Sen. Ghazala Hashmi

Celebrating the life of the Honorable AugustusBenton Chafin, Jr.

Paid family and medical leave program. Requiresthe Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer apaid family and medical leave program with benefits beginning January1, 2024. Under the program, benefits are paid to eligible employeesfor family and medical leave. Funding for the program is providedthrough premiums assessed to employers and employees beginning in2023. The amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee's averageweekly wage, not to exceed 80 percent of the state weekly wage, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflect changesin the statewide average weekly wage. The measure caps the durationof paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year. The bill provides self-employed individuals the option of participating in the program.

Commending Tressie McMillan Cottom.

Celebrating the life of Ruth Ann Whitby Greene.

Celebrating the life of Robert Gene LeRosen.

Tobacco Indemnification and Community RevitalizationFund; Powhatan County. Directs the Tobacco Region RevitalizationCommission to distribute moneys from the Tobacco Indemnificationand Community Revitalization Fund for (i) the stimulation of economicgrowth and development in tobacco-dependent communities in PowhatanCounty and (ii) scientific research performed at one of the Commonwealth'sNational Cancer Institute-designated research institutes designedto advance the treatment and prevention of cancers that directlyimpact the citizens of tobacco-dependent communities in Powhatan County. Currently, such moneys are distributed for such purposesonly in tobacco-dependent communities in the Southside and Southwestregions.

Employment health and safety standards; heatillness prevention. Requires the Safety and Health Codes Boardto adopt regulations establishing reasonable standards designed toprotect employees from heat illness. The measure directs the standardsto require employers to provide water, shade, rest periods, training,and emergency response procedures. The standards are also directedto require employers in certain industries to implement high-heatprocedures when the temperature is 90 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer.The measure requires employers to pay employees one additional hourof pay at his regular compensation for each workday that it failsto provide the employee with five-minute rest period every hour orevery half hour if the temperature is 90 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer.

Local impact from large landfills. Requiresthe Director of the Department of Environmental Quality to analyzeand determine, in writing, what impacts to local water, soil, andair quality are expected from the construction and operation of anew municipal solid waste landfill that will accept 3,500 tons ormore of municipal solid waste per day and to impose additional conditionsor requirements, including facilities, maintenance, or operation or closure practices, as are necessary to adequately protect localwater, soil, and air quality.

Virginia Environmental Justice Act. Establishesthe Virginia Environmental Justice Act to promote the fair treatmentand meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color,national origin, income, faith, or disability with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental lawsand policies. Under the bill, state agencies are required to examineany new regulation or policy or amendment to an existing regulationor policy involving state action or funds in relation to its impact on environmental justice prior to adoption of the regulation or policy.The bill requires the Governor's Secretaries to develop a policyor strategy to promote environmental justice in ways that are tailoredto the specific authority, mission, and programs under their Secretariat no later than January 1, 2021.

Prohibited discrimination; public accommodations, employment, credit, and housing: causes of action; sexual orientation and gender identity. Creates causes of action for unlawful discrimination in public accommodations and employment in the Virginia Human Rights Act. Currently, under the Act there is no cause of action for discrimination in public accommodations, and the only causes of action for discrimination in employment are for (i) unlawful discharge on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, or childbirth or related medical conditions including lactation by employers employing more than five but fewer than 15 persons and (ii) unlawful discharge on the basis of age by employers employing more than five but fewer than 20 persons. The bill allows the causes of action to be pursued privately by the aggrieved person or, in certain circumstances, by the Attorney General. Before a civil cause of action may be brought in a court of the Commonwealth, an aggrieved individual must file a complaint with the Division of Human Rights of the Department of Law, participate in an administrative process, and receive a notice of his right to commence a civil action. The bill prohibits discrimination in public and private employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill also codifies for state and local government employment the current prohibitions on discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, or status as a veteran. Additionally, the bill (a) prohibits discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran; (b) prohibits discrimination in credit on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, disability, and status as a veteran; and (c) adds discrimination on the basis of an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran as an unlawful housing practice. The bill makes technical amendments. This bill incorporates SB 66 and SB 159.