Exempts counties and cities with a population of 25,000 or less from the requirement that a person appointed to serve as a general registrar must be a qualified voter of the county or city for which he is appointed. This bill is identical to
Requires the City of Lexington to comply with various statutory provisions related to the short-term rental of property. The bill provides that (i) any business license that was required by any ordinance in effect regulating short-term rentals shall be null and void, (ii) any license taxes collected for short-term rentals subject to any ordinance in effect shall be refunded, and (iii) any taxpayer who was required to pay transient occupancy taxes for rental of real property for more than 30 days shall be refunded such payment. The bill mandates a deadline of September 30, 2018, for refunds and for the city to amend its existing ordinance.
Requires a locality to give consideration to the need for reasonable modifications to requirements that are necessary to accommodate persons with disabilities when preparing a zoning ordinance. The bill also alters the standard by which a variance shall be granted by adding the phrases "including the safe and easy use thereof" in regard to property and "or would accommodate persons with disabilities as required under the Americans with Disabilities Act."
Provides that the report of a judge's judicial performance evaluation, which is transmitted to the General Assembly, shall include the number of cases in which such judge did not file a written explanation of any departure from the sentencing guidelines as required by law. The bill provides that the person sentenced may seek a writ of mandamus to enforce the requirement that the court file such a written explanation.
Amends the definition of "pet shop" and requires any pet shop that sells dogs to post a notice stating that USDA APHIS Inspection Reports are available prior to purchase. The bill requires the shop to (i) maintain a written record containing such reports and other detailed information about each dog, (ii) make the record available to purchasers and other parties, (iii) maintain the record for two years after selling a dog, and (iv) transmit certain information to the Office of the State Veterinarian on a schedule established by that office.
Creates the Revenue Reserve Fund to be used to offset shortfalls in the budget of two percent or less of general fund resources collected.
Establishes an income tax modification for companies that, from 2018 through 2028, either (i) invest at least $5 million in new capital investment in a qualified locality and create at least 10 jobs paying at least twice the minimum wage in a qualified locality or (ii) create at least 50 jobs paying at least twice the minimum wage in a qualified locality. A company is eligible to claim the modification only if it had no property or payroll in Virginia on the effective date of the act.
Conference report agreed to by House (99-Y 0-N)
Requires General Assembly members, full-time legislative staff of General Assembly members compensated with state appropriations, and full-time employees of each legislative branch agency to complete sexual harassment training once every two calendar years. Training offered by the Office of the Clerk of the House of Delegates and the Office of the Clerk of the Senate must be substantially similar and provided to their respective members and their staff. All other legislative branch employees shall complete the sexual harassment training course offered by either Clerk. The training must be available online 24 hours per day, seven days per week and be substantially similar to any sexual harassment training course offered through the Commonwealth of Virginia Learning Center administered by the Department of Human Resource Management. Persons elected to the General Assembly or commencing or recommencing full-time employment in the legislative branch will have 90 days from the election or their dates of hire to complete the training unless the person previously completed such training earlier in the same calendar year. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2019. The bill incorporates
Increases the maximum fine for misdemeanor conviction of a zoning violation from $1,000 to $2,000. The bill also increases the maximum fine for failure to remove or abate the zoning violation after conviction from $1,500 to $2,000 for succeeding 10-day periods.
Authorizes the Comptroller of the Commonwealth to disburse appropriated sums to the Virginia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution for the maintenance of no more than 4,050 Revolutionary War graves set forth on a list submitted annually by the society to the Director of the Department of Historic Resources (the Director). The bill expands the categories of people whose graves may be maintained or marked to include persons rendering service to the Patriot cause in the Revolutionary War. The bill prohibits retroactive disbursements and requires the Director to deposit any funds that have been appropriated for grave maintenance but are not disbursed during the same fiscal year into the Revolutionary War Cemeteries and Graves Fund, which is created by the bill. The bill provides that the Director may use moneys in the Fund to make grants to perform extraordinary maintenance, renovation, repair, or reconstruction of cemeteries or graves or to erect and care for markers, memorials, and monuments.
Requires the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to (i) provide for the substitution of computer coding course credit for any foreign language course credit required to graduate with a standard or advanced diploma for children with disabilities and (ii) permit any English language learner who previously earned a sufficient score on an Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate foreign language examination to substitute computer coding course credit for any foreign language course credit required to graduate, except in cases in which such foreign language course credit is required to earn an advanced diploma offered by a nationally recognized provider of college-level courses.
