Virginia Bills

Department of General Services; guidance tostate public bodies regarding purchases of materials made in theUnited States. Directs the Department of General Services to developand maintain a guidance document assisting state public bodies topurchase (i) iron and steel that are made in the United States and (ii) manufactured goods with at least 50 percent of the constituentparts and materials originating in the United States.

Establishes the Virginia Redistricting Commission, a 16-member Commission tasked with establishing districts for the United States House of Representatives and for the Senate and the House of Delegates of the General Assembly. The Commission consists of eight legislative members and eight citizen members. The legislative members consist of four members of the Senate of Virginia and four members of the House of Delegates, with equal representation given to the political parties having the highest and next highest number of members in their respective houses. The citizen members are selected by a selection committee consisting of five retired judges of the circuit courts of Virginia, from lists submitted to the selection committee by the Speaker of the House of Delegates, the leader in the House of Delegates of the political party having the next highest number of members in the House of Delegates, the President pro tempore of the Senate of Virginia, and the leader in the Senate of the political party having the next highest number of members in the Senate. The Commission is required to submit to the General Assembly plans of districts for the Senate and the House of Delegates of the General Assembly no later than 45 days following the receipt of census data and plans of districts for the United States House of Representatives no later than 60 days following the receipt of census data, or July 1 of that year, whichever occurs later. The measure requires certain vote thresholds for plans, depending on the type of district, in order to be submitted to the General Assembly. No amendments may be made to a plan by the General Assembly or the Governor. The measure requires additional plans to be submitted, or additional time to be given to submit a plan, in certain circumstances, and further provides that districts will be drawn by the Supreme Court of Virginia if such efforts fail.

Provides that one motor vehicle of a veteran who has a 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability shall be exempt from state and local taxes. The amendment provides that only automobiles and pickup trucks qualify for the exemption. Additionally, the exemption is only applicable on the date the motor vehicle is acquired or the effective date of the amendment, whichever is later, and is not applicable for any period of time prior to the effective date of the amendment.

Requires the Department of Environmental Quality (the Department) to compile by July 1, 2020, to update at least annually thereafter, and to post to its website a Hazardous Waste Site Inventory (the Inventory). The Inventory shall be a current listing of sites permitted by or in corrective action under the Department at which the disposal of hazardous waste not otherwise excluded from regulation has occurred, providing specific information about each site.

Grants to the Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System voting privileges as a member of the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure (the Advisory Board). The bill requires the Advisory Board to report to the Board of Education and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health, no later than December 1, 2019, recommendations relating to licensure qualifications for individuals (i) employed by an institution of higher education to teach career and technical education courses in a high school setting and (ii) to teach dual enrollment courses in a high school setting.

Increases from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony the penalties for the following crimes if a minor is involved: (i) keeping, residing in, or visiting a bawdy place; (ii) aiding prostitution; and (iii) using vehicles to promote prostitution. The bill also adds felony violations of these offenses to (a) the list of offenses for which registration in the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry is required, (b) the definition of violent felony for the purposes of the sentencing guidelines, (c) the list of predicate criminal acts that constitutes the definition of street gangs, (d) the list of offenses that may constitute racketeering under the Virginia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, and (e) the offenses that may be investigated by a multi-jurisdiction grand jury. The bill also makes applicable to all persons, regardless of the gender of the victim, the crimes of (1) assisting or aiding in the abduction of or threatening to abduct a female under 16 years of age for the purpose of concubinage or prostitution, which the bill also changes to include any person under 18 years of age, and (2) placing or leaving one's wife in a bawdy place. The bill contains technical amendments.

Requires that the use of real property for open-space land shall conform to the official comprehensive plan for the area in which the property is located. Current law provides that no conservation easement shall be valid and enforceable unless the limitations it creates conform in all respects to the comprehensive plan at the time the easement is granted.