Presidential electors; National Popular Vote Compact. Enters Virginia into an interstate compact known as the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote. Article II of the Constitution of the United States gives the states exclusive and plenary authority to decide the manner of awarding their electoral votes. Under the compact, Virginia agrees to award its electoral votes to the presidential ticket that receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact goes into effect when states cumulatively possessing a majority of the electoral votes have joined the compact. A state may withdraw from the compact; however, a withdrawal occurring within six months of the end of a President's term shall not become effective until a President or Vice President has qualified to serve the next term. This bill was incorporated into HB 177.
Sponsored bills
Expungement of police and court records; nolleprosequi taken or acquittal. Provides that a court that takesa nolle prosequi or enters a judgment acquitting a person of a criminalcharge shall, upon motion of the person, enter an order requiringthe expungement of the police and court records relating to the charge.Currently, such a person may file a separate petition for the expungementof such records; however, except in certain cases involving misdemeanorcharges, the person is not entitled to an order of expungement, andthe court hearing the petition must find that the continued existenceand possible dissemination of such records causes or may cause circumstancesthat constitute a manifest injustice to such person before such anorder will be entered.
Petition for vacatur and expungement of convictionsand police and court records of victims of human trafficking.Allows any person who was a victim of human trafficking at the timeof an offense that led to a criminal charge or conviction of certaincrimes to petition the court to vacate such conviction and expungethe police and court records related to such conviction or to expungethe police and court records related to such charge. The bill provides that there is a rebuttable presumption that a person's participationin an offense was a result of having been a victim of human traffickingif there is official documentation, defined in the bill, of the petitioner'sstatus as a victim of human trafficking at the time of the offense.
Expungement of police and court records.Provides that a court that enters a nolle prosequi for a criminalcharge or dismisses such charge for any reason may, upon motion ofthe person charged, enter an order requiring the expungement of thepolice and court records relating to the charge.
Right to reproductive choice. Provides thatevery individual has a fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptionand that a pregnant person has a fundamental right to choose to carrya pregnancy to term, give birth to a child, or terminate a pregnancy.The bill states that the Commonwealth shall not, in the regulationor provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information, denyor interfere with an individual's fundamental rights, including individualsunder state control or supervision. The bill states that any stateor local official who is charged with violating provisions of thissection shall be subject to an action in federal or state court forinjunctive relief and damages. Such action may be brought by any person or entity that may be aggrieved by such official's actions.
Offshore energy resources; moratorium on offshore oil and gas development. Prohibits any form of leasing for purposes of exploration, development, or production of oil or gas in Virginia's territorial sea, which encompasses the waters within three nautical miles wide adjacent to Virginia's coast. The measure prohibits state agencies from leasing, or from authorizing or permitting the construction or location of a structure upon, over, or under, any of the submerged and submersible lands within the limits of the territorial sea for the exploration, development, or production of oil or gas. The measure also removes from the Virginia Energy Plan provisions that state that it is the policy of the Commonwealth to support federal efforts to determine the extent of oil and natural gas resources 50 miles or more off the Atlantic shoreline and to permit the production and development of oil and natural gas resources 50 miles or more off the Atlantic shoreline. This bill was incorporated into HB 706.
Management of the menhaden fishery. Requiresthe Virginia Marine Resources Commission to adopt regulations necessaryto manage Atlantic menhaden, including those necessary to complywith the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Interstate FisheryManagement Plan for Atlantic Menhaden. The bill repeals several Code sections relating to quotas, allocation of allowable landings, and administrative procedures that will be included in a regulatoryframework for managing the fishery.
Virginia Fair Housing Law; unlawful discriminatoryhousing practices; sexual orientation and gender identity. Addsdiscrimination on the basis of an individual's sexual orientationor gender identity as an unlawful housing practice. The bill defines"sexual orientation" and "gender identity." This bill was incorporatedinto HB 1663.
Commending the Washington Nationals.
Constitution of the United States; Equal RightsAmendment. Ratifies the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitutionof the United States that was proposed by Congress in 1972. The jointresolution advocates the position that the 1972 Equal Rights Amendmentremains viable and may be ratified notwithstanding the expirationof the 10-year ratification period set out in the resolving clause,as amended, in the proposal adopted by Congress.