Requires the Board of Education to establish a statewide unified public-private system for early childhood care and education in the Commonwealth to be administered by the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Department of Education. The bill transfers the authority to license and regulate child day programs and other early child care agencies from the Board of Social Services and Department of Social Services to the Board of Education and the Department of Education. The bill maintains current licensure, background check, and other requirements of such programs. The bill establishes the Early Childhood Innovation Fund for the purpose of facilitating regional public-private collaboration and to field test innovative strategies and evidence-based practices that support a robust system of comprehensive early childhood care and education services to deliver measurable school readiness outcomes and meet regional workforce support needs. Such provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021.
Sponsored bills
Curtails the ability of a natural gas company to enter upon real property for the purpose of conducting surveys and other tests for its proposed line or the location of facilities by requiring that entry for the selection of a route or facility location be for public use. The measure defines "public use" as existing if the general public has a right to a certain and definite use of a private property on terms and for charges fixed by law, and the owner of the property is compelled by law to permit the general public to enjoy it or its services, and further requires that any pipeline be obligated to serve the general public and be regulated in such obligation and to distribute gas to regulated public utilities or to natural gas distribution systems within the Commonwealth. The measure also (i) establishes a procedure for a landowner to obtain a temporary injunction against entry by a natural gas company in certain circumstances; (ii) authorizes a landowner who demonstrates that a natural gas company entered or attempted to enter the landowner's real property in violation of applicable requirements or violated such requirements by breaching any agreement reached pursuant to such requirements to recover a trespass penalty of $500 per day per individual entering or attempting to enter the property or per individual granted permission to enter pursuant to agreement; (iii) authorizes the landowner or his agent to accompany surveyors and record or photograph survey activities; (iv) requires any notice of intent to enter to set forth the time and location where the first entry will occur and the duration of the surveys; and (v) requires any request for permission to inspect to be sent at least 21 days prior to any notice of intent to enter and include a description of each type of survey and each entity or agent proposed to make such survey.
Establishes a new media and technology innovation income tax credit, starting with taxable year 2019, which is a nonrefundable tax credit for expenses related to producing in Virginia commercial advertisements, digital interactive media productions, and episodic television series. The bill allows a company to submit a single application for a project covering multiple tax years and requires such company to make available a third-party audit of its project-related expenses.
Requires the Department of Education (the Department) to establish and appoint members to a Teacher Advisory Committee (the Committee). The bill requires each member of the Committee to be a public elementary or secondary school teacher or administrator in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Committee to meet at least once a year in either July or August and at such times as the Department directs to make recommendations to the Department for the improvement of regulations, guidance, and implementation procedures that impact the classroom.