Del. Alfonso Lopez

Celebrating the life of Erik Gutshall.

Commending the Northern Virginia Associationof REALTORS®.

Constitutional amendment (first reference);marriage. Proposes the repeal of the constitutional amendment dealing with marriage that was approved by referendum at the November2006 election. That amendment to the Bill of Rights (i) defines marriageas "only a union between one man and one woman"; (ii) prohibits theCommonwealth and its political subdivisions from creating or recognizing"a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intendsto approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects ofmarriage"; and (iii) prohibits the Commonwealth or its political subdivisions from creating or recognizing "another union, partnership, or otherlegal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations,qualities, or effects of marriage." The provisions of this section of the Constitution of Virginia are no longer valid as a result ofthe United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges,576 U.S. 644 (2015).

Constitutional amendment (first reference);marriage; repeal of same-sex marriage prohibition; recognition ofsame-sex marriages. Repeals the constitutional provision definingmarriage as only a union between one man and one woman, as well asthe related provisions that are no longer valid as a result of theUnited States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges,576 U.S. 644 (2015). The amendment provides that the Commonwealthand its political subdivisions and its agents are required to issuemarriage licenses, recognize marriages, and treat all marriages equallyunder the law, regardless of the gender of the two parties to themarriage. The amendment further provides that religious organizationsand clergy acting in their religious capacity have the right to refuseto perform any marriage.

Reinstatement of the estate tax. Reinstatesthe estate tax for persons dying on and after July 1, 2021. The billprovides that no estate tax shall be imposed on a gross estate ifthe majority of the assets of the estate are an interest in a closelyheld business or a working farm. The bill designates revenues fromthe estate tax to be used for health care purposes.

Electric utilities; rate reductions. Eliminates provisions that limit any rate reduction ordered by the State Corporation Commission in the first triennial review of Dominion Energy Virginia after January 1, 2021, to $50 million in annual revenues and provides that in any triennial review, regardless of whether the Commission has ordered bill credits, the utility earned above its authorized rate of return during the test period under review, or the utility has made a request regarding any customer credit reinvestment offsets, the Commission may order any rate reduction it deems necessary and appropriate unless it finds that the resulting rates will not provide the utility with the opportunity to (i) fully recover its costs of providing its services and (ii) earn not less than a fair combined rate of return on its generation and distribution services. This bill was incorporated into HB 1835.

Commending journalists in Virginia.

Commending Wolf Trap Foundation for the PerformingArts.

Marijuana; legalization of cultivation, manufacture, sale, possession, and testing; penalties. Establishes a regulatory scheme for the regulation of marijuana cultivation facilities, marijuana manufacturing facilities, marijuana testing facilities, and retail marijuana stores by the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The bill also grants localities the authority to enact ordinances establishing additional licensing requirements for marijuana establishments located within such locality and allows the home cultivation of marijuana for personal use under certain circumstances. The bill imposes a tax on retail marijuana and retail marijuana products sold by a retail marijuana store at a rate of 9.7 percent (for a total sales tax of 15 percent) and provides that 67 percent of the revenues collected from the tax be deposited into the general fund and 33 percent of the revenues be deposited into a "Retail Marijuana Education Support Fund" to be used solely for purposes of public education. Finally, the bill establishes several new criminal penalties related to marijuana, as well as modifies some existing criminal penalties. This bill was incorporated into HB 2312.

Celebrating the life of the Honorable MamyeE. BaCote.