Del. Betsy Carr

Food delivery platforms; agreements required; penalty. Prohibits a food delivery platform, as defined in the bill, from submitting orders on behalf of a consumer or arranging for the delivery of an order from a restaurant, as defined in the bill, without first obtaining an agreement with the restaurant expressly authorizing the food delivery platform to take orders and deliver food prepared by the restaurant. The bill provides that a violation of such agreement requirement is a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.

Employment; domestic service; Human Rights Act. Provides that individuals who are engaged in providing domestic serviceare not excluded from employee protection laws, laws regarding thepayment of wages, and the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act. Themeasure also provides that the prohibitions on nondiscriminationin employment of the Virginia Human Rights Act apply to employersthat employ one or more domestic workers.

Public elementary and secondary schools; possession and administration of undesignated stock albuterol inhalers and valved holding chambers. Requires each local school board to adopt and implement policies for the possession and administration of undesignated stock albuterol inhalers and valved holding chambers in every public school in the local school division, to be administered by any school nurse, employee of the school board, employee of a local governing body, or employee of a local health department who is authorized by the local health director and trained in the administration of albuterol inhalers and valved holding chambers for any student believed in good faith to be in need of such medication. The bill requires the Department of Health, in conjunction with the Department of Education, to develop and implement policies for the administration of stock albuterol in public schools.

Public institutions of higher education; admissions applications; criminal history. Prohibits each public institution of higher education, with the exception of the Virginia Military Institute, from (i) utilizing an institution-specific admissions application that contains questions about the criminal history of the applicant or (ii) denying admission to any applicant on the basis of any criminal history information provided by the applicant on any third-party admissions application accepted by the institution. The bill permits each public institution of higher education to inquire into the criminal history of any individual who has been admitted to but has yet to enroll at the institution and withdraw an offer of admission to any individual whom the institution subsequently determines to have a criminal history that poses a threat to the institution's community. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2022.

Release of balloon prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits any individual 16 years of age or older or other person, including a corporation, from intentionally releasing, discarding, or causing to be released or discarded any nonbiodegradable balloon outdoors and provides that any person convicted of such violation is liable for a civil penalty of $25 per balloon, to be paid into the Game Protection Fund. The bill provides that if a person under the age of 16 releases a balloon at the instruction of an adult, the adult shall be liable for the civil penalty. Current law prohibits a person from knowingly releasing 50 or more such balloons within an hour and sets the civil penalty at $5 per balloon, with the proceeds deposited into the Lifetime Hunting and Fishing Endowment Fund.

Administration of blighted and derelict propertiesin certain localities. Modifies the definition of "qualifyinglocality" to include any locality with a score of 100 or higher onthe fiscal stress index, as published by the Department of Housingand Community Development in July 2020. Under current law, a qualifyinglocality is one with a score of 107 or higher on the fiscal stress index, as published by the Department using revised data for 2017.Qualifying localities are able to (i) classify blighted and derelict properties as a separate class of taxable property and assess suchproperty at a higher rate and (ii) sell delinquent tax lands sixmonths after the locality has incurred abatement costs for buildingsthat have been condemned, constitute a nuisance, are a derelict building,or are declared to be blighted. The bill adds qualifying localitiesto the list of localities that have different requirements for havinga special commissioner appointed to convey tax-delinquent real estateto the locality in lieu of a public sale at auction.

U.S. Route 1; "Emancipation Highway." Renames any section of U.S. Route 1 in Virginia that is designated as "Jefferson Davis Highway" to "Emancipation Highway." The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2022.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; tenant remedies for exclusion from dwelling unit, interruption of services, or actions taken to make premises unsafe. Provides that a general district court shall enter an order upon petition by a tenant that his landlord has (i) removed or excluded the tenant from the dwelling unit unlawfully, (ii) interrupted or caused the interruption of an essential service to the tenant, or (iii) taken action to make the premises unsafe for habitation. The bill allows entry of a preliminary order ex parte to require the landlord to allow the tenant to recover possession of the dwelling unit, resume any such interrupted essential service, or fix any willful actions taken by the landlord or his agent to make the premises unsafe for habitation if there is good cause to do so and the tenant made reasonable efforts to notify the landlord of the hearing. The bill requires that any ex parte order entered shall further indicate a date for a full hearing on the petition that is no later than 10 days from the initial hearing date. Finally, the bill provides that, at a full hearing on such petition, the tenant shall recover actual damages, the greater of $5,000 or four months' rent, and reasonable attorney fees.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act;landlord charges for security deposits, insurance premiums for damageinsurance, and insurance premiums for renter's insurance; filingof information regarding resident agent appointed by nonresidentproperty owner. Prohibits a landlord from requiring a tenantto pay a security deposit, insurance premiums for damage insurance,and insurance premiums for renter's insurance prior to the commencementof the tenancy that exceed the amount of two months' periodic rent.The bill permits a landlord, however, to add a monthly amount asadditional rent to recover additional costs of such damage insuranceor renter's insurance premiums. The bill also removes provisions allowing a landlord to permit a tenant to provide damage insurance coveragein lieu of the payment of a security deposit. Finally, the bill requiresnonresident property owners to file the name and office address ofthe agent appointed by such nonresident property owner in the officeof the clerk of the State Corporation Commission. Under current law,such information must be filed in the office of the clerk of thecourt in which deeds are recorded in the county or city in whichthe property lies.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act;access to dwelling unit during certain declared states of emergency;emergency. Provides that a tenant shall be deemed to have reasonablejustification for declining to permit a landlord or managing agentto exhibit the tenant's dwelling unit for sale or lease if the tenanthas reasonable concern for his own health, or the health of any authorizedoccupant, during a state of emergency declared by the Governor inresponse to a communicable disease of public health threat and thetenant has provided written notice to the landlord informing thelandlord of such concern. The bill requires the tenant in such circumstancesto provide to the landlord or managing agent a video tour of the dwelling unit or other acceptable substitute for exhibiting the dwellingunit for sale or lease. The bill also provides that during a stateof emergency declared by the Governor in response to a communicabledisease of public health threat a tenant may provide written noticeto the landlord requesting that one or more nonemergency propertyconditions in the dwelling unit not be addressed in the normal courseof business of the landlord due to such communicable disease of publichealth threat. The bill provides that in such case, the tenant shallbe deemed to have waived any and all claims and rights under theVirginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act against the landlordfor failure to address such nonemergency property conditions. Thebill contains an emergency clause.