Sen. Frank Ruff

Charter; Town of Crewe; town council; electionsand powers. Makes various changes to the charter for the Townof Crewe in Nottoway County, including (i) staggering town councilelections; (ii) changing from three to two the number of town councilmembers required to call a special meeting; and (iii) transferringfrom the town council to the town manager the authority to appoint,suspend, or terminate the chief of police with majority approval by the town council. The bill also repeals provisions related to theestablishment of a municipal court.

Farmers market food and beverage sales consideredessential during state of emergency. Provides that any Commonwealth-basedseller at a farmers market of food or beverage products, and thefarmers market in which it is located, shall be considered an essentialbusiness to the same extent as grocery stores if such stores areallowed to remain open as essential businesses during a state ofemergency declared by the Governor.

Brunswick County school board; appointed schoolboard salaries. Removes the Brunswick County school board fromthe list of approved member salaries for appointed school boards.The Brunswick County school board is currently an elected schoolboard.

Sales tax; exemption for personal protectiveequipment; emergency. Establishes a retail sales and use taxexemption for personal protective equipment, defined in the bill.The exemption would be available to any business that has in placea COVID-19 safety protocol that complies with the Emergency TemporaryStandard promulgated by the Virginia Department of Labor and Industryand that meets other criteria. The exemption would sunset one dayafter the first day following the expiration of the last executiveorder issued by the Governor related to the COVID-19 pandemic andthe termination of the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard andany permanent COVID-19 regulations adopted by the Virginia Safetyand Health Codes Board. The bill contains an emergency clause.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; VirginiaParole Board member votes. Provides that individual votes ofthe members of the Virginia Parole Board shall be public recordsand subject to the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of InformationAct.

Sales and use tax exemption for data centers.Expands the sales and use tax exemption for data centers by allowinga qualifying data center to use the exemption for purchases for itsfacilities located in the same locality as the data center. The billprovides that if a data center operator qualifies for the exemptionin one locality and seeks to qualify in another, it shall not berequired to meet the job creation requirement for purposes of qualifyingin the other locality. The bill requires all data centers claimingthe exemption to report certain information to be published annuallyby the Department of Taxation.

Victims of COVID-19 Remembrance Day. DesignatingMarch 14, in 2021 and in each succeeding year, as Victims of COVID-19Remembrance Day in Virginia.

Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; barrier crimes. Amends the current barrier crimes requirements for the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Department) to provide that the Department, community services boards, children's residential facilities, and licensed providers shall not hire for compensated employment at a state facility, permit to be hired as a private provider, approve as a sponsored residential service provider, approve to be a volunteer, approve to provide contractual services, or permit to enter into a shared living arrangement with a person receiving medical assistance services any person who has been convicted of any offense set forth in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of the definition of barrier crime in § 19.2-392.02 (i) within the 10 years prior to the application date for employment, and may hire a person who has been convicted of such offenses more than 10 years prior only if he has not been convicted of any other crime within the 10 years prior to the application date, or (ii) if such person continues on probation or parole or has failed to pay required court costs for such offenses set forth in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of the definition of barrier crime in § 19.2-392.02. Under current law, with some exceptions, the Department, community services boards, and licensed providers shall not hire for compensated employment persons who have been convicted of any offense set forth in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of the definition of barrier crime in § 19.2-392.02.

Facilitate the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine; emergency. Facilitates the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine. The bill requires the Department of Health (the Department) to establish a program to enable eligible health care providers to volunteer to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to residents of the Commonwealth during a state of emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic declared by the Governor. The bill defines "eligible health care provider" and provides that the program shall include (i) a process by which an eligible health care provider may register to participate in the program and (ii) the training requirements for participating eligible health care providers related to the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine, including training on the intramuscular injection of the COVID-19 vaccine and contraindications and side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. The bill specifies requirements that the Department shall ensure that each site at which COVID-19 vaccinations are administered by eligible health care providers satisfies. The bill also requires the Department to establish a process by which entities, including medical care facilities, hospitals, hospital systems, corporations, businesses, pharmacies, public and private institutions of higher education, localities, and any other professional or community entity operating in the Commonwealth, may volunteer their facilities as sites at which the COVID-19 vaccine may be administered to residents of the Commonwealth. The bill permits a public institution of higher education or a private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth to volunteer to provide assistance to the Department and local health departments for data processing, analytics, and program development related to the COVID-19 vaccine through the use of its employees, students, technology, and facilities. The bill also permits localities with fire departments, emergency medical services departments, and volunteer rescue squads to establish and staff vaccine administration clinics. The bill provides civil and criminal immunity to individuals and professional entities acting pursuant to the bill and contains an emergency clause. This bill is identical to HB 2333.

Celebrating the life of Katherine BridgforthHooker.