Income tax credit; employer contributions toVirginia College Savings Plan accounts. Provides a nonrefundableincome tax credit for taxable years beginning on or after January1, 2020, but before January 1, 2025, for 35 percent of expenses incurredby a business during the taxable year for contributions into a VirginiaCollege Savings Plan account owned by an employee of the business.If the employee receiving the contribution is a qualified employee,as defined in the bill, the credit shall not exceed $500 annuallyfor each such employee. If the recipient receiving the contributionis a qualified employee who is not highly compensated, as definedin the bill, the credit shall not exceed $1,000 annually for eachsuch employee. The total amount of tax credits available for a calendaryear shall not exceed $5 million. Any unused tax credit may be carriedover for three years.
Sponsored bills
Free use of toll facilities; teachers, firefighters, and emergency medical services personnel. Authorizes any teacher employed by a public school district, firefighter, or emergency medical services personnel to use all toll bridges, toll ferries, toll tunnels, and toll roads in the Commonwealth without the payment of toll while traveling between his place of residence and his place of employment.
Employment health and safety standards; heatillness prevention. Requires the Safety and Health Codes Boardto adopt regulations establishing reasonable standards designed toprotect employees from heat illness while engaged in outdoor work.The measure directs the standards to require employers to providewater, shade, 10-minute rest periods, training, observation or monitoring,and emergency response procedures and to adopt and maintain a heat illness prevention plan.
Black Women's Heritage Month. Designatesthe month of June as Black Women's Heritage Month in Virginia tofocus on and celebrate the myriad achievements and contributionsof African American women throughout the history of the Commonwealthand the United States.
General Assembly meetings; streaming and recording. Requires the Clerk of the House of Delegates and the Clerk of theSenate to ensure that every (i) subcommittee or committee meetingof a standing committee of the General Assembly, regardless of meetingdate, and (ii) floor session of the House of Delegates or the Senate,including any joint session of the houses, is streamed with closedcaptioning, recorded and archived. The bill defines "stream" and specifiesthat a qualifying meeting is one the date and time of which havebeen scheduled on a public website of any agency of the General Assemblyfor at least one hour prior to the meeting and that takes place inthe State Capitol, the Pocahontas Building, or the General AssemblyBuilding in Richmond. The bill has a delayed effective date of October1, 2020.
Tree conservation ordinance; Chesapeake BayPreservation Act locality; designated trees. Adds "Chesapeake Bay watershed tree," as defined in the bill, to the types of treethat a locality with a tree conservation ordinance is authorizedto designate individually for preservation. Current law allows individualdesignation of heritage, memorial, specimen, and street trees. The bill contains technical amendments.
Fertilizer contractor-applicator; applicationpursuant to nutrient management plan. Prohibits the applicationby a fertilizer contractor-applicator, beginning July 1, 2026, ofany regulated product to a farm operation larger than 50 acres unlesssuch application is conducted pursuant to a nutrient management plan."Regulated product," for purposes of this bill, includes fertilizer,specialty fertilizer, soil amendment, and horticultural growing medium.
Public schools; Standards of Learning assessments;report. Reduces the total number and type of required Standardsof Learning assessments to the minimum requirements established bythe federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended.The bill requires the Department of Education to annually reporton the estimated projected and actual savings from the implementationof the bill and report the amount of such savings to the Governorand the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and theSenate Committee on Finance no later than the first day of each RegularSession of the General Assembly. The bill also requires that such amount be included in the total for Direct Aid to Public Educationin any general appropriation act.
Flood Insurance Fund; low-income Virginians.Creates a Flood Insurance Fund and directs the Executive Director of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Resources Authority toestablish a program to use the Fund to subsidize the purchase offlood insurance by low-income Virginians. Such program shall includean application process, application guidelines, and a ranking systemthat prioritizes the use of the Fund to support the purchase of floodinsurance in the most flood-prone areas.
Memorials for war veterans. Provides that a locality may remove, relocate, or alter any monument or memorial for war veterans located in its public space, regardless of when erected. Current law makes it unlawful to disturb or interfere with such monuments or memorials or to prevent citizens from taking proper measures and exercising proper means for the protection, preservation, and care of such monuments or memorials. This bill was incorporated into SB 183.