Sen. Adam Ebbin

Commending John T. Frey.

Cannabis control; retail market; penalties.Establishes a framework for the creation of a retail marijuana marketin the Commonwealth, to be administered by the Virginia CannabisControl Authority. The bill allows the Authority to begin issuingall marijuana licenses on July 1, 2025; however, the bill allows certainpharmaceutical processors to begin operations on July 1, 2024, andallows a limited number of other licensees to begin operations onJanuary 1, 2025.

Commending Sandra Gioia Treadway.

Hate crimes and discrimination; ethnic animosity; penalties. Provides that it is the policy of the Commonwealth to safeguard all individuals within the Commonwealth from unlawful discrimination in employment and in places of public accommodation because of such individual's ethnic origin. The bill also adds victims who are intentionally selected because of their ethnic origin to the categories of victims whose intentional selection for a hate crime involving assault, assault and battery, or trespass for the purpose of damaging another's property results in a higher criminal penalty for the offense. The bill also provides that no provider or user of an interactive computer service on the Internet shall be liable for any action voluntarily taken by it in good faith to restrict access to material that the provider or user considers to be intended to incite hatred on the basis of ethnic origin. This bill was incorporated into SB 7.

Commending the Honorable Grace Burke Carroll.

Commending the Honorable Gayl Y. Branum Carr.

Constitutional amendment (first reference);fundamental right to reproductive freedom. Provides that everyindividual has the fundamental right to reproductive freedom andthat the right to make and effectuate one's own decisions about allmatters related to one's pregnancy cannot be denied, burdened, orotherwise infringed upon by the Commonwealth, unless justified bya compelling state interest and achieved by the least restrictivemeans. The amendment prohibits the Commonwealth from penalizing, prosecuting, or otherwise taking adverse action against an individualfor exercising the individual's right to reproductive freedom orfor aiding another individual in the exercise of such right, unlessjustified by a compelling state interest.

Constitutional amendment (first reference); marriage between two individuals; repeal of same-sex marriage prohibition; affirmative right to marry. Repeals the constitutional provision defining marriage as only a union between one man and one woman as well as the related provisions that are no longer valid as a result of the United States Supreme 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 prohibits the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions from denying the issuance of a marriage license to two parties contemplating a lawful marriage on the basis of the sex, gender, or race of such parties. The Commonwealth and its political subdivisions are required to recognize any lawful marriage between two parties and to treat such marriages equally under the law, regardless of the sex, gender, or race of such parties. The amendment provides that religious organizations and clergy acting in their religious capacity have the right to refuse to perform any marriage.