Del. Kelly Fowler

Study; Department of Transportation; transitequity and engagement opportunities for people with disabilities;report. Requests the Department of Transportation to study transitequity and modernization in the Commonwealth, with an emphasis ontransit services and engagement opportunities for people with disabilities.

Unlawful dissemination of sexually explicit visual material to another; penalty. Provides that any person 18 years of age or older who knowingly transmits sexually explicit visual material by computer or other electronic means to another person 18 years of age or older when such other person has not requested or consented to the transmittal of such material or has expressly forbidden the transmittal of such material is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $250 for a first offense and not more than $500 for a second or subsequent offense.

Campaign finance; prohibited personal use ofcampaign funds; complaints, hearings, civil penalty, and advisoryopinions. Prohibits any person from converting contributionsto a candidate or a candidate's campaign committee for their personal use. Current law only prohibits such conversion of contributionswith regard to disbursement of surplus funds at the dissolution ofa campaign or political committee. The bill provides that a contributionis considered to have been converted to personal use if the contribution,in whole or in part, is used to fulfill any commitment, obligation,or expense that would exist irrespective of the person's seeking,holding, or maintaining public office but excepts from "personaluse" the ordinary and accepted expenses related to campaigning foror holding elective office, including the use of campaign funds topay for the candidate's child care expenses that are incurred as adirect result of campaign activity. Any person subject to the personaluse ban may request an advisory opinion from the State Board of Electionson such matters. The bill directs the State Board of Elections toadopt emergency regulations similar to those promulgated by the FederalElection Commission to implement the provisions of the bill and toprovide an updated summary of Virginia campaign finance law that reflects the Attorney General's opinion and any new regulations promulgatedby the State Board of Elections.

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.

Victims of human trafficking; affirmative defense;writ of vacatur. Expands the definition of qualifying offensefor the purposes of the issuance of a writ of vacatur for victimsof commercial sex trafficking and the affirmative defense availableto victims of sex trafficking to include a number of additional offensesenumerated in the bill. Current law only allows the issuance of suchwrit of vacatur or the use of such affirmative defense for convictionsand adjudications of delinquency or charges for prostitution andkeeping, residing in, or frequenting a bawdy place. The bill alsochanges the term "victim of sex trafficking" to "victim of humantrafficking" as used in reference to such writ of vacatur and affirmativedefense and adds to the definition of "victim of human trafficking" any person subjected to human trafficking, as defined in the bill,and any person who committed such offense while younger than 18 yearsof age. For the purposes of the issuance of the writ of vacatur,the bill also provides that there shall be a rebuttable presumptionthat a petitioner is a victim of human trafficking if the petitionerprovides official government documentation of the petitioner's statusas a victim of human trafficking at the time of the qualifying offense. The bill also states that a petitioner for a writ of vacatur shallnot be required to pay any fees or costs for filing such petitionif the petitioner is found to be unable to pay fees or costs.

Virginia Asian American, Pacific Islander, Latino,and Indigenous Education Advisory Board; establishment. Establishesthe 29-member Virginia Asian American, Pacific Islander, Latino,and Indigenous Education Advisory Board as an advisory board in theexecutive branch of state government for the purpose of advisingthe Governor, his Cabinet members, and the General Assembly on the current ways that Asian American, Pacific Islander, Latino, and Indigenous history is described in the relevant Standards of Learning and associated curriculum frameworks; how that content is taught in classrooms;and strategies to develop Asian American and Pacific Islander historyand social studies elective courses, Latino history and social studies elective courses, and Indigenous history and social studies electivecourses.

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.

Elections; absentee voting; ballots to be sortedand results to be reported by precinct. Provides that absentee ballots processed at a central absentee precinct must be sorted bythe precinct to which the voter who cast the absentee ballot is assignedand that the resulting vote totals from such ballots must be reportedseparately for each voter precinct.

Juvenile justice; human trafficking screening.Requires the Department of Juvenile Justice to use trauma-informedscreening measures to identify whether any child committed to theDepartment has been a victim of human trafficking and determine appropriate treatment and service options. The bill also requires that, in casesin which a juvenile and domestic relations district court or circuitcourt orders that a juvenile within its jurisdiction be physicallyexamined and treated by a physician or local mental health center,such examination include trauma-informed screening measures to identifywhether the juvenile has been a victim of human trafficking and determineappropriate treatment and service options.

Study; Department of Education; root causesof public school bus driver shortages and working conditions of publicschool bus drivers in the Commonwealth; report. Requests thatthe Department of Education, with the assistance of each local schoolboard, to study the root causes of public school bus driver shortagesand the working conditions of public school bus drivers in the Commonwealthby (i) administering to each public school bus driver in each localschool division in the Commonwealth and as many former public school bus drivers as is feasible a survey to determine the level of satisfactionwith and the need for improvement to the working conditions of publicschool bus drivers in the Commonwealth, (ii) analyzing such surveydata and such other information and data as it deems necessary andadvisable, including information from other states and school districtscontained therein that have had success in addressing public schoolbus driver shortages by addressing working conditions, and (iii)making recommendations for statutory, regulatory, or budgetary changesthat may contribute to the improvement of the working conditionsof public school bus drivers.