Del. Nick Freitas

Public employees; bargaining representative certification. Provides that, in a locality that has authorized collective bargaining by ordinance or resolution, a bargaining representative must be selected for each collective bargaining unit determined to be appropriate by the governing body of the locality. The bill provides that for a bargaining representative to be certified as an exclusive representative, at least 51 percent of the public employees in a collective bargaining unit must vote for certification of the bargaining representative through a secret ballot election conducted by the governing body of the locality, and a secret ballot election shall be conducted very two years to confirm majority support for the bargaining representative. Preexisting bargaining representatives must also be certified by a vote of at least 51 percent of the affected collective bargaining unit.

Public employees; labor union dues deductionauthorization. Requires consent by public employees authorizedto engage in collective bargaining before union or employee associationdues are deducted from the employees' pay directly by their employers.The bill allows public employees to stop paying union or employee association dues at any time and gives public employees an annual opportunity to reconfirm that they want to continue union or employeeassociation membership and pay such dues. The bill provides thatif an employee does not reconfirm then the dues deduction must cease.

Public employees; compensation for union activities.Prohibits any employer of public employees authorized to engage incollective bargaining from entering into a collective bargainingagreement to compensate any public employee or third party for anemployee organization's or union's activities. Further, if a union'sactivities infringe on an employer's time and resources, the unionmust compensate the employer at a fair market value rate. The bill provides for enforcement by the Attorney General and creates a causeof action for public employees to remedy potential violations. Theprovisions of the bill preempt inconsistent local laws and regulations.

Project labor agreements; prevailing wage; collective bargaining for employees of local governments. Provides that state agencies, when engaged in procuring products or services or letting contracts for construction, manufacture, maintenance, or operation of public works, paid for in whole or in part by state funds, shall neither require nor prohibit bidders to enter into or adhere to agreements with one or more labor organizations on the public works projects. The bill removes requirements for the payment of prevailing wage for work performed on public works contracts for state agencies. In addition, the bill removes the authority for a locality, by a local ordinance or resolution, to recognize any labor union or other employee association as a bargaining agent of any public officers or employees or to collectively bargain or enter into any collective bargaining contract with any such union or association or its agents.

Minimum wage. Repeals certain provisionsof the Code of Virginia related to increasing the state minimum wageto more than $11.00 per hour. The bill also repeals provisions relatedto increasing the state minimum wage based on an annual adjustedminimum wage determined by the Department of Labor and Industry.

Commending Virginia Polytechnic Institute andState University.

Commending the Virginia Manufacturers Association.

Multi-jurisdiction grand jury; elder abuse crimes. Adds the following to the list of crimes that a multi-jurisdiction grand jury may investigate: (i) financial exploitation of mentally incapacitated persons and (ii) abuse and neglect of incapacitated adults.

Board of Directors of the Virginia CannabisControl Authority; Cannabis Public Health Advisory Council; membershipcriteria; allocation of revenue. Requires that one member ofthe Board of Directors of the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority(the Board) be a person who has recovered from a substance use disorderand is not employed by a government entity. The bill increases from21 to 25 the number of members on the Cannabis Public Health AdvisoryCouncil and requires that four members be persons who have recoveredfrom a substance use disorder and are not employed by a governmententity. The bill requires that 40 percent of the Board's net profitsdistributed to the Department of Behavioral Health and DevelopmentalServices be allocated to private certified recovery residences thatprovide low-cost evidence-based substance use disorder treatment and recovery services and satisfy certain other requirements set forthin the bill.

Peer Recovery Support Fund. Establishesthe Peer Recovery Support Fund (the Fund) to provide payment forthe cost of peer-to-peer substance abuse recovery support servicesprovided by individuals other than state or local government employees.The bill requires that 10 percent of the net profits of the VirginiaCannabis Control Authority derived from the sale of marijuana beappropriated to the Fund in the general appropriation act. The billalso directs the Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Servicesto develop regulations setting forth criteria for payments for peer-to-peersubstance abuse recovery support services provided by individuals other than state or local government employees from the Fund.