Department of Motor Vehicles; issuance of certain documents; citizenship requirement. Removes the citizenship and legal presence requirements for obtaining a driver's license or special identification card. The bill requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to cancel any (i) REAL ID-compliant driver's license or special identification card and (ii) commercial driver's license or commercial learner's permit if the Department is notified by a federal agency that the individual to whom such document was issued is not in compliance with the citizenship and lawful residency requirements for such license, card, or permit. The bill has a delayed effective date of October 2, 2020, and contains technical amendments. This bill was incorporated into SB 34.
Sponsored bills
Right to reproductive choice. Provides thatevery individual has a fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptionand that a pregnant person has a fundamental right to choose to carrya pregnancy to term, give birth to a child, or terminate a pregnancy.The bill states that the Commonwealth shall not, in the regulationor provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information, denyor interfere with an individual's fundamental rights, including individualsunder state control or supervision. The bill states that any stateor local official who is charged with violating provisions of thissection shall be subject to an action in federal or state court forinjunctive relief and damages. Such action may be brought by any person or entity that may be aggrieved by such official's actions.
Virginia Fair Housing Law; unlawful discriminatory housing practices; sexual orientation and gender identity. Adds discrimination on the basis of an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity as an unlawful housing practice. The bill defines "sexual orientation" and "gender identity." This bill was incorporated into SB 868.
Estate tax; reinstatement. Reinstates theestate tax for persons dying on and after July 1, 2020. No estatetax shall be imposed on a gross estate if the majority of the assetsof the estate are an interest in a closely held business or a workingfarm. The bill designates revenues from the estate tax to be usedfor health care purposes.
Contributory negligence; motor vehicle accidentinvolving a pedestrian, bicyclist, etc. Provides that the negligenceof a pedestrian, bicyclist, or other person lawfully using a deviceother than a motor vehicle on a public highway who is involved ina collision with a motor vehicle shall not bar a plaintiff's recoveryin any civil action unless the plaintiff's negligence is (i) a proximatecause of the plaintiff's injury and (ii) greater than the aggregatedtotal amount of negligence of all the defendants that proximatelycaused the plaintiff's injury.
Virginia Growth and Opportunity Fund; regionalgrant awards. Requires that at least 25 percent of grants receivedby a region from the Virginia Growth and Opportunity Fund be usedto support the creation of jobs in qualified opportunity zones inthe region.
Constitution of the United States; Equal RightsAmendment. Ratifies the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitutionof the United States that was proposed by Congress in 1972.
Open-end credit plans; civil penalty. Requiresthat any person engaged in the business of extending credit underan open-end credit plan under which interest is charged at an annualrate that exceeds 36 percent obtain a license to do so from the StateCorporation Commission. The measure prohibits a person licensed asa motor vehicle title lender from extending credit under an open-endcredit plan and prohibits a third party from making open-end creditloans in the office of a licensed motor vehicle title lender. Themeasure prohibits a person that extends credit under an open-endcredit plan under which interest is charged at an annual rate thatexceeds 36 percent from (i) obtaining or accepting from a borroweran authorization to electronically debit the borrower's deposit account;(ii) failing to comply with certain restrictions and prohibitionsapplicable to debt collectors contained in the federal Fair DebtCollection Practices Act; (iii) filing a legal proceeding againsta borrower until 60 days after the date of default on an open-endcredit plan, during which period the person and the borrower mayvoluntarily enter into a repayment arrangement; or (iv) causing a person to be obligated to the licensee for a principal amount thatexceeds $500. The measure also makes it a prohibited practice underthe Virginia Consumer Protection Act to violate the requirementsapplicable to extending credit under an open-end credit plan.
Open-end credit plans; governing law. Providesthat an open-end credit plan shall be governed solely by federallaw and the laws of the Commonwealth, regardless of whether the selleror lender has a physical location in the Commonwealth. The measureremoves a provision that allows another jurisdiction's laws to governif expressly agreed to in writing by the parties.
Commending the Washington Nationals.