Bills & Legislation

School-connected overdoses; policies relating to parental notification and response, requirements.

School-connected overdoses; policies relating to parental notification and response; requirements. Expands current law relating to school-connected overdose parental notification and response policies by, in addition to requiring the Board of Education to establish guidelines for school-connected overdose response and parental notification policies, requiring (i) each division superintendent or his designee to notify the parent of each student in the local school division of any suspected school-connected overdose, with school-connected overdose defined as any verified overdose that occurs on school premises during or after regular school hours or during school-sanctioned activities whether on or off school premises, within 24 hours of learning of the suspected overdose and requiring such notification to include as much information as is known about the circumstances surrounding the suspected overdose, to the extent that the disclosure of any such information is not prohibited by any applicable laws, rules, or regulations relating to the disclosure and protection of a minor's personal, confidential, or otherwise sensitive information, and (ii) each local school board to adopt, implement, and maintain policies consistent with the provisions of the bill and the guidelines developed by the Board of Education.

Geary HigginsRepublican

Subsidized Work Experience Program; established.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; Virginia Initiative for Education and Work; Subsidized Work Experience Program established. Establishes the Subsidized Work Experience Program (SWEP) for persons who are otherwise eligible for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. The bill directs the Department of Social Services to conduct SWEP and assign SWEP participants as volunteers to agencies, community organizations, and educational institutions. The bill also directs the Department to promulgate regulations necessary to implement the provisions of SWEP.

Emily M. JordanRepublican

Supplemental payment to Medicaid member for transportation DMAS to seek fed. authority to provide.

Department of Medical Assistance Services; supplemental payment for transportation. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to seek federal authority to provide supplemental payments to Medicaid members to be used for transportation to medical appointments when other transportation options are not available.

Kannan SrinivasanDemocrat

Conveyance or assumption; certain restrictions prohibited.

Certain restrictions on conveyance or assumption; prohibited. Prohibits the holder of the obligation secured by a mortgage or deed of trust on certain residential real estate from imposing, agreeing to, or enforcing a legal restriction on conveyance or restriction on the assumption of a residential mortgage or deed of trust. The bill requires a holder, if a mortgage or deed of trust requires approval of the holder for a conveyance or assumption, to approve the sale or transfer of all or part of the encumbered property, or the sale or transfer of a beneficial interest in a trust all or part of the property, if (i) at least one of the people acquiring ownership is determined to be creditworthy under generally accepted mortgage underwriting standards; (ii) the seller retains an ownership interest in the property; or (iii) the transfer is by devise or descent. The bill provides that legal restrictions on conveyance are acceptable if the restriction is part of an eligible governmental or nonprofit program if the program is designed to assist the purchase of low-income or moderate-income housing.

Glen H. Sturtevant, Jr.Republican

Local anti-rent gouging authority; civil penalty.

Local anti-rent gouging authority; civil penalty. Provides that any locality may by ordinance adopt anti-rent gouging provisions. The bill provides for notice and a public hearing prior to the adoption of such ordinance and specifies that all landlords who are under the ordinance may be required to give at least two months' written notice of a rent increase and cannot increase the rent by more than the locality's calculated allowance, not to exceed three percent, and states that such allowance is effective for a 12-month period beginning July 1 each year. The bill requires the locality to publish such allowance on its website by June 1 of each year. Certain facilities, as outlined in the bill, are exempt from such ordinance. The bill also requires a locality to establish an anti-rent gouging board to establish rules and procedures by which landlords may apply for and be granted exemptions from the rent increase limits set by the ordinance or delegate such duties and functions to an existing local board, department, or agency. Finally, the bill provides that a locality shall establish a civil penalty for failure to comply with the requirements set out in its ordinance.

Jennifer B. BoyskoDemocrat

Food packaging, certain; uniform labeling requirements.

Uniform labeling requirements for certain food packaging. Prohibits the use of a sell-by date on a label affixed to a food product that is manufactured on or after July 1, 2026. The bill instead requires a person selling or offering for sale such food product to use on the outside packaging or container of such food product the phrase "Best if Used by," "Best if Used or Frozen by," "Use by," or "Use by or Freeze by" or its associated abbreviations, as provided in the bill. The bill exempts from its provisions infant formula, eggs, including pasteurized in-shell eggs, beer or other malt beverages, certain shellfish, and any food that is required by law or regulation to bear a label indicating a date or time such food must be consumed, sold, or discarded. The bill maintains a person's discretion to use a quality date or safety date that is not otherwise required by law; however, the bill requires use of the specified label if a person chooses to include such a label on the food product. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

Alfonso H. LopezDemocrat

Online marketplace; establishes requirements for high-volume third-party sellers.

Online marketplace; high-volume third-party sellers. Establishes requirements for high-volume third-party sellers, defined in the bill as participants in an online marketplace that have entered into at least 200 discrete sales or transactions for 12 continuous months during the past 24 months resulting in accumulation of an aggregate total of $5,000 or more in gross revenues. The bill requires an online marketplace to (i) require high-volume third-party sellers to provide identifying and contact information to the online marketplace; (ii) verify the information provided by a high-volume third-party seller within 10 days of receipt; and (iii) require that high-volume third-party sellers make certain conspicuous disclosures to consumers on their product listing pages, with certain limited exceptions. The bill provides that the Attorney General has the exclusive authority to enforce its provisions and authorizes the Attorney General to seek an injunction to restrain any violations of the bill and seek civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation. The bill also makes it a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act for any supplier in connection with a consumer transaction to sell, offer for sale, or facilitate the sale, including through an online marketplace platform or other online website or through the supplier's warehouse or distribution center, of stolen goods.

Richard H. StuartRepublican

Misbranded food; manufactured-protein food products.

Misbranded food; manufactured-protein food products. Provides that a food is misbranded if it purports to be or is represented as a meat food product and such food product (i) bears or contains a manufactured-protein food product, as defined in the bill; (ii) is offered for sale; and (iii) has a label that is part of or placed on the food product package or other container storing such product that identifies the food as a meat food product, unless such label bears a conspicuous and prominent qualifying term and is in close proximity to an identifying meat term, as such terms are defined in the bill. The bill exempts a meat food product that the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services determines contains a trace amount of a manufactured-protein food product.

Tony O. WiltRepublican

Emergency services and disaster law; prohibition on media paywalls during states of emergency.

Emergency services and disaster law; prohibition on media paywalls during states of emergency. Provides that in any case in which the Governor declares a state of emergency, no digital media outlet operating in the Commonwealth shall operate behind a paywall or collect personal information from users who seek access to digital media regarding the subject matter of any declared state of emergency while such state of emergency is in effect.

Russet PerryDemocrat

Local school boards; powers and duties, binding arbitration agreements.

Local school boards; powers and duties; binding arbitration agreements. Permits any school board to enter into a written agreement to submit any existing controversy to binding arbitration and to execute a contract, including a collective bargaining agreement, that contains a provision to submit to binding arbitration any controversy arising thereunder. This bill is incorporated into SB 917.

Stella G. PekarskyDemocrat

Registration of lobbyists & conflict of interest; disclosure by those making political contribution.

Registration of lobbyists and conflict of interest; disclosure by those making political contributions. Requires any person who makes or anticipates making contributions in the aggregate during a calendar year of $1 million or more to candidates for office or political committees to register as a lobbyist and make disclosures of his personal financial interests.

David W. MarsdenDemocrat

Judges; increases maximum number in general district court in the Thirty-first Judicial District.

Maximum number of judges in each judicial district. Increases from five to six the maximum number of authorized general district court judges in the Thirty-first Judicial District. This bill is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts.

Luke E. TorianDemocrat

Military and emergency laws; acquisition of land adjacent to a military base.

Military and emergency laws; acquisition of land adjacent to a military base. Provides that no person shall purchase, acquire, lease, or hold any interest in land adjacent to a military base in the Commonwealth on and after January 1, 2026, unless such purchase, acquisition, lease, or holding of interest complies with the provisions of 50 U.S.C. § 4565.

Bill DeStephRepublican

Consumer-directed services employees; removal of limitation on hours worked per day.

Department of Medical Assistance Services; consumer-directed services employees; removal of limitation on hours worked per day. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to amend regulations related to community waiver services for individuals with developmental disabilities to remove the limitation that consumer-directed services employees shall work no more than 16 hours per day. The bill directs the Department to seek all necessary federal approval to effectuate such change.

David R. SuetterleinRepublican

Disaster Assistance Fund; established.

Disaster Assistance Fund; established. Establishes the Disaster Assistance Fund for the purpose of addressing life, safety, and housing costs related to a disaster that are not covered by any form of federal assistance, private donations, or insurance. Expenditures and disbursements from the Fund require authorization by the General Assembly. In addition to all other appropriations to the Fund, the bill also directs proceeds generated from the Commonwealth's participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative auction that occurred in December 2023 and deposited into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Fund with the Department of Environmental Quality and all interest accrued to such fund.

Todd E. PillionRepublican

School of Dentistry of Virginia Commonwealth University; efficacy of expanding facilities, report.

State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; School of Dentistry of Virginia Commonwealth University; efficacy of expanding facilities; study; report. Directs the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to, in consultation with the entities set forth in the bill, study and submit to the Governor, the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance and Appropriations, and the House Committees on Education and Appropriations by November 1, 2025, a report on the efficacy of expanding the School of Dentistry of Virginia Commonwealth University's facilities into a building owned by the Commonwealth located in Southern Virginia.

William M. Stanley, Jr.Republican

Department of Labor and Industry; work group to evaluate workplace violence.

Department of Labor and Industry; work group to evaluate workplace violence. Directs the Department of Labor and Industry to convene a work group for the purpose of evaluating the prevalence of workplace violence in the Commonwealth, including its effects on the workplace and measures to address workplace violence. The bill requires the work group to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Labor and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor no later than December 1, 2026.

Nadarius E. ClarkDemocrat

Virginia Workforce Housing Assistance Program; established, report.

Virginia Workforce Housing Assistance Program; report. Establishes the Virginia Workforce Housing Assistance Program to provide grants to eligible employers, defined in the bill, that set up housing down payment assistance programs for employees in amounts equal to the lesser of 15 percent of housing down payment assistance expenses incurred by an eligible employer during the fiscal year or $50,000. The bill specifies that an eligible employer may only receive grants in the aggregate of up to $150,000 across all fiscal years or $250,000 for housing down payment assistance expenses incurred for employees in certain fiscally stressed localities. The bill provides that the Program be administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development in coordination with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority.

Glen H. Sturtevant, Jr.Republican

Virginia Housing Trust Fund; creation and management.

Virginia Housing Trust Fund; creation and management. Provides that the Department of Housing and Community Development (the Department) shall use at least 65 percent of the moneys from the Virginia Housing Trust Fund (the Fund) to provide flexible financing for low-interest loans through eligible organizations and up to 35 percent of the moneys from the Fund to provide grants through eligible organizations for targeted efforts to reduce homelessness. Under current law, the Department is required to use at least 80 percent of the moneys from the Fund to provide flexible financing for low-interest loans and up to 20 percent of the moneys from the Fund to provide grants for targeted efforts to reduce homelessness.

Emily M. JordanRepublican

Elementary/secondary schools; Va. Com. on youth to study policies to support student mental health.

Study; Virginia Commission on Youth; policies to support student mental health in Virginia's elementary and secondary schools; report. Directs the Virginia Commission on Youth to undertake a study on policies to support student mental health in Virginia's elementary and secondary schools, with a focus on improving funding and other resources, training and professional development, partnerships with health services, curriculum development, research and evaluation, and public awareness campaigns. The Behavioral Health Commission, along with the staffs of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, are directed to provide assistance to the Commission during the course of the two-year study.

Marty MartinezDemocrat

Consumer Data Protection Act; protections for children.

Consumer Data Protection Act; protections for children. Requires a controller or processor to obtain verifiable parental consent, defined in the bill, prior to registering any child with the controller's or processor's product or service or before collecting, using, or disclosing such child's personal data. The bill also amends the definition of child for purposes of the Consumer Data Protection Act to include any natural person younger than 18 years of age.

David R. SuetterleinRepublican

Single family homes; prohibited acquisition, civil penalty.

Prohibited acquisition of single family homes; affidavit; civil penalty. Restricts any partnership, corporation, or real estate investment trust that manages funds pooled from investors; is a fiduciary to such investors; has net value or assets under management on any day during a taxable year; and holds an interest in more than fifty single-family homes from acquiring any interest in any other single-family home, as defined in the bill to include manufactured home parks and single family-residential duplexes, on or after July 1, 2025. The bill also requires an offering purchaser of a manufactured home park to provide a notarized affidavit certifying that the purchaser is not prohibited from acquiring such an interest. Any false statements on such affidavit shall be subject to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per occurrence for deposit into the Revolving Loan Fund for the Purchase of Manufactured Home Parks pursuant to the appropriation act.

Glen H. Sturtevant, Jr.Republican

Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council; disclosure of digital assets.

Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council; disclosure of digital assets. Directs the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council to require the disclosure of digital assets on the Statement of Economic Interests form. The bill defines "digital assets" to mean any digital representation of value recorded on a cryptographically secured distributed ledger or similar technology.

Saddam Azlan SalimDemocrat

Virginia Fire Personnel and Equipment Grant Program; established, report.

Virginia Fire Personnel and Equipment Grant Program established. Establishes the Virginia Fire Personnel and Equipment Grant Program for the purpose of providing grants to localities to hire additional firefighters and to improve their firefighting and emergency medical services. The bill specifies that the Department of Fire Programs shall administer the Program and two types of grants shall be made from the Program. The first shall provide grants to localities to increase the number of firefighters. Such grants shall be made for up to three years and shall be used by localities for programs to (i) hire new, additional full-time firefighters; (ii) convert part-time or volunteer firefighters to full-time firefighters; or (iii) recruit and retain volunteer firefighters. The second shall provide grants to localities for improving firefighting and emergency medical services, including by acquiring firefighting and emergency medical services vehicles and equipment and modifying facilities. For both grants, the bill provides that funds shall not be used to supplant any funds currently provided by the Commonwealth or by the locality and shall be used to increase the total amount of funds available for the provision of firefighting or emergency medical services. The bill requires the Department to report annually, beginning November 1, 2026, to the Governor and the General Assembly information regarding a list of grants, the amount of each approved grant, information on the performance assessment system that the bill directs the Department to create, an evaluation of each grant based on such system, and any other criteria deemed relevant by the Department.

Tammy Brankley MulchiRepublican

Migration of individuals age 60 & older; JLARC to study causation and resulting impact.

Study; JLARC; causation and resulting impact of the migration of individuals age 60 and older out of the Commonwealth; report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to identify causes of the migration of individuals age 60 and older out of the Commonwealth of Virginia, determine the impact of the migration of such individuals to the Commonwealth, and provide recommendations to address such causes. The resolution directs JLARC to report its findings by the first day of the 2026 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Rozia A. Henson, Jr.Democrat

Assisted living facility administrators; Joint Commission on Health Care to study licensure.

Joint Commission on Health Care; licensure of assisted living facility administrators; study; report. Directs the Joint Commission on Health Care to conduct a study on licensure of assisted living facility administrators. The bill requires the Commission to submit a report on its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House Committee on Health and Human Services and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2025.

Laura Jane CohenDemocrat

Local & Regional jails, St. Bd.; standards/regulations for pregnant/postpartum incarcerated person

State Board of Local and Regional Jails; work group to review standards and regulations for pregnant and postpartum incarcerated persons in local and regional correctional facilities; report. Directs the State Board of Local and Regional Jails to convene a work group to conduct a review of existing standards for pregnant and postpartum incarcerated persons in local and regional correctional facilities and to develop recommendations for new standards and recommendations for pregnant and postpartum incarcerated persons by considering certain best practices. The bill requires the work group to report such findings and recommendations to the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security and to the Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees for Courts of Justice, the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services, and the House Committee on Public Safety by July 1, 2026, and to adopt regulations consistent with such findings and recommendations by December 1, 2027.

Shelly A. SimondsDemocrat

Conflict of Interests Act, State and Local Government, etc.; annual filing of disclosure statements.

State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act and the General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act; deadline for annual filing of disclosure statements; deadline for public disclosure. Changes the filing deadline for statements of economic interests and financial disclosure statements from February 1 to December 15. The bill requires the forms to be made public within 30 days of the filing deadline; currently, this is required within six weeks of the filing deadline.

Kannan SrinivasanDemocrat

Transportation network companies; establishes minimum compensation.

Transportation network companies; minimum compensation. Establishes minimum compensation rates for TNC partners. The bill also prohibits gratuities from passengers from being included in TNC partner compensation calculations, authorizes TNC partners to collect gratuity in cash or electronically, and prohibits transportation network companies from limiting the amount that can be paid as gratuity through such companies' digital platforms.

Saddam Azlan SalimDemocrat

Gas pipeline safety; regulations.

Gas pipeline safety; regulations. Requires that for pipeline facilities used in the interstate transport of gas, as defined in federal regulations, any gas transported in transmission lines in the Commonwealth shall be adequately odorized, with an exception for certain pipelines in operation before May 5, 1975. The bill directs the State Corporation Commission to promulgate regulations related to the provisions of the bill.

Sam RasoulDemocrat

Waterworks; mandatory reporting of anomalies, negligence.

Department of Health; waterworks; mandatory reporting of anomalies; negligence. Requires owners of waterworks to report any operational anomaly that could affect water quality, public health, or service continuity to the Virginia Department of Health's Office of Drinking Water (the Office) within 24 hours of discovery. The bill requires any critical equipment failure, including a pump failure or any other malfunction that poses an immediate risk to public health or disrupts water service to be reported to the Office within six hours of discovery. Under the bill, failure to comply with the reporting requirements constitutes negligence and failure to comply with the critical equipment failure reporting requirements constitutes gross negligence.

Phillip A. ScottRepublican

Students with individualized education programs or Section 504 Plans; emergency protocol and guide.

Students with individualized education programs or Section 504 Plans; emergency protocol and guide. Requires each individualized education program implemented for a public school student with a disability in accordance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and each Section 504 Plan implemented for a public school student in accordance with § 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to contain an addendum that has been reviewed and signed by the student's parent and that includes a protocol for individualized accommodations and supports for the student during emergency situations at school and a step-by-step guide on how to execute such protocol. The bill requires such addendum to be provided to all of such student's teachers for implementation.

Jennifer B. BoyskoDemocrat

Higher educational institutions, public; certain transfer credit policy prohibited.

Public institutions of higher education; certain transfer credit policy prohibited. Prohibits any public institution of higher education from adopting or implementing any policy that denies credit to transfer students based solely on the sending institution's accreditor, as long as such accreditor is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Stella G. PekarskyDemocrat

Direct experience recruitment policy; DHRM to develop a statewide policy.

Department of Human Resource Management; direct experience recruitment policy. Requires the Department of Human Resource Management to develop a statewide direct experience recruitment policy designed to provide guidance to state agencies on how to remove postsecondary degree requirements from hiring considerations, defined in the bill. The bill prohibits state agencies from rejecting applicants for job positions solely on the basis of the applicant lacking a postsecondary degree unless the agency substantiates in the job posting and to the Department the necessity of including a postsecondary degree as a baseline requirement, defined in the bill. Finally, the bill requires each state agency to provide a detailed quarterly report to the Department regarding the baseline requirements of its job postings.

James A. "Jay" LeftwichRepublican

New Americans Advisory Board, Office of; increase in membership.

Office of New Americans Advisory Board; increase in membership. Increases from 18 to 21 the number of nonlegislative citizen members of the Office of New Americans Advisory Board and adds the Secretaries of Commerce and Trade, Education, Health and Human Resources, Labor, Public Safety and Homeland Security, and Transportation as ex officio members with nonvoting privileges. This bill was incorporated into HB 2279.

David OwenRepublican

High electric demand facility; locality may include in its zoning ordinance water use estimate.

Zoning; data centers; water use. Authorizes a locality to include in its zoning ordinance provisions for (i) requiring proposed data center developments to submit water use estimates and (ii) considering water use when making rezoning and special use permit decisions related to data center development.

Richard H. StuartRepublican

Certified registered nurse anesthetists; supervision, report.

Supervision of certified registered nurse anesthetists; work group; report. Clarifies that supervision of a certified registered nurse anesthetist requires that a licensed doctor of medicine, osteopathy, podiatry, or dentistry is present during an operation or procedure or is immediately available to respond and provide patient care as needed. The bill directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, in collaboration with the Board of Medicine, Board of Nursing, and Department of Health Professions, to convene a work group of relevant stakeholders to evaluate and make recommendations to increase the anesthesia provider workforce in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the work group to report its recommendations to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Health and Human Services by November 1, 2025.

Mamie E. LockeDemocrat

Hospitals, freestanding emergency depts., etc.; standardized protocols for obstetric emergencies.

Hospitals, freestanding emergency departments, and birthing centers; standardized protocols for obstetric emergencies. Requires all hospitals with an emergency department for labor and delivery, freestanding emergency departments, and birthing centers to implement standardized protocols for identifying and responding to obstetric emergencies, including obstetric hemorrhage, preeclampsia, and eclampsia. The bill requires the Virginia Neonatal Perinatal Collaborative to work collaboratively with these hospitals, departments, and centers to provide training related to obstetrical services, recognizing urgent maternal warning signs, and establishing protocols for transfer of any pregnant or recently delivered women who present for care and for such hospitals, departments, and centers to participate in and submit data with no protected health information or identifiers to the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health Patient Safety Bundle.

Kim A. TaylorRepublican

Teachers; employment and licensure, locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credentials.

Teachers; employment and licensure; locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credentials. Establishes, enumerates criteria for, and permits a division superintendent or a comprehensive community college to issue a locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential, valid for a period not to exceed three years, to any individual who demonstrates expertise in content or subject matter area in order for such individual to provide instruction or coursework in a corresponding non-core subject or course, as that term is defined in the bill, in grades six through 12 at any public school in the Commonwealth or at a comprehensive community college in the Commonwealth, including dual enrollment or concurrent enrollment courses. The bill delineates the criteria for issuance of such locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential. The bill also contains several provisions relating to the employment of individuals under a locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential, including (i) permitting any school division or institution of higher education to hire any such individual on a full-time or part-time basis to teach a non-core subject or course; (ii) requiring any such individual to be subject to a background clearance check and the fingerprinting and criminal history records check requirements required as a condition of employment of any applicant who is offered or accepts employment at a school division pursuant to applicable law; (iii) requiring each employing school board to assign an individual employed by such school board as a mentor to supervise any individual issued a subject matter expert teaching credential; and (iv) permitting any division superintendent to renew an individual's locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential for a period not to exceed three additional years, provided that such individual receives satisfactory performance evaluations for each year of the original three-year locally awarded subject matter teaching credential. Finally, the bill requires each school division to annually report to the Department of Education the number of locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credentials issued for part-time and full-time teaching positions.

Christie New CraigRepublican

Public utilities; rate increases during certain months prohibited.

Public utilities; rate increases during certain months prohibited. Prohibits the regulated operating revenues of certain public utilities from being increased in the months of November, December, January, or February. The bill's limitation does not apply to certain increases, which are the same exceptions as allowed for the existing prohibition on multiple rate increases during a 12-month period. This bill was incorporated into HB 2621.

Wren M. WilliamsRepublican

Public elementary and secondary schools; compulsory attendance requirements, religious exemption.

Public elementary and secondary schools; compulsory attendance requirements; religious exemption; requirements. Amends the provisions permitting any child and his parents to receive an exemption from school attendance by reason of bona fide religious training or belief, as defined in relevant law, to require the parent of any such child, in order to receive such exemption, to provide (i) evidence of the parent's ability to provide an adequate education for his child; (ii) notice to the division superintendent by August 15 of each year, or as soon as practicable in the event that such child and his parents move into the school division or seek to receive an exemption after the start of the school year, of such child and his parents' intention to receive such an exemption and certification that the child will receive an alternative form of instruction, including a description of the curriculum to be studied in the coming year; and (iii) evidence of the child's progress in accordance with the provisions of the bill.

Stella G. PekarskyDemocrat

Photo speed monitoring devices; private vendors compensated for calibration, civil penalty.

Photo speed monitoring devices; private vendors; calibration; civil penalty. Requires any private vendor that has entered into an agreement with a law-enforcement agency to provide a photo speed monitoring device and is also compensated for the calibration of such device to calibrate such device in the same manner and to the same specifications as all other devices determining speed, to the extent that such devices utilize the same method of speed detection as such photo speed monitoring device, used by such law-enforcement agency. The bill also (i) requires such a private vendor to provide, within 10 days of a request by a person receiving a summons by mail for a vehicle speed violation recorded by a photo speed monitoring device provided by such private vendor, for proof of calibration for such photo speed monitoring device; (ii) requires such a summons to provide notice of such right to request such proof of calibration; and (iii) imposes a civil penalty on any private vendor who fails to provide such proof of calibration within such time.

Chris S. RunionRepublican

Common interest communities; termination of certain management contracts.

Common interest communities; termination of certain management contracts; transfer of association books and records. Provides that within a reasonable time after termination of a management contract and without additional cost to the association, a common interest community manager shall transfer and release all funds and close bank accounts maintained on behalf of an association.

Carrie E. CoynerRepublican

Virginia Consumer Protection Act; professional mold remediators, mold remediation certification.

Virginia Consumer Protection Act; professional mold remediators; study and report; emergency. Requires a professional mold remediator selling or offering for sale services to be performed upon any residential dwelling to hold a mold remediation certification from a nationally or internationally recognized certifying body for mold remediation. Under current law, such professional mold remediator is required to hold such certification from the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification. The provisions of the bill requiring such certification from a nationally or internationally recognized certifying body contain an emergency clause.The bill also directs the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation to study the current state of the mold inspection and mold remediation workforce in the Commonwealth to determine whether there is sufficient proof that justifies the licensure or certification of mold inspectors and mold remediators and, if so, recommend educational, experiential, or examination requirements for such licensure or certification. The bill directs the Department to submit a report on the state of the mold inspection and mold remediation workforce in the Commonwealth to the House Committee on General Laws, the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology, and the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules by November 1, 2025. This bill was incorporated into HB 2195.

Tony O. WiltRepublican

Mental health first aid training program; Department of Education, et al., to develop.

Department of Education; mental health first aid training program. Directs the Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, to develop a mental health first aid training program consisting of an adult component and an adolescent and youth component. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee to Study Pandemic Response and Preparedness in the Commonwealth.

Ghazala F. HashmiDemocrat

Virtual or online learning; development of guidelines and information, public health emergencies.

Department of Education; development of guidelines and information relating to virtual or online learning; public health emergencies. Provides for the Department of Education to develop and post on its official website guidelines and information relating to virtual or online learning. Such guidelines and information shall include (i) statewide policies relating to virtual learning, (ii) the availability of online or virtual learning options and pertinent information on such options, and (iii) guidelines for educators and schools relating to online or virtual learning policies and best practices. In addition, the bill requires each K-12 school in the Commonwealth to include as a component of its annual safety audit a review of the school's plan for school closures due to public health emergencies. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee to Study Pandemic Response and Preparedness in the Commonwealth.

Ghazala F. HashmiDemocrat

School boards; method of selection, election required.

School boards; method of selection; election required. Requires election as the method of selecting the members of each school board in the Commonwealth and makes several changes to eliminate provisions relating to appointed school boards. Current law requires such members to be appointed but permits their election under certain circumstances.

Stella G. PekarskyDemocrat

Maternal Health Monitoring Pilot Program; pregnancy mobile application, report.

Department of Health; Maternal Health Monitoring Pilot Program; pregnancy mobile application; report. Directs the Department of Health to contract with a mobile application developer to create a membership-based mobile application to deliver education, resources, and support to prenatal, pregnant, and postpartum individuals who are eligible for Medicaid. The bill also creates the Maternal Health Monitoring Pilot Program to offer remote patient monitoring for maternal hypertension and maternal diabetes. The Department shall select a managed care organization and technology vendor to administer the Pilot Program to no less than 300 eligible participants. The bill requires the Department to submit requests for proposals within 180 days of the bill's effective date.

Jennifer D. Carroll FoyDemocrat