Del. Jerrauld C. "Jay" Jones

Commending Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.

Virginia Diverse Educator Scholarship Fund and Program established. Establishes the Virginia Diverse Educator Scholarship Fund and Program, to be administered by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, for the purpose of annually providing to each Historically Black College or University in the Commonwealth (Hampton University, Norfolk State University, Virginia State University, and Virginia Union University) such sums as are necessary for each such institution to annually provide scholarships on a competitive basis to no more than two students who (i) identify as African American, Asian, Hispanic or Latino, Native American or Native Alaskan, or Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander; (ii) are accepted to or enrolled in such institution's education preparation program; and (iii) are eligible for a federal Pell Grant to attend such institution. The bill provides that each such scholarship would consist of the following sums: (a) the cost of tuition, mandatory fees, room and board, and textbooks at such institution; (b) the recipient's teacher licensure fees; (c) $5,000 toward teacher professional development activities for the recipient, including coursework, seminars, and conferences; and (d) $10,000 toward mentorship of the recipient by an experienced teacher who is deemed by the relevant school board to be highly effective and able to provide high quality mentorship. The bill requires each student who is awarded a scholarship pursuant to the Program to agree in writing to (1) teach in a public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth in which at least 75 percent of the enrolled students qualify for free or reduced price lunch or are members of families whose income is below the federal poverty guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services upon graduation for a period that is at least as long as the period during which the recipient used scholarship funds to attend a Historically Black College or University and (2) be mentored by an experienced teacher, as described in clause (d), during such period of employment.

Earned paid sick time. Requires public and private employers with six or more employees to provide those employees with earned paid sick time. The measure provides for an employee to earn at least one hour of paid sick leave benefit for every 30 hours worked. An employee shall not use more than 40 hours of earned paid sick time in a year, unless the employer selects a higher limit. Employees shall not be entitled to use accrued earned paid sick time until the ninetieth calendar day following commencement of their employment, unless otherwise permitted by the employer. The bill provides that earned paid sick time may be used (i) for an employee's mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; an employee's need for medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or an employee's need for preventive medical care; (ii) to provide care to a family member under similar circumstances; (iii) when there is a closure of the employee's place of business or the employee's child's school or place of care due to a public health emergency; or (iv) when an employee's or employee's family member's presence in the community may jeopardize the health of others because of their exposure to a communicable disease. The bill authorizes the Commissioner of Labor and Industry, in the case of a knowing violation, to subject an employer to a civil penalty not to exceed $150 for the first violation, $300 for the second violation, and $500 for each successive violation, if the second or successive violation occurs within two years of the previous violation. The Commissioner of Labor and Industry may institute proceedings on behalf of an employee to enforce compliance with this measure and to collect specified amounts from the employer, which shall be awarded to the employee. Alternatively, an aggrieved employee is authorized to bring a civil action against the employer in which he may recover double the amount of any unpaid earned sick time and the amount of any actual damages suffered as the result of the employer's violation. The measure has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021. This bill incorporates HB 418 and HB 1684.

Standards of Quality; work-based learning; teacher leadersand mentors; principal mentors; certain personnel positions and initiatives. Makesseveral changes to the Standards of Quality, including requiring the establishmentof units in the Department of Education to oversee work-based learning andprincipal mentorship statewide in Standard 1 and requiring the Board ofEducation to establish and oversee the local implementation of teacher leaderand teacher mentor programs in Standard 5. The bill also makes several changesrelating to school personnel in Standard 2, including (i) establishingschoolwide ratios of students to teachers in certain schools with highconcentrations of poverty and granting flexibility to provide compensationadjustments to teachers in such schools; (ii) requiring each school board toassign licensed personnel in a manner that provides an equitable distributionof experienced, effective teachers and other personnel among all schools in thelocal school division; (iii) requiring each school board to employ teacherleaders and teacher mentors at specified student-to-position ratios; (iv)requiring state funding in addition to basic aid to support at-risk studentsand granting flexibility in the use of such funds by school boards; (v)lowering the ratio of English language learner students to teachers; (vi)requiring each school board to employ reading specialists and establishing astudent-to-position ratio for such specialists; (vii) requiring school boardsto employ one full-time principal in each elementary school; (viii) loweringthe ratio of students to assistant principals and school counselors inelementary, middle, and high schools; and (ix) requiring each school board toprovide at least four specialized student support positions, including schoolsocial workers, school psychologists, school nurses, and other licensed healthand behavioral positions, per 1,000 students.

New media and technology innovation income tax credit. Establishes a new media and technology innovation income tax credit, starting with taxable year 2020, which is a nonrefundable tax credit for expenses related to producing in Virginia commercial advertisements, digital interactive media productions, and episodic television series. The bill allows a company to submit a single application for a project covering multiple tax years and requires such company to make available a third-party audit of its project-related expenses.The bill provides that the Department of Taxation and the Virginia Film Office shall review applications for credits and that the MEI (Major Employment and Investment) Project Approval Commission shall review applications for tax credits and recommend whether to endorse them; however, its recommendation shall not be binding on the determination of the Department and the Virginia Film Office on whether to approve the application.The credit equals 15 percent of expenses or 20 percent for productions in economically distressed areas of Virginia. Expenses eligible for the credit exclude purchases that were exempt from sales tax unless such purchases were made at least one year prior to such taxpayer entering into an agreement with the Virginia Film Office related to the tax credit. Productions may receive additional credits of up to 20 percent of (i) production costs over $250,000 and (ii) compensation paid to Virginia residents who are first-time actors or production crew members.The bill provides that credits may be carried over to subsequent taxable years for up to 10 years and transferred to another party upon payment to the Department of a fee of two percent. The bill authorizes the Governor to use funds from any source to buy back credits from credit holders, provided that the Governor pays at least 80 percent of their value.

Financial institutions; small loans; penalty. Prohibits any person from making a small loan unless such person is licensed by the State Corporation Commission. The bill defines "small loan" as an unsecured loan or credit of $5,000 or less extended to a borrower for a personal, family, household, or other noncommercial purpose pursuant to a small loan agreement. The bill also prohibits any person from engaging in the business of arranging or brokering small loans for any consumer residing in the Commonwealth without registering with the Commission. Under the provisions of the bill, a licensee may charge and collect periodic interest at any rate up to 36 percent agreed to by the parties and may also charge and collect a customary daily fee. The bill provides exemptions for certain institutions and persons licensed by the Commission to provide consumer finance loans or motor vehicle loans.The bill provides for qualifications for licensure, posting of a bond, financial solvency requirements, reporting requirements, and recordkeeping and retention requirements. The bill authorizes the Commission to investigate and examine applicants and licensees, to revoke or suspend licenses, to issue cease and desist orders, and to impose a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for violations of the small loan provisions. The bill allows the Commission to refer violations to the Attorney General, and the Attorney General may seek injunctive relief and monetary damages.

Peer-to-peer vehicle sharing platforms. Establishes insurance, taxation, recordkeeping, disclosure, and safetyrecall requirements for peer-to-peer vehicle sharing platforms, definedin the bill.

Refundable income tax credit for low-incometaxpayers. Allows low-income individuals and married personsto claim either (i) a nonrefundable income tax credit equal to $300for each individual, his spouse, and any dependents or (ii) a refundableincome tax credit equal to 20 percent of the federal earned incometax credit claimed that year by the individual or married persons.The provisions of the bill apply to taxable years beginning on andafter January 1, 2020, but before January 1, 2026.

Carrying a concealed handgun; consumption ofalcohol in a public park; penalty. Prohibits a person who carriesa concealed handgun onto the premises of any public park or otherpublic space when alcoholic beverages have been approved for saleor consumption therein from consuming an alcoholic beverage whileon the premises. A violation of this provision is a Class 2 misdemeanor.

Juvenile confinement for violation of court order. Reduces from 10 days to seven days the maximum allowable period of confinement of a juvenile in a secure facility for a contempt violation or when a child in need of supervision is found to have willfully and materially violated an order of the court. The bill also provides that any order of disposition of such violation confining the juvenile in a secure facility for juveniles shall (i) identify the valid court order that has been violated; (ii) specify the factual basis for determining that there is reasonable cause to believe that the juvenile has violated such order; (iii) state the findings of fact that support a determination that there is no appropriate less restrictive alternative available to placing the juvenile in such a facility, with due consideration to the best interest of the juvenile; (iv) specify the length of time of such confinement, not to exceed seven days; and (v) include a plan for the juvenile's release from such facility.