Legal holidays; Indigenous Peoples Day. Removes official state observation of Columbus Day and replaces it with observationof Indigenous Peoples Day, honoring the historic, cultural, andcontemporary significance of indigenous peoples.
Official emblems and designations; state fruit.Designates the pawpaw fruit (Asimina triloba) as the state fruitof Virginia.
Health benefit plans; enrollment by pregnantindividuals. Requires health carriers to allow pregnant individualsto enroll in a health benefit plan at any time after the commencementof the pregnancy, with the pregnant individual's coverage being effectiveas of the first of the month in which the individual receives certificationof the pregnancy. The measure applies to such agreements that areentered into, amended, extended, or renewed on or after January 1,2021.
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.
Possession of marijuana. Allows for possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use.
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.
Additional state sales tax on firearms and ammunition;use of proceeds; Student Mental Health and Safety Fund and Program.Imposes an additional sales and use tax on the retail sale of firearmsand ammunition. The amount of the tax shall be 10 percent minus theamount of tax imposed by all other sales and use taxes levied bythe Commonwealth. Revenues from the tax shall be deposited in theStudent Mental Health and Safety Fund (the Fund), which is establishedby the bill. In addition to the Fund, the bill creates the StudentMental Health and Safety Program (the Program). The Program and Fundshall provide grants on a competitive basis to public school divisionsfor the purpose of funding full-time school counselor positions ata ratio of 250:1 or better, school social worker positions at a ratioof 400:1 or better, and school psychologists at a ratio of 500:1or better.
Drug Treatment Court Act; authorization andavailability. Provides that any jurisdiction or jurisdictionsintending or proposing to establish a drug treatment court shallnot be denied permission under the Code of Virginia to establishsuch court solely on the basis of funding such court. The bill alsoprovides that a drug treatment court shall be available to everydefendant irrespective of the jurisdiction.
Sale or distribution of flavored tobacco productsprohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits the sale or distributionof flavored tobacco products, defined in the bill, and creates acivil penalty of $1,000 for a first offense and $5,000 for a secondor subsequent offense.
Marijuana; decriminalization of simple marijuana possession; penalty. Decriminalizes marijuana possession and provides a civil penalty of no more than $25. Under current law, a first offense is punishable by a maximum fine of $500 and a maximum jail sentence of 30 days, and subsequent offenses are a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill creates a rebuttable presumption that a person who possesses no more than one-half ounce of marijuana possesses it for personal use and provides that the existing suspended sentence and substance abuse screening provisions apply only to criminal violations or to civil violations by a minor. The bill decreases from a Class 5 felony to a Class 6 felony the penalty for distribution or possession with intent to sell more than one-half ounce but not more than five pounds of marijuana. This bill was incorporated into HB 972.
