Virginia Bills

Provides that when there is more than one independent candidate for an office, their names shall appear on the ballot in an order determined by the priority of time of filing all required paperwork for the office. In the event that two or more candidates file simultaneously, the order of filing is determined by lot by the electoral board. Currently, this order applies only to the names of candidates for school board, and the names of all other independent candidates appear alphabetically. This bill is identical to

Clarifies that all cases involving suspected financial exploitation of an adult shall be immediately referred to a local law-enforcement agency for investigation. The bill directs local law-enforcement agencies to provide a preferred point of contact for referrals. This bill is identical to

Requires the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to provide a written report setting forth the known facts of serious injuries or deaths of individuals receiving services in programs operated or licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to the Director of the Commonwealth's designated protection and advocacy system within 15 working days of the serious injury or death. Currently, reports are required only for critical incidents or deaths occurring at facilities operated by the Department. This bill is identical to

Removes a provision that allows a tenant to remain in a dwelling unit that has been foreclosed upon pursuant to the federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act because the Act expired on December 31, 2014, and is no longer in effect. The bill provides that the foreclosure of a residential rental property shall act as a termination of the rental agreement by the owner of such property. In such case, the tenant may remain in possession of such dwelling unit as a month-to-month tenant on the terms of the terminated rental agreement until the successor owner gives a notice of termination of such month-to-month tenancy. The bill also provides how rental payments may be made during the period of the month-to-month tenancy. In addition, the bill requires a current owner of rental property who has entered into a written property management agreement with a managing agent and who has subsequently entered into a purchase agreement with a new owner to give written notice to the managing agent requesting payment of security deposits to the current owner prior to settlement with the new owner. The bill requires the managing agent to transfer the security deposits to the current owner and provide written notice to each tenant that his security deposit has been transferred. This bill is identical to

Provides that certain Virginia students who were in foster care or in the custody of the Department of Social Services or considered a special needs adoption and are enrolled in a noncredit workforce credential training program in a comprehensive community college may qualify for a grant for the payment of tuition and fees. This bill is identical to

Authorizes the issuance of special license plates for supporters of highway safety, including awareness of distracted driving. The bill exempts the plate from the requirement to obtain 450 prepaid applications prior to issuance and from the provision that prohibits issuance of additional plates in the series if, after five or more years after issuance, the plate has fewer than 200 active sets of plates. Additionally, the plate shall be subject only to a one-time fee of $10 at the time the plates are issued, in addition to the prescribed cost of state license plates.

Postpones from July 1, 2017, to July 1, 2018, the date by which the Department of Taxation is required to conduct its first recalculation of the percentage of funds in the Wireless E-911 Fund that is required to be distributed to each public safety answering point (PSAP). The recalculation is required to be based on the cost and call load data of each PSAP for the previous five fiscal years. This bill is identical to

Requires the Common Interest Community Board to include in its current one-page form that accompanies association disclosure packets that are required to be provided to all prospective purchasers of lots located within a development that is subject to the Virginia Property Owners' Association Act that the purchase contract for a lot within an association is a legally binding document once it is signed by the prospective purchaser where the purchaser has not elected to cancel the purchase contract in accordance with law.

Requires the Freedom of Information Advisory Council to maintain on its website a listing of all FOIA officers, including name, contact information, and the name of the public body such FOIA officers serve. The bill requires the name and contact information of FOIA officers trained by legal counsel of a public body to be submitted to the Council by July 1 of each year on a form developed by the Council for that purpose and to be updated in a timely manner in the event of any changes to such information. The bill also provides that training through an online course offered by the Council shall satisfy the annual training requirement for FOIA officers.