Bills & Legislation

Virginia College Opportunity Endowment and Fund; created.

Virginia College Savings Plan; Virginia College Opportunity Endowment and Fund. Directs the board of the Virginia College Savings Plan to deposit $250 million per year of surplus moneys from the Plan's fund into the Virginia College Opportunity Fund, established by the bill. The bill provides that such deposit shall not be made or shall be reduced in any year in which the College Opportunity Investment Advisory Committee determines that certain conditions relating to the Plan's funded status are not met. The Committee is established by the bill as an advisory committee for the Plan, for the purpose of determining the amount of deposits to be made to the Fund. The bill provides that financial management of the Fund is the responsibility of the board of the Plan but authorizes the board of the Virginia College Opportunity Endowment, also established by the bill, to manage a scholarship program funded by the Fund. The bill establishes an individual and corporate income tax subtraction for donations to the Fund. Under the bill, the Endowment provides scholarships to students who attend or plan to attend one of 12 eligible universities named in the bill. The bill provides that only such students who meet the eligibility requirements for a Federal Pell Grant and commit to being employed in Virginia, or being enrolled in postgraduate education in Virginia, for at least eight years after graduation from an eligible university are eligible for such scholarships.

Scott A. SurovellDemocrat

Health care providers & grocery store workers; employers to provide paid sick leave, effective date.

Paid sick leave; health care providers and grocery store workers. Requires employers to provide paid sick leave to health care providers and grocery store workers. Under current law, employers are only required to provide paid sick leave to certain home health workers. The bill removes requirements that workers work on average at least 20 hours per week or 90 hours per month to be eligible for paid sick leave. The bill provides that certain health care providers may waive their right to accrue and use paid sick leave and provides an exemption for employers of certain other health care providers. The bill requires the Department of Labor and Industry to develop guidelines for retail employers that sell groceries to provide sick leave and to publish such guidelines by December 1, 2024. The provisions of the bill other than the requirement for the Department of Labor and Industry to develop guidelines have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025.

Scott A. SurovellDemocrat

Public high schools; college and career specialist required.

Public high schools; personnel; college and career specialist required. Requires each school board to employ at least one college and career specialist, as defined in the bill, in each public high school in the local school division. The bill provides that each such individual shall be employed in addition to and not as a replacement for the required school counselor positions, specialized student support positions, or support services positions.

Angelia Williams GravesDemocrat

Divorce; grounds, cruelty, abuse, desertion, or abandonment, eliminates waiting period.

Grounds for divorce; cruelty, abuse, desertion, or abandonment; waiting period. Eliminates the one-year waiting period for a divorce to be decreed on the grounds of cruelty, reasonable apprehension of bodily hurt, or willful desertion or abandonment.

Angelia Williams GravesDemocrat

Workers' compensation; injuries caused by repetitive and sustained physical stressors.

Workers' compensation; injuries caused by repetitive and sustained physical stressors. Provides that, for the purposes of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act, "occupational disease" includes injuries or diseases from conditions resulting from repetitive and sustained physical stressors, including repetitive and sustained motions, exertions, posture stresses, contact stresses, vibrations, or noises. The bill provides that such injuries or diseases are covered under the Act and that such coverage does not require that such repetitive or sustained physical stress occurred over a particular time period, provided that the time period over which such physical stress occurred can be reasonably identified.

Angelia Williams GravesDemocrat

Virginia Retirement System; return to work, break in service.

Virginia Retirement System; return to work; break in service. Reduces, from six months to one month, the length of the required break in service after retirement for a teacher, bus driver, specialized student support instructor, or law-enforcement officer before such person may return to work full time and continue to receive his pension under the Virginia Retirement System (VRS).

Christie New CraigRepublican

Renewable energy portfolio standard; eligibility of hydrogen and nuclear resources.

Renewable energy portfolio standard; eligibility of hydrogen and nuclear resources. Provides that, for the purposes of the renewable energy portfolio standard, eligible sources include (i) hydrogen resources that are produced from zero-carbon generating facilities located in the Commonwealth and (ii) zero-carbon nuclear generating facilities located in the Commonwealth that were placed into service after July 1, 2024.

T. Travis HackworthRepublican

Captured coal mine methane; pilot program, renewable energy portfolio standard.

Pilot program for captured coal mine methane; renewable energy portfolio standard. Directs the State Corporation Commission to establish a pilot program for American Electric Power (Phase I Utility) and Dominion Energy (Phase II Utility) to submit proposals to deploy electricity generation from captured coal mine methane. Under the bill, reasonable and prudent costs incurred under the captured coal mine methane project shall be recovered through utility base rates. Additionally, the bill provides that electricity generated using captured coal mine methane with a non-combustion electric generator under the captured coal mine methane project shall be considered an eligible resource for purposes of the renewable energy portfolio standard program.

T. Travis HackworthRepublican

Income tax, state; subtraction for tax, military retirement benefits, uniformed services.

Income tax subtraction; military retirement benefits; uniformed services. Expands the definition of "military benefits" to include an income tax subtraction of retirement income received for service in the uniformed services of the United States, which includes the United States Armed Forces, the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the commissioned corps of the United States Public Health Service. Under current law, the subtraction is only allowed for military retirement income received for service in the United States Armed Forces.

Bryce E. ReevesRepublican

Income tax, state; standard deduction.

Virginia taxable income; standard deduction. Removes the sunset on elevated standard deduction amounts for single individuals and married persons that was scheduled to expire for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2026.

David R. SuetterleinRepublican

Veterans' Fellowship for State Government Pilot Program; created, report.

Department of Veterans Services; Veteran's Fellowship for State Government Pilot Program. Creates, within the Department of Veterans Services, the Veteran's Fellowship for State Government Pilot Program (the Program) through which the Department shall collaborate with Virginia Commonwealth University to recruit veterans to participate in undergraduate-level and graduate-level cohorts to assist such veterans in pursuing educational pathways to employment with the Commonwealth. The Department shall report annually to the General Assembly by November 1 regarding the progress of the participants, the return on investment for the Commonwealth, and recommendations for Program enhancements. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2027.

Bryce E. ReevesRepublican

Improvements, repairs, or maintenance of property; entering adjoining property, petition for entry.

Improvements, repairs, or maintenance of property; entering adjoining property; petition for entry. Allows an owner or lessee of real property who seeks to improve, repair, or maintain his property to petition the circuit court for a license to enter adjoining property for the purpose of performing the improvements, repairs, or maintenance when the property is so situated that it is impossible to perform the improvements, repairs, or maintenance without entering such adjoining property and permission to enter such adjoining property has been denied. The bill provides that such license shall be granted by the court in an appropriate case upon such terms as justice requires. No such entry shall be deemed a trespass, and the licensee shall be liable to the adjoining owner or his lessee for actual damages occurring as a result of the entry.

Schuyler T. VanValkenburgDemocrat

Sports betting; permitted on Virginia college sports.

Sports betting; Virginia college sports. Permits betting, with the exception of proposition betting, on Virginia college sports. Under current law, betting other than proposition betting is allowed on all college sports except Virginia college sports.

Schuyler T. VanValkenburgDemocrat

Personal property; tax relief for qualifying vehicles, reimbursement and appropriation.

Personal property tax relief; qualifying vehicles; reimbursement and appropriation. Provides for a portion of the general fund surplus at the close of the immediately preceding fiscal year to be appropriated for increased car tax relief. If more than $250 million in general fund surplus remains after all mandatory assignments under current law, then the total amount the Commonwealth shall pay in reimbursements to localities for providing required tangible personal property tax relief on qualifying vehicles for the immediately following tax year, beginning in tax year 2025, shall be $950 million plus up to 25 percent of the remaining surplus. In such case, the surplus amount would be held in reserve for appropriation for such tax relief and not further assigned by the Comptroller. If less than $250 million in general fund surplus remains after such mandatory assignments, the total amount of reimbursements from the Commonwealth to localities would remain at $950 million, the fixed amount under current law, and the remaining surplus would be assigned by the Comptroller for nonrecurring expenditures. Also beginning in tax year 2025, the bill increases from $20,000 to $30,000 the base vehicle value for which a county, city, or town shall establish its tangible personal property tax rate for each qualifying vehicle and reimbursements from the Commonwealth therefor.

Christie New CraigRepublican

Local government; prohibition on certain appointments.

Prohibition on certain local government appointments. Prohibits a local governing body from appointing a spouse, child, stepchild, parent, stepparent, or grandparent of a governing body member as a member of any local government board, committee, or commission or as a member of a board of directors of a not-for-profit organization that receives funding from the locality.

Christopher T. HeadRepublican

Electric utilities; SCC to ensure energy policy at lowest reasonable cost.

Electric utilities; State Corporation Commission; energy policy of the Commonwealth. Requires the State Corporation Commission to ensure that the Commonwealth implements the energy policy of the Commonwealth, as defined by relevant law, 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 that each incumbent electric utility has joined. The bill establishes a rebuttable presumption that plans, petitions, or proposals from utilities that do not ensure such implementation at the lowest reasonable cost are not in the public interest.

Jennifer D. Carroll FoyDemocrat

Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Team; created, penalty, report.

Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Team established; penalty; report. Establishes the Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Team to develop and implement procedures to ensure that fetal and infant deaths occurring in the Commonwealth are analyzed in a systematic way. The bill requires the Team to compile triennial statistical data regarding fetal and infant deaths and to make such data available to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Department of Health. The bill provides that information and records obtained or created by the Team and portions of meetings of the Team at which individual fetal and infant deaths are discussed shall be confidential.

Jennifer D. Carroll FoyDemocrat

Electric utilities; retail competition, aggregated competitive purchasers.

Electric utilities; retail competition; aggregated competitive purchasers. Creates a limited exception to the requirement that the State Corporation Commission must find that a petition for certain competitive purchasers to aggregate their demands to become qualified to purchase retail electric energy is consistent with the public interest in order for the Commission to approve such petition. The bill provides that a customer seeking such approval may remunerate the utility for any adverse effects to the incumbent utility or its remaining utility customers contrary to the public interest as determined by the Commission. The bill also provides that such customers shall not be denied permission to procure retail electric energy from a competitive supplier and that such remuneration fee shall be recalculated by the Commission on a triennial basis from when a customer commences a competitive service agreement.

David R. SuetterleinRepublican

Southwest Regional Recreation Authority; powers.

Southwest Regional Recreation Authority; powers. Provides for the Attorney General to provide legal services in civil matters upon the request of the executive director or board of directors of the Southwest Regional Recreation Authority. The bill also provides for the board of the Authority to adopt policies for the procurement of goods and services and requires such policies to incorporate certain provisions of the Virginia Public Procurement Act. In addition, the bill (i) makes the provisions of the Virginia Personnel Act and the policies of the Department of Human Resource Management applicable to employees of the Authority and (ii) authorizes the Director of the Department of General Services to lease vehicles and construction and forestry equipment to the Authority.

T. Travis HackworthRepublican

Virginia Consumer Protection Act; prohibited practices, artificial intelligence disclosure.

Virginia Consumer Protection Act; prohibited practices; artificial intelligence disclosure. Prohibits the dissemination or sale of an item created with artificial intelligence technology that contains a videographic or still image intending to depict an actual person or an audio or audio-visual recording intending to depict the voice of an actual person where the creator has not disclosed the use of artificial intelligence technology.

Bryce E. ReevesRepublican

Out-of-school time programs; exemptions from licensure, conditions and requirements.

Board of Education; out-of-school time programs; exemptions from licensure; conditions and requirements. Exempts from licensure any out-of-school time program that (i) serves only school-age children; (ii) operates primarily after or before regular school hours, during the summer, or at times when school is not normally in session; (iii) is offered for the purpose of promoting expanded childhood learning and enrichment, child and youth development, or educational, recreational, or character-building activities; and (iv) receives and maintains Board of Education certification to operate without a license. The bill provides that any Board-certified, license-exempt out-of-school time program that fails to comply with the conditions set forth in the bill shall receive from the Superintendent notice of such noncompliance with an explanation that if such noncompliance is not resolved within a reasonable period of the time, as determined by the Board, the Superintendent may, at his discretion, deny, suspend, or revoke such program's certification and require it to be licensed.

Christie New CraigRepublican

Zoning; enhanced civil penalties for violations involving nonpermitted commercial uses.

Zoning; civil penalties; commercial uses. Allows enhanced civil penalties for zoning violations involving nonpermitted commercial uses. The bill also requires that for any violation involving nonpermitted commercial uses, a person who admits liability shall be required to abate or remedy the nonpermitted commercial use violation within a period of time specified by the locality that is no less than 30 days but no more than 24 months from the date of admission of liability.

Christie New CraigRepublican

Public elementary and secondary schools; cardiac emergency response plans required.

Public elementary and secondary schools; cardiac emergency response plans required; grant program established. Requires each public elementary or secondary school to develop a cardiac emergency response plan (CERP) that addresses the appropriate use of school personnel to respond to incidents involving an individual who is experiencing sudden cardiac arrest or a similar life-threatening emergency while on school grounds and, in the event that such school has an athletic department or organized athletic program, while attending or participating in an athletic practice or event. The bill requires each such CERP to integrate nationally recognized evidence-based core elements such as those recommended by the American Heart Association guidelines and to integrate certain provisions and guidelines, including those relating to establishing a cardiac emergency response team, activating such team in response to a sudden cardiac event, and integrating the CERP into the local community's emergency medical services response protocols. The bill also requires, with such funds as may be appropriated for such purpose pursuant to the general appropriation act, the Department to establish and administer the CERP Grant Program for the purpose of awarding grants, on a competitive basis, to any public elementary or secondary school to assist such school in the development or implementation of its CERP or in the purchase or funding of activities or equipment that further promotes CERP preparedness, giving priority to certain high-need schools.

Aaron R. RouseDemocrat

Income tax, state; eligible low-income taxpayers to claim a refundable tax credit.

Earned income tax credit. Allows eligible low-income taxpayers to claim a refundable income tax credit equal to 20 percent of the federal earned income tax credit claimed that year by the taxpayer for the same taxable year. The bill also states that individuals who would have been entitled to the federal equivalent of this credit but for the fact that the individual, the individual's spouse, or one or more of the individual's children does not have a valid social security number are eligible to claim this credit.

Aaron R. RouseDemocrat

Electric utilities; data center demand, allocation of costs among customer classes.

Electric utilities; data center demand; allocation of costs among customer classes. Directs the State Corporation Commission to ensure that any plan, petition, or proposal from a utility to meet demand associated with data centers considers generation, transmission, and distribution system costs so as to meet such demand at the lowest aggregate reasonable cost. The bill also directs the Commission to initiate a proceeding, on or before December 31, 2024, (i) to determine if the current allocation of costs among customers and the different classifications of customers of electric utilities results in customers that are data centers receiving unreasonable subsidies from other customers or classifications of customers and (ii) if it determines unreasonable subsidies exist, to amend such allocation of costs.

Suhas SubramanyamDemocrat

Retail Sales and Use Tax; certain exemption for data centers.

Sales and use tax exemption; data centers. Requires data center operators to meet certain energy efficiency standards in order to be eligible for the sales and use tax exemption for data center purchases. Under the bill, a data center operator shall be eligible for the exemption only if such operator demonstrates that (i) its facilities either (a) have a power usage effectiveness score of no greater than 1.2 or (b) for data centers co-located in buildings with other commercial uses, achieve an energy efficiency level of no less than the most efficient 15 percent of similar buildings constructed in the previous five years and (ii) it will procure carbon-free renewable energy and associated renewable energy certificates from facilities equal to 90 percent of its electricity requirements or that its electricity will be otherwise derived from non-carbon-emitting, renewable sources.

Suhas SubramanyamDemocrat

Attorney General; instituting or conducting criminal prosecutions.

Attorney General; instituting or conducting criminal prosecutions for violations of criminal sexual assault and commercial sex trafficking committed against children. Authorizes the Attorney General to institute or conduct criminal prosecutions in cases involving a violation of criminal sexual assault or commercial sex trafficking when such crimes are committed against children.

J.D. "Danny" DiggsRepublican

License plates; creates plates for collector motor vehicles, penalty.

License plates; collector motor vehicles; penalty. Creates license plates for collector motor vehicles, defined in the bill, which the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles shall issue to any applicant who owns or has regular use of another passenger car, autocycle, or motorcycle and who owns at least a total of three collector motor vehicles. The bill designates the fee for such plates and registration as $50, specifies that the collector motor vehicles shall not be used for general transportation purposes and may only be used (i) for participation in shows, parades, charitable functions, and historical exhibitions for display, maintenance, and preservation; (ii) on the highways of the Commonwealth for the purpose of testing their operation or selling the vehicle, obtaining repairs or maintenance, transportation to and from events, and for occasional pleasure driving not exceeding 250 miles from the residence of the owner; and (iii) to carry or transport passengers and personal effects. The bill also prohibits such vehicles from being registered as antique vehicles or military surplus motor vehicles. Finally, the bill makes it a Class 4 misdemeanor to violate any provision relating to the registration of collector motor vehicles.

J.D. "Danny" DiggsRepublican

Legal notices; locality to advertise on their website.

Advertisement of legal notices; website. Allows a locality to advertise legal notices on the locality's website instead of, or in addition to, publishing such notices in a newspaper having general circulation in the locality.

J.D. "Danny" DiggsRepublican

Retirement system; animal control officers to receive benefits.

Virginia retirement system; enhanced retirement benefits; animal control officers. Adds full-time animal control officers to the list of local employees eligible to receive enhanced retirement benefits for hazardous duty service for service earned in such positions on or after July 1, 2025, and in certain circumstances service earned prior to that date. Under current law, localities may provide such benefits to first responders, including firefighters and emergency medical technicians, and certain other hazardous duty positions. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.

Mamie E. LockeDemocrat

Va. Nat'l Guard State Tuition Assistance Program; provisions relating to eligibility for grants.

Institutions of higher education; tuition grants; Virginia National Guard State Tuition Assistance Program. Makes several changes to the Virginia National Guard State Tuition Assistance Program, including (i) making the provisions relating to the requirements and conditions for eligibility for and award of grants under the Program subject to regulations as prescribed by the Adjutant General, (ii) eliminating the requirement to satisfy financial obligations with the institution of higher education at the beginning of each semester, (iii) simplifying the requirements relating to academic performance and good standing, and (iv) providing that any grant awarded shall be in an amount equivalent to the difference between the full cost of tuition and fees at the institution of higher education less any other educational benefits for which an individual is eligible as a member of the National Guard.

Glen H. Sturtevant, Jr.Republican

Highway use fee; DMV to convene work group to determine tiered flat rate system, report.

Department of Motor Vehicles; highway use fee; tiered flat rate system; work group; report. Directs the Department of Motor Vehicles to convene a work group to determine the feasibility of implementing a tiered flat rate system to accurately determine the correct amount of highway use fee to be charged at the point of sale of a motor vehicle. The bill directs the work group to complete its work and report its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the Senate and House Committees on Transportation no later than November 15, 2024.

T. Travis HackworthRepublican

Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention, Advisory Council on; placement of Council.

Health Commissioner; work group; recommendations on Advisory Council on Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention. Directs the State Health Commissioner to establish a work group to examine the feasibility of and make recommendations for the placement and infrastructure of an Advisory Council on Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention.

Ghazala F. HashmiDemocrat

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

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.

Ghazala F. HashmiDemocrat

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

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.

Ghazala F. HashmiDemocrat

Parking Lot Solar Development Program; established, report.

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.

Ghazala F. HashmiDemocrat

Building service employees; public contracting.

Building service employees; public contracting. Permits any county, city, or town in the Commonwealth to provide for certain requirements concerning incumbent and successor building service employers, defined in the bill, by local ordinance or resolution. For example, such local ordinance or resolution may require that successor building service employers retain incumbent employees during a transition period of 90 days. Under the bill, building service employees are those who perform work in connection with the care or maintenance of property, services at an airport, or food preparation services at schools. The bill provides that a building service employer that violates the provisions of a local ordinance or resolution enacted pursuant to the bill may be subject to a civil action and monetary damages.

Jeremy S. McPikeDemocrat

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

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.

Ghazala F. HashmiDemocrat

Consumer Data Protection Act; controller privacy notice, consumer consent.

Consumer Data Protection Act; controller privacy notice; cookies; consumer consent. Requires the privacy notice that a controller must provide to consumers to include a method by which a consumer may opt out of the automatic placement of a data file, commonly referred to as a "cookie," on the consumer's computer or web browser and a disclosure of the purposes for which the data files are used. The bill prohibits controllers from using cookies, except those that are strictly necessary, without the prior express consent of the consumer and prohibits controllers from preventing access to their services if such consent is not granted. The bill also requires controllers to document and store proof of such consent and make available an easily accessible method by which consumers may withdraw such consent.

Ryan T. McDougleRepublican

Presidential primaries; ranked choice voting, effective clause.

Elections; presidential primaries; ranked choice voting. Allows political parties to hold presidential primaries using ballots that allow a voter to rank such party's candidates in his order of choice. The bill includes a reenactment clause.

Suhas SubramanyamDemocrat

Virginia Abortion Care and Gender-Affirming Health Care Protection Act; established, civil penalties.

Virginia Abortion Care and Gender-Affirming Health Care Protection Act; reproductive and gender-affirming health care services; prohibitions on extradition for certain crimes; civil penalties. Establishes the Virginia Abortion Care and Gender-Affirming Health Care Protection Act. The bill provides that it is the policy of the Commonwealth that all persons are entitled to provide, receive, and help others provide or receive abortion care and gender-affirming health care services not prohibited under the laws of the Commonwealth, and that such provision, receipt, and assistance is not diminished, chilled, or infringed by public or private actors. The bill provides that no law-enforcement officer acting in the Commonwealth or employed by the Commonwealth or any of its localities or political subdivisions may investigate, arrest, or detain any person, seek the issuance of a warrant, or otherwise assist in or provide support for any investigation regarding either the provision or receipt of abortion care or gender-affirming care not prohibited under the laws of the Commonwealth or any person's menstrual health data. The bill creates a private right of action for any person who is aggrieved by such unlawful investigation to obtain an injunction or other equitable relief against such law-enforcement officer. The bill also creates a private right of action for any person who sustains any injury, damages, or other harm resulting from another person who, under the law of a jurisdiction other than the Commonwealth, engages or attempts to engage in abusive litigation, as defined in the bill. The bill also provides that no demand for extradition of a person charged with a criminal violation of law of another state shall be recognized by the Governor if such alleged violation involves the receipt of or assistance with protected health care activity, as defined in the bill, within the Commonwealth unless the alleged criminal violation would also constitute a criminal offense under the laws of the Commonwealth. The bill provides that any subpoena under the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act or any summons for a witness for another state in a criminal case shall include an attestation, made under penalty of perjury, stating whether the subpoena or summons seeks documents, information, or testimony related to the provision, receipt, attempted provision or receipt, assistance in the provision or receipt, or attempted assistance in the provision or receipt of protected health care activity, as defined in the bill.

Ghazala F. HashmiDemocrat

Health care; decision-making, definitions, medical aid in dying, penalties.

Health care; decision-making; end of life; penalties. Allows an adult diagnosed with a terminal disease to request and an attending health care provider to prescribe a self-administered controlled substance for the purpose of ending the patient's life. The bill requires that a patient's request for a self-administered controlled substance to end his life must be given orally on two occasions and in writing, signed by the patient and one witness, and that the patient be given an express opportunity to rescind his request at any time. The bill makes it a Class 2 felony (i) to willfully and deliberately alter, forge, conceal, or destroy a patient's request, or rescission of request, for a self-administered controlled substance to end his life with the intent and effect of causing the patient's death; (ii) to coerce, intimidate, or exert undue influence on a patient to request a self-administered controlled substance for the purpose of ending his life or to destroy the patient's rescission of such request with the intent and effect of causing the patient's death; or (iii) to coerce, intimidate, or exert undue influence on a patient to forgo a self-administered controlled substance for the purpose of ending the patient's life. The bill also grants immunity from civil or criminal liability and professional disciplinary action to any person who complies with the provisions of the bill and allows health care providers to refuse to participate in the provision of a self-administered controlled substance to a patient for the purpose of ending the patient's life.

Ghazala F. HashmiDemocrat

Siting of data centers; impacts on resources and historically significant sites.

Siting of data centers; impacts on resources and historically significant sites. Provides that any local government land use application required for the siting of a data center shall only be approved in areas where the data center will (i) have a minimal impact on historic, agricultural, and cultural resources and (ii) not be within one mile of a national park, state park, or other historically significant site.

Danica A. RoemDemocrat

Siting of data centers; site assessment.

Siting of data centers; site assessment. Requires a locality, prior to any approval for the siting of a data center, to require disclosure of water and power usage at full build-out and perform a site assessment to examine the effect of the data center on water usage, the regional electric grid, and carbon emissions as well as any impacts on agricultural, historic, and cultural resources within the locality.

Danica A. RoemDemocrat

Stormwater management regulations; enterprise data center operations.

Stormwater management regulations; enterprise data center operations. Directs the State Water Control Board to adopt regulations that require certain stormwater management techniques for land disturbances related to the construction, expansion, or operation of an enterprise data center operation, as defined in the bill, that is located within one mile of any land owned or operated as a unit of the National Park Service or designated as a Virginia State Park or state forest.

Danica A. RoemDemocrat

Guardianship and conservatorship; duties and powers of guardian and conservator.

Guardianship and conservatorship; duties and powers of guardian and conservator; self-dealing prohibited. Provides that a guardian and conservator shall avoid all conflicts of interest and self-dealing, including all appearances of conflicts of interest and self-dealing, when addressing the needs of the incapacitated person to whom the guardian or conservator owes a fiduciary duty. The bill provides that a conflict of interest arises when the guardian or conservator has a personal or agency interest that can be perceived as self-serving or adverse to the position or best interest of the incapacitated person, and self-dealing arises when the guardian or conservator seeks to take advantage of his position as guardian or conservator and acts for his own interests rather than for the interests of the incapacitated person. The bill further provides that any sale or transaction that constitutes self-dealing shall be voidable by the court.

Danica A. RoemDemocrat

Virginia First Manufacturing Incentive Program; Manufacturing Development Commission to create.

Virginia First Manufacturing Incentive Program. Directs the Manufacturing Development Commission (the Commission) to develop a budget and business plan to establish a Virginia First Manufacturing Incentive Program (the Program). The bill provides that the business plan shall identify existing manufacturers in the Commonwealth that are potential candidates for reshoring, near-shoring, or in-shoring manufacturing jobs and capital investments. The bill directs that the Program focus on expanding and recruiting manufacturing operations that produce products identified as critical infrastructure by providing discretionary incentive funding for trade adjustment assistance. Finally, the bill requires that the Commission present the budget and business plan to the Secretary of Commerce and Trade and the Chairmen of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology by October 1, 2024.

Bill DeStephRepublican

Zoning; development and use of accessory dwelling units.

Zoning; development and use of accessory dwelling units. Requires a locality to include in its zoning ordinances for residential zoning districts accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, as defined in the bill, as a permitted accessory use. The bill requires a person to seek a permit for an ADU from the locality, requires the locality to issue such permit if the person meets certain requirements enumerated in the bill, and restricts the fee for such permit to $250 or less. The bill prohibits the locality from requiring rear or side setbacks for the ADU greater than that of the primary dwelling or consanguinity or affinity between the occupants of the ADU and the primary dwelling. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.

Saddam Azlan SalimDemocrat