Del. Vivian Watts

Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back (G3) Fundand Program established. Establishes the Get Skilled,Get a Job, Give Back (G3) Fund and requires the Virginia Community College System to establish the G3 Program for the purpose of providing financial assistance from the Fund to certain low-income and middle-income Virginia students who are enrolled in an educational program at an associate-degree-granting public institution of higher educationthat leads to an occupation in a certain high-demand field. The billcontains provisions for student eligibility, financial assistanceaward amounts, and data reporting.

Lawyers; client accounts. Repeals the provision prohibiting the Supreme Court of Virginia from adopting a disciplinaryrule requiring that lawyers deposit client funds in an interest-bearingaccount.

Virginia Agriculture Food Assistance Programand Fund; established. Requires the Commissioner of Agricultureand Consumer Services (the Commissioner) to establish the VirginiaAgriculture Food Assistance Program (VAFA Program) for Virginia farmersand food producers to donate, sell, or otherwise provide agricultureproducts to charitable food assistance organizations. The bill also creates the Virginia Agriculture Food Assistance Fund to disbursemoneys to such charitable food assistance organizations to reimbursefarmers or food producers for any costs associated with harvesting,processing, packaging, or transporting agriculture products donatedto such charitable food assistance organizations. The bill authorizesthe Commissioner to adopt guidelines and regulations to carry outthe VAFA Program.

Aging services; economic and social need. Provides that, in providing aging services, the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services shall prioritize providing services to older persons with the greatest economic or social need. The bill defines "economic need" as need resulting from an income level at or below the poverty line and "social need" as need caused by noneconomic factors, including (i) physical and mental disabilities, which may include developmental disabilities and human immunodeficiency virus; (ii) language barriers; and (iii) cultural, social, or geographic isolation, including that caused by racial or ethnic status, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation that restricts an individual's ability to perform normal daily tasks or threatens such individual's capacity to live independently.

Behavioral Health Commission created. Createsthe Behavioral Health Commission in the legislative branch of stategovernment for the purpose of (i) studying and making recommendationsfor the improvement of behavioral health services and the behavioralhealth service system in the Commonwealth to encourage the adoptionof policies to increase the quality and availability of and ensureaccess to the full continuum of high-quality, effective, and efficientbehavioral health services for all persons in the Commonwealth and(ii) providing ongoing oversight of behavioral health services andthe behavioral health service system in the Commonwealth, includingmonitoring and evaluation of established programs, services, anddelivery and payment structures and implementation of new servicesand initiatives in the Commonwealth and development of recommendations for improving such programs, services, structures, and implementation.

State Corporation Commission; transportation electrification; utility recovery of certain costs; report. Directs the State Corporation Commission (Commission) to report on policy proposals to accelerate transportation electrification in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Commission to submit, no later than May 1, 2022, a report to the General Assembly recommending policy proposals that could govern public electric utility programs to accelerate widespread transportation electrification in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Commission to utilize a public process, facilitated by a third party with expertise in transportation electrification, in which the Commission, the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, the Department of Transportation, and appropriate stakeholders participate. The bill requires that the Commission, in developing its policy recommendations, evaluate (i) areas where utility or other public investment may best complement private efforts to effectively deploy charging infrastructure, with particular focus on low-income, minority, and rural communities; (ii) how smart growth policies can complement and enhance the Commonwealth's transportation electrification goals; (iii) how utility programs, investments, or incentives to customers or third parties to facilitate the deployment of charging infrastructure and related upgrades can support or enhance (a) statewide transportation electrification, including electrification of public transit; (b) the electrification of medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles, school buses, vehicles at ports and airports, personal vehicles, and vehicle fleets; (c) increased access to electric transportation and improved air quality in low-income and medium-income communities; (d) achievement of existing energy storage targets; (e) improvements to the distribution grid or to specific sites necessary to accommodate charging infrastructure; and (f) customer education and outreach programs that increase awareness of such programs and the benefits of transportation electrification. The bill requires that the report also address whether and how transportation electrification can, under current law, (a) reduce total ratepayer rates and costs; (b) assist in grid management and more efficient use of the grid, in a manner that does not increase peak demand, through time-of-use rates, managed charging programs, vehicle-to-grid programs, or other alternative rate designs; (c) utilize increased generation from renewable energy resources; and (d) reduce fueling costs for vehicles. The bill requires that, to the extent that the Commission and stakeholders conclude that transportation electrification cannot currently deliver these benefits, the report include public policy recommendations. Additionally, the bill requires, beginning July 1, 2021, that any approved costs of any investor-owned electric utility associated with investment in transportation electrification be recovered only through the utility's rates for generation and distribution, prohibits recovery of such costs through a rate adjustment clause, and provides that such costs are not eligible for a customer credit reinvestment offset.

Emergency order for adult protective services; acts of violence, force, or threat or financial exploitation; penalty. Allows the circuit court, upon a finding that an incapacitated adult has been, within a reasonable period of time, subjected to an act of violence, force, or threat or been subjected to financial exploitation, to include in an emergency order for adult protective services one or more of the following conditions to be imposed on the alleged perpetrator: (i) a prohibition on acts of violence, force, or threat or criminal offenses that may result in injury to person or property; (ii) a prohibition on such other contacts by the alleged perpetrator with the adult or the adult's family or household members as the court deems necessary for the health and safety of such persons; or (iii) such other conditions as the court deems necessary to prevent (a) acts of violence, force, or threat; (b) criminal offenses that may result in injury to persons or property; (c) communication or other contact of any kind by the alleged perpetrator; or (d) financial exploitation by the alleged perpetrator. The bill provides that any person who violates any such condition is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Also, the bill provides that hearings on emergency orders for adult protective services shall be held no earlier than 24 hours and no later than 72 hours after the notice required has been given, unless such notice has been waived by the court. Current law just requires such hearing be held no earlier than 24 hours. Lastly, the bill provides that if the court enters an order containing any of the aforementioned conditions, the primary law-enforcement agency providing service and entry of protective orders shall enter the name of the perpetrator into the Virginia Criminal Information Network and the order shall be served forthwith on the perpetrator.

Certain school boards; student meals; participationin the Afterschool Meal Program. Requires each school board thatgoverns a local school division that has a student population thatqualifies for free and reduced-price meals at a minimum percentageof 50 percent in the prior school year and simultaneously offerseducational or enrichment activities and is consequently eligibleto participate in the Afterschool Meal Program administered by theU.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Childand Adult Care Food Program to apply to the Department of Educationto participate in the Afterschool Meal Program for each such schoolto subsequently and simultaneously serve federally reimbursable mealsand offer an afterschool education or enrichment program, pursuantto FNS guidelines and state health and safety standards. The billrequires the Department of Education to administer the AfterschoolMeal Program on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The bill provides that the Superintendent of Public Instruction shallissue a waiver to this requirement upon determination that participation is not financially viable for a school or group of schools. The billrequires the Department of Education to develop a process and criteriafor evaluating such waivers. The bill has a delayed effective dateof July 1, 2022.

Child Care Assistance Program; emergency. Provides that regulations governing the Child Care Subsidy Program (the Program) shall be amended to provide that (i) a family shall be eligible for assistance through the Program if the family's income does not exceed 85 percent of the state median income, the family includes at least one child who is five years of age or younger and has not yet started kindergarten, and the family meets all other income and eligibility requirements of the Program and (ii) job search activities shall be considered eligible activities for the purposes of the Program. The bill provides that a family determined to be eligible for assistance through the Program shall be eligible to receive assistance for a period of 12 months or until the family's household income exceeds 85 percent of the state median income, whichever occurs sooner. The Department of Social Services shall administer the program, as amended by the bill, in cooperation with the Department of Education. The bill contains an emergency clause and provides that the provisions of the bill shall be applicable to applications for assistance through the Program received prior to August 1, 2021.

Virginia Missing Person with Autism Alert Program.Renames the Virginia Missing Child with Autism Alert Program to theVirginia Missing Person with Autism Alert Program and expands itto apply to any missing person with autism, regardless of age. Thebill defines "a missing person with autism" as any person (i) whosewhereabouts are unknown; (ii) who has been diagnosed with autismspectrum disorder as defined by the Code of Virginia; and (iii) whosedisappearance poses a credible threat to the safety and health of the person.