Del. Rod Willett

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.

Animal care; cruelty; dangerous dogs. Extensively reorganizes, clarifies, and makes substantive changes to provisions related to dangerous dogs. Substantive changes include (i) a requirement that a law-enforcement officer or animal control officer who has reason to believe that a dog within his jurisdiction is a dangerous dog must apply for a district court summons, a requirement that is discretionary under current law; (ii) a prohibition on disposing of a dog prior to a dangerous dog adjudication; (iii) additional requirements for owners during and after a dangerous dog adjudication, including notice upon transfer, signage, fencing, muzzling, and registration; (iv) court discretion on prohibiting ownership of or residence with a dog following a dangerous dog adjudication; and (v) additional recordkeeping for officers in certain situations. The bill also increases from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony the penalty for a first offense of killing a domestic dog or cat for the purpose of obtaining its hide, fur, or pelt. Current law imposes a Class 6 felony charge only for a second or subsequent offense.

Grand larceny; threshold. Increases from$500 to $1,500 the threshold amount of money taken or value of goodsor chattel taken at which the crime rises from petit larceny to grandlarceny. The bill increases the threshold by the same amount forthe classification of certain property crimes.

Family caregiver tax credit. Creates a nonrefundable income tax credit beginning in taxable year 2020 for expenses incurred by an individual in caring for an eligible family member, defined in the bill, who requires assistance with one or more activities of daily living, also defined in the bill. The credit equals 50 percent of eligible expenditures incurred by the caregiver, but shall not exceed $1,000. In order to qualify for the credit, the family caregiver must (i) not receive any compensation or reimbursement for the eligible expenditures and (ii) have federal adjusted gross income that is no greater than $75,000 for an individual or $150,000 for married persons. Both the caregiver and the eligible family member must be residents of Virginia. The bill requires the Tax Commissioner to establish guidelines for claiming the credit and provides that any unused credit may be carried forward by the taxpayer for five taxable years following the taxable year for which the credit was issued. The credit expires beginning with taxable year 2025.

Development and use of accessory dwelling units.Provides that all localities shall allow for the development anduse of one accessory dwelling unit (ADU) per single-family dwelling(SFD), notwithstanding any contrary provision of a zoning ordinance.The bill defines "accessory dwelling unit" or "ADU" as an independentdwelling unit on a single-family lot with its own living, bathroom,and kitchen space that may be within or attached to SFDs or in detachedstructures on lots containing SFDs. ADUs may include basements, attics,flats, guest houses, cottages, and converted structures such as garages and sheds. The bill requires localities to regulate the sizeand design of ADUs through an approval process, as well as regulatefees, parking, and other requirements, provided that the regulations(i) are not so arbitrary, excessive, or burdensome, individuallyor cumulatively, as to unreasonably restrict the ability of propertyowners to utilize or create ADUs and (ii) do not require the propertyowner to occupy the ADU or SFD as his primary residence.

Study; JLARC; special education staffing ratios;report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commissionto include in its current review of the effectiveness of Virginia'sspecial education programs an examination of the prescribed and actualratios of students to special education instructional and supportpersonnel in public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealthto determine whether any adjustment to such ratios is necessary.

Study; Department of Rail and Public Transportation; Commonwealth Corridor passenger rail service; report. Requeststhe Department of Rail and Public Transportation to study the feasibilityof an east-west Commonwealth Corridor passenger rail service connectingHampton Roads, Richmond, and the New River Valley.

Study; Virginia State Crime Commission; thelow use of geriatric parole; report. Directs the Virginia StateCrime Commission to study the low use of geriatric parole and theappropriate structure for increasing the use of geriatric parole.

Tax deduction for energy-saving products.Establishes a tax deduction for the amount a taxpayer pays for energy-savingproducts, not to exceed $10,000. Energy-saving products are definedas being either (i) solar panels or (ii) products that meet the requirementsof the Energy Star program established by the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. To qualify forthe deduction, the taxpayer must spend at least $1,000 on energy-savingproducts. The bill also provides that a person may not claim boththis deduction and the existing deduction for certain energy-efficientproducts during the same taxable year.

Health insurance; payment to out-of-network providers. Provides that when a covered person receives covered emergency services from an out-of-network health care provider or receives out-of-network services at an in-network facility, the covered person is not required to pay the out-of-network provider any amount other than the applicable cost-sharing requirement. The measure also establishes a standard for calculating the health carrier's required payment to the out-of-network provider of the services, which standard is the lower of the market-based value for the service or 125 percent of the amount that would be paid under Medicare for the service. If such provider determines that the amount to be paid by the health carrier does not comply with the applicable requirements, the measure requires the provider and the health carrier to make a good faith effort to reach a resolution on the appropriate amount of the reimbursement and, if a resolution is not reached, authorizes either party to request the State Corporation Commission to review the disputed reimbursement amount and determine if the amount complies with applicable requirements. The measure provides that such provisions do not apply to an entity that provides or administers self-insured or self-funded plans; however, such entities may elect to be subject such provisions. The measure requires health carriers to make reports to the Bureau of Insurance and directs the Bureau to provide reports to certain committees of the General Assembly. This bill was incorporated into HB 1251.