Rep. Ken Plum

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act;terms and conditions of rental agreement; automatic renewal; noticeof rent increase. Requires a landlord that owns more than fourrental dwelling units to, in the case of any rental agreement thatprovides for automatic renewal of such agreement, provide separatewritten notice to the tenant notifying the tenant of any increasein rent. The bill provides that such notice shall be provided tothe tenant no less than 30 days before the automatic renewal takeseffect.

Retail Small Business Grant Program and Fund.Establishes the Retail Small Business Grant Program and Fund to supportexisting Virginia small businesses, attract new businesses, increasethe Commonwealth's tax base, create new job opportunities for Virginiaresidents, and enhance commercial activity in Virginia. The billprovides that an eligible Virginia small business, defined in thebill, is eligible for grants of up to $50,000. The total amount ofgrants awarded in a fiscal year is capped at $10 million.

Electric cooperatives; net energy metering foragricultural customer-generators; report. Removes the July 1,2019, sunset provision of the net energy metering program for agricultural customer-generators interconnected with electric cooperatives. Thebill provides that, for the purposes of net metering, an agricultural customer-generator may aggregate energy generated on noncontiguousparcels of land if the parcels are (i) owned and operated by thesame agricultural customer-generator and (ii) located within a reasonabledistance of the customer's original interconnection site. The billdirects the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry to convene a workgroupfor the purpose of assessing policy concerns related to the implementationof small-scale solar energy projects designed to meet the onsite energy needs of agricultural operations in the Commonwealth, and directsthe workgroup to report its recommendations to the House Committeeon Agriculture, Chesapeake & Natural Resources and the Senate Committeeon Agriculture, Conservation & Natural Resources by December 1, 2022.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; Virginia Initiative for Education and Work; sanctions. Lowers from thefull amount of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)grant to a maximum of six percent of the TANF grant the amount alocal department of social services can impose as a sanction on aparent for noncompliance with the requirements of the Virginia Initiativefor Education and Work.

Family caregiver tax credit. Creates a nonrefundableincome tax credit for taxable years 2022 through 2026 for expensesincurred by an individual in caring for an eligible family member,defined in the bill, who requires assistance with one or more activitiesof daily living, also defined in the bill. The credit equals 50 percentof eligible expenditures incurred by the caregiver up to $1,000. Inorder to qualify for the credit, the family caregiver must (i) notreceive any compensation or reimbursement for the eligible expendituresand (ii) have federal adjusted gross income that is no greater than$100,000 for an individual or $200,000 for married persons. The billrequires the Tax Commissioner to establish guidelines for claimingthe credit and provides that any unused credit may be carried forwardby the taxpayer for five taxable years following the taxable yearfor which the credit was issued. The bill is a recommendation ofthe Joint Commission on Health Care.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act;landlord remedies; noncompliance with rental agreement. Increasesfrom five days to 14 days the mandatory waiting period after a landlordserves written notice on a tenant notifying the tenant of his nonpaymentof rent and of the landlord's intention to terminate the rental agreementif rent is not paid before the landlord may pursue remedies for terminationof the rental agreement.

Fines, costs, forfeitures, penalties, and restitution; collection fees; assessment against incarcerated individuals. Providesthat notwithstanding any other provision of law, no collection fees,including the fees of any private attorneys or collection agencies,administrative fees, or any other fees related to collection activities,shall be assessed for the collection of any fines, costs, forfeitures,penalties, or restitution imposed in a criminal case or in a caseinvolving a traffic infraction (i) for any period during which thedefendant is incarcerated and (ii) for a period of 90 days followingthe date of the defendant's release from incarceration if the sentenceincludes an active term of incarceration.

Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity; community groups and universities. Requires the Department ofSmall Business and Supplier Diversity to maintain a list of communitygroups, state and local governments, Community Development FinancialInstitutions, business and trade associations, and universities tobe consulted in exercising the powers and fulfilling the duties ofthe Department. All community groups and universities maintainedon the list shall be notified of all actions taken by the agencyand provided an opportunity to comment prior to any permanent action taking place, such as the promulgation of regulations. The bill requiresthe Department to continue to work with such groups maintained onthe list to develop targeted outreach and programming to build businesscapacity and encourage businesses to obtain appropriate certifications.The bill adds Community Development Financial Institutions, definedin the bill, to the lists of groups for which the Department shallpromote the mobilization of activities and resources and that theDepartment is required to maintain on the list of community groups.

Celebrating the life of the Honorable JohnHowson Rust, Jr.

Conduct of law-enforcement officers; establishmentof an Early Identification System. Requires the Department ofCriminal Justice Services (the Department) to establish a best practicesmodel for the implementation, training, and management of an EarlyIdentification System (EIS). The bill defines an EIS as a systemthrough which a law-enforcement agency collects and manages datato identify and assess patterns of behavior, including misconductand high-risk behavior, or performance of law-enforcement officersand law-enforcement agency employees. The bill directs each sheriffor chief of police to implement an EIS by July 1, 2024, and requiresthat law-enforcement officers receive training prior to implementationof the EIS and annually thereafter. The bill also directs the Departmentto establish and administer written policies and procedures for law-enforcementagencies to report to the Office of the Attorney General all judgmentsor settlements in cases relating to negligence or misconduct of a law-enforcement officer.