohol level was more than 0.20. The bill increases from five to 20 days the mandatory minimum sentence for a second offense committed within five years, adds a 10-day mandatory minimum sentence for a second offense committed within five to 10 years, and imposes a $500 mandatory minimum fine for any second offense committed within a 10-year period. The bill also imposes additional mandatory minimum sentences for a second offense committed within 10 years of 10 days if the person's blood alcohol level was at least 0.15 and 20 days if the person's blood alcohol level was more than 0.20 as well as an additional $500 mandatory minimum fine. The bill raises the penalty for a third offense committed within 10 years from a Class 1 misdemeanor with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 days, or 30 days if the three offenses were committed within five years, to a Class 6 felony with a mandatory minimum sentence of 90 days, or six months if the three offenses were committed within five years, and a mandatory minimum fine of $1,000. The bill adds a penalty for a fourth or subsequent offense committed within a 10-year period that includes a mandatory minimum sentence of one year and a mandatory minimum fine of $1,000. The bill also provides that a person convicted of commercial DUI after being convicted of certain felony DUI or DUI-related offenses is guilty of a Class 6 felony with a mandatory minimum sentence of one year and a mandatory minimum fine of $1,000. The bill also provides that the punishment for any person convicted of commercial DUI who was transporting a minor at the time of the offense shall include an additional mandatory minimum sentence of five days and an additional fine of at least $500 and no more than $1,000. Finally, the bill provides that the mandatory minimum punishments are cumulative and mandatory minimum sentences must be served consecutively.

Requires the Board of Health to adopt regulations to include neonatal abstinence syndrome on the list of diseases that shall be required to be reported. This bill is identical to

Requires that any arbitration proceeding regarding the exercise of an employer's right of subrogation to an employee's claim against a third party shall be limited solely to arbitrating the amount and validity of the employer's lien and shall not affect the employee's rights in any way. Such arbitration shall not be held unless (i) any contested expenses remaining have been submitted to the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission (the Commission) for a determination of their validity and the Commission has made such determination of validity prior to the commencement of the arbitration; (ii) prior to the commencement of such arbitration the employer has provided the injured employee and his attorney, if any, with an itemization of the expenses associated with the lien that is the subject of the arbitration; (iii) upon receipt of the itemization of the lien, the employee shall have 21 days to provide a written objection to any expenses included in the lien to the employer, and if the employee does not do so any objections to the lien to be arbitrated shall be deemed waived; and (iv) the employer shall have 14 days after receipt of the written objection to notify the employee of any contested expenses that the employer does not agree to remove from the lien, and if the employer does not do so any itemized expense objected to by the employee shall be deemed withdrawn and not included in the arbitration. This bill is identical to

Shifts responsibilities for transportation planning activities from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to the Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment of the Secretary of Transportation. The bill specifies VDOT's core functions and limits the agency's duties to those core functions. The bill requires transparency in the development of the Six-Year Improvement Program and the State of Good Repair Program by the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) and requires the CTB and VDOT to make public certain information related to the selection of projects. This bill is identical to