Del. Shelly Simonds

Teacher compensation; at or above national average. Requires public school teachers to be compensated at a rate that is at or above the national average. Under current law, compensation at such rate is aspirational. The foregoing provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025. The bill requires funding to be provided on an incremental basis pursuant to the general appropriation act to implement such teacher compensation rate by the effective date.

Study; JLARC; effects of gun violence on communities;report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commissionto study the social, physical, emotional, and economic effects ofgun violence on communities across the Commonwealth.

Paid family and medical leave program. Requires the Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administera paid family and medical leave program with benefits beginning January 1, 2023. Under the program, benefits are paid to eligible employees for family and medical leave. Funding for the program isprovided through premiums assessed to employers and employees beginningin 2022. The amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee'saverage weekly wage, not to exceed 80 percent of the state weeklywage, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflectchanges in the statewide average weekly wage. The measure caps theduration of paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year. The billprovides self-employed individuals the option of participating inthe program.

Office of the Independent Living Community Ombudsman. Establishes, in the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services,the Office of the Independent Living Community Ombudsman, to promoteand protect the interests of residents of independent living communitiesin the Commonwealth. The bill defines "independent living community"as any congregate care housing arrangement reserved for residents55 years of age or older who do not require assistance with activitiesof daily living from staff of the independent living community and that includes the provision of two or more of the following services:meals, transportation, laundry, or housekeeping, when such servicesare provided pursuant to an agreement between the resident and the congregate care housing provider or between the resident and a thirdparty that delivers such services at the premises of the independentliving community.

Campaign finance; prohibited contributions tocandidates. Prohibits any candidate from soliciting or acceptinga contribution from any public service corporation, as defined in§ 56-1, or any political action committee established and administeredby such a corporation.

Celebrating the life of Debra Sue Maurer.

Recounts; absentee ballots received after close of polls. Provides that absentee ballots that are received after the close of polls on any election day but before the time has expired for initiating a recount and that are postmarked on or before the date of the election are to be set aside for recount purposes. In the event of a recount, the determination of the votes in the recount shall be based on such absentee ballots, in addition to votes cast in the election. During the recount, only those absentee ballots cast by voters found to be entitled to vote are counted. This bill was incorporated into HB 198.

Commending Mission BBQ.

Family day homes; licensure threshold. Reducesfrom five to three the number of children for whom a family dayhome must obtain a license to provide child care services.

Virginia Minimum Wage Act; exemption. Removesthe exemption from the Virginia Minimum Wage Act for persons employedin domestic service or in or about a private home or in an eleemosynaryinstitution primarily supported by public funds.