Del. Mark L. Cole

Provides that a person is guilty of felony homicide, which constitutes second degree murder and is punishable by confinement of not less than five nor more than 40 years, if the underlying felonious act that resulted in the killing of another involved the manufacture, sale, gift, or distribution of a Schedule I or II controlled substance to another and (i) such other person's death results from his use of the controlled substance and (ii) the controlled substance is the proximate cause of his death. The bill provides that venue for a prosecution of this crime shall lie in the locality where the underlying felony occurred, where the use of the controlled substance occurred, or where death occurred. The bill also provides that if a person gave or distributed a Schedule I or II controlled substance only as an accommodation to another individual who is not an inmate in a community correctional facility, local correctional facility, or state correctional facility, or in the custody of an employee thereof, and not with intent to profit thereby from any consideration received or expected nor to induce the recipient of the controlled substance to use or become addicted to or dependent upon such controlled substance, he is guilty of a Class 5 felony.

Provides that upon a conviction for assault and battery against a family or household member where it is alleged in the warrant, petition, information, or indictment on which a person is convicted that such person has been previously convicted of an offense that occurred within a period of 10 years of the instant offense against a family or household member of (i) assault and battery against a family or household member, (ii) malicious wounding or unlawful wounding, (iii) aggravated malicious wounding, (iv) malicious bodily injury by means of a substance, (v) strangulation, or (vi) an offense under the law of any other jurisdiction that has the same elements of any of the above offenses such person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and the sentence of such person shall include a mandatory minimum term of confinement of 60 days.

Increases the membership of the State Board of Elections from three members to five members and increases the terms of Board members from four years to five years. Representation shall be given to each of the political parties having the highest and next highest number of votes in the Commonwealth at the preceding gubernatorial election, with three Board members being of the party of the Governor. Terms are initially staggered. The bill also grants to the Board the authority to appoint the Commissioner of Elections, subject to confirmation by the General Assembly, and to remove the Commissioner of Elections. The appointment or removal of the Commissioner shall require an affirmative vote of four of the five Board members. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2020. This bill is identical to

Authorizes a local governing body, with respect to a service district, to contract with a nongovernmental broadband service provider who will construct, maintain, and own communications facilities and equipment required to facilitate delivery of last-mile broadband services to unserved areas of the service district, provided that the locality documents that less than 10 percent of residential and commercial units within the project area are capable of receiving broadband service at the time the construction project is approved by the locality.

Requires that the sheriff, jail superintendent, or other official in charge of a local correctional facility or a regional jail in which an alien is incarcerated shall notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the release or discharge of the alien forthwith as soon as the release date is known.

Establishes the Virginia Redistricting Commission, a 16-member Commission tasked with establishing districts for the United States House of Representatives and for the Senate and the House of Delegates of the General Assembly. The Commission consists of eight legislative members and eight citizen members. The legislative members 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 members are selected 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 Commission is required to submit to the General Assembly plans of districts for the Senate and the House of Delegates of the General Assembly no later than 45 days following the receipt of census data and plans of districts for the United States House of Representatives no later than 60 days following the receipt of census data, or July 1 of that year, whichever occurs later. The measure requires certain vote thresholds for plans, depending on the type of district, in order to be submitted to the General Assembly. No amendments may be made to a plan by the General Assembly or the Governor. The measure requires additional plans to be submitted, or additional time to be given to submit a plan, in certain circumstances, and further provides that districts will be drawn by the Supreme Court of Virginia if such efforts fail.