Del. Marcus Simon

Attorneys for the Commonwealth; compensation and collectionof fees. Prohibits the Compensation Board, when determining staffing andfunding levels for offices of attorneys for the Commonwealth, from (i)considering the number of charges brought or the number of convictions obtainedby such attorney for the Commonwealth; (ii) relying on standards devised orrecommended by the attorney for the Commonwealth, law-enforcement agencies, orprofessional associations representing attorneys for the Commonwealth orlaw-enforcement officers; or (iii) using measures that increase if an attorneyfor the Commonwealth (a) elects to prosecute a more serious charge, (b) electsto prosecute additional charges from a single arrest or criminal incident, (c)obtains convictions rather than dismissing charges or offering reduced charges,or (d) proceeds with prosecution rather than diversion. The bill also requiresattorneys for the Commonwealth to pay all fees collected by them inconsideration of the performance of official duties or functions into the statetreasury, instead of only half of such fees. The bill requires the StateTreasurer to pay to the treasuries of the respective counties and cities of theattorneys for the Commonwealth a proportion of half of all such fees collectedby all attorneys for the Commonwealth, as determined by each county or city'scrime rate, criminal incident rate, or arrest rate. Finally, the bill changesthe fees collected by attorneys for the Commonwealth on trials of felonyindictments from $40 on each count to $120 for each trial of a Class 1 or Class2 felony indictment, or other felony that carries a possible penalty of life inprison, except robbery, and $40 for each trial on robbery and all other felonyindictments regardless of the number of counts. The bill contains technicalamendments.

Virginia Minimum Wage Act; exemption. Removesthe exemption from the Virginia Minimum Wage Act for persons employedin domestic service or in or about a private home or in an eleemosynaryinstitution primarily supported by public funds.

Minimum wage; exemptions. Removes the exemptionfrom the Virginia Minimum Wage Act for individuals who are employedby an employer that does not have four or more persons employed atany one time.

Possession of marijuana. Allows for possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use.

Veterans and active duty members of the ArmedForces; teachers; credit for service. Requires each local schoolboard to give any veteran or active duty member of any of the ArmedForces of the United States or the Commonwealth who it employs asa teacher in the local school division credit for any time servedin any such forces in determining such teacher's step on the localschool division's teacher salary scale.

Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); personal property tax exemption; motor vehicle owned by a veteran who is disabled. Provides for a referendum at the November 3, 2020, election to approve or reject a personal property tax exemption for a motor vehicle that is owned and used primarily by or for a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States or the Virginia National Guard who has a 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability.

Distributed renewable energy. Promotes the establishment of distributed renewable solar and other renewable energy. The measure (i) removes the one percent cap on the total amount of renewable energy that can be net metered in a utility's service territory, (ii) authorizes third-party power purchase agreements for all customer classes throughout the Commonwealth, (iii) allows local governments and certain other public bodies to install solar or wind facilities of up to five megawatts on government-owned property and use the electricity for government-owned buildings, (iv) allows all net metering customers to attribute output from a single solar array to multiple meters, (v) allows the owner of a multifamily residential building or the common areas of a condominium to install a renewable energy generation facility and sell the electricity to tenants or condominium unit owners, (vi) removes the restriction on customers installing a net-metered generation facility larger than that required to meet their previous 12 months' demand, (vii) raises the cap for net-metered nonresidential generation facilities from one megawatt to two megawatts, and (viii) removes the ability of utilities to assess standby charges. The measure also amends the Commonwealth Energy Policy to include provisions supporting distributed generation of renewable energy.

Presidential electors; National Popular Vote Compact. Enters Virginia into an interstate compact known as the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote. Article II of the Constitution of the United States gives the states exclusive and plenary authority to decide the manner of awarding their electoral votes. Under the compact, Virginia agrees to award its electoral votes to the presidential ticket that receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact goes into effect when states cumulatively possessing a majority of the electoral votes have joined the compact. A state may withdraw from the compact; however, a withdrawal occurring within six months of the end of a President's term shall not become effective until a President or Vice President has qualified to serve the next term. This bill was incorporated into HB 177.

Elections; same-day registration; in-person absentee and election day voting. Provides an exception to the closing of registration records for any person who (i) is qualified to register to vote, (ii) is unregistered or registered in a locality in which the person no longer resides but is otherwise entitled to vote by absentee ballot, (iii) desires to vote absentee in person at the time that they present themselves to be registered, and (iv) provides proof of residency. The bill also permits same-day registrants to vote absentee and provides an excuse for election day absentee voting for such voters. The bill requires all voters who register to vote under the provisions of this bill to fill out an absentee application, including the required oath, in order to vote. This bill was incorporated into HB 201.

Expungement of certain offenses. Allowsa person to petition for expungement of a deferred disposition dismissalfor underage alcohol possession or using a false ID to obtain alcoholwhen the offense occurred prior to the person's twenty-first birthday, all court costs and fines and orders of restitution have been satisfied, and the person seeking the expungement is at least 21 years of ageand has no other alcohol-related convictions. The bill provides thatany person seeking expungement of an alcohol-related charge shallbe assessed a $150 fee, which shall be paid into the state treasuryand credited to the Department of State Police.