Virginia Bills

Places a floor on the 2.1 percent tax imposed on motor vehicle fuels sold in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads by ensuring that the tax is not imposed on a price that is less than the statewide average wholesale price of gasoline or diesel fuel on February 20, 2013, which is the date used as a floor on the statewide motor vehicle fuels sales tax. This bill incorporates

Expands the offenses for which a conviction of a third or subsequent offense, when the offense is committed within 20 years of the first conviction and when either the instant or one of the prior offenses was based on an act or threat of violence and the instant and prior offenses arise out of separate incidents, is a Class 6 felony with a mandatory minimum term of confinement of six months from violating a protective order to any combination of violating a protective order or stalking.

Makes it a Class 5 felony for a person to maliciously install or cause to be installed a computer program that takes control of or restricts access to another computer or computer network, or data therein, and demand money or anything else of value to remove the computer program; restore control of or access to the computer or computer network, or data therein; or remediate the impact of the computer program. The bill adds medical information to the list of information that if obtained without authority constitutes computer invasion of privacy. The bill expands the private right of action for a person or property that is injured by a computer trespass.

Requires each school board to permit any student who receives home instruction and resides in the local school division to apply for enrollment as a part-time student, as defined in the general appropriation act, of the local school division in any dual enrollment course offered pursuant to an agreement for postsecondary degree attainment at a public high school in the local school division or at the comprehensive community college. The bill specifies that no such student shall be required to pay more in tuition or fees than the tuition or fees paid by public school students or the school division of residence on behalf of such students to enroll in such course.

Establishes the seven-member Virginia Redistricting Commission (the Commission) to redraw congressional and General Assembly district boundaries after each decennial census. The Commission is directed to certify district plans for the General Assembly within 30 days of receipt of the new census data or by June 1 of the year following the census, whichever occurs later, and for the House of Representatives within 60 days of receipt of the census data or by July 1 of the year following the census, whichever occurs later. The amendment also establishes the standards to govern redistricting plans, which include the current constitutional standards on population equality, compactness, and contiguity and additional standards to minimize splits of localities and to prohibit consideration of incumbency and political data.

Replaces the $100 annual cap on gifts to (i) members of and candidates for the General Assembly and their immediate family members from a lobbyist or lobbyist's principal and (ii) state and local officers and employees required to file a statement of economic interests and their immediate family members from a lobbyist or lobbyist's principal or a person, organization, or business who is or is seeking to become a party to a contract with the officer or employee's agency with an absolute ban on gifts from such individuals. The only exceptions to this gift ban are (a) gifts from foreign dignitaries received on behalf of the Commonwealth or a locality and (b) travel approved by the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council.

Permits the commissioner of the revenue to utilize any method that may reasonably be expected to determine actual fair market value of machinery and tools, in addition to specific methods required under current law. The bill also requires the commissioner of the revenue, upon request, to take into account the condition of the machinery and tools, all forms of depreciation, including obsolescence, and any other factor that is not adequately taken into account by the valuation method otherwise used. The bill requires the commissioner of the revenue to provide to taxpayers upon request a description of his valuation methods, any adjustments that have been made to reflect the taxpayer's appraisal or written concerns, and the factual and legal bases on which the commissioner relies for disagreeing with the taxpayer's qualified appraisal. The bill also gives the Tax Commissioner authority to issue advisory written opinions in specific cases to interpret the law related to valuations involving independent appraisals of manufacturers' machinery and tools that are presented by the taxpayer to the commissioner of the revenue. In appeals to the Tax Commissioner of the valuation of machinery and tools, the bill permits the taxpayer to value the property by allocating the total value of all machinery and tools at a facility among individual items of property according to the percentage of the original cost that each such item of property bears to the total original cost of all of the property. The bill also requires the Tax Commissioner to make certain determinations and findings related to the appeal.