Del. Cliff Hayes

Commending the Endependence Center, Inc.

Virginia African Diaspora Advisory Board. Establishes the Virginia African Diaspora Advisory Board to advise the Governor on ways to improve economic and cultural links between the Commonwealth and African nations, with a focus on the areas of commerce and trade, agriculture, art, education, and government. The Board is composed of 18 nonlegislative citizen members, of whom at least 15 must be persons who identify as part of the African diaspora, to be appointed by the Governor. The Secretaries of Agriculture and Forestry, Commerce and Trade, and Education or their designees serve as ex officio members.

Correctional facilities; use of isolated confinement. Prohibits the use of isolated confinement in state correctional facilitiesand juvenile correctional centers, subject to certain exceptions.Isolated confinement is defined in the bill as confinement of a prisoneror juvenile to a cell, alone or with another prisoner or juvenile,for 20 hours or more per day for an adult or for 17 hours or moreper day for a juvenile, other than for the purpose of providing medicalor mental health treatment. The bill has a delayed effective dateof July 1, 2023.

Paid sick leave; health care providers and grocery store workers. Requires employers to provide paid sick leave to health care providers, grocery store workers, and home health workers who provide agency-directed services. Under current law, employers are only required to provide paid sick leave to home health workers who provide consumer-directed services. The bill removes requirements that workers work on average at least 20 hours per week or 90 hours per month to be eligible for paid sick leave. Additionally, the bill provides that certain health care providers may waive their right to accrue and use paid sick leave and provides an exemption for certain other health care providers.

Court appearance of a person not free on bail.Makes various changes to provisions regarding bail hearings, including(i) the appointment of counsel for the accused, (ii) the informationprovided to counsel for the accused, (iii) a requirement that counselfor the accused be provided with adequate time to confer with theaccused prior to any bail hearing, and (iv) the compensation of counselfor the accused. Effective in due course, the bill provides thatthe chief judge in each circuit shall create a plan to be completedby October 1, 2022, that establishes the means by which the jurisdictionwill meet these requirements. The remainder of the bill has a delayedeffective date of January 1, 2023.

Public school buses; seat belts. Requiresthe Board of Education to make regulations to require each new publicschool bus purchased for the transportation of students to be equippedwith a seat belt consisting of a lap belt and shoulder strap or harnessin every seat. The bill requires each school board to ensure thatno later than July 1, 2040, each school bus that it uses for thetransportation of students is equipped with a seat belt in every seat.

Prohibition on use of show-up identificationby law-enforcement officers. Prohibits the use of a show-up identificationby any law-enforcement officer. The bill defines a "show-up identification"as an identification procedure in which an eyewitness is presentedwith a single suspect or single photograph of a suspect for the purposeof determining whether the eyewitness identifies such suspect as the perpetrator. The bill provides that no evidence discovered or obtainedas the result of a show-up identification shall be admissible inany trial, hearing, or other proceeding. The bill also requires thewritten policy and procedures for conducting in-person and photographiclineups established by Department of State Police and each localpolice department and sheriff's office to include a prohibition onthe use of a show-up identification.

Study; Apprenticeship Council; electric vehicle charging infrastructure apprenticeship programs; report. Requests the Virginia Apprenticeship Council to study the need for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and maintenance and repair of EV infrastructure apprenticeship programs in the Commonwealth, noting the stated goal of the Commonwealth to reduce carbon emissions intensity across all sectors, including the transportation industry. In conducting its study, the Apprenticeship Council should consider a number of factors in studying the need for such apprenticeship programs. The Apprenticeship Council is further requested to report the results of an in-depth study of similar apprenticeship programs in other states to the General Assembly and to convene a stakeholder advisory group to discuss the need for electric vehicle charging infrastructure apprenticeship programs in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Apprenticeship Council to complete its meetings by November 30, 2022, and report its findings to the Governor and the Chairmen of the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Commerce and Labor and the House Committees on Education and Labor and Commerce.

Local school boards; grievance procedure for certain employees; timing of resolution of certain disputes. Requires each local school board's grievance procedure for school board employees, except the division superintendent, principals, assistant principals, teachers, supervisors, and other employees required to be licensed by the Board of Education, to afford a timely and fair method of the resolution of disputes arising between the school board and such employees before dismissal or other disciplinary actions, excluding suspensions. Current law requires such grievance procedures to afford a timely and fair method of the resolution of disputes arising between the school board and such employees regarding, but not before, dismissal or other disciplinary actions, excluding suspensions.

Larceny of a catalytic converter; penalty.Provides that any person who conspires, confederates, or combineswith another to commit larceny or counsels, assists, aids, or abets another in the performance of a larceny of a catalytic converterfrom a motor vehicle where the value of such catalytic converter is less than $1,000 is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.