Towing violations; enforcement; fuel surcharge fee. Authorizes localities in Planning Districts 8 and 16 to require written authorization of the owner of the property from which the vehicle is towed at the time the vehicle is being towed and regulate the monitoring practices that may be used by towing and recovery operators. Current law authorizes localities other than those in Planning Districts 8 and 16 to require written authorization of the owner of the property from which the vehicle is towed at the time the vehicle is being towed. The bill changes the penalty for certain trespass towing offenses in Planning District 8 from $150 per violation paid to the Literary Fund to 10 times the total amount charged for such removal, towing, and storage to be paid to the victim of the unlawful towing. The bill also changes the expiration date of the authorization for towing and recovery operators to charge a fuel surcharge fee of no more than $20 for each vehicle towed or removed from private property without the consent of its owner and the prohibition on local governing bodies limiting or prohibiting such fee from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2025.
Del. Nadarius Clark
Sponsored bills
Department of Education; development and distribution of fentanyl education and awareness informational one-sheet; requirements. Requires the Department of Education to develop, in collaboration with the Department of Health, a fentanyl education and awareness informational one-sheet designed to promote awareness of the dangers associated with and the prevalence of fentanyl and provide essential information on fentanyl overdose prevention and preparedness among high school-age students. The bill requires the Department of Education to make available to each school board and post in a publicly accessible location on its website such informational one-sheet and to annually review and update such informational one-sheet in collaboration with the Department of Health to ensure its currency and accuracy. The bill requires each public high school or secondary school that includes grades nine through 12 to annually distribute such informational one-sheet to each student in grades nine through 12 within the first two weeks of the school year. This bill incorporates HB 1007.
Line of Duty Act; payment of benefits. Increases from $25,000 to $75,000 the death benefit payout under the Virginia Line of Duty Act for a death caused by occupational cancer, respiratory disease, or hypertension or heart disease for those deaths that will occur on or after January 1, 2025. This bill is identical to SB 649.
Department of Labor and Industry; workplaceposter for veterans benefits and services. Directs the Departmentof Labor and Industry, in consultation with the Department of VeteransServices, to create a poster describing benefits and services availableto veterans and allows employers to request and display such poster in the workplace. The bill enumerates a minimum group of resourcesthe poster shall include, including (i) Department of Veterans Services'programs, contact information, and website address; (ii) substanceabuse and mental health treatment resources; (iii) educational, workforce,and training resources; (iv) tax benefits; (v) eligibility for unemploymentinsurance benefits; (vi) legal services; and (vii) the U.S. Departmentof Veterans Affairs Veterans Crisis Line.
Omitted taxes; installment agreements. Allows the governing body of a locality to allow its treasurer or other collecting official to enter into an installment agreement lasting up to 72 months for payment of taxes by a taxpayer who has been assessed with omitted taxes.
Child care; background checks. Allows applicants for employment and applicants to serve as volunteers to work in certain child day centers, family day homes, and family day systems pending the results of a full background check, provided that (i) the applicant has received qualifying results on a fingerprint-based background check through the Central Criminal Records Exchange or the Federal Bureau of Investigation and (ii) the applicant is supervised at all times by a person who received a qualifying result on a full background check within the past five years.
Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; firefighters. Adds full-time firefighters employed by the Department of MilitaryAffairs to the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System for serviceearned on or after July 1, 2025. The bill has a delayed effectivedate of July 1, 2025.
Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); real property tax exemption; surviving spouses of soldiers who died in the line of duty. Provides for a referendum at the November 5, 2024, election to approve or reject an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia that would expand the real property tax exemption that is currently available to the surviving spouses of soldiers killed in action to be available to the surviving spouses of soldiers who died in the line of duty with a Line of Duty determination from the U.S. Department of Defense. This bill is identical to SB 4.
Electronic communication systems within statecorrectional facilities; free telephone calls and communication services.Requires the Department of Corrections to provide telephone systemsand web-based or electronic communications systems free of chargeto any person, whether such person is initiating or receiving thecommunication. The bill also requires that a minimum ratio of onetelephone per every 10 inmates be available within each housing unitat each correctional facility and that a maximum number of telephonenumbers permitted on an approved call list must be no fewer than20. This bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.
Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety;school safety audit; requirements. Requires the Virginia Centerfor School and Campus Safety to include in the list of items to bereviewed and evaluated in school safety audits and each school boardto require all schools under its supervision to review and evaluatein their annual school safety audits information relating to thetype of school security technology utilized in each public schoolbuilding in the applicable school division, including informationrelating to the specific types of technology systems and the age of such systems.