Del. Cia Price

Department of Emergency Management; responsibilitiesof political subdivisions; provision of emergency preparedness informationto individuals with limited English proficiency, disabilities, orother special needs. Directs the Department of Emergency Management(the Department) to ensure that the model school crisis and emergencymanagement plan developed by the Board of Education in consultationwith the Department is designed to include and reach individualswith limited English proficiency, disabilities, and other specialneeds. The bill also directs the Department to develop an emergencyresponse plan to (i) address the needs of such individuals in theevent of a disaster, including the provision of competent interpretationservices and translated documents, and (ii) assist and coordinatewith local agencies in developing similar emergency response plansfor such individuals. The bill requires that every local and interjurisdictionalemergency management agency include in its emergency operations planprovisions to ensure that adequate and timely emergency relief assistance,including competent interpretation services and translated documents,is provided to such individuals. The bill requires the governingbody of each locality that is required to establish an alert and warningplan to ensure that such plan provides adequate and timely warningsfor such individuals. The bill contains technical amendments.

Workers' compensation; repetitive motion injuries.Provides that a physical injury, including the condition of carpaltunnel syndrome, that results from repetitive motion shall be treatedas an injury by accident for purposes of the Virginia Workers' CompensationAct. The bill also removes a provision that declares carpal tunnelsyndrome to be an ordinary disease of life.

Correctional facilities; use of isolated confinement.Prohibits the use of isolated confinement in state correctionalfacilities and juvenile correctional centers, defined in the billas confinement of a prisoner or juvenile to a cell, alone or withanother prisoner or juvenile, for 20 hours or more a day for an adultor for 17 hours or more a day for a juvenile, other than for thepurpose of providing medical or mental health treatment. The bill provides for exceptions for when isolated confinement may be permittedin state correctional facilities and juvenile correctional centers.The bill also requires the Board of Corrections to promulgate andestablish standards placing limits on the use of isolated confinementin local correctional facilities that are consistent with the standardsapplicable to state correctional facilities.

Prisoners; obtaining certain identification documentation upon release. Requires the Department of Corrections and the sheriff, jail superintendent, or other jail administrator of a local correctional facility to provide to any prisoner who does not already possess a government-issued identification card a special identification card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles upon his release. Prior to the release of any prisoner after a period of confinement of 90 days or more, if such prisoner does not already possess an original birth certificate or a Social Security card, the bill also requires the Department of Corrections and the sheriff, jail superintendent, or other jail administrator of a local correctional facility to offer to (i) provide the assistance necessary for the prisoner to apply to the appropriate state and obtain an official copy of the prisoner's birth certificate and (ii) provide the assistance necessary for the prisoner to apply to the Social Security Administration and obtain a replacement Social Security card. The bill requires the correctional institutions to establish procedures for (a) securing such special identification cards through the Department of Motor Vehicles, (b) applying for and obtaining official copies of birth certificates or replacement Social Security cards, and (c) forwarding such documentation if it is not obtained prior to the prisoner's release or discharge. Such procedures shall include an offer to provide, or to assist the prisoner with providing, all paperwork necessary for such prisoner to be issued a special identification card, an official copy of a birth certificate, or a replacement Social Security card. The bill further provides that all costs and fees associated with obtaining such identification documentation shall be paid by the prisoner unless the prisoner is determined to be indigent. Current law authorizes local correctional institutions to issue special identification cards prior to the release of any prisoner and requires the prisoner to pay all costs and fees associated with obtaining such card.

TANF; family cap. Repeals the prohibitionon increasing the amount of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families(TANF) that a family receives upon the birth of a child during theperiod of TANF eligibility or during the period in which the familyor adult recipient is ineligible for TANF benefits pursuant to apenalty imposed by the Commissioner of Social Services for failureto comply with benefit eligibility or child support requirements.

Recounts; special election to be held in the case of a tie vote. Provides that if, after a recount of an election, the recount court finds that each party to the recount has received an equal number of votes, there shall be a special election to determine which candidate is elected to the office. This provision would not apply in cases of tie votes occurring after a recount of an election for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Attorney General, which the Constitution of Virginia provides for, or for electors of President and Vice President of the United States, which will continue to be determined by lot. This bill incorporates HB 178 and HB 692.

Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for certain diseases. Adds cancers of the colon, brain, or testes to the list of cancers that are presumed to be an occupational disease covered by the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act when firefighters or certain employees develop the cancer. The presumption shall not apply for any individual who was diagnosed with one of the conditions before July 1, 2020. The measure removes the compensability requirement that the employee who develops cancer had contact with a toxic substance encountered in the line of duty. The bill also reduces the number of years of service needed to qualify for the presumption from 12 to five for various types of cancer. For hypertension or heart disease, the bill adds a requirement that an individual complete five years of service in their position in order to qualify. This bill is identical to SB 9.

Virginia Fair Housing Law; unlawful discriminatory housing practices; source of funds. Adds discrimination on the basis of a person's source of funds to the list of unlawful discriminatory housing practices. The bill creates an exemption for an owner or owner's managing agent, provided that such owner does not own more than four rental dwelling units or more than a 10 percent interest in more than four rental dwelling units in the Commonwealth at the time of the alleged discriminatory housing practice. The bill allows an owner or owner's managing agent to deny or limit a person's rental or occupancy of a rental dwelling unit based on the person's source of funds for that unit if such source is not approved within 15 days of the person's submission of the request for tenancy approval. The bill defines "source of funds" as any source that lawfully provides funds to or on behalf of a renter or buyer of housing, including any assistance, benefit, or subsidy program, whether such program is administered by a governmental or nongovernmental entity. This bill incorporates HB 357.

Department of Health; sickle cell anemia; adult and pediatric comprehensive sickle cell clinic network. Specifies that children be included in the voluntary program established by the Commissioner of Health, in cooperation with local health directors, for the screening of individuals for the disease of sickle cell anemia or the sickle cell trait and for other genetically related diseases and genetic traits and inborn errors of metabolism. The bill directs the Board of Health to adopt regulations to implement an adult and pediatric comprehensive sickle cell clinic network.

Landlord and tenant; victims of family abuse; evidence to mitigate low credit score; damages. Allows an applicant for a lease to recover actual damages, including all amounts paid to the landlord as an application fee, application deposit, or reimbursement for any of the landlord's out-of-pocket expenses that were charged to the applicant, along with attorney fees, if the landlord does not consider evidence of the applicant's status as a victim of family abuse to mitigate any adverse effect of the otherwise qualified applicant's low credit score.