Arrest and prosecution of individual experiencing a mental health emergency; assault or assault and battery against a law-enforcement officer. Provides that no individual shall be subject to arrest or prosecution for an assault or assault and battery against a law-enforcement officer if at the time of the assault or assault and battery (i) the individual (a) is experiencing a mental health emergency or (b) meets the criteria for issuance of an emergency custody order and (ii) the law-enforcement officer subject to the assault or assault and battery was responding to a call for service requesting assistance for such individual. The bill provides that no law-enforcement officer acting in good faith shall be found liable for false arrest if it is later determined that the person arrested was immune from prosecution.
Sponsored bills
Board of Education; standards for the maintenanceand operations, renovation, and new construction of public elementaryand secondary school buildings. Requires the Board of Education(the Board) to make recommendations to the General Assembly for amendmentsto the Standards of Quality to establish standards for the maintenanceand operations, renovation, and new construction of public elementaryand secondary school buildings. The bill requires such recommendationsto include standards for the percentage of the current replacementvalue of a public school building that a school board should budget for the maintenance and operations of the building and such otherstandards as the Board deems appropriate. The bill also requires the Board to solicit the input of relevant stakeholders and the publicin developing such recommendations. Finally, the bill requires theBoard to submit its recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Healthno later than December 1, 2022. This bill is a recommendation ofthe Commission on School Construction and Modernization.
Literary Fund; loans; application process; maximum loan amounts; rates of interest; closing costs; waiting lists. Makes several changes to the provisions relating to loans from the Literary Fund to finance the construction and renovation of public elementary and secondary school buildings in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Board of Education (the Board) to establish an annual open application process for Literary Fund loans to occur during the period that the Board deems most suitable. The bill increases from $7.5 million to $25 million the maximum Literary Fund loan amount and permits the Board to increase such maximum to up to $35 million for loans for any school construction or renovation project that facilitates the consolidation of schools. The bill requires the Board to fix the interest rate on all loans made from the Literary Fund at not less than one percent per year, not more than three percent per year, and at increments of one half of one percent per year between such minimum and maximum rates, payable annually, and to utilize a sliding scale based on the local school division's composite index of local ability to pay to determine the interest rate on each such loan. Under current law, such rates are required to be set between two and six percent per year. The bill requires the Board to establish a competitive program for the award of up to $25,000 to a school division that receives a Literary Fund loan for the purpose of subsidizing all or a portion of the closing costs for such loan. The bill also permits the Board to remove any project that has been inactive for at least five years from any Literary Fund loan project waiting list that it maintains. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization.
Commercial sex trafficking, prostitution, etc.;mistake of age defense. Provides that a defendant's ignoranceof the victim's age, the victim's misrepresentation of his age, orthe defendant's belief that the victim was an adult shall not beraised as a defense in a prosecution for certain crimes related tocommercial sex trafficking and prostitution involving a minor victim.
Public utilities; delay of termination of service; serious medical condition; report. Requires the State Corporation Commission to establish by regulation exemptions to termination of service by a public utility that provides electric, gas, water, and wastewater services for certain customers. The bill requires such regulations to require a public utility to delay termination of service for any residential customer (i) who has not filed a serious medical condition form with the public utility for 15 calendar days, upon oral or written notification from the residential customer that such customer or a family member residing with the customer has a serious medical condition; for such customers, the utility shall delay disconnection for at least 60 calendar days upon receiving a serious medical condition form during the 15-day period; (ii) who has filed a serious medical condition form with the public utility; for at least 60 days beyond the expiration of any required notice; (iii) who is experiencing financial hardship and whose serious medical condition will last beyond the 60-calendar-delay period described in clause (ii); for such customers, the utility shall work to establish a payment plan and make all due effort to avoid service termination; or (iv) who certifies to the utility that the customer's household includes primary residents who are not younger than 65 years of age, not older than 12 months of age, or have a disability; for a minimum of 60 calendar days beyond the expiration of any required notice. The bill requires such regulations to permit a residential customer to delay termination of service up to three times within a 12-month period. Each public utility subject to the bill shall report monthly by the fifteenth day of each month information related to serious medical condition forms, exemptions from disconnections granted under the provisions of the bill, and payment plans with customers.
Study; Apprenticeship Council; electric vehicle charging infrastructure apprenticeship programs; report. Requests the Virginia Apprenticeship Council to study the need for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and maintenance and repair of EV infrastructure apprenticeship programs in the Commonwealth, noting the stated goal of the Commonwealth to reduce carbon emissions intensity across all sectors, including the transportation industry. In conducting its study, the Apprenticeship Council should consider a number of factors in studying the need for such apprenticeship programs. The Apprenticeship Council is further requested to report the results of an in-depth study of similar apprenticeship programs in other states to the General Assembly and to convene a stakeholder advisory group to discuss the need for electric vehicle charging infrastructure apprenticeship programs in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Apprenticeship Council to complete its meetings by November 30, 2022, and report its findings to the Governor and the Chairmen of the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Commerce and Labor and the House Committees on Education and Labor and Commerce.
Uniform Statewide Building Code; local buildingcodes and regulations; energy efficiency and conservation standards.Provides that the Uniform Statewide Building Code (the Building Code)shall not supersede the building code provisions and regulationsadopted by a locality that are related to energy efficiency and conservationif the standards outlined in such provisions and regulations areas or more stringent than those contained in the Building Code. Thebill defines a standard to be as stringent as one contained in theBuilding Code if such standard would perform the same function asthe standard contained in the Building Code without using more energythan would be used under the provisions of the Building Code.
Standards of Quality; work-based learning; teacher leaders and mentors; principal mentors; certain personnel positions and initiatives. Makes several changes to the Standards of Quality, including requiring the establishment of units in the Department of Education to oversee work-based learning and principal mentorship statewide and requiring the Board of Education to establish and oversee the local implementation of teacher leader and teacher mentor programs in Standard 5. The bill also makes several changes relating to school personnel in Standard 2, including (i) establishing schoolwide ratios of students to teachers in certain schools with high concentrations of poverty and granting flexibility to provide compensation adjustments to teachers in such schools; (ii) requiring each school board to assign licensed personnel in a manner that provides an equitable distribution of experienced, effective teachers and other personnel among all schools in the local school division; (iii) requiring each school board to employ teacher leaders and teacher mentors at specified student-to-position ratios; (iv) requiring state funding in addition to basic aid to support at-risk students and granting flexibility in the use of such funds by school boards; (v) lowering the ratio of English language learner students to teachers; (vi) requiring each school board to employ reading specialists and establishing a student-to-position ratio for such specialists; (vii) requiring school boards to employ one full-time principal in each elementary school; (viii) lowering the ratio of students to assistant principals and school counselors in elementary, middle, and high schools; and (ix) increasing from at least three to at least four the required number of specialized student support positions, including school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, licensed behavior analysts, licensed assistant behavior analysts, and other licensed health and behavioral positions, per 1,000 students.
Fines and costs; period of limitations on collection.Changes the period of limitations for the collection of courtfines and costs from within 60 years from the date of the offenseor delinquency giving rise to imposition of such penalty if imposedby a circuit court or within 30 years if imposed by a general districtcourt to within three years from the date of the judgment whetherimposed by a circuit court or general district court. The bill also states that upon the expiration of the period of limitations, thefines imposed and costs taxed are extinguished and there shall beno right to collect the debt and that the period of limitations shallnot be extended or revived on account of a partial payment; a writtenor verbal affirmation of any fines, monetary penalties, or costs; or a change in collection methods.
Commissioner of Health; study of the occurrenceof PFOA, PFOS, PFBA, PFHpA, PFHxS, PFNA, and other PFAS in the Commonwealth'spublic drinking water; report. Directs the Commissioner of Healthto convene a work group to study the occurrence of perfluoroalkyland polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including perfluorooctanoicacid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorobutyrate(PFBA), perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA), perfluorohexane sulfonate(PFHxS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), hexafluoropropylene oxide-dimeracid (HFPO-DA), perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), perfluoropentanoicacid (PFPeA), and perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS), in drinkingwater in the Commonwealth. The work group shall report its findingsand recommendations to the Governor and the Chairmen of the HouseCommittees on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and Health,Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committees on Agriculture,Conservation and Natural Resources and Education and Health by December1, 2023.