Long list of new laws signed by Northam

Northam

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed dozens of bills into law in recent days, on criminal justice, marijuana decriminalization, voting, energy, Confederate monuments, discrimination, clean energy, workers’ rights, and more.

The bills take effect July 1. The General Assembly plans to reconvene on April 22 to consider Northam’s amendments to some of the bills. Northam also plans to hold a special budget session this fall to consider the impact of the coronavirus crisis on revenue and expenses.

Here’s a brief summary of some of the bills signed into law:

• The minimum wage is raised to $9.25 an hour. Northam’s amendment would delay the effective date from Jan. 1, 2020, to May 1, 2021. The minimum wage would gradually rise to $12 an hour by 2023.
• Penalties involving the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana is reduced to a civil violation, punishable by a maximum $25 fine. There would be no arrest and no criminal record.  
• The threshold at which larceny is considered a felony is increased from $500 to $1,000.
• Courts can no longer suspend driver’s licenses for non-driving related offenses. The requirement that the driver’s license of a person convicted of any violation of the law who fails or refuses to provide for immediate payment of fines or costs is suspended.

• The age at which a commonwealth’s attorney can transfer a juvenile to be tried as an adult without court approval is raised from 14 to 16.
• Individuals sentenced by juries between 1995 and 2000 will be eligible for parole. Parole was abolished in Virginia in 1995, but juries were not instructed of this change until 2000 following a court ruling. 
• Early voting will be allowed 45 days before an election without a stated excuse. Voters will no longer need to show a photo ID before casting a ballot. Polls will be open an hour longer; they will close at 8 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.
• Election Day will be a state holiday, which will help ensure every Virginian has the time and opportunity to cast a ballot. In order to maintain the same number of state holidays, the Lee-Jackson Day holiday is repealed.
• Anyone who accesses services at a Department of Motor Vehicles office or the DMV website will be automatically registered to vote.

Related story: Virginia repeals overly restrictive abortion rules

• The Virginia Clean Economy Act requires new measures to promote energy efficiency, sets a schedule for closing old fossil fuel power plants, and requires electricity to come from 100 percent renewable sources, such as solar or wind. Energy companies must pay penalties for not meeting their targets, and part of that revenue would fund job training and renewable energy programs in disadvantaged communities. Dominion Energy Virginia must be 100 percent carbon-free by 2045.
• The Virginia Values Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, public and private employment, public accommodations, and access to credit. It also extends protections to Virginians on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, and status as a veteran.
• Localities have the ability to remove, relocate, or contextualize Confederate monuments in their communities. New commissions will recommend a replacement for the Robert E. Lee statue in the U.S. Capitol and study slavery in Virginia and subsequent racial and economic discrimination. 
• The Department of Taxation is directed to oversee investigations into suspected cases of worker misclassification, including independent contractors, and levy appropriate penalties. 
• Workers will be protected from discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions and sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, public contracting, and apprenticeship programs.
• Localities can now enter into collective bargaining agreements with local employees. Northam amended this measure to delay the effective date to May 1, 2021.