Del. Betsy Carr

Recounts; special election to be held in the case of a tie vote. Provides that if, after a recount of an election, the recount court finds that each party to the recount has received an equal number of votes, there shall be a special election to determine which candidate is elected to the office. This provision would not apply in cases of tie votes occurring after a recount of an election for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Attorney General, which the Constitution of Virginia provides for, or for electors of President and Vice President of the United States, which will continue to be determined by lot. This bill incorporates HB 178 and HB 692.

Virginia Fair Housing Law; unlawful discriminatory housing practices; source of funds. Adds discrimination on the basis of a person's source of funds to the list of unlawful discriminatory housing practices. The bill creates an exemption for an owner or owner's managing agent, provided that such owner does not own more than four rental dwelling units or more than a 10 percent interest in more than four rental dwelling units in the Commonwealth at the time of the alleged discriminatory housing practice. The bill allows an owner or owner's managing agent to deny or limit a person's rental or occupancy of a rental dwelling unit based on the person's source of funds for that unit if such source is not approved within 15 days of the person's submission of the request for tenancy approval. The bill defines "source of funds" as any source that lawfully provides funds to or on behalf of a renter or buyer of housing, including any assistance, benefit, or subsidy program, whether such program is administered by a governmental or nongovernmental entity. This bill incorporates HB 357.

Housing; housing authorities; notice of intent to demolish, liquidate, or otherwise dispose of housing projects. Requires that any housing authority required to submit an application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to demolish, liquidate, or otherwise dispose of a housing project must also serve a notice of intent to demolish, liquidate, or otherwise dispose of such housing project, containing specified information, at least 12 months prior to any application submission date to (i) the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, (ii) any agency that would be responsible for administering tenant-based rental assistance to persons who would otherwise be displaced from the housing project, and (iii) each tenant residing in the housing project. The bill requires the authority to also provide such notice to any prospective tenant who is offered a rental agreement subsequent to the initial notice. During the 12-month period subsequent to the initial notice of intent to demolish, liquidate, or dispose of the housing project, the housing authority is prohibited from (a) increasing rent for any tenant above the amount authorized by any federal assistance program applicable to the housing project; (b) changing the terms of the rental agreement for any tenant, except as permitted under the existing rental agreement; or (c) evicting a tenant or demanding possession of any dwelling unit in the housing project, except for a lease violation or violation of law that threatens the health and safety of the building residents. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021. This bill is identical to SB 708.

Definition of birth control. Defines "birth control," for the purposes of the regulation of medicine, as contraceptive methods that are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administrationand provides that birth control shall not be considered abortionfor the purposes of Title 18.2 (Crimes and Offenses Generally).

Procurement; rail. Exempts high-risk contracts for rail construction or design from required review by the Department of General Services prior to solicitation or award. The bill also raises the annual cap from $2 million to $5 million for contracts for on-call architectural and engineering services by the Department of Rail and Public Transportation. The bill contains technical amendments.

Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority; membership. Decreases from five to four the number of members of the Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority appointed by the Mayor of the City of Richmond and adds to the Authority one member of the City Council of the City of Richmond appointed by the president of the Council. This bill is identical to SB 726.

Online Virginia Network Authority; James Madison University. Adds the President of James Madison University or his designee and one nonlegislative citizen member appointed by James Madison University to the members of the board of trustees of the Online Virginia Network Authority. The bill also adds James Madison University to the institutions of higher education for which the Online Virginia Network, established by the Authority, will facilitate the completion of degrees. This bill is identical to SB 1041.

State Inspector General; powers and duties.  Provides that in order for the State Inspector General to refer a complaint alleging fraud, waste, abuse, or corruption by a public institution of higher education to the internal audit department of that institution, such institution must be (i) a covered institution as defined by the Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act and (ii) classified as a Level 3 institution by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. A public institution of higher education that receives a complaint from the State Inspector General shall provide periodic updates on the status of investigations, whether they originated internally or were referred by the State Inspector General, and report annually to the State Inspector General on the results of all such investigations. The bill requires the State Inspector General to establish procedures governing the intake and investigation of complaints alleging fraud, waste, abuse, or corruption by a state agency or nonstate agency or by any officer or employee of a state agency or nonstate agency. At a minimum, the procedures must (a) provide for the State Inspector General, or his designee, to review each decision to dismiss an allegation reported to the State Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Hotline at the initial intake stage without further investigation; (b) require investigators designated by the State Inspector General to directly investigate allegations of serious administrative violations and provide for other agency internal audit divisions to investigate allegations meeting certain specified criteria, only if the internal audit division has demonstrated the ability to conduct investigations in an independent, effective, and timely manner; (c) require oversight by the Office of the State Inspector General of all investigations referred to other agencies to ensure quality, timeliness, and independence; and (d) develop a process for the regular review of the status of recommendations made by the Office of the State Inspector General. The bill also clarifies the duty of the State Inspector General to provide oversight of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and community-based providers to identify system-level issues and conditions affecting quality of care and safety and provide recommendations to alleviate such issues and conditions. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

Transportation safety. Adopts several initiatives related to transportation and safety, including: (i) making it illegalto possess an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle, (ii)requiring all passengers in a vehicle to wear safety belts and makingfailure to wear a safety belt a primary offense, (iii) prohibitingthe use of handheld personal communication devices, (iv) establishinga speed monitoring program in highway safety corridors that usesa vehicle sensor to take a picture of a vehicle traveling more than10 miles over the speed limit, subjecting the driver to a monetary fine, and (v) allowing localities to lower the speed limit below25 miles per hour in business and residential districts. The Commissionerof the Department of Motor Vehicles will establish an advisory committeeto oversee education and enforcement of policies such as the seatbeltand hands-free provisions. The bill also changes the vehicle inspectionsafety program to only require inspections of salvage vehicles thathave been rebuilt for highway use, converted electric vehicles, andoff-road motorcycles that have been converted to on-road use. Thebill contains numerous technical amendments.

Prohibited discrimination; public accommodations, employment, credit, and housing: causes of action; sexual orientation and gender identity. Creates explicit causes of action for unlawful discrimination in public accommodations and employment in the Virginia Human Rights Act. Currently, under the Act there is no cause of action for discrimination in public accommodations, and the only causes of action for discrimination in employment are for (i) unlawful discharge on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, including lactation, by employers employing more than five but fewer than 15 persons and (ii) unlawful discharge on the basis of age by employers employing more than five but fewer than 20 persons. The bill allows the causes of action to be pursued privately by the aggrieved person or, in certain circumstances, by the Attorney General. The bill prohibits discrimination in public and private employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill also codifies for state and local government employment the current prohibitions on discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, or status as a veteran. Additionally, the bill (a) prohibits discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran; (b) prohibits discrimination in credit on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, disability, and status as a veteran; and (c) adds discrimination on the basis of an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran as an unlawful housing practice. The bill makes technical amendments. This bill incorporates HB 3, HB 21, HB 23, HB 217, HB 1050, HB 1200, and HB 1512.