Fossil fuel projects moratorium; clean energy mandates; civil penalties; Green New Deal Act. Establishes a moratorium, effective January 1, 2021, on approval by any state agency or political subdivision of any approval required for (i) electric generating facilities that generate fossil fuel energy through the combustion of a fossil fuel resource; (ii) import or export terminals for fossil fuel resources; (iii) certain maintenance activities relating to an import or export terminal for a fossil fuel resource; (iv) gathering lines or pipelines for the transport of any fossil fuel resource that requires the use of eminent domain on private property; (v) certain maintenance activities relating to such gathering lines or pipelines; (vi) refineries of a fossil fuel resource; and (vii) exploration for any type of fossil fuel, unless preempted by applicable federal law. The measure also requires that at least 80 percent of the electricity sold by a retail electric supplier in calendar years 2028 through 2035 be generated from clean energy resources. In calendar year 2036 and every calendar year thereafter, 100 percent of the electricity sold by a retail electric supplier is required to be generated from clean energy resources. The clean energy mandates apply to a public utility or other person that sells not less than 1,000 megawatt hours of electric energy to retail customers or generates not less than 1,000 megawatt hours of electric energy for use by the person. The Director of the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy is authorized to bring actions for injunctions to enforce these requirements. The measure requires the Department to adopt a Climate Action Plan that addresses all aspects of climate change, including mitigation, adaptation, resiliency, and assistance in the transition from current energy sources to clean renewable energy. The measure provides that residents of the Commonwealth and organizations shall have the legal standing to sue to ensure that its provisions and any Climate Action Plan are enforced. The measure requires (a) a 36 percent reduction in electric energy consumption in buildings by 2035, (b) the establishment of job training programs and energy worker protections, (c) transitional assistance for workers in the fossil fuel industry and affected communities, and (d) environmental justice protections. The measure provides that any retail electric supplier that fails to meet any goal or benchmark is liable for a civil penalty equal to twice the cost of the financial investment necessary to meet such goal or mandate that was not achieved, or three times the cost of the financial investment necessary to meet such goal or benchmark that was not achieved if not met in an environmental justice community, defined in the bill.
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Killing or injuring police animals; penalty.Provides that the punishment for any person who maliciously killsor injures an animal owned, used, or trained by a law-enforcementagency, regional jail, or the Department of Corrections, while suchanimal is performing its lawful duties or is being kept in a kennel,pen, or stable while off duty, shall be separate and apart from,and shall be made to run consecutively with, any other sentence.
Study; JLARC; court-appointed guardians andconservators; report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit andReview Commission (JLARC) to study the operations and performanceof court-appointed guardians and conservators in the Commonwealth.In conducting its study, JLARC shall (i) identify the Commonwealth'slaws that help prevent and remedy abuse, neglect, and exploitationof elderly and incapacitated persons; (ii) recommend any changesthat should be made to the Commonwealth's laws to better prevent and remedy abuse, neglect, and exploitation of such persons, including instances in which abuse, neglect, or exploitation is committed bya court-appointed guardian or conservator; (iii) determine and recommendthe maximum number of wards per guardian that should be permittedto ensure a high level of oversight and care; (iv) identify appropriatetraining, qualification, and oversight requirements for court-appointedguardians; (v) determine the types and amount of information thatcourt-appointed guardians should be required to provide when making decisions on behalf of a ward and identify the parties to whom suchinformation should be provided; and (vi) recommend one or more processesthat could be implemented to allow for the receipt and investigationof complaints regarding the actions of court-appointed guardians.
School library clerical personnel; ratios ofpositions to students. Establishes, as part of each local schoolboard's provision of those support services that are necessary forthe efficient and cost-effective operation and maintenance of itspublic schools, the following ratios for school library clericalpersonnel positions: in elementary schools, one full-time at 300students and two full-time at 700 students; in middle schools, onefull-time at 300 students, two full-time at 800 students, and three full-time at 1,700 students; and in high schools, one full-time,two full-time at 900 students, and three full-time at 1,800 students.
School boards; school meal policies; parentalnotification and opt-out. Requires each school board to adoptpolicies that (i) require each elementary and secondary school inthe school division to send to the parents of each student by theend of the first week of the school year notice of the consequencesof school meal debt and the school board policy and procedure relatingto such debt, including any requirement that such student be servedan alternative meal or be required to dispose of meals served to him while such debt remains unpaid; (ii) require any elementary or secondaryschool in the school division to resend such notice to the parentsof any student who accrues a school meal debt before the consequencesof such debt go into effect; and (iii) require the parents of anystudent who do not want their child to be served a school meal tosubmit a written request to the student's school.
Study; Department of Rail and Public Transportation; commuter rail system in the Commonwealth; report. Requests theDepartment of Rail and Public Transportation to study and developbest practices for constructing, operating, and maintaining commuterrail systems in the Commonwealth.
Campaign finance; prohibited contributions tocandidates. Prohibits any candidate from soliciting or acceptinga contribution from any public service corporation, as defined in§ 56-1, or any political action committee established and administeredby such a corporation.
Public school buses; seat belts. Requiresthe Board of Education to make regulations to require each new publicschool bus purchased for the transportation of students to be equippedwith a seat belt consisting of a lap belt and shoulder strap or harnessin every seat. The bill requires each school board to ensure thatno later than July 1, 2038, each school bus that it uses for thetransportation of students is equipped with a seat belt in every seat.
General Assembly meetings; streaming and recording. Requires the Clerk of the House of Delegates and the Clerk of theSenate to ensure that every (i) subcommittee or committee meetingof a standing committee of the General Assembly, regardless of meetingdate, and (ii) floor session of the House of Delegates or the Senate,including any joint session of the houses, is streamed with closedcaptioning, recorded and archived. The bill defines "stream" and specifiesthat a qualifying meeting is one the date and time of which havebeen scheduled on a public website of any agency of the General Assemblyfor at least one hour prior to the meeting and that takes place inthe State Capitol, the Pocahontas Building, or the General AssemblyBuilding in Richmond. The bill has a delayed effective date of October1, 2020.
Virginia Minimum Wage Act; exemption. Removesthe exemption from the Virginia Minimum Wage Act for persons employedin domestic service or in or about a private home or in an eleemosynaryinstitution primarily supported by public funds.