Unemployment compensation; failure to respond; continuation of benefits; repayment of overpayments. Provides that an employer shall be deemed to have established a pattern of failing to respond timely or adequately to written requests for information relating to claims if the Virginia Employment Commission determines that the employer has failed to respond timely or adequately to a written request for information relating to a claim on two or more occasions within a 48-month window and requires such employer to pay a penalty upon his second such failure to respond timely or adequately. Under current law, such pattern is established after four failures, and the penalty is assessed after the third failure. The bill provides that if an employer fails to respond timely or adequately to a written request by the Commission for information relating to a claim, the employer forfeits any appeal rights to that claim. The bill provides that when a claimant has begun receiving unemployment benefits, such benefits shall continue to be paid under a presumption of continuing entitlement unless or until a deputy determines, in a process providing notice and opportunity to be heard to the claimant, that the claimant is ineligible or disqualified. The bill provides that an individual who receives an overpayment of unemployment benefits is not liable to repay the overpayments to the Commission if the Commission determines that (i) the overpayment was not due to fraud, misrepresentation, or willful nondisclosure on the part of the recipient and its recovery would be against equity and good conscience; (ii) the overpayment was a direct result of inducement, solicitation, or coercion on the part of the employer; or (iii) the overpayment occurred due to administrative error. The bill requires the Commission to waive an overpayment of benefits under a federal unemployment benefit program if the program authorizes the waiver. The bill provides that any person who receives an overpayment of benefits is not required to repay such overpayment if the Commission determines that the overpayment was made because the employer failed to respond timely or adequately to a written request by the Commission for information relating to the claim. Finally, the bill prohibits a determination with respect to benefit overpayments to be issued until after a determination or decision that finds a claimant ineligible or disqualified for benefits previously paid has become final.
Sponsored bills
Criminal proceedings; consideration of mental condition and intellectual and developmental disabilities. Permits the admission of evidence concerning a defendant's mental condition at the time of an alleged offense, including expert testimony, if such evidence (i) tends to show the defendant did or did not have the specific mental state required for the offense charged and (ii) is otherwise admissible pursuant to the general rules of evidence. The bill provides that to establish a mental condition for such purposes, the defendant must show that his condition existed at the time of the offense and that such condition satisfies the diagnostic criteria for (a) an autism spectrum disorder as defined in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association or (b) an intellectual or developmental disability. If a defendant intends to present such evidence, the bill requires him or his counsel to give notice in writing to the attorney for the Commonwealth within specified time periods. The bill also clarifies that a diagnosis of an intellectual or developmental disability shall be considered by a judicial officer for the purpose of rebuttal of a presumption against bail and that a court may order that a sentencing report prepared by a probation officer contain any diagnosis of an intellectual or developmental disability. The bill also adds to the requirements to be met for qualification as a court-appointed attorney two hours of continuing legal education, which shall cover the representation of individuals with behavioral or mental health disorders and individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
Probation, revocation, and suspension of sentence; limitations. Limits the amount of active incarceration a court can impose as a result of a revocation hearing for a probation violation. The bill provides that if the court finds the basis of a violation of the terms and conditions of a suspended sentence or probation is that the defendant was convicted of a criminal offense or violated another condition other than a technical violation, the court may pronounce whatever sentence might have been originally imposed. The bill defines "technical violation" and provides specific limitations on the sentence a court may impose depending on whether the violation is a first, second, or third or subsequent technical violation. The bill also provides that a court may fix the period of probation for up to the statutory maximum period for which the defendant might originally have been sentenced to be imprisoned and any period of supervised probation shall not exceed five years from the release of the defendant from any active period of incarceration. The bill also provides that a court must measure any period of suspension of sentence from the date of entry of the original sentencing order.
Issuance of writ of vacatur for victims of commercial sex trafficking. Establishes a procedure for victims of sex trafficking to file a petition of vacatur in circuit court to have certain convictions vacated and the police and court records expunged for such convictions. The bill requires the court to grant the writ and vacate a qualifying offense if it finds the petitioner (i) was convicted or adjudicated delinquent of a qualifying offense and (ii) committed the qualifying offense as a direct result of being a victim of sex trafficking, as defined in the bill. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia State Crime Commission.
Identification privilege cards; fee; confidentiality; penalties. Authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue identification privilege cards to applicants who hold a citizenship or legal presence status that is eligible for a special identification card or a limited-duration special identification card and have reported income from Virginia sources or been claimed as a dependent on an individual tax return filed with the Commonwealth in the preceding 12 months. The bill provides that identification privilege cards shall be treated as special identification cards unless otherwise provided in the Code of Virginia. The bill limits the release of certain information stored by the Department. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2022.
Automatic expungement of criminal records; penalties. Establishes a process for the automatic expungement, defined in the bill, of criminal records for certain convictions, deferred dispositions, and acquittals and for offenses that have been nolle prossed or otherwise dismissed. The bill also provides a process for the automatic expungement of criminal records for charges arising from mistaken identity or the unauthorized use of identifying information. The bill has staggered delayed effective dates in order to develop systems for implementing the provisions of the bill. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia State Crime Commission.
Constitutional amendment (first reference); franchise and officers; felon disenfranchisement; automatic restoration of political rights. Provides that no person who has been convicted of a felony shall be qualified to vote until the completion of his sentence of imprisonment, at which time, without further action required of him, his political rights, including the right to vote, shall be restored. A person convicted of a felony may also have his civil rights restored by the Governor or other appropriate authority. This resolution incorporates HJ 546.
Employment; domestic service. Provides that individuals who are engaged in providing domestic service are not excluded from employee protection laws and the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act.
Electric vehicle rebate program; creation andfunding; report. Creates a rebate program for the purchase or lease of new and used electric vehicles, to be administered by the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy. A purchaser or lesseeof an electric vehicle would receive a $2,500 rebate at the timeof purchase, and a purchaser or lessee with an annual household incomethat does not exceed 300 percent of the federal poverty level wouldbe entitled to an additional $2,000 rebate. The motor vehicle dealerwhere the vehicle is purchased or leased would receive a refund forthe amount of the rebate and a $50 incentive payment for each rebateprocessed. Funds would be allocated from the revenues generated bythe sunset of the Virginia Coal Employment and Production IncentiveTax Credit and the Coalfield employment enhancement tax credit andprohibit the allocation of new credits on and after January 1, 2021.The bill also establishes an Electric Vehicle Rebate Advisory Councilto oversee the Electric Vehicle Rebate Program and to make recommendationsregarding its implementation. The Director of the Department of Mines,Minerals and Energy is required to report annually to the Governorand the General Assembly regarding the Program. The Program will expire on September 1, 2026.
State Corporation Commission; business entities filings; Virginia Stock Corporation Act. Aligns provisions governing the filings by nonstock corporations, limited liability companies, business trusts, and partnerships related to cancellations, abandonments, name restrictions and registered agent resignations, and entity conversions to the provisions governing such filings for stock corporations. The Virginia Stock Corporation Act was comprehensively updated during the 2019 Session of the General Assembly. The bill includes adjustments to the assessment of annual fees after certain entity conversions or domestications. The bill also provides that certain legacy terms will be construed to mean their updated counterparts during a two-year transition. The bill amends various provisions of the Virginia Stock Corporation Act (the Act). The bill provides that for any notice to shareholders required by the Act, such notice is not required for a shareholder for whom notice of two consecutive annual meetings and all notices of meetings in between, or all distributions in a 12-month period or two consecutive distributions in a period of more than 12 months, have been sent and have been returned undeliverable or could not be delivered. The bill authorizes a board of directors to adopt certain emergency bylaws and exercise its emergency powers when there is a catastrophic event, including an attack on the United States or in any locality in which the corporation conducts its business or customarily holds meetings of the board of directors or shareholders, an epidemic or pandemic, or a declaration of a national emergency by the United States government or an emergency by the government of the locality in which the corporation's principal office is located, that affects the corporation and regardless of whether a quorum of the board of directors or a committee can be readily convened for action. The bill provides that during such an emergency, a board of directors is authorized to take any action it deems practicable and necessary to address the circumstances of the emergency, including (i) postponing any meeting; (ii) for certain corporations, notifying shareholders of any such postponement by filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; and (iii) for a distribution that has been declared by the record date that has not occurred, canceling distribution or changing the amount of distributions, or changing the record date or the payment date of such distributions. The bill provides that if the articles of incorporation provide that a board of directors may by adoption of an amendment to the articles of incorporation classify or reclassify unissued shares, the articles of incorporation are deemed to authorize the board of directors to amend the articles unless the articles expressly state that shareholder action is required. The bill provides that the shareholder's list required for inspection by any shareholder may be made available on a reasonably accessible electronic network, provided that the information to gain access to such list is provided with the notice of the shareholders' meeting. The bill also amends provisions regarding when shareholder approval is not required for a plan of merger or share exchange.