Virginia Bills

Lowers from 19 to 18 the minimum age of persons who have failed the driver knowledge examination three times who are permitted to take the Virginia Driver's Manual course offered by a licensed and approved driver training school as a prerequisite of attempting the driver knowledge examination a fourth time.

Allows a licensed distiller who has been appointed by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board as an agent to sell spirits manufactured by the distiller at a site of an event licensed by the Board and conducted for the purpose of featuring and educating the consuming public about spirits products. This bill is identical to

Provides that proposals for existing programs that have a measurable return on investment are eligible for matching grant funds under the Cooperative Marketing Fund. The bill also (i) removes the requirement that only private funds be matched and (ii) provides that guidelines established for the Fund may include a preference for proposals submitted by state agencies. This bill is identical to

Extends the sunset date from January 1, 2018, to January 1, 2020, for the local gas severance tax that is dedicated to (i) the local Coal and Gas Road Improvement Fund, (ii) the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Fund, and (iii) water, sewer, and natural gas systems and lines. This bill is identical to

Allows transportation network companies two fee options when applying for an original or renewal of a certificate. A transportation network company may either pay the existing certificate fees of $100,000 upon application and $60,000 for renewal or pay a $20 surcharge per record when purchasing a driver transcript in addition to the current transcript fee. This bill is identical to

Establishes the Virginia Tax Amnesty Program to be administered by the Department of Taxation (the Department) during the 2017-2018 fiscal year for not less than 60 nor more than 75 days, as determined by the Tax Commissioner. The Program will be open to any taxpayer that is required but has failed to file a return or to pay any tax administered by the Department. All civil or criminal penalties assessed or assessable and one-half of the interest assessed or assessable, resulting from nonpayment, underpayment, nonreporting, or underreporting of tax liabilities, will be waived upon payment of the taxes and interest. For purposes of implementing the Program, the Department is exempt from the project management and procurement oversight of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency. This bill is identical to

Prohibits students in preschool through grade three from being suspended for more than 10 days or expelled except for drug offenses, firearm offenses, certain criminal acts, or if the underlying conduct involves other weapons, inappropriate sexual behavior, or serious bodily injury.

Directs the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and the Director of Criminal Justice Services, in conjunction with the relevant stakeholders, to develop a comprehensive model for the use of alternative transportation providers to provide safe and efficient transportation of individuals involved in the emergency custody or involuntary admission process as an alternative to transportation by law enforcement. The bill requires that the model be completed by October 1, 2017, and reported to the Joint Subcommittee to Study Mental Health Services in the Commonwealth in the 21st Century, the House Committee for Courts of Justice, and the Senate Committee for Courts of Justice. This bill is identical to

Provides that in the appointment of members to the State Board of Elections and to the local electoral boards, one member shall be of the political party having the highest number of members in the House of Delegates, one member shall be of the political party having the highest number of members in the Senate of Virginia, and one member shall be of the political party of the Governor. If all three members are of the same political party, one member shall be of the political party having cast the next highest number of votes in the Commonwealth for Governor at the last preceding gubernatorial election. Representation on both the State Board of Elections and each local electoral board is to be given to each of the political parties having the highest and next highest number of votes in the Commonwealth for Governor at the last preceding gubernatorial election.

Requires that any arbitration proceeding regarding the exercise of an employer's right of subrogation to an employee's claim against a third party shall be limited solely to arbitrating the amount and validity of the employer's lien and shall not affect the employee's rights in any way. Such arbitration shall not be held unless (i) any contested expenses remaining have been submitted to the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission (the Commission) for a determination of their validity and the Commission has made such determination of validity prior to the commencement of the arbitration; (ii) prior to the commencement of such arbitration the employer has provided the injured employee and his attorney, if any, with an itemization of the expenses associated with the lien that is the subject of the arbitration; (iii) upon receipt of the itemization of the lien, the employee shall have 21 days to provide a written objection to any expenses included in the lien to the employer, and if the employee does not do so any objections to the lien to be arbitrated shall be deemed waived; and (iv) the employer shall have 14 days after receipt of the written objection to notify the employee of any contested expenses that the employer does not agree to remove from the lien, and if the employer does not do so any itemized expense objected to by the employee shall be deemed withdrawn and not included in the arbitration. This bill is identical to