Del. Alfonso Lopez

Special license plate bearing the legend STOP GUN VIOLENCE; revenue-sharing provisions. Provides that the special license plate bearing the legend STOP GUN VIOLENCE will remain nonrevenue-sharing. Current law provides that such special license plate will become revenue-sharing on July 1, 2020.

Concealed handgun permits; demonstration of competence. Removes the option for concealed handgun permit applicants to demonstrate competence with a handgun by completing an electronic, video, or online course conducted by a state-certified or National Rifle Association-certified firearms instructor. The bill does not affect any in-person means of satisfying the requirement to demonstrate competence with a handgun under current law. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021. This bill is identical to SB 263.

Legal holidays; Lee-Jackson Day; Election Day. Designates Election Day, the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, as a state holiday and removes Lee-Jackson Day as a state holiday. This bill is identical to SB 601.

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.

Department of Environmental Quality; tree planting as land cover type, best management practice; stakeholder advisory group. Directs the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to convene a stakeholder advisory group for the purpose of studying the planting or preservation of trees as an urban land cover type and as a stormwater best management practice (BMP). The bill provides that the stakeholder group shall be composed of development and construction industry representatives, environmental technical experts, local government representatives, and others and that technical assistance shall be provided to DEQ by the Department of Forestry and the Department of Conservation and Recreation. The bill directs DEQ to report the findings of the stakeholder group by November 1, 2020, and to include a recommendation as to whether the planting or preservation of trees shall be deemed a creditable land cover type or BMP and, if so, how much credit shall be given for its optional use.

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority; labor organizations. Repeals enactments adopted in 2018 as part of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) funding bills related to bidders, offers, contractors, and subcontractors to WMATA projects located in the Commonwealth participating with labor organizations. This bill is identical to SB 995.

Public schools; lock-down drills; notice toparents. Requires every public school to provide the parentsof enrolled students with at least 24 hours' notice before the schoolconducts any lock-down drill. The bill specifies that no such noticeis required to include the exact date and time of the lock-down drill.

Eligibility for food stamps and TANF; 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, such individuals may 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 meets any other obligations as determined by the Department of Social Services. The bill also provides that a person who is otherwise eligible to receive TANF benefits shall not be denied such assistance solely because he has been convicted of a drug-related felony. This bill incorporates HB 391, HB 786, HB 814, and HB 1130 and is identical to SB 124.

School principals; incident reports. Eliminates the requirement for reports to be made to division superintendents and school principals on incidents involving assault or assault and battery, without bodily injury, of any person on a school bus, on school property, or at a school-sponsored activity. The bill also eliminates the requirement that school principals report certain enumerated acts that may constitute a misdemeanor offense to law enforcement.

Electric utility regulation; energy efficiency standard. Requires Dominion Energy Virginia (DEV) and American Electric Power (AEP) to achieve incremental net annual savings in accordance with a schedule that starts in 2021, when savings are required to be at least 0.35 percent of the average annual energy retail sales by that utility in the three preceding calendar years, and increases the level of required savings until 2027 and thereafter, when savings are required to be at least two percent of the utility's average annual energy retail sales in the three preceding calendar years. The measure requires the utilities to retain an independent, qualified third-party evaluator to determine the utility's incremental net annual savings and other benefits of the program. The measure requires the State Corporation Commission, for any year that a utility meets the annual energy efficiency standard, to allow for the additional recovery of a margin on its program's operating expenses through a rate adjustment clause that provides the utility with a margin equal to the general rate of return on common equity. The Commission is directed to award an additional 20 basis points for each 0.1 percent of annual savings in excess of the required amount of savings, with a cap on total performance incentive awards in any year of 10 percent of the utility's total energy efficiency spending in that year. The measure also (i) increases the portion of the approved costs of certain utility energy efficiency programs that are required to be allocated to programs designed to benefit low-income, elderly, and disabled individuals from five percent to 15 percent of the approved costs of such programs and adds veterans to be benefited from such programs; (ii) requires the energy efficiency stakeholder process established for the purpose of providing input and feedback on the development of electric utilities' energy efficiency programs to include the participation of certain Commission personnel who participate in approval and oversight of utility efficiency programs; (iii) directs the Commission to increase the utility's rates to recover for revenue reductions related to energy efficiency programs if the revenue reductions have caused the utility, during the test period or periods under review, to earn more than 50 basis points below a fair combined rate of return on its generation and distribution services or, for any test period commencing after December 31, 2012, for DEV and after December 31, 2013, for AEP, more than 70 basis points below a fair combined rate of return on its generation and distribution services; (iv) allows certain large general service customers to avoid participation in energy efficiency programs and to avoid paying for the costs of such programs through a rate adjustment clause upon receiving an exemption from the Commission; and (v) provides that certain energy efficiency pilot programs may be deemed to be in the public interest.