Bills & Legislation

Virginia Public Procurement Act; cooperative procurement, re-roofing.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; cooperative procurement; re-roofing. Excludes re-roofing that does not involve modification to the structure from the prohibition on using cooperative procurement to purchase construction.

Betsy B. CarrDemocrat

VCU Health System Authority; changes relating to board of directors and chief executive officer.

Virginia Commonwealth University Health System Authority; board of directors; chief executive officer. Makes several changes relating to the board of directors and the chief executive officer of the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System Authority (the Authority), including (i) reducing from 19 to 13 the number of appointed members on the boards of directors and adding the chief executive officer of the Authority as an ex officio member with voting privileges, thereby reducing from 21 to 16 the total number of board members; (ii) changing from voting to nonvoting the nature of the membership of the President of Virginia Commonwealth University (the University) on the board of directors and prohibiting rather than requiring, as under current law, the President of the University from serving as chairman of the board of directors; (iii) lengthening the terms of all members of the board of directors from three years to four years; (iv) requiring the biennial election of a chairman and vice-chairman of the board of directors, requiring such chairman and vice-chairman to have served for at least two years on the board of directors, and prohibiting any employee of the University, employee of the Authority, member of the board of visitors of the University, or legislative member from serving as chairman; (v) providing that no further action shall be taken if a majority of each of the three-member committees appointed by the board of directors of the Authority and the board of visitors of the University do not agree on the removal of the chief executive officer of the Authority within 30 days of the appointment of the committees by each board; and (vi) providing that in the event that a majority of the members of each committee do not agree on the selection or conditions of appointment of the chief executive officer within 30 days of the appointment of the committees by each board, then the process set forth in statute shall be repeated until such selection has been made or such conditions of appointment have been determined. Current law requires the President of the University to make a binding decision in the event of any such disagreement. This bill is identical to SB 431.

Betsy B. CarrDemocrat

College and Career Ready Virginia Program; advisory committee and work group composition.

Department of Education; College and Career Ready Virginia Program; administration; advisory committee and work group composition. Removes the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond from the membership of the advisory committee and the work group that the Department of Education and the Community College System are required to establish for administration of the College and Career Ready Program pursuant to applicable law. This bill is identical to SB 439.

Betsy B. CarrDemocrat

Dental hygienist licensure; dentists eligible to practice in a foreign country or jurisdiction.

Dental hygienist licensure; dentists eligible to practice in a foreign country or jurisdiction. Permits the Board of Dentistry to grant a license to practice dental hygiene to persons who are eligible to practice dentistry in a country or jurisdiction outside of the United States and who are graduates of a dental school or college, or the dental department of an institution of higher education, located outside of the United States that the Board determines is acceptable. This bill is identical to SB 282.

Kathy K.L. TranDemocrat

Public schools; school security and discipline, employment of school security officers, training.

Public schools; school security and discipline; employment of school security officers; training requirements. Amends the requirements for the training course of which an individual employed as a school security officer is required to submit proof of completion to the Department of Criminal Justice Services in order to carry a firearm in the performance of his duties by (i) eliminating the requirement that such training course include training in active shooter emergency response and, instead, requiring it to include training in critical incident preparedness and response and (ii) clarifying that such training course include training in behavioral threat assessment.

Tony O. WiltRepublican

Part-time or adjunct instructor in public schools; locally awarded subject matter expert credential.

Part-time or adjunct instructors in public schools; locally awarded subject matter expert credentials; career and technical education subjects or courses. 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 of one year, to any individual who demonstrates expertise in content or subject matter area relating to career and technical education in order for such individual to provide instruction or coursework in one career and technical education course per semester in grades six through 12 at any public school in the Commonwealth or 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 credential. The bill also contains several provisions relating to the employment of individuals under a locally awarded subject matter expert credential, including (i) permitting any school division or institution of higher education to hire any such individual as a part-time or adjunct instructor to teach a career and technical education 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 locally awarded subject matter expert credential; and (iv) permitting any division superintendent to renew an individual's locally awarded subject matter expert credential for a period not to exceed one additional year, provided that such individual receives satisfactory performance evaluations. Finally, the bill requires each school board to annually report to the Department of Education the number of locally awarded subject matter expert credentials issued pursuant to the provisions of the bill.

Wendell S. WalkerRepublican

Foreign-trained chiropractors; licensure by endorsement.

Foreign-trained chiropractors; licensure by endorsement. Permits the Board of Medicine to issue a license to practice chiropractic to a foreign-trained chiropractor who meets certain requirements.

Wendell S. WalkerRepublican

Children; use of communication systems to facilitate certain offenses, exception.

Use of communications systems to facilitate certain offenses involving children; exception. Provides that the crime of using communications systems to facilitate certain offenses involving children only applies when (i) the child involved is within the age ranges prescribed by law or (ii) the other person involved is a law-enforcement officer posing as a child within the age ranges prescribed by law while in the performance of his official duties.

Wendell S. WalkerRepublican

Consumer protection; automatic renewal or continuous service offers, disclosure and cancellation.

Consumer protection; automatic renewal or continuous service offers; disclosure and cancellation. Amends certain definitions related to automatic renewal or continuous service offers, including the definition of "clear and conspicuous" as it relates to seller disclosures and requirements to provide a simple cancellation mechanism. The bill replaces the term "supplier" in current provisions with "seller" and provides a definition for such term. The bill requires sellers to provide a cancellation mechanism that is at least as easy to use as the mechanism used to initiate the automatic renewal or continuous service offer, and includes additional requirements for providing such cancellation mechanism. Under the bill, certain businesses are no longer exempt from disclosure and cancellation requirements for automatic renewal or continuous service offers, and a violation of the provision constitutes a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. This bill is identical to SB 493.

Atoosa R. ReaserDemocrat

Sexual abuse during infancy or incapacity; accrual.

Sexual abuse during infancy or incapacity; accrual. Adds to the accrual provisions for personal injury actions resulting from sexual abuse during the infancy or incapacity of a person that accrual occurs when corroborative evidence, as defined in the bill, is discovered or by the exercise of due diligence reasonably should have been discovered.

Atoosa R. ReaserDemocrat

Affordable housing; development of an assisted living facility.

Affordable housing; assisted living facilities. Allows localities that have adopted an affordable housing program to require that, in an application for a special exception or special use permit, affordable rental units be included for any proposed development of an assisted living facility.

Atoosa R. ReaserDemocrat

Veterans & Defense Affairs, Sec. of; study to recommend plan to guide legislation rel. to veterans.

Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs; work group; report. Directs the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs to convene a work group every four years to study and develop recommendations for implementing a statewide strategic plan to guide legislation and budget decisions relating to veterans in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the work group to submit a report to the Governor and the General Assembly by November 1, 2026, and every four years thereafter.

Atoosa R. ReaserDemocrat

Health Coordination Network Program; patient data collection.

Health Coordination Network Program; patient data collection. Renames the Smartchart Network Program as the Health Coordination Network Program and relocates it within the Code. The bill expands patient level data elements and requires the Commissioner of Health to enter into contract with an authorized nonprofit organization to create, operate, maintain, and administer the Health Coordination Network Program.

Atoosa R. ReaserDemocrat

School boards; excusing students from attendance at school, verified medical reasons.

School boards; excusing students from attendance at school; grounds; verified medical reasons. Requires each school board to excuse from attendance any pupil who, for any continuous period of time not exceeding 30 school days in length, is absent from school for medical reasons as verified in writing by the student's health care provider.

Kathy K.L. TranDemocrat

Incapacitated persons; finding of lack of capacity to understand act of voting.

Incapacitated persons; finding of lack of capacity to understand act of voting. Provides that a finding that a person is incapacitated in a proceeding for guardianship or conservatorship shall not be synonymous with a finding that such person lacks the capacity to understand the act of voting and therefore is not qualified to vote in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of Virginia. The bill provides that no person shall be deemed disqualified to vote due to a lack of capacity for the purposes of the Constitution of Virginia unless a court makes a specific finding by clear and convincing evidence that such person lacks the capacity to understand the act of voting. This bill is identical to SB 34.

Kathy K.L. TranDemocrat

Cats and dogs; Virginia Cooperative Extension Service to create a list of toxic houseplants.

Virginia Cooperative Extension Service; cats and dogs; list of toxic houseplants. Requires the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service to create a list of common houseplants that are toxic to cats and dogs no later than November 1, 2026, and to update such list at least every four years thereafter. The bill requires the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to make such list publicly available on its website.

Kathy K.L. TranDemocrat

Motor vehicle sales and use tax; exemption for electric vehicles, etc.

Motor vehicle sales and use tax; exemption. Exempts from the retail sales and use tax imposed on motor vehicles in Virginia, any electric vehicle, defined in the bill, being registered for the first time in the Commonwealth if the applicant holds a valid, assignable title or registration issued to him by another state or a branch of the United States Armed Forces and such applicant has owned the vehicle for less than 12 months and provides evidence of purchasing the vehicle while a resident of another state. Current law provides such first-time registration exemption only if the vehicle has been owned by the applicant for longer than 12 months or less than 12 months if such applicant provides evidence of such sales tax payment made to another state.

Kathy K.L. TranDemocrat

Schedule VI controlled substances; TPA-certified optometrists permitted to sell and dispense.

TPA-certified optometrists; sale and dispensation of Schedule VI controlled substances; requirements. Permits TPA-certified optometrists to sell and dispense Schedule VI controlled substances to their own patients provided that they obtain a license to do so from the Board of Pharmacy and comply with requirements related to dispensation, storage, packaging, labeling, recordkeeping, and reporting of the controlled substances sold and dispensed. The bill permits the Board of Optometry and the Board of Pharmacy to adopt regulations to implement the provisions of the bill and establish a limited-use license for TPA-certified optometrists pursuant to the bill. The bill exempts such initial regulations from the APA requirements. This bill is identical to SB 212.

Kathy K.L. TranDemocrat

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; rental payment methods, prohibited fees.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; rental payment methods; prohibited fees. Requires a landlord subject to the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act to accept payment of periodic rent and any security deposit by check and money order. The bill additionally prohibits such a landlord from requiring a tenant to pay any fee to submit periodic rent payments or other amounts due in excess of the actual out-of-pocket expenses charged to the landlord by a third party to process a payment. Finally, the bill prohibits a landlord from requiring a tenant to pay any fee for the maintenance or repair of any dwelling unit unless the repair is necessitated by the tenant's violation of the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. This bill is identical to SB 313.

Kathy K.L. TranDemocrat

Minimum wage; increases incrementally to $15.00 per hour by January 1, 2028.

Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage incrementally to $15.00 per hour by January 1, 2028. The bill codifies the adjusted state hourly minimum wage of $12.77 per hour that is effective January 1, 2026, and increases the minimum wage to $13.75 per hour effective January 1, 2027, and to $15.00 per hour effective January 1, 2028. Effective January 1, 2029, and annually thereafter, the bill requires the minimum wage to be adjusted to reflect increases in the consumer price index. This bill is identical to SB 1.

Jeion A. WardDemocrat

Transportation network companies; establishes minimum compensation rates, civil penalty.

Kathy K.L. TranDemocrat

Utilities, certain; notice procedures for nonpayment.

Electric, natural gas, and water or wastewater utilities; disconnection procedures for nonpayment. Requires certain utilities, for the purposes of required notices related to disconnections for nonpayment, to provide such notices in an additional language for customers residing in a locality that is required to provide voting or election materials in such additional language. The bill prohibits certain utilities from disconnecting a residential customer without making reasonable efforts to offer bill payment assistance, arrange a payment plan, or provide information to the customer for other bill payment assistance or energy savings programs. The bill directs the Department of Elections to post on its website a list of the localities designated as a covered locality for the purposes of providing voting or election materials in an additional minority language by September 1, 2026, and to update such list as necessary.

Kathy K.L. TranDemocrat

Payment or delivery of small asset by affidavit; Office of the Executive Secretary to prepare form.

Payment or delivery of small asset by affidavit; Office of the Executive Secretary to prepare form. Provides that an affidavit presented by any person having possession of a small asset to the designated successor of a decedent shall be on a form prepared by the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Jason S. BallardRepublican