Sen. Tommy Norment

Makes numerous changes to the laws governing lobbyist reporting, the conflict of interest acts, and the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council (the Council), including (i) allowing the Secretary of the Commonwealth to suspend any penalty that could be assessed against a lobbyist's principal for failing to file the required disclosure if such failure is beyond the control of the principal; (ii) clarifying the procedures for terminating the services of a lobbyist; (iii) requiring that lobbyist registration forms be filed electronically; (iv) eliminating the requirement that a lobbyist list the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all other lobbyists representing the same principal; (v) creating a separate statement for a lobbyist's principal to waive the principal signature requirement on the lobbyist disclosure form; (vi) granting the clerk of the local governing body or school board the same power as the Council to redact from any disclosure form released to the public any residential address, personal telephone number, or signature; (vii) eliminating the minimum duration of the mandatory refresher ethics orientation session for General Assembly members; (viii) allowing written informal advice from the Council to confer immunity from prosecution upon individuals acting in accordance with such advice; (ix) clarifying the Council's authority to grant extensions from the filing deadline and imposing a $250 civil penalty on agency heads or local clerks who fail to provide the disclosure forms to filers in a timely manner; (x) requiring lobbyists to provide a report of gifts made during a regular session of the General Assembly no later than three weeks after adjournment to legislators and certain executive branch officials who are required to file a session gift report; and (xi) directing that candidates for statewide office and the General Assembly are required to file a disclosure form with the State Board of Elections and candidates for a constitutional office are required to file a disclosure form with the local general registrar. The bill also extends the filing deadline for disclosure forms from January 15 to February 1 and clarifies the reporting period covered by the disclosure forms. The bill eliminates events open to individuals who share a common interest from the definition of a "widely attended event," attendance at which is not subject to the gift cap. The bill also exempts from the definition of a "gift" (a) gifts from a person's child-in-law; (b) gifts related to a person's volunteer service; (c) meals provided for attendance at an official meeting of the Commonwealth, its political subdivisions, or certain other entities; and (d) attendance at a reception or similar function. The bill also exempts members of the judiciary from certain provisions governing prohibited gifts and prohibited personal interests in a transaction where such members are already subject to similar or greater prohibitions under the Canons of Judicial Conduct for the State of Virginia. The bill also clarifies that a legislator may have a personal interest in a contract with a government agency, not including a legislative branch agency, when the Virginia Public Procurement Act allows the award of such contract without competition. The bill further clarifies the exceptions that allow state and local officers and employees who have a personal interest in a transaction to participate in the transaction. Finally, the bill contains technical amendments. The bill contains an emergency clause that applies to the changes described in clauses (x) and (xi). 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.

Authorizes a locality to adopt an ordinance requiring the registration of persons offering property for short-term rental. The bill defines "short-term rental" as the provision of a room or space suitable for sleeping or lodging for less than 30 consecutive days in exchange for a charge for the occupancy. Persons and entities already licensed or registered related to the rental or management of property by the Department of Health, the Real Estate Board, the Virginia Real Estate Time-Share Act, or a locality would not be required to register. The bill authorizes localities to impose penalties not to exceed $500 per violation on persons who violate the registry ordinance. The bill amends the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Act to clarify that certain property rented on a short-term basis is considered a bed and breakfast establishment for purposes of ABC licensing and that the exception from ABC licensing for serving alcoholic beverages to guests in a residence does not apply if the guest is a short-term lessee of the residence. This bill incorporates

Provides that an application for a search warrant to perform a blood test on a person suspected of committing a DUI-related offense shall be given priority over pending matters that do not involve an imminent risk to another's health or safety.

Prohibits a person from conducting or transacting business under any assumed or fictitious name unless such person files in the office of the clerk of the State Corporation Commission a certificate of assumed or fictitious name. The measure specifies the requirements for a certificate of assumed or fictitious name. A person who signs a certificate the person knows is false in any material respect with intent that the certificate be delivered to the Commission for filing is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The measure eliminates the existing requirement that a person conducting business under an assumed or fictitious name file a certificate with the clerk of the circuit court where the business is to be conducted. An enactment clause provides that the act shall be applied prospectively only, does not affect the validity of a certificate filed prior to the act's effective date, and does not require any person who was in compliance with applicable laws regarding fictitious or assumed name certificates prior to the act's effective date to take any action to comply with the act's requirements. The measure has a delayed effective date of May 1, 2019.