Transit funding. Raises the existing regional transportation fee, a grantor's tax, from $0.15 per $100 to $0.20 per $100 for localities in the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority that are also members of the Northern Virginia Transportation District. The bill requires half of the revenues to be deposited in the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority Fund and half to be deposited in the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Capital Fund. The rate of tax in the other localities will remain at $0.15 per $100, with one-third of the revenues to be retained by the locality to be used for transportation purposes and the other two-thirds to be deposited in the Northern Virginia Transportation District Fund. The bill also raises the existing transient occupancy tax in the localities located in the Northern Virginia Transportation District from $2 to $3, with all of the revenues from the tax being used to support WMATA. This bill incorporates HB 977.
Sponsored bills
Virginia Public Procurement Act; public institutionsof higher education; disclosure required by certain offerors; civilpenalty. Requires every offeror who submits a proposal to a public institution of higher education for any construction project that(i) has a total cost of $5 million or more and (ii) uses a procurementmethod other than competitive sealed bidding to disclose any contributionsthe offeror has made within the previous five-year period to the public institution of higher education or any private foundation that existssolely to support the public institution of higher education. The bill imposes a $500 civil penalty on any offeror that knowingly failsto submit the required disclosure.
Electric utilities; net energy metering.Declares that an electrical generating facility located on real propertyowned by the customer that is at a location that is separated bya right-of-way or other easement from the location on the customer'sreal property where the electrical generation facility is connectedto the customer's meter or where the customer consumes the electricitygenerated from the electrical generating facility shall be deemedto be located on the customer's premises. Currently, in order tobe eligible to participate in a net energy metering program, a customer'selectrical generating facility is required to be located on the customer'spremises and be connected to the customer's wiring on the customer'sside of its interconnection with the distributor. The bill states that its provisions are declarative of existing law.
Housing; notice of educational opportunitiesfor home owners. Requires the Director of the Department of Housingand Community Development to prepare a notice form, to be made availableon the Department's website, for signature by the parties to a contractfor the sale of residential real estate, advising the purchaser toavail himself of educational programs established, administered,or promoted by the Director. The bill also requires that the ownerof residential real property provide such notice to the purchaserprior to the ratification of a real estate purchase contract.
Constitutional amendment (first resolution);marriage. Proposes the repeal of the constitutional amendment dealing with marriage that was approved by referendum at the November2006 election. That amendment to the Bill of Rights (i) defines marriageas "only a union between one man and one woman"; (ii) prohibits theCommonwealth and its political subdivisions from creating or recognizing"a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intendsto approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects ofmarriage"; and (iii) prohibits the Commonwealth or its political subdivisions from creating or recognizing "another union, partnership, or otherlegal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations,qualities, or effects of marriage." The provisions of this section of the Constitution of Virginia are no longer valid as a result ofthe United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges,576 U.S. ___ (June 26, 2015).
Expungement of police and court records.Provides that a court that enters a nolle prosequi for a criminalcharge or dismisses such charge for any reason may, upon motion ofthe person charged, enter an order requiring the expungement of thepolice and court records relating to the charge.
Sale or distribution of flavored tobacco productsprohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits the sale or distributionof flavored tobacco products, defined in the bill, and creates acivil penalty of $1,000 for a first offense and $5,000 for a secondor subsequent offense.
Employment health and safety standards; heatillness prevention. Requires the Safety and Health Codes Boardto adopt regulations establishing reasonable standards designed toprotect employees from heat illness. The measure directs the standardsto apply to all indoor and outdoor places of employment and requireemployers to provide water, shade or a climate-controlled environment,rest periods of 15 to 45 minutes per hour, training, and emergencyresponse procedures. The standards are also directed to require employersin certain industries to implement high-heat procedures when thetemperature is 90 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer. The measure requiresemployers to pay employees one additional hour of pay at his regularcompensation for each workday that it fails to provide the employeewith a required rest period. The measure authorizes a person to bring a court action based on a violation in which he may seek to obtaininjunctive relief; to recover damages of $500 or actual monetaryloss, whichever is greater; or both.
Reading diagnostic tests; intervention. Requireseach student in kindergarten and grade one to participate in readingdiagnostic tests that include a rapid automatized naming test andone or more rapid alternating stimulus tests as follows: (i) forstudents in kindergarten, a rapid automatized naming test and a rapidalternating stimulus test that each include colors and objects and(ii) for students in grade one, a rapid automatized naming test andtwo rapid alternating stimulus tests that each include colors, objects,letters, and numbers. The bill requires any student who enrolls ina public elementary school in the Commonwealth for the first timein grade two or grade three to participate in the reading diagnostic tests required for students in grade one. The bill specifies thatsuch diagnostic tests shall consist of the RAN/RAS tests developedand published by Maryanne Wolf and Martha Bridge Denckla or a substantiallysimilar reading diagnostic tool that is evidence-based, normed, andapproved by the Department of Education. The bill requires, beginningJuly 1, 2021, each local school division to provide evidence-based,structured literacy instruction to students in kindergarten throughgrade three who fall below the benchmark on any such reading diagnostictest and requires that such structured literacy instruction be overseenand monitored by the local school division's advisor on dyslexiaand related disorders, when applicable.
Official emblems and designations; state fruit.Designates the pawpaw fruit (Asimina triloba) as the state fruitof Virginia.