Redistricting; role of Supreme Court of Virginia. Directs the Supreme Court of Virginia to enact rules and proceduresfor implementing the constitutional requirement that the Court establishcongressional or state legislative districts in the event districts fail to be enacted. The rules and procedures enacted by the Courtare required to allow public participation in the Court's redistrictingdeliberations, to provide for the Division of Legislative Servicesto provide staff support and technical assistance to the Court, andto ensure districts established by the Court adhere to constitutional and statutory criteria. The bill directs the Court to appoint aspecial master to assist in the establishment of districts and authorizesthe Court to adjust the date of the primary election and various related deadlines as may be necessary to allow for the establishmentof districts. The bill has a contingent effective date of November15, 2020, provided that the voters approve the amendments to ArticleII of the Constitution of Virginia, amending Section 6 and adding Section 6-A, at the November 2020 general election.
Sponsored bills
Carrying weapon into building owned or leasedby the Commonwealth; penalty. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanorfor a person to transport any (i) gun or other weapon designed orintended to propel a missile or projectile of any kind; (ii) frame,receiver, muffler, silencer, missile, projectile, or ammunitiondesigned for use with a dangerous weapon; or (iii) other dangerousweapon into a building owned or leased by the Commonwealth or anyagency thereof, where employees of the Commonwealth or agency thereofare regularly present for the purpose of performing their officialduties. The bill provides exceptions for law-enforcement officers, conservators of the peace, magistrates, court officers, judges, cityor county treasurers, commissioners or deputy commissioners of theVirginia Workers' Compensation Commission, authorized security personnel,and active military personnel while in the conduct of such individuals'official duties. The bill requires that notice of the provisionsprohibiting the carrying of such weapons be posted at each publicentrance to all buildings owned or leased by the Commonwealth orany agency thereof.
Utility easements; broadband or other communicationsservices. Declares that it is policy of the Commonwealth that (i) existingor future easements for the location and use of electric facilities be used to provideor expand broadband or other communications services; (ii) such use of sucheasements is in the public interest; (iii) the use of such easements for theprovision of broadband or other communications services, where no additionalpoles are erected, does not constitute a change in the physical use of theeasement, interfere with or impair any vested rights of the owner or occupierof the servient estate, nor does it place any additional burden on the servientestate; and (iv) the installation and operation of broadband or othercommunications services within an existing or future electric easement aremerely changes in the manner, purpose, or degree of the granted use asappropriate to accommodate a new technology. The measure also establishes that inthe absence of any express prohibition on the installation and operation ofbroadband services in an existing electric easement, the installation andoperation of broadband services within the existing electric easement shall bedeemed as a matter of law to be permitted uses within the scope of everyeasement for the location and use of electricity facilities. The measure alsolimits the damages that a landowner may be awarded in any trespass actionagainst a public utility or a broadband service provider or any of itsemployees, agents, officers, attorneys, directors, representatives, orcontractors arising from the installation, maintenance, or operation of anyutility poles, wires, conduit, or other infrastructure or fiber optic cablingto the lesser of actual damages or $2,000 per tract of land.
Possessing or transporting a weapon withinCapitol Square; penalty. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for a person to possess or transport any (i) gun or other weapon designedor intended to propel a missile or projectile of any kind; (ii) frame,receiver, muffler, silencer, missile, projectile, or ammunition designedfor use with a dangerous weapon; or (iii) other dangerous weapon within Capitol Square, which includes the state-owned buildingsthat border its boundary streets. A dangerous weapon includes a bowieknife, switchblade knife, ballistic knife, machete, razor, slingshot,spring stick, fighting chain, throwing star, and oriental dart orany weapon of like kind. The bill provides exceptions for law-enforcementofficers, conservators of the peace, magistrates, court officers,judges, county or city treasurers, commissioners or deputy commissionersof the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission, authorized securitypersonnel, and active military personnel while in the conduct ofsuch individuals' official duties. The bill requires that noticeof the provisions prohibiting the possessing or transporting of suchweapons be posted at each public entrance to Capitol Square. Thebill provides that any weapon or item possessed or transported inviolation of these provisions is subject to seizure by a law-enforcementofficer and forfeiture to the Commonwealth.
Allowing access to firearms by minors; penalty. Provides that any person who recklessly leaves a loaded, unsecured firearm in such a manner as to endanger the life or limb of any person under the age of 18 is guilty of a Class 6 felony. Current law provides that any person who recklessly leaves a loaded, unsecured firearm in such a manner as to endanger the life or limb of any child under the age of 14 is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.
Application of parole statutes. Repealsthe abolition of parole. The bill also provides that the Virginia Parole Board shall establish procedures for consideration of parolefor persons who were previously ineligible for parole, because parolewas abolished, to allow for an extension of time for reasonable cause.
Presidential electors; National Popular Vote Compact. Enters Virginia into an interstate compact known as the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote. Article II of the Constitution of the United States gives the states exclusive and plenary authority to decide the manner of awarding their electoral votes. Under the compact, Virginia agrees to award its electoral votes to the presidential ticket that receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact goes into effect when states cumulatively possessing a majority of the electoral votes have joined the compact. A state may withdraw from the compact; however, a withdrawal occurring within six months of the end of a President's term shall not become effective until a President or Vice President has qualified to serve the next term. This bill was incorporated into HB 177.
Elections; same-day registration; in-person absentee and election day voting. Provides an exception to the closing of registration records for any person who (i) is qualified to register to vote, (ii) is unregistered or registered in a locality in which the person no longer resides but is otherwise entitled to vote by absentee ballot, (iii) desires to vote absentee in person at the time that they present themselves to be registered, and (iv) provides proof of residency. The bill also permits same-day registrants to vote absentee and provides an excuse for election day absentee voting for such voters. The bill requires all voters who register to vote under the provisions of this bill to fill out an absentee application, including the required oath, in order to vote. This bill was incorporated into HB 201.
Elections; voter-nominated open primary elections;ranked choice voting for certain elections. Establishes a voter-nominatedprimary election for the offices of Governor, Lieutenant Governor,and Attorney General and for the General Assembly and the UnitedStates Senate and House of Representatives. A voter-nominated primaryelection is an election held for the purpose of selecting candidatesto be on the ballot at a general election. All candidates, regardlessof political party affiliation, are on a single ballot. The fourcandidates receiving the highest numbers of votes are the candidatesfor that office at the general election. The bill provides that ageneral or special election for such offices is conducted by rankedchoice voting. Ranked choice voting is the method of casting andtabulating votes in which (i) voters rank candidates in order of preference, (ii) tabulation proceeds in sequential rounds in whichlast-place candidates are defeated, and (iii) the candidate withthe most votes in the final round is elected.
Petition for vacatur and expungement of convictionsand police and court records of victims of human trafficking.Allows any person who was a victim of human trafficking at the timeof an offense that led to a criminal charge or conviction of certaincrimes to petition the court to vacate such conviction and expungethe police and court records related to such conviction or to expungethe police and court records related to such charge. The bill provides that there is a rebuttable presumption that a person's participationin an offense was a result of having been a victim of human traffickingif there is official documentation, defined in the bill, of the petitioner'sstatus as a victim of human trafficking at the time of the offense.