Rep. Wendell Walker

Absentee voting in person; available beginningon the fourteenth day prior to election; hours of operation. Limits absentee voting in person to the two weeks immediately precedingan election. During these two weeks, the bill requires that absenteevoting in person be available Monday through Saturday, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. each day.

Elections; voter identification containing aphotograph required; permanent absentee voter list repealed.Requires presentation of a form of identification containing a photographin order to vote. The bill repeals the provisions of law permittinga voter who does not have one of the required forms of identificationto vote after signing a statement, subject to felony penalties forfalse statements, that he is the named registered voter he claimsto be. Instead, the bill provides that such voter is entitled tocast a provisional ballot. The bill also repeals the provisions oflaw by which any registered voter may apply to receive absentee ballotsfor all elections in which he is eligible to vote and remains onthe list until the voter requests in writing to be removed from thelist, the voter's registration is canceled or placed on inactivestatus pursuant to law, or the voter moves to a different addressnot in the same county or city of his registration.

Unemployment compensation; disqualificationfor benefits; misconduct does not include refusing COVID-19 vaccine.Provides that for the purposes of the Virginia Employment Commissiondetermining if an individual was separated or partially separatedfrom employment for misconduct and would be disqualified for unemploymentbenefits, the term "misconduct" does not include an employee's refusalto receive or receive in part any primary series or booster shotof a vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19.

Project labor agreements; prevailing wage; collective bargaining for employees of local governments. Provides that state agencies, when engaged in procuring products or services or letting contracts for construction, manufacture, maintenance, or operation of public works, paid for in whole or in part by state funds, shall neither require nor prohibit bidders to enter into or adhere to agreements with one or more labor organizations on the public works projects. The bill removes requirements for the payment of prevailing wage for work performed on public works contracts for state agencies. In addition, the bill removes the authority for a locality, by a local ordinance or resolution, to recognize any labor union or other employee association as a bargaining agent of any public officers or employees or to collectively bargain or enter into any collective bargaining contract with any such union or association or its agents.

Commending Virginia Polytechnic Institute andState University.

Commending the Virginia Manufacturers Association.

Nondiscrimination in places of public accommodation; definitions.

Employer-mandated vaccinations for COVID-19;required exemptions; civil penalties. Prohibits an employer fromrequiring its employees to receive a vaccine for the prevention ofCOVID-19 unless such employer provides individual exemptions that allow an employee to opt out from such requirement on the basis of(i) medical reasons, including pregnancy or anticipated pregnancy; (ii) religious reasons; (iii) immunity from COVID-19; (iv) periodictesting; or (v) the use of employer-provided personal protectiveequipment. The bill provides requirements for an employee to claimsuch exemptions. The bill prohibits an employer from discriminationagainst an employee who claims such an exemption. The bill also providesfor civil penalties not to exceed $10,000 by an employer with fewerthan 100 employees or $50,000 by an employer with 100 or more employeesfor violations of the bill's requirements.

Home instruction and private school tax credit.Creates an individual, nonrefundable income tax credit for taxableyears 2022 through 2026, for amounts paid by the parent or legalguardian of a child for the child's home instruction expenses or tuitionfor attending an accredited private school in Virginia. The creditshall equal the lesser of the amount actually paid in the taxableyear for such costs or half of the average state standards of quality funding per student per year. The credit may be taken for instruction-relatedmaterials, courses, or programs used in home instruction or for privateschool tuition. The credit is available for two years per child andcan be carried forward for five taxable years.

Income tax credit; small businesses. Provides,in taxable year 2022, an individual or corporate income tax credit,as applicable for an eligible small business, defined in the billas a (i) (a) pass-through entity that employs fewer than 50 employeesand that has no more than $10 million in gross receipts during suchtaxable year or (b) self-employed individual or (ii) corporationthat is at least 51 percent independently owned by one or more UnitedStates citizens or legal resident aliens, employs fewer than 50 employees together with affiliates, and has no more than $10 million in grossreceipts during the taxable year, and where the individual businessowners must control both the management and daily operations of thebusiness. The individual income tax credit is equal to the amountof Virginia income tax owed on up to $250,000 of personal income during such taxable year and the credit for a corporation equals theamount of Virginia income tax owed during such taxable year on upto $250,000 of the amount that is not deductible when computing federaltax due to Virginia's deconformity from certain provisions of thefederal Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020. The credit is subjectto an aggregate cap of $75 million.