New VA Laws On Scam Calls, Driver's License, School Start July 1

RICHMOND, VA — Dozens of new laws take effect Monday, July 1, in Virginia that will change how you strap your kids into the family car, ban stores from selling nicotine products to anyone younger than 21, limit how early the school year can start, increase penalties for failing to move over for emergency vehicles, crack down on fake phone calls and more.

Here's a quick rundown of some of the Virginia laws that kick in on Monday:

Restoring driving privileges: Ends the suspension of driver's licenses for nonpayment of court fines and reinstates licenses for more than 627,000 residents who lost their license because of nonpayment.

Fake phone calls: Anyone who makes phone calls used fake called ID information to defraud, intimidate or harass the recipient can be charged with a Class 3 misdemeanor.

"Move Over" reckless driving law: Increases the penalties for drivers who violate the state's Move Over law. Previously a first offense was a traffic infraction, but now all offenses are a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Tobacco and vape products: Raises the purchase age from 18 years old to 21 for tobacco and vaping products, with the exception of active duty military members age 18 or older with a valid military ID.

Child car seat: Requires children to ride in rear-facing car seats until the age 2, or until they meet the minimum weight standards for a forward-facing seat.

Telephone solicitors: Telephone solicitors and the sellers of property, goods, or services they represent are liable for violations of the Virginia Telephone Privacy Protection Act.

Surrogacy: Gay, straight or single parents should be more easily able to have children using donated embryos. The new law clarifies the surrogacy process and encourages would-be parents to use existing embryos. It replaces “husband” and “wife” with gender-neutral “spouse” to reflect the 2015 legalization of same-sex marriage. It also eliminates the need for parents to adopt a child from a donated embryo.

Happy hour advertising: Allows bars to advertise the prices of featured alcoholic beverages and market them as long as they don't induce overconsumption or consumption by minors.

Safe overdose reporting: Eliminates the requirement to cooperate with police investigations related to an overdose.

School calendar: School cannot start earlier than 14 days before Labor Day.

Possession/distribution of cannabidiol oil/THC-A oil: Public school nurses cannot be prosecuted for dispensing or administering cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil to a student who has a valid written certification for its use. Students cannot be suspended or expelled if they have a valid certificate.

Protective orders: Requires school principals who receive notice that a court or judge has issued a protective order for a student to notify school personnel that the order has been issued.

Health insurance: Any carrier issuing a health plan in the Commonwealth must count payments made by another person on the enrollee's behalf, as well as payments made by the enrollee, when calculating the enrollee's overall contribution to any out-of-pocket maximum or any cost-sharing requirement under the carrier's health plan.

Minimum wage: Eliminates the exemptions to Virginia's minimum wage requirements for babysitters who work 10 hours or more per week.

Safety inspections: Increases the maximum charge for a state safety inspection for a motor vehicle from $16 to $20 and increases the amount transmitted to the Virginia State Police from 50 cents to 70 cents.

Handicapped parking: Prohibits parking any vehicle in any striped access aisle adjacent to a parking space reserved for persons with disabilities.

Handheld devices: Prohibits drivers from holding a handheld personal communications device while driving in a highway work zone. Violations are punishable by a $250 fine.

Heaven's Law: Heaven Watkins, 11, was beaten to death in May of 2018. Legislation named after the girl will require social workers to look back at least five years to see if a child has been abused or neglected in another state.

Includes reporting from InsideNoVA, 13NewsNow, and The Washington Post.