Del. Irene Shin

Virginia Small Business Economic DevelopmentAct established; regulation of skill games; registration; penalties.Establishes the Virginia Small Business Economic Development Act for the purpose of providing a regulatory and registration schemefor skill game machines in the Commonwealth. The bill directs theVirginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority to adopt emergencyregulations to implement the provisions of the bill and directs theDepartment of Taxation to collect a monthly tax of 15 percent fromthe gross revenue of each skill game machine from each skill gamedistributor.

Prevailing wage rate for underground infrastructure works by public service companies. Directs the Department of Labor and Industry to determine and make available the prevailing wage rate for underground infrastructure work. Under the bill, each public service company shall ensure that its bid specifications or other contracts applicable to underground infrastructure works require payment at the prevailing wage rate. The bill requires contractors and subcontractors to post the prevailing wage rate in a prominent and accessible place at the work site. The bill also requires each public service company, contractor, or subcontractor subject to the provisions of the bill to comply with certain recordkeeping requirements. Provisions of the bill apply to contracts entered into on or after July 1, 2024.

Polling places and voter satellite offices;locations; restrictions, requirements, and considerations. Prohibitsthe placement of a polling place or a voter satellite office withina police station or sheriff's office, but permits the placement ina public building that houses multiple offices that include a policestation or sheriff's office. The bill sets out certain factors tobe considered by a governing body when setting the locations forvoter satellite offices, including a location's proximity to public transportation and the equitable distribution of locations withinthe locality's boundaries. The bill also provides for the establishmentand operation of a polling place on the tribal reservation of any recognized Indian tribe in the Commonwealth on the day of a generalelection and for the establishment and operation of a voter satelliteoffice on the tribal reservation of any such tribe on the first andsecond Saturday immediately preceding the day of a general election.Such establishment and operation shall be done at the request ofthe tribal council or the chief of the Indian tribe and such requestmust be made no later than 180 days before the general election.The bill includes technical amendments to consolidate related provisionsof law.

Commending the Honorable L. Kaye Kory.

Employee Child Care Assistance Program and Fund; established. Establishes the Employee Child Care Assistance Programand Fund to provide matching funds to in order to incentivize employersto contribute to the child care costs of their employees. To participatein the program, an employer is required to enter into an agreementwith its employee and an eligible mixed-delivery provider, definedin the bill, to make child care contributions to the eligible mixed-deliveryprovider on behalf of the employee, and the Department of Educationwill issue a state match directly to such eligible mixed-deliveryprovider or to a third-party administrator. The bill provides thatthe state match shall not exceed 100 percent of the employer contributionmade by an employer on behalf of an employee whose annual gross wagesare equal to or less than the local median household income, definedin the bill, and shall not exceed 80 percent of the employer contributionmade by an employer on behalf of an employee whose annual gross wagesare greater than the local median household income. The bill requiresthat 25 percent of the Fund be used to provide state matching fundsfor employees of small businesses.

Public institutions of higher education; admissions applications; legacy admissions and admissions based on donor status prohibited. Prohibits any public institution of higher education from providing any manner of preferential treatment in the admissions decision to any student applicant on the basis of such student's legacy status, defined in the bill, or such student's familial relationship to any donor to such institution. This bill is identical to SB 46.

Signing of pleadings, motions, and other papers;electronic signatures. Clarifies that an electronic signatureor a digital image of a signature shall satisfy the requirement in current law that every pleading, motion, or other paper of a partybe signed by at least one attorney of record. This bill is a recommendationof the Boyd-Graves Conference.

Marriage lawful regardless of sex, gender, or race of parties; issuance of marriage license. Provides that no person authorized to issue a marriage license shall deny the issuance of such license to two parties contemplating a lawful marriage on the basis of the sex, gender, or race of the parties. The bill also requires that such lawful marriages be recognized in the Commonwealth regardless of the sex, gender, or race of the parties. The bill provides that religious organizations or members of the clergy acting in their religious capacity shall have the right to refuse to perform any marriage. This bill is identical to SB 101.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; electronic meetings. Amends the number of all-virtual public meetings that public bodies, with certain exceptions, may convene in a calendar year to no more than two times per calendar year or 50 percent of the meetings held per calendar year rounded up to the next whole number, whichever is greater. Current law limits the number of all-virtual public meetings to no more than two times per calendar year or 25 percent of the meetings held per calendar year rounded up to the next whole number, whichever is greater. The bill also provides that with respect to all-virtual public meetings, when audio-visual technology is available, a member of a public body shall, for purposes of a quorum, be considered absent from any portion of the meeting during which visual communication with the member is voluntarily disconnected or otherwise fails or during which audio communication involuntarily fails. This bill is identical to SB 734.

Celebrating the life of the Honorable OnzleeWare.