Sen. Monty Mason

Increases the membership of the Board of Veterans Services by adding an additional member of the House of Delegates, an additional member of the Senate of Virginia, an additional nonlegislative citizen member, and an additional ex officio member, the Chairman of the Virginia War Memorial Foundation. The bill also clarifies the scope of responsibility of the Board to include policy recommendations related to the mission of the Virginia War Memorial. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2020.

Allows the sale of mixed beverages by licensed restaurants and the sale of alcoholic beverages by the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority in any county, town, or supervisor's election district unless a referendum is held and a majority of the voters voting in such referendum vote to prohibit such sales. Under current law, such sales are prohibited unless they have been approved through the referendum process. The bill includes a grandfathering provision that allows the granting of a mixed beverage license to any establishment described in § 4.1-126, as it was in effect prior to the effective date of this bill, notwithstanding the provisions of the bill related to local referendums but subject to other applicable laws and regulations. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2020, but allows localities to hold anticipatory referendums between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2020, and provides that the results of such referendums shall become valid and enforceable on July 1, 2020. The bill provides that the result of any referendum held prior to July 1, 2019, shall remain valid and enforceable for a period of five years. This bill is identical to

Requires the owner or operator of any coal combustion residuals (CCR) unit, defined in the bill to include a coal ash pond or landfill, within the Chesapeake Bay watershed at Bremo Power Station, Chesapeake Energy Center, Chesterfield Power Station, and Possum Point Power Station to close such CCR unit by removing all of the CCR for (i) recycling, known as encapsulated beneficial use, or (ii) deposition in a permitted and lined landfill that meets certain federal standards. The measure requires that any owner or operator beneficially reuse no less than 6.8 million cubic yards in aggregate of such removed CCR from no fewer than two of the sites. Such a closure project shall be completed within 15 years of its initiation and shall be accompanied by an offer by the owner or operator to provide connection to a municipal water supply for every residence within one-half mile, or if such connection is not feasible, the owner or operator shall offer to provide water testing for any such residence.

Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Commissioner of Social Services to (i) convene a stakeholder group to consider the development of a statewide unified public-private system for early childhood care and education in the Commonwealth and (ii) collaborate to develop a uniform quality rating and improvement system with required participation by publicly funded early childhood care and education programs and voluntary participation by privately funded providers.

Allows local law-enforcement agencies to process and submit requests for national fingerprint background checks for employees and volunteers of child day programs operated by a local government. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2020.