Rep. John Avoli

Commemorating the life and legacy of Dr. RobertRussa Moton.

Abortion; born alive human infant; treatmentand care; penalty. Requires every physician licensed by the Boardof Medicine who attempts to terminate a pregnancy to (i) exercisethe same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preservethe life and health of a human infant who has been born alive followingsuch attempt as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health carepractitioner would render to any other child born alive at the samegestational age and (ii) take all reasonable steps to ensure theimmediate transfer of the human infant who has been born alive toa hospital for further medical care. A physician who fails to complywith the requirements of this act is guilty of a Class 4 felony and may be subject to disciplinary action by the Board of Medicine. The bill also requires every hospital licensedby the Department of Health to establish a protocol for the treatmentand care of a human infant who has been born alive following performanceof an abortion and for the immediate reporting to law enforcementof any failure to provide such required treatment and care.

Family caregiver tax credit. Creates a nonrefundable income tax credit beginning in taxable year 2020 for expenses incurred by an individual in caring for an eligible family member, defined in the bill, who requires assistance with one or more activities of daily living, also defined in the bill. The credit equals 50 percent of eligible expenditures incurred by the caregiver, but shall not exceed $1,000. In order to qualify for the credit, the family caregiver must (i) not receive any compensation or reimbursement for the eligible expenditures and (ii) have federal adjusted gross income that is no greater than $75,000 for an individual or $150,000 for married persons. Both the caregiver and the eligible family member must be residents of Virginia. The bill requires the Tax Commissioner to establish guidelines for claiming the credit and provides that any unused credit may be carried forward by the taxpayer for five taxable years following the taxable year for which the credit was issued. The credit expires beginning with taxable year 2025.

Teacher compensation; at or above national average. Requires public school teachers to be compensated at a rate that is at or above the national average. Under current law, compensation at such rate is aspirational. The foregoing provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025. The bill requires funding to be provided on an incremental basis pursuant to the general appropriation act to implement such teacher compensation rate by the effective date.

Local regulation of air cannons. Allowslocalities to require a special exception or special use permit forthe use of certain devices, including air cannons, carbide cannons,or other loud explosive devices that are designed to produce high-intensitysound percussions for the purpose of repelling birds.

Fetal dismemberment prohibited. Prohibitsa person licensed by the Board of Medicine to practice medicine fromperforming an abortion that involves dismemberment of a fetus.

Official emblems and designations; state firearm.Designates the Virginia long rifle as the official firearm ofthe Commonwealth.

State subsidy of property tax exemptions fordisabled veterans and surviving spouses. Requires the Commonwealthto subsidize local real estate tax relief for disabled veterans andsurviving spouses of members of the armed forces killed in actionwhen more than one percent of a locality's real estate tax base islost due to such state-mandated tax relief programs. The Commonwealthwould subsidize only that portion of tax exempt real estate thatexceeds the one percent threshold. Thebill requires the Auditor of Public Accounts to establish an applicationprocess whereby a locality would demonstrate that more than one percentof its real estate tax base was lost. The Auditor would certify tothe Governor and the General Assembly those localities that wouldbe eligible for a subsidy, and the Governor would include in theBudget Bill a proposed appropriation of the amount of the state subsidyto be provided to localities certified as eligible localities.

Study; Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission; cost-effective care for individuals with intellectual disabilities; report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study costs of care for individuals with intellectual disabilities. In conducting its study, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall analyze the Commonwealth's per capita costs of care for individuals with intellectual disabilities and per capita costs of care and cost-effective methods used by other states to provide care for individuals with intellectual disabilities and shall make recommendations regarding how the Commonwealth can reduce such costs or make more efficient use of the services provided for individuals with intellectual disabilities to increase its efficiency in the provision of such care and services.

Group Violence Intervention Board; Divisionof Group Violence Intervention; Project Ceasefire Grant Fund; ProjectExile Grant Fund. Establishes the Group Violence InterventionBoard to coordinate and assist federal, state, and local group violenceintervention efforts. The bill also establishes within the Departmentof Criminal Justice Services (the Department) the Division of Group Violence Intervention (the Division), to be headed by an executivedirector appointed by the Director of the Department. The bill providesthat the Division is responsible for (i) coordinating the effortsof members of state and local law enforcement, community members,and social services providers to combat group violence; (ii) serving as a clearinghouse for research, best practices, and strategies thatmay be utilized in the implementation, execution, and evaluationof group violence interventions; and (iii) implementing and administeringvarious federal, state, and local grant funds that aid group violenceintervention efforts. Finally, the bill creates the Project CeasefireGrant Fund, which provides money to organizations that are involvedin group violence intervention efforts, and creates the Project ExileGrant Fund, which provides money to organizations that assist formergang members or individuals attempting to leave gangs.