Sen. Monty Mason

Public institutions of higher education; in-state tuition; children of active duty service members or veterans. Provides that any child of an active duty member or veteran who claims Virginia as his home state and filed Virginia tax returns for at least 10 years during active duty service is eligible for in-state tuition charges, regardless of domicile. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

Holding handheld personal communications devices while driving a motor vehicle. Prohibits any person from holding a handheld personal communications device while driving a motor vehicle. Current law prohibits (i) the reading of any email or text message and manually entering letters or text in such a device as a means of communicating and (ii) holding a personal communications device while driving in a work zone. The bill expands the exemptions to include handheld personal communications devices that are being held and used (a) as an amateur radio or a citizens band radio or (b) for official Department of Transportation or traffic incident management services. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021. This bill incorporates SB 136 and SB 944 and is identical to HB 874.

State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; public institutions of higher education; dyslexia and literacy; multisensory structured language education. Directs the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to facilitate the development of a statewide coalition of public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth to gather and share information on the latest evidence-based methods and approaches to effectively educate K-12 students in reading, including multisensory structured language education to instruct students with dyslexia. The bill states that each public institution's school of education, education department, or relevant department for the career paths of K-12 reading specialists and teachers may collect such information and collaborate with other public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth regarding the latest reliable research for reading instruction to all K-12 students, with an emphasis on improving reading instruction to students with dyslexia. Each public institution of higher education may implement information learned through the coalition in the institution's undergraduate and graduate degree programs in education.

Driver's license designation; traumatic braininjury. Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles, upon the requestof the applicant and presentation of a signed statement by a licensedphysician confirming the applicant's condition, to designate a traumaticbrain injury on the applicant's driver's license.

Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for certain diseases. Adds cancers of the colon, brain, or testes to the list of cancers that are presumed to be an occupational disease covered by the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act when firefighters or certain employees develop the cancer. The presumption shall not apply for any individual who was diagnosed with one of the conditions before July 1, 2020. The measure removes the compensability requirement that the employee who develops cancer had contact with a toxic substance encountered in the line of duty. The bill also reduces the number of years of service needed to qualify for the presumption from 12 to five for various types of cancer. For hypertension or heart disease, the bill adds a requirement that an individual complete five years of service in his position in order to qualify. This bill incorporates SB 58, SB 381, and SB 531 and is identical to HB 783.

Zoning; City of Hampton; alcoholic beverage control licensees. Grants the City of Hampton authority to impose a condition upon any special exception or use permit relating to retail alcoholic beverage control licensees which provides that such special exception or use permit will automatically expire upon a change of ownership of the property, a change in possession, a change in the operation or management of a facility, or the passage of a specific period of time. This bill is identical to HB 731.

Offshore oil and gas drilling; prohibition on leases; policy. Prohibits the granting of a lease, easement, or permit on the beds of the coastal waters of the Commonwealth that would allow any infrastructure for conveying to shore oil or gas produced from offshore drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf Planning Area and removes any oil or gas lease granted on such beds from the mandate that such lease include a royalty payment requirement. The bill removes policy statements supporting federal efforts to permit oil and gas development 50 miles or more off the Atlantic shoreline. This bill is identical to HB 706.

Child care providers; fingerprint-based criminal background checks; sunset and contingency expiration. Repeals the sunset and contingency expiration of the requirement that the following individuals undergo fingerprint-based national criminal history background checks: (i) applicants for employment by, employees of, applicants to serve as volunteers with, and volunteers with any licensed family day system, child day center exempt from licensure due to its operation by a religious institution, registered family day home, or family day home approved by a family day system; (ii) applicants for licensure as a family day system, registration as a family day home, or approval as a family day home by a family day system, as well as agents of such applicants and any adult living in such family day home; and (iii) individuals who apply for or enter into a contract with the Department of Social Services under which a child day center, family day home, or child day program will provide child care services funded by the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act, as well as the applicant's current or prospective employees and volunteers, agents, and any adult living in the child day center or family day home. This bill is identical to HB 997.

Lawn fertilizer contractor-applicators.Authorizes the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Servicesto enter into an agreement with a locality to provide oversight anddata collection assistance related to the requirements of certifiedlawn fertilizer contractor-applicators. Current law prohibits localitiesfrom regulating the registration, packaging, labeling, sale, use,application, storage, or distribution of fertilizers except by ordinancepursuant to certain requirements. The bill also reduces from 100 to50 the total number of acres of nonagricultural land to which a contractor-applicatormay apply lawn fertilizer and lawn maintenance fertilizer annuallywithout submitting an annual report to the Commissioner. The billincreases from $250 to $1,000 the civil penalty imposed on a contractor-applicatorfor a violation of applicable regulations.

Celebrating the life of John W. Gerdelman.