Landlord and tenant; tenant rights and responsibilities; explanation and remedy for material noncompliance. Requiresthe Director of the Department of Housing and Community Developmentto develop a statement of tenant rights and responsibilities explainingin plain language the rights and responsibilities of tenants underthe Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (§ 55.1-1200 etseq.) and maintain such statement on the Department's website alongwith a form to be signed by the parties to a rental agreement. The bill requires that the statement be provided to any prospectivetenant and that the form developed by the Department be signed by the parties to the rental agreement. Failure to provide the statementof tenant rights and responsibilities to a prospective tenant orto provide a signed copy of the form with the copy of the signed rentalagreement creates a rebuttable presumption that a landlord who hasan assertion made against him of material noncompliance with the lease agreement has failed to maintain the dwelling unit in a fit and habitable condition.
Sponsored bills
Virginia Food Access Investment Program andFund. Creates the Virginia Food Access Investment Program andFund to provide funding for the construction, rehabilitation, equipmentupgrades, or expansion of grocery stores, small food retailers, andinnovative food retail projects, defined in the bill, in underservedcommunities.
Provision of abortion; informed consent; regulations. Eliminates the procedures and processes, including the performance of an ultrasound, the provision of specified information, and the offer to review certain printed materials, required under existing law to effect a pregnant person's informed written consent prior to the performance of an abortion; however, the bill retains the requirement that a physician obtain a pregnant person's informed written consent prior to performing any abortion. The bill expands who can perform first trimester abortions to any person licensed by the Board of Medicine as a physician's assistant and acting within such person's scope of practice or any person jointly licensed by the Board of Medicine and Nursing as a nurse practitioner acting within the nurse practitioner's such person's scope of practice. The bill removes a provision classifying facilities that perform five or more first trimester abortions per month as hospitals for the purpose of complying with regulations establishing minimum standards for hospitals.
Early childhood care and education; licensing. Requires the Board of Education to establish a statewide unified public-private system for early childhood care and education in the Commonwealth to be administered by the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Department of Education. The bill transfers the authority to license and regulate child day programs and other early child care agencies from the Board of Social Services and Department of Social Services to the Board of Education and Department of Education. The bill maintains current licensure, background check, and other requirements of such programs. Such provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021. The bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a plan for implementing the statewide unified early childhood care and education system and requires the Department of Social Services and the Department of Education to enter into a cooperative agreement to coordinate the transition. The bill also requires the Board of Education to establish, no later than July 1, 2021, a uniform quality rating and improvement system designed to provide parents and families with information about the quality and availability of certain publicly funded early childhood care and education providers and to publish the initial quality ratings under such system in the fall of 2023. This bill is identical to HB 1012.
Paid family and medical leave program. Requiresthe Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer apaid family and medical leave program with benefits beginning January1, 2023. Under the program, benefits are paid to eligible employeesfor family and medical leave. Funding for the program is providedthrough premiums assessed to employers and employees beginning in2022. The amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee's averageweekly wage, not to exceed 80 percent of the state weekly wage, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflect changesin the statewide average weekly wage. The measure caps the durationof paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year. The bill provides self-employed individuals the option of participating in the program.
Affordable housing dwelling unit ordinances. Allows certain localities to adopt affordable housing dwelling unit ordinances. The governing body of any locality, other than localities to which certain current affordable housing provisions apply, may by amendment to the zoning ordinances of such locality provide for an affordable housing dwelling unit program. Such program shall address housing needs, promote a full range of housing choices, and encourage the construction and continued existence of housing affordable to low-and-moderate-income citizens by providing for increases in density to the applicant in exchange for the applicant's voluntarily electing to provide such affordable housing. Any local ordinance may authorize the governing body to (i) establish qualifying jurisdiction-wide affordable dwelling unit sales prices based on local market conditions, (ii) establish jurisdiction-wide affordable dwelling unit qualifying income guidelines, and (iii) offer incentives other than density increases, such as reductions or waiver of permit, development, and infrastructure fees, as the governing body deems appropriate to encourage the provision of affordable housing.The bill provides that any zoning ordinance establishing an affordable housing dwelling unit program may include reasonable regulations and provisions as to any or all of the following: (a) for application of the requirements of an affordable housing dwelling unit program to any site, as defined by the locality, or a portion thereof at one location that is the subject of an application for rezoning or special exception or site plan or subdivision plat that yields, as submitted by the applicant, at an equivalent density greater than one unit per acre and that is located within an approved sewer area; (b) the waiver of any fees associated with the construction, renovation, or rehabilitation of a structure, including building permit fees, application review fees, and water and sewer connection fees; (c) for standards of compliance with the provisions of an affordable housing dwelling unit program and for the authority of the local governing body or its designee to enforce compliance with such standards and impose reasonable penalties for noncompliance, provided that such local zoning ordinance provide for an appeal process for any party aggrieved by a decision of the local governing body; and (d) various other provisions set out in the bill.Any zoning ordinance establishing such affordable housing dwelling unit program shall adopt the regulations and provisions set out in the bill to establish an affordable housing density bonus and development standards relief program. This bill is identical to HB 1101.
Public institutions of higher education; eligibility for in-state tuition. Provides that any student is eligible for in-state tuition who (i) attended high school for at least two years in the Commonwealth and either (a) graduated on or after July 1, 2008, from a public or private high school or program of home instruction in the Commonwealth or (b) passed, on or after July 1, 2008, a high school equivalency examination approved by the Secretary of Education; (ii) has submitted evidence that he or, in the case of a dependent student, at least one parent, guardian, or person standing in loco parentis has filed, unless exempted by state law, Virginia income tax returns for at least two years prior to the date of registration or enrollment; and (iii) registers as an entering student or is enrolled in a public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. The bill states that students who meet these criteria shall be eligible for in-state tuition regardless of their citizenship or immigration status, except students with currently valid visas issued under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(F), 1101(a)(15)(H)(iii), 1101(a)(15)(J) (including only students or trainees), or 1101(a)(15)(M). Information obtained in the implementation of the provisions of the bill shall only be used or disclosed to individuals other than the student for purposes of determining in-state tuition eligibility. This bill is identical to HB 1547.
Classification of land and improvements for tax purposes; City of Richmond. Authorizes the City of Richmond to impose a tax rate on improvements to real property that is different than the City's tax rate on the land upon which the improvements are located, provided that the tax rate is not zero and does not exceed the tax rate imposed on the land. Under current law, the Cities of Fairfax, Roanoke, and Poquoson have the authority to tax improvements and land at different rates.
Fostering Futures program. Establishes theFostering Futures program to provide services and support to individualsbetween the ages of 18 and 21 who were in foster care as a minorand are transitioning to full adulthood and self-sufficiency.
Menstrual supplies; availability; public elementary, middle, and high schools. Requires each school board to make tampons or pads available, at all times and at no cost to students, (i) in such accessible locations as it deems appropriate in each elementary school in the local school division and (ii) in the bathrooms of each middle school and high school in the local school division. This bill is identical to HB 405.