Bills & Legislation

Teachers; daily student attendance records.

Public schools; record of student attendance. Requires a teacher in every public school in the Commonwealth to keep an accurate daily record of attendance of all children, both (i) at the beginning of the school day and (ii) if applicable, for each class period. Current law requires such a daily record of attendance but is silent on records of attendance for each class period.

Jackie H. GlassDemocrat

Chief judges; designation of cases to be heard in the Twelfth Judicial District.

Chief judges; designation of cases to be heard in the Twelfth Judicial District. Allows the chief judges of the Twelfth Judicial District General District Court and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court to designate by order cases to be heard in courtrooms in the Colonial Heights General District Court or Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court whose proper, preferred, or permissible venue is laid in Chesterfield County. The bill provides that such designations made by order shall not be subject to objection. Additionally, the bill provides that its provisions shall supersede all other provisions outside the bill related to the venue of cases to be heard in general district court or juvenile and domestic relations district court. The bill also prohibits such use of the City of Colonial Heights courtrooms until the city manager of Colonial Heights and the county supervisor of Chesterfield County have executed a memorandum of understanding detailing the terms and conditions of the use of such courtrooms. The provisions of this bill shall expire at such time that the Twelfth Judicial District General District Court and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court courthouse buildings located in Chesterfield County are expanded or otherwise redesigned to suitably accommodate the office and courtroom space for an additional judge and additional administrative staff.

Mike A. CherryRepublican

Students in local school division who receive home instruction; division's legal obligation.

Department of Education; Superintendent's memo; confidentiality of certain information relating to students who receive home instruction. Requires, no later than the start of the 2025–2026 school year, the Superintendent of Public Instruction to include in a Superintendent's memo an explanation of each division superintendent's obligations set forth in relevant law relating to the confidentiality of certain information relating to students who receive home instruction.

Phillip A. ScottRepublican

Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE); changes to financing program, definitions.

C-PACE financing programs. Makes several changes to the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing program, including adding a definition of property owner to include a lessee and providing that the lessee may also be eligible for a C-PACE loan by complying with certain conditions, including consent of the fee simple property owner. The bill also (i) changes from two years to three years from a locality's issuance of a certificate of occupancy the time period within which a local C-PACE ordinance may allow submittal of a loan application and (ii) provides that a locality agrees to execute a locality agreement within 30 days of the adoption of the ordinance that opts them into the statewide C-PACE loan program.

David A. ReidDemocrat

Administrative Process Act; provisional license to an assisted living facility or adult day center.

Commissioner of Social Services; appeal of provisional licenses. Requires that corrective action of an applicant for provisional licensure, acceptable to the Commissioner of Social Services and on a schedule determined by the Commissioner, shall be required prior to any appeal of the provisional license issued to an assisted living facility or adult day center. This bill is identical to SB 937.

Sam RasoulDemocrat

Firearm safety device tax credit; defines commercial retailer.

Firearm safety device tax credit; definitions. Redefines an "eligible transaction" for purposes of the firearm safety device tax credit as one in which a taxpayer purchases one or more firearm safety devices from a commercial retailer, as defined in the bill. Current law defines "eligible transaction" as one in which a taxpayer purchases one or more firearm safety devices from a federally licensed dealer. The provisions of the bill apply to taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2025. This bill incorporates HB 1581 and is identical to SB 1389.

JJ SinghDemocrat

Nonhospitalized individuals; crisis stabilization services.

Department of Medical Assistance Services; state plan for medical assistance services; crisis stabilization services for nonhospitalized individuals; emergency. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to seek the necessary federal approvals to remove the prohibition against the use of crisis stabilization services for nonhospitalized individuals in institutions for mental disease and, upon receiving federal approval, (i) authorizes the Department of Medical Assistance Services to implement such change through agency guidance documents prior to the completion of any regulatory review process and (ii) directs it to promulgate regulations to implement such change to be effective within 280 days of receiving federal approval. This bill is identical to SB 1304.

Briana D. SewellDemocrat

Advanced registered medication aides; administration of drugs.

Advanced registered medication aides; administration of drugs. Specifies that advanced registered medication aides may administer drugs to long-term care residents who do not have a clinical condition that requires evaluation by a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse for the administration of medications. The bill also limits the practice of advanced registered medication aides to nursing homes licensed by the Department of Health and permits advanced registered medication aides to administer drugs determined permissible by the Board of Nursing. The bill directs the Department of Health, the Board of Nursing, and the Board of Pharmacy to promulgate regulations to be effective as of December 15, 2025, pertaining to the administration of drugs to residents in nursing homes by advanced registered medication aides.

Rozia A. Henson, Jr.Democrat

School Health Services Committee; extends sunset date.

School Health Services Committee; sunset. Extends from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2028, the sunset date for the School Health Services Committee.

Barbara A. FavolaDemocrat

Virginia Real Estate Time-Share Act; recordkeeping by resellers.

Virginia Real Estate Time-Share Act; recordkeeping by resellers. Removes the requirement under the Virginia Real Estate Time-Share Act that, if contact information has been obtained by a reseller of a time-share from any source, such reseller and the lead dealer of such time-share maintain a copy of a current government-issued photographic identification of the lead dealer who provided the contact information.

Christie New CraigRepublican

Children in foster care; federal benefits, written notice by certified mail, notice of eligibility.

Local department of social services; children in foster care; federal benefits; notice of eligibility. Provides that, if the local department of social services serves as representative payee for a child receiving certain federal benefits, specified in the bill, the local department of social services shall provide written notice, in person or by certified mail, that it is acting as the child's representative payee within 30 days after receiving the first benefit payment on behalf of the child to (i) the child, if the child is 12 years of age or older; (ii) the child's parent, prior guardian, or prior custodian, or, if there is no legal parent or prior guardian or custodian, the child's next of kin; (iii) the guardian ad litem, if applicable; and (iv) the counsel appointed for the child, if applicable.

Barbara A. FavolaDemocrat

Higher education institutions, baccalaureate public; livestreaming, etc., Bd. of visitors meetings.

Baccalaureate public institutions of higher education; livestreaming, recording, and archiving of boards of visitors meetings; closed sessions; guidelines. Establishes several requirements, subject to a reenactment clause, relating to public access to meetings of the governing boards of baccalaureate public institutions of higher education. The bill also requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, in consultation with the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council and a representative from the Library of Virginia, to work with the public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth and with technology experts to develop minimal uniform standards, to the extent practicable, for (i) providing the public with real-time access to the meetings of governing boards of public institutions of higher education and the meetings of committees of such boards, (ii) archiving the recordings of such meetings, and (iii) taking minutes at such meetings. The bill requires any such minimal uniform standards to be implemented by each public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth no later than July 1, 2026.

M. Keith HodgesRepublican

Interstate Massage Compact; authorizes Virginia to become a signatory to Compact.

Interstate Massage Compact. Authorizes Virginia to become a signatory to the Interstate Massage Compact. The Compact permits eligible licensed massage therapists to practice in Compact member states, provided that they meet certain requirements. The Compact takes effect when enacted by a seventh member state. Currently, two states have enacted the Compact.

Jackie H. GlassDemocrat

Behavioral health services; correctional facilities, exchange of medical/mental health information.

Behavioral health services; exchange of medical and mental health information and records; correctional facilities. Permits the Department of Medical Assistance Services, the Department of Social Services, and any local department of social services to access medical and mental health information and records for persons committed to any correctional facility for the purposes of providing pre-release services, reentry planning, and post-incarceration placement and services. The bill also authorizes the Department of Medical Assistance Services to access a juvenile's social, medical, psychiatric, and psychological reports and records during pre-release and up to 30 days following such juvenile's release from commitment for the purposes of providing pre-release services, reentry planning, and post-incarceration placement and services. This bill is identical to HB 2754.

Barbara A. FavolaDemocrat

Hospitals; urine drug screening to include testing for fentanyl.

Malcolm's Law; hospitals; urine drug screening; fentanyl. Requires hospitals with an emergency department, when conducting a urine drug screening, as defined in the bill, to assist in diagnosing a patient's condition, to include testing for fentanyl in such urine drug screening. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2026.

Irene ShinDemocrat

Mine rescue team vehicles; authorized to be equipped with flashing red and white warning lights.

Flashing red and white warning lights; emergency vehicle exemptions; mine rescue team vehicles. Authorizes vehicles operated by mine rescue teams that are certified by the Mine Safety and Health Administration under federal law to (i) be equipped with flashing, blinking, or alternating red or red and white combination warning lights and (ii) disregard certain regulations regarding the operation of vehicles without being subject to criminal prosecution while responding to an emergency, provided that the operator of such vehicle has received certain training and recertifies every two years. The bill adds responding to mine rescue incidents to the list of circumstances in which such lighted warning lights shall be displayed.

Israel D. O'QuinnRepublican

Deed fraud; VHDA to evaluate prevalence, develop recommendations for prevention, etc.

Virginia Housing Development Authority; technical advisory group; report. Directs the Virginia Housing Development Authority to convene a technical advisory group to (i) evaluate the prevalence of deed fraud, including notary fraud, seller impersonation, owner impersonation, and fraudulent lien filing; (ii) develop recommendations for the prevention of deed fraud; and (iii) develop measures to enhance protections for property owners from such crimes. The bill also requires the technical advisory group to give consideration to certain policy proposals stated in the bill. The bill requires the technical advisory group to submit its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology no later than November 1, 2025. This bill is identical to SB 1270.

Marcus B. SimonDemocrat

Health insurance; coverage for mental health and substance abuse disorders.

Health insurance; coverage for mental health and substance abuse disorders; generally accepted standards of care. Requires health insurance coverage, as defined in the bill, to provide coverage for mental health and substance use disorder benefits for children, adolescents, and adults and requires such coverage to apply the definitions of "generally accepted standards of mental health or substance use disorder care" and "medically necessary" provided in the bill for any determination of medical necessity, prior authorization, or utilization review under such coverage.

Mark D. SicklesDemocrat

Virginia Values Veterans Program; military spouse eligibility.

Virginia Values Veterans Program; military spouse eligibility. Provides that the comprehensive program developed by the Department of Veterans Services to reduce unemployment among veterans extends to military spouses.

Atoosa R. ReaserDemocrat

Health insurance; carrier business practices, method of payment for claims.

Health insurance; carrier business practices; method of payment for transactions. Requires a health insurance carrier to notify the provider in a provider contract if the carrier, or entity completing a transaction on behalf of the carrier, uses a payment method that imposes a transaction or processing fee or similar charge on the provider and to offer the provider an alternative payment method that does not impose such a fee or similar charge. If the provider elects to accept the alternative payment method and has provided all required information to the carrier to enroll in such alternative method, the bill specifies that the carrier is required to pay the claim using such alternative payment method. This bill is identical to SB 925.

Irene ShinDemocrat

Mobile health clinics; DHCD to include broadband access services for clinics.

Department of Housing and Community Development; broadband access services for mobile health clinics. Requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to, as part of its broader initiative to support the development and implementation of programs that support telehealth, include broadband access services for mobile health clinics as a priority for broadband nondeployment programs using federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program funding to the extent approved by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Health Care.

Barbara A. FavolaDemocrat

Blind and Vision Impaired, Board for the; endowment fund, voluntary contributions of refunds.

Voluntary contributions of refunds requirements; endowment fund of the Board for the Blind and Vision Impaired. Adds the Board for the Blind and Vision Impaired to the list of organizations and funds that may receive contributions of taxpayer refunds. The bill requires that moneys contributed shall be paid to the endowment fund of the Board for use in its mission in providing quality services to assist citizens of the Commonwealth who are blind, vision impaired, or deafblind in achieving their desired level of employment, education, and personal independence.

Wendell S. WalkerRepublican

Fire Prevention Code; prohibition on permit fees for fire departments, etc., for certain localities.

Fire Prevention Code; prohibition on permit fees for fire departments and emergency medical services agencies in certain localities. Prohibits the State Fire Marshal from charging a fee for the approval and administration of certain permits issued to fire departments and emergency medical services agencies in localities with a total population of less than 10,000 as determined by the most recent federal decennial census by the United States Census Bureau.

T. Travis HackworthRepublican

Correctional facilities, state and regional; private management prohibited.

Corrections Private Management Act; name change; private management prohibited. Removes the authority of the Director of the Department of Corrections, pursuant to the Corrections Private Management Act (the Act), or a regional jail authority to enter into contracts with contractors for the operation of prison facilities or regional jails, including management, custody of inmates, and provision of security, unless approved by the General Assembly. The bill does not affect the Director's authority pursuant to the Act, renamed by the bill as the Corrections Private Services Act, or a regional jail authority's ability to enter into private contracts for other correctional services, including those related to food service, medical care, transportation, sanitation, information systems, education and training programs, recreational or religious activities, financing, construction, or maintenance. The bill also removes provisions stating that (i) a site proposed by a contractor for the construction of a prison facility shall not be subject to certain approval procedures and (ii) no construction and operation of a private correctional facility shall be entered into nor shall any funds be expended for the contract unless the local governing body consents to the siting and construction of such facility within the bounds of the locality.

Adam P. EbbinDemocrat

Child victims and witnesses; using two-way closed-circuit television.

Child victims and witnesses using two-way closed-circuit television or other securely encrypted two-way audio and video technology; standard. Allows the court to order that the testimony of a child be taken by two-way closed-circuit television or other securely encrypted two-way audio and video technology if it finds that the child is unavailable to testify in open court in the presence of the defendant, the jury, the judge, and the public if the court finds, by clear and convincing evidence, based upon expert opinion testimony, that the child will suffer at least moderate emotional trauma that is more than nervousness or excitement or some reluctance to testify as a result of testifying in the defendant's presence and not in the courtroom generally where such trauma would impair the child's ability to communicate.Under current law, the court may order such testimony be taken by two-way closed-circuit television if it finds that (i) the child has a substantial inability to communicate about the offense or (ii) there is a substantial likelihood, based upon expert opinion testimony, that the child will suffer severe emotional trauma from so testifying.The bill also extends the application window for the party seeking such order from seven to 14 days before the trial date or such other preliminary proceeding to which such order is to apply.

Karrie K. DelaneyDemocrat

Rainwater harvesting systems, certain; local ordinances for use.

Local ordinances for the use of certain rainwater harvesting systems. Provides that existing local ordinances adopted prior to July 1, 2025, governing rainwater harvesting systems shall continue in force; however, in the event of a conflict between a Board of Health regulation and a local ordinance adopted prior to July 1, 2025, the Board regulation shall govern, except when the conflicting local ordinance is more stringent. The bill prohibits a locality from adopting any local ordinance requiring owners of Tier 4 rainwater harvesting systems to connect to any municipal water supply or impose any penalty, including condemnation proceedings, on such owner for failing to connect to a municipal water supply.

J.D. "Danny" DiggsRepublican

Ear-piercers and ear-piercing salons and schools; licensure by the Board of Barbers and Cosmetology.

Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; regulation of ear-piercers and ear-piercing salons and schools. Provides for the licensure of ear-piercing salons, ear-piercing schools, and ear-piercers by the Board for Barbers and Cosmetology. The bill distinguishes ear-piercing salons from body-piercing salons by definition and requires the Board to adopt regulations establishing the requirements for licensure of ear-piercing salons, ear-piercing schools, and ear-piercers. Additionally, the bill requires the Board to develop specific training and apprenticeship programs for ear-piercers and permits localities to regulate the sanitary conditions of ear-piercing salons. This bill is identical to SB 1419.

Marcus B. SimonDemocrat

Mental Health First Aid Program; DOE, et al., to develop, participation by school staff & students.

Department of Education; Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; mental health first aid training program; development of plan to incentivize and facilitate participation. Directs the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, to develop and implement a plan to incentivize and facilitate participation in the Commonwealth Mental Health First Aid Program, established pursuant to applicable law, by public school staff and students. As introduced, the bill is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee to Study Pandemic Response and Preparedness in the Commonwealth. This bill is identical to HB 2637.

Ghazala F. HashmiDemocrat

Virginia STEP Grant Program; established.

Virginia Student Training Employment Pipeline for U.S. Procurement (STEP UP) Program established. Directs the Department of Education to establish the Virginia Student Training Employment Pipeline for U.S. Procurement (STEP UP) Program for the purpose of facilitating opportunities for any student enrolled in the eleventh or twelfth grade at a public high school in the Commonwealth or enrolled at a comprehensive community college or historically black college or university in the Commonwealth who enters into an agreement with an entity located in the relevant local school division or region that has a procurement contract with the federal government whereby such entity agrees to provide assistance to the student to obtain, prior to graduation, any federal security clearance at the public trust or national security level and any other education, training, or credential that is necessary for the student to be prepared for employment with such entity upon graduation in exchange for a commitment from the student to accept and remain in such an employment position for an agreed-upon period of time after graduation.

Joshua G. ColeDemocrat

Children's Ombudsman, Office of the; foster youth's right to receive information.

Office of the Children's Ombudsman; foster youth's right to receive information. Requires the Department of Social Services or a local department of social services, a children's residential facility, or any child-placing agency to provide certain information along with the contact information for the Office of the Children's Ombudsman to a biological parent, prospective adoptive parent, or foster parent, as well as to any child in foster care age 12 or older upon the opening of a foster care case for such child. The bill also provides that, in relation to complaints made to the Ombudsman, if such child is the complainant, the Ombudsman need not gain the consent of the Department or local department of social services, the children's residential facility, the child-placing agency, or the foster parent or guardian of the child or other person having custody or care of the child to receive information from or communicate with the child. This bill is identical to HB 1777.

Saddam Azlan SalimDemocrat

Mission-critical affected emergency generators; DEQ to promulgate administrative regulations.

Department of Environmental Quality; administrative regulations; mission-critical affected emergency generators; emergency. Specifies that the State Air Pollution Control Board's administrative regulations shall allow any affected emergency generator, defined in the bill, to operate up to 50 hours per year for nonemergency purposes, including planned outages and switch gear and related electrical system testing, so as to be consistent with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's regulations for such generators. The bill directs the Department of Environmental Quality to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the bill without further action by the State Air Pollution Control Board. The bill contains an emergency clause.

Bryce E. ReevesRepublican

Health Professions, Board of; transfer of powers and duties.

Elimination of Board of Health Professions; transfer of powers and duties. Eliminates the Board of Health Professions and transfers certain powers and duties from the Board to the Department of Health Professions.

Todd E. PillionRepublican

Public middle & high schools; establishing career & technical student organizations, etc.

Public middle and high schools; establishment of career and technical student organizations; certain exclusions. Establishes an exception to the authority granted to each public middle school and high school to establish career and technical education student organizations, regardless of whether such school offers career and technical education courses, in the case of any such organization that is established as a federally chartered corporation pursuant to an act of Congress.

Robert D. Orrock, Sr.Republican

Health insurance; coverage requirements for prostate cancer screenings.

Health insurance; coverage requirements for prostate cancer screenings. Updates existing mandated coverage requirements for prostate cancer screenings to reflect updated tests and guidelines from the American Cancer Society while also removing certain references to American Cancer Society Guidelines. Updated coverage requirements apply to health care coverage companies, the health care coverage plan for state employees, and the state plan for medical assistance services. The bill's provisions apply only to contracts, policies, or plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in the Commonwealth on or after January 1, 2026. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Health Insurance Reform Commission. This bill is identical to HB 2097.

Jeremy S. McPikeDemocrat

Interment rights; descendant, etc., allowed to petition circuit court of locality.

Interment rights; public property. Allows any immediate family member or descendant of a deceased person buried in an identified family cemetery located on public property owned by a locality or held in trust for such a locality to petition the circuit court of the county or city where the property is located for interment rights upon such property.

Danica A. RoemDemocrat

Marine Resources Commission; encroachment on subaqueous beds, permitting requirements.

Marine Resources Commission; encroachment on subaqueous beds; permitting requirements. Increases the maximum total value of projects eligible for a permit to trespass upon or over or encroach upon a subaqueous bed belonging to the Commonwealth from $500,000 to $1,000,000. The bill requires the Commissioner of Marine Resources to update the total project value every five years using the Consumer Price Index and publish such increase or decrease on the Marine Resource Commission's website. This bill is identical to SB 1169.

Robert S. Bloxom, Jr.Republican

Southwest Regional Recreation Authority; directors.

Southwest Regional Recreation Authority; directors. Provides that the board of directors of the Southwest Regional Recreation Authority may hire directors, rather than an executive director, to carry out various duties of the Authority.

James W. MorefieldRepublican

Electronic communication service or remote computing service; obtaining records without a warrant.

Obtaining records concerning electronic communication service or remote computing service without a warrant. Provides that when disclosure of real-time location data or subscriber data is not prohibited by federal law, an investigative or law-enforcement officer may obtain real-time location data or subscriber data without a warrant if the investigative or law-enforcement officer reasonably believes that (i) an individual or group of individuals has made a credible threat via electronic communication to commit an act of violence upon the property, including the buildings and grounds thereof, of any (a) child day center, including any preschool program offered by a publicly funded provider; (b) preschool or nursery program certified by the Board of Education; or (c) public, private, or religious elementary or secondary school and (ii) a warrant cannot be obtained in time to prevent the identified danger or identify the source of the threat. The bill also provides that no real-time location data or subscriber data shall be admissible in a criminal proceeding unless a judge finds that probable cause for the issuance of a search warrant existed at the time of the search and such data is otherwise admissible, provided that no such data obtained is presented to establish the necessary probable cause.

Sam RasoulDemocrat

Substitute judge of a district court; per diem compensation.

Per diem compensation of a substitute judge of a district court. Increases from $200 to $350 the per diem compensation of each substitute judge of a district court. The bill also increases the per diem compensation for such judge from $100 to $175 if the substitute judge sits less than four hours or presides over less than a full docket. The bill reflects language in subsection S of Item 31 of Chapter 2 of the Acts of Assembly of 2024, Special Session I.

Betsy B. CarrDemocrat

Medical care facilities; relocation, conversion, and addition of beds.

Relocation, conversion, and addition of beds in medical care facilities; application for certificate of public need; expedited review. Expands the State Board of Health's procedures for expedited review of applications for certificates of public need for certain projects to include the relocation or conversion of beds from, or the addition of beds to, an already existing medical facility, as well as the establishment of a new psychiatric medical care facility by an existing medical care facility.

Ghazala F. HashmiDemocrat

Virginia Consumer Protection Act; mold remediation and inspections, report.

Virginia Consumer Protection Act; Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; mold remediation; emergency. Prohibits the selling or offering for sale of services as a professional mold remediator to be performed upon any residential dwelling without holding a mold remediation certification from a nationally or internationally recognized certifying body for mold remediation. The bill also requires such professionals to comply with pertinent standards in conducting remediation. Finally, the bill directs the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation to study the state of the mold inspection and mold remediation workforce in the Commonwealth to determine whether the licensure or certification of mold inspectors and remediators would benefit the public health, safety, and welfare and submit a report by January 1, 2026. This bill incorporates HB 2355 and contains an emergency clause.

Delores L. McQuinnDemocrat

Poquoson, City of; amending charter, powers of city council.

Charter; City of Poquoson. Amends the charter for the City of Poquoson to give the city council authority to remove, by a vote of four-sevenths of the whole city council, any person appointed to a city board or commission by the city council.

J.D. "Danny" DiggsRepublican

Transportation district commissions; contracts or agreements.

Transportation district commissions; contracts or agreements. Expands the localities and entities with which transportation district commissions may enter into contracts or agreements to provide transit facilities and services and other modes of transportation.

Jeremy S. McPikeDemocrat

Veterans; provision of copies of vital records.

Department of Veterans Services; provision of copies of veteran vital records. Requires the Board of Health to provide a copy of a veteran's vital records to the Department of Veterans Services upon the Department's request when a veteran or his surviving spouse requires a certified copy of a vital record to obtain service-connected benefits. This bill incorporates HB 2016.

Amy J. LauferDemocrat

Use of communications system to expose sexual or genital parts to a child; penalty.

Use of communications system to expose sexual or genital parts to a child; penalty. Creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person 18 years of age or older who uses a communications system, including computers or computer networks or bulletin boards, or any other electronic means, with lascivious intent, to expose his sexual or genital parts to any person he knows or has reason to know is a child to whom he is not legally married and such child is 15 years of age or older. Under current law, it is a Class 5 felony for any person 18 years of age or older to use such communications system for the purposes of soliciting, with lascivious intent, any person he knows or has reason to believe is a child younger than 15 years of age to knowingly and intentionally commit certain sexual activities, including exposing his sexual or genital parts to any child to whom he is not legally married or proposing that any such child expose his sexual or genital parts to such person. It is also a Class 5 felony under current law for any person to commit such acts with any child he knows or has reason to believe is at least 15 years of age but younger than 18 years of age if such person is at least seven years older than the child. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Criminal Justice Conference.

Will DavisRepublican

Protective orders; military protective orders.

Protective orders; Military Protective Orders. Permits a court to issue a preliminary protective order upon evidence of a Military Protective Order issued by a commanding officer in the Armed Forces of the United States, the Virginia National Guard, or the National Guard of any other state in favor of the petitioner or the petitioner's family or household members. The bill provides that a Military Protective Order issued between the parties shall only be admissible or considered as evidence in accordance with the Code of Virginia, the Rules of Evidence of the Supreme Court of Virginia, or other relevant Virginia case law. The bill requires a law-enforcement agency, upon a defendant's violation of a protective order, if such Military Protective Order was issued against the same defendant as a protective order in a Virginia court and registered with the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), to inform the military law-enforcement officer or agency that issued and entered the Military Protective Order into NCIC of such violation. This bill incorporates SB 751 and is identical to HB 1882.

Russet PerryDemocrat

Professional education programs; exemption for programs leading to certain endorsements.

Board of Education; accreditation requirements for professional education programs; exemption for professional education programs leading to certain endorsements. Directs the Board of Education to amend its regulations relating to accreditation requirements for professional education programs in the Commonwealth to require the Department of Education to provide an alternative to the requirement to obtain and maintain national accreditation from the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation for any professional education program that leads to an endorsement as a school counselor or a school psychologist and has a secured specialty area accreditation from a specialized accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

Amy J. LauferDemocrat

Alcoholic beverage control; delivery of mixed beverages.

Alcoholic beverage control; delivery of mixed beverages; repeal. Clarifies that under current law, mixed beverage restaurant and limited mixed beverage restaurant licensees may sell for off-premises consumption or deliver up to two mixed beverages per meal served, but shall in no event sell for off-premises consumption or deliver more than four mixed beverages at any one time. The bill also provides clarification as to where delivery of such mixed beverages may be made. The bill maintains alcoholic beverage control third-party delivery licenses by eliminating the repeal of such licenses that is set to go into effect July 1, 2026. This bill is identical to HB 2058.

Aaron R. RouseDemocrat