Del. Patrick Hope

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; law-enforcementcriminal incident information; criminal investigative files. Adds criminal investigative files, defined in the bill, relatingto a criminal investigation or proceeding that is not ongoing, alsodefined in the bill, to the types of law-enforcement and criminalrecords required to be released in accordance with the provisionsof the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Under current law, therelease of criminal investigative files is discretionary. The billalso provides that the mandatory release of criminal incident informationrelating to felony offenses and criminal investigative files shallbe enjoined if a court finds by a preponderance of the evidence thatthe release of such information would likely effect certain results,outlined in the bill. The bill contains technical amendments. Thisbill is a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information AdvisoryCouncil.

Homicides and assaults and bodily woundings; certain matters not to constitute defenses. Provides that the discovery of, perception of, or belief about another person's actual or perceived sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation, whether or not accurate, is not a defense to any charge of capital murder, murder in the first degree, murder in the second degree, voluntary manslaughter, or assault and bodily wounding-related crimes and is not provocation negating or excluding malice as an element of murder.

Traffic regulation; bicycles. Permits operators of bicycles to treat a stop sign as a yield sign in certain situations. The bill requires the driver of a motor vehicle to change lanes when overtaking a bicycle or certain other vehicles when the lane of travel is not wide enough for the overtaking motor vehicle to pass at least three feet to the left of the overtaken vehicle. The bill also removes the limitations on riding bicycles and certain other vehicles two abreast.

Department of Medical Assistance Services; testing for, treatment of, and vaccination against COVID-19; emergency services. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to, during a public health emergency related to COVID-19 declared by the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, deem testing for, treatment of, and vaccination against COVID-19 to be emergency services for which payment may be made pursuant to federal law for certain aliens not lawfully admitted for permanent residence.

Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for COVID-19. Establishes a presumption that COVID-19 causing the death or disability of health care providers is an occupational disease compensable under the Workers' Compensation Act. The bill provides that the COVID-19 virus is established by a positive diagnostic test for COVID-19, an incubation period consistent with COVID-19, and signs and symptoms of COVID-19 that require medical treatment. The bill provides that such presumption applies to any death or disability occurring on or after March 12, 2020, caused by infection from the COVID-19 virus, provided that for any such death or disability that occurred on or after March 12, 2020, and prior to December 31, 2021, the claimant received a positive diagnosis of COVID-19 from a licensed physician, after either a presumptive positive test or a laboratory-confirmed test for COVID-19, and presented with signs and symptoms of COVID-19 that required medical treatment. The bill provides that such presumptions do not apply to any person offered by his employer a vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 unless the person's physician determines in writing that immunization would pose a significant risk to the person's health.

Absentee voting; procedural and process reforms; availability and accessibility reforms; penalty. Makes various reforms to absentee voting processes and procedures, including those related to availability and accessibility. The bill requires certain actions to be taken to process absentee ballots returned before the day of an election, including verifying the correct completion of the voter affirmation statement, and provides for an opportunity for an absentee voter to make corrections to the statement in certain circumstances. The bill requires the establishment of drop-off locations for the return of voted absentee ballots. Additionally, a central absentee voter precinct is required to be established in each locality; currently, establishment is optional. On the day of the election, officers of election are required to begin processing absentee ballots in the central absentee voter precincts prior to the close of polls, but no ballot vote counts are permitted to be transmitted outside of the central absentee voter precinct before the close of polls; a violation of such prohibition is a Class 1 misdemeanor. When reporting election results to the Department of Elections, the general registrars are required to report absentee ballots cast early in person separately from all other absentee ballots. Additionally, a voter who has applied for and received an absentee ballot may choose to instead vote at his polling place on election day, and such voter shall be entitled to cast a provisional ballot. The bill requires a ballot marking tool with screen reader assistive technology to be made available for absentee voters with a print disability. Restrictions on the availability of absentee voting for first-time voters who registered by mail are repealed. The bill contains technical amendments for organizational and readability purposes.

Public elementary and secondary schools; possession and administration of undesignated stock albuterol inhalers and valved holding chambers. Requires each local school board to adopt and implement policies for the possession and administration of undesignated stock albuterol inhalers and valved holding chambers in every public school in the local school division, to be administered by any school nurse, employee of the school board, employee of a local governing body, or employee of a local health department who is authorized by the local health director and trained in the administration of albuterol inhalers and valved holding chambers for any student believed in good faith to be in need of such medication. The bill requires the Department of Health, in conjunction with the Department of Education, to develop and implement policies for the administration of stock albuterol in public schools.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies; landlord's acceptance of rent with reservation; tenant's right of redemption. Prohibits a landlord from accepting full payment of rent, as well as any damages, money judgment, award of attorney fees, and court costs, from a tenant and receiving an order of possession pursuant to an unlawful detainer action and proceeding with eviction, unless there are bases for the entry of an order of possession other than nonpayment of rent stated in the unlawful detainer action filed by the landlord. Under current law, a landlord may accept full or partial payment of all rent and receive an order of possession pursuant to an unlawful detainer action and proceed with eviction, provided that he has stated in a written notice to the tenant that any and all amounts owed to the landlord by the tenant, including payment of any rent, damages, money judgment, award of attorney fees, and court costs, would be accepted with reservation and would not constitute a waiver of the landlord's right to evict the tenant from the dwelling unit. The bill provides specific language that must be included within such notice, and requires a landlord who elects to seek possession of the dwelling unit to provide a copy of the notice to the court for service to the tenant along with the summons for unlawful detainer. The bill also allows tenants to exercise the right of redemption in unlawful detainer actions an unlimited number of times. Under current law, tenants may only exercise the right of redemption once during any 12-month period of continuous residency in the dwelling unit, regardless of the term of the rental agreement or any renewal term of the rental agreement. The bill directs the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development (Director) to develop a sample termination notice to be maintained on the Department of Housing and Community Development's (Department) website that includes language referencing acceptance of rent with reservation by a landlord following a breach of a lease by a tenant, and requires the Department to convene a stakeholder group to provide input to the Director regarding the development of such sample termination notice.

Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for certain diseases. Provides that the occupational disease presumption for death caused by hypertension or heart disease will apply for salaried or volunteer emergency medical services personnel who have at least five years of service and are operating in a locality that has legally adopted a resolution declaring that it will provide one or more of such presumptions. This bill incorporates HB 2080.

Virginia Housing Development Authority; workgroup to establish Virginia Good Neighbor Next Door program.Directs the Virginia Housing Development Authority to convene a stakeholderwork group to establish a plan for the creation of a Virginia GoodNeighbor Next Door program, similar to the Good Neighbor Next Doorprogram administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and UrbanDevelopment, to provide financial incentives for law-enforcementofficers, firefighters, emergency medical services personnel, andteachers to purchase homes within designated revitalization areasin the localities in which they are employed. The bill requires thework group to report its findings and recommendations, includingany legislative recommendations, to the Governor and the Chairmenof the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee onGeneral Laws and Technology no later than July 1, 2022.