Sen. Joe Morrissey

Tax credit for participating landlords; eligible housing areas. Expands the definition of "eligible housing area" for the housing choice voucher tax credit to include Virginia census tracts in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area in which less than 10 percent of the population lives below the poverty level. Landlords who rent qualified housing units within such areas are eligible for an income tax credit. Current law only applies to such areas within the Richmond and Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News Metropolitan Statistical Areas.The bill establishes a 2025 sunset date on the credit. The bill incorporates HB 1014 and is identical to SB 200.

Tanning facilities; use by persons under age 18. Prohibits a tanning facility from allowing individuals under age 18 to use a tanning device at such facility other than a spray tanning device that does not emit ultraviolet light. The bill includes an exception allowing a person licensed by the Board of Medicine to practice medicine or osteopathic medicine to prescribe or use a phototherapy device, as defined in the bill, for any patient regardless of age.

Lists of registered voters; provided at no charge to courts of the Commonwealth and the United States for jury selection purposes. Directs the Department of Elections to provide, at no charge, the courts of the Commonwealth and the United States with the lists of registered voters in their districts for jury selection purposes no more than two times in a 12-month period. At any other time in the same 12-month period, the lists shall be provided for a reasonable price. This bill is identical to HB 500.

Income tax subtraction; crime stopper rewards. Increases from $1,000 to $5,000, beginning in taxable year 2020, the maximum amount that may be subtracted from taxable income for amounts received as a reward for providing information to a law-enforcement official or agency, or to a nonprofit corporation created exclusively to assist such law-enforcement official or agency, that is used in the apprehension and conviction of perpetrators of crimes. This bill is identical to HB 307.

Commending the Chesapeake Bay Commission.

Unlawful hunting, fishing, or trapping; prohibitionupon conviction. Provides that any person convicted of violatinga hunting, fishing, or trapping law may also be prohibited by thecourt from hunting, fishing, or trapping for a period of one to fiveyears.

Income tax subtraction; crime stopper rewards. Increases from $1,000 to $5,000, beginning in taxable year 2020, the maximum amount that may be subtracted from taxable income for amounts received as a reward for providing information to a law-enforcement official or agency, or to a nonprofit corporation created exclusively to assist such law-enforcement official or agency, that is used in the apprehension and conviction of perpetrators of crimes. This bill is identical to SB 931.

Uyghurs; human rights crisis. Recognizesthe human rights crisis related to the internment of Uyghurs andother Central Asian ethnic minorities.

Redistricting; Virginia Redistricting Commission; standards and criteria. Establishes the Virginia Redistricting Commission (the Commission) pursuant to Article II, Sections 6 and 6-A of the Constitution of Virginia. The Commission, tasked with establishing districts for the United States House of Representatives and for the Senate and the House of Delegates of the General Assembly, will consist of eight legislative commissioners and eight citizen commissioners. The legislative commissioners consist of four members of the Senate of Virginia and four members of the House of Delegates, with equal representation given to the political parties having the highest and next highest number of members in their respective houses. The citizen commissioners are chosen by a selection committee consisting of five retired judges of the circuit courts of Virginia, from lists submitted to the selection committee by the Speaker of the House of Delegates, the leader in the House of Delegates of the political party having the next highest number of members in the House of Delegates, the President pro tempore of the Senate of Virginia, and the leader in the Senate of the political party having the next highest number of members in the Senate. The bill contains eligibility requirements for the citizen commissioners, including restrictions on holding or having held partisan national or state public office. As part of the application process for service on the Commission, the Division of Legislative Services acts as a repository for applications submitted by interested persons and is tasked with screening out applicants who are ineligible or submit incomplete applications. The applications of the citizen candidates selected by political leadership and submitted for consideration to the selection committee are public records.The bill also directs the Division of Legislative Services to provide staff support to the Commission in the redistricting of congressional and state legislative districts. The Commission is required to submit to the General Assembly plans of districts within certain time periods, and the bill sets out criteria by which the districts are to be drawn, including equal population, racial and ethnic fairness, communities of interest, contiguity, and compactness. The bill prohibits a map of districts from unduly favoring or disfavoring any political party when considered on a statewide basis.The bill provides for the preparation and use of adjusted population data for redistricting and reapportionment purposes to reflect the reallocation of persons incarcerated in federal, state, and local correctional facilities. Persons incarcerated in such a facility whose address at the time of incarceration was in the Commonwealth are to be counted at that address and persons incarcerated in such a facility whose address at the time of incarceration was outside of the Commonwealth or cannot be determined are to be counted at the facility.Provisions to ensure public participation in the redistricting process are included.If efforts to establish districts fail, the Supreme Court of Virginia is responsible for establishing districts, and the bill directs the Court to enact rules and procedures for doing so. The rules and procedures enacted by the Court are required to allow public participation in the Court's redistricting deliberations, to provide for the Division of Legislative Services to provide staff support and technical assistance to the Court, and to ensure districts established by the Court adhere to constitutional and statutory criteria. The bill directs the Court to appoint two special masters to assist in the establishment of districts, from lists submitted by the legislative leaders of the majority and minority political parties.The bill has a contingent effective date of November 15, 2020, provided that the voters approve the amendments to Article II of the Constitution of Virginia, amending Section 6 and adding Section 6-A, at the November 2020 general election.

Employee misclassification; retaliatory actions prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits an employer from discharging, disciplining, threatening, discriminating against, or penalizing an employee or independent contractor because the employee or independent contractor reported or plans to report that an employer or any officer or agent has failed to properly classify an individual as an employee and failed to pay required benefits or other contributions. The measure also prohibits such actions against an employee or independent contractor who is requested or subpoenaed by an appropriate authority to participate in an investigation, hearing, or inquiry by an appropriate authority or in a court action. These prohibitions apply only if an employee or independent contractor acts in good faith and upon a reasonable belief that the information is accurate. The measure authorizes the Commissioner of Labor and Industry to institute proceedings against an employer who has taken such prohibited retaliatory action. Available remedies include reinstatement of the employee and recovery of lost wages. An employer that violates these provisions is subject to a civil penalty equal to the employee's lost wages. This bill is identical to HB 1199.