Department of Medical Assistance Services; presumptive eligibility for pregnant individuals; qualified entities. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to seek federal authority to implement presumptive eligibility for pregnant individuals, in addition to the existing hospital presumptive eligibility program and, if the Department receives such authority, allows the Department to authorize qualified entities to make determinations of presumptive eligibility for pregnant individuals.
Workers' compensation benefits; post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder incurred by law-enforcement officers and firefighters. Increases from 52 weeks to 104 weeks the maximum duration after the date of diagnosis that workers' compensation benefits are payable for anxiety disorder or depressive disorder incurred by law-enforcement officers and firefighters acting in the line of duty. The bill also increases from 52 weeks to 500 weeks the maximum duration after the date of diagnosis that workers' compensation benefits are payable for post-traumatic stress disorder incurred by law-enforcement officers and firefighters acting in the line of duty.
Real property tax exemption; surviving spouses of members of the armed forces who died in the line of duty. Authorizes localities by ordinance to provide a total exemption from real property taxes regardless of assessed value beginning in tax years beginning on and after January 1, 2025, for surviving spouses of members of the armed forces who died in the line of duty. Under law effective January 1, 2025, a total exemption is only allowed for such surviving spouses for those dwellings in the locality with assessed values in the most recently ended tax year that are not in excess of the average assessed value for such year of a dwelling situated on property that is zoned as single family residential.
Income tax; second-chance employment tax credit. Creates a nonrefundable second-chance employment tax credit for taxable years 2025 through 2029 for five percent of the amount of wages paid to a qualified employee during the taxable year. The bill defines a qualified employee as an individual who was convicted of a felony or a Class 1 or Class 2 misdemeanor. The annual amount of the credit that may be claimed by the employer shall not exceed $1,250 per qualified employee or $2,250 in the case of a qualified employee who is on probation or parole. The credit may be claimed in the first year in which the qualified employer employs a qualified employee and in each subsequent year in which such employer continues to employ such qualified employee. The bill requires that such qualified employer adopt and implement a second-chance hiring policy that meets or exceeds standards set in guidance by the Department of Human Resource Management. The aggregate amount of tax credits available in any fiscal year shall not exceed the amount appropriated for such year as provided in the general appropriation act.
Virginia Emergency Management Preparedness and Capabilities Grant Program and Fund established; work group; report. Establishes the Virginia Emergency Management Preparedness and Capabilities Grant Program and Fund for the purpose of awarding grants to political subdivisions to assist with the cost of emergency management and preparedness. The bill states that the Program will be administered by the Department of Emergency Management, which shall establish guidelines for (i) the administration of the Program and (ii) awarding grants to political subdivisions from the Fund. A political subdivision awarded a grant must use such funds for certain purposes to advance the emergency preparedness of such subdivision, and must provide a 50 percent match of local or federal funds for the award. The bill requires the Department, beginning on or before December 1, 2025, and each year thereafter, to submit a report to the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, the Governor, and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Public Safety and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations summarizing the activities of the Program. The bill directs the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security to establish a work group to study existing emergency management needs and analyze sustainability of current funding, among other things, and to report the work group's findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology on or before October 1, 2025.
Lobbyist registration; definition of "lobbyist"; representatives of public institutions of higher education. Amends the definition of "lobbyist" to include individuals who represent public institutions of higher education for the purpose of lobbying.
Virginia Gaming Commerce Regulation Act established; penalties. Establishes the Virginia Gaming Commerce Regulation Act for the purpose of providing a regulatory and registration scheme for electronic gaming devices in the Commonwealth. The bill authorizes and specifies the registration requirements for the distribution, operation, hosting, and play of electronic gaming devices, as defined in the bill. The bill imposes a $1,200 monthly tax on each electronic gaming device from each distributor, as defined in the bill, and provides for the use of such tax proceeds after deposit in the Virginia Gaming Commerce Regulation Fund, established in the bill for distribution as follows: (i) 70 percent to the Elementary and Secondary Education Fund, also established in the bill, but only to supplement and not supplant existing funding for public primary and secondary education; (ii) 15 percent to the host locality contingent upon 33 percent of such amount being used for local law enforcement; (iii) five percent for the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program and Fund; (iv) three percent to the I-81 Corridor Improvement Fund, (v) three percent to the Gaming Regulatory Fund for administration and oversight costs; (vi) 2.5 percent to the State Police for the Office of Gaming Enforcement; and (vii) 1.5 percent to the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund. The bill directs the Virginia Lottery Board to promulgate regulations no later than June 30, 2026, to implement the provisions of the bill and authorizes the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority to grant a provisional registration, until the Virginia Lottery Board regulations are promulgated, to any entity that meets the respective criteria.
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 19.2-368.3, 19.2-368.3:1, and 19.2-368.18 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Title 9.1 a chapter numbered 16, consisting of a section numbered 9.1-1600, relating to Mass Violence Care Fund established.
Public school teachers; teacher compensation; Professionally Licensed Teacher Supplemental Pay Program established. Establishes the Professionally Licensed Teacher Supplemental Pay Program (the Program) for the purpose of addressing shortages of professionally licensed teachers and reducing reliance on provisionally licensed teachers in public schools in the Commonwealth by providing, with such funds as are appropriated for such purpose, an annual supplemental payment to each professionally licensed teacher, as that term is defined by the bill, employed in any high-vacancy public school in the Commonwealth, defined as any public school that, based on the most recent data in the positions and exits collection, has a teacher vacancy rate that places it in the top 10 percent of public schools with the highest teacher vacancy rates in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Department of Education to administer and oversee the Program and, in doing so, requires it to (i) identify and develop a list, every four years, of each high-vacancy public school in the Commonwealth; (ii) ensure that, each year, such funds are disbursed in a timely manner and in an amount sufficient to provide the supplemental payment to each professionally licensed teacher employed in a high-vacancy public school in each school division; and (iii) annually submit to the Governor and publish on its website a report detailing the effect of the Program on recruitment and retention of professionally licensed teachers and the overall success of the Program in addressing teacher vacancy rates.
Income tax; housing opportunity tax credit; sunset extended. Extends the housing opportunity tax credit sunset date from taxable year 2025 to taxable year 2030. The bill also increases the aggregate credit cap across all calendar years from $255 million to $1.505 billion and imposes an annual aggregate credit cap of $250 million in each calendar year between 2026 and 2030. The bill also provides that of the $250 million in credits authorized per calendar year from 2026 through 2030, 33 percent shall be reserved for qualified projects located in a geographic area within the Balance of State Pool, defined in the bill. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Housing Commission.
Animal-drawn vehicles; equipment requirements. Establishes certain equipment requirements for animal-drawn vehicles operating on the highways of the Commonwealth, including requirements for brake systems, tires and wheels, headlamps, reflectors, hazard lights, rearview mirrors, and horns. The bill replaces existing light and reflector requirements for animal-drawn vehicles under current law with such equipment requirements for headlamps, reflectors, and hazard lights.
Commonwealth Savers Plan; Access Fund established; report. Establishes the Access Fund as a portion of the Fund of the Commonwealth Savers Plan (the Plan), to be managed by the governing board of the Plan (the board) as a part of the Fund but to be accounted for separately from the Fund, into which certain Fund moneys shall be allocated for the purpose of supporting the Plan's goal of enhancing the accessibility, attainability, and affordability of higher education for all citizens of the Commonwealth. The bill directs the board to (i) establish or identify and fund certain programs and partnerships to further the goal of enhancing the accessibility, attainability, and affordability of higher education for all citizens of the Commonwealth, including programs and partnerships that provide scholarships, grants, or mentoring and coaching services to certain identified demographics of students; (ii) use certain distributions from the Access Fund, in accordance with the investment objectives and total return spending policy described in the bill and the standard of care set forth in applicable law, to support such programs and partnerships; (iii) appoint an Access Advisory Committee for the purpose of assisting the board by making recommendations relating to any such programs and partnerships for which distributions from the Access Fund could be used; and (iv) submit to relevant committees of the General Assembly and the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission by December 1 of each year a report on the Plan's activities relating to the Access Fund for the preceding year. Finally, the bill directs the Audit and Actuarial Committee to, in addition to its other duties set forth in applicable law, assess and make recommendations to the board regarding the availability of Fund moneys for allocation to the Access Fund.
