Del. Kathy Tran

Removes provisions requiring (i) jail officers to ascertain the citizenship of any inmate taken into custody at a jail, (ii) probation and parole officers to inquire as to the citizenship status of an individual convicted of a felony in circuit court and referred to such officers, and (iii) officers in charge of correctional facilities to inquire as to the citizenship of any person committed to a correctional facility, and therefore such information is not required to be reported to the Central Criminal Records Exchange of the Department of State Police. The bill also removes the mandatory duty of the clerk of a court committing a convicted alien to a correctional facility to furnish related court records to a United States immigration officer and the requirement that an intake officer report to the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security any juvenile detained on an allegation that the juvenile, believed to be in the United States illegally, committed a violent felony. The bill prohibits officers or agents of any state or local law-enforcement agency from inquiring into the immigration status of a person who is (a) a victim of a crime, (b) a parent or guardian of a minor victim of a crime, (c) a person who is a cooperating witness in the investigation of a crime, or (d) the parent or guardian of a minor witness to a crime.

Provides that an employee has a private cause of action against an employer who fails to pay wages. The measure provides that if the court finds that the employer knowingly failed to pay the wages, it shall also award the employee reasonable attorney fees and other costs. If the court finds that the employer's failure to pay wages was willful and with intent to defraud the employee, the court shall award the employee reasonable attorney fees and other costs plus an additional sum equal to treble the amount of wages due.

Creates a cause of action against any employer employing more than five but fewer than 15 persons who engages in an unlawful discriminatory act against any employee on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, including lactation. The bill also creates a cause of action against any employer employing more than five but fewer than 20 persons who engages in an unlawful discriminatory act against an employee on the basis of age if the employee is 40 years of age or older. Under current law, an employee who has been discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, including lactation, or age may only file an action against his employer if the employee is discharged by the employer on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, including lactation, or age. The bill permits a court, in cases where the employee prevails, to award compensatory or punitive damages in an amount of up to $25,000 and attorney fees not to exceed 25 percent of the amount awarded. The bill provides that the provisions creating a cause of action against an employer who engages in unlawful discriminatory practices against an employee shall apply only to unlawful discriminatory practices that occur or are alleged to occur on or after July 1, 2019.

Establishes a moratorium, effective January 1, 2020, on approval by any state agency or political subdivision of any approval required for (i) electric generating facilities that generate fossil fuel energy through the combustion of a fossil fuel resource; (ii) import or export terminals for fossil fuel resources; (iii) certain maintenance activities relating to an import or export terminal for a fossil fuel resource; (iv) gathering lines or pipelines for the transport of any fossil fuel resource that requires the use of eminent domain on private property; (v) certain maintenance activities relating to such gathering lines or pipelines; (vi) refineries of a fossil fuel resource; and (vii) exploration for any type of fossil fuel, unless preempted by applicable federal law. The measure also requires that at least 80 percent of the electricity sold by a retail electric supplier in calendar years 2028 through 2035 be generated from clean energy resources. In calendar year 2036 and every calendar year thereafter, all of the electricity sold by a retail electric supplier is required to be generated from clean energy resources. The clean energy mandates apply to a public utility or other person that sells not less than 1,000 megawatt hours of electric energy to retail customers or generates not less than 1,000 megawatt hours of electric energy for use by the person. The Director of the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy is authorized to bring actions for injunctions to enforce these requirements. The measure requires the Department to adopt a Climate Action Plan that addresses all aspects of climate change, including mitigation, adaptation, resiliency, and assistance in the transition from current energy sources to clean renewable energy. The measure provides that residents of the Commonwealth and organizations shall have the legal standing to sue to ensure that its provisions and any Climate Action Plan are enforced.