Del. Ken Plum

Local tax; solar facility exemption.

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

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act;landlord obligations; tenant safety. Requires a landlord whoowns more than four rental dwelling units, or more than a 10 percentinterest in more than four rental dwelling units, to require allemployees and applicants for employment to submit to fingerprintingand provide personal descriptive information to be forwarded alongwith the employee's or applicant's fingerprints through the CentralCriminal Records Exchange and the Federal Bureau of Investigationfor the purpose of obtaining criminal history record informationregarding such employee or applicant. The bill allows a landlordto disqualify from employment any person who has been convicted ofor found guilty of, or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendereto, regardless of adjudication, a violent crime committed in anyjurisdiction. The bill also provides that a landlord must (i) establishwritten policies and procedure for the storage and management of,access to, and return of all keys for each rental dwelling unit;(ii) regulate the secure storage of and access to unissued keys;and (iii) maintain a written log for the issuance and return of allkeys. Finally, pursuant to the bill, all relevant landlords must submit certain information on a quarterly basis to the Department of Housingand Community Development to prove compliance with the provisionsoutlined in the bill.

Minimum staffing standards for nursing homesand certified nursing facilities; administrative sanctions; Long-TermCare Services Fund. Requires nursing homes to meet a baselinestaffing level based on resident acuity in alignment with the Centersfor Medicare and Medicaid Services staffing level recommendations.The bill requires nursing homes to collect and submit to the Departmentof Health certain data related to staffing. The bill gives the Commissionerof Health the power to impose administrative sanctions on nursinghomes and directs the Board of Health to promulgate regulations relatedto the criteria and procedures for imposition of administrative sanctionsor initiation of court proceedings for violations of the bill. Thebill provides that nursing homes shall only be subject to administrativesanctions upon initial funding for the state share of the cost toimplement the provisions of the bill. The bill establishes the Long-TermCare Services Fund for the purpose of making grants to assist in the provision of activities that protect or improve the quality ofcare or quality of life for residents, patients, and consumers oflong-term care services.

Special Assistant to the Governor for DisabilityRights Advocacy; position created; report. Creates the positionof Special Assistant to the Governor for Disability Rights Advocacy (the Special Assistant) for the purpose of representing Virginianswith disabilities in a comprehensive and authoritative manner byensuring that all state agencies provide adequate services, resources,and accommodations to such persons. The bill directs the SpecialAssistant to submit an annual report to the Governor on or beforeDecember 1, through the Secretary of Health and Human Resources,that (i) outlines the key issues and problems discovered within stateagencies that impact people with disabilities; (ii) identifies thedetails of any plan of action implemented by the Special Assistantto address and remediate such issues and problems; (iii) provideslegislative recommendations that would improve processes and proceduresacross all state agencies with regard to the provision of services, resources, and accommodations to people with disabilities; and (iv)details such other matters as required by the Governor.

Gun Violence Survivor Assistance Fund and GrantProgram. Establishes the Gun Violence Survivor Assistance Fundand Grant Program, to be administered by the Department of CriminalJustice Services for the purpose of providing grants to gun violencesurvivors who are in need of financial assistance to make accessibilityadaptations to their homes to accommodate a disability resultingfrom a gun violence-related injury.

Overtime; compensable hours worked; compensatory time. Defines compensable hours worked, for the purposes of the Virginia Overtime Wage Act, as the amount of time an employee is on duty or at a prescribed place of work and any time an employee is suffered or permitted to work. The bill states that such time shall include work performed at home, travel time, waiting time, and training and probationary periods. Under the bill, an employee may elect, during any probationary period of employment, to receive compensatory time in lieu of overtime pay. As used in the bill, compensatory time is the time an employee works beyond his regular schedule that is authorized by the employee's employer to be used as paid time off.

Virginia Children's Cabinet. Creates theVirginia Children's Cabinet as an executive branch advisory bodyto advise the Governor regarding policies to improve the health and well-being of children in the Commonwealth.

Commending Chief Justice Donald W. Lemons.

Powers of local governments; additional powers; energy efficiency of buildings. Requires the Board of Housing and Community Development to adopt optional building energy efficiency standards and allows localities to adopt and enforce these standards. The bill allows localities to require disclosure of energy use intensity (EUI) information to prospective buyers, lessees, and lenders at the point of sale, and to require an energy audit for the building prior to the completion of the sale if there is insufficient available data or upon request. The bill allows localities to implement energy benchmarking, requiring utilities to collect and report energy use data for covered buildings to owners, and to require utilities to maintain 12 months of aggregated data for any building with an active utility account. The bill permits localities to create a scorecard program using Energy Star Portfolio Manager and require owners to disclose data to it, subject to program guidelines. The bill allows localities to incentivize owners, operators, and agents of certain buildings to report EUI information and reduce EUI amounts. The bill allows localities to set EUI requirements for certain buildings and develop local incentive programs.