Del. Mark H. Levine

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.

Prohibiting sale, transport, etc., of assault firearms,certain firearm magazines, silencers, and trigger activators; penalties.Expands the definition of "assault firearm" and prohibits any personfrom importing, selling, transferring, manufacturing, purchasing, possessing,or transporting an assault firearm. A violation is a Class 6 felony. The billprohibits a dealer from selling, renting, trading, or transferring from hisinventory an assault firearm to any person. The bill also prohibits a personfrom carrying a shotgun with a magazine that will hold more than seven roundsof the longest ammunition for which it is chambered in a public place; underexisting law, this prohibition applies only in certain localities. The billmakes it a Class 6 felony to import, sell, transfer, manufacture, purchase,possess, or transport large-capacity firearm magazines, silencers, and triggeractivators, all defined in the bill. Any person who legally owns an assaultfirearm, large-capacity firearm magazine, silencer, or trigger activator onJuly 1, 2020, may retain possession until January 1, 2021. During that time,such person shall (i) render the assault firearm, large-capacity firearmmagazine, silencer, or trigger activator inoperable; (ii) remove the assaultfirearm, large-capacity firearm magazine, silencer, or trigger activator fromthe Commonwealth; (iii) transfer the assault firearm, large-capacity firearmmagazine, silencer, or trigger activator to a person outside the Commonwealthwho is not prohibited from possessing it; or (iv) surrender the assaultfirearm, large-capacity firearm magazine, silencer, or trigger activator to astate or local law-enforcement agency.The bill further states that any person who legally owns anassault firearm on July 1, 2020, may retain possession of such assault firearmafter January 1, 2021, if such person has obtained a permit from the Departmentof State Police to possess an assault firearm in accordance with proceduresestablished in the bill. A person issued such permit may possess an assaultfirearm only under the following conditions: (a) while in his home or on hisproperty or while on the property of another who has provided prior permission,provided that the person has the landowner's written permission on his personwhile on such property; (b) while at a shooting range, shooting gallery, orother area designated for the purpose of target shooting or the target range ofa public or private club or organization whose members have organized for thepurpose of practicing shooting targets or competing in target shooting matches;(c) while engaged in lawful hunting; or (d) while surrendering the assaultfirearm to a state or local law-enforcement agency. A person issued such permitmay also transport an assault firearm between any of those locations, providedthat such assault firearm is unloaded and secured within a closed containerwhile being transported. The bill also provides that failure to display thepermit and a photo identification upon demand by a law-enforcement officershall be punishable by a $25 civil penalty, which shall be paid into the statetreasury. The bill also requires the Department of State Police to enter thename and description of a person issued a permit in the Virginia CriminalInformation Network (VCIN) so that the permit's existence and current statuswill be made known to the law-enforcement personnel accessing VCIN forinvestigative purposes.

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); qualifications of voters; automatic restoration of civil rights. Provides for the automatic restoration of civil rights for persons convicted of felonies upon completion of their sentences. The present Constitution provides for restoration of rights by the Governor, and the amendment retains this right.

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.

Health care services; payment estimates.Requires hospitals and practitioners licensed by the Board of Medicineto provide a patient or the representative of a patient scheduledto receive a nonemergency procedure, test, or service to be performedby the hospital or practitioner with an estimate of the payment amountfor which the patient will be responsible no later than one weekafter the scheduling of such procedure, test, or service. Currently,only hospitals are required to provide such estimate, and such estimateis required only (i) for elective procedures, tests, or services;(ii) within three days of the procedure, test, or service; and (iii)upon request of the patient or his representative.

Purchase, possession, or transportation of firearms following conviction for assault and battery of a family or household member; permit to restore rights; penalties. Prohibits a person who has been convicted of stalking, sexual battery, assault and battery of a family or household member, or assault and battery when the person intentionally selects the person against whom a simple assault is committed because of his race, religious conviction, color, or national origin from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm. A person who violates this provision is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill provides for a process by which a person convicted of such crime may petition the circuit court for a reinstatement of his right to possess or transport a firearm and the factors a court shall consider in determining such reinstatement. This bill incorporated HB 78, HB 459, and HB 900.

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 incorporates HB 199.

Infected sexual battery. Provides that,in order for a person to be convicted of infected sexual battery,such person (i) knew that he was infected at the time of the offensewith HIV, syphilis, or hepatitis B and (ii) knew that his infectionwas currently detectable and transmittable, and committed the offensewithout using a prophylactic barrier, including a condom or dentaldam.

Petition for reclassification or expungementof certain convictions and police and court records. Allows a person who has been convicted of (i) a felony or misdemeanor offensethat has been decriminalized or otherwise made lawful or (ii) a felonyoffense that has been statutorily reduced to a misdemeanor offensesince the conviction of such person to file a petition requesting(a) expungement of the police records and the court records relatingto any misdemeanor or felony charge that has been decriminalizedor otherwise made lawful or (b) reclassification of the police recordsand the court records relating to a felony offense that has been statutorily reduced to a misdemeanor offense. The bill requires thecourt to enter an order reclassifying the offense, in the case ofa felony offense that has been statutorily reduced to a misdemeanoroffense, or requiring the expungement of the police and court recordsof an offense that has been decriminalized or otherwise made lawful,if the court finds that the offense for which the person was convictedhas since been decriminalized or otherwise made lawful, or has beenstatutorily reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor offense.