Del. Ibraheem S. Samirah

Possession of marijuana. Allows for possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use.

Secretary of Education; establishment of Collegeand Career Readiness Steering Committee. Requires the Secretaryof Education to establish a 21-member College and Career ReadinessSteering Committee to (i) develop and oversee implementation of a strategic plan for ensuring that all students in the Commonwealth,and particularly subgroups of students who have been historicallyunderserved, graduate from high school (a) meeting the requirementsfor an advanced studies diploma, (b) having had the opportunityto participate and succeed in pathways that integrate rigorous academicinstruction aligned with the Standards of Learning, including career and technical education, work-based learning, wraparound services,and opportunities to earn credit for postsecondary education whileenrolled in high school, and (c) having had a high school experiencethat is aligned with expectations for postsecondary education andemployer demand and (ii) provide certain recommendations, guidance,leadership, goals, and assistance relating to the implementationof such strategic plan.

Marijuana; legalization of simple marijuana possession;penalties. Eliminates criminal penalties for possession of marijuana forpersons who are 21 years of age or older. The bill also decriminalizesmarijuana possession for persons under 21 years of age and provides a civilpenalty of no more than $100 for possession of (i) two and one-half ounces orless of marijuana or (ii) 12 or fewer marijuana plants and a civil penalty ofno more than $500 for possession of more than (a) two and one-half ounces ofmarijuana or (b) 12 marijuana plants. Under current law, a first offense ispunishable by a maximum fine of $500 and a maximum jail sentence of 30 days,and subsequent offenses are a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also modifiesseveral other criminal penalties related to marijuana. The bill establishes aregulatory scheme for the regulation of marijuana cultivation facilities,marijuana manufacturing facilities, marijuana secure transporters, marijuanatesting facilities, retail marijuana stores, and marijuana microbusinesses bythe Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The bill imposes an additionaltax of 10 percent on retail marijuana and retail marijuana products sold byretail marijuana stores and microbusinesses and directs the first $20 millionof such revenues, after expenses of the Board are paid, to the VeteransTreatment Fund, established in the bill. The remaining tax receipts will bedistributed to the localities in which the businesses operate, toward thestate's share of Standards of Quality basic aid payments, and to theCommonwealth Mass Transit Fund. The bill also expands the legal medical uses ofmarijuana and tetrahydrocannabinol from only cancer and glaucoma to any use toalleviate the symptoms of any diagnosed condition or disease determined by theprescribing doctor to benefit from the use of such substance.

Study; Virginia State Crime Commission; effectof abolishing jury sentencing on the justice system; report.Directs the Virginia State Crime Commission to (i) identify the mostcommon charges tried before juries within the Commonwealth and determinethe average sentence per charge as recommended by a jury; (ii) comparethe jury-recommended sentence to the average sentence for each identifiedcharge, factoring in alternative sentences and suspended time, asdetermined by a judge during a bench trial; (iii) identify any perceived negative impacts to the judicial system associated with abolishingthe practice of jury sentencing and make recommendations as to howthese potential negative impacts could be avoided; and (iv) determinethe feasibility of abolishing jury sentencing for noncapital offenseswithin the Commonwealth.

Elections; voter-nominated open primary elections;ranked choice voting for certain elections. Establishes a voter-nominatedprimary election for the offices of Governor, Lieutenant Governor,and Attorney General and for the General Assembly and the UnitedStates Senate and House of Representatives. A voter-nominated primaryelection is an election held for the purpose of selecting candidatesto be on the ballot at a general election. All candidates, regardlessof political party affiliation, are on a single ballot. The fourcandidates receiving the highest numbers of votes are the candidatesfor that office at the general election. The bill provides that ageneral or special election for such offices is conducted by rankedchoice voting. Ranked choice voting is the method of casting andtabulating votes in which (i) voters rank candidates in order of preference, (ii) tabulation proceeds in sequential rounds in whichlast-place candidates are defeated, and (iii) the candidate withthe most votes in the final round is elected.

School Divisions of Innovation; local assessments. Allows a local school board, when applying for its school division to be designated as a School Division of Innovation, to apply to the Board of Education to replace the Virginia Studies and Civics and Economics Standards of Learning assessments with local assessments that include performance-based assessments. The bill requires any such application to (i) demonstrate that the proposed local assessment requires that students demonstrate the knowledge and skills required by the relevant Standards of Learning and that students demonstrate one or more of the skills and qualities of critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, or citizenship and (ii) provide evidence of the local school board's capacity to administer and score performance-based assessments.

Office of the Attorney General; FOIA Ombudsman;powers and duties; report. Requires the Attorney General to appointa Virginia Freedom of Information Act Ombudsman to promote complianceby state agencies with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom ofInformation Act. The bill outlines the powers and duties of the Ombudsmanand provides for the Ombudsman to submit by November 30 of each yeara report on his activities and policy recommendations to the Governorand the General Assembly.

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); qualifications of voters; automatic restoration of civil rights. Provides for the automatic restoration of civil rights for persons convicted of felonies upon completion of their sentences. The present Constitution provides for restoration of rights by the Governor, and the amendment retains this right.

Expungement of police and court records; misdemeanorand nonviolent felony convictions. Allows a person convictedof a misdemeanor or nonviolent felony to file a petition requestingexpungement of the police and court records relating to the convictionif such person (i) has been free from any term of incarceration, probation, and postrelease supervision imposed as a result of such convictionfor at least ten years; (ii) has no prior or subsequent convictionsother than traffic infractions; and (iii) has no pending criminalproceeding.

Constitutional amendment (second resolution);personal property tax exemption; motor vehicle owned by a veteranwho is disabled. Provides that one motor vehicle of a veteranwho has a 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disabilityshall be exempt from state and local taxes. The amendment provides that only automobiles and pickup trucks qualify for the exemption. Additionally, the exemption is only applicable on the date the motorvehicle is acquired or the effective date of the amendment, whicheveris later, and is not applicable for any period of time prior to theeffective date of the amendment.