Sen. Travis Hackworth

Virginia Retirement System; employment of retired law-enforcement officers. Allows a retired law-enforcement officer to continue to receive his service retirement allowance during a subsequent period of employment by a state and local law-enforcement agency, so long as he has a break in service of at least 12 calendar months between retirement and reemployment, did not retire under an early retirement program, and did not retire under the Workforce Transition Act of 1995. The bill also provides that the Director of the Department of Criminal Justice Services shall exempt a law-enforcement officer who has demonstrated sensitivity to cultural diversity issues, had previous experience and training as a law-enforcement officer, is currently receiving or is eligible to receive a service retirement allowance, and has a break in service of no longer than 60 calendar months between retirement and new employment as a law-enforcement officer from the mandatory attendance of all courses that are required for the successful completion of the compulsory minimum training standards established by the Criminal Justice Services Board.

Department of Energy; waste coal piles; report. Directs the Department of Energy, in cooperation with public institutions of higher education serving the coalfield region of the Commonwealth, to identify the approximate volume and number of waste coal piles present in the area and options for cleaning up such waste coal piles, including potential use in electricity generation. The Department of Energy shall report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by December 1, 2022. The bill also directs the Department of Energy, the Department of Environmental Quality, and the Department of Transportation's Research Council, in cooperation with engineering schools of public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth, to convene a working group to evaluate opportunities for using coal ash for construction purposes for public infrastructure projects. The working group shall report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by December 1, 2022.

Slaughter and meat-processing facilities. Establishes that it is the policy of the General Assembly to encourage, expand, and develop slaughter and meat-processing facilities through strategic planning and financial incentive programs. The bill directs the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to develop a five-year strategic plan to increase total combined throughput capacity of slaughter and meat-processing facilities. This bill is identical to HB 830.

Advanced Manufacturing Talent Investment Programand Fund. Creates the Advanced Manufacturing Talent InvestmentProgram and Fund to assist qualified institutions, as defined in the bill, in reaching, by 2042, a goal of increasing by at least 25,000new eligible credentials, which are noncredit workforce credentialsawarded by a qualified institution in a high demand advanced manufacturingfield as identified by the Board of Workforce Development. To be eligible for an annual grant, a qualified institution is requiredto enter into a memorandum of understanding setting forth specificcriteria for eligible credentials, eligible expenses, credentialproduction goals, and completion rates.

Misuse of power of attorney; financial exploitation; incapacitated adults; penalty. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for an agent under a power of attorney to knowingly or intentionally engage in financial exploitation of an incapacitated adult who is the principal of that agent. The bill also provides that the agent's authority terminates upon such conviction. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Criminal Justice Conference. This bill incorporates SB 10 and SB 690 and is identical to HB 497.

Virginia Regional Industrial Facilities Act; revenue sharing agreements; facilities. Allows facilities owned by a non-authority that are utilized as part of a cooperative arrangement entered into by an authority promoting economic and workforce development to participate in localities' revenue sharing agreements. This bill is identical to HB 1271.

Powers and duties of political subdivisions;emergency management assessment. Provides that all politicalsubdivisions shall provide an annually updated emergency managementassessment and data related to emergency sheltering capabilitiesto the State Coordinator of Emergency Management on or before August1 of each year. Under current law, such assessment and data is dueto the State Coordinator of Emergency Management on or before May1 of each year.