Grand larceny; threshold. Increases from$500 to $750 the threshold amount of money taken or value of goodsor chattel taken at which the crime rises from petit larceny to grandlarceny. The bill increases the threshold by the same amount forthe classification of certain property crimes.
Department of Education; common statewidedefinition; "students with limited or interrupted formal education." Requires the Department of Education to develop and adopt a commonstatewide definition for the term "students with limited or interruptedformal education" and to require school boards to report on the numberof students who fall under such definition as part of the requireddata collection and reporting on average daily membership for thepurposes of documenting any changes in such numbers over time andallowing for comparisons of such numbers across local school divisions.The bill provides that in developing and adopting such common statewidedefinition, the Department of Education shall consider and may adopt existing definitions of "students with limited or interrupted formal education."
Right to work. Repeals the provisions ofthe Code of Virginia that, among other things, prohibit any agreementor combination between an employer and a labor union or labor organizationwhereby (i) nonmembers of the union or organization are denied theright to work for the employer, (ii) membership in the union or organization is made a condition of employment or continuation ofemployment by such employer, or (iii) the union or organization acquiresan employment monopoly in any such enterprise.
Broadband service; prescriptive easements. Provides that if a public service company has acquired a prescriptive easement pursuant to which it has the right to poles and wires to provide electric service, its rights under that prescriptive easement shall be deemed to include the right to grant to a provider of broadband or other telecommunications services the rights to attach its wires and facilities to the public service company's poles and to enter upon the right-of-way to install and maintain the wires and facilities without the approval of the owner of the servient tract of land.
Relocation of call centers to a foreign country; notification requirements. Requires certain call centers thatintend to relocate operations from the Commonwealth to a foreigncountry to give the Commissioner of Labor and Industry at least 120days' prior notice. The measure requires the Commissioner to compilea semiannual list of all employers that relocate a call center fromthe Commonwealth to a foreign country and to distribute the list to state agencies. Subject to exceptions, an employer that appears onthe list is (i) ineligible for five years for any direct or indirectgrants of state funds, any loans from or guaranteed by the state,or any tax credit or reduction in tax liability and (ii) requiredto repay any financial incentives the employer has previously received.The measure requires new state agency contracts for the performanceof state business-related call center and customer service work toprovide that such work will be performed entirely within the Commonwealth.
Local government buildings; dangerous weapons;penalty. Prohibits the possession or transport of (i) guns orother weapons designed or intended to propel a missile or projectileof any kind; (ii) frames, receivers, mufflers, silencers, missiles,projectiles, or ammunition designed for use with a dangerous weapon;or (iii) certain other dangerous weapons in any building owned orused by a locality for governmental purposes in the Commonwealth.A violation is punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. Currently, thepossession or transport of such weapons is prohibited in any courthouse.
Public school buses; seat belts. Requiresthe Board of Education to make regulations to require each new publicschool bus purchased for the transportation of students to be equippedwith a seat belt consisting of a lap belt and shoulder strap or harnessin every seat. The bill requires each school board to ensure thatno later than July 1, 2038, each school bus that it uses for thetransportation of students is equipped with a seat belt in every seat.
Voter registration; preregistration for personsage 16 or older. Permits a person who is otherwise qualified to register to vote and is 16 years of age or older, but who will notbe 18 years of age on or before the day of the next general election,to preregister to vote. The preregistration does not entitle sucha person to vote in any election except as already permitted by law.The bill requires the Department of Elections to maintain a recordof all preregistered voters in the Virginia voter registration system,which shall automatically register a person who is preregisteredupon that person reaching 18 years or age or becoming eligible foradvance registration as already permitted by law, whichever comesfirst. The bill requires the Department to provide to the generalregistrars voter confirmation documents for such voters.
Certain early childhood care and education programs; parents of enrolled children; car seats for field trips. Requiresthe Department of Social Services to adopt regulations to requirethe parent of any child who attends any certified preschool, childday center, child day home, or family day home, including any registeredfamily day home, to provide an age-appropriate and developmentallyappropriate car seat for his child on any day on which the childattends a field trip that requires the use of such a car seat. Thebill requires the Board of Education to adopt the same regulations for any Virginia Preschool Initiative program or early childhoodspecial education program licensed by the Board of Education anddirects any Head Start program offered in the Commonwealth to adoptthe same requirement.
Celebrating the life of Shirley Jean Ybarra.
