Del. Rip Sullivan

Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy. Renames the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy as the Department of Energy. Within the Department, the bill renames the Division of Mined Land Reclamation as the Division of Mined Land Repurposing and renames the Division of Energy as the Division of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. The bill makes substantive changes, removing the requirement that the Chief of the Division of Mines be appointed by the Governor and authorizing an employee other than the Virginia Gas and Oil Inspector to serve as the principal executive of the staff of the Virginia Gas and Oil Board. The bill also provides that the Chief Clean Energy Policy Advisor shall be appointed by the Governor. The bill removes or updates outdated language.

Probation, revocation, and suspension of sentence; limitations. Limits the amount of active incarceration a court can impose as a result of a revocation hearing for a probation violation. The bill provides that if the court finds the basis of a violation of the terms and conditions of a suspended sentence or probation is that the defendant was convicted of a criminal offense or violated another condition other than a technical violation, the court may pronounce whatever sentence might have been originally imposed. The bill defines "technical violation" and provides specific limitations on the sentence a court may impose depending on whether the violation is a first, second, or third or subsequent technical violation. The bill also provides that a court may fix the period of probation for up to the statutory maximum period for which the defendant might originally have been sentenced to be imprisoned and any period of supervised probation shall not exceed five years from the release of the defendant from any active period of incarceration. The bill also provides that a court must measure any period of suspension of sentence from the date of entry of the original sentencing order.

Electric vehicle rebate program; creation andfunding; report. Creates a rebate program for the purchase or lease of new and used electric vehicles, to be administered by the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy. A purchaser or lesseeof an electric vehicle would receive a $2,500 rebate at the timeof purchase, and a purchaser or lessee with an annual household incomethat does not exceed 300 percent of the federal poverty level wouldbe entitled to an additional $2,000 rebate. The motor vehicle dealerwhere the vehicle is purchased or leased would receive a refund forthe amount of the rebate and a $50 incentive payment for each rebateprocessed. Funds would be allocated from the revenues generated bythe sunset of the Virginia Coal Employment and Production IncentiveTax Credit and the Coalfield employment enhancement tax credit andprohibit the allocation of new credits on and after January 1, 2021.The bill also establishes an Electric Vehicle Rebate Advisory Councilto oversee the Electric Vehicle Rebate Program and to make recommendationsregarding its implementation. The Director of the Department of Mines,Minerals and Energy is required to report annually to the Governorand the General Assembly regarding the Program. The Program will expire on September 1, 2026.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; meetingsheld through electronic communication means during a state of emergency.Allows a public body, or a joint meeting thereof, to meet by electroniccommunication means without a quorum of the public body physicallyassembled at one location when a locality in which the public bodyis located has declared a local state of emergency, provided that(i) the catastrophic nature of the declared emergency makes it impracticableor unsafe to assemble a quorum in a single location and (ii) thepurpose of the meeting is to provide for the continuity of operations of the public body or the discharge of its lawful purposes, duties,and responsibilities. Under current law, public bodies may only meetin such manner when the Governor has declared a state of emergency,and only for the purpose of addressing the emergency. Finally, thebill requires public bodies meeting through electronic communicationmeans during a local or state declaration of a state of emergencyto (a) make arrangements for public access to such meeting throughelectronic communication means, including videoconferencing if alreadyused by the public body, and (b) provide the public with the opportunityto comment at such meetings when public comment is customarily received.

Substantial Risk Order Registry; maintenance and access. Authorizes the Department of State Police to release Substantial Risk Order Registry information upon request to institutions of higher education and other research organizations or institutions for the purpose of monitoring and evaluating the impact of substantial risk orders on public safety. The bill requires the Department of State Police to remove the names and other personal identifying information from the data before it releases such information.

Absentee voting; procedural and process reforms; availability and accessibility reforms; penalty. Makes various reforms to absentee voting processes and procedures, including those related to availability and accessibility. The bill requires certain actions to be taken to process absentee ballots returned before the day of an election, including verifying the correct completion of the voter affirmation statement, and provides for an opportunity for an absentee voter to make corrections to the statement in certain circumstances. The bill requires the establishment of drop-off locations for the return of voted absentee ballots. Additionally, a central absentee voter precinct is required to be established in each locality; currently, establishment is optional. On the day of the election, officers of election are required to begin processing absentee ballots in the central absentee voter precincts prior to the close of polls, but no ballot vote counts are permitted to be transmitted outside of the central absentee voter precinct before the close of polls; a violation of such prohibition is a Class 1 misdemeanor. When reporting election results to the Department of Elections, the general registrars are required to report absentee ballots cast early in person separately from all other absentee ballots. Additionally, a voter who has applied for and received an absentee ballot may choose to instead vote at his polling place on election day, and such voter shall be entitled to cast a provisional ballot. The bill requires a ballot marking tool with screen reader assistive technology to be made available for absentee voters with a print disability. Restrictions on the availability of absentee voting for first-time voters who registered by mail are repealed. The bill contains technical amendments for organizational and readability purposes.

Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for certain diseases. Provides that the occupational disease presumption for death caused by hypertension or heart disease will apply for salaried or volunteer emergency medical services personnel who have at least five years of service and are operating in a locality that has legally adopted a resolution declaring that it will provide one or more of such presumptions. This bill incorporates HB 2080.

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.