Bills & Legislation

Consumer Data Protection Act; social media platforms, addictive feed.

Consumer Data Protection Act; social media platforms; addictive feed. Prohibits a person that operates a social media platform that has knowledge that a user of the social media platform is a child under the age of 18 from using an addictive feed, defined in the bill, unless such social media platform obtains verifiable parental consent.

Schuyler T. VanValkenburgDemocrat

Planning districts; King George County.

Planning districts; King George County. Moves King George County from Planning District 16 (George Washington Regional Commission) to Planning District 17 (Northern Neck Planning District Commission). The bill requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to assist with this transition.

Richard H. StuartRepublican

Health insurance; limit on cost-sharing payments for prescription drugs under certain plans.

Health insurance; limit on cost-sharing payments for prescription drugs under certain plans. Requires each carrier that offers a health plan in either the individual or small group market to ensure that at least 50 percent of all health plans offered by the carrier, or at least one health plan if the carrier offers fewer than two health plans, in each rating area and in each of the bronze, silver, gold, and platinum levels of coverage in the individual and small group market conform with the following: (i) a plan that offers a silver, gold, or platinum level of coverage limits a person's cost-sharing payment for prescription drugs covered under the plan to an amount that does not exceed $100 per 30-day supply of the prescription drug and (ii) a plan that offers a bronze level of coverage limits a person's cost-sharing payment for prescription drugs covered under the plan to an amount that does not exceed $150 per 30-day supply of the prescription drug. The bill provides that such limits apply at any point in the benefit design, including before and after any applicable deductible is reached. The bill requires that any plans offered to meet its requirements are (a) clearly and appropriately named to aid the consumer or plan sponsor in the plan selection process and (b) marketed in the same manner as other plans offered by the health insurance carrier. The provisions of the bill apply with respect to health plans entered into, amended, extended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2025.

Jennifer B. BoyskoDemocrat

Campaign finance; prohibited personal use of campaign funds, complaints, hearings, civil penalty.

Campaign finance; prohibited personal use of campaign funds; complaints, hearings, civil penalty, and advisory opinions. Prohibits any person from converting contributions to a candidate or his campaign committee to personal use. Current law only prohibits such conversion of contributions with regard to disbursement of surplus funds at the dissolution of a campaign or political committee. The bill provides that a contribution is considered to have been converted to personal use if the contribution, in whole or in part, is used to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense that would exist irrespective of the person's seeking, holding, or maintaining public office but allows a contribution to be used for the ordinary and accepted expenses related to campaigning for or holding elective office, including the use of campaign funds to pay for the candidate's child care expenses that are incurred as a direct result of campaign activity. The bill provides that any person subject to the personal use ban may request an advisory opinion from the State Board of Elections on such matters. The bill directs the State Board of Elections to adopt emergency regulations similar to those promulgated by the Federal Election Commission to implement the provisions of the bill and to publish an updated summary of Virginia campaign finance law that reflects the State Board of Elections' and Attorney General's guidance on the provisions of such law that prohibit the personal use of campaign funds and any new regulations promulgated by the State Board of Elections.

Jennifer B. BoyskoDemocrat

State correctional facilities; DOC to provide telephone calls and communication services.

State correctional facilities; telephone calls and communication services. Requires the Department of Corrections to provide telephone systems and web-based or electronic communications systems free of charge to any person, whether such person is initiating or receiving the communication. The bill also requires that a minimum ratio of one telephone per every 10 inmates be available within each housing unit at each correctional facility and that the maximum number of telephone numbers permitted on an approved call list must be no fewer than 20.

Jennifer B. BoyskoDemocrat

Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP); Office of Chief Medical Examiner to publish information on its website.

Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy; protocol; information; training. Requires the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to take certain actions upon the finding that an individual died from Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP), defined in the bill. The bill directs the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to publish information on SUDEP and a SUDEP death investigation form on its website. Additionally, the bill requires the Chief Medical Examiner and local medical examiners to complete training in the investigation of SUDEP on a triennial basis. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025.

Stella G. PekarskyDemocrat

Public elementary & secondary schools; student athletes, pre-participation mental health assessment.

Public elementary and secondary schools; student athletes; pre-participation mental health assessment required. Provides that no public elementary or secondary school student is permitted to be a participant on or try out for any school athletic team or squad with a predetermined roster, regular practices, and scheduled competitions with other elementary or secondary schools unless such student has submitted to the school principal a signed report from a licensed physician, licensed advanced practice registered nurse, or licensed physician assistant acting under the supervision of a licensed physician attesting that such student has, within the preceding 365 days, received both a physical examination and a mental health assessment. Current law only requires that the signed report attest that any such student has received a physical examination within the preceding 12 months. The bill prohibits any public elementary or secondary school from becoming a member of any organization or entity that regulates or governs interscholastic programs that does not deem eligible for participation any student who has satisfied the requirements for eligibility in accordance with the provisions of the bill. The provisions of the bill other than the requirement for the Board of Education to convene a work group have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.

Stella G. PekarskyDemocrat

Virginia Retirement System; service retirement allowance for certain judges.

Virginia Retirement System; increased retirement allowance for certain judges. Provides that judges appointed or elected to an initial term on or after July 1, 2024, and who are at least age 55 at the time of appointment will be placed in Plan 1 with service weighted at 3.5.

Ryan T. McDougleRepublican

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

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

Tara A. DurantRepublican

Political campaign advertisements; advertisements sponsored by a person or nonparty committee.

Elections; political campaign advertisements; advertisements sponsored by a person or political committee that is not a party committee. Prohibits any person from printing or circulating unofficial sample ballots unless they (i) are not printed on white paper, (ii) include the words "sample ballot," (iii) include the statement: "Paid for by [Name of the sponsor as defined by § 24.2-956.1]," and (iv) include the statement "Authorized by [Name of political party]" or "Not authorized by a political party."

Tara A. DurantRepublican

Adult protective services; created central registry of substantiated complaints of adult abuse, etc.

Adult protective services; central registry. Creates a central registry of substantiated complaints of adult abuse, neglect, and exploitation to be maintained by the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services. The bill establishes (i) investigation requirements for local departments of social services related to reports of adult abuse, neglect, and exploitation; (ii) record retention and disclosure requirements for the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services and local departments of social services; (iii) notice requirements related to findings by local departments and central registry entries; and (iv) an appeals process to contest the findings of a local department related to substantiated reports of adult abuse, neglect, or exploitation. The bill directs the Commissioner for Aging and Rehabilitative Services to adopt regulations to implement the provisions of the bill and exempts the Commissioner's initial adoption of such regulations from the provisions of the Administrative Process Act. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

Christopher T. HeadRepublican

Virginia Museum of Transportation; established.

Virginia Museum of Transportation; established. Establishes the Virginia Museum of Transportation as a public entity and educational institution under the Commonwealth. The bill provides that the Museum is governed by a 15-member board of trustees.

Christopher T. HeadRepublican

Family caregiver; creates a nonrefundable income tax credit for taxable years 2024 through 2028.

Family caregiver tax credit. Creates a nonrefundable income tax credit for taxable years 2024 through 2028 for expenses incurred by an individual in caring for an eligible family member, defined in the bill, who requires assistance with one or more activities of daily living, also defined in the bill. The credit equals 50 percent of eligible expenditures incurred by the caregiver up to $1,000. In order to qualify for the credit, the family caregiver must (i) not receive any compensation or reimbursement for the eligible expenditures and (ii) have federal adjusted gross income that is no greater than $100,000 for an individual or $200,000 for married persons.

Christopher T. HeadRepublican

Petition for modification of a sentence; eligibility, procedures.

Petition for modification of a sentence; eligibility; procedures. Provides procedures for individuals serving a sentence for certain felony convictions or a combination of such convictions who remain incarcerated in a state or local correctional facility or secure facility and meet certain criteria to petition the circuit court that entered the original judgment or order to (i) suspend the unserved portion of such sentence or run the unserved portion of such sentence concurrently with another sentence, (ii) place such person on probation for such time as the court shall determine, or (iii) otherwise modify the sentence imposed. Depending on the type of conviction, the bill allows the court to grant a hearing on such petition after an individual has served at least 25 years for certain offenses, after 20 years for certain other offenses, and after 15 years for any other felony conviction not specified. The bill does not allow an individual convicted of a Class 1 felony to petition for modification of his sentence. The bill requires the attorney for the Commonwealth and the victim to agree to hearing the petition in order for a court to conduct the hearing.

R. Creigh DeedsDemocrat

Residential development in certain areas; affordable housing.

Residential development in certain areas; affordable housing. Provides that any type of residential use that is permitted in a locality shall be considered a conforming residential use on any parcel other than parcels zoned for (i) agriculture, (ii) conservation, or (iii) a different residential use. The bill states that no local ordinance shall require that a special exception, special use, or conditional use permit be obtained for a conforming residential use and that rights under existing zoning shall be considered vested pursuant to existing vesting provisions. The bill further provides that any residential development pursuant to the authority granted in the bill shall dedicate a minimum of 10 percent of the total number of housing units to housing affordable to households making at or below 120 percent of the area median income.

Schuyler T. VanValkenburgDemocrat

School boards; expands availability of allowable alternatives for pupil transportation.

Schools boards; pupil transportation; alternatives; requirements. Expands the availability of allowable alternatives to traditional school bus transportation services relating to the transportation of students to and from school or school-related activities. The bill expands the entities with whom and the purposes for which a school board may enter into agreements to provide transportation of pupils to include other school boards and comprehensive community colleges for the purposes of transporting students to and from concurrent or dual enrollment programs, career and technical education programs, joint and regional schools, and college partnership laboratory schools. The bill permits any school board to (i) provide, or contract with a privately operated entity to provide, for the purpose of transporting students to and from schools on a regularly scheduled basis a vehicle designed (a) to carry between 11 and 15 passengers, (b) as a specific type of school bus, in accordance with relevant federal and state laws and regulations, and (c) to carry nine passengers or fewer and (ii) in accordance with the provisions set forth in the bill, adopt a resolution to utilize alternative transportation providers, coordinators, and management services to supplement traditional school bus service. The bill requires any vehicle provided or obtained pursuant to clause (i) to comply with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations and undergo scheduled and random inspections by the Department of State Police. The bill establishes requirements for the contents of police reports relating to any school transportation-related accident to account for the use of alternative modes of school transportation to supplement traditional school bus service. The bill contains provisions prohibiting any school board from hiring, employing, or entering into any agreement with any person for the purposes of operating any vehicle to transport students unless such person meets certain requirements, including those requirements specific to persons who operate school busses. Finally, the bill permits any school board of a school division for which providing transportation by school bus is not cost effective to use a portion of its transportation funding to provide a grant to any parent of a student who provides student transportation to and from school and establishes several conditions in relation to such provision, including directing the Board to adopt policies and procedures relating to the award of such grants.

David R. SuetterleinRepublican

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 operator's product or service or before collecting, using, or disclosing such child's personal data and prohibits a controller from knowingly processing the personal data of a child for purposes of (i) targeted advertising, (ii) the sale of such personal data, or (iii) profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning a consumer. 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

School protection officers; employment in public schools.

Employment of school protection officers in public schools. Permits any local law-enforcement agency to employ in any public elementary or secondary school in the local school division, pursuant to an agreement with the local school board, a school protection officer, defined in the bill as a retired law-enforcement officer hired by the local law-enforcement agency on a part-time basis to provide limited law-enforcement and security services to public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth. The bill requires each such school board and local law-enforcement agency to enter into a memorandum of understanding that sets forth the powers and duties of school protection officers. The bill requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish compulsory training standards for school protection officers and requires the collection of certain data relating to the activities of such officers.

Tara A. DurantRepublican

Veterans and active duty members of the Armed Forces; credit for service, teacher salary scale.

Veterans and active duty members of the Armed Forces; teachers; credit for service. Requires each local school board to give any veteran or active duty member of any of the Armed Forces of the United States or the Commonwealth who it employs as a teacher in the local school division credit for any time served in any such forces in determining such teacher's step on the local school division's teacher salary scale.

Tara A. DurantRepublican

Environmental Resources, Board of; created.

State Air Pollution Control Board, State Water Control Board, and Virginia Waste Management Board consolidated; Board of Environmental Resources established. Consolidates the State Air Pollution Control Board, State Water Control Board, and Virginia Waste Management Board and transfers the duties of such boards into a new Board of Environmental Resources. The bill establishes membership, term, meeting, and recording requirements for the Board and also establishes the position, powers, and duties of the Executive Director of the Board.

Richard H. StuartRepublican

Income tax, corporate; distribution of revenues to state parks.

Corporate income tax; distribution of revenues; state parks. Requires five percent beginning July 1, 2024, of all corporate income tax revenues to be distributed to the State Park Conservation Resources Fund to provide (i) free entry to Virginia state parks and (ii) the conservation, development, maintenance, and operations of state parks acquired or held by the Department of Conservation and Recreation as provided in the appropriation act. The bill provides that such distribution shall not reduce the total amount of annual appropriations for the Department and the Fund below the total amounts appropriated for the most recent fiscal year ending before July 1, 2024, except as provided by a subsequent appropriation act.

David W. MarsdenDemocrat

Driving Decarbonization Program and Fund; established and created.

Driving Decarbonization Program and Fund created. Creates the Driving Decarbonization Program and Fund to assist private developers with non-utility costs associated with the installation of electric vehicle charging stations. The bill provides that a private developer is eligible to receive grants of 70 percent of such non-utility costs for electric vehicle charging stations installed in a historically economically disadvantaged community or a rural community, as those terms are defined in the bill, and 50 percent of such non-utility costs for electric vehicle charging stations installed in any other area of the Commonwealth. The bill caps the total amount of grants awarded in any fiscal year at $20 million.

David W. MarsdenDemocrat

Income tax, state; rolling conformity.

Income tax; rolling conformity. Provides that when Virginia does not conform on a rolling basis to federal tax laws due to any changes in a single act of Congress with an impact of more than $15 million on revenues in the year in which the amendment was enacted or any of the next four years, such nonconformity shall not be considered for purposes of calculating the nonconformity threshold for all amendments in a year with a cumulative projected impact of more than $75 million in the year in which the amendments were enacted or any of the next four years.

David W. MarsdenDemocrat

Virginia Land Conservation Foundation; land trusts that have been accredited, etc.

Virginia Land Conservation Foundation. Allows land trusts that have been accredited by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission or a similar set of standards and practices adopted by the Virginia Land Conservation Board of Trustees (the Board) to hold an interest in land other than a fee simple interest as a result of a grant or transfer from the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation (the Foundation) without a co-holder. Current law requires that certain interests in land as a result of a grant or transfer from the Foundation be held jointly by a holder and a public body. The bill also allows, whenever a holder acquires fee simple interest in land as a result of a grant or transfer from the Foundation, the Board to accept a reversionary interest in such land as an alternative to a public body holding an open space easement in such land.

David W. MarsdenDemocrat

Bath County and Augusta County School Boards; cost-savings agreements, requirements.

Certain school divisions; cost-savings agreements; requirements. Removes the limitation on any school board that enters into certain cost-savings agreements with a school board that governs a contiguous school division for the consolidation or sharing of educational, administrative, or support services and thus qualifies for adjustment of state share of basic aid computed annually on the basis of the composite index of local ability-to-pay of such contiguous school division that caps such adjusted basic aid payment at an amount equal to the basic aid payment appropriated to such locality by the 2007 Session of the General Assembly. The bill also permits, notwithstanding the requirement set forth in relevant law that a school division has 65 percent or more of its local taxes coming from real estate taxes in order for the school board that governs such school division to be eligible to enter into such cost-savings agreements with a contiguous school division, the Bath County School Board to enter into such cost-savings agreements with the Augusta County School Board, provided that all other conditions and limitations set forth in relevant law apply to any such agreement.

Mark D. ObenshainRepublican

Abolition of juvenile fines and fees; criminal offenses.

Abolition of juvenile fines and fees; criminal offenses. Abolishes court costs, fines, and fees assessed to a juvenile or his parent or other persons responsible for his care in circuit court and juvenile and domestic relations district court related to prosecutions of criminal offenses.

Lashrecse D. AirdDemocrat

Juveniles; expungement and sealing of court records.

Expungement and sealing of juvenile court records. Provides for the sealing of juvenile court records in those instances where a juvenile was found guilty of a delinquent act that would be a felony if committed by an adult and such juvenile has attained the age of 18 years and three years have elapsed since the date of the last hearing in the case of such juvenile. Under current law, such records are open to the public. The bill also provides that any juvenile court records that may be expunged shall be expunged when the juvenile who is the subject of the records has attained the age of 18 years and three years have elapsed since the date of the last hearing in the case of such juvenile. Under current law, such juvenile shall have attained the age of 19 years and five years shall have elapsed since the date of the last hearing in the case of such juvenile.

Lashrecse D. AirdDemocrat

Employee protections; employer-sponsored meetings on political matters, civil action.

Employee protections; employer-sponsored meetings on political matters; civil action. Prohibits an employer from retaliating against an employee (i) because such employee declines to attend or participate in an employer-sponsored meeting or receive an employer's communications conveying an opinion about political matters, as defined in the bill; (ii) as a means of inducing an employee's attendance at such meeting or receipt of such communications; or (iii) because the employee reports a suspected violation of the bill's provisions. The bill permits an employee alleging a violation of the bill's provisions to bring an action in civil court within 90 days after such violation occurs for appropriate relief, including injunctive relief, reinstatement, compensation for lost wages, benefits, and other remuneration, interest, and reasonable attorney fees and costs.

Jennifer D. Carroll FoyDemocrat

Va. Public Procurement Act; procurement of electric vehicles, forced and child labor prohibition.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; procurement of electric vehicles; forced and child labor prohibition. Prohibits public bodies from awarding contracts to acquire an electric vehicle or electric vehicle component from a business unless such business provides a sworn declaration from the manufacturer of such electric vehicle or electric vehicle component certifying that every person involved in the production of such electric vehicle or electric vehicle component and every person involved in the sourcing, manufacturing, or mining of the material used in such electric vehicle or electric vehicle component did not use forced labor or oppressive child labor, both terms defined in the bill, in the sourcing, manufacturing, or mining of such electric vehicle or electric vehicle component.

William M. Stanley, Jr.Republican

Electric utilities; integrated resource plans, grid-enhancing technologies and advanced conductors.

Electric utilities; integrated resource plans; grid-enhancing technologies and advanced conductors. Requires an electric utility to include in an integrated resource plan a comprehensive assessment of the application of grid-enhancing technologies and advanced conductors, as those terms are defined in the bill, and, if applicable, to include in such plan a detailed explanation of why such technologies or conductors are not included in such plan.

Jennifer D. Carroll FoyDemocrat

Virginia College Opportunity Endowment and Fund; created.

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

Scott A. SurovellDemocrat

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

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

Scott A. SurovellDemocrat

Public high schools; college and career specialist required.

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

Angelia Williams GravesDemocrat

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

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

Angelia Williams GravesDemocrat

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

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

Angelia Williams GravesDemocrat

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

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

Christie New CraigRepublican

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

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

T. Travis HackworthRepublican

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

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

T. Travis HackworthRepublican

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

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

Bryce E. ReevesRepublican

Income tax, state; standard deduction.

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

David R. SuetterleinRepublican

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

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

Bryce E. ReevesRepublican

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

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

Schuyler T. VanValkenburgDemocrat

Sports betting; permitted on Virginia college sports.

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

Schuyler T. VanValkenburgDemocrat

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

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

Christie New CraigRepublican

Local government; prohibition on certain appointments.

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

Christopher T. HeadRepublican

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

Electric utilities; State Corporation Commission; energy policy of the Commonwealth. Requires the State Corporation Commission to ensure that the Commonwealth implements the energy policy of the Commonwealth, as defined by relevant law, at the lowest reasonable cost, taking into account all cost-effective demand-side management options and the security and reliability benefits of the regional transmission entity that each incumbent electric utility has joined. The bill establishes a rebuttable presumption that plans, petitions, or proposals from utilities that do not ensure such implementation at the lowest reasonable cost are not in the public interest.

Jennifer D. Carroll FoyDemocrat

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

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

Jennifer D. Carroll FoyDemocrat

Electric utilities; retail competition, aggregated competitive purchasers.

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

David R. SuetterleinRepublican