Del. Shelly Simonds

Commending Angels of Assisi.

Commending the Reverend Anthony Curtis Paige.

Study; JLARC; VEDP; construction industry; report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, in conjunction with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority, to conduct a study on demand and supply issues and trends in the Commonwealth's construction industry.

Virginia African Diaspora Advisory Board. Establishes the Virginia African Diaspora Advisory Board to advise the Governor on ways to improve economic and cultural links between the Commonwealth and African nations, with a focus on the areas of commerce and trade, agriculture, art, education, and government. The Board is composed of 18 nonlegislative citizen members, of whom at least 15 must be persons who identify as part of the African diaspora, to be appointed by the Governor. The Secretaries of Agriculture and Forestry, Commerce and Trade, and Education or their designees serve as ex officio members.

Study; JLARC; effects of gun violence on communities;report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commissionto study the social, physical, emotional, and economic effects ofgun violence on communities across the Commonwealth.

Victim of sex trafficking; affirmative defense;writ of vacatur; minors. Makes changes to the definitions ofvictim of sex trafficking used for the purposes of the issuance ofa writ of vacatur and the affirmative defense available to victimsof sex trafficking to include a minor charged with, convicted, oradjudicated delinquent of a qualifying offense in the Commonwealthwho committed such offense while younger than 18 years of age.

School boards and local governing bodies; unexpendedlocal funds; school maintenance, renovation, and construction.Encourages each school board to enter into a collaborative agreementwith the local governing body to set aside in a separate fund anysums appropriated to the school board by the local governing bodythat are unexpended by the school board in any year in order to usesuch sums to finance school maintenance, renovation, or constructionin the local school division. The bill declares any school board that fails to enter into such a collaborative agreement ineligibleto participate in any state grant, loan, or bond program that supportsschool maintenance, renovation, or construction. This bill is a recommendationof the Commission on School Construction and Modernization.

Elections; removal of officers; recall elections;petition. Provides for the removal of certain elected officersand officers appointed to elected offices by recall referendum. Thebill requires a petition for recall be signed by 30 percent of thetotal number of votes cast at the last election for the office forwhich a recall is sought.

Electric cooperatives; board of directors; accessto meetings; required disclosures. Requires that each Virginiaelectric cooperative hold direct elections for its board of directors,either in person or by mail, or by electronic communication meansif authorized by its articles of incorporation, and prohibits proxyvoting. The bill requires that meetings of the board of directorsbe open to members of the cooperative, viewable both in person andthrough online streaming, and that recordings of the meetings beposted on an official website for viewing by members of the cooperative,with certain exceptions for confidential matters. Thebill also requires the board of directors of an electric cooperativeto make certain disclosures to its members annually. These disclosuresmust include the cooperative's position on legislative and regulatoryissues, the amount of money spent on lobbying by the cooperative,and the names of lobbying organizations that the cooperative supportsand be posted online or distributed through a member publication.

Public schools; English language learners. Requires state funding to be provided to support new divisionwide ratiosof English learner students in average daily membership to full-time equivalent teaching positions, as follows: (i) for each English language learner identified as proficiency level one, one position per 25students; (ii) for each English language learner identified as proficiencylevel two, one position per 30 students; (iii) for each English languagelearner identified as proficiency level three, one position per 40 students; and (iv) for all other English language learners, one positionper 50 students.