Del. Dave LaRock

State and local elections officials; acceptanceof certain gifts and funding prohibited. Prohibits state and local elections officials from soliciting, accepting, using, or disposingof any moneys, grants, property, or services given by a private individualor nongovernmental entity for the purpose of funding voter educationand outreach programs, voter registration programs, or any otherexpense incurred in the conduct of elections. The bill specificallyprovides that the operation of a polling place or voter satelliteoffice in a facility furnished by a private individual or nongovernmentalentity is not a violation of this prohibition.

Education Savings Account Program established; Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits. Establishes the Education Savings Account Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, whereby the parent of any individual who is a resident of the Commonwealth and who is eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school may apply for an Education Savings Account for his child into which the Department of Education deposits certain state and local funds and from which the parent makes certain enumerated qualifying expenses to educate his child in a setting and a manner other than full-time education in a public school. The bill requires the Program to be fully implemented prior to the beginning of the 2022–2023 school year.The bill also increases the value of the Education Improvement Scholarships income tax credit for a donation to a scholarship foundation from 65 percent to 100 percent of the donation. The bill removes the aggregate limit on tax credits per year, which under current law is $25 million, and removes individual minimum and maximum required donation amounts.The bill raises the threshold for students to qualify for scholarships to 1,000 percent of free or reduced-price lunch standards or, for eligible students with a disability, 1,200 percent of such standards. The bill grants scholarship foundations the discretion to determine what expenses may be funded by tax-credit-subsidized scholarships. Under current law, such expenses are limited by statute. The bill expands eligibility for scholarships to any student who is a Virginia resident and eligible to enroll in a Virginia primary or secondary school. Current law restricts eligibility to certain categories of students.The bill removes the requirement that scholarship-funded schools report test results of scholarship-funded students. The provisions of the bill pertaining to the Education Improvement Scholarships income tax credits apply starting with taxable year 2022.

Abortion; born alive human infant; treatment and care; penalty. Requires every physician licensed by the Board of Medicine who attempts to terminate a pregnancy to (i) exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of a human infant who has been born alive following such attempt as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age and (ii) take all reasonable steps to ensure the immediate transfer of the human infant who has been born alive to a hospital for further medical care. A physician who fails to comply with the requirements of this act is guilty of a Class 4 felony and may be subject to disciplinary action by the Board of Medicine. The bill also requires every hospital licensed by the Department of Health to establish a protocol for the treatment and care of a human infant who has been born alive following performance of an abortion and for the immediate reporting to law enforcement of any failure to provide such required treatment and care.

Absentee ballots; witness requirement; printedname and residence address. Requires that a witness to a voter's absentee ballot provide, in addition to his signature, his printedname, his date of birth, the last four digits of his social securitynumber, and his residence address.

Voter registration; registration permittedup to and including the day of the election. Repeals a provisionthat would permit any person who is qualified to register to voteto register to vote in person up to and including the day of theelection, notwithstanding any deadline for the close of registration records. The repeal will limit the persons who are entitled to registerto vote after the close of registration records to (i) any member of a uniformed service of the United States who is on active duty,(ii) any person residing temporarily outside of the United States,and (iii) the spouse or dependent residing with someone listed in(i) or (ii).

Emergency Services and Disaster Law; limitation on duration of executive orders. Provides that no rule, regulation, or order issued declaring a state of emergency may remain effective for more than seven days without approval of at least two-thirds of all members elected to each house of the General Assembly. The bill also provides that a rule, regulation, or order issued declaring a state of emergency may be renewed but not for longer than 30 days without the approval of at least two-thirds of all members elected to each house of the General Assembly. The bill contains technical amendments.

Additional local sales and use tax; use ofrevenues for construction or renovation of schools. Allows anycounty or city to levy a local general retail sales tax and a localuse tax at a rate not to exceed one percent as determined by itsgoverning body to provide revenues solely for capital projects forthe construction or renovation of schools if such levy is approvedin a voter referendum. Under current law, the power to levy suchlocal sales and use taxes for the construction or renovation of schoolsis limited to the qualifying localities of Charlotte, Gloucester, Halifax, Henry, Mecklenburg, Northampton, Patrick, and PittsylvaniaCounties and the City of Danville.

Absentee voting in person; available beginningon the tenth day prior to election. Limits absentee voting inperson to the ten days immediately preceding an election.

Falun Gong; Persecution by Chinese CommunistParty. Condemns the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners bythe Chinese Communist Party.

Administrative Process Act; regulations; public notice and economic impact; prohibition on certain regulations. Requires that an agency prepare a detailed notice of intended regulatory action for any regulation that it plans to promulgate. The bill requires that prior to publication by the Registrar of Regulations, the notice of intended regulatory action be submitted to the Attorney General for a determination as to whether the agency has the explicit authority to promulgate the regulation as proposed in the notice of intended regulatory action. The bill requires the Attorney General to report the notice of intended regulatory action and its determination to the Governor for approval. Within 10 days after publication by the Registrar of a notice of intended regulatory action for a proposed regulation, either the chairman or vice-chairman of the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules may submit a written directive to the agency that prepared the notice for the agency to hold a preliminary public hearing and comment period on the notice of intended regulatory action. The bill prescribes requirements for the conduct of such public hearings on regulatory matters. The bill requires the Department of Planning and Budget to prepare an economic impact analysis of the proposed regulation that includes a qualitative analysis of the regulation and a detailed quantitative analysis of the impact of the regulation, which must include analysis of the implementation and compliance costs that are reasonably expected to be incurred by or passed along to the businesses, localities, and individuals that may be affected by the proposed regulation. The bill requires the Department of Planning and Budget to determine whether $10 million or more in implementation and compliance costs are reasonably expected to be incurred by or passed along to businesses, localities, and individuals over any two-year period as a result of the proposed regulation. After the Department of Planning and Budget submits an economic impact analysis for a proposed regulation to the legislature but before the agency submits the proposed regulation for final approval by the Governor, the chairman or vice-chairman of the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules may request an independent economic impact analysis to be prepared by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission for the proposed regulation. The Department of Planning and Budget is required to provide a detailed explanation of any variance between estimates in the two economic impact analyses. If either economic impact analysis indicates $10 million or more in implementation and compliance costs, the bill requires the agency proposing the regulation to stop work on the proposed regulation until the regulation is modified to reduce its costs to below the $10 million threshold or a bill is enacted explicitly allowing the regulation to proceed.