Bills & Legislation

Advanced practice registered nurses and licensed certified midwives; joint licensing.

Board of Medicine; Board of Nursing; joint licensing of advanced practice registered nurses and licensed certified midwives. Moves the professions of advanced practice registered nurses and licensed certified midwives from being licensed jointly by the Board of Medicine and the Board of Nursing to being licensed by the Board of Nursing only.

Rodney T. WillettDemocrat

Higher ed. institutions, public; tuition and financial aid, dependency override application form.

Public institutions of higher education; tuition and financial aid; dependency override application form. Requires each public institution of higher education to develop, maintain, and post publicly on the financial aid page of such institution's website informational materials relating to the dependency override application process and to review and update such materials as necessary to reflect current federal law and guidance on such process. The bill requires such informational materials to include, in a language and format accessible to students enrolled at and potential applicants for admission to such institution, (i) an explanation of the purpose of and eligibility requirements for a dependency override, (ii) an explicit list of the circumstances on which a student may base a dependency override application, (iii) an explanation of the dependency override application process at such institution, and (iv) links to relevant federal guidance on the dependency override process.

Rodney T. WillettDemocrat

Correctional facilities; behavioral health services in facilities, report.

Behavioral health services in correctional facilities; report. Requires the Department of Corrections to report to the General Assembly and the Governor on or before October 1 of each year certain population statistics regarding the provision of behavioral health services to persons incarcerated in state correctional facilities. The bill also requires local correctional facilities to report to the State Board of Local and Regional Jails on or before October 1 of each year certain population statistics regarding the provision of behavioral health services to persons incarcerated in local correctional facilities and for the Board to report such statistics to the General Assembly and the Governor on or before December 1 of each year.

Holly M. SeiboldDemocrat

Public schools; increase staffing ratios for specialized student support positions.

Public school staffing ratios; specialized student support positions. Increases the number of specialized student support positions required to be employed by each local school board from at least three to at least four such positions per 1,000 students in the local school division. Such specialized student support positions include school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, licensed behavior analysts, licensed assistant behavior analysts, and other licensed health and behavioral positions.

Phil M. HernandezDemocrat

Clean Water Act; cooling water intakes at power plants.

Department of Environmental Quality; enforcement of regulations; Clean Water Act; cooling water intakes at power plants. Requires the Department of Environmental Quality to promptly enforce federal regulations implementing a provision of the federal Clean Water Act for cooling water intakes at power plants to reduce negative impacts on fish populations in the waters of the Commonwealth.

Nadarius E. ClarkDemocrat

Child Care Subsidy Program vendors; basis for periodic reimbursement.

Child Care Subsidy Program vendors; basis for periodic reimbursement. Requires the Department of Education to periodically reimburse child care providers that are vendors through the Child Care Subsidy Program on the basis of authorized child enrollment but provides that if any such enrolled child is absent from the provider for 10 or more days during one month, the Department shall periodically reimburse such provider on the basis of such child's attendance.

Phil M. HernandezDemocrat

Federal park operations; temporary funding.

Temporary funding of federal park operations. Authorizes the Governor to provide funding and execute necessary agreements to allow the temporary operation of any Virginia property controlled by the National Park Service in the event of a federal government shutdown. Such authority shall be contingent on the U.S. Department of the Interior executing an agreement which authorizes the Commonwealth to operate such property. The bill states that the funds may come from the State Park Conservation Resources Fund, voluntary donations, funds allocated to the Department of Conservation and Recreation, or other sources. However, the bill clarifies that no funds originally allocated from the general fund shall be used to operate a federal park for more than 21 days without the approval of the General Assembly.

David L. BulovaDemocrat

Candidates for office; electronic filing of forms, petitions, and notifications.

Elections; candidates for office; electronic filing of forms, petitions, and notifications with Department of Elections. Requires the Department of Elections to develop and implement an online filing system to accept any form, petition, or notification filed by electronic means by a party official or candidate. The bill requires the State Board of Elections to develop standards for the electronic preparation, production, submission, and transmittal of all forms required of party officials and candidates. The bill also requires the State Board to prescribe all candidate and party forms in both paper and electronic formats. The bill allows for the collection of petition signatures by electronic means and provides formal requirements for signatures on electronic petitions. The bill makes technical amendments to provide uniformity in requirements for all such electronic filings.

Joshua G. ColeDemocrat

Motor vehicle rental and peer-to-peer vehicle sharing tax; disposition.

Motor vehicle rental and peer-to-peer vehicle sharing tax; disposition. Redirects revenues derived from motor vehicle rental and peer-to-peer vehicle sharing taxes from the Commonwealth Transportation Fund to the Special Fund for Administration of Aviation Laws, to be used for the administration of aviation laws and the construction, maintenance, and improvement of airports.

Wren M. WilliamsRepublican

School boards; employee criminal history records checks and applications, penalty for noncompliance.

School boards; employee criminal history records checks and applications; penalty for noncompliance. Clarifies that certain school board employees who are (i) employed in an in-person or remote capacity or some combination thereof or (ii) fully licensed, provisionally licensed, or unlicensed are subject to the requirements in existing law to undergo a criminal history records check and a search of the registry of founded complaints of child abuse and neglect and to disclose certain criminal history information at the employment application stage and upon arrest. The bill provides that in the event that any school board fails or refuses to perform its duty to require any employee to undergo a criminal history records check as set forth in relevant law, each individual member of such board is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and his position on such school board shall be deemed vacant.

Thomas A. Garrett, Jr.Republican

Virginia Higher Education Scholarship Act Fund and Program; created and established.

Certain public institutions of higher education; enrollment limitations in incoming freshman classes; Virginia Higher Education Scholarship Act Fund and Program established. Requires, beginning with the incoming freshman class in the 2025 academic year, the board of visitors of each baccalaureate public institution of higher education, with the exception of Norfolk State University, Virginia Military Institute, and Virginia State University, to ensure that the annual percentage of undergraduate non-Virginia students in each incoming freshman class does not exceed 45 percent. The bill also establishes the Virginia Higher Education Scholarship Act Fund and Program whereby certain Virginia public high school graduates who graduated at or near the top of their graduating classes are permitted to apply to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia for a scholarship in an amount equal to the cost of tuition, room and board, and mandatory fees to attend a public institution of higher education enumerated in the bill for eight semesters.

Thomas A. Garrett, Jr.Republican

Fire Programs Fund; increases annual assessment used to fund.

Insurance; Fire Programs Fund; purposes. Provides that the portion of the Fire Programs Fund allocated to localities may be used for the additional purposes of (i) constructing, improving, or expanding fire station facilities, (ii) providing mental health resources, or (iii) hiring additional fire personnel and funding recruitment and retention programs. The bill also prohibits such funds from being used, except as provided, for the purposes of investments, operating expenses, debt repayment, taxes, or fees.

Thomas A. Garrett, Jr.Republican

Fire and emergency medical services apparatuses and equipment; procurement, report.

Department of Fire Programs; statewide contract language for procurement of fire and emergency medical services apparatuses and equipment; work group; report. Directs the Department of Fire Programs, the Department of Health's Office of Emergency Medical Services, and the Department of General Services to establish a work group to prepare statewide contract language for the procurement of fire and emergency medical services apparatuses and equipment. The bill requires the Department of Fire Programs to report the work group's findings and recommendations to the Virginia Fire Services Board and State EMS Advisory Board on or before October 1, 2024, and to make such report available to the Chairmen of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology, upon request.

Thomas A. Garrett, Jr.Republican

Medicaid waivers; program rule modifications.

Department of Medical Assistance Services; Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; Medicaid Waivers; program rule modifications. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to modify the program rules for certain Medicaid waivers to eliminate the requirement that certain visits for individuals enrolled in Family and Individual Support Waivers, Community Living Waivers, Building Independence Waivers, and CCC Plus Waivers be conducted face-to-face.

Laura Jane CohenDemocrat

Standards of Learning; Board of Education to develop all assessments using UDL principles.

Standards of Quality; Standards of Learning assessments; development and administration of assessments; assessments in languages other than English; requirements. Requires the Board of Education to develop all Standards of Learning assessments using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, as defined in the bill. The bill also requires the Board to develop and implement policies providing for the development and administration of all Standards of Learning assessments in languages other than English that are identified as being present to a significant extent in the participating student population. The bill requires such policies to provide that each local school board provide appropriate accommodations on such assessments for eligible students who are English language learners, including providing for administration of such assessments for any student who is an English language learner in grades three through eight who has been identified as having limited English proficiency and has participated in an English language proficiency program for no more than a total of three school years. The bill provides, however, that each local school board, on the recommendation of English language learner faculty that any such student has not yet reached sufficient English proficiency, may provide on an individual case-by-case basis for the administration of any such Standards of Learning assessment in one of such top three languages other than English for a period that does not exceed two additional consecutive years. The provisions of the bill are required to be implemented by the beginning of the 2025–2026 school year.

Laura Jane CohenDemocrat

Nonbinary sex or gender; all forms or applications to offer any applicant the option to designate.

Nonbinary sex or gender designation option. Requires all forms or applications to offer any applicant the option of "male," "female," or "nonbinary" when designating the applicant's sex or gender. The bill contains technical amendments.

Laura Jane CohenDemocrat

Surplus line broker; any person required to be licensed as one shall not be subject to certain tax.

Surplus line broker taxes. Provides that any surplus lines broker or any person required to be licensed as one shall not be subject to the annual taxes, license taxes, or penalties under current law for any policy of insurance procured during the preceding calendar year on behalf of a commuter rail system jointly operated by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation District.

Laura Jane CohenDemocrat

Conservatorship; Judicial Council of Virginia to convene work group to study.

Judicial Council of Virginia; work group to study conservatorship; report. Directs the Judicial Council of Virginia to convene a work group of relevant stakeholders to study issues relating to conservatorship in the Commonwealth and to develop recommendations for a best practices model. The bill requires the work group to submit its findings and recommendations by November 1, 2024, to the Chairmen of the House Committee for Courts of Justice and the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

Laura Jane CohenDemocrat

Natural gas pipelines; permit applications.

Permit applications for natural gas pipelines; State Water Control Law. Requires applicants for federal licenses or permits for natural gas transmission pipelines with an inside diameter of at least 24 inches to submit a separate application, erosion and sediment control plan, and stormwater management plan to the Department of Environmental Quality concurrently with a Joint Permit Application. Current law requires such application standards for pipelines with an inside diameter of greater than 36 inches. The provisions of the bill apply to any natural gas transmission pipeline project of at least 24 inches in inside diameter that is subject to a certificate of public convenience and necessity under the federal Natural Gas Act and that has not commenced construction by July 1, 2024, notwithstanding any previous certification previously issued or waived by the Department of Environmental Quality or the State Water Control Board.

Amy J. LauferDemocrat

Charitable Sports Raffle Act; established, penalties.

Charitable Sports Raffle Act established; penalties. Establishes the Charitable Sports Raffles Act for the purpose of authorizing athletic event drawings, defined in the bill, to be conducted by affiliated nonprofit organizations that conduct such drawings in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The bill places limits on when and where an athletic event drawing may be held and requires the prize amount of any such drawing to be 50 percent of the total amount collected from the sale of the tickets. The bill requires the organization to donate a certain percentage of the remaining funds in accordance with Department regulations and imposes certain civil and criminal penalties for violations of the provisions of the bill.

Paul E. KrizekDemocrat

Property Owners' Assoc. Act; managed conservation landscaping, unreasonable restrictions prohibited.

Property Owners' Association Act; managed conservation landscaping; unreasonable restrictions prohibited. Provides that no association shall prohibit an owner from installing managed conservation landscaping, defined in the bill, upon such owner's property unless such prohibition was recorded in the declaration for the association. The bill allows associations to establish reasonable restrictions concerning the management, design, and aesthetic guidelines for managed conservation landscaping features.

Paul E. KrizekDemocrat

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.

Paul E. KrizekDemocrat

Early childhood care and education; comprehensive review of certain findings and recommendations.

Division of Early Childhood Care and Education; Department of Education; comprehensive review of certain findings and recommendations relating to the quality of early childhood care and education in the Commonwealth; report. Requires the Division of Early Childhood Care and Education of the Department of Education, in consultation with the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and such other stakeholders as it deems appropriate, to (i) conduct a comprehensive review of the findings and recommendations contained in the 2017 report of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, Improving Virginia's Early Childhood Development Programs, to determine what barriers, gaps, and deficiencies continue to exist in the provision of high-quality early childhood education and care in the Commonwealth, with a particular focus on gaps and deficiencies in the ongoing monitoring of Virginia Preschool Initiative program quality, including the collection and analysis of data relating to outcomes and kindergarten readiness, and (ii) report its findings and any associated policy recommendations to the Board of Education, the Governor, and the General Assembly no later than November 1, 2024.

Karen Keys-GamarraDemocrat

Sales and use tax; exemption for food purchased for human consumption & essential personal hygiene.

Sales tax; exemption for food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products. Provides an exemption from local sales and use tax beginning July 1, 2024, for food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products. The bill also provides an allocation of state revenues to fund the distribution to localities for funding that would have been distributed to them absent the exemption created by the bill. Under current law, such products are exempt from state sales and use tax but are subject to the standard local rate of one percent.

Joseph P. McNamaraRepublican

Adult adoptee; access to original birth certificate.

Adult adoptee access to original birth certificate. Grants any adoptee 18 years of age or older access to his original birth certificate.

Wendell S. WalkerRepublican

Income tax, corporate; sourcing of sales other than sales of tangible personal property.

Corporate income tax; sourcing of sales other than sales of tangible personal property. Implements market-based corporate income tax sourcing for attributing sales, other than sales of tangible personal property, to Virginia beginning with taxable year 2025.

Joseph P. McNamaraRepublican

Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission; increases membership, training requirements, report.

Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission; membership; training requirements; Commission staff; JLARC study; report. Increases the membership of the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission (the Commission) from seven to nine members and reduces from 15 to 10 years the legal practice requirement of any member of the Commission. The bill further provides for staggered terms of the members of the Commission. The bill requires that members of the Commission complete a certain amount of education on judicial misconduct and correcting implicit bias. The bill further directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to, by November 30, 2025, (i) review (a) procedures for reviewing complaints received and adjudicating complaints, (b) processes for determining whether to conduct informal or formal hearings, and (c) any informal or established rules used to determine disciplinary action imposed on a judge or justice and provide recommendations as to the codification and publication of any such procedures, processes, or rules; (ii) research sanctions not currently used in the Commonwealth, including suspension without pay, mandatory recusal from certain cases, and payment of costs and fees associated with investigations and whether such sanctions are used in other states and their efficacy; (iii) provide recommendations on establishing a conflict of interest policy and code of conduct for the Commission and its staff; and (iv) study the potential benefits of combining the Judicial Performance Evaluation program with the tasks of the Commission.

Patrick A. HopeDemocrat

Classified instructional support staff; definition, procedure for adjusting grievances.

Board of Education; procedure for adjusting grievances; definition of "classified instructional support staff." Requires the Board of Education, for the purpose of its regulations that establish the procedure for adjusting grievances, to define "classified instructional support staff" to mean any nonlicensed teacher, both nonexempt and exempt, who is employed in a local school division and involved in classroom instruction and any other full-time or part-time employee who works more than 90 days total in a 200-day school year and to include teaching assistants, long-term substitutes, site-based substitutes, temporary teachers, and other nonlicensed instructors who substitute in the place of licensed teachers.

Alex Q. AskewDemocrat

Public schools; classified instructional support staff, competitive compensation, biennial review.

Public schools; classified instructional support staff; competitive compensation; biennial review. Declares that it is a goal of the Commonwealth that its classified instructional support staff, defined in the bill as any individual who works more than 90 days total in a 200-day school year as a substitute for a licensed teacher, be compensated at a rate that is competitive in order to provide a quality education in the absence of a licensed teacher. The bill requires the Department of Education to conduct a biennial review of the compensation for classified instructional support staff and to consider the Commonwealth's compensation for classified instructional support staff relative to the national average teacher salary and report the results of such review to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Board of Education by June 1 of each odd-numbered year.

Alex Q. AskewDemocrat

Voter registration; registration of Department of Motor Vehicles customers, automatic update.

Voter registration; registration of Department of Motor Vehicles customers; automatic update. Provides that the information gathered by the Department of Motor Vehicles for a person who indicates that he is already registered to vote is to be automatically transmitted to the Department of Elections for the purpose of updating an existing voter registration record. Under current law, a person must be presented with the option to decline to have his information transmitted to the Department of Elections before such information may be transmitted.

Alex Q. AskewDemocrat

Student safety and discipline; certain reports to school principals and division superintendents.

Student safety and discipline; certain reports to school principals and division superintendents; form and scope. Requires local law-enforcement authorities to prepare in writing and provide to the principal or his designee and the division superintendent a report on (i) any suspected offense, offense for which any charge has been filed, or offense that is subject to investigation that was committed or is suspected to have been committed by a student enrolled at the school if the offense would be (a) a felony if committed by an adult, (b) a violation of the Drug Control Act and occurred on a school bus, on school property, or at a school-sponsored activity, or (c) an adult misdemeanor involving certain enumerated incidents and (ii) whether the student is released to the custody of his parent or, if 18 years of age or older, is released on bond. The bill requires division superintendents to report all such incidents to the Department of Education in an annual report that is made available to the public. Current law does not require such reports to be in writing and only applies to student offenses but does not specify whether such reports are required to be made for student offenses that are suspected, charged, or subject to investigation.

Rozia A. Henson, Jr.Democrat

Public high schools; each school board to employ at least one career coach.

Public high schools; personnel; career coach required. Requires each school board to employ at least one career coach in each public high school in the local school division whose duties are required to include assisting students with securing internships, externships, and credentialing opportunities as required by the Profile of a Virginia Graduate, providing students with information on apprenticeship programs, and connecting students to career opportunities. 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.

Shelly A. SimondsDemocrat

Unaccompanied minor housing program; DSS & DHCD to study implementation of program.

Study; Department of Social Services; Department of Housing and Community Development; unaccompanied minor housing program; report. Directs the Department of Social Services and the Department of Housing and Community Development to convene a work group to study the implementation of an unaccompanied minor housing program. The bill requires the work group to report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the relevant committees of the General Assembly no later than December 1, 2024.

Adele Y. McClureDemocrat

Firearm Violence Intervention and Prevention, Virginia Center for, etc.; created.

Virginia Center for Firearm Violence Intervention and Prevention; Virginia Firearm Violence Intervention and Prevention Fund; creation. Creates the Virginia Center for Firearm Violence Intervention and Prevention (the Center) within the Department of Criminal Justice Services and the Virginia Firearm Violence Intervention and Prevention Fund, to be administered by the Center, to replace the existing Virginia Gun Violence Intervention and Prevention Fund.

Marcia S. "Cia" PriceDemocrat

Health insurance; coverage for diabetes.

Health insurance; coverage for diabetes. Requires that each insurer providing coverage for diabetes shall include benefits for FDA-approved insulin, continuous blood glucose monitoring, and regular foot care and eye care exams in addition to equipment, supplies, and self-management training and education. The bill allows for such self-management training and education to be provided either in-person outpatient or through telemedicine. Under the bill, such coverage for self-management training and education shall include up to three outpatient visits upon an individual receiving an initial diagnosis of diabetes and up to two medically necessary visits to a qualified provider upon a significant change in the patient's symptoms or medical condition. The bill also repeals certain provisions of law related to cost-sharing for insulin and provides that the coverage required by the bill shall be exempt from any deductible or cost-sharing payment requirement. The provisions of the bill apply to insurance policies, contracts, and plans issued for delivery, reissued, extended, or amended on and after January 1, 2025.

Marcia S. "Cia" PriceDemocrat

Medical assistance services; payment for essential hygiene products.

Medical assistance services; payment for essential hygiene products. Directs the State Board of Health to include a provision for payment of medical assistance for the purchase of essential hygiene products in the state plan for medical assistance services.

Marcia S. "Cia" PriceDemocrat

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.

Marcia S. "Cia" PriceDemocrat

Early childhood care; Child Care Subsidy Program expansion, provision of free child care.

Early childhood care; Child Care Subsidy Program expansion; provision of free child care to certain child care provider employees. Requires the Child Care Subsidy Program, established pursuant to applicable regulations, to be expanded to assist employees of any licensed child care provider in the Commonwealth with the costs of child care by providing any such employee who meets the eligibility criteria set forth in the bill child care at no cost to and with no copayment required of such employee. The bill directs the Board of Education to adopt any regulations and the Department of Education to implement any policies and procedures necessary for the implementation and administration of the provisions of the bill.

Elizabeth B. Bennett-ParkerDemocrat

Certificate of public need; hospitals licensed by DBHDS psychiatric beds.

Certificate of public need; hospitals licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; psychiatric beds. Excludes from the list of medical care facilities for which a certificate of public need is required hospitals licensed as a provider by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. The bill excludes the following from the list of projects for which a certificate of public need is required for certain medical care facilities: (i) an increase or relocation of psychiatric beds licensed by the Department, (ii) the introduction of any psychiatric service when such medical care facility has not provided such service in the previous 12 months, and (iii) the conversion of beds to psychiatric beds. The bill also modifies the list of projects for which a certificate of public need is required for certain medical care facilities by requiring a certificate for the conversion of any psychiatric inpatient beds to nonpsychiatric inpatient beds. Under current law, a certificate is required for the conversion of a psychiatric bed to a nonpsychiatric bed only when the psychiatric bed was approved pursuant to a Request for Applications (RFA).

Robert D. Orrock, Sr.Republican

Virginia Retirement System; enhanced retirement benefits for 911 dispatchers.

Virginia Retirement System; enhanced retirement benefits for 911 dispatchers. Allows local governments to provide enhanced retirement benefits for hazardous duty service to full-time salaried 911 dispatchers. The bill provides that such enhanced retirement benefits apply only to service earned as a full-time salaried 911 dispatcher on or after July 1, 2025, but allows an employer, as that term is defined in relevant law, to provide such enhanced retirement benefits for service earned as a full-time salaried 911 dispatcher before July 1, 2025, in addition to service earned on or after that date. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.

Mike A. CherryRepublican

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; extends membership to emergency dispatchers.

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; emergency dispatchers. Extends membership in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System (VaLORS) to emergency dispatchers who are employed by the Department of State Police and agencies whose law-enforcement officers are eligible for membership in VaLORS. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025, and provides that such membership would apply only to service earned on or after July 1, 2025.

Mike A. CherryRepublican

Siting of energy facilities; approval by the State Corporation Commission.

Siting of energy facilities; approval by State Corporation Commission. Establishes a procedure under which an electric utility or independent power provider (applicant) is able to obtain approval for a certificate from the State Corporation Commission for the siting of an energy facility rather than from the governing body of a locality. Under the bill, applicants are authorized to submit an application to the Commission if (i) the locality fails to timely approve or deny an application; (ii) the application complies with certain requirements for Commission approval, but a host locality denies the application; or (iii) the locality amends its zoning ordinance after it has notified the applicant that its requirements are compatible with the requirements for Commission approval, and the amendment imposes additional requirements that are more restrictive. The bill provides that an applicant who is issued a certificate by the Commission for an energy facility is exempt from obtaining approvals or permits, including any land use approvals or permits under the regulations and ordinances of the locality. The bill applies to any solar energy facility with a capacity of 50 megawatts or more, any wind energy facility with a capacity of 100 megawatts or more, and any energy storage facility with a nameplate capacity of 50 megawatts or more and an energy discharge capability of 200 megawatt hours or more.

Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr.Democrat

Zoning; certified recovery residence.

Zoning; certified recovery residence. Requires that a locality's zoning ordinances for all purposes shall consider a certified recovery residence in which individuals with substance use disorder reside as residential occupancy by a single family. The bill specifies that no conditions more restrictive than those imposed on residences occupied by persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption shall be imposed on such certified recovery residence.

Carrie E. CoynerRepublican

Elections; allows for any local or constitutional office to be conducted by ranked choice voting.

Elections; conduct of election; ranked choice voting; locally elected offices; report. Allows elections for any local or constitutional office to be conducted by ranked choice voting. Under current law, only elections of members of a county board of supervisors or a city council are allowed to be conducted by ranked choice voting. The bill also clarifies requirements for conducting elections using ranked choice voting and requires results for elections conducted by ranked choice voting to be reported along with other results reported on election night, except that such results must clearly be identified as preliminary and based on the first rankings in a ranked choice voting election. The bill provides that final tabulation for an election for a local or constitutional office that is not shared by more than one county or city is required to be conducted on the same day as other results are canvassed by the local electoral board and that final tabulation for and election for a local or constitutional office that is shared by more than one county or city is required to be conducted at a centralized facility under the supervision of the Department of Elections. The bill specifies that ranking data is required to be made publicly available by the Department and requires the State Board of Elections to provide standards and to approve vote tabulating software for use with existing voting systems in elections conducted by ranked choice voting. The bill also limits a risk-limiting audit of an election conducted using ranked choice voting to the first choice rankings reported on voting systems. Finally, the bill directs the Department to review the testing and approval framework for voting equipment in the Commonwealth and submit a report of such review no later than the first day of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Joshua G. ColeDemocrat

Towing; registration for tow truck drivers and obtaining Driver Authorization Document, penalty.

Towing; registration for tow truck drivers; Driver Authorization Document; penalty. Requires tow truck drivers, prior to registration or the first renewal on or after January 1, 2025, with the Department of Criminal Justice Services, to obtain a Driver Authorization Document, for which such drivers must take instructional courses, the requirements for which are set forth in the bill, and complete a drug test. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025.

Joshua G. ColeDemocrat

Va. School for the Deaf & the Blind, Board of Visitors of the; authority to establish campus police.

Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind; authority to establish campus police department. Permits the Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind to establish a campus police department, in compliance with the provisions of law relating to campus police departments established by institutions of higher education, and to employ campus police officers therein.

Chris S. RunionRepublican

School resource officers; establishment of minimum employment qualifications prohibited.

Department of Criminal Justice Services; school resource officers; establishment of minimum employment qualifications prohibited. Prohibits the Department of Criminal Justice Services from establishing minimum qualifications for the employment of school resource officers, including any minimum age or experience requirement, or providing guidance or standards or adopting regulations relating to such minimum qualifications unless expressly authorized by law.

Chris S. RunionRepublican

Public Instruction, Superintendent of; employment of certified school library specialists.

Superintendent of Public Instruction; employment of certified school library specialists. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to employ in the Department of Education at least one certified school library specialist who fulfills several duties enumerated in the bill, including providing leadership and technical assistance with the implementation and use of information literacy skills to support student achievement for local school divisions, Department staff, and other stakeholders and directing the implementation of state and national school library standards and consulting with and providing technical assistance to local school divisions relating to such standards.

Shelly A. SimondsDemocrat