Consumer data privacy; automakers; civil penalty. Prohibits automakers operating in the Commonwealth from collecting or processing the personal data of a consumer without such consumer's express consent and from engaging in the sale of personal data. The bill contains requirements for an automaker that has received express consent from a consumer for the collecting or processing of personal data, and includes personal data rights that such consenting customer may invoke at any time. Under the bill, the Attorney General is authorized to investigate violations and enforce the provisions of the bill by initiating an action, seeking an injunction, and seeking civil penalties of up to $7,500 for each violation.
Virginia Water Protection Permit; interbasin transfers of water prohibited. Prohibits the Department of Environmental Quality from issuing a Virginia Water Protection Permit for a surface water withdrawal if more than five percent of the nonconsumptive volume of such withdrawal will be returned to a different major river basin, as defined in the bill. The bill clarifies that such prohibition does not apply to any lawful withdrawal in existence on July 1, 2025.
Extreme Weather Relief Act established. Establishes the Extreme Weather Relief Program, administered by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, for the purpose of holding parties responsible for covered greenhouse gas emissions between the covered period of January 1, 1995, and December 31, 2024, for the parties' share of the Commonwealth's costs due to climate change. The bill defines responsible parties as fossil fuel extractors or crude oil refiners causing emissions of one billion metric tons or more of covered greenhouse gases during the covered period. Under the bill, responsible parties are strictly liable for cost recovery payments to the Commonwealth. The bill requires the State Treasurer to conduct an assessment of the costs to the Commonwealth and its residents of the emissions of covered greenhouse gases during the covered period. The bill establishes the Extreme Weather Relief Fund into which the cost recovery payments from responsible entities are deposited and used to pay for extreme weather relief projects, as defined in the bill.
Standards of Quality; Standards of Learning assessments in languages other than English; development and administration. Requires (i) the Board of Education to develop Standards of Learning assessments in native languages other than English that are most commonly spoken in the Commonwealth; (ii) each school board to make available any such native language assessment to any English language learner student who speaks any such language natively and is identified as having limited English proficiency; (iii) the English language learner faculty at any such student's school to make the final determination as to whether administration of any such native language assessment is appropriate; and (iv) the provisions of the bill to be implemented by the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year. Finally, the bill directs the Department of Education to submit to the U.S. Department of Education by August 1, 2025 any amendments to its consolidated plan under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act, that are necessary to implement its provisions.
Motion picture production tax credit; renamed as content manufacturing tax credit; sunset. Removes the sunset for the motion picture tax credit, which currently is set to expire after taxable year 2026, and expands and redesignates the tax credit as the content manufacturing tax credit. The bill increases the total amount of credits that can be allocated to eligible taxpayers from $6.5 million to $11.5 million beginning in fiscal year 2025 and allows unclaimed aggregate credit amounts to be carried over and added to the aggregate credit cap in the following fiscal year. The bill also amends the definition of the "qualifying expenses" eligible for the content manufacturing tax credit to mean certain amounts spent in connection with the production of an eligible project filmed in the Commonwealth, defined as the production of a motion picture or an episodic television series.
Line of Duty Act; auxiliary police officers and volunteer deputy sheriffs. Adds auxiliary police officers and volunteer deputy sheriffs to the list of individuals eligible for benefits under the Line of Duty Act.
Public schools; Standards of Quality; certain calculations; support services. Requires the Department of Education, (i) in calculating the deduction of federal funds in the Standards of Quality funding formula, to examine actual school division spending on support costs as a percentage of actual school division spending on all public education costs, with certain exceptions such as food service, and (ii) in calculating the costs in the Standards of Quality funding formula beginning with fiscal year 2029, to include all employee benefit costs incurred by a majority of school divisions, including costs related to retirement, health care, life insurance, and payout of earned but unused leave. The bill also requires support services positions to be funded based on a calculation of prevailing costs and prohibits such positions from being subject to any method of funding calculation that caps the number of funded support services positions based on a ratio of such positions to students enrolled in the school division, with the exception of certain support services positions enumerated in the bill.
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 2.2-208, 2.2-2905, and 23.1-101 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Chapter 32 of Title 23.1 an article numbered 8, consisting of sections numbered 23.1-3229 through 23.1-3232, relating to Virginia Museum of Transportation; established; report.
Public schools; Standards of Quality; certain calculations; support services. Requires the Department of Education (the Department) (i) in calculating nonpersonal costs in the Standards of Quality funding formula, to include the costs associated with work-related employee travel and leased facilities; (ii) in calculating the deduction of federal funds in the Standards of Quality funding formula, to examine actual school division spending on support costs as a percentage of actual school division spending on all public education costs, with certain exceptions such as food service; (iii) in calculating the costs in the Standards of Quality funding formula beginning with fiscal year 2029, to include all employee benefit costs incurred by a majority of school divisions; (iv) in calculating the cost of salaries under the Standards of Quality funding formula, to include facilities staff and transportation staff salaries in the calculation of any cost of competing adjustment to salaries for instructional and support positions; and (v) in estimating the cost of any compensation supplement for instruction and support positions under the Standards of Quality funding formula, to include and estimate the cost of such a compensation supplement for facilities staff. The bill also prohibits the Department from applying any cap on inflation rate adjustments to non-personal cost categories during the biennial process of re-benchmarking the aid to the public education budget. The bill (a) requires a per-pupil Standards of Quality funding add-on to be provided for each special education student; (b) requires support services positions to be funded based on a calculation of prevailing costs and prohibits such positions from being subject to any method of funding calculation that caps the number of funded support services positions based on a ratio of such positions to students enrolled in the school division, with the exception of certain support services positions enumerated in the bill; and (c) establishes the At-Risk Program for the purpose of supporting programs and services for students who are educationally at-risk, including programs and services of prevention, intervention, or remediation.
Department of Motor Vehicles; driver communication improvement program. Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to develop and implement a program for the promotion, printing, and distribution of envelopes for use by drivers with a disability that can impair communication, as that term is defined in relevant law, provide to a law-enforcement officer for the purpose of easing communication during a traffic stop or upon such law-enforcement officer's arrival at the scene of a traffic accident.
Electric utilities; construction of certain transmission lines; notice required. Requires any electric utility that is responsible for the construction, operation, or maintenance of an electric transmission line of 138 kilovolts or more within a locality to provide at least 180 days' written notice to the governing body of such locality prior to the construction of such transmission line.
School resource officers and school security officers; crisis intervention training. Requires compulsory minimum training standards for school resource officers and school security officers to include crisis intervention training.
