Bills & Legislation

Income tax, state; tax credit for eligible small business advertising in local newspapers and media.

Income tax credit; advertising in local newspapers and media. Creates, for taxable years 2025 through 2029, a nonrefundable income tax credit for eligible small businesses with fewer than 50 employees for certain expenses incurred for local media advertising in a local newspaper or in a broadcast of a local radio or television station. The credit is equal to (i) for the first taxable year in which the credit is claimed, the lesser of 80 percent of the actual amounts paid or incurred for qualified local media advertising expenses or $4,000 and (ii) in subsequent taxable years, the lesser of 50 percent of the actual amounts paid or incurred for qualified local media advertising expenses during such taxable year or $2,000. The credit includes an aggregate cap of $10 million per taxable year.

Alfonso H. LopezDemocrat

Johnsongrass; DCR, et al., to convene work group to examine use.

Department of Conservation and Recreation; Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; work group to examine use of Johnsongrass in the Commonwealth. Directs the Department of Conservation and Recreation (the Department), in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, to convene a work group to examine measures to reduce, mitigate, and eliminate the continued sale and use of Johnsongrass in the Commonwealth. The bill requires such work group to (i) conduct a risk assessment on the use of such plant to evaluate its effect on crops, livestock, public health, and the environment; (ii) identify measures to support education and outreach to reduce the use of such plant and promote the use of noninvasive or native species as a substitute; and (iii) make recommendations regarding potential statutory and regulatory changes relating to the use of such plant, including the creation of guidance documents from relevant agencies. The bill requires the Department to report its findings and any recommendations to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources by December 1, 2026.

Kim A. TaylorRepublican

Nationally Certified School Psychologist Program; established.

Nationally Certified School Psychologist Program established; incorporation into National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund. Establishes the Nationally Certified School Psychologist Program and incorporates such program into the existing National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program. The bill also renames the National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program Fund as the National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Nationally Certified School Psychologist Program Fund (the Fund) and expands the purpose for which disbursements may be made from the Fund to include the award of incentive grants to school psychologists obtaining national certification from the National Association of School Psychologists consisting of an initial state-funded award of $5,000 and a subsequent award of $2,500 each year for the life of the certificate.

Kim A. TaylorRepublican

Income tax, state; energy-efficient homes tax credits.

Income tax; energy-efficient homes tax credits. Authorizes an eligible contractor, defined in the bill, or an eligible purchaser, also defined in the bill, to claim a nonrefundable income tax credit, during taxable years 2025 through 2029, in an amount equal to $2,000 per construction or purchase of a qualified new energy-efficient home and $4,000 per construction or purchase of a zero energy ready home, as those terms are defined in the bill. The bill clarifies that either an eligible contractor or an eligible purchaser, but not both, shall be able to claim the credit for any single qualified new energy-efficient or zero energy ready home, as applicable, and establishes a maximum credit amount that an eligible contractor may claim per taxable year of $500,000.

Chris S. RunionRepublican

School bathroom safety checks; Bd. of Education to develop, etc., to each school board model policy.

Celeste's Law; Board of Education; model policy; school bathroom safety checks. Requires the Board of Education to develop, adopt, and distribute to each local school board a model policy regarding bathroom safety checks in public elementary and secondary schools during normal school hours that includes consideration of appropriate staffing, the frequency of such checks, and any other topics that the Board of Education deems relevant.

A.C. CordozaRepublican

Land preservation tax credit; maximum amount increase.

Land preservation tax credit; maximum amount increase. Increases from $75 million to $100 million, beginning in 2025, the maximum amount of land preservation tax credits that may be issued in a calendar year and adjusts such amount each year for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. The bill also requires the Governor to submit a recommended appropriation each year in the Budget Bill, or as amendments to the general appropriations act, from the General Fund in an amount equal to the difference between the inflation adjusted annual credit cap and $100 million, but not more than $25 million, for purposes described in the bill.

Geary HigginsRepublican

National Board Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund; eligibility.

National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund; eligibility; incentive grant awards. Renames the National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund as the National Board Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund, expands eligibility for incentive grant awards from such Fund pursuant to such Program from solely teachers who have obtained national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to (i) all public school staff who are candidates for initial national certification or maintenance of national certification to cover certain costs of obtaining or maintaining such certification and (ii) all public school staff who have successfully obtained or maintained such certification. The bill also declares as eligible for an annual incentive grant award in the amount of $7,500 all public school staff who have obtained or maintained such certification and an additional $2,500 in any year during the life of certificate in which the public school staff member is employed in a Title 1 school. Current law declares as eligible for an annual incentive grant award of $5,000 in the first year and $2,500 in each subsequent year all teachers who have obtained or maintained such certification.

Michelle Lopes MaldonadoDemocrat

School boards; employment of counsel.

School boards; employment of counsel. Clarifies that any school board, whether elected or appointed, may employ the attorney for the Commonwealth or other counsel to advise it concerning any legal matter or to represent it, any member thereof, or any school official in any legal proceeding to which the school board, member, or official may be a party when such proceeding is instituted by or against the school board or against the member or official by virtue of his actions in connection with his duties as such member or official.

A.C. CordozaRepublican

Comprehensive plan; data centers, water usage.

Comprehensive plan; data centers; water usage. Requires every locality to incorporate into its comprehensive plan provisions that prioritize and evaluate alternative methods of cooling, such as air cooling, geothermal cooling, or other innovative technologies that minimize water usage, particularly in the context of approving or siting data centers or similar land uses. The bill provides that the comprehensive plan shall include methods of assessing the environmental impact of water-based cooling methods and requires that alternative methods to minimize water usage are thoroughly considered before local approval of data centers or similar land uses that are reliant on significant water resources for cooling purposes.

M. Keith HodgesRepublican

Minors; parental access to health records.

Parental access to minor's health records. Requires health care entities that provide access to health records of minors through a secure website to make such health records available to the minor's parent or guardian through the same secure website.

Phillip A. ScottRepublican

Toll relief; maximum charges.

Toll relief; maximum charges. Limits to $200 per month the tolls charged to residents of the Commonwealth via electronic toll collection devices for the use of toll bridges, toll ferries, toll tunnels, or toll roads in the Commonwealth. The bill prohibits misusing, sharing, or transferring an electronic toll collection device for the purpose of (i) generating tolls to reach the toll charges limit or (ii) obtaining toll-free use of toll facilities in the Commonwealth. The bill authorizes the free use of all toll bridges, toll roads, and other toll facilities in the Commonwealth for drivers who are recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits.

Candi Mundon KingDemocrat

Public Safety & Homeland Security & HHR, Secretaries of; combat sale of illicit cannabis products.

Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security and Secretary of Health and Human Resources; combat the sale of illicit cannabis products; work group; report. Directs the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security and the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to convene a work group to analyze the current efforts in the Commonwealth to combat the sale of illicit cannabis products and develop recommendations to enhance such enforcement efforts with a focus on protecting consumers and children from harmful, untested, and unregulated products. The bill requires the work group to complete its work and submit a report regarding its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House Committees on Appropriations, on General Laws, and for Courts of Justice and the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations, on General Laws and Technology, on Rehabilitation and Social Services, and for Courts of Justice by October 1, 2025.

Carrie E. CoynerRepublican

Advanced Emergency Training and First Aid Equipment Grant Fund and Program; established.

Advanced Emergency Training and First Aid Equipment Grant Fund and Program established. Establishes the Advanced Emergency Training and First Aid Equipment Grant Fund and Program for the purpose of awarding grants from the Fund on a merit-based, competitive basis to school divisions to cover the cost of advanced emergency training of school board employees whose positions involve regular interaction with students and to purchase emergency first aid equipment for schools in the school division.

Tony O. WiltRepublican

Unclaimed property; application to delinquent taxes.

Unclaimed property; application to delinquent taxes. Directs the administrator of unclaimed property to transmit information to the Department of Taxation regarding the value of the property and the identity of the taxpayer. The bill also directs the Department to subtract the value of any unclaimed cash property, as defined in the bill, from the amount of any state taxes owed and specifies that the unclaimed cash property shall be paid to the Department.

Wendell S. WalkerRepublican

VRS; enhanced retirement benefits for 911 dispatchers, animal control officers, etc.

Virginia Retirement System; enhanced retirement benefits for 911 dispatchers, animal control officers, and municipal park rangers. Allows local governments to provide enhanced retirement benefits for hazardous duty service to (i) full-time salaried 911 dispatchers, (ii) full-time animal control officers, and (iii) sworn municipal park rangers qualifying as conservators of the peace. The bill provides that such enhanced retirement benefits apply only to service earned in such positions on or after July 1, 2026, but allows an employer, as that term is defined in relevant law, to provide such enhanced retirement benefits for service earned in such positions before July 1, 2026, in addition to service earned on or after that date. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

A.C. CordozaRepublican

Income tax, state; disability income.

Virginia income tax subtractions; disability income. Allows an individual who claims an income tax subtraction for disability income to also claim an income tax deduction for taxpayers age 65 and older.

A.C. CordozaRepublican

VRS; enhanced retirement benefits for 911 dispatchers, animal control officers, etc.

Virginia Retirement System; enhanced retirement benefits for 911 dispatchers, animal control officers, and municipal park rangers. Allows local governments to provide enhanced retirement benefits for hazardous duty service to (i) full-time salaried 911 dispatchers, (ii) full-time animal control officers, and (iii) sworn municipal park rangers qualifying as conservators of the peace. The bill provides that such enhanced retirement benefits apply only to service earned in such positions on or after July 1, 2026, but allows an employer, as that term is defined in relevant law, to provide such enhanced retirement benefits for service earned in such positions before July 1, 2026, in addition to service earned on or after that date. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

A.C. CordozaRepublican

Geriatric prisoners; conditional release.

Conditional release of geriatric prisoners. Expands the list of offenses that prohibit a person from petitioning the Parole Board for conditional release as a geriatric prisoner.

Eric PhillipsRepublican

Income tax, state; subtraction for retirement income of certain federal employees.

Income tax; subtraction; retirement income of certain federal employees. Establishes, beginning in taxable year 2025, an individual income tax subtraction for 20 percent of the retirement income of retirees covered under the federal Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS).

James A. "Jay" LeftwichRepublican

Juvenile and domestic relations district court; juvenile intake, school notification.

Juvenile and domestic relations district court; juvenile intake; school notification. Expands the offenses for which a juvenile and domestic relations district court intake officer, upon the filing of a petition alleging an offense was committed, is required to notify the superintendent of the school division in which the child who is the subject of the petition is enrolled or was enrolled at the time of the offense. The bill adds carjacking and sexual extortion to the list of offenses.

James A. "Jay" LeftwichRepublican

Prohibited applications and websites; private civil action.

Prohibited applications and websites; private civil action. Prohibits TikTok, Inc. and ByteDance Ltd. from providing access to TikTok to any child within the Commonwealth and allows a child or the child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian to bring an action against TikTok, Inc. or ByteDance Ltd. for providing such access. The bill provides that if a plaintiff prevails in such action, he may recover (i) damages of $75,000 for each discrete violation, (ii) other damages, and (iii) reasonable costs and attorney fees. The bill also allows a plaintiff to recover punitive damages if the defendant knowingly provided the child access. The bill provides that it shall be an affirmative defense that TikTok, Inc. or ByteDance Ltd. did not reasonably know or have reason to know of the provision of such access of TikTok to a child in the Commonwealth. The bill also specifies that such civil action shall not be brought by the Commonwealth, its agencies, its political subdivisions, an attorney for the Commonwealth, a city or county attorney, nor any officer or employee of the Commonwealth, its agencies, or its political subdivisions acting in his official capacity.

James A. "Jay" LeftwichRepublican

Income tax, state; subtraction for military benefits received by members of uniformed services.

Department of Taxation; evaluation of income tax subtraction for military benefits received by members of the uniformed services; report. Directs the Department of Taxation (the Department) to evaluate the effects of extending the income tax subtraction for military benefits to military retirement income paid to a veteran or the surviving spouse of a veteran for such veteran's service in the uniformed services, defined in federal law as the armed forces, the commissioned corps of the U.S. Public Health Service, and the commissioned corps of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Current law restricts such income tax subtraction to certain military benefits received for service in the armed forces. The bill directs the Department to submit a report of its findings and any recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Finance and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations no later than November 30, 2025.

James A. "Jay" LeftwichRepublican

Commonwealth, Secretary of the; review of wage garnishment process, report.

Secretary of the Commonwealth; wage garnishment process; work group; report. Directs the Secretary of the Commonwealth to convene a work group of relevant stakeholders to review the current wage garnishment process and assess whether the garnishment of wages, salaries, commissions, or other earnings should be an enforcement mechanism utilized only for the collection of specific types of debts owed by a judgment debtor. The bill directs the work group to report its findings to the Chairmen of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice by November 1, 2025.

James A. "Jay" LeftwichRepublican

Homeland Security, Bureau of; established, powers and duties, report.

Virginia State Police; Bureau of Homeland Security established; powers and duties; work group; report. Establishes the Bureau of Homeland Security within the Virginia State Police to coordinate efforts in the ongoing assessment of the Commonwealth's vulnerability to and ability to detect, prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism or potential threats to the security of the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secure and Resilient Commonwealth Panel, the Department of Emergency Management, and the Department of State Police, to convene a work group to study the proper allocation of responsibilities for the detection of, prevention of, preparedness for, response to, and recovery from threats to the security of the Commonwealth and to report the findings of the work group to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Public Safety and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology by November 1, 2025.

Amanda E. BattenRepublican

Assisted conception; certain medical treatments, written contract required.

Assisted conception; certain medical treatments; written contract required. Provides that the laws governing abortion shall not be construed to prohibit or limit the access to and use of (i) in vitro fertilization or any other method of assisted conception or (ii) any other medical treatment or intervention used to assist in the conception of a pregnancy or to maintain such a pregnancy. The bill further provides that, beginning the in vitro fertilization process, the genetic parents, if known to each other, shall enter into a written contract stipulating to the disposition of any embryo created for the intended use in such process. The bill specifies that such contract shall include provisions regarding the cryopreservation, disposal, and control of any such embryo in the event of the death or incarceration of one or more of the genetic parents or the divorce of the genetic parents, if applicable.

Kim A. TaylorRepublican

Abortion; treatment of a nonviable pregnancy.

Abortion; treatment of a nonviable pregnancy; emergency. Provides that the criminal penalties applicable to the performance of an abortion do not apply to the treatment of a nonviable pregnancy, as defined in the bill, provided that, pursuant to reasonable standards of care, failure to treat such nonviable pregnancy by terminating the pregnancy or attempting to terminate the pregnancy by performing an abortion or inducing a miscarriage is likely to result in the death of the woman or would substantially and irremediably impair the physical health of the woman. The bill contains an emergency clause.

Kim A. TaylorRepublican

Artificial Intelligence Transparency Act; established.

Artificial Intelligence Transparency Act established. Requires developers of generative artificial intelligence systems made available in the Commonwealth to ensure that any generative artificial intelligence system that produces audio, images, text, or video content includes on such AI-generated content a clear and conspicuous disclosure that meets certain requirements specified in the bill. The bill also requires developers of generative artificial intelligence systems to implement reasonable procedures to prevent downstream use of such system without the required disclosures and requires any third-party licensee of a generative artificial intelligence system to also implement such procedures. The bill provides that a violation of the disclosure requirements constitutes a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The bill allows the Attorney General to offer developers a right to cure noncompliance that is noticed by the Attorney General and provides that a person or entity claiming to be injured due to a violation of the disclosure requirements shall be entitled to initiate an action for monetary damages or equitable relief.

Rozia A. Henson, Jr.Democrat

Home instruction; removes certain criteria for parents.

Home instruction; parents; criteria. Removes the four enumerated criteria—holding a high school diploma, being a teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education, providing the child with a program of study or curriculum that may be delivered through a correspondence course or distance learning program or in any other manner, or providing evidence of the ability to provide an adequate education for the child—by which a parent is permitted to provide home instruction for his school-age child. The bill does not affect the requirement for such a parent to annually provide a description of the home instruction curriculum before the school year begins and evidence of the child's academic progress after the school year ends.

Geary HigginsRepublican

Public schools; student support services, student personal information and data security, report.

Public schools; student support services; student personal information and data security; registration; requirements; grants; report. Requires any student support agency, as defined by the bill, to register with the Department of Education (the Department) in order to provide any student support programs, as defined by the bill, to students enrolled in any public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth. The bill establishes several requirements for the registration of any student support agency relating to the protection of any student personal information collected by the student support agency, including (i) requiring such agencies to adopt certain policies, procedures, and protocols designed to ensure the continued security, integrity, and confidentiality of student personal information; (ii) requiring the Department to ensure any student support agency obtains informed consent from the parent of any student or, if such student is 18 years of age or older, the student prior to collecting or using any student personal information; (iii) requiring the Department to develop a standard memorandum of understanding and each student support agency and school board to execute a memorandum of understanding establishing authorizations and limitations relating to the transmission, collection, and use of student personal information; (iv) requiring the Department to establish and administer a grant program for the purpose of awarding grants to certain student support agencies for data security upgrades, training for staff, and third-party audits; (v) prohibiting any student support agency from using or sharing student personal information for certain purposes set forth in the bill, including sharing any such student personal information for use in targeted advertising; (vi) requiring the Department to establish certain programs and provide certain resources to support certain registered student support agencies and school boards in effectively and efficiently providing student support programs in compliance with the provisions of the bill; and (vii) requiring the Department to conduct an annual audit of a certain percentage of registered student support agencies to ensure compliance with the provisions of the bill and establishing provisions relating to consequences for failure of the audit or otherwise being found in violation of the provisions of the bill.

Bonita G. AnthonyDemocrat

Children; admissibility of statements in certain cases.

Admissibility of statements by children in certain cases. Increases from younger than 13 years of age to younger than 15 years of age at the time of trial or hearing the child age range for the hearsay exemption for an out-of-court statement made by a child who is the alleged victim of an offense against children describing any act directed against the child relating to such alleged offense.

Chris ObenshainRepublican

Career and technical education courses, pathways, and credentials; biennial review, report.

Board of Education; career and technical education courses, pathways, and credentials; biennial review; report. Requires the Board of Education and the Virginia Board of Workforce Development, with the assistance of the Department of Workforce Development and Advancement and the Virginia Office of Education Economics, the Department of Education, the Virginia Community College System, and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, to conduct, beginning with the fiscal year starting July 1, 2025, and each odd-numbered year thereafter, a biennial review of all career and technical education course, pathway, and credential offerings available to public school students across the Commonwealth for the purpose of ensuring that all such career and technical education course, pathway, and credential offerings are (i) aligned with current and emerging industry and workforce needs, demands, and standards and (ii) designed to effectively prepare students for postsecondary success through gainful employment in a high-demand industry or field, enrollment in postsecondary education, or enlistment in the United States Armed Forces. The bill requires the Board of Education and the Virginia Board of Workforce Development to develop and submit to the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Labor, and the chairs of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by October 1 of each odd-numbered year, beginning with October 1, 2025, a report on each such biennial review.

Ellen H. McLaughlinRepublican

Retail Sales and Use Tax; sales through vending machines.

Sales and use tax; sales through vending machines. Provides that, beginning January 1, 2026, only a one percent local sales and use tax shall be applied to sales through vending machines of food purchased for human consumption or essential personal hygiene products. Under current law, the rate applicable to such sales is 5.3 percent or 6.0 percent, as applicable depending on the locality, plus the one percent local sales and use tax.

Joseph P. McNamaraRepublican

RS and UT; food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products.

Sales and use tax; food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products. Eliminates, beginning July 1, 2025, the remaining one percent local sales and use tax that is imposed on food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products. Under current law, no other sales and use tax is currently applied to such products. The bill requires an equivalent amount of revenue to be distributed to cities and counties on a monthly basis in compensation for the lost tax revenue.

Joseph P. McNamaraRepublican

Local meals and prepared food and beverage taxes; maximum rate.

Local meals and prepared food and beverage taxes; maximum rate. Provides a cap on the maximum allowable tax rate that localities may impose on meals and prepared food and beverages. The bill sets the maximum rate at no more than four percent, unless a higher rate of no more than six percent is authorized via a referendum in the locality. The new limitation applies to localities beginning January 1, 2028. In the case of a town, the maximum rate is limited by the amount of any food and beverage tax imposed by the county in which the town is located. The bill requires that no town shall impose any rate if, when added to the county food and beverage tax rate, such tax rate exceeds the four or six percent limit, as applicable.

Joseph P. McNamaraRepublican

Eastern Daylight Time; Commonwealth shall observe year-round upon enactment by Congress, etc.

Time zone of the Commonwealth. Provides that the Commonwealth shall observe Eastern Daylight Time (Eastern Standard Time, advanced one hour) year-round upon the enactment by Congress of a law allowing states to observe Eastern Daylight Time year-round.

Joseph P. McNamaraRepublican

Domestic and Sexual Assault Conviction Database; established.

Domestic and Sexual Assault Conviction Database. Requires the Superintendent of State Police to establish a Domestic and Sexual Assault Conviction Database that would include information on persons who were convicted of certain offenses against a family or household member, defined in the bill. The Database will be available to the public on the Department of State Police website. Persons whose information is on the Database may petition for removal of their information from the Database if certain requirements are met, and the State Police shall include such petition information on the Database website. Under the bill, the Superintendent of State Police is required to complete the Database by July 1, 2026.

Ian T. LovejoyRepublican

Child support orders; date of conception.

Child support orders; date of conception. Provides that any child support order is retroactive to the date of the conception of the child. Under current law, such support order is retroactive to the date of the filing of an action for the establishment of such support order. The bill specifies that its provisions will only apply to child support orders entered for children conceived on or after July 1, 2025.

Ian T. LovejoyRepublican

Data centers; sitings near parks, schools, and residential areas.

Siting of data centers; parks, schools, and residential areas. Requires that any local government land use application required for the siting of a data center, as defined in the bill, be approved only for areas that are one-quarter mile or more from federal, state, or local parks, schools, and property zoned or used for residential use.

Ian T. LovejoyRepublican

Commonwealth Mass Transit Fund; allocations, Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission.

Commonwealth Mass Transit Fund; Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission. Creates a new allocation from the Commonwealth Mass Transit Fund for the Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission, adjusts the amounts of certain other allocations from such Fund, and removes the light rail system operated by the Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads from eligibility for funds from such other allocations from such Fund. The bill requires the Commonwealth Transportation Board to withhold 20 percent of the funds from such new allocation unless the Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads submits to it certain information annually. The bill directs the Department of Rail and Public Transportation, for fiscal year 2027, to reserve and utilize certain funds in amounts necessary to provide certain supplemental operating assistance to certain transit providers that would experience a reduction in allocable funds due to the reallocations in this bill. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

Alex Q. AskewDemocrat

Patient-initiated consultation; state plan for medical assistance.

Department of Medical Assistance Services; state plan for medical assistance; patient-initiated consultation; provider-to-provider consultation. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to modify state plan provisions covering provider-to-provider consultations to also include patient-generated consultations. The bill specifies that consultations provided through telemedicine services, including audio-only telemedicine services where applicable, shall be included in such provision.

Amy J. LauferDemocrat

Mattress Stewardship Program; established, report, civil penalties.

Mattress Stewardship Program established; report; civil penalties. Establishes the Mattress Stewardship Program that allows certain industry associations to administer the Program as a mattress recycling organization with approval and certification from the Department of Environmental Quality. The bill requires certain producers, retailers, and renovators of mattresses to register with a certified mattress recycling organization and requires a producer to identify each mattress brand it sells or offers for sale in the Commonwealth on or before June 1, 2027. Prior to the Program going into effect, the bill requires a mattress recycling organization to submit a plan with certain criteria relating to the collection and recycling of mattresses and the implementation of the Program. The bill establishes annual reporting requirements for the mattress recycling organization and establishes a Mattress Stewardship Program Advisory Board to provide advice on the proper implementation and sustainability of the Program. Finally, the bill establishes the powers and duties of the Department as they relate to the bill and civil penalties for violations of the Program by the producers, the retailers, or the mattress recycling organization.

Amy J. LauferDemocrat

Commercial use of public places; civil penalty.

Commercial use of public places; civil penalty. Allows cities and towns by ordinance to establish a uniform schedule of civil penalties for commercial use of a street, avenue, park, bridge, or any other public place or public property or any public easement of a city or town, in a manner not permitted to the general public, without having first legally obtained the consent of the city or town. The bill provides that the schedule of civil penalties shall be uniform for each type of specified violation, and the penalty for any one violation, unless elsewhere authorized, shall not exceed (i) $500 for the initial violation, (ii) $1,000 for the second violation, or (iii) $1,500 for the third or subsequent violation.

Anne Ferrell TataRepublican

Income tax, state; deduction for tips and overtime compensation.

Income tax deduction; tips and overtime compensation. Provides, for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2026, an income tax deduction for the amount of tips received during the taxable year that are included on statements furnished to the employer for federal tax purposes. The bill also establishes, for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2026, an income tax deduction for any overtime compensation, defined in the bill, received by an employee who is not exempt from overtime compensation rules pursuant to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

Anne Ferrell TataRepublican

Income tax, state; creates nonfamily adoption tax credit.

Income tax; nonfamily adoption tax credit. Creates the nonfamily adoption tax credit as a $4,000 nonrefundable tax credit for taxable years 2025 through 2029 for an individual or married persons who, during the taxable year, finalize a legal nonfamily adoption as defined in the bill. The bill limits the aggregate amount of credits allowable to $5 million per taxable year with credits allocated by the Department of Taxation on a first-come, first-served basis.

Anne Ferrell TataRepublican

School breakfasts; availability at no cost to students.

School breakfasts; availability at no cost to students. Requires each school board to require each public elementary and secondary school in the local school division to participate in the federal National School Lunch Program and the federal School Breakfast Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and to make breakfast available to any student who requests such a meal at no cost to the student, unless the student's parent has provided written permission to the school board to withhold such a meal from the student. The bill requires the Department of Education to reimburse each public elementary and secondary school for each school breakfast served to a student, with a maximum of one breakfast per student per school day and provides the formula for determining the state reimbursement rate for such meals. Finally, the bill repeals a provision of law relating to the federal School Breakfast Program that is rendered obsolete by the provisions of the bill.

Elizabeth B. Bennett-ParkerDemocrat

Students; statewide mobile application for reporting of suspicious activity.

Department of Education; statewide mobile application for student reporting of suspicious activity. Requires the Department of Education, with such funds as may be appropriated for such purpose pursuant to the general appropriation act or provided from any other source, and alone or in partnership with another state agency or a nonprofit organization, or a combination thereof, to develop or procure a multiplatform compatible mobile application that is made available at no cost to each public elementary and secondary school student and that permits each such student to report suspicious activity, including by attaching screenshots, other photographs, and videos, to the appropriate school and local law-enforcement officials for analysis and potential response. The bill requires the Department to assist each school board to coordinate student awareness of and access to such mobile application but provides that no school board shall bear any cost or additional administrative burden relating to such mobile application.

Geary HigginsRepublican

Living Shoreline Grant Fund; established.

Living Shoreline Grant Fund established. Establishes the Living Shoreline Grant Fund to be administered by the Marine Resources Commission for the purpose of awarding grants to a local government or a federally recognized tribe in the Commonwealth to match federal or other matching funds. The bill requires such grants be used for the construction, renovation, or improvement of living shorelines greater than 1.5 miles in any shore angle direction. The bill requires the Commission to give priority to projects that (i) are located on public lands, (ii) demonstrate the ability for the living shoreline to migrate upland over time through documented control of upland properties, or (iii) are identified as priorities in the Virginia Coastal Resilience Master Plan.

Phil M. HernandezDemocrat

Legal notices; advertisement on website.

Advertisement of legal notices; website. Allows a locality to advertise legal notices on its website rather than in a newspaper having a general circulation in the locality.

Holly M. SeiboldDemocrat