Study; Department of Taxation; reducing economic stress on retired Virginia State Police; report. Directs the Department of Taxation to study tax policy solutions for reducing economic stress on retired Virginia State Police.
Commission on Legislature Modernization; report. Establishes the Commission on Legislature Modernization in the legislative branch for the purpose of studying the operation and functionality of the General Assembly and identifying ways to make the legislature more effective, efficient, responsive, reflective, and transparent on behalf of all Virginians. The Commission will consist of 17 members, which shall include 9 legislators, 6 nonlegislative citizen members, and 2 ex officio members. The Commission shall be convened for a period of two years, every 10 years in the year ending in four, and shall terminate after the submission of its final report to the General Assembly at the end of its second year.
Misdemeanor; maximum term of confinement. Reduces from 12 months to 364 days the maximum term of confinement in jail for a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill contains technical amendments. The bill also requires the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission to revise all labels on Sentencing Guidelines worksheets and instructions in the Sentencing Guidelines manual so that any conviction for an offense defined as a Class 1 misdemeanor or any other misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 364 days of incarceration, as provided by the bill, shall be scored as if the maximum penalty were 12 months for the purposes of preparing and using the discretionary sentencing guidelines.
Petition for modification of a sentence; eligibility; procedures. Provides procedures for individuals serving a sentence for certain felony convictions or a combination of such convictions who remain incarcerated in a state or local correctional facility or secure facility and meet certain criteria to petition the circuit court that entered the original judgment or order to (i) suspend the unserved portion of such sentence or run the unserved portion of such sentence concurrently with another sentence, (ii) place such person on probation for such time as the court shall determine, or (iii) otherwise modify the sentence imposed. Depending on the type of conviction, the bill allows the court to grant a hearing on such petition after an individual has served at least 25 years for certain offenses, after 20 years for certain other offenses, and after 15 years for any other felony conviction not specified. The bill does not allow an individual convicted of a Class 1 felony to petition for modification of his sentence. The bill requires the attorney for the Commonwealth and the victim to agree to hearing the petition in order for a court to conduct the hearing.
Workers' compensation benefits; post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder incurred by law-enforcement officers and firefighters. Increases from 52 weeks to 104 weeks the maximum duration after the date of diagnosis that workers' compensation benefits are payable for post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder incurred by law-enforcement officers and firefighters acting in the line of duty.
Employee protections; employer-sponsored meetings on political matters; civil action. Prohibits an employer from retaliating against an employee (i) because such employee declines to attend or participate in an employer-sponsored meeting or receive an employer's communications conveying an opinion about political matters, as defined in the bill; (ii) as a means of inducing an employee's attendance at such meeting or receipt of such communications; or (iii) because the employee reports a suspected violation of the bill's provisions. The bill permits an employee alleging a violation of the bill's provisions to bring an action in civil court within 90 days after such violation occurs for appropriate relief, including injunctive relief, reinstatement, compensation for lost wages, benefits, and other remuneration, interest, and reasonable attorney fees and costs.
Minimum wage and overtime pay; warehouse distribution center employees and employers; civil action; civil penalty. Provides that (i) an employer that violates requirements in existing law relating to the minimum wage, payment of wages and salaries, or overtime pay or (ii) a warehouse employer, as defined in the bill, that violates the bill's provisions shall be liable to an impacted employee for certain remedies, damages, and other relief as specified in the bill. The bill requires a warehouse employer to provide each warehouse employee, as defined in the bill, a written description of each performance standard to which such employee is subject and of any potential adverse employment action that may result from such employee's failure to meet such performance standard. The bill prohibits a warehouse employer from taking adverse action against a warehouse employee for such employee's use of a bathroom facility. The bill provides that a warehouse employer that violates the bill's provisions relating to warehouse employers is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 for each violation.
Campaign finance; prohibited personal use of campaign funds; complaints, hearings, civil penalty, and advisory opinions. Prohibits any person from converting contributions to a candidate or his campaign committee to personal use. Current law only prohibits such conversion of contributions with regard to disbursement of surplus funds at the dissolution of a campaign or political committee. The bill provides that a contribution is considered to have been converted to personal use if the contribution, in whole or in part, is used to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense that would exist irrespective of the person's seeking, holding, or maintaining public office but allows a contribution to be used for the ordinary and accepted expenses related to campaigning for or holding elective office, including the use of campaign funds to pay for the candidate's child care expenses that are incurred as a direct result of campaign activity. The bill provides that any person subject to the personal use ban may request an advisory opinion from the State Board of Elections on such matters. The bill directs the State Board of Elections to adopt emergency regulations similar to those promulgated by the Federal Election Commission to implement the provisions of the bill and to publish an updated summary of Virginia campaign finance law that reflects the State Board of Elections' and Attorney General's guidance on the provisions of such law that prohibit the personal use of campaign funds and any new regulations promulgated by the State Board of Elections.
Electric utilities; integrated resource plans; grid-enhancing technologies and advanced conductors. Requires an electric utility to include in an integrated resource plan a comprehensive assessment of the application of grid-enhancing technologies and advanced conductors, as those terms are defined in the bill, and, if applicable, to include in such plan a detailed explanation of why such technologies or conductors are not included in such plan.
Electric utilities; State Corporation Commission; energy policy of the Commonwealth. Requires the State Corporation Commission to ensure that the Commonwealth implements the energy policy of the Commonwealth, as defined by relevant law, at the lowest reasonable cost, taking into account all cost-effective demand-side management options and the security and reliability benefits of the regional transmission entity that each incumbent electric utility has joined. The bill establishes a rebuttable presumption that plans, petitions, or proposals from utilities that do not ensure such implementation at the lowest reasonable cost are not in the public interest.
