Del. Rip Sullivan

Electronic execution of estate planning documents;Uniform Electronic Wills Act. Permits trusts, advance medical directives, and refusals to make anatomical gifts to be signed andnotarized, as appropriate, by electronic means. The bill also codifiesthe Uniform Electronic Wills Act, which permits a testator to executea will by electronic means. The Act requires that the will be signedby two witnesses who are in the physical or electronic presence ofthe testator and acknowledged by the testator and attesting witnessesin the physical or electronic presence of a notary public.

Commending Sharon Stark.

Commending Tom Hirst and Magaly Galdo-Hirst.

Commending Kirk Kincannon.

Uniform Statewide Building Code; amendments;energy efficiency and conservation. Requires the Board of Housingand Community Development to adopt amendments to the Uniform Statewide Building Code within one year of publication of a new version ofthe International Code Council's International Energy ConservationCode (IECC) to address changes related to energy efficiency and conservation.The bill requires the Board to adopt Building Code standards that are at least as stringent as those contained in the new versionof the IECC.

Virginia housing opportunity tax credit.Establishes, starting in taxable year 2021, a Virginia housing opportunitytax credit, which is equal to the amount of the federal low-incomehousing tax credit allocated or allowed by the Virginia Housing DevelopmentAuthority to a low-income building that is eligible for the federalcredit. The credit would be nonrefundable and could be carried forwardfor up to five years.

Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month. DesignatesMay, in 2021 and in each succeeding year, as Cystic Fibrosis AwarenessMonth in Virginia.

Paid family and medical leave program. Requires the Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administera paid family and medical leave program with benefits beginning January 1, 2024. Under the program, benefits are paid to eligible employees for family and medical leave. Funding for the program isprovided through premiums assessed to employers and employees beginningin 2023. The amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee'saverage weekly wage, not to exceed 80 percent of the state weeklywage, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflectchanges in the statewide average weekly wage. The measure caps theduration of paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year. The billprovides self-employed individuals the option of participating inthe program.

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 2022-23 school year through the 2026-27 schoolyear. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2022.

Celebrating the life of the Honorable BernardS. Cohen.