Lower carbon concrete; report. Providesa performance bonus for contractors to utilize approved lower carbonconcrete products in projects with the Department of General Services(DGS) and the Department of Transportation (VDOT). The bill directsthe Department of Environmental Quality to develop, in conjunctionwith DGS and VDOT, the baseline for determining if a concrete productis lower carbon concrete. The bill requires VDOT and DGS to reportannually to the Governor and the General Assembly concerning theuse of the performance bonus. The bill also creates a nonrefundabletax credit for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2022,but before January 1, 2026, for certain technology implementationcosts incurred by concrete producers in the production of lower carbon concrete equal to the amount actually paid by the producerfor the technology implementation, up to a maximum of $5,000.
Sponsored bills
Public institutions of higher education; debtcollection; transcripts and diplomas. Prohibits public institutionsof higher education from (i) refusing to provide a transcript ordiploma for a current or former student on the grounds that the studentowes a debt; (ii) conditioning the provision of a transcript or diplomafor a current or former student on the payment of a debt, other thana fee charged to provide the transcript or diploma; (iii) charginga higher fee to a current or former student for obtaining a transcript or diploma, or providing less favorable treatment of a transcriptor diploma request because a current or former student owes a debt;or (iv) using transcript or diploma issuance as a tool for debt collection.The bill states that any violation of these provisions constitutesa prohibited practice and is subject to any and all of the enforcementprovisions of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.
Breeding of dogs and cats for research; reporting. Requires any person who or entity that breeds dogs and cats for animal testing facilities to report certain information to the State Veterinarian on a monthly basis. The report shall include information regarding the birth, acquisition, death, sale, transfer, or other disposition of a dog or cat in the prior month.
Administration of government; language accessequity; report. Establishes the Interagency Language Access WorkingGroup in the Office of the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusionwith the following membership: the Director of Diversity, Equity,and Inclusion, the Director of the Office of the Children's Ombudsman,the Governor's Secretaries, and six nonlegislative citizen membersrepresenting organizations that represent individuals with languageaccess needs. The Working Group is established for the purpose ofmaximizing state policies, resources, technical assistance, and procurementpractices to further language access and equity in the Commonwealthand its state government agencies. The bill also requires each stateagency to designate a language access coordinator who will be responsiblefor the agency's annual language access report, the requirementsof which are set out in the bill. The Secretary of Administrationis directed to establish criteria for state agencies to procurelanguage interpretation and translation services and to establisha policy for compensating multilingual state employees who are requiredas part of their job to provide interpretation, translation, or other bilingual skills at least once a month.
Constitutional amendment (second reference); qualifications of voters and the right to vote; persons not entitled to vote. Provides that every person who meets the qualifications of voters set forth in the Constitution shall have the fundamental right to vote in the Commonwealth and that such right shall not be abridged by law, except for persons who have been convicted of a felony and persons who have been adjudicated to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting. A person who has been convicted of a felony shall not be entitled to vote during any period of incarceration for such felony conviction but upon release from incarceration for that felony conviction and without further action required of him, such person shall be invested with all political rights, including the right to vote. Currently, in order to be qualified to vote a person convicted of a felony must have his civil rights restored by the Governor or other appropriate authority. The amendment also provides that a person adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction as lacking the capacity to understand the act of voting shall not be entitled to vote during this period of incapacity until his capacity has been reestablished as prescribed by law. Currently, the Constitution provides that a person who has been adjudicated to be mentally incompetent is not qualified to vote until his competency is reestablished.
Constitutional amendment (second reference);marriage; repeal of same-sex marriage prohibition; affirmative rightto marry. Repeals the constitutional provision defining marriageas only a union between one man and one woman as well as the relatedprovisions that are no longer valid as a result of the United StatesSupreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644(2015). The amendment provides that the right to marry is a fundamentalright inherent in the liberty of persons and requires the Commonwealthand its political subdivisions and agents to issue marriage licenses,recognize marriages, and treat all marriages equally under the law,regardless of the sex or gender of the parties to the marriage. Religiousorganizations and clergy acting in their religious capacity have the right to refuse to perform any marriage.
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; recordexclusions; administrative investigations; onsite sewage complaints.Creates an exemption with respect to the Virginia Freedom ofInformation Act for records of active investigations and the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of complainants furnished in confidencewith respect to an active investigation of onsite sewage complaintsmade to the Department of Health or the Department of EnvironmentalQuality. However, the exemption does not prohibit the release ofinformation taken from inactive investigations so long as such informationdoes not reveal the identity of the parties involved or other personssupplying information.
Celebrating the life of J. Kenneth Klinge.
Celebrating the life of Naval Air Crewman 2ndClass James P. Buriak, USN.
Commending the Richmond Ambulance Authority.