School board policies; school meal debt; enforcement. Requires each school board to adopt a policy that prohibits the board from filing a lawsuit against a student or the student's parent because the student cannot pay for a meal at school or owes a school meal debt.
Department of Education; guidelines on excused student absences; civic or political engagement. Provides that, subject to guidelines established by the Department of Education, each school board (i) shall permit one school day-long excused absence per school year for any middle school or high school student in the local school division who is absent from school to engage in a civic or political event and (ii) may permit additional excused absences for such students who are absent for such purposes.
Replacement and conservation of trees during development. Gives a locality the ability to exceed general requirements in its tree replacement and conservation ordinances in specific circumstances, including development that impacts stormwater permit requirements, recurrent flooding, formerly redlined areas, and comprehensive plan compliance. The provisions of the bill shall become effective July 1, 2022.
Alcoholic beverage control; license fee reform;delay; emergency. Delays the effective date of the 2020 alcoholicbeverage control license and fee reform from July 1, 2021, to January1, 2022. During the period of delay and subject to certain requirements,the bill allows on-premises wine or beer licensees to sell wine orbeer for off-premises consumption and allows such licensees, as wellas off-premises wine or beer licensees, to deliver wine or beer thatthe licensee is authorized to sell without a delivery permit. The bill contains a technical amendment and an emergency clause.
Virginia Public Procurement Act; construction contracts; requirement to submit list of subcontractors. Requires bidders or offerors on contracts for construction of $250,000 or more to submit along with their bid or proposal a list of all subcontractors, regardless of tier, that the bidder or offeror intends at the time of submitting the bid or proposal to use on the contract to perform work valued at $50,000 or more, including labor and materials. The bill requires such list to include certain information about each contractor. The bill also requires the bidder or offer to submit (i) a statement declaring that the bidder or offeror has reviewed the qualifications and performance history of each subcontractor and found such qualifications and performance history to be sufficient to qualify the subcontractor to perform the subcontract work and (ii) a statement indicating that the bidder or offeror has received a written statement from each subcontractor verifying that such subcontractor (a) has not defaulted on any projects within the last three years, (b) is not currently suspended or disbarred by any public body, and (c) is not currently in bankruptcy. The bill allows the public body to disqualify any listed subcontractors, but requires the public body to notify the bidder or offeror of such disqualification and allow the bidder or offeror reasonable time to find a qualified replacement. The bill provides that any bidder or offeror that does not submit the required list and statements may have its bid or proposal disqualified, and any bidder or offeror that is found to have knowingly provided false information pursuant to this section shall be debarred from contracting with any public body for a period of up to one year. The bill requires compliance with its provisions for bids or offers on contracts for construction of $250,000 or more with localities with a population in excess of 50,000, but provides that compliance is optional for bids or offers on contracts for construction of $250,000 or more with any other locality. The provisions of this bill do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2022 Session of the General Assembly.
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.
Casino gaming; technical amendments. Makes technical amendments to the casino gaming law related to its interaction with sports betting law, the capital investment required of an applicant for a license, authorized closed meetings under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, and the frequency of the distribution of tax revenues to cities. The bill also requires applicants for operator's licenses to submit (i) a minority investment plan disclosing any equity interest owed by a minority individual or minority-owned business or the applicant’s efforts to seek equity investment from minority individuals or minority-owned businesses and (ii) a plan for the participation of minority individuals or minority-owned businesses in the applicant’s purchase of goods and services related to the casino gaming establishment.
Casino gaming; requirements for issuance ofoperator's license; human trafficking training. Requires applicantsfor operator's licenses to have established a policy requiring alllicense and permit holders who interact directly with the publicin the casino gaming establishment to complete a training courseacceptable to the Virginia Lottery Department in how to recognizeand report suspected human trafficking in order to be eligible forthe issuance of an operator's license.
Garnishment of wages; protected portion of disposable earnings. Provides that the Virginia minimum hourly wage shallbe used to calculate the amount of a person's aggregate disposableearnings protected from garnishment if it is greater than the federalminimum hourly wage.
