Definition of birth control. Defines "birth control," for the purposes of the regulation of medicine, as contraceptive methods that are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administrationand provides that birth control shall not be considered abortionfor the purposes of Title 18.2 (Crimes and Offenses Generally).
Public employment; limitations on inquiries by state agencies and localities regarding criminal arrests, charges, or convictions. Prohibits state agencies and localities from including on any employment application a question inquiring whether the prospective employee has ever been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of any crime. The bill prohibits asking a prospective employee if he has ever been arrested or charged with or convicted of any crime unless the inquiry takes place during or after a staff interview of the prospective employee. The prohibition does not apply to applications for employment with law-enforcement agencies or positions related to law-enforcement agencies. The prohibition also does not apply to applications for state agency positions designated as sensitive or to state agencies that are expressly permitted to inquire into an individual's criminal arrests or charges for employment purposes pursuant to any provision of federal or state law. For localities, the prohibition also does not apply to positions for employment by the local school board. This bill incorporates HB 140.
Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Grant Fund and Program; creation. Establishes the Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Grant Fund and Program, to be administered by the Department of Criminal Justice Services, for the purpose of awarding grants to the Cities of Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Richmond, and Roanoke for the purpose of performing community assessments for youth and gang violence prevention. Grants are to be awarded in an amount of $25,000 to each city to perform such an assessment. No more than $150,000 per year shall be allocated by the Program.
Voting restrictions on the basis of race. Repeals several Acts of Assembly that implemented and enforced a state poll tax and provided for separate registration records on the basis of race. This bill is identical to SB 555.
Elections; preclearance of certain covered practicesrequired. Requires the governing body of any county, city, or town tosubmit, prior to enacting or seeking to administer any voting qualification orprerequisite to voting, or any standard, practice, or procedure with respect tovoting, that is a covered practice, such qualification, prerequisite, standard,practice, or procedure by either (i) instituting an action in the Court of Appealsfor a declaratory judgment that such qualification, prerequisite, standard,practice, or procedure neither has the purpose nor will have the effect ofdenying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color ormembership in a language minority group or (ii) submitting such qualification,prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure to the Office of the AttorneyGeneral. No qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure thatis a covered practice shall be given effect until (a) the circuit court hasentered such judgment, (b) the Attorney General has not interposed an objectionwithin 60 days of the governing body's submission, or (c) upon good cause shownand to facilitate an expedited approval within 60 days of the governing body'ssubmission, the Attorney General has affirmatively indicated that no suchobjection will be made. The bill is modeled after the Section 5 preclearancerequirement of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended. The bill defines"covered practice" as any change to the method of election in alocality, any change to jurisdiction boundaries, any change to electiondistricts or wards, or any change that reduces, consolidates, or relocatesvoting locations.
Prohibited discrimination; public accommodations, employment, credit, and housing: causes of action; sexual orientation and gender identity. Creates explicit causes of action for unlawful discrimination in public accommodations and employment in the Virginia Human Rights Act. Currently, under the Act there is no cause of action for discrimination in public accommodations, and the only causes of action for discrimination in employment are for (i) unlawful discharge on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, including lactation, by employers employing more than five but fewer than 15 persons and (ii) unlawful discharge on the basis of age by employers employing more than five but fewer than 20 persons. The bill allows the causes of action to be pursued privately by the aggrieved person or, in certain circumstances, by the Attorney General. The bill prohibits discrimination in public and private employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill also codifies for state and local government employment the current prohibitions on discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, or status as a veteran. Additionally, the bill (a) prohibits discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran; (b) prohibits discrimination in credit on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, disability, and status as a veteran; and (c) adds discrimination on the basis of an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran as an unlawful housing practice. The bill makes technical amendments. This bill incorporates HB 3, HB 21, HB 23, HB 217, HB 1050, HB 1200, and HB 1512.
Redistricting; Virginia Redistricting Advisory Commission; standards and criteria. Establishes the Virginia Redistricting Advisory Commission (the Commission), a statutory legislative commission tasked with proposing districts for the United States House of Representatives and for the Senate and the House of Delegates of the General Assembly that adhere to certain constitutional and statutory criteria and that will be submitted for consideration and adoption by the General Assembly. The Commission will consist of eight legislative commissioners and eight citizen commissioners. The legislative commissioners consist of four members of the Senate of Virginia and four members of the House of Delegates, with equal representation given to the political parties having the highest and next highest number of members in their respective houses. The citizen commissioners are chosen by a selection committee consisting of five retired judges of the circuit courts of Virginia, from lists submitted to the selection committee by the Speaker of the House of Delegates, the leader in the House of Delegates of the political party having the next highest number of members in the House of Delegates, the President pro tempore of the Senate of Virginia, and the leader in the Senate of the political party having the next highest number of members in the Senate. The bill contains eligibility requirements for the citizen commissioners, including restrictions on holding or having held partisan national or state public office. As part of the application process for service on the Commission, the Division of Legislative Services acts as a repository for applications submitted by interested persons and is tasked with screening out applicants who are ineligible or submit incomplete applications. The applications of the citizen candidates selected by political leadership and submitted for consideration to the selection committee are public records.The bill also directs the Division of Legislative Services to provide staff support to the Commission in the redistricting of congressional and state legislative districts. The Commission is required to submit to the General Assembly plans of districts within certain time periods, and the bill sets out criteria by which the districts are to be drawn, including equal population, racial and ethnic fairness, communities of interest, contiguity, and compactness. The bill prohibits a map of districts from unduly favoring or disfavoring any political party when considered on a statewide basis.The bill provides for the preparation and use of adjusted population data for redistricting and reapportionment purposes to reflect the reallocation of persons incarcerated in federal, state, and local correctional facilities. Persons incarcerated in such a facility whose address at the time of incarceration was in the Commonwealth are to be counted at that address and persons incarcerated in such a facility whose address at the time of incarceration was outside of the Commonwealth or cannot be determined are to be counted at the facility.Provisions to ensure public participation in the redistricting process are included, including requirements that meetings are video recorded and transcribed and the archived videos and transcripts be made available on the Commission's website. The bill also requires a series of public hearings to be conducted prior receipt of Census data and at least public hearings to be held prior to voting to submit any plan to the General Assembly. The General Assembly may reject initial plans developed by the Commission and provide information to the Commission regarding the reasons for rejecting such plans. The General Assembly is limited in its ability to amend plans until multiple plans have been submitted and rejected.
Local school boards; lead testing; report; parental notification. Requires each local school board's plan to test and remediate certain potable water sources to be consistent with guidance published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or the Department of Health. The bill requires each local school board to submit such testing plan and report the results of any such test to the Department of Health. The bill also requires local school boards to take all necessary steps to notify parents if testing results indicate lead contamination that exceeds 10 parts per billion. The bill is identical to SB 392.
Employee misclassification; retaliatory actions prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits an employer from discharging, disciplining, threatening, discriminating against, or penalizing an employee or independent contractor because the employee or independent contractor reported or plans to report that an employer or any officer or agent has failed to properly classify an individual as an employee and failed to pay required benefits or other contributions. The measure also prohibits such actions against an employee or independent contractor who is requested or subpoenaed by an appropriate authority to participate in an investigation, hearing, or inquiry by an appropriate authority or in a court action. These prohibitions apply only if an employee or independent contractor acts in good faith and upon a reasonable belief that the information is accurate. The measure authorizes the Commissioner of Labor and Industry to institute proceedings against an employer who has taken such prohibited retaliatory action. Available remedies include reinstatement of the employee and recovery of lost wages. An employer that violates these provisions is subject to a civil penalty equal to the employee's lost wages. This bill is identical to SB 662.
Nonpayment of wages; investigations. Authorizes the Commissioner of Labor and Industry, if he acquires information during an investigation of a complaint of an employer's failure or refusal to pay wages and that information creates a reasonable belief that other employees of the same employer may not have been paid wages, to investigate whether the employer has failed or refused to make a required payment of wages to other employees. The measure also provides that if the Commissioner finds in the course of such investigation that the employer has committed a violation, the Commissioner may institute proceedings on behalf of any employee against his employer. In such proceedings, the Commissioner is not required to have obtained a written complaint of the violation or the written and signed consent of any employee. This bill is identical to SB 49.
