Sen. John Bell

Celebrating the life of the Honorable Mary T.Christian.

Outdoor shooting ranges; prohibited adjacentto residential areas; exceptions; civil penalty. Prohibits theoperation of an outdoor shooting range, defined in the bill, within500 yards of any property zoned for residential use unless the RangeDesign Criteria developed by the U.S. Department of Energy, Officeof Health, Safety and Security have been met. The bill provides thatany person who violates the provisions of this section is subjectto a civil penalty of not less than $1,000 nor more than $100,000for the initial violation and $5,000 per day for each day of violationthereafter.

Collective bargaining for public employees.Repeals the existing prohibition on collective bargaining by publicemployees. The bill creates the Public Employee Relations Board,which will determine appropriate bargaining units and provide forcertification and decertification elections for exclusive bargainingrepresentatives of state employees and local government employees.The measure requires public employers and employee organizationsthat are exclusive bargaining representatives to meet at reasonabletimes to negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, andother terms and conditions of employment. The measure repeals a provisionenacted in 2013 that declares that, in any procedure providing for the designation, selection, or authorization of a labor organizationto represent employees, the right of an individual employee to voteby secret ballot is a fundamental right that shall be guaranteedfrom infringement.

Dating relationship abuse; penalty. Expandsthe crime of assault and battery against a family or household memberto include persons in a dating relationship, as defined in the bill. The bill also expands the class of persons who are eligible to obtaina protective order in cases of family abuse to include persons who are in a dating relationship and who have been subjected to datingrelationship abuse, also defined in the bill.

State Corporation Commission; members. Increasesfrom three to five the number of members of the State CorporationCommission. The measure requires that the new members be initiallyelected for a six-year term during the earlier of the 2021 Regular Session of the General Assembly or any special session convened priorthereto.

Department of Motor Vehicles; issuance of certain documents; citizenship requirement. Removes the citizenship and legal presence requirements for obtaining a driver's license or special identification card. The bill requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to cancel any (i) REAL ID-compliant driver's license or special identification card and (ii) commercial driver's license or commercial learner's permit if the Department is notified by a federal agency that the individual to whom such document was issued is not in compliance with the citizenship and lawful residency requirements for such license, card, or permit. The bill has a delayed effective date of October 2, 2020, and contains technical amendments. This bill was incorporated into SB 34.

Right to reproductive choice. Provides thatevery individual has a fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptionand that a pregnant person has a fundamental right to choose to carrya pregnancy to term, give birth to a child, or terminate a pregnancy.The bill states that the Commonwealth shall not, in the regulationor provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information, denyor interfere with an individual's fundamental rights, including individualsunder state control or supervision. The bill states that any stateor local official who is charged with violating provisions of thissection shall be subject to an action in federal or state court forinjunctive relief and damages. Such action may be brought by any person or entity that may be aggrieved by such official's actions.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; public institutionsof higher education; disclosure required by certain offerors; civilpenalty. Requires every offeror who submits a proposal to a public institution of higher education for any construction project that(i) has a total cost of $5 million or more and (ii) uses a procurementmethod other than competitive sealed bidding to disclose any contributionsthe offeror has made within the previous five-year period to the public institution of higher education or any private foundation that existssolely to support the public institution of higher education. The bill imposes a $500 civil penalty on any offeror that knowingly failsto submit the required disclosure.

Employment; wage inquiries; prohibited retaliatory action. Prohibits any public or private employer from (i) refusing to interview, hire, or employ an applicant for employment because the applicant does not provide wage history; (ii) retaliating against an applicant for employment because the applicant does not provide wage history; or (iii) relying on the wage history of an applicant to determine the wages offered by the employer to such individual. An applicant or employee who is aggrieved by a violation may bring a private action against the employer. The measure also prohibits an employer from taking other retaliatory action against an employee because the employee (a) reports a violation or suspected violation of any law to a supervisor or to any governmental body or law-enforcement official; (b) is requested by a governmental body or law-enforcement official to participate in an investigation, hearing, or inquiry; (c) refuses to engage in a criminal act that would subject the employee to criminal liability; (d) refuses an employer's order to perform an action that the employee believes violates any law; (e) provides information to or testifies before any governmental body or law-enforcement official conducting an investigation into any alleged violation by the employer; or (f) makes a prohibited wage inquiry. This bill was incorporated into HB 416.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; use of bestvalue contracting; construction and professional services. Authorizes any public body to procure construction on a best value procurementbasis using a numerical scoring system consisting of the following:(i) technical solution, 30 percent; (ii) past performance, 30 percent,including (a) price history of cost overruns, (b) schedule historyof on-time delivery, and (c) contractor performance ratings fromthe immediately preceding five-year period; and (iii) price, 40 percent.The Request for Proposal shall contain a notice to potential offerorsthat the procurement decision will be made on a best value procurementbasis. The Request for Proposal shall describe (1) the criteria thatwill be considered in evaluating the proposals and (2) the numericalscoring system that will be used in evaluating the proposals, includingidentification of the factors and weight values set forth in thebill.