Agreed to by Senate by voice vote
Agreed to by Senate
Agreed to by Senate
Provides for the electronic transmission by the Department of Motor Vehicles to the Department of Elections of certain information for any person coming into an office of the Department of Motor Vehicles or accessing its website in order to (i) apply for, replace, or renew a driver's license, (ii) apply for, replace, or renew a special identification card, or (iii) change an address on an existing driver's license or special identification card if the Department of Motor Vehicles records indicate that he (a) is a United States citizen, (b) is 18 years of age or older, and (c) at the time of the transaction does not decline to have his information transmitted to the Department of Elections for voter registration purposes. The option to decline to have his information so transmitted shall be presented at the time of one of the specified transactions with the Department of Motor Vehicles and shall be accompanied by a warning that intentionally making a materially false statement during the transaction and that voting more than once in any election in the same or different jurisdictions are both punishable under Virginia law as a felony. The information required to be transferred includes the person's full name, date of birth, gender, residence address, citizenship status, driver's license and social security number, and digital signature and an affirmation by the person that he meets all voter eligibility requirements. Upon receipt of the information, the Department of Elections is required to determine whether the person is already registered to vote. If the person is already registered to vote, the Department of Elections is required to take certain steps to update the voter's registration records. If the person is not already registered to vote, the Department of Elections is required to verify that the person meets all voter eligibility requirements and, if so finding, is required to transmit the information to the appropriate general registrar. The bill repeals the requirement that the Department of Motor Vehicles offer, accept, receive, and send voter registration applications.
Left in General Laws
Provides that an electric utility or any officer, agent, or employee of the electric utility, or for any other person the electric utility authorizes to receive customer account information in connection with any business of the electric utility, shall not without the consent of the customer knowingly disclose any customer account information to any person, subject to certain exceptions.
Increases the single sample size for tastings of spirits to one ounce or two ounces when served as a mixed beverage.
Left in Privileges and Elections
Entitles individuals to a family and medical leave insurance (FMLI) benefit payment for each month they are engaged in qualified caregiving, not to exceed 60 qualified caregiving days per year. Qualified caregiving means an activity, except regular employment, for a reason an individual is entitled to leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. Benefits would amount to 66 percent of an individual's monthly wages, based on highest annual earnings from the prior three years, up to a capped monthly amount, and would be indexed to the national average wage index. If a person takes the maximum number of days, the benefits would range from a minimum benefit of $580 to a maximum benefit of $4,000 per month in the program's first year. To be eligible for benefits, an individual is required to (i) be insured for disability insurance benefits under the Social Security Act at the time his application is filed; (ii) have earned income from employment during the 12 months before filing the application; (iii) have filed an application for an FMLI benefit; and (iv) have been engaged in qualified caregiving, or anticipate being so engaged, during the 90-day period before the application is filed or within 30 days thereafter. The measure establishes the Family and Medical Insurance Leave Fund and requires FMLI benefit payments to be made only from this Fund. A tax of 0.2 percent is imposed on the wages received by every individual, and an excise tax of 0.2 percent of the wages paid in any calendar year by the employer with respect to their employment is imposed on employers. The measure has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2018.
Left in Commerce and Labor
Requires an initial audit of the ballot scanner machines to be conducted prior to beginning the redetermination of the vote during a recount. The bill requires recount officials to collect a sample of the machine-readable ballots cast at each precinct in the election district equal to at least one percent of all machine-readable ballots cast at that precinct. Each precinct's sample is then run through a scanner used at that precinct on the night of the election, run through a scanner being used for the recount, and hand counted. If the results calculated by the scanner used at that precinct on the night of the election, the results calculated by the scanner being used for the recount, and the results determined by the hand count are not identical, any party to the recount may request all ballots cast on ballot scanner machines in the election district to be counted by hand. If the results are identical, the redetermination of the vote shall be conducted in accordance with current law.
Left in Privileges and Elections
