Del. Kelly Fowler

Virginia Small Business Financing Authority;annual report; utilization or award of loan and grant program funds.Requires the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority to includein its annual report information regarding the percentage of loanand grant program funds utilized or awarded by the Authority duringthe preceding fiscal year. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

Commercial driver's licenses. Disqualifiesfor life from holding a commercial driver's license persons convictedof a felony involving an act or practice of severe forms of traffickingin persons while driving a commercial motor vehicle. The bill prohibitsthe Department of Motor Vehicles and every district court or circuitcourt or the clerk thereof from reducing, dismissing, deferring,or otherwise concealing a conviction of any offense committed whileoperating a commercial motor vehicle or of any holder of a commercialdriver's license or permit charged with any offense committed whileoperating a noncommercial motor vehicle and requires the Departmentand the courts to comply with federal laws and regulations regardingsuch convictions. The bill also authorizes Class A driver trainingschools to administer the commercial driver's license knowledge examinations.

Shifting municipal elections to November.Shifts all municipal elections for city and town council and schoolboard from May to November, beginning with elections held after January1, 2022.

Transportation funding; statewide prioritizationprocess; resiliency. Adds resiliency, defined in the bill, tothe list of factors to be considered during the statewide transportationfunding prioritization process commonly known as SMART SCALE. Thebill also requires that the factors of congestion mitigation, economicdevelopment, accessibility, safety, resiliency, and environmentalquality be considered relative to the anticipated life-cycle costof the project or strategy under consideration.

Recording an electronic document; electronic notarial certificate; emergency. Provides that if a clerk has an eRecording Sytem, the clerk shall follow the provisions of the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act (§55.1-661 et seq.) The bill further provides that if a clerk does not have an eRecording System, the clerk shall record a legible paper copy of an electronic document, provided such copy otherwise meets the requirements for recordation and is certified to be a true and accurate copy of the electronic original by the party who submits the document for recordation. The bill requires an electronic notarial certificate to include the county or city in the Commonwealth where the notary public was physically located and indicate whether the notarization was done in person or by remote online notarization, defined in the bill as an electronic notarization where the signer is not in the physical presence of the notary. The bill also adds additional forms of "satisfactory evidence of identity" when a notary is using video and audio communication. The bill contains an emergency clause.

Alcoholic beverage control; license fee reform;delay; emergency. Delays the effective date of the 2020 alcoholicbeverage control license and fee reform from July 1, 2021, to January1, 2022. During the period of delay and subject to certain requirements,the bill allows on-premises wine or beer licensees to sell wine orbeer for off-premises consumption and allows such licensees, as wellas off-premises wine or beer licensees, to deliver wine or beer thatthe licensee is authorized to sell without a delivery permit. The bill contains a technical amendment and an emergency clause.

Campaign finance; prohibited personal use; child care exception. Prohibits any person from converting any moneys, securities, or like intangible personal property contributed to a candidate or a candidate's campaign committee to his personal use, the personal use of the candidate, or the personal use of a member of the candidate's immediate family. Current law prohibits such conversion of contributions to personal use specifically with regard to disbursement of surplus funds at the dissolution of a campaign or political committee. The bill provides that a contribution is 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 "personal use" the ordinary and accepted expenses related to campaigning for or holding elective office, including the use of campaign funds to pay for the candidate's child care expenses that are incurred as a direct result of campaign activity. The bill directs the Attorney General to issue an advisory opinion explaining the provisions of the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act of 2006 (§ 24.2-945 et seq.) that prohibit the personal use of campaign funds. The bill directs the State Board of Elections to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill and to provide an updated summary of Virginia campaign finance law that reflects the Attorney General's opinion and any new regulations promulgated by the Board.

Property Owners' Association Act; Condominium Act; use of electronic means for meetings and voting. Allows meetings of property owners' associations, boards of directors, unit owners' associations, executive boards, and committees to be held entirely or partially by electronic means, provided that the board of directors or executive board, as applicable, has adopted guidelines for the use of electronic means for such meetings. The bill requires that such guidelines ensure that persons accessing such meetings are authorized to do so and that persons entitled to participate in such meetings have an opportunity to do so. The bill grants authority for determining whether any such meeting may be held entirely or partially by electronic means to the board of directors or executive board, as applicable. Under current law, if a meeting of a board of directors or executive board is conducted by telephone conference or video conference, at least two members of the board of directors or executive board, as applicable, are required to be physically present at the meeting place included in the meeting notice. The bill amends the definition of "electronic means" to provide that meeting conducted by electronic means includes a meeting conducted via teleconference, videoconference, Internet exchange, or other electronic methods. The bill allows members of property owners' associations or unit owners' associations to vote at meetings of such associations by absentee ballot, and allows such members to vote in person, by proxy, or by absentee ballot by electronic means, provided that the board of directors or executive board, as applicable, has adopted guidelines for such voting. Finally, the bill provides that if a vote, consent, or approval required to be obtained by secret ballot is accomplished through electronic means, the electronic means shall protect the identity of the voter, and that if the electronic means cannot protect the identity of the voter, another means of voting shall be used.

Casino gaming; requirements for issuance ofoperator's license; human trafficking training. Requires applicantsfor operator's licenses to have established a policy requiring alllicense and permit holders who interact directly with the publicin the casino gaming establishment to complete a training courseacceptable to the Virginia Lottery Department in how to recognizeand report suspected human trafficking in order to be eligible forthe issuance of an operator's license.