Del. Charniele Herring

Environmental justice; state agency policy;Virginia Council on Environmental Justice. Directs each agencyin the executive branch of state government to examine proposed regulationsfor their effects on environmental justice, defined in the bill,and to develop a policy to promote environmental justice. The billestablishes the Virginia Council on Environmental Justice, consistingof 24 members, to advise the Governor and provide recommendationsintended to protect vulnerable communities from disproportionateimpacts of pollution and provide such communities meaningful involvementin the decision-making process. The bill provides that 18 membersof the Council are citizen members appointed by the Governor and sixare specified Cabinet Secretaries. The Council has a sunset dateof July 1, 2023.

Labor and employment; collective bargaining; employees of counties, cities, and towns. Permits counties, cities, and towns to adopt local ordinances authorizing them to (i) recognize any labor union or other employee association as a bargaining agent of any public officers or employees, except for Constitutional officers and their employees, and including public school employees and (ii) collectively bargain or enter into any collective bargaining contract with any such union or association or its agents with respect to any matter relating to them or their employment. The bill provides that for any governing body of a county, city, or town that has not adopted an ordinance or resolution providing for collective bargaining, such governing body is required, within 120 days of receiving certification from a majority of public employees in a unit considered by such employees to be appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, to take a vote to adopt or not adopt an ordinance or resolution to provide for collective bargaining by such public employees and any other public employees deemed appropriate by the governing body. The bill provides that the prohibition against striking for public employees applies, irrespective of any such local ordinance. The bill has a delayed effective date of May 1, 2021. This bill is identical to SB 939.

Prohibited discrimination; public accommodations, employment, credit, and housing: causes of action; sexual orientation and gender identity. Creates causes of action for unlawful discrimination in public accommodations and employment in the Virginia Human Rights Act. Currently, under the Act there is no cause of action for discrimination in public accommodations, and the only causes of action for discrimination in employment are for (i) unlawful discharge on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, or childbirth or related medical conditions including lactation by employers employing more than five but fewer than 15 persons and (ii) unlawful discharge on the basis of age by employers employing more than five but fewer than 20 persons. The bill allows the causes of action to be pursued privately by the aggrieved person or, in certain circumstances, by the Attorney General. Before a civil cause of action may be brought in a court of the Commonwealth, an aggrieved individual must file a complaint with the Division of Human Rights of the Department of Law, participate in an administrative process, and receive a notice of his right to commence a civil action. The bill prohibits discrimination in public and private employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill also codifies for state and local government employment the current prohibitions on discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, or status as a veteran. Additionally, the bill (a) prohibits discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran; (b) prohibits discrimination in credit on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, disability, and status as a veteran; and (c) adds discrimination on the basis of an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran as an unlawful housing practice. The bill makes technical amendments. This bill incorporates SB 66 and SB 159.

Elections; same-day registration; in-personabsentee and election day voting. Provides an exception to theclosing of registration records for any person who (i) is qualifiedto register to vote, (ii) is unregistered or registered in a localityin which the person no longer resides but is otherwise entitledto vote by absentee ballot, (iii) desires to vote absentee in personat the time that they present themselves to be registered, and (iv) provides proof of residency. The bill also permits same-day registrantsto vote absentee and provides an excuse for election day absentee voting for such voters. The bill requires all voters who registerto vote under the provisions of this bill to fill out an absenteeapplication, including the required oath, in order to vote. Thisbill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2022.

Absentee voting; no excuse required. Permits any registered voter to vote by absentee ballot in any election in which he is qualified to vote. The bill removes the current list of statutory reasons under which a person may be entitled to vote by absentee ballot and removes references to those reasons from other sections of the Code. This bill incorporates HB 25, HB 208, and HB 209.

Memorials for war veterans. Provides that a locality may remove, relocate, contextualize, or cover any monument or memorial for war veterans on the locality's public property, not including a monument or memorial located in a publicly owned cemetery, regardless of when the monument or memorial was erected, and removes certain criminal and civil penalties. Current law makes it unlawful to disturb or interfere with such monuments or memorials or to prevent citizens from taking proper measures and exercising proper means for the protection, preservation, and care of such monuments or memorials. Prior to removing, relocating, contextualizing, or covering any such publicly owned monument or memorial, the local governing body shall publish notice of such intent in a newspaper having general circulation in the locality. The notice shall specify the time and place of a public hearing at which interested persons may present their views, not less than 30 days after publication of the notice. After the completion of the hearing, the governing body may vote whether to remove, relocate, contextualize, or cover the monument or memorial. If the governing body votes to remove, relocate, contextualize, or cover the monument or memorial, the local governing body shall first, for a period of 30 days, offer the monument or memorial for relocation and placement to any museum, historical society, government, or military battlefield. The local governing body shall have sole authority to determine the final disposition of the monument or memorial. The bill authorizes the local governing body to call for an advisory referendum prior to voting on such motion. The bill repeals an 1890 act of assembly related to the placement of a statue in the City of Alexandria and does not apply to a monument or memorial located on the property of a public institution of higher education within the City of Lexington. The bill also provides that the Board of Historic Resources shall promulgate regulations governing the manner in which any monument or memorial may be contextualized. This bill incorporates HB1625 and is identical to SB 183.

Commission to Study Slavery and Subsequent De Jure and De Facto Racial and Economic Discrimination Against African Americans; report; sunset. Creates the Commission to Study Slavery and Subsequent De Jure and De Facto Racial and Economic Discrimination Against African Americans to (i) study the current impact and long-term inequities of slavery and the subsequent state-sanctioned de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination practiced against African Americans and (ii) make recommendations to the General Assembly on appropriate remedies. The bill requires the Commission to annually submit a report on its interim activity and work to the Governor and the General Assembly. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2022.

Petition for writ of actual innocence. Provides that a person who was convicted of a felony or who was adjudicated delinquent by a circuit court of an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult may petition for a writ of actual innocence based on biological evidence or nonbiological evidence regardless of the type of plea he entered at trial. Under current law, such person may petition for a writ based on biological evidence if he entered a plea of not guilty, and any person, regardless of the type of plea he entered at trial, may petition for such writ if he is sentenced to death or convicted or adjudicated delinquent of murder or a felony for which the maximum punishment is imprisonment for life. The bill also (i) allows a writ of actual innocence based on nonbiological evidence to be granted if scientific testing of previously untested evidence, regardless of whether such evidence was available or known at the time of conviction, proves that no trier of fact would have found proof of guilt of the person petitioning for the writ, provided that the testing procedure was not available at the time of conviction, and (ii) eliminates the provision that limits a petitioner to only one writ of actual innocence based on nonbiological evidence for any conviction. The bill provides that the petitioner must prove the allegations supporting either type of writ of actual innocence by a preponderance of the evidence. Currently, the petitioner must prove such allegations by clear and convincing evidence. Finally, the bill clarifies that the Attorney General may join a petition for a writ of actual innocence filed in connection with an adjudication of delinquency. This bill is identical to SB 511.

Provision of abortion. The bill expands who can perform first trimester abortions to include, in addition to physicians, physician's assistants licensed by the Board of Medicine, and nurse practitioners or certified nurse midwives jointly licensed by the Board of Medicine and the Board of Nursing. The bill eliminates all the procedures and processes, including the performance of an ultrasound, required to effect a pregnant person's informed written consent to the performance of an abortion; however, the bill does not change the requirement that a pregnant person's informed written consent first be obtained. The bill removes language classifying facilities that perform five or more first trimester abortions per month as hospitals for the purpose of complying with regulations establishing minimum standards for hospitals. This bill incorporates HB 1060.

Suspension of driver's license for nonpayment of fines or costs. Removes the requirement that a court suspend the driver's license of a person convicted of any violation of the law who fails or refuses to provide for immediate payment of fines or costs. The bill provides that the fine for any moving violation while operating a motor vehicle in a designated highway safety corridor shall be no more than $500 for any violation that is a traffic infraction and not less than $200 for any violation that is a criminal offense. The bill repeals the Nonresident Violator Compact of 1977. The bill also provides that the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles shall reinstate a person's privilege to drive a motor vehicle that was suspended prior to July 1, 2019, solely pursuant to § 46.2-395 of the Code of Virginia and shall waive all fees relating to reinstating such person's driving privileges. Nothing in this act shall require the Commissioner to reinstate a person's driving privileges if such privileges have been otherwise lawfully suspended or revoked or if such person is otherwise ineligible for a driver's license. This bill incorporates HB 17.