Worker cooperatives. Establishes worker cooperatives as a category of cooperative associations. A worker cooperative is a stock corporation that has elected to be governed by provisions established by this measure, which include (i) conducting its business primarily for the mutual benefit of its members, (ii) allowing only current and retired employees to be members, (iii) limiting voting rights to current employees, (iv) providing that each employee is entitled to one vote, (v) prohibiting any person from owning more than one membership share, (vi) requiring at least two-thirds of employees to own membership shares, and (vii) requiring that net earnings be paid or credited to members in accordance with the ratio that each member's amount of work performed during a period bears to the total amount of work performed by all members during that period.
Sponsored bills
Protected information; newspersons engaged in journalism. Provides that no newsperson engaged in journalism shall be compelled by the Commonwealth or a locality in any criminal proceeding to testify about, disclose, or produce protected information, as defined in the bill, except when the court finds that (i) the protected information is necessary to the proof of an issue material to an administrative or criminal proceeding; (ii) the protected information is not obtainable from any alternative source; (iii) the Commonwealth or locality exhausted all reasonable methods for obtaining the protected information from all relevant alternative sources, if applicable; and (iv) there is an overriding public interest in the disclosure of the protected information, including preventing harm to or death of a person. The bill further provides that any information obtained in violation of the provisions of the bill shall be inadmissible for any purpose in an administrative or criminal proceeding.
Virginia Fair Housing Law; unlawful discriminatory housing practices; source of funds. Adds discrimination on the basis of a person's source of funds to the list of unlawful discriminatory housing practices. The bill creates an exemption for an owner or owner's managing agent, provided that such owner does not own more than four rental dwelling units or more than a 10 percent interest in more than four rental dwelling units in the Commonwealth at the time of the alleged discriminatory housing practice. The bill allows an owner or owner's managing agent to deny or limit a person's rental or occupancy of a rental dwelling unit based on the person's source of funds for that unit if such source is not approved within 15 days of the person's submission of the request for tenancy approval. The bill defines "source of funds" as any source that lawfully provides funds to or on behalf of a renter or buyer of housing, including any assistance, benefit, or subsidy program, whether such program is administered by a governmental or nongovernmental entity. This bill incorporates HB 357.
Electrical transmission lines; effect on historic resources. Requires the State Corporation Commission (SCC), priorto approving the construction of any electrical transmission linesof 138 kilovolts or more, to determine that the corridor or routechosen for the line will avoid any adverse impact on the scenic assets, historic resources, and environment of the area concerned. If theSCC determines that no route or corridor exists that can avoid anysuch adverse impact, the SCC is directed to choose the corridor orroute that minimizes such adverse impacts to the greatest extentreasonably practicable. Currently, the SCC is required to determinethat such a line's corridor or route will reasonably minimize adverseimpact on the scenic assets, historic districts, and environmentof the area concerned.
Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Grant Fund and Program; creation. Establishes the Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Grant Fund and Program, to be administered by the Department of Criminal Justice Services, for the purpose of awarding grants to the Cities of Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Richmond, and Roanoke for the purpose of performing community assessments for youth and gang violence prevention. Grants are to be awarded in an amount of $25,000 to each city to perform such an assessment. No more than $150,000 per year shall be allocated by the Program.
School principals; incident reports. Eliminates the requirement for reports to be made to division superintendents and school principals on incidents involving assault or assault and battery, without bodily injury, of any person on a school bus, on school property, or at a school-sponsored activity. The bill also eliminates the requirement that school principals report certain enumerated acts that may constitute a misdemeanor offense to law enforcement.
Prohibited discrimination; public accommodations, employment, credit, and housing: causes of action; sexual orientation and gender identity. Creates explicit causes of action for unlawful discrimination in public accommodations and employment in the Virginia Human Rights Act. Currently, under the Act there is no cause of action for discrimination in public accommodations, and the only causes of action for discrimination in employment are for (i) unlawful discharge on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, including lactation, by employers employing more than five but fewer than 15 persons and (ii) unlawful discharge on the basis of age by employers employing more than five but fewer than 20 persons. The bill allows the causes of action to be pursued privately by the aggrieved person or, in certain circumstances, by the Attorney General. The bill prohibits discrimination in public and private employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill also codifies for state and local government employment the current prohibitions on discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, or status as a veteran. Additionally, the bill (a) prohibits discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran; (b) prohibits discrimination in credit on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, disability, and status as a veteran; and (c) adds discrimination on the basis of an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran as an unlawful housing practice. The bill makes technical amendments. This bill incorporates HB 3, HB 21, HB 23, HB 217, HB 1050, HB 1200, and HB 1512.
Virginia sexual assault forensic examiner coordination program. Establishes the Virginia sexual assault forensic examiner coordination program within the Department of Criminal Justice Services. The bill provides that the program shall create and coordinate an annual statewide sexual assault forensic nurse examiner training program; coordinate the development and enhancement of sexual assault forensic examiner programs across the Commonwealth; participate in the development of hospital protocols and guidelines for treatment of survivors of sexual assault; coordinate and strengthen communications among sexual assault nurse examiner medical directors, sexual assault response teams, and hospitals for existing and developing sexual assault nurse examiner programs; provide technical assistance for existing and developing sexual assault forensic examiner programs, including local sexual assault forensic examiner training; create, maintain and share a statewide list, updated biannually, that includes pertinent information regarding sexual assault forensic examiners and nurse examiners; create sexual assault nurse examiner recruitment materials for universities and colleges with nursing programs; and support and coordinate community education and public outreach, when appropriate, relating to sexual assault nurse examiner issues for the Commonwealth. The bill includes reporting requirements for the Department of Criminal Justice Services.
Disorderly conduct; students. Provides that an elementary or secondary school student is not guilty of disorderly conduct in a public place if the disorderly conduct occurred on the property of an elementary or secondary school, on a school bus, or at any activity conducted or sponsored by any elementary or secondary school. This bill incorporates HB 8 and is identical to SB 3.
Commending the Reverend Terry Davis Edwards.