Del. Sam Rasoul

Study; Virginia State Crime Commission; effectof abolishing jury sentencing on the justice system; report.Directs the Virginia State Crime Commission to (i) identify the mostcommon charges tried before juries within the Commonwealth and determinethe average sentence per charge as recommended by a jury; (ii) comparethe jury-recommended sentence to the average sentence for each identifiedcharge, factoring in alternative sentences and suspended time, asdetermined by a judge during a bench trial; (iii) identify any perceived negative impacts to the judicial system associated with abolishingthe practice of jury sentencing and make recommendations as to howthese potential negative impacts could be avoided; and (iv) determinethe feasibility of abolishing jury sentencing for noncapital offenseswithin the Commonwealth.

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.

Office of the Attorney General; FOIA Ombudsman;powers and duties; report. Requires the Attorney General to appointa Virginia Freedom of Information Act Ombudsman to promote complianceby state agencies with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom ofInformation Act. The bill outlines the powers and duties of the Ombudsmanand provides for the Ombudsman to submit by November 30 of each yeara report on his activities and policy recommendations to the Governorand the General Assembly.

Employment; disclosure of terms. Requires every employer of employees who are 18 years of age or older who work for daily wages or are employed to work on a project for a total of 10 days or less, with some exceptions specified in the measure, to furnish to such employees, at the time of the employee's hiring, a written disclosure of information regarding the terms of employment, including the name and address of the employer, the rate of pay and basis thereof, and the regular payday. The measure also requires employers to notify its employees in writing of any changes to this information.

Expungement of police and court records; misdemeanorand nonviolent felony convictions. Allows a person convictedof a misdemeanor or nonviolent felony to file a petition requestingexpungement of the police and court records relating to the convictionif such person (i) has been free from any term of incarceration, probation, and postrelease supervision imposed as a result of such convictionfor at least ten years; (ii) has no prior or subsequent convictionsother than traffic infractions; and (iii) has no pending criminalproceeding.

Supplementing compensation of public defender.Requires the governing body of any county or city that electsto supplement the compensation of the attorney for the Commonwealth,or any of their deputies or employees, above the salary of any suchofficer, deputy, or employee, to supplement the compensation of thepublic defender, or any of his deputies or employees, in the sameamount as the supplement to the compensation of the attorney for the Commonwealth, or any of his deputies or employees.

Virginia Fair Housing Law; unlawful discriminatory housing practices. Prohibits any locality, its employees, or its appointed commissions from discriminating (i) in the application of local land use ordinances or guidelines, or in the permitting of housing developments, on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, elderliness, familial status, or handicap or (ii) in the permitting of housing developments because the housing development contains or is expected to contain affordable housing units occupied or intended for occupancy by families or individuals with incomes at or below 80 percent of the median income of the area where the housing development is located or is proposed to be located, unless at the time of the municipal decision, a proposed development will be located in a census tract wherein more than 50 percent of the units serve families or individuals at or below 80 percent of the median income of the area. The bill also requires the Fair Housing Board, after determining the existence of an unlawful discriminatory housing practice and after consultation with the Attorney General, to immediately refer the matter to the Attorney General for civil action.

Virginia Urban Agriculture Advisory Councilcreated; report. Creates the Virginia Urban Agriculture AdvisoryCouncil as an advisory council in the legislative branch of stategovernment to encourage urban agriculture and contribute to buildinga local food economy. The bill has an expiration date of July 1,2023.

Policies against workplace harassment; legislative branch. Requires each legislative branch agency to adopt and implement the Commonwealth Workplace Harassment Policy established by the Department of Human Resource Management. The bill provides that the Policy applies to legislative branch employees, including General Assembly members and members-elect, when undertaking meetings with other state employees, contract employees, applicants for employment, customers, vendors, members of the media, members of the public, volunteers, or lobbyists or when conducting or performing election activities in the scope of official duties.Under the bill, a victim of alleged workplace harassment will be able to file a complaint against a legislative branch employee, other than a member of the General Assembly, in accordance with the procedures of the Policy or with the Division of Human Rights in the Office of the Attorney General. The Division of Human Rights is authorized to investigate the complaint and use any other powers with regard to the complaint granted to it under law. The bill requires each house of the General Assembly to adopt rules governing procedures and disciplinary sanctions for General Assembly members and members-elect violating policies against workplace harassment.The 2018 Session of the General Assembly enacted legislation requiring full-time legislative branch employees to complete a sexual harassment training course once every two calendar years beginning January 1, 2020. In addition to other differences, this bill broadens the scope of training for legislative branch employees and provides for punitive damages if a party complaining of workplace harassment demonstrates that the defendant engaged in a discriminatory practice with malice or reckless indifference. The bill contains a reenactment clause and has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2022.

Health insurance; association health plans. Provides that for policies of group accident and sickness insurance issued to an association, members of such an association may include (i) a self-employed individual and (ii) an employer member (a) with at least one employee that is domiciled in the Commonwealth or (b) that has a principal place of business that does not exceed the boundaries of a metropolitan area that is at least partially in the Commonwealth. The bill provides that for such policies issued to an association that covers at least 51 members and employees of employer members of such association on the first day of the plan year the policies shall be considered a large group market plan and are required to meet various provisions in the bill. The bill provides that to determine the size of an association all of the members and employees of employer members are aggregated and treated as employed by a single employer.The bill requires an insurer issuing a policy to an association to (1) treat all of the members and employees of employer members who are enrolled in coverage under the policy as a single risk pool; (2) set premiums based on the collective group experience of the members and employees of employer members who are enrolled in coverage under the policy; (3) vary premiums by age, except that the rate shall not vary by more than 5 to 1 for adults; (4) not vary premiums based on gender; (5) not establish discriminatory rules based on the health status of an employer member, an individual employee of an employer member, or a self-employed individual for eligibility or contribution.The bill requires the Commissioner of Insurance to, within 90 days of the enactment of the bill, apply to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services for a state innovation waiver under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, P.L. 111-148, to implement the provisions of the bill. The provisions of the bill regarding association health plans will become effective 30 days following the date the Commissioner of Insurance notifies the Governor and the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Commerce and Labor of federal approval of such waiver.