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.
Sponsored bills
Virginia Minimum Wage Act; exclusions. Eliminatesthe exclusion in the Virginia Minimum Wage Act for persons whoseemployment is covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of1938 (FLSA) and for persons whose earning capacity is impaired byphysical deficiency, mental illness, or intellectual disability.The measure also exempts, until July 1, 2024, from the Virginia MinimumWage Act any person who is paid pursuant to a special certificatethat provides for the employment of individuals whose earning orproductive capacity is impaired by age, physical or mental deficiency,or injury at wages lower than the minimum wage otherwise requiredby the FLSA.
Definition of incapacitated person; particularclinical diagnosis. Specifies that a particular clinical diagnosisshall not alone be sufficient evidence that an individual is an incapacitatedperson within the meaning of the definition of incapacitated person.
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.
Health insurance; coverage for prosthetic devices. Requires health insurers, corporations providing health care coverage subscription contracts, health maintenance organizations, and the Commonwealth's Medicaid program to provide coverage for prostheticdevices, including myoelectric, biomechanical, or microprocessor-controlledprosthetic devices that have a Medicare code. The measure repealsthe existing requirement that coverage for prosthetic devices beoffered and made available. The measure has a delayed effective dateof January 1, 2021.
Commemorating the life and legacy of Dr. RobertRussa Moton.
Redistricting; Virginia Citizens Redistricting Commission.Establishes the Virginia Citizens Redistricting Commission (the Commission), a10-member commission responsible for proposing legislative and congressionaldistricts following a decennial census, to be submitted to and approved by theGeneral Assembly. A selection committee consisting of five retired judges of acircuit court in Virginia, selected by the Speaker of the House of Delegates,the minority leader in the House of Delegates, and the majority and minorityleaders in the Senate from a list compiled by the Chief Justice of the SupremeCourt of Virginia, is tasked with adopting a process by which registeredVirginia voters may apply to serve on the Commission and selecting from the applicantsa list of 22 candidates. The bill requires five of the candidates to be voterswho affiliate with the political party receiving the highest number of votesfor governor at the immediately preceding gubernatorial election, fivecandidates to be voters who affiliate with the political party receiving thenext highest number of votes for governor at the immediately precedinggubernatorial election, and 12 candidates to be voters who do not affiliatewith any political party. The Speaker of the House of Delegates, the minorityleader in the House of Delegates, and the majority and minority leaders in theSenate then strike names from the list until there is the final list of 10Commission members, three of whom affiliate with the political party receivingthe highest number of votes for governor at the immediately precedinggubernatorial election, three of whom affiliate with the political partyreceiving the next highest number of votes for governor at the immediatelypreceding gubernatorial election, and four of whom do not affiliate with anypolitical party. To be submitted to the General Assembly, a proposed plan isrequired to receive an affirmative vote of seven of the 10 Commission members,including at least one vote from each of the political parties represented.Initial plans submitted to the General Assembly are not subject to amendment,but if submission of subsequent plans is necessary, such plans may be amendedin the same manner as other bills.
Redistricting; population data; reallocation of prisonpopulations. Provides for the preparation of adjusted population data forredistricting and reapportionment purposes to reflect the reallocation ofpersons incarcerated in federal, state, and local correctional facilities. Thebill provides that a person incarcerated in a correctional facility whose legalresidence prior to entering custody was located within the Commonwealth will bedeemed to reside at such residence, and a person incarcerated in a correctionalfacility whose legal residence prior to entering custody was located outside ofthe Commonwealth or whose legal residence prior to entering custody cannot bedetermined will not be included in the population count for the locality inwhich the facility is located; instead, such persons shall be allocated to astate unit not tied to a specific determined geographic location in the samemanner as other state residents with an unknown address are allocated. Underthe current residence criteria of the U.S. Bureau of the Census, incarceratedpersons are counted at the facility in which they are incarcerated. The billdirects the Division of Legislative Services to prepare the adjusted populationdata, and the General Assembly and local governing bodies are required to usethis data as the basis for reapportioning and drawing new districts. TheDirector of the Department of Corrections and the Board of Corrections arerequired to provide to the Division certain information about each personincarcerated who was incarcerated in a state or local correctional facility onthe day the decennial census is taken, April 1 of a year ending in zero, forthese purposes. The Division is directed to request such information from eachagency operating a federal correctional facility in the Commonwealth, andpersons incarcerated in a federal correctional facility for whom a record isnot received shall be deemed to have a legal residence prior to enteringcustody that cannot be determined.
Virginia Diverse Educator Scholarship Fund and Program established. Establishes the Virginia Diverse Educator Scholarship Fund and Program, to be administered by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, for the purpose of annually providing to each Historically Black College or University in the Commonwealth (Hampton University, Norfolk State University, Virginia State University, and Virginia Union University) such sums as are necessary for each such institution to annually provide scholarships on a competitive basis to no more than two students who (i) identify as African American, Asian, Hispanic or Latino, Native American or Native Alaskan, or Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander; (ii) are accepted to or enrolled in such institution's education preparation program; and (iii) are eligible for a federal Pell Grant to attend such institution. The bill provides that each such scholarship would consist of the following sums: (a) the cost of tuition, mandatory fees, room and board, and textbooks at such institution; (b) the recipient's teacher licensure fees; (c) $5,000 toward teacher professional development activities for the recipient, including coursework, seminars, and conferences; and (d) $10,000 toward mentorship of the recipient by an experienced teacher who is deemed by the relevant school board to be highly effective and able to provide high quality mentorship. The bill requires each student who is awarded a scholarship pursuant to the Program to agree in writing to (1) teach in a public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth in which at least 75 percent of the enrolled students qualify for free or reduced price lunch or are members of families whose income is below the federal poverty guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services upon graduation for a period that is at least as long as the period during which the recipient used scholarship funds to attend a Historically Black College or University and (2) be mentored by an experienced teacher, as described in clause (d), during such period of employment.
Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program. Entitlesindividuals to a family and medical leave insurance (FMLI) benefit payment foreach month they are engaged in qualified caregiving, not to exceed 60 qualifiedcaregiving days per year. Qualified caregiving means an activity, exceptregular employment, for a reason an individual is entitled to leave under thefederal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. Benefits would amount to 66percent of an individual's monthly wages, based on highest annual earnings fromthe prior three years, up to a capped monthly amount, and would be indexed tothe national average wage index. If a person takes the maximum number of days,the benefits would range from a minimum benefit of $580 to a maximum benefit of$4,000 per month in the program's first year. To be eligible for benefits, anindividual is required to (i) be insured for disability insurance benefitsunder the Social Security Act at the time his application is filed; (ii) haveearned income from employment during the 12 months before filing theapplication; (iii) have filed an application for a FMLI benefit; and (iv) havebeen engaged in qualified caregiving, or anticipate being so engaged, duringthe 90-day period before the application is filed or within 30 days thereafter.The measure establishes the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Fund andrequires FMLI benefit payments to be made only from this Fund. A tax of 0.2percent is imposed on the wages received by every individual, and an excise taxof 0.2 percent of the wages paid in any calendar year by the employer withrespect to their employment is imposed on employers. The measure has a delayedeffective date of January 1, 2021.