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.
Department of Education; Virginia Community College System; College and Career Ready Virginia Program. Makes the following changes to the College and Career Ready Virginia Program (the Program) and the duties of certain entities relating to the Program: (i) modifies the provisions requiring both the Virginia Community College System (the System) and the Online Virginia Network Authority to offer each school board access to certain courses, including virtual courses, at each high school by eliminating all references to the Online Virginia Network Authority, thereby requiring only the System to offer each school board such courses pursuant to the Program; (ii) provides that the provisions of the Program requiring the System to offer each school board access to certain programs at no cost to the school board do not apply to any advance college academy or early college academy; (iii) removes from the membership of the advisory committee that the Department of Education and the System are directed to establish pursuant to applicable law representatives of Richard Bland College and representatives of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond; and (iv) delays from course registration for the fall term of the 2025 academic year to course registration for the fall term of the 2026 academic year the effective date of provisions of applicable law requiring the System to offer each school board access to certain courses.
State Police Officers' Retirement System; membership for Department of Wildlife Resources conservation police officers. Provides membership in the State Police Officers' Retirement System (SPORS) to conservation police officers in the Department of Wildlife Resources for service earned on or after July 1, 2026. The bill directs the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) to assess the administrative and financial impacts of the bill and provide recommendations for implementing the bill to the General Assembly no later than November 1, 2025. Except for the assessment and recommendations to be made by VRS, the provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.
State Police Officers' Retirement System; membership for Department of Wildlife Resources conservation police officers. Provides membership in the State Police Officers' Retirement System (SPORS) to conservation police officers in the Department of Wildlife Resources for service earned on or after July 1, 2026. The bill directs the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) to assess the administrative and financial impacts of the bill and provide recommendations for implementing the bill to the General Assembly no later than November 1, 2025. Except for the assessment and recommendations to be made by VRS, the provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.
Retail sales and use tax; exemptions; gold, silver, or platinum bullion; sunset. Extends to June 30, 2032, the exemption from the retail sales and use tax for gold, silver, or platinum bullion and legal tender coins. The exemption is currently set to expire on June 30, 2025.
Income tax; deductions and earned income tax credit; sunset. Removes the current January 1, 2026 expiration date for the standard deduction in the amount of $8,500 for single individuals and $17,000 for married individuals. Current law provides that on and after January 1, 2026, the standard deduction shall revert back to the amounts that existed before taxable year 2019, which was $3,000 for individuals and $6,000 for married individuals.The bill also removes the current January 1, 2026 expiration date from the partially refundable credit that an individual or married individuals may claim against their Virginia income tax liability in an amount equal to 15 percent of the federal earned income tax credit claimed by an individual or married individuals for federal earned income tax purposes. This bill incorporates SB 845 and SB 951.
Tobacco products tax; cigars. Caps the statutory tax rate imposed on the selling or distributing of cigars by a distributor or remote retail seller at 20 percent of the manufacturer's sales price or 30 cents ($0.30) per cigar, whichever is lower. Under current law, the effective rate is 20 percent of the manufacturer's sales price due to language in the appropriation act, which doubles the statutory rate. The bill also directs the Department of Taxation to update its form TT-8, Virginia Tobacco Products Tax Return (OTP), to begin collecting data on the number of premium cigars sold in the Commonwealth as a distinct category from all other cigars. The bill directs the Department to update such form as soon as practicable and provide a report of the data so collected and estimated fiscal impacts of adopting a cap of 30 cents ($0.30) per cigar or another rate on the tobacco products tax imposed on premium cigars to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Finance and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations no later than December 1, 2025.
Public middle schools; programs of instruction; Middle School Mathematics Innovation Program established. Establishes the Middle School Mathematics Innovation Program, to be administered by the Department of Education (the Department), for the purpose of assisting school divisions, in partnership with a certain provider, to be selected by the Department in accordance with criteria set forth in the bill, in the implementation of personalized, competency-based mathematics education and evidence-based mathematics learning models in mathematics courses offered in grades six through eight in any public middle school designated as a mathematics innovation school. Any public middle school may apply for the mathematics innovation school designation. The bill directs the Department to give preference to public middle schools that (i) demonstrate a need for support based on data from the immediately preceding school year on the Standards of Learning mathematics assessment results for grades six, seven, and eight; (ii) are located in rural areas; or (iii) are located in economically disadvantaged areas.
Department of Corrections; designated employees with same power as sheriff or law-enforcement officer. Allows the Department of Corrections to designate employees to have the same power as a sheriff or a law-enforcement officer for the purpose of enforcing the criminal laws of the Commonwealth. Under current law, the Department can designate such employees with internal investigations authority to have such law-enforcement powers in the investigation of allegations of criminal behavior affecting the operations of the Department. Accordingly, the bill makes technical changes to additional sections that reference such designated employees, including in the definition of a law-enforcement officer used in various places throughout the Code and for the purposes of the Line of Duty Act, assault and battery of a law-enforcement officer, retired law-enforcement officers being able to carry a concealed handgun, and certain retired law-enforcement officers being able to purchase their service handgun or other weapon.
Corporate income tax; Virginia taxable income; definitions. Defines, for purposes of income tax, "entire net income" as the total net income from all sources that a taxpayer is required to report for purposes of the federal income tax. The bill further defines "net operating loss" as the excess of any allowable income tax deductions over the gross income used in computing entire net income.
Estimated tax; failure by individual, trust, or estate to pay. Increases from $150 to $1,000 the maximum underpayment of estimated tax for which no addition to tax shall be added.
Sanctuary policies prohibited. Provides that no locality shall adopt any ordinance, procedure, or policy intended to restrict the enforcement of federal immigration laws. The bill also requires an official in charge of a correctional facility to transfer custody of certain persons to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement upon receipt of a detainer. Under current law, the official may make such transfer.
