Del. James Edmunds

Sunday hunting; allowed on public lands.Removes the prohibition against hunting or killing on public landsa wild bird or wild animal, including a nuisance species, with agun, firearm, or other weapon on Sunday. The bill removes the abilityof raccoon hunters to hunt within 200 yards of a place of worshipon Sunday and contains technical amendments.

Board of Education; school modernization loaninterest rate subsidy payments; eligibility. Requires the Boardof Education to establish a program to use Literary Fund proceedsto subsidize interest payments on certain loans made by the VirginiaPublic School Authority to local governing bodies and school boardsfor the design and construction of new school buildings and facilitiesor the modernization and maintenance of existing school buildings and facilities as follows: for school divisions in localities determinedto have above-average or high fiscal stress by the Commission onLocal Government in its most recent version of such report, the Boardshall subsidize up to 100 percent of the interest due on such loan.Under current law, eligibility for such interest rate subsidy paymentis based on the local composite index of ability to pay.

Individual and corporate income tax credit;employers of National Guard members and self-employed National Guardmembers. Provides for taxable years 2020 through 2024 a nonrefundabletax credit against individual and corporate income taxes for (i) wages paid by an employer to an employee who is an active or reserveVirginia National Guard member or (ii) income of a self-employedactive or reserve Virginia National Guard member attributable to his business. The amount of the credit shall be 25 percent if such memberwas in a military pay status for 65 days or more during such taxableyear or 15 percent if such member was in a military pay status forat least 45 days but less than 65 days during such taxable year.The credit shall not be allowed if such member was in a military pay status for less than 45 days during such taxable year. The billallows a taxpayer to carry unused credits over for up to five taxableyears.

Statute of limitations on written contract;missing persons declared dead; executor. Provides that, for any action that would be barred by the five-year statute of limitationson a written contract, wherein a person who would be party to suchaction was a missing person presumed dead and subsequently declareddead by court order, the executor of such person's estate has oneyear from the entry of such order to bring such an action, providedthat a cause of action accrued on or after the date upon which suchperson went missing.

Industrial hemp; maximum THC concentration.Increases, in the definition of "industrial hemp," the maximum concentrationof tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in the plant Cannabis sativa from 0.3percent to one percent. The bill also includes in the definitionof "hemp product" the raw materials of any part of the plant Cannabissativa and eliminates the requirement that the product be otherwiselawful.

Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder;law-enforcement officers and firefighters. Provides that post-traumaticstress disorder incurred by a law-enforcement officer or firefighter iscompensable under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act if a mental healthprofessional examines a law-enforcement officer or firefighter and diagnosesthe individual as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result ofthe individual's undergoing a qualifying event, which includes an event occurringin the line of duty on or after July 1, 2020, in which a law-enforcementofficer or firefighter views a deceased minor, witnesses the death of a personor an incident involving the death of a person, witnesses an injury to a personwho subsequently dies, has physical contact with and treats an injured personwho subsequently dies, transports an injured person who subsequently dies, orwitnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss of a vital bodypart or a vital body function that results in permanent disfigurement of thevictim. Other conditions for compensability include (i) if the post-traumaticstress disorder resulted from the law-enforcement officer or firefighter actingin the line of duty and, in the case of a firefighter, such firefightercomplied with certain federal Occupational Safety and Health Act standards;(ii) if the law-enforcement officer's or firefighter's undergoing a qualifyingevent was a substantial factor in causing his post-traumatic stress disorder;(iii) if such qualifying event, and not another event or source of stress, wasthe primary cause of the post-traumatic stress disorder; and (iv) if thepost-traumatic stress disorder did not result from any disciplinary action,work evaluation, job transfer, layoff, demotion, promotion, termination,retirement, or similar action of the officer or firefighter. The measureestablishes procedural requirements on employers that contest a claim for suchbenefits. The measure also establishes requirements for resilience and self-caretechnique training.

Utility easements; location of broadband and other communications facilities. Declares that it is the policy of the Commonwealth that (i) easements for the location and use of electric and communications facilities may be used to provide or expand broadband or other communications services; (ii) the use of easements to provide or expand broadband or other communications services is in the public interest; (iii) the installation, replacement, or use of public utility conduit, including the costs of installation, replacement, or use of conduit of a sufficient size to accommodate the installation of infrastructure to provide or expand broadband or other communications services, is in the public interest; (iv) the use of easements to provide or expand broadband or other communications services (a) does not constitute a change in the physical use of the easement, (b) does not interfere with, impair, or take any vested or other rights of the owner or occupant of the servient estate, (c) does not place any additional burden on the servient estate other than a de minimis burden, if any; (iv) has value to the owner or occupant of the servient estate greater than any de minimis impact; and (v) the installation and operation of broadband or other communications services within easements, appurtenant or gross, are merely changes in the manner, purpose, or degree of the granted use as appropriate to accommodate a new technology. The measure further provides that (1) absent any express prohibition on the installation and operation of broadband or other communications services in an easement that is contained in a deed or other instrument by which the easement was granted, the installation and operation of broadband or other communications services within any easement shall be deemed, as a matter of law, to be a permitted use within the scope of every easement for the location and use of electric and communications facilities and (2) subject to compliance with any express prohibitions in a written easement, any incumbent utility or communications provider may use an easement to install, construct, provide, maintain, modify, lease, operate, repair, replace, or remove its communications equipment, system, or facilities, and provide communications services through the same, without such incumbent utility or communications provider paying additional compensation to the owner or occupant of the servient estate or to the incumbent utility, provided that no additional utility poles are installed. The measure provides that, in cases of a prescriptive easement, such easement is deemed to exist and that any incumbent utility or communications provider may use a prescriptive easement to install, construct, provide, maintain, modify, lease, operate, repair, replace, or remove its communications equipment, system, or facilities, and provide communications services through the same, without such incumbent utility or communications provider paying additional compensation to the owner or occupant of the servient estate or to the incumbent utility, provided that no additional utility poles are installed.

Virginia National Guard; state active duty for emergency response; pay and allowances for members. Provides that whenever called to state active duty in response to certain emergencies, members of the National Guard and the Virginia Defense Force receive pay and allowance equal to their rank and years of service, as determined by the Department of Military Affairs. The bill also authorizes the Adjutant General to increase state active duty pay on an annual basis by a rate not to exceed the most recent percentage increase in basic pay for members of the Armed Forces. Current law provides that (i) officers of the National Guard receive the same pay and allowances as prescribed for members of like rank in the United States Armed Forces, (ii) members of the National Guard receive the same pay and allowances as if they were on a day of Annual Training, and (iii) members of the Virginia Defense Force called to state active duty receive the same pay and allowances as persons of like grade in the National Guard for a day of Annual Training, capped at 25 years of service. The provisions of the bills are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

Pharmacists; prescribing, dispensing, and administration of controlled substances. Allows a pharmacist to initiate treatment with and dispense and administer certain drugs and devices to persons 18 years of age or older in accordance with a statewide protocol developed by the Board of Pharmacy in collaboration with the Board of Medicine and the Department of Health. The bill directs the Board of Pharmacy to establish such protocols by November 1, 2020, to promulgate emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill, and to convene a work group to provide recommendations regarding the development of protocols for the initiating of treatment with and dispensing and administering of additional drugs and devices for persons 18 years of age and older. The bill also clarifies that an accident and sickness insurance policy that provides reimbursement for a service that may be legally performed by a licensed pharmacist shall provide reimbursement for the initiating of treatment with and dispensing and administration of controlled substances by a pharmacist when such initiating of treatment with or dispensing or administration is in accordance with regulations of the Board of Pharmacy.

Additional sales and use tax in Charlotte County;appropriations to incorporated towns for educational purposes.Authorizes Charlotte County to impose an additional local sales anduse tax at a rate not to exceed one percent, as determined by thegoverning body, if initiated by a resolution of the local governingbody and approved by the voters at a referendum. The bill requires the governing body to specify in the enacting ordinance the timeperiod, not to exceed 20 years, for which the tax would be imposed.Revenue from the tax shall be used solely for capital projects fornew construction or major renovation of schools in the locality enactingthe tax. The bill removes the limiton the amount that Charlotte County may appropriate to an incorporatedtown that has not complied with the provisions of its charter relatingto the elections of local officials. Under current law, such amountis limited to the amount the town would have received from localsales and use tax for educational purposes if such election had been held. Under current law, only HalifaxCounty has the authority to impose such taxes and make such appropriations.