State Board of Elections; increasing membership ; Commissioner of Elections; role and eligibility; report. Increases the membership of the State Board of Elections from three members to five members. Representation is given to each of the political parties having the highest and next highest number of votes in the Commonwealth at the preceding gubernatorial election, with three Board members being of the party of the Governor. Terms are initially staggered. The bill provides that a Commissioner of Elections, who acts as the principal administrative officer of the Department of Elections, shall be appointed by the Governor. Persons engaging in certain partisan activities, persons related to persons engaging in certain partisan activities, and persons related to members of the State Board are prohibited from serving as the Commissioner of Elections. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021. This bill is identical to HB 236.
Sponsored bills
Corporal Ryan C. McGhee Memorial Bridge. Designatesthe bridge on Guinea Station Road over Interstate 95 in SpotsylvaniaCounty the Corporal Ryan C. McGhee Memorial Bridge.
Dangerous captive animal exhibits; penalty. Prohibits a keeper of dangerous captive animals, defined in the bill, from providing or offering to provide to any member of the public, for free or for a cost, direct contact with such dangerous captive animal. The bill provides that a violation is a Class 3 misdemeanor and that the keeper is subject to a fine of not more than $500. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021.
Board of Juvenile Justice; Department of BehavioralHealth and Developmental Services; regulations governing the housingof youth pursuant to contracts with the federal government. Requiresthe Board of Juvenile Justice, in collaboration with the Departmentof Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, to promulgate regulationsgoverning the housing of youth who are detained in a juvenile correctionalfacility pursuant to a contract with the federal government and notcommitted to such juvenile correctional facility by a court of theCommonwealth.
Specialty dockets; veterans docket. Providesthat any veterans docket authorized and established as a local specialtydocket in accordance with the Rules of Supreme Court of Virginiashall be deemed a "Veterans Treatment Court Program," as that termis used under federal law or by any other entity, for the purposesof applying for, qualifying for, or receiving any federal grants,other federal money, or money from any other entity designated toassist or fund such state programs. The bill contains an emergencyclause.
Holding handheld personal communications devices while driving a motor vehicle. Prohibits any person from holding a handheld personal communications device while driving a motor vehicle. Current law prohibits (i) the reading of any email or text message and manually entering letters or text in such a device as a means of communicating and (ii) holding a personal communications device while driving in a work zone. The bill expands the exemptions to include handheld personal communications devices that are being held and used (a) as an amateur radio or a citizens band radio or (b) for official Department of Transportation or traffic incident management services. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021. This bill incorporates SB 136 and SB 944 and is identical to HB 874.
Trigger activators; prohibition; penalty. Prohibitsthe manufacture, importation, sale or offer to sell, possession,transfer, or transportation of a trigger activator, defined in thebill as (i) a device designed to be attached to a semi-automaticfirearm, which allows the firearm to discharge two or more shotsin a burst by activating the device, including a bump-fire deviceor a binary trigger, but does not convert the semi-automatic firearminto a machine gun or (ii) a manual or power-driven trigger activatingdevice designed so that when attached to a semi-automatic firearmit increases the rate of fire of that firearm, including a triggercrank, but does not convert the semiautomatic firearm into a machine gun. A violation is punishable as a Class 6 felony.
Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for certain diseases. Adds cancers of the colon, brain, or testes to the list of cancers that are presumed to be an occupational disease covered by the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act when firefighters or certain employees develop the cancer. The presumption shall not apply for any individual who was diagnosed with one of the conditions before July 1, 2020. The measure removes the compensability requirement that the employee who develops cancer had contact with a toxic substance encountered in the line of duty. The bill also reduces the number of years of service needed to qualify for the presumption from 12 to five for various types of cancer. For hypertension or heart disease, the bill adds a requirement that an individual complete five years of service in his position in order to qualify. This bill incorporates SB 58, SB 381, and SB 531 and is identical to HB 783.
Legal holidays; Lee-Jackson Day; Election Day. Designates Election Day, the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, as a state holiday and removes Lee-Jackson Day as a state holiday. This bill is identical to HB 108.
Voting restrictions on the basis of race. Repeals several Acts of Assembly that implemented and enforced a state poll tax and provided for separate registration records on the basis of race. This bill is identical to HB 1086.