Del. Dan Helmer

Campaign finance; prohibited personal use; child care exception. Prohibits any person from converting any moneys, securities, or like intangible personal property contributed to a candidate or a candidate's campaign committee to his personal use, the personal use of the candidate, or the personal use of a member of the candidate's immediate family. Current law prohibits such conversion of contributions to personal use specifically with regard to disbursement of surplus funds at the dissolution of a campaign or political committee. The bill provides that a contribution is considered to have been converted to personal use if the contribution, in whole or in part, is used to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense that would exist irrespective of the person's seeking, holding, or maintaining public office but excepts from "personal use" the ordinary and accepted expenses related to campaigning for or holding elective office, including the use of campaign funds to pay for the candidate's child care expenses that are incurred as a direct result of campaign activity. The bill directs the Attorney General to issue an advisory opinion explaining the provisions of the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act of 2006 (§ 24.2-945 et seq.) that prohibit the personal use of campaign funds. The bill directs the State Board of Elections to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill and to provide an updated summary of Virginia campaign finance law that reflects the Attorney General's opinion and any new regulations promulgated by the Board.

Sale or transfer of firearms; criminal historyrecord information check delay. Increases from three businessdays to five business days the time provided for the Department of State Police to complete a background check before a firearm maybe transferred. If a dealer who has otherwise fulfilled all requirementsis told by the State Police that a response will not be availableby the end of the dealer's fifth business day, the dealer may completethe sale or transfer without being deemed in violation.

Arrest and prosecution when experiencing orreporting overdoses. Prohibits the arrest or prosecution of anindividual for the unlawful purchase, possession, or consumptionof alcohol, possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, intoxication in public, or possession of controlled paraphernaliaif (i) such individual, in good faith, renders emergency care orassistance, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or theadministration of naloxone or other opioid antagonist for overdosereversal, to an individual experiencing an overdose while anotherindividual seeks or obtains emergency medical attention; (ii) suchindividual remains at the scene of the overdose or at any locationto which he or the individual requiring emergency medical attentionhas been transported; (iii) such individual identifies himself tothe law-enforcement officer who responds; and (iv) the evidence fora prosecution of one of the enumerated offenses would have been obtainedonly as a result of the individual's rendering emergency care orassistance. Current law prohibitsarrest or prosecution for such offenses only to an individual whoseeks or obtains emergency medical attention for himself or anotherindividual or who is experiencing an overdose when another individualseeks or obtains emergency medical attention for him.

Virginia Human Rights Acts; discrimination onthe basis of disability. Adds discrimination on the basis ofdisability as an unlawful employment practice under the VirginiaHuman Rights Act. The bill also requires employers, defined in thebill, to make reasonable accommodation to the known physical and mentalimpairments of an otherwise qualified person with a disability, ifnecessary to assist such person in performing a particular job, unlessthe employer can demonstrate that the accommodation would imposean undue hardship on the employer. The bill also prohibits employersfrom taking any adverse action against an employee who requests oruses a reasonable accommodation, from denying employment or promotionopportunities to an otherwise qualified applicant or employee because such employer will be required to make reasonable accommodation tothe applicant or employee, or from requiring an employee to takeleave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided to the known limitations related to the disability. The bill creates a cause of action against any employer who denies any of the rights to reasonable accommodation afforded by the bill and permits the court or juryto award compensatory damages, back pay, and other equitable relief.

Access to water; human right. Recognizing that access to clean, potable, and affordable water is a necessary human right.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; noncompliance with rental agreement; prohibition on using negative credit information that arose during a closure of the United States Government against certain applicants for tenancy; penalty. Prohibits a landlord who owns more than four rental dwelling units or more than a 10 percent interest in more than four rental dwelling units in the Commonwealth from taking any adverse action against an applicant for tenancy based solely on payment history or an eviction for nonpayment of rent that occurred during a closure of the United States government when such applicant was a directly affected individual, defined as an individual who was furloughed or otherwise did not receive payments as a result of a closure of the United States government and was (i) an employee of the United States government, (ii) an independent contractor of the United States government, or (iii) an employee of a company under contract with the United States government. If such a landlord denies an applicant for tenancy, the bill requires the landlord to provide the applicant written notice of the denial and of the applicant's right to assert that his failure to qualify was based solely on payment history or an eviction based on nonpayment of rent that occurred during the proscribed period when such applicant was a directly affected individual. If a landlord does receive a response from the applicant asserting such a right, and the landlord relied upon a consumer or tenant screening report, the landlord must make a good faith effort to contact the generator of the report to ascertain whether such determination was due solely to the applicant for tenancy's payment history or an eviction for nonpayment that occurred during the proscribed period and that such applicant was a directly affected individual. The bill permits an applicant for tenancy to recover damages of up to $1,000, along with attorney fees, from landlords who do not comply with these requirements.