Del. Vivian Watts

Prohibits school employees from opening or closing an electronic room partition in any school building except under certain limited circumstances. The bill requires any annual safety review or exercise for school employees in a local school division to include information and demonstrations, as appropriate, regarding the operation of such partitions. The bill also requires the Department of Education to make available to each school board model safety guidance regarding the operation of such partitions.

Eliminates the exemptions to Virginia's minimum wage requirements for newsboys, shoe-shine boys, babysitters who work 10 hours or more per week, ushers, doormen, concession attendants, and cashiers in theaters. The measure contains technical amendments. This bill is identical to

Directs the Department of Corrections to develop policies to improve the exchange of offender medical and mental health information, including policies to improve access to electronic medical records by health care providers and electronic exchange of information for telemedicine and telepsychiatry and to report by October 1, 2019, on its progress in developing such policies to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, the Senate Committee on Education and Health, and the Joint Subcommittee to Study Mental Health Services in the Commonwealth in the 21st Century.

Changes the special license plates for members of the International Association of Fire Fighters from nonrevenue sharing to revenue sharing and provides for the moneys to support the efforts of various charitable organizations supported by the firefighters throughout the Commonwealth. This bill is identical to

Increases from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony the penalties for the following crimes if a minor is involved: (i) keeping, residing in, or visiting a bawdy place; (ii) aiding prostitution; and (iii) using vehicles to promote prostitution. The bill also adds felony violations of these offenses to (a) the list of offenses for which registration in the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry is required, (b) the definition of violent felony for the purposes of the sentencing guidelines, (c) the list of predicate criminal acts that constitutes the definition of street gangs, (d) the list of offenses that may constitute racketeering under the Virginia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, and (e) the offenses that may be investigated by a multi-jurisdiction grand jury. The bill also makes applicable to all persons, regardless of the gender of the victim, the crimes of (1) assisting or aiding in the abduction of or threatening to abduct a female under 16 years of age for the purpose of concubinage or prostitution, which the bill also changes to include any person under 18 years of age, and (2) placing or leaving one's wife in a bawdy place. The bill contains technical amendments.

Prohibits any person from holding a handheld personal communications device while driving a motor vehicle. Current law prohibits only the reading of any email or text message and manually entering letters or text in such a device as a means of communicating. The bill expands the exemptions to include handheld personal communications devices that are being held and used (i) as an amateur radio or a citizens band radio or (ii) for official Department of Transportation or traffic incident management services.