Elections; absentee voting; verification by social security number or unique identifier in lieu of witness signature. Requires the State Board of Elections to promulgate regulations for providing a unique identifier to any qualified voter who lacks a social security number and provides that such unique identifier can be accepted in place of a social security number for the purposes of voting absentee. The bill makes optional the current absentee ballot witness signature requirement by giving the voter the option to provide the last four digits of the voter's social security number and the voter's date of birth in lieu of a witness signature. The bill clarifies that verification of the required voter affirmation on absentee ballots by the general registrar includes matching any date of birth and last four digits of the social security number or assigned unique identifier provided as part of the voter affirmation against the information in the voter's registration record. Elections; absentee voting; verification by social security number or unique identifier in lieu of witness signature. Requires the State Board of Elections to promulgate regulations for providing a unique identifier to any qualified voter who lacks a social security number and provides that such unique identifier can be accepted in place of a social security number for the purposes of voting absentee. The bill makes optional the current absentee ballot witness signature requirement by giving the voter the option to provide the last four digits of the voter's social security number and the voter's date of birth in lieu of a witness signature. The bill clarifies that verification of the required voter affirmation on absentee ballots by the general registrar includes matching any date of birth and last four digits of the social security number or assigned unique identifier provided as part of the voter affirmation against the information in the voter's registration record.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; construction contracts; requirement to submit list of subcontractors; penalty. Requires all bidders or offerors on contracts for construction of $250,000 or more to submit a list of subcontractors intended to be used and the following: (i) a statement declaring that the bidder or offeror has reviewed the qualifications and performance history of each listed subcontractor and found such qualifications and performance history to be sufficient to qualify the subcontractor to perform the subcontract work and (ii) a statement indicating that the bidder or offeror has received a written statement from each listed subcontractor verifying that such subcontractor (a) has not defaulted on any projects within the last three years, (b) has not been suspended or disbarred by any public body within the last three years, and (c) is not currently in bankruptcy. The bill allows the public body to disqualify any listed subcontractor but requires the public body to notify the bidder or offeror of such disqualification and allow the bidder or offeror reasonable time to find a qualified replacement. The bill provides that any bidder or offeror that does not submit the required list and statements may have its bid or proposal disqualified and that any bidder or offeror that is found to have knowingly provided false information shall be debarred from contracting with any public body for a period of up to one year and is guilty of perjury, a Class 5 felony.

Commonwealth Transportation Board; performance standards for review of certain plans. Directs the Department of Transportation to adopt performance standards for the review and approval of subdivision and commercial development plans by January 1, 2025. The bill requires the Department to submit a report on such standards to the Chairman of the Commonwealth Transportation Board and to make such standards available for public view on the Department's website, updated quarterly. Commonwealth Transportation Board; performance standards for review of certain plans. Directs the Department of Transportation to adopt performance standards for the review and approval of subdivision and commercial development plans by January 1, 2025. The bill requires the Department to submit a report on such standards to the Chairman of the Commonwealth Transportation Board and to make such standards available for public view on the Department's website, updated quarterly.

Criminal sexual assault; definition of intimate parts; penalty. Includes in the definition of "intimate parts," for the purposes of criminal sexual assault, the chest of a child under the age of 15. Criminal sexual assault; definition of intimate parts; penalty. Includes in the definition of "intimate parts," for the purposes of criminal sexual assault, the chest of a child under the age of 15.

Sexual abuse of animals; penalty. Provides that any person who knowingly (i) engages in sexual contact with an animal; (ii) causes another person by force, threat, or intimidation to engage in sexual contact with an animal; (iii) advertises, solicits, offers, sells, purchases, or possesses an animal with the intent that the animal be subject to sexual contact; (iv) permits sexual contact with an animal to be conducted on any premises under his ownership or control; (v) produces, distributes, publishes, sells, transmits, finances, possesses with the intent to distribute, publish, sell, or transmit, or makes any attempt to produce, distribute, publish, sell, transmit, or finance an obscene item depicting a person engaged in sexual contact with an animal is guilty of a Class 6 felony. The bill also provides that any person convicted of sexual abuse of an animal may be prohibited from possessing, owning, or exercising control over any animal for a period of up to five years and may be ordered to attend an appropriate treatment program or obtain psychiatric or psychological counseling.

Commission on Unemployment Compensation; unemployment insurance subcommittee established. Creates within the Commission on Unemployment Compensation a subcommittee that shall be responsible for monitoring the Virginia Employment Commission's management of the unemployment insurance program. The subcommittee shall meet at least once each quarter and shall report annually, beginning on December 1, 2022, to the House Committee on Appropriations, the House Committee on Labor and Commerce, the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor, and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations.

Use of communications systems to facilitate certain offenses involving children; consecutive sentence; penalty. Provides that any mandatory minimum term of imprisonment imposed for violating the electronic solicitation of a minor statute shall be served consecutively with any other sentence.

Civil actions filed on behalf of multiple persons. Provides that a circuit court may enter an order joining, coordinating, consolidating, or transferring civil actions upon finding that separate civil actions brought by a plaintiff on behalf of multiple similarly situated persons involve common questions of law or fact and arise out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences. The bill requires the Supreme Court to promulgate rules no later than November 1, 2022, governing such actions. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2023.

Virginia STEM Education Advisory Board; comprehensive review of labor statistics categories; report. Directs the Virginia Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Advisory Board (the Board) to perform a comprehensive review of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics categories within the standard occupational classification system and assess deficit areas that do not capture Virginia's existing STEM+C (Computing) workforce profile for the purpose of better aligning K-12 and higher education priorities. The Board shall report its findings to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority Office of Education and Labor Market Alignment and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Communications, Technology and Innovation and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology no later than October 1, 2022.

Retail sale of cannabis products by certain pharmaceutical processors and industrial hemp processors; sunset. Allows certain pharmaceutical processors and industrial hemp processors to sell, under the oversight of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority (the Board), cannabis products at retail to unregistered persons who are 21 years of age or older without the need for a written certification. The bill directs the Board to adopt and enforce regulations governing such sales that shall model certain Board of Pharmacy regulations and comply with other requirements set forth in the bill. The bill requires pharmaceutical processors and industrial hemp processors engaging in such sales to pay a $1 million fee and collect a 21 percent excise tax, both of which shall ultimately be allocated to the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority to be used to assist independent cannabis retailers located in designated rural and urban opportunity zones. The bill also requires such pharmaceutical processors and industrial hemp processors to submit and comply with a plan describing how the processor will educate consumers about responsible consumption of cannabis products and incubate independent cannabis retailers or support and educate persons that wish to participate in the cannabis market. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2023, and shall expire when pharmaceutical processors and industrial hemp processors engaging in the sale of cannabis products pursuant to the provisions of the bill are authorized by the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority to apply for and be granted licenses to cultivate, manufacture, wholesale, and sell at retail to consumers 21 years of age or older retail marijuana and retail marijuana products. Retail sale of cannabis products by certain pharmaceutical processors and industrial hemp processors; sunset. Allows certain pharmaceutical processors and industrial hemp processors to sell, under the oversight of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority (the Board), cannabis products at retail to unregistered persons who are 21 years of age or older without the need for a written certification. The bill directs the Board to adopt and enforce regulations governing such sales that shall model certain Board of Pharmacy regulations and comply with other requirements set forth in the bill. The bill requires pharmaceutical processors and industrial hemp processors engaging in such sales to pay a $1 million fee and collect a 21 percent excise tax, both of which shall ultimately be allocated to the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority to be used to assist independent cannabis retailers located in designated rural and urban opportunity zones. The bill also requires such pharmaceutical processors and industrial hemp processors to submit and comply with a plan describing how the processor will educate consumers about responsible consumption of cannabis products and incubate independent cannabis retailers or support and educate persons that wish to participate in the cannabis market. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2023, and shall expire when pharmaceutical processors and industrial hemp processors engaging in the sale of cannabis products pursuant to the provisions of the bill are authorized by the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority to apply for and be granted licenses to cultivate, manufacture, wholesale, and sell at retail to consumers 21 years of age or older retail marijuana and retail marijuana products.

Public accommodations, employment, and housing; prohibited discrimination on the basis of political affiliation. Prohibits discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and housing on the basis of a person's political affiliation.

Department of Housing and Community Development; statewide housing choice voucher program. Requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to develop and implement a statewide housing choice voucher program to assist low-income Virginians with securing safe, decent, and affordable rental housing. The bill directs the Department to develop and implement such program on or before January 1, 2023.

Larceny of a catalytic converter; penalty. Provides that any person who conspires, confederates, or combines with another to commit larceny or counsels, assists, aids, or abets another in the performance of a larceny of a catalytic converter from a motor vehicle where the value of such catalytic converter is less than $1,000 is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Protective orders; petition; human trafficking and sex trafficking; penalty. Adds to the definitions of "family abuse" and "act of violence, force, or threat" used in the protective order provisions that acts of violence, force, or threat include acts in furtherance of human trafficking or commercial sex trafficking. The bill also allows a minor to petition for a protective order on his own behalf without the consent of a parent or guardian and without doing so by next friend.

Residential Property Disclosure Act; required disclosures for buyer to beware; buyer to exercise necessary due diligence; lot coverage. Requires that the owner of residential real property include in the residential property disclosure statement provided to a potential purchaser of such residential real property a statement that the owner makes no representation with respect to current lot lines or the ability to expand, improve, or add any structures on the property and that the potential purchaser is advised to exercise necessary due diligence, including obtaining a property survey and contacting the locality to determine zoning ordinances or lot coverage, height, or setback requirements on the property. Residential Property Disclosure Act; required disclosures for buyer to beware; buyer to exercise necessary due diligence; lot coverage. Requires that the owner of residential real property include in the residential property disclosure statement provided to a potential purchaser of such residential real property a statement that the owner makes no representation with respect to current lot lines or the ability to expand, improve, or add any structures on the property and that the potential purchaser is advised to exercise necessary due diligence, including obtaining a property survey and contacting the locality to determine zoning ordinances or lot coverage, height, or setback requirements on the property.