Del. Alfonso Lopez

Tax credit for purchase of aquaculture oysterfloats. Establishes an individual nonrefundable income tax creditfor taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, but beforeJanuary 1, 2025, for the purchase price of aquaculture oyster floatspurchased during the taxable year. The amount of credit allowed underthis section shall not exceed $500. The total amount of tax creditsavailable under this section for a calendar year shall not exceed $50,000. If the amount of the credit exceeds the taxpayer's tax liabilityfor the taxable year in which the aquaculture oyster floats werepurchased, the amount that exceeds the tax liability may be carriedover for credit against the income taxes of the taxpayer in the nextfive taxable years.

Study; Department of Environmental Quality;Waste Diversion and Recycling Task Force; report. Requests theDepartment of Environmental Quality to establish a Waste Diversionand Recycling Task Force to study ways to increase waste diversionand recycling. The resolution requests that the Department work withstakeholders to develop recommendations to reduce waste at the sourcesuch as composting and recycling of organic material. It also requeststhat the Department study potential improvements in the goals andefficiency of the grant program funded by the Litter Control and RecyclingFund, which under current law is used to fund local litter prevention,recycling grants to localities, and statewide and regional litterprevention and recycling educational program grants. The Departmentshall (i) study methods of improving recycling, reducing waste, anddiverting waste from landfills, (ii) develop recommendations to reducewaste at the source, such as composting and recycling of organicmaterial, and (iii) consider whether current recycling rates required by Virginia law should be increased and whether state policy shouldbe changed to give landfills a greater role in the management oforganic material.

Redistricting; Virginia Redistricting Commission. Establishesthe Virginia Redistricting Commission (the Commission) pursuant to proposedamendments to Article II of the Constitution of Virginia, amending Section 6and adding Section 6-A. The Commission, tasked with establishing districts forthe United States House of Representatives and for the Senate and the House ofDelegates of the General Assembly, will consist of eight legislativecommissioners and eight citizen commissioners. The legislative commissionersconsist of four members of the Senate of Virginia and four members of the Houseof Delegates, with equal representation given to the political parties havingthe highest and next highest number of members in their respective houses. Thecitizen commissioners are chosen by a selection committee consisting of fiveretired judges of the circuit courts of Virginia, from lists submitted to theselection committee by the Speaker of the House of Delegates, the leader in theHouse of Delegates of the political party having the next highest number ofmembers in the House of Delegates, the President pro tempore of the Senate ofVirginia, and the leader in the Senate of the political party having the nexthighest number of members in the Senate. The bill contains eligibilityrequirements for the citizen commissioners, including restrictions on holdingor having held partisan national or state public office. As part of theapplication process for service on the Commission, the Division of LegislativeServices acts as a repository for applications submitted by interested personsand is tasked with screening out applicants who are ineligible or submitincomplete applications. The applications of the citizen candidates selected bypolitical leadership and submitted for consideration to the selection committeeare public records. The bill also directs the Division of Legislative Services toprovide staff support to the Commission in the redistricting of congressionaland state legislative districts. The Commission is required to submit to theGeneral Assembly plans of districts within certain time periods. Provisions toensure public participation in the redistricting process are included. Ifefforts to establish districts fail, the Supreme Court of Virginia isresponsible for establishing districts, and the bill directs the Court toappoint a special master to draw the maps for the establishment of thedistricts. The bill has a contingent effective date of November 15, 2020,provided that the voters approve the amendments to Article II of theConstitution of Virginia, amending Section 6 and adding Section 6-A, at theNovember 2020 general election.

War memorials for veterans. Removes a prohibition on (i) disturbing or interfering with any war monument or memorial erected by a locality or (ii) preventing citizens from maintaining such monument or memorial. The bill authorizes a locality to remove, relocate, or alter any such monument or memorial on the locality's public property upon the affirmative vote of its governing body, regardless of when the monument or memorial was erected, and removes certain criminal and civil penalties for such removal, relocation, or alteration. The bill also restricts bringing a cause of action pursuant to such penalties to the attorney for the locality in which the memorial or monument is located. Current law authorizes any person having an interest in the matter to bring such action if no action is brought within 60 days of the violation. The bill repeals an 1890 act of assembly related to the placement of a statue in the City of Alexandria. This bill was incorporated into HB 1537.

Election day; extending polling hours. Extends from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. the time at which polls close on election day. The bill aligns candidate filing deadlines and party nomination deadlines with the closing of polls. This bill was incorporated into HB 1678.

Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation; commemoration of the American Revolution. Designates the Jamestown-YorktownFoundation as the official executive branch agency to assist theCommonwealth in establishing planning systems for commemorating the250th anniversary of the American Revolution and the independenceof the United States of America.

Evidence in criminal cases; duty to provide discovery; writs of actual innocence. Requires the attorney for the Commonwealth, upon written notice by an accused to the court and to the attorney for the Commonwealth, to permit the accused to inspect and copy or photograph (i) any relevant written or recorded statements or confessions made by the accused and the substance of any oral statements or confessions made by the accused to any law-enforcement officer; (ii) any relevant written reports of autopsies, ballistic tests, fingerprint analyses, handwriting analyses, blood, urine, and breath tests, and other scientific reports and written reports of a physical or mental examination of the accused or the alleged victim; (iii) any books, papers, documents, tangible objects, buildings, or places, or copies or portions thereof, that are within the possession, custody, or control of the Commonwealth; (iv) any relevant police reports, as defined in the bill; and (v) all relevant statements, as defined in the bill, of any non-expert witness whom the Commonwealth is required to designate on a witness list. The bill also provides that if the accused files a written notice the accused shall (a) permit the Commonwealth to inspect, copy, or photograph any written reports of autopsy examinations, ballistic tests, fingerprint, blood, urine, and breath analyses, and other scientific tests that are within the possession, custody, or control of the accused and that the accused intends to introduce in evidence at the trial or sentencing; (b) disclose whether he intends to introduce evidence to establish an alibi; and (c) if he intends to rely upon a defense of insanity, permit the Commonwealth to inspect, copy, or photograph any written reports of physical or mental examination of the accused made in connection with the case. The bill provides that for good cause a party may withhold or redact certain information from such disclosures and the opposing party may file a motion to compel disclosure or to remove any restriction. The accused's duty to provide discovery shall be in addition to any duty to provide reciprocal discovery pursuant to Rule 3A:11 of the Rules of Supreme Court of Virginia. The bill also provides that a person who was convicted of a felony or who was adjudicated delinquent by a circuit court of an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult may petition for a writ of actual innocence based on previously unknown, untested, or unavailable biological evidence or nonbiological evidence regardless of the type of plea he entered at trial. Under current law, such person may petition for either writ if he entered a plea of not guilty, and any person, regardless of the type of plea he entered at trial, may petition for writ based on biological evidence if he is sentenced to death or convicted or adjudicated delinquent of murder or a felony for which the maximum punishment is imprisonment for life. The bill also eliminates the provision that limits a petitioner to only one writ of actual innocence based on nonbiological evidence for any conviction. Finally, the bill clarifies that the Attorney General may join a petition for a writ of actual innocence filed in connection with an adjudication of delinquency. This bill was incorporated into HB 873.

Aboveground storage tanks; Hazardous Substance Aboveground Storage Tank Fund; civil and criminal penalties. Directs the State Water Control Board to regulate aboveground storage tanks that measure more than 1,320 gallons in capacity and are used to contain hazardous substances other than oil. The bill directs the Board to adopt regulations that establish requirements for registration, certification, and inspection, and other requirements of tank owners, and that establish a schedule of fees. The bill authorizes the Board to undertake corrective action, or to require the owner to undertake corrective action, in the event of a discharge of a hazardous substance. The bill requires tank owners to register their tanks, pay certain registration fees, develop release response plans, upgrade certain older tanks, install containment infrastructure for certain aboveground storage tanks, notify certain parties in the event of a release of a regulated substance, and demonstrate their financial responsibility. The bill also creates the Hazardous Substance Aboveground Storage Tank Fund for the administration of the bill and provides for civil and criminal penalties for violations of requirements of the bill, with the moneys received to be deposited into the existing Virginia Environmental Emergency Response Fund.

Virginia State Justice Commission; purpose; membership. Renames the Virginia State Crime Commission as the Virginia State Justice Commission. The bill also expands the purpose of the Commission to include studying, reporting, and making recommendations in the areas of diversion, rehabilitation, reentry, collateral consequences of conviction, and equity and fairness in the criminal legal system. The bill reduces from six to three the number of House of Delegates members and adds to the Commission the executive director of the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission or his designee, the Superintendent of State Police or his designee, and one nonlegislative citizen member to be appointed by the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security with an expertise in offender rehabilitation, reform, and reentry.

Department of Corrections; earned sentence credits. Establishes a four-level classification system for the awarding and calculation of earned sentence credits. The bill requires the calculation of earned sentence credits to apply retroactively to the entire sentence of any inmate who is confined in a state correctional facility and participating in the earned sentence credit system on July 1, 2020. This bill incorporates HB 1370.