Multi-jurisdiction grand jury; elder abuse crimes. Adds the following to the list of crimes that a multi-jurisdiction grand jury may investigate: (i) financial exploitation of mentally incapacitated persons and (ii) abuse and neglect of incapacitated adults.
Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act; dutiesof operator; liability of excavator. Requires an operator ofresidential telecommunications or cable television service, afterreceiving notification of an interruption in service due to the installationof broadband service at a given premises, to restore telecommunicationsor cable television service, such that a person at the premises can telephone emergency services by dialing 911, within two days of receiving such notification. The bill prohibits an operator fromgiving false or misleading information to the notification centerand requires the State Corporation Commission to investigate certainclaims following an informal complaint. The bill requires an operatorto indemnify and hold harmless an excavator when the excavator is installing facilities for purposes of broadband service and damagesa utility line used for residential telecommunications or cable televisionand provides that no excavator is liable for any such damage occurringon or after July 1, 2022.
Elections; absentee voting; ballots to be sortedand results to be reported by precinct. Provides that absentee ballots processed at a central absentee precinct must be sorted bythe precinct to which the voter who cast the absentee ballot is assignedand that the resulting vote totals from such ballots must be reportedseparately for each voter precinct.
Sales tax; exemption for food purchased forhuman consumption and essential personal hygiene products. Exemptsfood purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygieneproducts (the grocery tax) from all state, regional, and local salestaxes.
Golf carts and utility vehicles; Town of Smithfield. Authorizes the governing body of the Town of Smithfield to, by ordinance, authorize a golf cart or utility vehicle to be operated on a designated public highway where the posted speed limit is 35 miles per hour or less. The bill also authorizes a golf cart or utility vehicle in the Town of Smithfield to cross any highway marked as a golf cart crossing by the Department of Transportation.
Constitutional amendment (first reference);Literary Fund; exemption for certain asset forfeiture. Amendsthe Constitution of Virginia to provide an exemption for propertyseized and forfeited to the Commonwealth for a violation of commercialsex trafficking and commercial sexual conduct crimes from the requirementthat all property accruing to the Commonwealth by forfeiture shallbe deposited into the Literary Fund. The amendment provides thatthe proceeds from such forfeited property shall be distributed bylaw for the purpose of providing treatment or specialized servicesto victims of sex trafficking.
Local correctional facilities and lock-ups; transfer of individuals in need of behavioral health or developmental services. Requires the State Board of Local and Regional Jails (the Board) to establish minimum standards for identification and care of individuals with developmental disabilities in local correctional facilities and procedures for enforcing such minimum standards, including requirements for (i) developmental disabilities screening of individuals committed to local correctional facilities, (ii) referral of individuals committed to local correctional facilities for whom a screening indicates reason to believe the individual may have a developmental disability to an appropriate provider for an assessment to determine whether the individual has a developmental disability and is in need of developmental services, and (iii) transfer of an individual determined to have a developmental disability and to be in need of developmental services from a local correctional facility to a facility at which appropriate developmental services are provided within 72 hours of completion of the assessment. The bill also requires the Board to amend standards governing the delivery of behavioral health services in local correctional facilities and lock-ups to provide that if an individual is assessed as being in need of behavioral health services for severe mental illness, such individual shall be transferred from the local correctional facility or lock-up to a behavioral health facility within 72 hours of the assessment. Currently, standards governing behavioral health services in local correctional facilities and lock-ups require that if a person is assessed as being in need of behavioral health services, the local correctional facility or lock-up shall provide such services.The bill also provides that the local community services board or behavioral health authority shall arrange for the admission of a person determined to be in need of behavioral health services for severe mental illness or severe developmental disability within 72 hours of receipt of notification by the local correctional facility of the need for such admission.
Department of Veterans Services; Mental HealthCare Coordinator; position created; report. Establishes the positionof Mental Health Care Coordinator (the Coordinator) in the Departmentof Veterans Services to support and closely coordinate effectivemental health care services for military service members and veteransand their families. The bill directs the Coordinator to report byDecember 1 of each year through the Commissioner of the Departmentof Veterans Services to the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs,the Governor, and the General Assembly on the work of the Coordinatorand any legislative recommendations.
Continuing care providers; requirements for providers; complaint process; report. Requires continuing care providers to include in continuing care contracts between the provider and residents of a continuing care retirement community a description of (i) the resident emergency call systems and other safety-based services, (ii) the criteria for and requirements and procedures applicable to the transfer of a resident between levels of care provided by the provider, and (iii) information about policies and procedures for use of the facility and its services, including any check-in procedures, by residents as well as nonresidents. The bill also guarantees the right of residents to post information about residents' rights in the facilities of the continuing care retirement community and requires a continuing care provider to include on the board of directors or other such governing body of a continuing care retirement community a number of residents that is equal to or greater than 20 percent of the total number of members of the board of directors, or at least one resident, whichever is greater, who shall be elected by the residents of the continuing care retirement community, and to provide a copy of the bylaws of the board of directors or other such governing body to all residents of the continuing care retirement community. The bill also requires the State Corporation Commission to establish a means by which any person may make a complaint regarding a continuing care retirement community or community-based continuing care provider; establish a process for responding to complaints regarding a continuing care retirement community or community-based continuing care provider, including procedures to ensure that the person who filed the complaint receives information regarding the status of such response and the final resolution of the matter; and report annually by October 1 to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations and Labor and Commerce and the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and Commerce and Labor regarding the complaint process and the number, type, and resolution of complaints received.
Celebrating the life of the Honorable LinwoodA. Holton, Jr.
