SR609 - Celebrating the life of Daniel Porter Jordan, Jr.

5 Co-Sponsors

SR608 - Commending Arthur Ellsworth Dick Howard.

9 Co-Sponsors

SR626 - Commending the Honorable Robert F. McDonnell.

23 Co-Sponsors

SB6012 - Va. Military Survivors & Dependents Ed. Program & related programs; modifications, surplus revenues.

30 Co-Sponsors

General appropriation act; designation of additional surplus; repeal of modifications to certain waiver programs. Designates certain additional surplus revenues in the amount of $90 million to offset the impact of financial aid waivers and stipends for the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program and related programs and removes language in the appropriation act that imposes additional requirements for such programs.

SB230 - Electric utilities; energy efficiency programs, duty to implement the Energy Policy, etc.

1 Co-Sponsor

Electric utilities; energy efficiency programs; duty to implement the Energy Policy of the Commonwealth; RPS program requirements; competitive procurement. Provides that "in the public interest" for the purpose of assessing energy efficiency programs means that the State Corporation Commission determines that the program is cost-effective and directs the Commission to initiate a proceeding no later than December 31, 2025, to establish a single, consistent cost-effectiveness test for use in evaluating proposed energy efficiency programs. Electric utilities; energy efficiency programs; duty to implement the Energy Policy of the Commonwealth; RPS program requirements; competitive procurement. Provides that "in the public interest" for the purpose of assessing energy efficiency programs means that the State Corporation Commission determines that the program is cost-effective and directs the Commission to initiate a proceeding no later than December 31, 2025, to establish a single, consistent cost-effectiveness test for use in evaluating proposed energy efficiency programs. The bill provides (i) that "total electric energy" for purposes of the RPS Program requirements does not include energy sold to certain customers purchasing 100 percent renewable energy and (ii) that in any RPS program compliance year, any electric energy that was generated in the previous calendar year from certain nuclear generating plants, or any zero-carbon electric generating facilities, including small modular nuclear reactors and green hydrogen facilities, will reduce the utility's RPS Program requirements by an equivalent amount. The bill provides that the Commission and its staff have the affirmative duty to ensure the Commonwealth implements the Energy Policy of the Commonwealth at the lowest reasonable cost, taking into account all cost-effective demand-side management options and the security and reliability benefits of the regional transmission entity to which each incumbent electric utility has joined. The bill requires that for certain required petitions by Appalachian Power and Dominion Energy Virginia for approvals to construct, acquire, or purchase the generating capacity using energy derived from sunlight or onshore wind, at least 35 percent of such generating capacity is from the purchases of energy from solar or onshore wind facilities owned by persons other than such utilities. Current law requires 35 percent of such generating capacity to be from the purchases of energy from solar or onshore wind facilities owned by persons other than such utilities.

SJR11 - Constitutional amendment; marriage between two individuals.

8 Co-Sponsors

Constitutional amendment (first reference); marriage between two individuals; repeal of same-sex marriage prohibition; affirmative right to marry. Repeals the constitutional provision defining marriage as only a union between one man and one woman as well as the related provisions that are no longer valid as a result of the United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015). The amendment provides that the right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of persons and prohibits the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions from denying the issuance of a marriage license to two parties contemplating a lawful marriage on the basis of the sex, gender, or race of such parties. The Commonwealth and its political subdivisions are required to recognize any lawful marriage between two parties and to treat such marriages equally under the law, regardless of the sex, gender, or race of such parties. The amendment provides that religious organizations and clergy acting in their religious capacity have the right to refuse to perform any marriage. Constitutional amendment (first reference); marriage between two individuals; repeal of same-sex marriage prohibition; affirmative right to marry. Repeals the constitutional provision defining marriage as only a union between one man and one woman as well as the related provisions that are no longer valid as a result of the United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015). The amendment provides that the right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of persons and prohibits the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions from denying the issuance of a marriage license to two parties contemplating a lawful marriage on the basis of the sex, gender, or race of such parties. The Commonwealth and its political subdivisions are required to recognize any lawful marriage between two parties and to treat such marriages equally under the law, regardless of the sex, gender, or race of such parties. The amendment provides that religious organizations and clergy acting in their religious capacity have the right to refuse to perform any marriage.

SJR2 - Constitutional amendment; qualifications of voters, right to vote, persons not entitled to vote.

4 Co-Sponsors

Constitutional amendment (first reference); qualifications of voters; right to vote; persons not entitled to vote. Provides that every person who meets the qualifications of voters set forth in the Constitution of Virginia shall have the fundamental right to vote in the Commonwealth and that such right shall not be abridged by law, except for persons who have been convicted of a felony and persons who have been adjudicated to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting. A person who has been convicted of a felony shall not be entitled to vote during any period of incarceration for such felony conviction, but upon release from incarceration for that felony conviction and without further action required of him, such person shall be invested with all political rights, including the right to vote. Currently, in order to be qualified to vote a person convicted of a felony must have his civil rights restored by the Governor or other appropriate authority. The amendment also provides that a person adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction as lacking the capacity to understand the act of voting shall not be entitled to vote during this period of incapacity until his capacity has been reestablished as prescribed by law. Currently, the Constitution of Virginia provides that a person who has been adjudicated to be mentally incompetent is not qualified to vote until his competency is reestablished.

SB233 - Faith in Housing for the Commonwealth Act; construction of affordable housing.

1 Co-Sponsor

Faith in Housing for the Commonwealth Act. Permits a religious organization, defined in the bill, to construct affordable housing on real estate owned by such religious organization (i) on or before January 1, 2024, or for a period of not less than five years, and (ii) for which the religious organization retains a majority ownership interest.

SB234 - Parking Lot Solar Development Program; established, report.

2 Co-Sponsors

Parking Lot Solar Development Pilot Grant Program; report. Establishes the Parking Lot Solar Development Pilot Grant Program for the purpose of encouraging development of distributed parking lot solar projects up to one megawatt in size in Chesterfield County and Richmond City through grants. The bill directs the Department of Energy, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Quality, to administer such program, to establish and publish guidelines and criteria for solar projects funded through such program, and to report annually to the General Assembly regarding the administration of the program for the preceding fiscal year. Parking Lot Solar Development Pilot Grant Program; report. Establishes the Parking Lot Solar Development Pilot Grant Program for the purpose of encouraging development of distributed parking lot solar projects up to one megawatt in size in Chesterfield County and Richmond City through grants. The bill directs the Department of Energy, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Quality, to administer such program, to establish and publish guidelines and criteria for solar projects funded through such program, and to report annually to the General Assembly regarding the administration of the program for the preceding fiscal year.

SB251 - Content manufacturing tax credit; removes sunset for the motion picture credit, redesignates credit.

4 Co-Sponsors

Content manufacturing tax credit. Removes the sunset for the motion picture tax credit, which currently is set to expire after taxable year 2026, and expands and redesignates the tax credit as the content manufacturing tax credit. The bill increases the total amount of credits that can be allocated to taxpayers to $46.5 million beginning in fiscal year 2024; however, should less than $100 million worth of certain new investments, as described by the bill, occur in Virginia by January 1, 2027, the cap will be reduced to $10 million per fiscal year. The bill also amends the definition of the "qualifying expenses" eligible for the content manufacturing tax credit to mean certain amounts spent in connection with the production of an eligible project filmed in the Commonwealth. The bill defines "eligible project" to be the production of a motion picture or an episodic television series.