Individual and corporate income tax credit;employers of National Guard members and self-employed National Guardmembers. Provides for taxable years 2020 through 2024 a nonrefundabletax credit against individual and corporate income taxes for (i) wages paid by an employer to an employee who is an active or reserveVirginia National Guard member or (ii) income of a self-employedactive or reserve Virginia National Guard member attributable to his business. The amount of the credit shall be 25 percent if such memberwas in a military pay status for 65 days or more during such taxableyear or 15 percent if such member was in a military pay status forat least 45 days but less than 65 days during such taxable year.The credit shall not be allowed if such member was in a military pay status for less than 45 days during such taxable year. The billallows a taxpayer to carry unused credits over for up to five taxableyears.
Sponsored bills
Virginia Minority Business Commission; report. Establishes a 13-member legislative Commission to promote the growthand competitiveness of Virginia minority-owned businesses. The bill provides that the Commission sunsets on July 1, 2023.
Board of Education; high school graduation requirements; certain substitutions. Requires the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to provide for the substitutionof computer coding course credit for any foreign language coursecredit required to graduate with a standard or advanced diploma forchildren with disabilities.
Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity; definitions; small business. Redefines "small business" for the purposes of programs for the Department of Small Business and SupplierDiversity and the Virginia Public Procurement Act to mean a businessthat together with its affiliates has both 250 or fewer employeesand average annual gross receipts, less the cost of goods sold bythe business, of $10 million or less averaged over the previous threeyears. Currently for these programs, a business qualifies as a smallbusiness if, together with its affiliates, it has either 250 or feweremployees or average annual gross receipts of $10 million or lessaveraged over the previous three years.
Adult protective services; central registry.Creates a central registry of founded complaints of adult abuse,neglect, and exploitation to be maintained by the Department of SocialServices. The bill establishes (i) investigation requirements forlocal departments of social services related to complaints of adultabuse, neglect, and exploitation; (ii) record retention and disclosurerequirements for the Department and local departments; (iii) noticerequirements related to findings by local departments and centralregistry entries; and (iv) an appeals process to contest the findingsof a local department related to founded reports of adult abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
Public institutions of higher education; State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; business advisory committee. Establishes a business advisory committee, consisting of business and industry leaders in the Commonwealth, to advise the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia regarding the approval of new academic programs at public institutions of higher education in relation to current workforce and industry needs in the Commonwealth and other relevant topics deemed fit by the committee. Appointments shall be based on recommendations made by the Council, the General Assembly, the Governor, and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations, the House Committee on Education, the Senate Committee on Education and Health, and the Senate Committee on Finance in a manner to ensure broad representation from among various industries. Ad hoc members may be added as needed to advise the committee on specific industry needs.
Virginia Information Technologies Agency; Cybersecurity Advisory Council created; report. Creates the Cybersecurity Advisory Council to (i) assist the Chief Information Officer (CIO)of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency with the developmentof policies, standards, and guidelines for assessing security risks,determining appropriate security measures, and performing securityaudits of government electronic information; (ii) make recommendationsto the CIO regarding strategies to strengthen the Commonwealth'scybersecurity; and (iii) analyze and investigate breaches of theinformation technology security of any independent agency or anyagency or other entity within the executive branch, legislative branch,or judicial branch of state government. The bill requires the Councilto submit an annual report to the Governor and the General Assembly.
Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder;law-enforcement officers and firefighters. Provides that post-traumaticstress disorder incurred by a law-enforcement officer or firefighter iscompensable under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act if a mental healthprofessional examines a law-enforcement officer or firefighter and diagnosesthe individual as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result ofthe individual's undergoing a qualifying event, which includes an event occurringin the line of duty on or after July 1, 2020, in which a law-enforcementofficer or firefighter views a deceased minor, witnesses the death of a personor an incident involving the death of a person, witnesses an injury to a personwho subsequently dies, has physical contact with and treats an injured personwho subsequently dies, transports an injured person who subsequently dies, orwitnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss of a vital bodypart or a vital body function that results in permanent disfigurement of thevictim. Other conditions for compensability include (i) if the post-traumaticstress disorder resulted from the law-enforcement officer or firefighter actingin the line of duty and, in the case of a firefighter, such firefightercomplied with certain federal Occupational Safety and Health Act standards;(ii) if the law-enforcement officer's or firefighter's undergoing a qualifyingevent was a substantial factor in causing his post-traumatic stress disorder;(iii) if such qualifying event, and not another event or source of stress, wasthe primary cause of the post-traumatic stress disorder; and (iv) if thepost-traumatic stress disorder did not result from any disciplinary action,work evaluation, job transfer, layoff, demotion, promotion, termination,retirement, or similar action of the officer or firefighter. The measureestablishes procedural requirements on employers that contest a claim for suchbenefits. The measure also establishes requirements for resilience and self-caretechnique training.
Ranked choice voting; elections for local governing bodies; local option pilot program. Provides that elections for local governing bodies may be conducted by ranked choice voting, which the bill defines as the method of casting and tabulating votes in which (i) voters rank candidates in order of preference, (ii) tabulation proceeds in rounds such that in each round either a candidate or candidates are elected or the last-place candidate is defeated, (iii) votes for voters' next-ranked candidates are transferred from elected or defeated candidates, and (iv) tabulation ends when the number of candidates elected equals the number of offices to be filled. The bill allows any local governing body to decide to conduct such election by ranked choice voting and requires any such decision to be made in consultation with the local electoral board and general registrar and by a majority vote of the governing body. The bill authorizes the State Board of Elections to promulgate regulations for the proper and efficient administration of elections determined by ranked choice voting. The bill provides that any costs incurred by the Department of Elections related to technological changes necessary for the implementation of ranked choice voting pursuant to the bill shall be charged to the localities exercising the option to proceed with ranked choice voting. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021, and sunsets on July 1, 2031.
Department of State Police; establishment of cold case searchable database. Requires the Superintendent of State Police to establish and maintain a searchable electronic database of cold cases, available to the public through the Department of State Police official website. The bill defines "cold case" as an investigation into a homicide, missing person, or unidentified person case that has remained unsolved for at least five years after the crime occurred, the person went missing, or the unidentified body was found, whichever occurred last. The bill requires the database to include (i) the category of cold case and, in the case of a homicide or missing person, the name of the victim or missing person, unless prohibited or restricted by law; (ii) the location where the crime was committed, where the person was last seen, or where the body was found, if known; (iii) the date and time the crime occurred, the person was last seen, or the body was found, if known; (iv) the name and contact information of the investigating law-enforcement agency; (v) a brief summary of the crime or case; and (vi) any other information that the investigating law-enforcement agency determines is appropriate. The bill also allows the Department and submitting law-enforcement agencies to withhold such information, in whole or in part, from the database (a) as they deem necessary for investigative purposes, protection of privacy, or any other lawful reason or (b) upon request of the victim's or missing person's next of kin.