Del. David Reid

Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); personal property tax exemption; motor vehicle owned by a veteran who is disabled. Provides for a referendum at the November 3, 2020, election to approve or reject a personal property tax exemption for a motor vehicle that is owned and used primarily by or for a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States or the Virginia National Guard who has a 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability.

Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for certain diseases. Adds cancers of the colon, brain, or testes to the list of cancers that are presumed to be an occupational disease covered by the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act when firefighters or certain employees develop the cancer. The presumption shall not apply for any individual who was diagnosed with one of the conditions before July 1, 2020. The measure removes the compensability requirement that the employee who develops cancer had contact with a toxic substance encountered in the line of duty. The bill also reduces the number of years of service needed to qualify for the presumption from 12 to five for various types of cancer. For hypertension or heart disease, the bill adds a requirement that an individual complete five years of service in their position in order to qualify. This bill is identical to SB 9.

School boards; mental health awareness training. Requires each school board to (i) adopt and implement policies that require each teacher and other relevant personnel, as determined by the school board, employed on a full-time basis, to complete a mental health awareness training or similar program at least once and (ii) provide such training, which may be provided pursuant to a contract with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, a community services board, a behavioral health authority, a nonprofit organization, or other certified trainer or via an online module. This bill incorporates HB 716 and HB 1554 and is identical to SB 619.

Property Owners' Association Act; display ofpolitical signs. Provides that, except as otherwise expressedin the declaration, no declaration or association's rules and regulations or architectural guidelines shall restrict or prohibit the displayby a lot owner on his lot of a sign advocating for or against a candidate,referendum, or political organization. The bill provides, however,that an association may restrict the display of such signs (i) inthe common areas or (ii) in accordance with federal or state law,and may establish reasonable restrictions as to the size, place,duration, and manner of placement or display of such signs, exceptthat no restriction on the duration of the display of such signs shall be less than (a) 30 days before the primary election, generalelection, or vote on the proposition or (b) seven days after the primary election, general election, or vote on the proposition. Thebill also requires the association disclosure packet to contain astatement of any restrictions on the size, place, duration, and mannerof placement or display of such signs.

Research and development tax credits; sunset; aggregate caps. Extends the sunset date for both the research and development expenses tax credit and the major research and development expenses tax credit from January 1, 2022, to January 1, 2025. Beginning with taxable year 2021, the bill increases the aggregate cap of the research and development expenses tax credit from $7 million to $7.77 million and increases the aggregate cap of the major research and development expenses tax credit from $20 million to $24 million. For both credits, the bill moves back the annual deadline for applications for the credit from July 1 to September 1. This bill is identical to SB 110.

Governing boards of public institutions of higher education; increases in undergraduate tuition or mandatory fees;certain disclosures. Prohibits the governing board of any publicinstitution of higher education from approving an increase in undergraduatetuition or mandatory fees without providing students and the publican explanation of the factors that contribute to the need for theplanned increase, an explanation of the planned use of the revenuegenerated by the planned increase, and notice of the date, time,and location of the meeting at which public comment on such plannedincrease is permitted at least 10 days prior to such meeting.

Administration of government; general provisions; state publications to be made available in electronic format. Requires state publications provided to (i) the General Assembly or any committee, subcommittee, commission, agency, or other body within the legislative branch or (ii) the chairman or agency head of such entity and publications of any agency, institution, collegial body, or other governmental entity to be made available as read-only and text-searchable Portable Document Format (.pdf) files or some other widely used and accessible read-only and text-searchable electronic document format. All requests for such reports or publications shall be made electronically unless expressly requested otherwise.

Tax credit for participating landlords; eligible housing areas. Expands the definition of "eligible housing area" for the housing choice voucher tax credit to include Virginia census tracts in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area in which less than 10 percent of the population lives below the poverty level. Landlords who rent qualified housing units within such areas are eligible for an income tax credit. Current law only applies to such areas within the Richmond and Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News Metropolitan Statistical Areas.The bill establishes a 2025 sunset date on the credit. The bill incorporates HB 1014 and is identical to SB 200.

Prohibited discrimination; public accommodations, employment, credit, and housing: causes of action; sexual orientation and gender identity. Creates explicit causes of action for unlawful discrimination in public accommodations and employment in the Virginia Human Rights Act. Currently, under the Act there is no cause of action for discrimination in public accommodations, and the only causes of action for discrimination in employment are for (i) unlawful discharge on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, including lactation, by employers employing more than five but fewer than 15 persons and (ii) unlawful discharge on the basis of age by employers employing more than five but fewer than 20 persons. The bill allows the causes of action to be pursued privately by the aggrieved person or, in certain circumstances, by the Attorney General. The bill prohibits discrimination in public and private employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill also codifies for state and local government employment the current prohibitions on discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, or status as a veteran. Additionally, the bill (a) prohibits discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran; (b) prohibits discrimination in credit on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, disability, and status as a veteran; and (c) adds discrimination on the basis of an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran as an unlawful housing practice. The bill makes technical amendments. This bill incorporates HB 3, HB 21, HB 23, HB 217, HB 1050, HB 1200, and HB 1512.

Tangible personal property tax; classes of property; satellites. Extends the sunset date for the classification of tangible personal property used in manufacturing, testing, or operating satellites within a Multicounty Transportation Improvement District as a separate class of property from June 30, 2019, to June 30, 2029. This bill is identical to SB 273.