Del. Patrick Hope

Celebrating the life of Stephen Teel Goodwin.

Commending Spotsylvania County.

Commending Barry M. Barnard.

Celebrating the life of the Honorable AugustusBenton Chafin, Jr.

Commending Mark Stripe.

Celebrating the life of the Honorable AugustusBenton Chafin, Jr.

Commending Marymount University.

Taxes on tobacco products; penalties. Provides that tobacco products, defined in the bill, would be subject to tax at rates of $1.80 per pack of cigarettes or 39 percent of the wholesale price for all other tobacco products. Current law imposes taxes of $0.30 per pack of cigarettes, 10 percent of the wholesale price of certain tobacco products, and various weight-based rates that apply to moist snuff and loose leaf tobacco. The bill broadens the definition of "tobacco product" to include electronic smoking devices, which are not taxed under current law. The bill authorizes all localities to tax all tobacco products with no restriction on the tax rate. Under current law, cities may tax only cigarettes, and the Counties of Arlington and Fairfax may tax cigarettes at a rate no higher than the state rate. The bill dedicates portions of revenue accruing as a result of the tax increases and new taxes established by the bill to the Department of Health for its costs related to Quit Now Virginia for the purpose of providing free information and coaching to residents who want to quit smoking or using tobacco; to the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth to fund initiatives to prevent or reduce youth tobacco use; to the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to fund initiatives to educate merchants on the laws governing the sale of tobacco products; and to the general fund.

Petition for vacatur and expungement of convictionsand police and court records of victims of human trafficking.Allows any person who was a victim of human trafficking at the timeof an offense that led to a criminal charge or conviction of certaincrimes to petition the court to vacate such conviction and expungethe police and court records related to such conviction or to expungethe police and court records related to such charge. The bill provides that there is a rebuttable presumption that a person's participationin an offense was a result of having been a victim of human traffickingif there is official documentation, defined in the bill, of the petitioner'sstatus as a victim of human trafficking at the time of the offense.

Public schools; seizure management and action plans; training. Provides for the submission and utilization of seizure management and action plans for students with a seizure disorder. The bill requires that school nurses and certain school division employees biennially complete a Board of Education-approved online course of instruction regarding treating students with seizure disorders. The bill also provides immunity from civil liability for acts or omissions related to providing for the care of a student under a seizure management and action plan.