Rep. Hala S. Ayala

Governor's Secretaries; Secretary of Labor created. Creates in the Governor's Cabinet the position of Secretary of Labor. The bill transfers from the Secretary of Commerce and Trade to the Secretary of Labor responsibility for the Department of Labor and Industry, the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, and the Virginia Employment Commission. The bill removes the position of Chief Workforce Development Advisor and reassigns its duties to the Secretary of Labor. The bill also adds the Secretary of Labor to the Governor's comprehensive economic development policy committee.

Electric Vehicle Grant Fund and Program; creation; workgroup report. Establishes the Electric Vehicle Grant Fund and Program for the purpose of (i) awarding grants on a competitive basis to public school divisions for (a) assisting with costs of replacing diesel school buses with electric school buses; (b) the implementation of recharging infrastructure or other infrastructure needed to charge or maintain such electric school buses; and (c) workforce development and training to support the maintenance, charging, and operation of such electric school buses and (ii) projects by public, private, and non-profit Virginia entities to assist with replacing diesel-fueled vehicles and machinery with electric vehicles.  No allocation of funds shall be made to the Fund or the Program unless federal or nonstate funds are available to cover the entire cost of such allocation. The bill contains provisions relating to grant applications, priority, awards, and uses.  The Department of Environmental Quality shall convene a stakeholder workgroup to develop recommendations for establishing and administering the Fund and Program and shall report the workgroup findings to the General Assembly.

Workforce development; data sharing. Expands the type of workforce development data that state agencies may share with the Virginia Workforce System to support workforce program evaluation and policy analysis. The bill removes the requirement that all personal identifying information be removed before being shared among other state agencies and with the Workforce Development System and instead requires the identifying attribute information necessary to match entities across programs, support the coordination of services, and evaluate outcomes to be shared among agencies that enter into the memorandum of understanding supporting the Virginia Workforce Data Trust.

Enslaved Ancestors College Access ScholarshipProgram established. Establishes the Enslaved Ancestors CollegeAccess Scholarship Program, whereby Longwood University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, the Virginia MilitaryInstitute, and The College of William and Mary in Virginia are requiredto annually provide, starting in the 2022-2023 academic year and with any source of funds other than state funds or tuition or fee increases,to at least one African American Virginia student who was born inthe Commonwealth and has a total household income that is not morethan 400 percent of the federal poverty guidelines a renewable scholarshipin an amount sufficient to cover tuition, mandatory fees, room andboard, books and other educational supplies, and tutoring at the institution. The bill requires the State Council of Higher Educationfor Virginia to collaborate with such institutions to establish guidelinesfor the implementation of the Program and to annually collect informationon the implementation of the Program from such institutions and reportsuch information to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations,the House Committee on Education, the Senate Committee on Educationand Health, the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, and the Virginia African American Advisory Board.

Small renewable energy projects; energy storage.Includes in the definition of a "small renewable energy project"certain energy storage facilities and projects that include storagefacility components. Such facilities are eligible for special permitting,review, and inspection requirements. The bill directs the Departmentof Environmental Quality to promulgate initial regulations to implementthe provisions of the bill by January 1, 2022.

Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back (G3) Fundand Program established. Establishes the Get Skilled,Get a Job, Give Back (G3) Fund and requires the Virginia Community College System to establish the G3 Program for the purpose of providing financial assistance from the Fund to certain low-income and middle-income Virginia students who are enrolled in an educational program at an associate-degree-granting public institution of higher educationthat leads to an occupation in a certain high-demand field. The billcontains provisions for student eligibility, financial assistanceaward amounts, and data reporting.

Electric utilities; nonjurisdictional customers;third party power purchase agreements. Provides that for pilotprograms under which an owner or operator of a renewable energy generationfacility sells electricity to an eligible customer-generator through a third party power purchase agreement, both jurisdictional and nonjurisdictional customers may participate on a first-come, first-servebasis.

Alcoholic beverage control; local outdoor refreshment areas. Renames the "local special events" license as the "outdoor refreshment area" license. The bill allows the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority to increase the frequency and duration of events held under such license after adoption of an ordinance by a locality requesting such increase in frequency and duration. Under current law, localities are limited to holding 16 events per year under such license, with each event lasting no more than three consecutive days, except during the effective dates of any rule, regulation, or order that is issued by the Governor or State Health Commissioner to meet a public health emergency and that effectively reduces allowable restaurant seating capacity. The bill also increases the state and local license fees for outdoor refreshment area licenses issued pursuant to a local ordinance. This bill incorporates HB 2051.

Practice of certified nurse midwives. Eliminatesthe requirement that certified nurse midwives practice pursuant toa practice agreement and provides that certified nurse midwives shall practice in accordance with regulations of the Boards of Medicineand Nursing and consistent with the Standards for the Practice ofMidwifery set by the American College of Nurse-Midwives and shallconsult and collaborate with and refer patients to such other healthcare providers as may be appropriate for the care of the patient.

Electric utilities; broadband capacity pilotprogram. Expands an existing pilot program under which DominionEnergy and Appalachian Power are authorized to provide or make availablebroadband capacity to Internet service providers in areas of theCommonwealth that are unserved by broadband to include municipalInternet service providers. The current program is restricted tonongovernmental Internet service providers.