Del. Irene Shin

Virginia STEM Education Advisory Board; comprehensivereview of labor statistics categories; report. Directs the VirginiaScience, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) EducationAdvisory Board (the Board) to perform a comprehensive review of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics categories within the standard occupational classification system and assess deficit areas that do not captureVirginia's existing STEM+C (Computing) workforce profile for thepurpose of better aligning K-12 and higher education priorities.The Board shall report its findings to the Virginia Economic DevelopmentPartnership Authority Office of Education and Labor Market Alignmentand the Chairmen of the House Committee on Communications, Technologyand Innovation and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technologyno later than October 1, 2022.

Consultation with federally recognized TribalNations; permits and reviews with potential impacts on environmental,cultural, and historic resources. Requires the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Department of Environmental Quality,the Department of Historic Resources, and the Virginia Marine ResourcesCommission to establish policies and procedures for consulting withfederally recognized Tribal Nations in the Commonwealth when evaluating certain permits and reviews with potential impacts on environmental,cultural, or historic resources or that would have tribal implications,as defined in the bill. The bill directs the Secretary of the Commonwealthto designate an Ombudsman for Tribal Consultation to facilitate communicationand consultation with Tribal Nations. The bill codifies ExecutiveOrder 82 (2021).

Broadband providers and public utilities; latepayment fees restricted. Prohibits a broadband provider or apublic utility from charging (i) a residential customer a late paymentfee or similar penalty that exceeds the lesser of 2.5 percent ofthe balance due or $5 or (ii) any interest on a residential customer'soutstanding balance. The bill provides that "public utility" includesutilities that are not subject to the jurisdiction of the State CorporationCommission and that provide electric, gas, or water or wastewaterservice in the Commonwealth.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; exclusions to application of chapter; local administrative investigations; disclosure. Adds email addresses as information that, when furnished in confidence to the local governing body, with respect to complainants in local investigations are exempt from disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. The bill expands the applicability of the exemption to zoning enforcement complaints for all such complaints, not just individual enforcement complaints. The bill also adds local public health and safety, nuisance, and waste and recycling complaints to the list of complainants whose personal information is exempt from disclosure.

Virginia Children's Cabinet. Creates theVirginia Children's Cabinet as an executive branch advisory bodyto advise the Governor regarding policies to improve the health and well-being of children in the Commonwealth.

Powers of local governments; additional powers; energy efficiency of buildings. Requires the Board of Housing and Community Development to adopt optional building energy efficiency standards and allows localities to adopt and enforce these standards. The bill allows localities to require disclosure of energy use intensity (EUI) information to prospective buyers, lessees, and lenders at the point of sale, and to require an energy audit for the building prior to the completion of the sale if there is insufficient available data or upon request. The bill allows localities to implement energy benchmarking, requiring utilities to collect and report energy use data for covered buildings to owners, and to require utilities to maintain 12 months of aggregated data for any building with an active utility account. The bill permits localities to create a scorecard program using Energy Star Portfolio Manager and require owners to disclose data to it, subject to program guidelines. The bill allows localities to incentivize owners, operators, and agents of certain buildings to report EUI information and reduce EUI amounts. The bill allows localities to set EUI requirements for certain buildings and develop local incentive programs.

Larceny of a catalytic converter; penalty. Provides that any person who conspires, confederates, or combines with another to commit larceny or counsels, assists, aids, or abets another in the performance of a larceny of a catalytic converter from a motor vehicle where the value of such catalytic converter is less than $1,000 is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. This bill was incorporated into SB 729.

Certified recovery residences. Requiresthe Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to adoptregulations requiring each certified recovery residence to includeone or more resident or nonresident staff persons who are employedby the provider for compensation and who are responsible for oversightor management of the recovery residence.

Recognition of the Wolf Creek Cherokee Tribeof Virginia. Extends state recognition to the Wolf Creek CherokeeTribe of Virginia within the Commonwealth.

Earned sentence credits. Provides that sentence credits may be earned by any person committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections (the Department), regardless of whether the person is confined in a state or local correctional facility. The bill allows inmates to earn more than 4.5 sentence credits for each 30 days served on a sentence for a conviction of robbery or carjacking, provided that the inmate did not use a weapon or threaten or harm another person during the commission of the offense. The bill allows inmates to earn enhanced sentence credits for consecutive sentences served after the completion of any offense that would otherwise limit the inmate to earning 4.5 sentence credits for each 30 days served. The bill allows an inmate to earn Level I sentence credits if, provided certain other requirements are met, the inmate had no more than one minor correctional infraction and no serious correctional infractions within the previous 12 months. The bill directs the Department to establish a program that allows victims to advocate on behalf of an inmate for reclassification of the inmate's sentence credits. The bill provides that the earned sentence credit provisions of § 53.1-202.3 of the Code of Virginia, which would become effective on July 1, 2022, shall apply retroactively to the entire sentence of any person who is committed to the custody of the Department and is participating in the earned sentence credit program on July 1, 2022. The bill requires the Department, among other things, to provide notice to inmates regarding sentence credit adjustments and an adjusted release date by July 1, 2022, and establish a process through which inmates may appeal the Department's determinations regarding sentence credit adjustments.