Sen. Richard Stuart

Criminal sexual assault committed by parents,stepparents, grandparents, and step-grandparents; penalty. Providesthat a parent, stepparent, grandparent, or step-grandparent is guiltyof the crime of forcible sodomy or object sexual penetration if suchoffenses are committed by such persons and the complaining witnessis at least 13 years of age but younger than 18 years of age. Thebill also increases from a Class 3 felony to a Class 2 felony thepenalty for the crime of incest.

Commending the Honorable Steven Selwyn Smith.

Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Area; provisional surface water withdrawal permit. Authorizes the State Water Control Board to issue a provisional surface water withdrawal permit within the Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Area to an applicant that has not identified an end user for the water. Such permit shall not allow the withdrawal of water until an end user has been identified and the permittee has provided a report containing information on the need for and proposed use of the surface water, a description of the raw water intake, and other information. The bill provides that once the Department of Environmental Quality approves the report, the permittee shall request a permit modification. Finally, the bill provides that no potential withdrawal amount of any provisional permit shall be used in the calculation of available water when assessing a subsequent surface water withdrawal application in the affected stream reach if the provisional permit has not been modified to reflect an end user, the Department and the subsequent applicant have found the provisional withdrawal to be inappropriate, and the provisional permit holder has failed to state that an end user will be secured within 12 months.

Driving under the influence. Provides thatthe provisions regarding driving or operating a motor vehicle, engine,or train while intoxicated and the provisions regarding operatinga motor vehicle by a person under the age of 21 after illegally consumingalcohol shall not apply to any person driving or operating a motorvehicle on his own residential property or the curtilage thereof.

State subsidy of property tax exemptions fordisabled veterans and surviving spouses. Requires the Commonwealthto subsidize local real estate tax relief for disabled veterans andsurviving spouses of members of the armed forces killed in actionwhen more than one percent of a locality's real estate tax base islost due to such state-mandated tax relief programs. The Commonwealthwould subsidize only that portion of tax exempt real estate thatexceeds the one percent threshold. Thebill requires the Auditor of Public Accounts to establish an applicationprocess whereby a locality would demonstrate that more than one percentof its real estate tax base was lost. The Auditor would certify tothe Governor and the General Assembly those localities that wouldbe eligible for a subsidy, and the Governor would include in theBudget Bill a proposed appropriation of the amount of the state subsidyto be provided to localities certified as eligible localities.

Children's Services Act; special educationprograms. Expands eligibility for services under the Children's Services Act to students who transfer from an approved private schoolspecial education program to a public school special education programestablished and funded jointly by a local governing body and schooldivision located within Planning District 16 for the purpose of providingspecial education and related services when (i) the public schoolspecial education program is able to provide services comparableto those of an approved private school special education program and (ii) the student would require placement in an approved privateschool special education program but for the availability of thepublic school special education program.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; FOIA officers; training and reporting requirements. Adds regional public bodies to the types of public bodies that must designate a FOIA officer. The bill also changes the frequency for required FOIA officer training from annually to once during each consecutive period of two calendar years and provides that the name and contact information of a FOIA officer trained by legal counsel of a public body only needs to be submitted by July 1 of the initial year of training and updated if there are changes to that information. Current law requires this information to be submitted by July 1 of each year. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council.

Absentee voting; no excuse required. Permits any registered voter to vote by absentee ballot in any election in which he is qualified to vote. The bill removes the current list of statutory reasons under which a person may be entitled to vote by absentee ballot and removes references to those reasons from other sections of the Code. This bill incorporates SB 45, SB 137, SB 696, and SB 879.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; cost estimates; response time. Provides that if a requester asks for a cost estimatein advance of a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request, thetime to respond is tolled for the amount of time that elapses between notice of the cost estimate and the response from the requester,and that if the public body receives no response from the requesterwithin 30 days of sending the cost estimate, the request shall bedeemed to be withdrawn. The bill clarifies that if a cost estimateexceeds $200 and the public body requires an advance deposit, thepublic body may require the requester to pay the advance depositbefore the public body is required to process the request. This billis a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council.

Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Act; training requirements. Adds the option for in-person training sessions in addition to the current requirement of online training sessions for local elected officials provided by the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council or a local government attorney. The bill also clarifies that "local elected officials" includes constitutional officers. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council.