HB182 General Assembly; streaming and recording of meetings. General Assembly meetings; streaming and recording. Requires the Clerk of the House of Delegates and the Clerk of the Senate to ensure that every (i) subcommittee or committee meeting of a standing committee of the General Assembly, regardless of meeting date, and (ii) floor session of the House of Delegates or the Senate, including any joint session of the houses, is streamed with closed captioning, recorded and archived. The bill defines "stream" and specifies that a qualifying meeting is one the date and time of which have been scheduled on a public website of any agency of the General Assembly for at least one hour prior to the meeting and that takes place in the State Capitol, the Pocahontas Building, or the General Assembly Building in Richmond. The bill has a delayed effective date of October 1, 2020. 2020 Regular Session

HJR108 Year of the Eye Exam. Year of the Eye Exam. Designates 2020 as The Year of the Eye Exam in Virginia. 2020 Regular Session

HB201 Elections; same-day registration. Elections; voter registration; extended time for persons to register in person. Provides any person who is qualified to vote is entitled to register to vote in person up to and including the day of the election at the office of the general registrar in the locality in which the person resides or at the polling place for the precinct in which the person resides. Under current law, registration records close for registration purposes, whether in person or by other means, 21 days prior to a primary or general election. The bill has a delayed effective date of October 1, 2022. 2020 Regular Session

HB729 Transit funding; raises the existing regional transportation fee, grantor's tax, etc. Transit funding. Raises the existing regional transportation fee, a grantor's tax, from $0.15 per $100 to $0.20 per $100 for localities in the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority that are also members of the Northern Virginia Transportation District. The bill requires half of the revenues to be deposited in the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority Fund and half to be deposited in the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Capital Fund. The rate of tax in the other localities will remain at $0.15 per $100, with one-third of the revenues to be retained by the locality to be used for transportation purposes and the other two-thirds to be deposited in the Northern Virginia Transportation District Fund. The bill also raises the existing transient occupancy tax in the localities located in the Northern Virginia Transportation District from $2 to $3, with all of the revenues from the tax being used to support WMATA. 2020 Regular Session

HB935 Economic development programs; reporting requirements. Economic development programs; reporting requirements. Clarifies the due dates for plans and reports to be prepared and submitted by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority to various individuals and repeals the requirement that the Secretary of Commerce and Trade provide an annual report on the effectiveness of economic development programs in the Commonwealth. The bill contains technical amendments. 2020 Regular Session

HB1332 Telehealth services; definitions, report. Statewide Telehealth Plan. Directs the Board of Health to develop and implement, by January 1, 2021, and thereafter maintain as a component of the State Health Plan a Statewide Telehealth Plan (the Plan) to promote an integrated approach to the introduction and use of telehealth services and telemedicine services, as those terms are defined in the bill. The bill requires the Plan to include, among other provisions, provisions for (i) the use of remote patient monitoring services and store-and-forward technologies, including in cases involving patients with chronic illness; (ii) the promotion of the inclusion of telehealth services in hospitals, schools, and state agencies; and (iii) a strategy for the collection of data regarding the use of telehealth services. 2020 Regular Session

HB1316 Standards of Quality; work-based learning, teacher leaders and mentors, principal mentors. Standards of Quality; work-based learning; teacher leaders Standards of Quality; work-based learning; teacher leaders and mentors; principal mentors; certain personnel positions and initiatives. Makes several changes to the Standards of Quality, including requiring the establishment of units in the Department of Education to oversee work-based learning and principal mentorship statewide in Standard 1 and requiring the Board of Education to establish and oversee the local implementation of teacher leader and teacher mentor programs in Standard 5. The bill also makes several changes relating to school personnel in Standard 2, including (i) establishing schoolwide ratios of students to teachers in certain schools with high concentrations of poverty and granting flexibility to provide compensation adjustments to teachers in such schools; (ii) requiring each school board to assign licensed personnel in a manner that provides an equitable distribution of experienced, effective teachers and other personnel among all schools in the local school division; (iii) requiring each school board to employ teacher leaders and teacher mentors at specified student-to-position ratios; (iv) requiring state funding in addition to basic aid to support at-risk students and granting flexibility in the use of such funds by school boards; (v) lowering the ratio of English language learner students to teachers; (vi) requiring each school board to employ reading specialists and establishing a student-to-position ratio for such specialists; (vii) requiring school boards to employ one full-time principal in each elementary school; (viii) lowering the ratio of students to assistant principals and school counselors in elementary, middle, and high schools; and (ix) requiring each school board to provide at least four specialized student support positions, including school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, and other licensed health 2020 Regular Session

HB1641 Coal ash ponds; definitions, testing private wells and public water supply wells, etc. Coal ash ponds; private wells and public water supply wells; resident notification. Requires a utility, defined in the bill as the owner or operator of a coal ash pond in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, to complete a survey of all private wells and public water supply wells within 1.5 miles of each of its ponds by October 1, 2020, and to notify residents via mail and a local newspaper posting that the survey will be conducted. 2020 Regular Session

HB1642 Coal ash ponds; definitions, well monitoring program, wells near ponds. Coal ash ponds; well monitoring program; well testing. Requires each utility, defined in the bill as the owner or operator of a coal ash pond in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, to commission an independent well water test on behalf of the owner of any private well or public water supply well located within 1.5 miles of such coal ash pond by January 1, 2021, and requires such test to be conducted once per year during each of the five years following the approval of the closure of the coal ash pond and once every five years thereafter. The bill provides that if any test exceeds any U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Maximum Contaminant Level for drinking water, the utility shall provide water treatment or alternative water supplies, potentially including a connection to a city or county water utility, to the owner of the well. 2020 Regular Session

HB1663 Discrimination; prohibited in public accommodations, etc., causes of action. Prohibited discrimination; public accommodations, employment, credit, and housing: causes of action; sexual orientation and gender identity. Creates explicit causes of action for unlawful discrimination in public accommodations and employment in the Virginia Human Rights Act. Currently, under the Act there is no cause of action for discrimination in public accommodations, and the only causes of action for discrimination in employment are for (i) unlawful discharge on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, including lactation, by employers employing more than five but fewer than 15 persons and (ii) unlawful discharge on the basis of age by employers employing more than five but fewer than 20 persons. The bill allows the causes of action to be pursued privately by the aggrieved person or, in certain circumstances, by the Attorney General. The bill prohibits discrimination in public and private employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill also codifies for state and local government employment the current prohibitions on discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, or status as a veteran. Additionally, the bill (a) prohibits discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran; (b) prohibits discrimination in credit on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, disability, and status as a veteran; and (c) adds discrimination on the basis of an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran as an unlawful housing practice. The bill makes technical amendments. 2020 Regular Session

HB5115 Emergency laws; civil relief, citizens furloughed or otherwise receiving reduced wages or payments. Emergency laws; civil relief; citizens furloughed or otherwise receiving reduced wages or payments due to state of emergency; COVID-19 pandemic. Provides a 60-day stay of an unlawful detainer for nonpayment of rent for tenants and a 30-day stay of foreclosure proceedings for owners of any residential dwelling unit and for homeowners of a one-family to four-family residential dwelling unit who request a stay and provide written proof, defined in the bill, that they are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic during the period for which the Governor has declared a state of emergency (the Emergency). The bill requires owners of residential dwelling units and homeowners who rent to a tenant a one-family to four-family residential dwelling unit to request such stay of foreclosure proceedings within 90 days of the initial declaration of the Emergency or 90 days following the end of the Emergency, whichever is later. The bill provides for an expiration of the provisions 90 days following the end of the Emergency. 2020 Special I

HB145 Public elementary and secondary schools; treatment of transgender students, policies. Public elementary and secondary schools; treatment of transgender students; policies. Requires the Department of Education to develop and make available to each school board, no later than December 31, 2020, model policies concerning the treatment of transgender students in public elementary and secondary schools that address common issues regarding transgender students in accordance with evidence-based best practices and include information, guidance, procedures, and standards relating to (i) compliance with applicable nondiscrimination laws; (ii) maintenance of a safe and supportive learning environment free from discrimination and harassment for all students; (iii) prevention of and response to bullying and harassment; (iv) maintenance of student records; (v) identification of students; (vi) protection of student privacy and the confidentiality of sensitive information; (vii) enforcement of sex-based dress codes; and (viii) student participation in sex-specific school activities and events, excluding athletics, and use of school facilities. The bill requires each school board to adopt, no later than the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, policies that are consistent with but may be more comprehensive than such model policies developed by the Department of Education. 2020 Regular Session

HB827 Virginia Human Rights Act; unlawful discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth. Virginia Human Rights Act; discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; reasonable accommodation for the known limitations of persons related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Requires employers, defined in the bill, to make reasonable accommodation for the known limitations of a person related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, if such accommodation is necessary to assist such person in performing a particular job, unless the employer can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the employer. The bill also prohibits employers from taking any adverse action against an employee who requests or uses a reasonable accommodation and from denying employment or promotion opportunities to an otherwise qualified applicant or employee because such employer will be required to make reasonable accommodation to the applicant or employee. The bill creates a cause of action against any employer who denies any of the rights afforded by the bill and permits the court or jury to award compensatory damages, back pay, and other equitable relief. 2020 Regular Session

HJR233 Commending Bud Foster. Commending Robert Eugene Foster, Jr. 2020 Regular Session

HJR254 Commending the Division of Capitol Police. Commending the Division of Capitol Police. 2020 Regular Session

HJR454 Celebrating the life of Maria Bonazzoli Bourne. Celebrating the life of Maria Bonazzoli Bourne. 2020 Regular Session

HB5064 Virginia Residential Landlord &Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with rental agreement. Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies; noncompliance with rental agreement; payment plan. Requires a landlord who owns more than four rental dwelling units, or more than a 10 percent interest in more than four rental dwelling units, before terminating a rental agreement due to nonpayment of rent, to serve upon such tenant a written notice informing the tenant of the total amount due and owed and offer the tenant a payment plan under which the tenant must pay the total amount due and owed in equal monthly installments over a period of the lesser of six months or the time remaining under the rental agreement. The bill also outlines the remedies a landlord has if a tenant fails to pay the total amount due and owed or enter into a payment arrangement within five days of receiving notice or if the tenant enters into a payment arrangement but fails to pay within five days of the due date any rent that becomes due under the payment plan or arrangement after such plan or arrangement becomes effective. The bill clarifies that a tenant is not precluded from participating in any other rent relief programs available to the tenant through a nonprofit organization or under the provisions of a federal, state, or local law, regulation, or action. The bill sunsets on July 1, 2021. 2020 Special I

HJR165 Commending the Washington Nationals. Commending the Washington Nationals. 2020 Regular Session

HR122 Commending the Honorable Rosalyn Randolph Dance. Commending the Honorable Rosalyn Randolph Dance. 2020 Regular Session

HB5028 Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for COVID-19. Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for COVID-19. Establishes a presumption that COVID-19 causing the death or disability of firefighters, emergency medical services personnel, law-enforcement officers, first responders, health care providers, and school board employees is an occupational diseases compensable under the Workers' Compensation Act. The provisions of the bill will be effective retroactive to January 1, 2020. 2020 Special I

HJR232 Commending the Richmond Police Department. Commending the Richmond Police Department. 2020 Regular Session

HB5103 Elections, Department of; appropriations to provide prepaid postage for return of absentee ballots. Appropriation; Department of Elections. Appropriates $2,000,000 to the Department of Elections to be used to provide prepaid postage for the return of absentee ballots for the November 3, 2020, election. The bill requires that such prepaid postage be provided by localities, which will be reimbursed by the Department out of the appropriation. The bill also makes other procedural changes for absentee voting for the November 3, 2020, election, including directing the State Board of Elections to promulgate guidelines for the establishment and operation of drop-off locations for completed ballots. Appropriation; Department of Elections. Appropriates $2,000,000 to the Department of Elections to be used to provide prepaid postage for the return of absentee ballots for the November 3, 2020, election. The bill requires that such prepaid postage be provided by localities, which will be reimbursed by the Department out of the appropriation. The bill also makes other procedural changes for absentee voting for the November 3, 2020, election, including directing the State Board of Elections to promulgate guidelines for the establishment and operation of drop-off locations for completed ballots. 2020 Special I

HB5104 Law-enforcement officers, sheriff, etc.; minimum qualifications, disclosure of information. Minimum qualifications for law-enforcement officer, etc.; disclosure of information. Provides that any sheriff or chief of police, the director or chief executive of any agency or department employing deputy sheriffs or law-enforcement officers, and the Director of the Department of Criminal Justice Services shall disclose to a prospective law-enforcement or jail employer any information (i) related to an arrest or prosecution of a former police officer, deputy sheriff, or jail officer, including expunged information; (ii) related to a civil suit regarding a former police officer's, deputy sheriff's, or jail officer's employment or performance of his duties; (iii) obtained during the course of any internal investigation related to a former police officer's, deputy sheriff's, or jail officer's alleged criminal conduct, use of excessive force, or other official misconduct in violation of the state professional standards of conduct; and (iv) related to a former police officer, deputy sheriff, or jail officer's job performance that led to dismissal, demotion, suspension, or transfer. The bill further provides that no police officer, deputy sheriff, or jail officer may be employed by another law-enforcement agency or jail until the requested information is received from all prior employing agencies in the Commonwealth. The bill also requires that all law-enforcement officers undergo a psychological examination, subsequent to a conditional offer of employment, conducted under the supervision of a licensed psychologist or other licensed mental health professional as part of the minimum qualifications to be a law-enforcement officer. 2020 Special I

HB284 Removal of dangerous roadside vegetation; local option. Removal of dangerous roadside conditions; local option. Authorizes any locality, by ordinance, to require the owner of any property located adjacent to a right-of-way maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation to remove any and all trees, tree limbs, shrubs, high grass, or other substance that might dangerously obstruct the line of sight of a driver, be involved in a collision with a vehicle, or interfere with the safe operation of a vehicle. 2020 Regular Session

HB56 Minimum wage; tipped employees, classification. Minimum wage; tipped employees; classification. Prohibits an employer from classifying an individual as a tipped employee if the individual is prohibited by applicable federal or state law or regulation from soliciting tips. 2020 Regular Session

HB1490 Same-sex marriages; civil unions. Same-sex marriages; civil unions. Repeals the statutory prohibitions on same-sex marriages and civil unions or other arrangements between persons of the same sex purporting to bestow the privileges and obligations of marriage. These prohibitions are no longer valid due to the United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___ (June 26, 2015). 2020 Regular Session

HB5047 Virginia Post-Disaster Anti-Price Gouging Act; manufacturers and distributors. Virginia Post-Disaster Anti-Price Gouging Act; manufacturers and distributors. Prohibits any manufacturer or distributor from selling necessary goods or services at an unconscionable price during a declared state of emergency. Under current law, the prohibition does not apply to a manufacturer or distributor unless it advertises its goods or services to consumers. 2020 Special I

HJR1 United States Constitution; ratifies and affirms Equal Rights Amendment. Constitution of the United States; Equal Rights Amendment. Ratifies the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States that was proposed by Congress in 1972. The joint resolution advocates the position that the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment remains viable and may be ratified notwithstanding the expiration of the 10-year ratification period set out in the resolving clause, as amended, in the proposal adopted by Congress. 2020 Regular Session

HJR4 Celebrating the life of Alan Arnold Diamonstein. Celebrating the life of Alan Arnold Diamonstein. 2020 Regular Session

HB785 Localities; authority to levy taxes. Local tax authority. Modifies or eliminates several restrictions that apply to taxes imposed by counties, and establishes a new restriction on cigarette taxes imposed by any locality. The bill authorizes most counties to impose an admissions tax, not to exceed a 10 percent rate. Under current law, only certain counties may impose an admissions tax. The bill eliminates the limit on the rate of transient occupancy tax that a county may impose. The bill requires that any revenue attributable to a rate over two percent but not exceeding five percent must be dedicated to tourism marketing. The provisions related to the transient occupancy tax have a delayed effective date of May 1, 2021. Under current law, all counties may impose a transient occupancy tax of up to two percent, and certain counties may impose it up to a higher maximum rate. The bill authorizes any county to impose a cigarette tax up to a maximum rate of 40 cents per pack. It also provides that any locality that imposes such tax at a rate higher than 40 cents per pack may not increase such rate. The provisions related to the cigarette tax have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021. Under current law, only certain counties may impose a cigarette tax, and cities and towns may impose such tax with no limit on the rate. The bill authorizes any county to impose a food and beverage tax of up to six percent and eliminates the requirement that a county hold a referendum before imposing such tax. Under current law, all counties may impose the tax after a referendum but the rate may not exceed four percent. 2020 Regular Session

HB55 Worker cooperatives; establishes as a category of cooperative associations. Worker cooperatives. Establishes worker cooperatives as a category of cooperative associations. A worker cooperative is a stock corporation that has elected to be governed by provisions established by this measure, which include (i) conducting its business primarily for the mutual benefit of its members, (ii) allowing only current and retired employees to be members, (iii) limiting voting rights to current employees, (iv) providing that each employee is entitled to one vote, (v) prohibiting any person from owning more than one membership share, (vi) requiring at least two-thirds of employees to own membership shares, and (vii) requiring that net earnings be paid or credited to members in accordance with the ratio that each member's amount of work performed during a period bears to the total amount of work performed by all members during that period. 2020 Regular Session

HB66 Health insurance; cost-sharing payments for prescription insulin drugs. Health insurance; cost-sharing payments for prescription insulin drugs. Prohibits health insurance companies and other carriers from setting an amount exceeding $50 per 30-day supply that a covered person is required to pay at the point of sale in order to receive a covered prescription insulin drug. The measure also prohibits a provider contract between a carrier or its pharmacy benefits manager and a pharmacy from containing a provision (i) authorizing the carrier's pharmacy benefits manager or the pharmacy to charge, (ii) requiring the pharmacy to collect, or (iii) requiring a covered person to make a cost-sharing payment for a covered prescription insulin drug in an amount that exceeds such limitation. 2020 Regular Session

HJR17 Commending The American Legion Auxiliary. Commending The American Legion Auxiliary. 2020 Regular Session

HB1103 Ranked choice voting; elections for local governing bodies, local option pilot program. Ranked choice voting; elections for local governing bodies; local option pilot program. Provides that elections for local governing bodies may be conducted by ranked choice voting, which the bill defines as the method of casting and tabulating votes in which (i) voters rank candidates in order of preference, (ii) tabulation proceeds in rounds such that in each round either a candidate or candidates are elected or the last-place candidate is defeated, (iii) votes for voters' next-ranked candidates are transferred from elected or defeated candidates, and (iv) tabulation ends when the number of candidates elected equals the number of offices to be filled. The bill allows any local governing body to decide to conduct such election by ranked choice voting and requires any such decision to be made in consultation with the local electoral board and general registrar and by a majority vote of the governing body. The bill authorizes the State Board of Elections to promulgate regulations for the proper and efficient administration of elections determined by ranked choice voting. The bill provides that any costs incurred by the Department of Elections related to technological changes necessary for the implementation of ranked choice voting pursuant to the bill shall be charged to the localities exercising the option to proceed with ranked choice voting. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021, and sunsets on July 1, 2031. 2020 Regular Session

HJR353 Commending the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Commending the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. 2020 Regular Session

HB5048 Outbreaks of communicable disease of public health threat; posting of information about cases. Outbreaks of communicable disease of public health threat; posting of information. Requires the Department of Health to make information about outbreaks of communicable diseases of public health threat at any medical care facility, residential or day program, service or facility licensed or operated by any agency of the Commonwealth, school, or summer camp currently required to report an outbreak of a communicable disease to the Department available to the public on a website maintained by the Department. Such information shall include the name of the place at which the outbreak has occurred and the number of confirmed cases of and deaths resulting from such communicable disease reported by each such place. 2020 Special I

HB5088 Electric utility regulation; triennial review proceeding, emergency investigations, etc. Electric utility regulation; triennial Electric utility regulation; triennial review proceeding; emergency investigations; administration of earnings. Directs the State Corporation Commission (the Commission), for Dominion's 2021 triennial review, to administer 100 percent of the earnings that were more than 70 basis points above the utility's most recently approved fair combined rate of return for the test period or periods under review, considered as a whole, to benefit customers. One hundred percent of any such over-earnings not otherwise administered by the Commission pursuant to an emergency investigation, if any, shall be credited to customers' bills, which the Commission shall amortize, in its sole discretion, over a period of six to 12 months. The bill also directs the State Corporation Commission to conduct an emergency investigation of the earnings of each utility subject to triennial review proceedings that is not currently undergoing an earnings review proceeding. The bill provides that if, after reviewing the earnings reported by the utility, the Commission finds that a utility's rates for generation and distribution have produced revenues that exceed the utility's most recently authorized rate of return for the calendar years reviewed by more than 70 basis points, the Commission will administer such over-earnings that are more than 70 basis points above the authorized rate of return to benefit customers. The bill provides that the Commission, in a utility's next triennial review, may take any action it deems necessary and appropriate if the bill credits ordered pursuant to an emergency investigation 2020 Special I

HB153 Right to work; repeals provisions of Code that refers to denial or abridgement. Right to work. Repeals the provisions of the Code of Virginia that, among other things, prohibit any agreement or combination between an employer and a labor union or labor organization whereby (i) nonmembers of the union or organization are denied the right to work for the employer, (ii) membership in the union or organization is made a condition of employment or continuation of employment by such employer, or (iii) the union or organization acquires an employment monopoly in any such enterprise. 2020 Regular Session

HJR148 Indian American Heritage Month. Indian American Heritage Month. Designates Indian American Heritage Month. Designates August, in 2020 and in each succeeding year, as Indian American Heritage Month in Virginia. 2020 Regular Session

HJR271 Commending Alice's Kids. Commending Alice's Kids. 2020 Regular Session

HJR292 Celebrating the life of Virginia Flynn Bell. Celebrating the life of Virginia Flynn Bell. 2020 Regular Session

HJR46 Commending the United States Women's National Soccer Team. Commending the United States Women's National Soccer Team. 2020 Regular Session

HB572 Distributed solar & other renewable energy; sales of electricity under third-party agreements. Distributed renewable energy. Promotes the establishment of distributed renewable solar and other renewable energy. The measure (i) requires the State Corporation Commission to establish by regulation a shared solar program that allows multifamily customers of investor-owned utilities, other than American Electric Power, to purchase electric power through a subscription in a shared solar facility; (ii) raises the cap on the total amount of renewable energy that can be net metered in a utility's service territory from one percent to six percent, five percent of which is available to all customers and one percent of which is available only to low-income utility customers; (iii) raises the cap for net-metered nonresidential generation facilities from one megawatt to three megawatts; (iv) allows certain localities to install solar or wind facilities of up to five megawatts on government-owned property and use the electricity for government-owned buildings; (v) increases the cap on the capacity of generation from facilities from the customer's expected annual energy consumption to 150 percent of such amount for customers in Dominion Energy Virginia's service territory; (vi) prohibits standby charges for any residential customer-generator or agricultural customer-generator of an investor-owned utility other than Dominion Energy Virginia; and (vii) increases the cap on third party power purchase agreements to 500 megawatts for jurisdictional customers and 500 megawatts for nonjurisdictional customers of Dominion Energy Virginia and to 40 megawatts for customers of American Electric Power. The measure also amends the Commonwealth Energy Policy to include provisions supporting distributed generation of renewable energy. 2020 Regular Session

HB980 Abortion; expands who can perform in first trimester, informed consent required. Provision of abortion. Expands who can perform first trimester abortions to include any person jointly licensed by the Board of Medicine and Nursing as a nurse practitioner acting within such person's scope of practice. The bill eliminates all the procedures and processes, including the performance of an ultrasound, required to effect a pregnant person's informed written consent to the performance of an abortion; however, the bill does not change the requirement that a pregnant person's informed written consent first be obtained. The bill removes language 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. 2020 Regular Session

HB1257 Drinking water supplies and waterworks; maximum contaminant levels, effective date, report. Drinking water supplies; maximum contaminant levels. Directs the State Board of Health to adopt regulations establishing maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) in public drinking water systems for (i) perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorooctane sulfonate, and for such other perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances as the Board deems necessary; (ii) chromium-6; and (iii) 1,4-dioxane. The bill requires such MCLs to be protective of public health, including the health of vulnerable subpopulations, and to be no higher than any MCL or health advisory adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the same contaminant. The bill directs the Department of Health to report to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions on the status of research related to MCLs by November 1, 2020, and submit a final report by October 1, 2021, detailing the MCL regulations established by the Department of Health. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2022. 2020 Regular Session

HB1301 Children's Ombudsman, Office of the; established. Office of the Children's Ombudsman established. Establishes the Office of the Children's Ombudsman as a means of effecting changes in policy, procedure, and legislation; educating the public; investigating and reviewing actions of the State Department of Social Services, local departments of social services, child-placing agencies, or child-caring institutions; and monitoring and ensuring compliance with relevant statutes, rules, and policies pertaining to children's protective services and the placement, supervision, treatment, and improvement of delivery of care to children in foster care and adoptive homes. The Office of the Children's Ombudsman is headed by the Children's Ombudsman, who is appointed for a term of four years by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the General Assembly. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act. 2020 Regular Session

HB1526 Electric utility regulation; environmental goals. Virginia Clean Economy Act. Establishes a schedule by which Dominion Energy Virginia and American Electric Power are required to retire electric generating units located in the Commonwealth that emit carbon as a by-product of combusting fuel to generate electricity and by which they are required to construct, acquire, or enter into agreements to purchase generating capacity located in the Commonwealth using energy derived from sunlight or onshore wind. The measure replaces the existing voluntary renewable energy portfolio standard program (RPS Program) with a mandatory RPS Program. Under the mandatory RPS Program, Dominion Energy Virginia and American Electric Power are required to produce their electricity from 100 percent renewable sources by 2045 and 2050, respectively. A utility that does not meet its targets is required to pay a specific deficiency payment or purchase renewable energy certificates. The proceeds from the deficiency payments are to be deposited into an account administered by the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, which is directed to distribute specific percentages of the moneys to job training and renewable energy programs in historically economically disadvantaged communities, energy efficiency measures, and administrative costs. The measure requires the State Air Pollution Control Board to adopt regulations to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions from certain electricity generating units in the Commonwealth and authorizes the Board to establish, implement, and manage an auction program to sell allowances to carry out the purposes of such regulations and to utilize its existing regulations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from electric power generating facilities. Among other things, the measure also (i) requires, by 2035, American Electric Power and Dominion Energy Virginia to construct or acquire 400 and 2,700 megawatts of energy storage capacity, respectively; (ii) establishes an energy efficiency standard under which each investor-owned incumbent electric utility is required to achieve incremental annual energy efficiency savings that start in 2022 at 0.5 percent for American Electric Power and 1.25 percent for Dominion Energy Virginia of the average annual energy retail sales by that utility in 2019 and increase those savings annually; (iii) exempts large general service customers from energy savings requirements; (iv) revises the incentive for electric utility energy efficiency programs; (v) provides that if the Commission finds in any triennial review that revenue reductions related to energy efficiency measures or programs approved and deployed since the utility's previous triennial review have caused the utility to earn more than 50 basis points below a fair combined rate of return on its generation and distribution services or, for any test period commencing after December 31, 2012, for Dominion Energy Virginia and after December 31, 2013, for American Electric Power, more than 70 basis points below a fair combined rate of return on its generation and distribution services, the Commission shall order increases to the utility's rates for generation and distribution services necessary to recover such revenue reductions; (vi) establishes requirements regarding the development by Dominion Energy Virginia of qualified offshore wind projects having an aggregate rated capacity of not less than 5,200 megawatts by January 1, 2034, and provides that in constructing any such facility, the utility shall (a) identify options for utilizing local workers; (b) identify the economic development benefits of the project for the Commonwealth, including capital investments and job creation; (c) consult with relevant governmental entities, including the Commonwealth's Chief Workforce Development Officer and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, on opportunities to advance the Commonwealth's workforce and economic development goals, including furtherance of apprenticeship and other workforce training programs; and (d) give priority to the hiring, apprenticeship, and training of veterans, local workers, and workers from historically economically disadvantaged communities; (vii) requires each utility to include, and the Commission to consider, in any application to construct a new generating facility the social cost of carbon, as determined by the Commission, as a benefit or cost, whichever is appropriate; (viii) removes provisions that authorize nuclear and offshore wind generating facilities to continue to be eligible for an enhanced rate of return on common equity during the construction phase of the facility and the approved first portion of its service life of between 12 and 25 years in the case of a facility utilizing nuclear power and for a service life of between five and 15 years in the case of a facility utilizing energy derived from offshore wind; (ix) removes a provision that declares that planning and development activities for new nuclear generation facilities are in the public interest; (x) increases the limit from 5,000 megawatts to 16,100 megawatts on those solar and onshore wind generation facilities that are declared to be in the public interest and increases the limit from 16 megawatts to 3,000 megawatts on those offshore wind generation facilities that are declared to be in the public interest; (xi) amends the net energy metering program by increasing the maximum capacity of renewable generation facilities of participating nonresidential eligible customer-generators from one to three megawatts, increases the cap on the capacity of generation from facilities from the customer's expected annual energy consumption to 150 percent of such amount for customers in Dominion Energy Virginia's service territory, increases each utility's systemwide cap from one percent of its adjusted Virginia peak-load forecast for the previous year to six percent of such amount, five percent of which is available to all customers and one percent of which is available only to low-income utility customers; (xii) establishes the Percentage of Income Payment Program (PIPP), which caps the monthly electric utility payment of low-income participants at six percent, or, if the participant's home uses electric heat, 10 percent, of the participant's household income, requires the Commission to issue its final order regarding the PIPP by December 31, 2020, and requires the Department of Housing and Community Development and the Department of Social Services to convene a stakeholder group to develop recommendations for implementing the PIPP and to submit the stakeholder recommendations to the Chairs of the House Committee on Labor and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor by December 1, 2020; (xiii) increases the cap on third party power purchase agreements to 500 megawatts for jurisdictional customers and 500 megawatts for nonjurisdictional customers of Dominion Energy Virginia and to 40 megawatts for customers of American Electric Power; (xiv) requires each investor-owned utility to consult with the Clean Energy Advisory Board in how best to inform low-income customers of opportunities to lower electric bills through access to solar energy; (xv) requires the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, in consultation with the Council on Environmental Justice, to prepare a report to the Chairs of the House Committee on Labor and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor that determines if the implementation of the measure imposes a disproportionate burden on historically economically disadvantaged communities; (xvi) requires the Secretary of Natural Resources and the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, in consultation with the State Corporation Commission and the Council on Environmental Justice and appropriate stakeholders, to report to the General Assembly by January 1, 2022, any recommendations on how to achieve 100 percent carbon-free electric energy generation by 2045 at least cost for ratepayers; and (xvii) provides that it is the policy of the Commonwealth that the State Corporation Commission, Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, Virginia Council on Environmental Justice, and other applicable state agencies, in the development of energy programs, job training programs, and placement of renewable energy facilities, shall consider those facilities and programs being to the benefit of low-income geographic areas and historically economically disadvantaged communities that are located near previously and presently permitted fossil fuel facilities or coal mines. 2020 Regular Session

HJR231 Commending the Virginia Department of State Police. Commending the Virginia Department of State Police. 2020 Regular Session

HB5052 Legal holidays; Juneteenth. Legal holidays; Juneteenth. Recognizes the nineteenth day of June of each year, also known as Juneteenth, as a legal holiday in the Commonwealth to commemorate the announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas, the last of the former Confederate States of America to abolish slavery, and to recognize the significant roles and many contributions of African Americans to the Commonwealth and the nation. 2020 Special I

HB1594 Health insurance; mandated coverage for hearing aids for minors. Health insurance; mandated coverage for hearing aids for minors. Requires health insurers, health maintenance organizations, and corporations providing health care coverage subscription contracts to provide coverage for hearing aids and related services for children 18 years of age or younger when a licensed audiologist prescribes such hearing aids and related services. The coverage includes one hearing aid per hearing-impaired ear, up to a cost of $1,500, every 24 months. The measure applies to policies, contracts, and plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on and after January 1, 2021. 2020 Regular Session

HJR162 Commending the Division of Capitol Police. Commending the Division of Capitol Police. 2020 Regular Session

HJR242 Commending Ilryong Moon. Commending Ilryong Moon. 2020 Regular Session

HB177 Presidential electors; National Popular Vote Compact. Presidential electors; National Popular Vote Compact. Enters Virginia into an interstate compact known as the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote. Article II of the Constitution of the United States gives the states exclusive and plenary authority to decide the manner of awarding their electoral votes. Under the compact, Virginia agrees to award its electoral votes to the presidential ticket that receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact goes into effect when states cumulatively possessing a majority of the electoral votes have joined the compact. A state may withdraw from the compact; however, a withdrawal occurring within six months of the end of a President's term shall not become effective until a President or Vice President has qualified to serve the next term. 2020 Regular Session

HB5055 Law-enforcement civilian review panels; localities required, on or before 7/1/2021, to establish. Law-enforcement civilian oversight bodies. Requires a locality to establish a law-enforcement civilian oversight body that may (i) receive, investigate, and issue findings on complaints from civilians regarding conduct of law-enforcement officers and civilian employees; (ii) investigate and issue findings on incidents, including the use of force by a law-enforcement officer, death or serious injury to any person held in custody, serious abuse of authority or misconduct, allegedly discriminatory stops, and other incidents regarding the conduct of law-enforcement officers or civilian employees; (iii) make binding disciplinary determinations in cases that involve serious breaches of departmental and professional standards; (iv) investigate policies, practices, and procedures of law-enforcement agencies and make recommendations regarding changes to such policies, practices, and procedures; (v) review all investigations conducted internally by law-enforcement agencies and issue findings regarding the accuracy, completeness, and impartiality of such investigations and the sufficiency of any discipline resulting from such investigations; (vi) request reports of the annual expenditures of law-enforcement agencies and make budgetary recommendations; (vii) make public reports on the activities of the board; and (viii) undertake any other duties as reasonably necessary for the board to effectuate its lawful purpose to effectively oversee the law-enforcement agencies as authorized by the locality. The bill provides that a law-enforcement officer who is subject to a binding disciplinary determination may file a grievance requesting a final hearing pursuant to the locality's local grievance procedures. 2020 Special I

HB582 Employees of local governments; collective bargaining. Labor and employment; collective bargaining; employees of counties, cities, and towns. Permits counties, cities, and towns to adopt local ordinances authorizing them to (i) recognize any labor union or other employee association as a bargaining agent of any public officers or employees, except for Constitutional officers and their employees, and including public school employees and (ii) collectively bargain or enter into any collective bargaining contract with any such union or association or its agents with respect to any matter relating to them or their employment. The bill provides that for any governing body of a county, city, or town that has not adopted an ordinance or resolution providing for collective bargaining, such governing body is required, within 120 days of receiving certification from a majority of public employees in a unit considered by such employees to be appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, to take a vote to adopt or not adopt an ordinance or resolution to provide for collective bargaining by such public employees and any other public employees deemed appropriate by the governing body. The bill provides that the prohibition against striking for public employees applies, irrespective of any such local ordinance. The bill has a delayed effective date of May 1, 2021. 2020 Regular Session

HB5041 Nursing homes, certified nursing facilities, and hospice facilities; public health emergency, etc. Nursing homes, certified nursing facilities, and hospices; visitation; public health emergency. Requires the Board of Health to amend regulations governing nursing homes, certified nursing facilities and hospices to require that during a public health emergency related to COVID-19, each nursing home, certified nursing facility, and hospice to establish a protocol to allow each patient to receive visits, consistent with guidance from the centers for Disease Control and Prevention and as directed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Board. 2020 Special I

HB5146 Criminal records; automatic expungement for certain convictions, etc. Automatic expungement of criminal records. Establishes a process for the automatic expungement of criminal records for certain convictions, deferred dispositions, acquittals, and for offenses that have been nolle prossed or otherwise dismissed. The bill also provides a process for the automatic expungement of criminal records for charges arising from mistaken identity or the unauthorized use of identifying information. The bill has staggered delayed effective dates in order to develop systems for implementing the provisions of the bill. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia State Crime Commission. 2020 Special I

HB527 Student assessments; language translation. Student assessments; language translation. Requires each school board to establish a process for the translation of certain statutorily required student assessments and any accompanying assessment instructions into the native language of each student who will participate in such assessments. 2020 Regular Session

HB833 Virginia Public Procurement Act; public works contracts, prevailing wage rate, penalty. Prevailing wage; public works contracts; penalty. Requires contractors and subcontractors under any public contract with a state agency, or with a locality that has adopted an ordinance requiring the payment of prevailing wages, for public works to pay wages, salaries, benefits, and other remuneration to any mechanic, laborer, or worker employed, retained, or otherwise hired to perform services in connection with the public contract for public works at the prevailing wage rate. The provisions of the bill would not apply to any contract for public works of $250,000 or less. The Commissioner of Labor and Industry is required to determine the prevailing wage rate for such public contracts on the basis of applicable prevailing wage rate determinations made by the U.S. Secretary of Labor under the provisions of the federal Davis-Bacon Act. A contractor or subcontractor who willfully employs any mechanic, laborer, or worker to perform work contracted to be done under the public contract at a rate that is less than the prevailing wage rate is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. In addition, such a contractor or subcontractor shall be liable to such individuals for the payment of all wages due plus interest and shall be disqualified from bidding on public contracts with any public body until full restitution has been paid to the individuals. The bill has a delayed effective date of May 1, 2021. 2020 Regular Session

HJR270 Commending Mount Vernon at Home. Commending Mount Vernon at Home. 2020 Regular Session

HR173 Commending Rosa B. Price. Commending Rosa B. Price. 2020 Regular Session

HB789 Consumer lending; replaces references to payday loans with term "short-term loans." Consumer lending. Replaces references to payday loans with the term "short-term loans." The measure caps the interest and fees that may be charged under a short-term loan at an annual rate of 36 percent, plus a maintenance fee; increases the maximum amount of such loans from $500 to $2,500; and sets the duration of such loans at a minimum of four months, subject to exceptions, and a maximum of 24 months. Short-term loan licensees are required to make a reasonable attempt to verify a borrower's income and may not collect fees and charges that exceed 50 percent of the original loan amount if such amount is equal to or less than $1,500 and 60 percent of the original loan amount if such amount is greater than $1,500. The measure amends the requirements for motor vehicle title loans, including requiring licensed lenders to use a database to determine a prospective borrower's eligibility for a loan and prohibiting loans to a borrower who has an outstanding short-term loan. The measure sets a 36-percent annual interest rate cap on open-end credit plans and allows a $50 annual participation fee. A violation of these provisions is made a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The measure amends provisions of the Consumer Finance Act to, among other things, allow licensed lenders to use the services of access partners and establish requirements that loans be between $300 and $35,000; be repayable in substantially equal installment payments; have a term of no fewer than six and no more than 120 months; charge not more than 36 percent annual interest and a loan processing fee; and require licensees to post a bond. The measure prohibits credit service businesses from advertising, offering, or performing other services in connection with an extension of credit that has an annual interest rate exceeding 36 percent, is for less than $5,000, has a term of less than one year, or is provided under an open-end credit plan. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021, and requires any person who would be required to be licensed under the provisions of the act to apply for a license by October 1, 2020. 2020 Regular Session

HR190 Celebrating the life of Lorine Bernice Allen Jordan. Celebrating the life of Lorine Bernice Allen Jordan. 2020 Regular Session

HJR3 Constitutional amendment; reapportionment, technical adjustments permitted. Constitutional amendment (second resolution); reapportionment; technical adjustments permitted. Gives the General Assembly the authority to make technical adjustments to legislative electoral district boundaries following the enactment of any decennial reapportionment law. Such adjustments may be made solely for the purpose of causing legislative electoral district boundaries to coincide with the boundaries of voting precincts established in the counties and cities and shall be permitted only to the extent necessary to accomplish this purpose. Any change made shall be consistent with any criteria for legislative electoral districts adopted for the preceding decennial redistricting. 2020 Regular Session

HB408 Green Job Creation Tax Credit; extends sunset date. Green job creation tax credit; sunset. Extends the sunset date of the green job creation tax credit from January 1, 2021, to January 1, 2025. The bill contains technical amendments. 2020 Regular Session

HB590 Income tax, state; housing choice vouchers, definition of eligible housing areas. Tax credit for participating landlords; eligible housing areas. Expands the definition of "eligible housing area" for the housing choice voucher tax credit to include Virginia census tracts in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area in which less than 10 percent of the population lives below the poverty level. Landlords who rent qualified housing units within such areas are eligible for an income tax credit. Current law only applies to such areas within the Richmond and Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News Metropolitan Statistical Areas. 2020 Regular Session

HB1139 Students; screening and identifying for eligibility for certain programs. Board of Education; Regulations Governing Educational Services for Gifted Students; comprehensive review. Requires the Board of Education, as part of its current comprehensive review of its Regulations Governing Educational Services for Gifted Students, to consider revisions to (i) the process of screening and identifying students for eligibility for gifted and talented programs and referring students to such programs to improve the identification of student populations that are underrepresented in such programs, including economically disadvantaged students, English language learner students, and students with disabilities and (ii) the data collection requirements of the annual report required by such regulations to better inform equitable screening and identification for and access to gifted and talented programs for student populations that are underrepresented in such programs. 2020 Regular Session

HB1199 Employee misclassification; retaliatory actions prohibited, civil penalty. Employee misclassification; retaliatory actions prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits an employer from discharging, disciplining, threatening, discriminating against, or penalizing an employee or independent contractor because the employee or independent contractor reported or plans to report that an employer or any officer or agent has failed to properly classify an individual as an employee and failed to pay required benefits or other contributions. The measure also prohibits such actions against an employee or independent contractor who is requested or subpoenaed by an appropriate authority to participate in an investigation, hearing, or inquiry by an appropriate authority or in a court action. These prohibitions apply only if an employee or independent contractor acts in good faith and upon a reasonable belief that the information is accurate. The measure authorizes the Commissioner of Labor and Industry to institute proceedings against an employer who has taken such prohibited retaliatory action. Available remedies include reinstatement of the employee and recovery of lost wages. An employer that violates these provisions is subject to a civil penalty equal to the employee's lost wages. 2020 Regular Session

HB1225 Electric utilities; notice before terminating service. Electric utilities; notice before terminating service. Prohibits an electric utility from terminating the residential service of a customer for nonpayment for metered services when the electric utility believes that the customer is receiving or has received electric utility services for which the customer was not properly billed as the result of tampering with the electric utility's meter until the electric utility has (i) retrieved the meter from the customer's premises, which may be done without providing prior notice to the customer; (ii) immediately replaced it with a new meter; and (iii) determined whether the meter has been tampered with. The measure requires that if the electric utility determines that the meter has been tampered with and seeks payment for services not properly billed, the electric utility must provide the customer with an invoice with a reasonable and final estimate of the amount owed by the customer as a result of the meter's failure. The electric utility is required to provide the customer one full billing period to pay the amount billed in such invoice. The measure authorizes a customer to submit a complaint to the State Corporation Commission and to file a formal proceeding after the informal complaint process has been exhausted. The measure includes specific conditions for which these requirements do not apply, including when the condition of a customer's wiring, equipment, or appliances is either unsafe or unsuitable for receiving the utility service or when the customer's use of the utility service or equipment interferes with or may be detrimental to the utility's facilities or to the provision of utility service by the utility to any other customer. 2020 Regular Session

HJR252 Commending the South County High School softball team. Commending the South County High School softball team. 2020 Regular Session

HR566 Commending Suzanne E. Metz. Commending Suzanne E. Metz. 2020 Special I

HB202 Officers of election; timing of additional training following change in law or regulation. Officers of election; timing of additional training following change in law or regulation. Requires the additional training for officers of elections occurring after a change in an election law or regulation to take place not less than three days prior to the first election occurring in the locality after the law or regulation has taken effect. Under current law, such training is required to take place not later than three days prior to the November general election following the enactment of the law or regulation. 2020 Regular Session

HB298 Misdemeanor sexual offenses; increases statute of limitations, where the victim is a minor. Misdemeanor sexual offenses where the victim is a minor; statute of limitations. Increases the statute of limitations for prosecuting misdemeanor violations where the victim is a minor from one year after the victim reaches the age of majority to five years after the victim reaches the age of majority if the offender was an adult at the time of the offense and more than three years older than the victim for the following misdemeanor violations: carnal knowledge of detainee by employee of bail bond company, sexual battery, attempted sexual battery, infected sexual battery, sexual abuse of a child age 13 or 14 by an adult, and tongue penetration by adult of mouth of child under age 13 with lascivious intent. 2020 Regular Session

HB1219 Taxation, Department of; period of limitations, amended returns, refunds. Department of Taxation; period of limitations; amended returns; refunds. Increases the period within which a taxpayer may file an amended return with the Department of Taxation from three years to seven years from the last day prescribed by law for the timely filing of the return. The bill increases the period within which a refund may be made for overpayment upon discovery by the Department or on written application of the taxpayer from three years to seven years from the last day prescribed by law for the timely filing of the return. 2020 Regular Session

HB1547 Higher educational institutions, public; eligibility for in-state tuition. 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. 2020 Regular Session

HB1700 Motor Vehicles, Department of; data privacy, facial recognition technology. Department of Motor Vehicles data privacy; facial recognition technology. Limits the release by the Department of Motor Vehicles (the Department) of information regarding proof documents or of an individual's photograph or signature provided to the Department. The bill prohibits any federal agency that primarily enforces immigration law from accessing information stored by the Department without a judicial warrant or court order. The bill limits the use of and prohibits the State Board of Elections from distributing certain immigration information provided by the Department. The bill prohibits the Department from sharing information with an entity that is in the business of selling information to a third party. The bill prohibits the use of Department information for facial recognition purposes prior to July 1, 2022, except when used by (i) the Department to ensure compliance with the REAL ID Act of 2005 or (ii) law-enforcement agencies to identify victims of sex trafficking. The bill requires the Department, in consultation with the Department of Criminal Justice Services and the Office of the Attorney General and other stakeholders, to develop recommendations on using facial recognition technology and protecting the privacy of the citizens of Virginia and to report such findings to the Governor and the General Assembly on or before December 1, 2021. The bill requires the Department of State Police to review policies related to the access of information through the Virginia Criminal Information Network. 2020 Regular Session

HB1207 Police and court records; expungement, certain misdemeanor and felony larceny convictions. Expungement of police and court records; certain misdemeanor and felony larceny convictions. Allows a person convicted of a misdemeanor or felony larceny offense where the value of the property stolen was less than $500 to file a petition for expungement if (i) such person has completed all terms of probation and postrelease supervision imposed as a result of such conviction; (ii) at least five years have passed from the date of conviction, if no active term of incarceration was imposed as a result of such conviction, or the date of completion of an active sentence of incarceration, if an active term of incarceration was imposed as a result of such conviction; and (iii) such person has no subsequent criminal convictions and no pending criminal proceeding. 2020 Regular Session

HJR257 Commending the Laurel Hill Park Volunteer Team. Commending the Laurel Hill Park Volunteer Team. 2020 Regular Session

HB1201 Virginia Public Procurement Act; determination of nonresponsibility, local option. Virginia Public Procurement Act; determination of nonresponsibility; local option to include criteria in invitation to bid. Allows any locality to include in the invitation to bid criteria that may be used in determining whether a bidder who is not prequalified by the Virginia Department of Transportation is a responsible bidder. Such criteria may include a history or good faith assurances of (i) completion by the bidder and any potential subcontractors of specified safety training programs established the U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration; (ii) participation by the bidder and any potential subcontractors in apprenticeship training programs approved by state agencies or the U.S. Department of Labor; or (iii) maintenance by the bidder and any potential subcontractors of records of compliance with applicable local, state, and federal laws. 2020 Regular Session

HJR485 Commending Community Living Alternatives. Commending Community Living Alternatives. 2020 Regular Session

HJR486 Commending Steven Richardson. Commending Steven Richardson. 2020 Regular Session

HB1218 Campaign finance; prohibited personal use of campaign funds, civil penalty. Campaign finance; prohibited personal use of campaign funds; civil penalty. Prohibits any person from making personal use of campaign contributions to a candidate or his campaign committee, or of items acquired using such contributions, for a strictly personal purpose that has no intended, reasonable, or foreseeable benefit to the candidate's campaign or public office. Any person who contributes to a candidate or a candidate's campaign committee or who is qualified to vote for a candidate may file a written complaint with the State Board of Elections (State Board) alleging a violation of the personal use prohibition by such candidate, and the State Board is tasked with reviewing the specific use alleged in the complaint. 2020 Regular Session

HJR400 Commending Hunt Valley Elementary School. Commending Hunt Valley Elementary School. 2020 Regular Session

HB1702 Speed limits; Dept. of Transportation to assess on certain roads. Department of Transportation; speed limits; Planning District 8. Requires the Virginia Department of Transportation to assess the speed limit of any road in Planning District 8 that has a speed limit of 55 miles per hour and has an intersection within 1,000 feet of any public elementary or secondary school and within 2,000 feet of a road curvature. 2020 Regular Session

HB1198 Workforce Development, Virginia Board of; membership, updates as a response to federal law. Virginia Board of Workforce Development; updates as a response to federal law. Amends current provisions regarding the Virginia Board of Workforce Development to align with federal law and gives the Board autonomy in making decisions on staffing needs and committee structures. 2020 Regular Session

HB1208 Students, certain; waiver to access student transportation in certain cases. School boards; duties; student transportation in certain cases. Requires each school board that provides for the transportation of students and that has established a rule, regulation, or policy to exclude certain students who reside within a certain distance from the school at which they are enrolled from accessing such transportation to establish a process for waiving, on a case-by-case and space-available basis, such exclusion and providing transportation to any such student whose parent is unable to provide adequate transportation for his child to attend school because the parent is providing necessary medical care to another family member who resides in the same household, as evidenced by a written explanation submitted by a licensed health care provider who provides care to such family member. 2020 Regular Session

HB1202 Project labor agreements; public procurement by local governments. Project labor agreements; public procurement by local governments. Authorizes any local government, when engaged in procuring products or services or letting contracts for construction, manufacture, maintenance, or operation of public works, to require bidders to enter into or adhere to project labor agreements on the public works projects. 2020 Regular Session

HR539 Commending Kurt John. Commending Kurt John. 2020 Special I

HR90 Commending Brigadier General Creighton W. Abrams III, USA, Ret. Commending Brigadier General Creighton W. Abrams III, USA, Ret. 2020 Regular Session

HJR255 Commending the Screen at 23 campaign. Commending the Screen at 23 campaign. 2020 Regular Session

HJR256 Commending South County High School. Commending South County High School. 2020 Regular Session

HB1143 Local school boards; support services positions, licensed behavior analysts. Local school boards; support services positions; licensed behavior analysts and licensed assistant behavior analysts. Includes licensed behavior analysts and licensed assistant behavior analysts as support services positions in a local school division for the purposes of Title 22.1 (Education). 2020 Regular Session

HB1210 Minority language accessibility; voting and election materials. Minority language accessibility; voting and election materials. Requires the State Board of Elections to prescribe, and a covered locality to provide, voting and election materials in languages other than English. A county, city, or town is designated by the State Board as a covered locality if the State Board determines, in consultation with the Director of the Census, based on the 2010 American Community Survey census data and subsequent American Community Survey data in five-year increments, or comparable census data, that (i) either (a) more than five percent of the citizens of voting age of such county, city, or town are members of a single language minority and are unable to speak or understand English adequately enough to participate in the electoral process; (b) more than 10,000 of the citizens of voting age of such county, city, or town are members of a single language minority and are unable to speak or understand English adequately enough to participate in the electoral process; or (c) in the case of a county, city, or town containing all or any part of an Indian reservation, more than five percent of the American Indian citizens of voting age within the Indian reservation are members of a single language minority and are unable to speak or understand English adequately enough to participate in the electoral process and (ii) the illiteracy rate of the citizens of the language minority as a group is higher than the national illiteracy rate. The bill also allows the State Board to make available voting and election materials in any additional languages other than those required as it deems necessary and appropriate. The State Board may accept voting and election materials translated by volunteers but shall verify the accuracy of such translations prior to making the translated materials available to a county, city, or town, or any voter. The bill has a delayed effective date of September 1, 2021. 2020 Regular Session

HJR316 Celebrating the life of John C. Beyer. Celebrating the life of John C. Beyer. 2020 Regular Session

HB358 Public works contracts; definitions, authorization of project labor agreements. Project labor agreements; public procurement. Authorizes any public body, including any state or local government, when engaged in procuring products or services or letting contracts for construction, manufacture, maintenance, or operation of public works, to require bidders to enter into or adhere to project labor agreements on the public works projects. The bill has a delayed effective date of May 1, 2021. 2020 Regular Session

HB1200 Virginia Human Rights Act; creation of cause of action for discrimination. Virginia Human Rights Act; creation of cause of action for discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, or age. Creates a cause of action against any employer of one or more persons who engages in unlawful discrimination against any employee on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, or childbirth or related medical conditions, including lactation. The bill also creates a cause of action against any employer of one or more persons who unlawfully discriminates against an employee on the basis of age if the employee is 40 years of age or older. Under current law, an employee who has been discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, including lactation, or age may only file an action against his employer if the employee is discharged by the employer on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, including lactation, or age. The bill permits a court, in cases where the employee prevails, to award compensatory or punitive damages in an amount of up to $25,000 and attorney fees. The bill provides that the provisions creating a cause of action against an employer who engages in unlawful discriminatory practices against an employee shall apply only to unlawful discriminatory practices that occur or are alleged to have occurred on or after July 1, 2020. 2020 Regular Session

HB1205 Discharge deleterious substance in state waters; notice to citizens if detrimental to public health. Discharge of deleterious substance into state waters; notice. Requires the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to give certain information about an unlawful discharge of a deleterious substance into state waters to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and local newspapers, television stations, and radio stations, and to disseminate such information via official social media accounts and email notification lists when DEQ determines that the discharge may impair state waters or VDH determines that it may be detrimental to public health. The bill requires DEQ to report to the General Assembly (i) a protocol for determining whether a discharge would have a de minimis impact on state waters and (ii) a proposed implementation procedure if the law were amended to require public dissemination of all discharges reported except for those determined to have a de minimis impact. 2020 Regular Session

HB1197 Higher educational institutions, public; certain students, eligibility for in-state tuition. Public institutions of higher education; certain students; eligibility for in-state tuition. Declares eligible for in-state tuition, regardless of domicile, any non-Virginia student enrolled at a public institution of higher education, except the Virginia Military Institute, who (i) pays for at least the equivalent of four semesters or two academic years at the institution with funds received pursuant to the federal Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014 and thereafter exhausts eligibility for benefits under such act or (ii) demonstrates a commitment to pay for at least the equivalent of four semesters or two academic years at the institution with funds received pursuant to such act through an affidavit, provided that (a) any such student maintains continuous enrollment in the same degree program at the same institution after he exhausts eligibility for such benefits and (b) no such student shall remain eligible for in-state tuition charges for more than three years after he exhausts eligibility for such benefits or upon degree completion, whichever occurs first, unless he establishes domicile in the Commonwealth. 2020 Regular Session

HB1220 Income tax, state; amended return notice, interest accrual period. State income tax; amended return notice; interest accrual period. Provides that if the Department of Taxation is made aware that a taxpayer is required to file an amended federal income tax return, the Department would be required to notify such taxpayer in writing regarding whether an amended Virginia income tax return is also required to be filed. This requirement would apply with respect to taxpayers subject to the individual income tax, corporate income tax, and the income tax imposed on estates and trusts. This bill would give the Department the discretion to waive interest due on an underpayment of income taxes or the pass-through entity nonresident withholding tax if a return was submitted in good faith and the understatement of the amount in the return was not due to any fault of the taxpayer. Under current law, the Department is required to waive any applicable penalties in this situation, but does not have the authority to waive interest. 2020 Regular Session

HB1226 Higher educational institutions, public; collection of debts by hospitals affiliated w/institutions. Collection of debts by hospitals affiliated with public institutions of higher education. Prohibits the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System Authority and the University of Virginia Medical Center from participating in debt collection efforts pursuant to the Virginia Debt Collection Act or the Setoff Debt Collection Act unless all reasonable efforts have been made to determine if the individual with delinquent debt is eligible for financial assistance. The bill requires both hospitals to develop debt collection policies that adhere, at a minimum, to Internal Revenue Service policies regarding financial assistance by tax-exempt hospitals as they were in effect on January 1, 2020. 2020 Regular Session

HJR251 Commending Sarah Rosenberger Eissler. Commending Sarah Rosenberger Eissler. 2020 Regular Session

HB203 Absentee voting; counting military and overseas absentee ballots received after close of polls. Absentee voting; counting military and overseas absentee ballots received after close of polls on election day. Provides that absentee ballots cast by military and overseas absentee voters that are (i) received after the close of the polls on any election day but before 5:00 p.m. on the second business day before the State Board of Elections meets to ascertain the results of the election and (ii) postmarked on or before the date of such election are to be counted if the voter is found entitled to vote. The bill provides that a postmark includes any other official indicia of confirmation of mailing by the United States Postal Service or other postal or delivery service. Under current law, such ballots cast by military and overseas absentee voters would be counted in this manner regardless of the date of any postmark, but only if the absentee ballot had been requested on or before, but not sent by, the deadline for making absentee ballots available. 2020 Regular Session

HB953 STEAM programs; establishes STEAM Education Fund. Science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) programs; grants. Establishes the STEAM Education Fund for the purpose of awarding grants in amounts not to exceed $50,000 annually to any public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth at which at least 25 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunch that provides an academic class, curriculum, or activity focused on a science, technology, engineering, arts, or mathematics (STEAM) discipline. 2020 Regular Session

HB1209 New Americans, Office of; created within Department of Social Services. Department of Social Services; Office of New Americans created. Establishes the Office of New Americans within the Department of Social Services and the Office of New Americans Advisory Board to assist with immigrant integration within the Commonwealth on an economic, social, and cultural level. The Office shall provide (i) advice and assistance regarding the citizenship application process; (ii) assistance with securing employment, housing, and services for which such persons may be eligible; (iii) information to localities and immigration service organizations about state programs that help such persons find and secure employment, housing, and services for which they may be eligible; and (iv) information to localities and immigration service organizations regarding health epidemics and unlawful predatory actions, such as human trafficking, gang recruitment, and fraudulent financial and other schemes, to which communities of such persons may be especially vulnerable. The Advisory Board shall report annually to the Governor and the General Assembly on the activities of the Office of New Americans and provide recommendations for improving state policies and programs to support the economic, linguistic, and civic integration of new Americans throughout the Commonwealth. 2020 Regular Session

HB1216 State of good repair funds; bridges subject to repeated flooding. State of good repair funds; bridges subject to repeated flooding. Makes bridges that are subject to repeated flooding eligible for state of good repair funding. Under current law, structurally deficient bridges and highways with deficient pavement conditions are eligible for state of good repair funds. 2020 Regular Session

HB1204 Fall cankerworm; spraying prohibited except through opt-in program. Fall cankerworm; spraying prohibited except through opt-in program. Prohibits localities from spraying pesticides intended to suppress an infestation of the fall cankerworm on any property unless the owner of the property requests such spraying through an opt-in program operated by the locality. 2020 Regular Session

HB1222 Notaries; satisfactory evidence of identity, persons in nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Notaries; satisfactory evidence of identity; persons in nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Allows expired state issued driver's licenses or state issued identification cards and expired passports to be used as a means of identification for notarial purposes for individuals residing in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, provided such expired documents expired within five years of the date of use for such identification purposes. 2020 Regular Session

HB5116 Public and private employers; required to provide eligible employees paid quarantine leave, etc. Paid quarantine leave. Requires public and private employers to provide eligible employees paid quarantine leave. The bill provides that such paid quarantine leave is available for immediate use by the employee, regardless of how long the employee has been employed by the employer. The bill provides that such paid quarantine leave may be used for (i) an eligible employee's illness or health condition related to the COVID-19 virus; an eligible employee's need for medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of an illness or health condition related to the COVID-19 virus; or an eligible employee's need for preventive medical care related to the COVID-19 virus; (ii) care of a family member with an illness or health condition related to the COVID-19 virus; care of a family member who needs medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness or health condition related to the COVID-19 virus; or care of a family member who needs preventive medical care related to the COVID-19 virus; or (iii) or care for oneself or a family member when it has been determined by the health authorities having jurisdiction or by a health care provider that the eligible employee's or family member's presence in the community may jeopardize the health of others because of his exposure to the COVID-19 virus, whether or not the eligible employee or family member has actually contracted COVID-19. 2020 Special I

HB238 Absentee voting; deadline for returning absentee ballot. Absentee voting; deadline for returning absentee ballot. Provides that any absentee ballot that is returned to the general registrar after the closing of the polls on election day but before noon on the third day after the election and postmarked on or before the date of the election shall be counted if the voter is found entitled to vote. 2020 Regular Session

HB1217 Transportation, Department of; at-risk infrastructure, report. Department of Transportation; at-risk infrastructure; report. Directs the Department of Transportation, in collaboration with the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency, to (i) identify roads and bridges under the jurisdiction of the Department at risk of deterioration due to flooding in Northern Virginia; (ii) develop recommendations for managing such assets; and (iii) report its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Transportation by the start of the 2022 Session of the General Assembly. 2020 Regular Session

HB1215 Biometric data; employer policy on storage, protection, and destruction, civil penalty. Biometric data; employer policy on storage, protection, and destruction; civil penalty. Establishes the parameters for the capture and safekeeping of biometric data by employers. The bill defines "biometric data" as a retina or iris scan, fingerprint, voiceprint, record of hand or face geometry, or any other means of information, regardless of how it is captured or stored, that is used to identify an individual based on biological identifiers. Once the purpose for capturing the data is complete, or after three years from the date it is last used for its initial purpose, whichever occurs first, the biometric data must be destroyed. An employer who violates the requirements of the bill is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 for each violation. The bill also provides a right of action against employers who violate the parameters of capturing and safekeeping biometric data. 2020 Regular Session

HB1141 Health benefit plans; renewal of plans, special exception. Health benefit plans; special exception. Eliminates provisions of the Code of Virginia authorizing health carriers to sell, issue, or offer for sale any health benefit plan that would otherwise not be permitted to be sold, issued, or offered for sale due to conflict with the requirements of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), to the extent that the requirements of the PPACA are amended by any federal law. 2020 Regular Session

HB1221 One-stop small business; permitting program, written guidance. Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity; one-stop small business permitting program; guidance regarding responsibilities for maintaining a business. Requires the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity to develop and provide guidance to businesses with newly approved permits regarding responsibilities and requirements for maintaining the business. The bill also requires regulatory agencies, by November 30 of each year, to provide the Department with information outlining any changes to the agency's policies and regulations. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021. 2020 Regular Session

HB1703 Telework expenses; reinstates tax credit. Telework expenses tax credit; expiration. Reinstates the telework expenses tax credit for taxable years 2020 and 2021. Under current law, the tax credit expired for taxable years on or after January 1, 2019. The bill removes the application process for claiming the credit and directs the Tax Commissioner to develop and update procedures and guidelines for claiming the credit at the time eligible employers file their taxes for the previous taxable year. 2020 Regular Session

HB1211 Driver privilege cards; definitions, effective date, report. Driver privilege cards; penalty. Authorizes the issuance of new driver privilege cards by the Department of Motor Vehicles to an applicant who (i) has reported income from Virginia sources or been claimed as a dependent on an individual tax return filed with the Commonwealth in the preceding 12 months and (ii) is not in violation of the insurance requirements for the registration of an uninsured motor vehicle. The bill provides that driver privilege cards shall confer the same privileges and shall be subject to the same provisions as driver's licenses and permits; however, driver privilege cards shall not (a) confer voting privileges, (b) permit an individual to waive any part of the driver examination, or (c) have their issuance be contingent upon the applicant's ability to produce proof of legal presence in the United States. The bill limits the release of certain information stored by the Department. The bill provides for the term "driver's license" to consistently refer to all driver's licenses, permits, driver privilege cards, and special identification cards issued by the Commonwealth or the comparable law of another jurisdiction. The bill allows the issuance of a limited-duration driver's license and special identification card to an applicant presenting valid documentary evidence that a federal court or federal agency having jurisdiction over immigration has authorized the applicant to be in the United States for a period of at least 30 days from the date of application. The bill authorizes the Tax Commissioner to provide to the Commissioner of the Department information sufficient to verify that an applicant for a driver privilege card or permit reported income from Virginia sources or was claimed as a dependent on an individual tax return filed with the Commonwealth in the preceding 12 months. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021. 2020 Regular Session

HJR324 Commending Marsha Manning. Commending Marsha Manning. 2020 Regular Session

HB5087 Unemployment compensation; extends date VEC is required to establish, etc., short-time compensation. Unemployment compensation; short-time compensation; sunset repeal; emergency. Repeals two sunset provisions from legislation enacted during the 2020 Regular Session of the General Assembly that, among other things, established a short-time compensation program that provides employers with the option of reducing the hours worked by employees while permitting the employees whose hours are reduced to receive partial compensation for lost wages. The bill also extends the date by which the Virginia Employment Commission is required to establish and implement such short-time compensation program from January 1, 2021 to January 1, 2022.The bill contains an emergency clause. 2020 Special I

HB1203 Prevailing wage; public works contracts with localities, penalty. Prevailing wage; public works contracts with localities; penalty. Requires contractors and subcontractors under any public contract with a locality for public works to pay wages, salaries, benefits, and other remuneration to any mechanic, laborer, or worker employed, retained, or otherwise hired to perform services in connection with the public contract at the prevailing wage rate. The Commissioner of Labor and Industry is required to determine the prevailing wage rate for such public contracts on the basis of applicable prevailing wage rate determinations made by the U.S. Secretary of Labor under the provisions of the federal Davis-Bacon Act. A contractor or subcontractor who knowingly or willfully employs any mechanic, laborer, or worker to perform work contracted to be done under the public contract at a rate that is less than the prevailing wage rate is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. In addition, such a contractor or subcontractor shall be liable to such individuals for the payment of all wages due plus interest and shall be disqualified from bidding on public contracts until full restitution has been paid to the individuals. 2020 Regular Session

HJR98 Green industries; VEC to study regional skills gaps. Study; Virginia Employment Commission; regional skills gaps for the fastest growing green industries; report. Requests the Virginia Employment Commission to study regional skills gaps for the fastest growing green industries. 2020 Regular Session

HB1142 Alcoholic beverage control; possession, etc., of alcoholic beverages at school-sponsored activities. Alcoholic beverage control; possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages at school-sponsored activities; penalty. Prohibits persons from possessing or drinking alcoholic beverages while attending a public elementary or secondary school-sponsored activity hosted at a non-school facility. A violation of the provisions of the bill is a Class 2 misdemeanor. 2020 Regular Session

HB1654 Schedule VI controlled substances and hypodermic syringes and needles; limited-use license. Schedule VI controlled substances; hypodermic syringes and needles; limited-use license. Allows the Board of Pharmacy to issue a limited-use license for the purpose of dispensing Schedule VI controlled substances, excluding the combination of misoprostol and methotrexate, and hypodermic syringes and needles for the administration of prescribed controlled substances to a doctor of medicine, osteopathic medicine, or podiatry, a nurse practitioner, or a physician assistant, provided that such limited-use licensee is practicing at a nonprofit facility. The bill requires such nonprofit facilities to obtain a limited-use permit from the Board and comply with regulations for such a permit. This bill directs the Board of Pharmacy to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. 2020 Regular Session

HJR323 Commending Lena C. McAllister. Commending Lena C. McAllister. 2020 Regular Session

HB1157 Higher educational institutions, public; members of governing boards, student voting member. Public institutions of higher education; members of governing boards; student voting member. Provides that one member appointed by the Governor to the governing boards of public institutions of higher education shall be a current student voting member. The student voting member shall have been elected by his peers to a leadership position in a student organization recognized by the institution or currently serve in an elected position in a student organization recognized by the institution in the year that the Governor appoints such student to a governing board in order to serve on the board. 2020 Regular Session

HB1228 Fair Employment Contracting Act; annual training on sexual harassment policy. Fair Employment Contracting Act; sexual harassment policy. Requires contracting agencies that employ more than five employees and that enter into government contracts of over $10,000 to include a provision in the contract requiring the contractor (i) to provide annual training on the contractor's sexual harassment policy to all supervisors and employees providing services in the Commonwealth, except such supervisors or employees that are required to complete sexual harassment training provided by the Department of Human Resource Management, and (ii) to post the contractor's sexual harassment policy in a conspicuous public place in each building located in the Commonwealth owned or leased by the contractor for business purposes and in the contractor's employee handbook. 2020 Regular Session

HB1701 Medical Excellence Zone Program; VDH to determine feasibility of establishment. Department of Health; Department of Health Professions Medical Excellence Zone Program; telemedicine; reciprocal agreements. Directs the Department of Health to determine the feasibility of establishing a Medical Excellence Zone Program to allow citizens of the Commonwealth living in rural underserved areas to receive medical treatment via telemedicine services from providers licensed or registered in a state that is contiguous with the Commonwealth and directs the Department of Health Professions to pursue reciprocal agreements with such states for licensure for certain primary care practitioners licensed by the Board of Medicine. The bill requires the Department of Health to set out the criteria that would be required for a locality or group of localities in the Commonw