Del. Israel O'Quinn

Expungement of police and court records; pardons. Allows a person to petition for the expungement of the police andcourt records relating to such person's conviction if he has beengranted a simple pardon for the crime. Under current law, policeand court records relating to convictions are only expunged if aperson received an absolute pardon for a crime he did not commit.

Expungement of police and court records.Allows a person convicted of certain offenses, or charged with such offenses which charges were deferred and dismissed, who was under21 years of age at the time of the offense, and who has successfullycompleted all terms of probation to file a petition for expungementafter at least seven years have passed since (i) the date of dismissalof the charge; (ii) the date of conviction, if no active sentenceof incarceration was imposed; or (iii) the date of completion ofan active sentence of incarceration, if an active term of incarcerationwas imposed as a result of the conviction. Any conviction that isexpunged will be considered a prior conviction for purposes of prosecutionof any subsequent offense for which the prior conviction statutorilyenhances punishment. Convictions for violent felony offenses andoffenses for which registration with the Sex Offender and CrimesAgainst Minors Registry is required are not eligible for expungementunder the bill.

Public schools; Standards of Learning assessments.Reduces the total number and type of required Standards of Learningassessments to the minimum requirements established by the federalElementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended.

Board of Pharmacy; pharmaceutical processors;cannabis oil. Replaces the definitions of cannabidiol oil andTHC-A oil with a definition for cannabis oil. The bill allows pharmaceuticalprocessors to acquire industrial hemp grown and processed in Virginiafrom a registered industrial hemp dealer or processor and allowsa pharmaceutical processor to process and formulate industrial hempwith cannabis plant extract into an allowable dosage.

Electric utilities; incentive programs for low-income customers. Authorizes Dominion Energy Virginia and American Electric Power to recover, through a rate adjustment clause, the costs of designing, implementing, and operating programs to provide incentives to low-income, elderly, and disabled individuals who participate in an energy conservation program, or to organizations providing residential services to such individuals, for the installation of, or access to, solar energy generating equipment. The measure also clarifies that these utilities shall submit a petition for approval to design, implement, and operate a separate three-year incentive program, in an amount not to exceed $25 million in the aggregate, to enable the installation of, or access to, solar energy equipment, that is in addition to the existing $25 million in incentives the utilities are required to provide over three years to low-income, elderly, and disabled individuals for energy conservation measures.

Virginia National Guard; state active duty for emergency response; pay and allowances for members. Provides that whenever called to state active duty in response to certain emergencies, members of the National Guard and the Virginia Defense Force receive pay and allowance equal to their rank and years of service, as determined by the Department of Military Affairs. The bill also authorizes the Adjutant General to increase state active duty pay on an annual basis by a rate not to exceed the most recent percentage increase in basic pay for members of the Armed Forces. Current law provides that (i) officers of the National Guard receive the same pay and allowances as prescribed for members of like rank in the United States Armed Forces, (ii) members of the National Guard receive the same pay and allowances as if they were on a day of Annual Training, and (iii) members of the Virginia Defense Force called to state active duty receive the same pay and allowances as persons of like grade in the National Guard for a day of Annual Training, capped at 25 years of service. The provisions of the bills are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

Dispensing cannabidiol oil and THC-A oil; non-Virginia residents. Provides that in addition to a patient or a patient's legal guardian who is a Virginia resident, a pharmaceutical processor may dispense in person to a patient or a patient's legal guardian who temporarily resides in Virginia as made evident to the Board of Medicine with a certification for cannabidiol oil and THC-A oil from a Virginia practitioner. The bill also makes clear that a practitioner who issues a written certification for cannabidiol oil must use his professional judgment to determine the manner and frequency of patient care and evaluation and authorizes such practitioner to utilize telemedicine, consistent with federal requirements for the prescribing of Schedule II through V controlled substances.

Electric utilities; broadband capacity. Authorizes an electric utility to lease to any third party that is a wholesaler and that is not a government-owned broadband authority, for the purposes of providing broadband connectivity. The leases may extend in length beyond the end of the pilot program under which the utility provides broadband capacity to nongovernmental Internet service providers in areas of the Commonwealth unserved by broadband.

State Council of Higher Education for Virginia;Veteran Student Transition Grant Fund and Program. Establishesthe Veteran Student Transition Grant Fund as a special nonreverting fund in the state treasury and requires the State Council of HigherEducation for Virginia to establish the Veteran Student TransitionGrant Program for the purpose of providing grants from the Fund ona competitive basis to a public institution of higher education,private institution of higher education, or group of such institutionsthat proposes a new and innovative program or research project relatingto improving the transition of veteran students from military to higher education or from higher education to the civilian workforce.

Public schools; provisional teacher licensure;certain individuals. Permits any school board and division superintendentto extend from three months to six months the period within whichthe provisional license of an individual seeking initial teacherlicensure who has not completed professional assessments will expirefor the purpose of establishing such individual's eligibility forinitial licensure, provided that such individual has received a satisfactorymid-year performance review in the current school year and meetsall other eligibility criteria.