Study; JLARC; reduction or elimination of tollson Midtown and Downtown Tunnels in Hampton Roads; report. Directsthe Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study the feasibilityof reducing or eliminating tolls on the Midtown and Downtown Tunnelsin Hampton Roads.
Relocation of call centers to a foreign country; notification requirements. Requires certain call centers thatintend to relocate operations from the Commonwealth to a foreigncountry to give the Commissioner of Labor and Industry at least 120days' prior notice. The measure requires the Commissioner to compilea semiannual list of all employers that relocate a call center fromthe Commonwealth to a foreign country and to distribute the list to state agencies. Subject to exceptions, an employer that appears onthe list is (i) ineligible for five years for any direct or indirectgrants of state funds, any loans from or guaranteed by the state,or any tax credit or reduction in tax liability and (ii) requiredto repay any financial incentives the employer has previously received.The measure requires new state agency contracts for the performanceof state business-related call center and customer service work toprovide that such work will be performed entirely within the Commonwealth.
Writs of actual innocence. Provides thata person who was convicted of a felony or who was adjudicated delinquent by a circuit court of an offense that would be a felony if committedby an adult may petition for a writ of actual innocence based onbiological evidence or nonbiological evidence regardless of the typeof plea he entered at trial. Under current law, such person may petition for either writ if he entered a plea of not guilty, and any person,regardless of the type of plea he entered at trial, may petition for such writ based on biological evidence if he is sentenced todeath or convicted or adjudicated delinquent of murder or a felonyfor which the maximum punishment is imprisonment for life. The billalso eliminates the provision that limits a petitioner to only onewrit of actual innocence based on nonbiological evidence for anyconviction. The bill also clarifies that the Attorney General mayjoin a petition for a writ of actual innocence filed in connectionwith an adjudication of delinquency. Finally, the bill provides thatthe circuit court that entered the felony conviction or adjudicationof delinquency has original jurisdiction over the writ and that thepetitioner may appeal any final order denying such writ to the Courtof Appeals as an appeal of right.
Death penalty executions; moratorium. Imposesa moratorium on executions. The bill does not affect any other matterof law related to the death penalty, including bringing and tryingcapital charges, sentencing proceedings, imposition of the deathpenalty, appeals of the death penalty, and habeas review. The moratorium will remain in effect until adjournment of the first regular sessionof the General Assembly after a joint subcommittee established pursuantto a joint resolution passed by the 2020 General Assembly conductsa study of the death penalty in the Commonwealth and issues a reportof its conclusions and recommendations.
Telephone privacy protection. Requires a telephone solicitor to immediately disclose who is calling and what property, good, or service is being offered. The measure also prohibits caller ID spoofing, which is defined in the measure as causing any caller identification service to transmit caller identification information that represents or states that the call originates from a telephone with an area code assigned to an area in the Commonwealth or from a location in the Commonwealth if the person on whose behalf the telephone solicitation call is being made does not conduct business from a location in the Commonwealth.The measure prohibits a telephone solicitor from making a telephone solicitation call or the use of an automatic dialing-announcing device in connection with making a call to any subscriber who has registered with the Virginia Do Not Call Registry. The measure requires the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to set up by January 1, 2021, the Virginia Do Not Call Registry for subscribers who wish to block all solicitation calls and calls that use or are made in connection with automatic dialing-announcing devices. The measure becomes effective three months after the Virginia Do Not Call Registry is established by the Department.
Black Women's Heritage Month. Designatesthe month of June as Black Women's Heritage Month in Virginia tofocus on and celebrate the myriad achievements and contributionsof African American women throughout the history of the Commonwealthand the United States.
Commending Mission BBQ.
Institutions of higher education; intercollegiateathletics; student-athletes; compensation, representation, and injury.Prohibits any private institution of higher education, baccalaureate publicinstitution of higher education, athletic association, athletic conference, orother organization with authority over intercollegiate athletics from (i)providing a prospective student-athlete with compensation that results from theuse of the student's name, image, or likeness; (ii) prohibiting or preventing astudent-athlete from earning from another individual or entity compensationthat results from the use of the student's name, image, or likeness, except incertain limited circumstances; (iii) prohibiting or preventing astudent-athlete from obtaining professional representation by an athlete agentor legal representation by an attorney licensed to practice law in theCommonwealth; or (iv) declaring ineligible for or revoking a scholarship providedto a student-athlete who earns compensation that results from the use of thestudent's name, image, or likeness. The bill prohibits any athleticassociation, athletic conference, or other organization with authority overintercollegiate athletics from prohibiting or preventing a private institutionof higher education or baccalaureate public institution of higher educationfrom becoming a member of or participating in intercollegiate athleticssponsored by such association, conference, or organization as a consequence ofthe compensation of a student-athlete at such institution that results from theuse of the student-athlete's name, image, or likeness. The bill requires eachprivate institution of higher education and each baccalaureate public institutionof higher education to establish (i) a sports injury compensation fund intowhich the institution shall deposit 7.5 percent of the revenue earned from itsintercollegiate athletics programs and from which any student-athlete whosuffers a serious or career-ending injury during a practice or competition mayapply for compensation upon his graduation and (ii) a wage fund into which theinstitution shall deposit 7.5 percent of the revenue earned from itsintercollegiate athletics programs and from which each student-athlete shallreceive an equal amount of compensation at the end of each academic year. Theforegoing provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2024.The bill also requires the Chancellor of the Virginia Community College Systemto convene a work group consisting of such members as the Chancellor deemsappropriate to consider and make recommendations to the Governor and theGeneral Assembly no later July 1, 2022, relating to the compensation andrepresentation of student-athletes enrolled at comprehensive community collegesin the Commonwealth.
Commending William H. Goodwin, Jr.
Marijuana; legalization of simple marijuanapossession; penalty. Eliminates criminal penalties for possessionof marijuana for persons who are 21 years of age or older. The bill also decriminalizes marijuana possession for persons under 21 yearsof age and provides a civil penalty of no more than $50 for a firstviolation, $100 for a second violation, and $250 for a third or subsequentviolation. Under current law, a first offense is punishable by amaximum fine of $500 and a maximum jail sentence of 30 days, and subsequent offenses are a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also modifies severalother criminal penalties related to marijuana. The bill establishesa regulatory scheme for the regulation of marijuana cultivation facilities,marijuana manufacturing facilities, marijuana testing facilities,and retail marijuana stores by the Board of Agriculture and ConsumerServices. The bill imposes a tax on retail marijuana and retail marijuanaproducts sold by a retail marijuana store at a rate of 9.7 percent(for a total sales tax of 15 percent) and provides that 67 percentof the revenues collected from the tax be deposited into the generalfund and 33 percent of the revenues be deposited into a "Retail MarijuanaEducation Support Fund" to be used solely for purposes of public education.
