Possession of controlled substances; penalties. Reduces the penalty for possession of a Schedule I or II controlled substance from a Class 5 felony to a Class 1 misdemeanor and the penalty for possession of a Schedule IV or V controlled substance from a Class 2 misdemeanor and a Class 3 misdemeanor, respectively, to a Class 4 misdemeanor. Consequently, the bill removes felony violations of possession of a controlled substance committed on or after July 1, 2022, from the definition of barrier crime related to criminal history checks for eligibility for various types of employment, to volunteer or provide certain services, or to establish or operate certain types of regulated businesses.The bill also provides that, for the purposes of the offense of possession of controlled substances, the term "controlled substance" does not include mere residue of any drug, substance, or immediate precursor in Schedules I through VI that is not a usable quantity or a countable dosage unit.The bill also limits the previous convictions that make a person ineligible for disposition under the first offender statute to a previous conviction for possession of a controlled substance or manufacturing, selling, giving, distributing, or possessing with intent to manufacture, sell, give, or distribute a controlled substance or an imitation controlled substance. Under current law, a previous conviction for any drug-related criminal offense or for an offense under any statute of the United States or of any state relating to narcotic drugs, marijuana, or stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic drugs makes a person ineligible for such disposition. The bill also amends the required conditions of probation under the first offender statute.The bill changes the penalty for an attempt to commit a felony drug offense from imprisonment for not less than one nor more than 10 years to a Class 6 felony and removes the felony offenses for a prisoner to secrete or have in his possession any chemical compound that he has not lawfully received, any Schedule III controlled substance, or marijuana. The bill makes secreting or possessing a controlled substance or marijuana by a prisoner punishable the same as possession of such controlled substances or marijuana by a person who is not in prison. The bill contains technical amendments.
Sponsored bills
General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act;prohibited conduct; ownership of certain securities prohibited.Prohibits members of the General Assembly from owning any securityissued by a public service corporation, or the parent, affiliate,or subsidiary of a public service corporation, during their termof office. However, such prohibition does not restrict a member ofthe General Assembly from owning such a security in a diversifiedmutual fund or diversified unit investment trust.
Unemployment compensation; continuation of benefits; repayment of overpayments. Makes permanent provisions of the Code currently set to expire on July 1, 2022, relating to unemployment compensation. The bill provides that when a claimant has had a determination of initial eligibility for unemployment benefits, as determined by the issuance of compensation or waiting-week credit, payments shall continue, subject to a presumption of continued eligibility, until a determination is made that provides the claimant notice and an opportunity to be heard.The bill also makes permanent provisions of the Code that require the Virginia Employment Commission to waive the obligation to repay any overpayment if (i) the overpayment was made without fault on the part of the individual receiving benefits and (ii) requiring repayment would be contrary to equity and good conscience. Conditions for when overpayments are considered "without fault on the part of the individual" are outlined in the bill.The bill further provides that the Commission shall notify each person with an unpaid overpayment of benefits that he may be entitled to a waiver of repayment and provide 30 days to request such a waiver. This applies to outstanding overpayments established for claim weeks commencing on or after March 15, 2020. The bill allows the Commission to suspend or forgo referring any overpayment established since March 15, 2020, to the collections process indefinitely. All costs that result from implementing provisions of this bill shall be incurred by the Unemployment Compensation Fund.
Additional local sales and use tax to support schools. Authorizes all counties and cities to impose an additional local sales and use tax at a rate not to exceed one percent, with the revenue used only for capital projects for the construction or renovation of schools. Under the bill, the tax can only be imposed if it is initiated by a resolution of the local governing body and approved by the voters in a referendum. The bill requires the governing body to specify in the enacting ordinance the time period, not to exceed 20 years, for which the tax would be imposed, and revenue from the tax is required to be used solely for capital projects for new construction or major renovation of schools in the locality enacting the tax. Under current law, only Charlotte County, Gloucester County, Halifax County, Henry County, Mecklenburg County, Northampton County, Patrick County, Pittsylvania County, and the City of Danville are authorized to impose such a tax.
Possession of controlled substances; residue. Provides that for the purposes of the crime of possession of controlled substances, "controlled substance" does not include mere residue of any substance that is not a usable quantity or a countable dosage unit.
Photo speed monitoring devices; locality-designatedhighway segments. Authorizes localities to, by ordinance, authorizetheir local law-enforcement agency to place and operate photo-speedmonitoring devices in certain locations named in the ordinance, providedthat (i) the highway has a posted speed limit of 35 miles per houror greater; (ii) the ordinance identifies the locality-designatedspeeding offense to be enforced by the photo speed monitoring device;(iii) speeding, crash, or fatality data support the need for strongerenforcement against speeding; and (iv) in counties and towns whoseroads are subject to the control and jurisdiction of the Departmentof Transportation, the locality-designated highway segment is inthe secondary state highway system. The bill directs the localityto also identify the speeding violations that may be enforced by photospeed monitoring device. Current law authorizes the use of photospeed monitoring devices in highway work zones and school crossingzones.
Standards of Quality; work-based learning; teacher leaders and mentors; principal mentors; certain personnel positions and initiatives. Makes several changes to the Standards of Quality, including requiring the establishment of units in the Department of Education to oversee work-based learning and principal mentorship statewide and requiring the Board of Education to establish and oversee the local implementation of teacher leader and teacher mentor programs in Standard 5. The bill also makes several changes relating to school personnel in Standard 2, including (i) establishing schoolwide ratios of students to teachers in certain schools with high concentrations of poverty and granting flexibility to provide compensation adjustments to teachers in such schools; (ii) requiring each school board to assign licensed personnel in a manner that provides an equitable distribution of experienced, effective teachers and other personnel among all schools in the local school division; (iii) requiring each school board to employ teacher leaders and teacher mentors at specified student-to-position ratios; (iv) requiring state funding in addition to basic aid to support at-risk students and granting flexibility in the use of such funds by school boards; (v) lowering the ratio of English language learner students to teachers; (vi) requiring each school board to employ reading specialists and establishing a student-to-position ratio for such specialists; (vii) requiring school boards to employ one full-time principal in each elementary school; (viii) lowering the ratio of students to assistant principals and school counselors in elementary, middle, and high schools; and (ix) increasing from at least three to at least four the required number of specialized student support positions, including school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, licensed behavior analysts, licensed assistant behavior analysts, and other licensed health and behavioral positions, per 1,000 students.
Teacher compensation; at or above national average.Requires that public school teachers be compensated at a rate thatis at or above the national average. Under current law, compensationat such rate is aspirational. The bill requires state funding tobe provided pursuant to the general appropriation act in a sum sufficientto fund a 4.5 percent annual increase for public school teacher salaries,effective from the 2023-24 school year through the 2027-28 schoolyear. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2023.
Public hospitals; medical debt collection practices. Requires the University of Virginia Medical Center (the Medical Center) and the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System Authority (the Authority) to make payment plans available to each person who incurs a debt related to medical treatment. The bill (i) requires that such payment plans be provided in writing and cap monthly payments at no more than five percent of the person's household income, (ii) provides that the first payment under such payment plan shall not be due until a date that is at least 90 days after the date on which treatment was provided or the date on which the person discharged, and (iii) provides that a person who has made at least 10 payments pursuant to the payment plan in a 12-month period shall be deemed to be in compliance with the payment plan. The bill also prohibits the Medical Center and the Authority from charging interest or late fees for medical debt, requires the Medical Center and Authority to make information available in writing in languages other than English spoken in the service area and via oral translation service for other languages, prohibits the Medical Center and the Authority from selling medical debt to any person other than an organization that purchases medical debt for the purpose of paying such debt in full, prohibits the Medical Center and the Authority from initiating any extraordinary debt collection action including garnishment of wages or liens on a debtor's primary residence or vehicle, and requires the Medical Center and the Authority to establish a Financial Assistance Ombudsman Office to assist patients and other persons with issues related to financial assistance, payment plans, and debt collection.
Campaign finance; prohibited contributionsto candidates; Phase I Utility and Phase II Utility. Prohibitscandidates, campaign committees, and political committees from solicitingor accepting contributions from any public utility, as defined inthe bill, and prohibits any public utility or any political committeeestablished by such public utility from making any such contribution.