Voluntary Registry for People with Special Communication Needs; vehicle registration. Directs the Department of MotorVehicles to include on the application for registration of a motorvehicle an option for the owner to indicate and provide evidence thathe or a member of his immediate family has a disability that canimpair communication. The bill directs the Superintendent of StatePolice to keep and maintain the Voluntary Registry for People withSpecial Communication Needs (the Registry). The bill provides thatthe Department of State Police shall make the Registry informationavailable to law-enforcement agencies through the Virginia CriminalInformation Network (VCIN) and ensure that any search of motor vehicleinformation includes an indication that the registered owner or amember of his immediate family is included in the Registry. The billexempts any information provided on such completed form and in theRegistry from being subject to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
Sponsored bills
Public institutions of higher education; eligibility for in-state tuition. Provides that any student is eligible for in-state tuition who (i) attended high school for at least two years in the Commonwealth and either (a) graduated on or after July 1, 2008, from a public or private high school or program of home instruction in the Commonwealth or (b) passed, on or after July 1, 2008, a high school equivalency examination approved by the Secretary of Education; (ii) has submitted evidence that he or, in the case of a dependent student, at least one parent, guardian, or person standing in loco parentis has filed, unless exempted by state law, Virginia income tax returns for at least two years prior to the date of registration or enrollment; and (iii) registers as an entering student or is enrolled in a public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. The bill states that students who meet these criteria shall be eligible for in-state tuition regardless of their citizenship or immigration status, except students with currently valid visas issued under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(F), 1101(a)(15)(H)(iii), 1101(a)(15)(J) (including only students or trainees), or 1101(a)(15)(M). Information obtained in the implementation of the provisions of the bill shall only be used or disclosed to individuals other than the student for purposes of determining in-state tuition eligibility. This bill incorporates HB 1138 and is identical to SB 935.
Reporting lost or stolen firearms; civil penalty. Requires that, if a firearm is lost or stolen from a person who lawfully possessed it, such person shall report the loss or theft of the firearm to any local law-enforcement agency or the Department of State Police within 48 hours after such person discovers the loss or theft or is informed by a person with personal knowledge of the loss or theft. The bill requires the relevant law-enforcement agency to enter the report information into the National Crime Information Center. A violation is punishable by a civil penalty of not more than $250. The bill provides that a person who, in good faith, reports the loss or theft is immune from criminal or civil liability for acts or omissions that result from the loss or theft. The immunity does not apply to a person who knowingly gives a false report. The bill does not apply to the loss or theft of an antique firearm.
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 14 is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. 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. This bill incorporates HB 72 and HB 463.
Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); personal property tax exemption; motor vehicle owned by a veteran who is disabled. Provides for a referendum at the November 3, 2020, election to approve or reject a personal property tax exemption for a motor vehicle that is owned and used primarily by or for a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States or the Virginia National Guard who has a 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability.
Sales tax exemption; gun safes. Establishes an exemption from retail sales tax for a gun safe with a selling price of $1,500 or less. The bill defines "gun safe" as a safe or vault that is (i) commercially available, (ii) secured with a digital or dial combination locking mechanism or biometric locking mechanism, and (iii) designed for the storage of a firearm or of ammunition for use in a firearm. Under the bill, "gun safe" does not include a glass-faced cabinet. This bill is identical to SB 268.
Child care providers; fingerprint-based criminal background checks; sunset and contingency expiration. Repeals the sunset and contingency expiration of the requirement that the following individuals undergo fingerprint-based national criminal history background checks: (i) applicants for employment by, employees of, applicants to serve as volunteers with, and volunteers with any licensed family day system, child day center exempt from licensure due to its operation by a religious institution, registered family day home, or family day home approved by a family day system; (ii) applicants for licensure as a family day system, registration as a family day home, or approval as a family day home by a family day system, as well as agents of such applicants and any adult living in such family day home; and (iii) individuals who apply for or enter into a contract with the Department of Social Services under which a child day center, family day home, or child day program will provide child care services funded by the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act, as well as the applicant's current or prospective employees and volunteers, agents, and any adult living in the child day center or family day home. This bill is identical to SB 675.
Research and development tax credits; sunset; aggregate caps. Extends the sunset date for both the research and development expenses tax credit and the major research and development expenses tax credit from January 1, 2022, to January 1, 2025. Beginning with taxable year 2021, the bill increases the aggregate cap of the research and development expenses tax credit from $7 million to $7.77 million and increases the aggregate cap of the major research and development expenses tax credit from $20 million to $24 million. For both credits, the bill moves back the annual deadline for applications for the credit from July 1 to September 1. This bill is identical to SB 110.
Prohibited discrimination; public accommodations, employment, credit, and housing: causes of action; sexual orientation and gender identity. Creates explicit 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, 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. 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 HB 3, HB 21, HB 23, HB 217, HB 1050, HB 1200, and HB 1512.
Polling place procedures; residence address of voter not announced. Removes the requirement that the officer of election audibly repeat the residence address of a voter offering to vote. The bill provides that the officer of the election is required to verify with the voter his full name and address and to audibly repeat the voter's full name.