Driving while intoxicated; pre-conviction ignition interlock for certain offenders. Permits a first-time or second-time offender charged with driving while intoxicated to obtain an ignition interlock pre-conviction. The bill allows the installation period of time accrued by such offender prior to trial for the pending charge to count toward any (i) ignition interlock or restricted license period of time ordered by the court or (ii) restricted license, suspension, or revocation issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to relevant law. Current law prohibits the installation of an ignition interlock system until a court issues a restricted license. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Commission on the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program.
Publication of personal information of retired or former law-enforcement officers. Adds retired or former law-enforcement officers, defined in the bill, to the definition of "public official" for the purposes of prohibiting the Commonwealth from publishing a public official's personal information on the Internet. The bill clarifies that such retired or former law-enforcement officer be in good standing with no pending investigations or disciplinary actions. The bill provides that the demand in writing required to prohibit the publication of such personal information shall be effective for a period of four years, provided that such retired or former law-enforcement officer was retired or ended his service within four years of filing a petition with a circuit court. This bill is identical to SB 781.
State Veterinarian; large animal veterinary grant program; report. Directs the State Veterinarian to establish a large animal veterinary grant program no later than July 1, 2026, to provide grants to increase or stabilize the number of large animal veterinarians, as defined in the bill, practicing in areas of the Commonwealth that have been identified by the State Veterinarian as having a shortage of such veterinarians. The bill directs the State Veterinarian to annually select from a pool of applicants no more than four large animal veterinarians to participate in the program and to develop, in consultation with the Board of Veterinary Medicine and relevant stakeholders, selection criteria for applicants to participate in the program. The bill also requires the State Veterinarian to submit a report evaluating the extent to which the program has helped to address the shortage of large animal veterinarians in the Commonwealth to the Board and the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources no later than July 1, 2030. This bill is identical to HB 2303.
Office of the Children's Ombudsman; foster youth's right to receive information. Requires the Department of Social Services or a local department of social services, a children's residential facility, or any child-placing agency to provide certain information along with the contact information for the Office of the Children's Ombudsman to a biological parent, prospective adoptive parent, or foster parent, as well as to any child in foster care age 12 or older upon the opening of a foster care case for such child. The bill also provides that, in relation to complaints made to the Ombudsman, if such child is the complainant, the Ombudsman need not gain the consent of the Department or local department of social services, the children's residential facility, the child-placing agency, or the foster parent or guardian of the child or other person having custody or care of the child to receive information from or communicate with the child. This bill is identical to HB 1777.
Essential health benefits benchmark plan review; stakeholder work group. Requires that the stakeholder work group convened by the Bureau of Insurance of the State Corporation Commission for the essential health benefits benchmark plan review consist of members who possess demonstrated and acknowledged expertise in health benefit plan design, actuarial science, population health, patient advocacy, or advocating for or assisting enrollees in individual or small group health coverage. The bill requires the work group to consider factors including (i) coverage denial rates of benefits that are not covered under the current benchmark plan; (ii) the utilization of mandated benefits; (iii) the projected impact of a proposed mandate on the prevalence of medical need, the urgency of such medical need, and any disproportionate disease burden borne by different subpopulations; (iv) the projected cost of each proposed mandate; and (v) other data as determined by the work group. This bill is a recommendation of the Health Insurance Reform Commission.
Prescription drug price transparency; pharmacy services administrative organizations. Requires pharmacy services administrative organizations to submit information on reimbursement rates and fees to the nonprofit data services organization that contracts with the Department of Health to provide prescription drug price transparency information. Under the bill, a pharmacy services administrative organization that solely generates revenue from charging flat service fees to pharmacies and does not charge pharmacies for services based on prescription drug prices or volume is exempt from submitting such information.
Search warrants; electronic records; commercial enterprise; domestic and foreign corporations. Provides that, for the purposes of search warrants, "any object, thing, or person" includes electronic records stored within or outside the Commonwealth of a commercial enterprise, whether a domestic corporation or a foreign corporation, that is transacting or has transacted any business in the Commonwealth that constitute evidence of the commission of crime. The bill requires the affidavit for any search warrant issued for such records of a foreign corporation to contain a statement that the complainant believes such records are actually or constructively possessed by such foreign corporation and provides that, in order to comply with relevant law, any search of the records of a foreign corporation shall be deemed to have been made in the same place where the search warrant was issued.The bill establishes a procedure for the execution of a search warrant for such records or other information stored outside of the Commonwealth by a commercial enterprise, whether a domestic corporation or a foreign corporation, that is transacting or has transacted any business in the Commonwealth. The bill also provides that (i) for the purposes of responding to a subpoena served pursuant to relevant law, a foreign corporation transacting business in the Commonwealth that has a registered agent in the Commonwealth shall be deemed to have consented to service and (ii) the provisions of the bill are intended to reverse the holding in Yelp, Inc. v. Hadeed Carpet Cleaning, Inc., 289 Va. 426 (2015). Lastly, the bill directs the Joint Commission on Technology and Science and the Virginia State Crime Commission to (a) review existing statutes on service of process and subpoenas relating to electronic records and (b) provide recommendations to update such statutes relating to the use of technology in the criminal justice system. Such recommendations shall be made to the General Assembly by November 15, 2025.
Virginia Housing Development Authority; technical advisory group; report. Directs the Virginia Housing Development Authority to convene a technical advisory group to (i) evaluate the prevalence of deed fraud, including notary fraud, seller impersonation, owner impersonation, and fraudulent lien filing; (ii) develop recommendations for the prevention of deed fraud; and (iii) develop measures to enhance protections for property owners from such crimes. The bill also requires the technical advisory group to give consideration to certain policy proposals stated in the bill. The bill requires the technical advisory group to submit its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology no later than November 1, 2025. This bill is identical to SB 1270.
Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education; members. Expands from 31 to 32 the minimum number of members of the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education by adding one representative of the Department of Veterans Services to the nonlegislative citizen members of the Commission. This bill is identical to SB 1391.
Public elementary and secondary schools; nutritional standards for school meals and other foods; nutrition requirements; certain color additives prohibited. Prohibits any public elementary or secondary school from offering or making available to any student any food served as a part of a school meal or any competitive food, as defined in applicable law, that contains any of the seven color additives listed in the bill. The bill directs the Board of Education to amend its nutritional guidelines for competitive foods promulgated pursuant to relevant law in accordance with the provisions of the bill. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027, and is identical to SB 1289.
Subpoenas duces tecum; financial records of nonparty; report. Authorizes a nonparty to a civil proceeding to file a motion to quash or modify a subpoena duces tecum issued by a party to such proceeding for the production of (i) financial records of a nonparty account holder or (ii) if such nonparty is an attorney, such attorney's records subject to attorney-client privilege. The bill also prohibits certain financial entities from conditioning the compliance with a subpoena for production of financial records upon the payment of fees for producing such records. The bill directs the Supreme Court of Virginia to amend its rules as necessary to be consistent with the provisions of the bill. Finally, the bill directs the Boyd-Graves Conference to study whether the Code of Virginia should be amended further to grant standing to other nonparties to file a motion to quash or modify a subpoena duces tecum for other types of records requested by a party in a civil proceeding and to submit the findings of such study to the Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees for Courts of Justice by November 1, 2025. This bill is identical to HB 2565.
Public institutions of higher education; student exchange programs; tuition and mandatory fee waivers; conditions. Clarifies that tuition and mandatory fees may be waived for a student from a foreign country enrolled in a public institution of higher education through a formalized student exchange program between such institution and another institution of higher education, provided that the number of full-time equivalent inbound students from a foreign country for whom tuition and mandatory fees has been waived does not exceed during any three-year period the number of full-time equivalent outbound students who are enrolled through such student exchange program and who pay full tuition and mandatory fees to the institution. Current law permits tuition and mandatory fees to be waived for a student from a foreign country enrolled in a public institution of higher education through a student exchange program approved by such institution, provided that the number of students from a foreign country for whom tuition and mandatory fees has been waived does not exceed during any three-year period the number of students from a foreign country who are enrolled through such student exchange program and who pay full tuition and mandatory fees to the institution. This bill is identical to SB 1229.
