Sen. Danica Roem

Guardianship and conservatorship; periodic reviewhearings. Requires a schedule for periodic review hearings inthe order of appointment of a guardian or conservator to be set by a court, unless the court makes a determination that such hearingsare unnecessary or impracticable. The bill allows any person to petitionthe court to hold a review hearing earlier than the scheduled date. The bill further provides that any periodic review hearing shallinclude the following assessments by the court: (i) whether the guardianor conservator is fulfilling his duties and (ii) whether continuationof the guardianship or conservatorship is necessary and, if so, whetherthe scope of such guardianship or conservatorship warrants modification.

Workers' compensation; domestic service employees.Provides that individuals who are engaged in providing domesticservice, defined in the bill, are not excluded from the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act.

Cemeteries; interment rights; proof of kinship.Allows a family member or descendant of a deceased person buriedin a cemetery that is located on private property to petition thecircuit court of the county or city where the property is located for interment rights upon such property. The bill provides that suchfamily member or descendant may prove kinship to the court throughofficial documentation or nonofficial documentation, such as obituaries,family Bibles or other documents with family signatures, journalsor letters of the deceased person interred on the private property,family photographs, or other documentation deemed by the court tobe reliable. The bill requires, upon satisfactory showing of proofof kinship, a private property owner to allow such family memberor descendant access to the property for the purpose of interment.

Elections; voting systems; reporting absenteeresults by precinct. Includes in the definition of "voting system"on-demand ballot printing systems and ballot marking devices usedto manufacture or mark ballots to be cast by voters on electronicvoting and counting machines. The bill also requires general registrarsto report to the Department of Election the number and results ofabsentee ballots cast by voters assigned to each precinct in theregistrar's locality. The Department will establish standards forascertaining and reporting such information.

Solar-ready roof requirements for state agencies and localities; energy-positive building design for schools. Requires any executive branch agency or institution and any locality entering the design phase for the construction of a new building greater than 5,000 gross square feet in size, or the renovation of a building where the cost of the renovation exceeds 50 percent of the value of the building, to ensure that such building includes a solar-ready roof, defined in the bill as having the structural capability to accept the increased load from solar panels, proper sizing of the electrical panel, installation of conduit and wire from the roof to the electrical panel, use of solar-appropriate roof membranes and other roofing materials, and clustering of vents and non-solar equipment to maximize available space for solar panels. However, the provisions of the bill do not apply to localities with a population of less than 100,000 until July 1, 2023. The bill also requires new public school buildings and facilities, and improvements and renovations to existing public school buildings and facilities where the cost of the renovation exceeds 50 percent of the value of the building to be designed, constructed, maintained, and operated to generate more electricity than consumed.

Study; Apprenticeship Council; electric vehicle charging infrastructure apprenticeship programs; report. Requests the Virginia Apprenticeship Council to study the need for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and maintenance and repair of EV infrastructure apprenticeship programs in the Commonwealth, noting the stated goal of the Commonwealth to reduce carbon emissions intensity across all sectors, including the transportation industry. In conducting its study, the Apprenticeship Council should consider a number of factors in studying the need for such apprenticeship programs. The Apprenticeship Council is further requested to report the results of an in-depth study of similar apprenticeship programs in other states to the General Assembly and to convene a stakeholder advisory group to discuss the need for electric vehicle charging infrastructure apprenticeship programs in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Apprenticeship Council to complete its meetings by November 30, 2022, and report its findings to the Governor and the Chairmen of the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Commerce and Labor and the House Committees on Education and Labor and Commerce.

Anti-Human Trafficking and Survivor Trust Fund.Creates the Anti-Human Trafficking and Survivor Trust Fund, whichshall be administered by a Board of Trustees and used for the supportand development of services for the prevention of human traffickingand the treatment and support of human trafficking victims.

Public institutions of higher education; Hunger-Free Campus Grant Program; established. Establishes the Hunger-Free Campus Grant Program (the Program) to address student hunger at public institutions of higher education. The bill provides that the Program shall be managed by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and available for participation by public institutions of higher education; however, participation in the Program shall be optional for such institutions. Under the bill, if a public institution of higher education satisfies certain criteria set out in the bill, including creating initiatives on campus to address student hunger, it shall be designated as a "Hunger-Free Campus" and the Council shall award a grant to such institution. A public institution of higher education that receives a grant under the bill shall utilize the funds to support on-campus efforts and initiatives to eliminate student hunger at such institution. The bill requires the Council to submit a report to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Education no later than two years after the establishment of the Program that shall include (i) the total number and amounts of grant awards, (i) information about the impact that the Program has had on establishing additional hunger-free campuses at public institutions of higher education and reducing the number of students experiencing food insecurity, and (iii) recommendations regarding the potential establishment of an annual appropriation for the Program.

Campaign finance; prohibited contributionsto candidates; Phase I Utility and Phase II Utility. Prohibitscandidates, campaign committees, and political committees from solicitingor accepting contributions from any public utility, as defined inthe bill, and prohibits any public utility or any political committeeestablished by such public utility from making any such contribution.

Constitutional amendment (second reference);marriage; repeal of same-sex marriage prohibition; affirmative rightto marry. Repeals the constitutional provision defining marriageas only a union between one man and one woman as well as the relatedprovisions that are no longer valid as a result of the United StatesSupreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015). The amendment provides that the right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of persons and requires the Commonwealthand its political subdivisions and agents to issue marriage licenses,recognize marriages, and treat all marriages equally under the law,regardless of the sex or gender of the parties to the marriage. Religiousorganizations and clergy acting in their religious capacity havethe right to refuse to perform any marriage.