Del. Alfonso Lopez

Discharge of deleterious substance into state waters; notice. Requires any person who unlawfully discharges any deleterious substance into state waters to give written notice to the State Water Control Board. Current law requires written notice to be given only to the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality. The bill also requires the Board or the Department to give the reported discharge information to local newspapers, television stations, and radio stations as soon as practicable after receiving it. This bill was incorporated into HB 1205.

Local treasurers; power to summon taxpayersand other persons. Provides that a local treasurer's power tosummon a taxpayer or other person to answer questions under oathor produce documents for the purpose of collecting delinquent amountsowed to the locality applies to any amounts, charges, or fees owedto the locality as well as to taxes owed to the locality. The billcontains a technical amendment.

Individual and corporate income tax credit; employers of National Guard members and self-employed National Guard members. Allows a tax credit for employers of National Guard members and self-employed National Guard members.

Virginia Fair Housing Law; unlawful discriminatoryhousing practices; sexual orientation and gender identity. Addsdiscrimination on the basis of an individual's sexual orientationor gender identity as an unlawful housing practice. The bill defines"sexual orientation" and "gender identity." This bill was incorporatedinto HB 1663.

Marriage records; divorce and annulment reports; identification of race. Eliminates the requirement that the race of married parties be included in marriage records, divorce reports, and annulment reports filed with the State Registrar. The bill also removes the requirement that the State Registrar include race data in the compilation and posting of marriage, divorce, and annulment data. This bill was incorporated into HB 180.

Health insurance; coverage for infertility treatments. Requires health insurance policies, subscription contracts, and healthcare plans to provide coverage for embryo transfer, in vitro fertilization, artificial insemination, gamete intrafallopian tube transfer, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, zygote intrafallopian transfer, and low tubal ovumtransfer when performed on a covered individual who is less than50 years old and infertile.

Eligibility for food stamps; drug-related felonies. Provides that a person who is otherwise eligible to receive food stamp benefits shall not be denied such assistance solely because he has been convicted of a drug-related felony. Under current law, a person otherwise eligible to receive food stamp benefits shall not be denied food stamp benefits based on a felony conviction of possession of a controlled substance in violation of § 18.2-250, provided that such person is complying with, or has already complied with, all obligations imposed by the criminal court, is actively engaged in or has completed a substance abuse treatment program, participates in periodic drug screenings, and fulfills any other obligations as determined by the Department of Social Services.

TANF eligibility; drug-related felonies. Provides that a person who is otherwise eligible to receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) shall not be denied assistance due solely to a conviction of a felony offense of possession of a controlled substance under § 18.2-250, provided he complies with all obligations imposed by the court and the Department of Social Services and is actively engaged in or has completed a substance abuse treatment program.

Grand larceny; threshold. Increases from $500 to $2,000 the threshold amount of money taken or value of goods or chattel taken at which the crime rises from petit larceny to grand larceny. The bill increases the threshold by the same amount for the classification of certain property crimes. This bill was incorporated into HB 995.

Disorderly conduct in public places; school activities. Eliminates the Class 1 misdemeanor for disrupting willfully or while intoxicated, whether willfully or not, the operation of any school or any school activity conducted or sponsored by any school if the disruption (i) prevents or interferes with the orderly conduct of the operation or activity or (ii) has a direct tendency to cause acts of violence by the person or persons at whom, individually, the disruption is directed. This bill was incorporated into HB 256.