Sen. Jill Vogel

Requires any voter submitting an application for an absentee ballot by mail or by electronic or telephonic transmission to a facsimile device to submit with his application a copy of one of the forms of identification acceptable under current law. The bill exempts military and overseas voters and persons with a disability from this requirement. This bill is identical to

Requires Northern Virginia Community College (i) in consultation with the Department of Education, to contract with a partner organization to develop, market, and implement high-quality and effective computer science training and professional development activities for public school teachers throughout the Commonwealth for the purpose of improving the computer science literacy of all public school students in the Commonwealth and (ii) to establish an advisory committee for the purpose of advising the college and its partner organization on the development, marketing, and implementation of such training and professional development activities. This bill is identical to

Authorizes an investor-owned electric utility to petition the State Corporation Commission for approval of a rate adjustment clause for recovery of the costs of one or more pumped hydroelectricity generation and storage facilities that utilize associated on-site or off-site renewable energy resources as all or a portion of their power source and such facilities and associated resources are located in the coalfield region of the Commonwealth. The measure provides that the requirement that a utility demonstrate that it has considered and weighed alternative options, including third-party market alternatives, in its selection process does not apply to these generation and storage facilities. The construction of these generation and storage facilities is declared to be in the public interest, and in determining whether to approve such facility, the Commission is directed to liberally construe the provisions of Title 56.

Grants to the General Assembly the authority to review any administrative rule to ensure it is consistent with the legislative intent of the statute that the rule was written to interpret, prescribe, implement, or enforce. The amendment provides that after such review, the General Assembly may approve or reject, in whole or in part, any rule as provided by law and that the approval or rejection of a rule by the General Assembly shall not be subject to veto by the Governor.

Requires the Commonwealth Data Point website administered by the Auditor of Public Accounts to include information for major categories of spending for each state agency and institution, including each independent agency. Currently, the Commonwealth Data Point website includes such information for only secretariats and major state agencies. In addition, the bill provides that the database shall include the name, phone number, and email address for a contact at each agency or institution. This bill is identical to

Requires one reading specialist employed by each local school board that employs a reading specialist to have training in the identification of and the appropriate interventions, accommodations, and teaching techniques for students with dyslexia or a related disorder and to have an understanding of the definition of dyslexia and a working knowledge of several topics relating to dyslexia. This bill is identical to

Designates an investigator who is employed by an attorney for the Commonwealth as a conservator of the peace, provided that such investigator was an active law-enforcement officer within 10 years immediately prior to being employed by the attorney for the Commonwealth and retired or resigned from that position in good standing.

Adds certain chemical substances to Schedule I of the Drug Control Act. The Board of Pharmacy has added these substances to Schedule I in an expedited regulatory process. A substance added via this process is removed from the schedule after 18 months unless a general law is enacted adding the substance to the schedule. The bill also removes two substances, benzylfentanyl and thienylfentanyl, from Schedule I. The bill contains technical amendments. This bill is identical to

Provides that it is the policy of the Commonwealth to promote and increase the employment of individuals with disabilities. To further this policy, the bill establishes a goal to increase by five percent the level of individuals with disabilities employed by state government by fiscal year 2023. The bill designates the Secretary of Administration to coordinate efforts to achieve the goal and requires the Secretary to establish a reporting system for tracking and reporting the progress of state agencies toward meeting the employment and contracting goals and to report annually on the number of individuals with disabilities employed by the state. The bill requires each state agency to submit a plan to increase employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities to the Secretary no later than December 31, 2017, and each July 1 thereafter. This bill is identical to