Del. Mike Webert

Absentee voting; permanent absentee voter list;annual notice required; reasons for removal. Requires general registrars to send, by December 15 of each year, notice to each voterenrolled on the permanent absentee voter list that the voter is currentlyenrolled on the permanent absentee voter list and will remain enrolledon such list unless the voter requests to be removed. The noticeshall include a return card, properly addressed and postage prepaid,by which the voter may request to be removed. The bill also requiresthe removal of a voter enrolled on the permanent absentee voter listif such voter offers to vote absentee in person for any election.

Solar facilities; permit by rule. Lowersfrom 150 to 20 megawatts the maximum generation capacity of an electricalgeneration facility that generates electricity only from sunlightto qualify for issuance of a permit by rule.

Elimination of daylight saving time in Virginia. Exempts Virginia from observing daylight saving time, thereby makingEastern Standard Time the standard time in Virginia year-round.

Education Savings Account Program established; Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits. Establishes the Education Savings Account Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, whereby the parent of any individual who is a resident of the Commonwealth and who is eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school may apply for an Education Savings Account for his child into which the Department of Education deposits certain state and local funds and from which the parent makes certain enumerated qualifying expenses to educate his child in a setting and a manner other than full-time education in a public school. The bill requires the Program to be fully implemented prior to the beginning of the 2022–2023 school year.The bill also increases the value of the Education Improvement Scholarships income tax credit for a donation to a scholarship foundation from 65 percent to 100 percent of the donation. The bill removes the aggregate limit on tax credits per year, which under current law is $25 million, and removes individual minimum and maximum required donation amounts.The bill raises the threshold for students to qualify for scholarships to 1,000 percent of free or reduced-price lunch standards or, for eligible students with a disability, 1,200 percent of such standards. The bill grants scholarship foundations the discretion to determine what expenses may be funded by tax-credit-subsidized scholarships. Under current law, such expenses are limited by statute. The bill expands eligibility for scholarships to any student who is a Virginia resident and eligible to enroll in a Virginia primary or secondary school. Current law restricts eligibility to certain categories of students.The bill removes the requirement that scholarship-funded schools report test results of scholarship-funded students. The provisions of the bill pertaining to the Education Improvement Scholarships income tax credits apply starting with taxable year 2022.

In-person instruction; education vouchers; emergency. Requires, in the event that any school board does not provide theoption of in-person instruction as the sole method of instruction for any enrolled student, the parent of any such student who withdraws his child from attendance to receive, upon request, an educationvoucher in an amount equal to a prorated share of the applicableStandards of Quality per-pupil state funds appropriated for publicschool purposes and apportioned to the school division, includingthe per-pupil share of state sales tax funding in basic aid and anystate per-pupil share of special education funding for which thechild is eligible, to cover the expenses of providing in-person instructionin an alternative setting. The bill permits the Department of Educationto establish rules, regulations, or procedures for the issuance ofsuch education vouchers. The bill contains an emergency clause.

Falun Gong; Persecution by Chinese CommunistParty. Condemns the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners bythe Chinese Communist Party.

Department of Regulatory Innovation; VirginiaRegulatory Sandbox Program; created. Creates the Department of Regulatory Innovation to oversee the Virginia Regulatory SandboxProgram, also created by the bill, which allows an individual orbusiness to demonstrate a product, production method, or serviceunder a waiver or suspension of one or more state laws or regulations.The bill sets out the process by which an individual or businessmay apply for participation in the Program, the role of the Departmentin reviewing such applications for approval or denial, and the requirementsfor participation in the Program, including provisions related toconsumer protection.

Virginia FinTech Regulatory Sandbox Program;temporary product testing; consumer protections; report. Creates the Virginia FinTech Regulatory Sandbox Program, which allows participantsto temporarily test a financial product or service on a limited basiswithout otherwise being licensed or authorized to conduct such businessunder the laws of the Commonwealth. The bill specifies application requirements and requires approval by the State Corporation Commissionprior to an applicant's participation in the Program. Participantsin the Program have a period of 24 months to conduct testing of afinancial product or service with the possibility of an additional12 months of testing if an agreement to do so is reached with theCommission. In addition, the bill provides that up to 30 days beforethe end of the testing period, a participant may request an extensionof up to six months for the purpose of obtaining a license or otherauthorization for conducting business in the Commonwealth. Participantsmust provide required disclosures to consumers, and the bill gives the Commission the right to remove Program participants and to require assurances regarding consumer protections during the testing period.The bill also includes recordkeeping and reporting requirements forProgram participants and a requirement for the Commission to providean annual report to the General Assembly.

Celebrating the life of the Honorable FrankDuVal Hargrove, Sr.

Commending the Honorable Mark Cole.