Sen. John Bell

Increases the maximum permissible aggregate or sum of all phases of single or term contracts for professional services that may be procured without requiring competitive negotiation from $60,000 to $80,000. The bill also increases the maximum sum of architectural or professional engineering services contracts performed in a one-year contract term from $500,000 to $750,000.

Increases from $200 to $500 the threshold amount of money taken or value of goods or chattel taken at which the crime rises from petit larceny to grand larceny. The bill increases the threshold by the same amount for the classification of certain property crimes. This bill is identical to

Creates a program for local, regional, or statewide notification of a critically missing adult, defined as an adult whose whereabouts are unknown, who is believed to have been abducted, and whose disappearance poses a credible threat to his health and safety.

Requires that the member of the House of Delegates and the member of the Senate of Virginia representing the area in which the Fentress Naval Auxiliary Landing Field (Fentress) is located in Chesapeake, Virginia, be notified of any local appropriation made to acquire property rights surrounding Fentress.

Provides for a referendum at the November 6, 2018, election to approve or reject an amendment to the real property tax exemption for a primary residence that is currently provided to the surviving spouses of veterans who had a one hundred percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability to allow the surviving spouse to move to a different principal place of residence. Similar real property tax exemptions provided in the Constitution of Virginia to (i) the surviving spouses of members of the armed forces killed in action and (ii) the surviving spouses of certain emergency services providers killed in the line of duty allow the surviving spouse to move to a different principal place of residence and still claim the tax exemption. This bill is the companion ballot legislation for

Prohibits the use of any funds appropriated, granted, or awarded by the Commonwealth by any person or entity, public or private, to directly fund medically unnecessary research classified under pain and distress category E by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on animal subjects. The direct funding of research shall not include the appropriation, grant, or award of funds for the construction or maintenance of facilities; the purchase or maintenance of general-use equipment; overhead costs; capital improvements; or faculty or employee salaries.

Provides that any person who drives a motor vehicle on any highway while using a handheld personal communications device where such use substantially diverts the driver's attention from the operation of the motor vehicle is guilty of distracted driving. Current law prohibits only the reading of an email or text message on the device and manually entering letters or text in the device as a means of communication. The bill provides that distracted driving is punishable as a traffic infraction with a fine of not more than $500 and a mandatory minimum fine of $250 if the violation occurs in a highway work zone.

Prohibits a liability action against an equine activity sponsor if a waiver has been knowingly executed by the participant, the parent or guardian of a minor participant, or the duly authorized representative, designated in writing, of the parent or guardian. The bill provides that such waiver may be executed at a location other than that of the equine activity. The bill contains technical amendments.

Creates the Henrietta Lacks Commission to establish through a public-private partnership the Henrietta Lacks Life Sciences Center in Halifax County as a cancer research and treatment center designed to (i) transform and accelerate cancer research and treatment through the use of biodata tools, (ii) provide tailored cancer treatment medicine to an underserved portion of rural Southside Virginia, and (iii) incubate new biotech businesses across the Southside Virginia region. The bill requires the Commission to annually submit a report on its interim activity and work to the Governor and General Assembly. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2021.