Power of attorney; witness or notary public. Requires that a power of attorney signed on or after July 1, 2020, be signed before at least one witness or a notary public.
Expungement of prostitution convictions.Allows a person to petition for expungement of convictions for prostitutionwhen the person was induced to engage in prostitution through theuse of force, intimidation, or deception by another.
Hurricane and Flooding Risk Reduction and BondRating Protection Act of 2020; report. Establishes the Hurricaneand Flooding Risk Reduction and Bond Rating Protection Act of 2020,which establishes the Commonwealth of Virginia as a nonfederal sponsorof hurricane and flooding risk reduction projects. There is alsoestablished the Virginia Hurricane and Flood Risk Reduction Authority(the Authority) and a board of directors (the Board) of the Authority.The Board shall exercise for the Governor executive authority overall phases of hurricane and flood risk reduction programs, includinginvestigations, construction, operations, and maintenance. The Authorityshall be established to fulfill the directives of the Board. TheAuthority shall be hosted by a department of the Commonwealth asdesignated by the Governor. That department shall provide supportto the Authority, including budgeting, work facilities, administrative management, logistics, human resources, legal, contracts, and information resources. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC)shall consult with Louisiana's Legislative Fiscal Office to assessthe increased state and local tax flows in Louisiana that resultedfrom post-Katrina federal spending, including spending for civilworks storm and flooding risk reduction projects. The bill requiresJLARC to report to the General Assembly no later than November 1,2020, on the results of its initial assessment.
Bystander claims for intentional or negligentinfliction of injury or death; emotional distress. Provides thata bystander who witnesses, live and in-person, an event during whichthe intentional or negligent infliction of injury to or death ofa victim occurs may recover damages for resulting emotional distress,proven by a preponderance of the evidence, with or without a physicalimpact or physical injury to the bystander, if (i) the bystanderis related to the victim or (ii) although not related to the victim, the bystander is in close proximity to the victim at the time theevent occurs and is aware that such event is causing injury to orthe death of the victim.
Limitations period; previously time-barred actions;sexual abuse; two-year time period to file. Creates a two-yeartime period, on or after July 1, 2020, but before July 1, 2022, within which persons previously time-barred from filing an action for injuryto such person for sexual abuse occurring during the infancy or incapacityof such person due to the expiration of the statute of limitationsmay file such an action.
Conditional release of geriatric prisoners;exceptions. Prohibits persons serving a sentence imposed upona conviction of murder in the first degree or a sexually violentoffense, if the offense resulting in such conviction occurred onor after July 1, 2020, from petitioning the Parole Board for conditionalrelease. Under current law, such persons may petition the ParoleBoard when such persons reach age 65 and have served at least fiveyears of their sentence or reach age 60 and have served at least10 years of their sentence. The prohibition does not apply to anyperson who is serving a life sentence for any crime other than homicideand who was under the age of 18 at the time of the commission ofthe offense.
Landlord and tenant; charge for late payment of rent; restrictions. Provides that a landlord shall not charge a tenant for late payment of rent unless such charge is provided for in the written rental agreement, and that no such late charge shall exceed the lesser of 10 percent of the periodic rent or 10 percent of the remaining balance due and owed by the tenant. This bill contains an emergency clause and incorporates HB 1669.
Statewide prioritization process; primary evacuation routes. Requires the Office of Intermodal Planning to include in the results of screening candidate projects in the Six-Year Improvement Program whether such projects are located on a primary evacuation route.
Virginia National Guard; state active duty for emergency response; pay and allowances for members. Provides that whenever called to state active duty in response to certain emergencies, members of the National Guard and the Virginia Defense Force receive pay and allowance equal to their rank and years of service, as determined by the Department of Military Affairs. The bill also authorizes the Adjutant General to increase state active duty pay on an annual basis by a rate not to exceed the most recent percentage increase in basic pay for members of the Armed Forces. Current law provides that (i) officers of the National Guard receive the same pay and allowances as prescribed for members of like rank in the United States Armed Forces, (ii) members of the National Guard receive the same pay and allowances as if they were on a day of Annual Training, and (iii) members of the Virginia Defense Force called to state active duty receive the same pay and allowances as persons of like grade in the National Guard for a day of Annual Training, capped at 25 years of service. The provisions of the bills are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
Protected information; newspersons engaged in journalism. Provides that no newsperson engaged in journalism shall be compelled by the Commonwealth or a locality in any criminal proceeding to testify about, disclose, or produce protected information, as defined in the bill, except when the court finds that (i) the protected information is necessary to the proof of an issue material to an administrative or criminal proceeding; (ii) the protected information is not obtainable from any alternative source; (iii) the Commonwealth or locality exhausted all reasonable methods for obtaining the protected information from all relevant alternative sources, if applicable; and (iv) there is an overriding public interest in the disclosure of the protected information, including preventing harm to or death of a person. The bill further provides that any information obtained in violation of the provisions of the bill shall be inadmissible for any purpose in an administrative or criminal proceeding.
