State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act and General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act; definition of "personal interest in a transaction." Provides that a personal interest in a transaction exists, for purposes of the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act and the General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act, when a subject of a transaction is the spouse of the officer, employee, or legislator, regardless of whether a financial benefit or liability is accrued by the spouse as the result of such transaction.
General Assembly Military and Veterans Commission established. Establishes the General Assembly Military and Veterans Commission as a standing commission for the purpose of reviewing legislation related to veterans, military service members, and their families and advising on how such legislation aligns with the 2024 Veterans Strategic Plan. The Commission shall consist of 16 legislators, eight from each house of the General Assembly, all of whom must either (i) be a veteran or military service member or the spouse of a veteran or military service member or (ii) represent a district with a significant military or veteran population relative to the rest of the Commonwealth. The Commission is directed to meet weekly during any regular session of the General Assembly and quarterly in the interim, to review and analyze proposed legislation and budget amendments to ensure alignment with the priorities outlined in the 2024 Veterans Strategic Plan, to revise and update the goals and priorities outlined in the 2024 Veterans Strategic Plan, and to host an annual Military Appreciation Night.
Baccalaureate public institutions of higher education; intercollegiate athletics programs; certain intrastate competition required. Requires the board of visitors of each baccalaureate public institution of higher education that is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to ensure that each intercollegiate athletics program that contributes to the institution's athletics revenue competes at least once every eight years against the intercollegiate athletics program in the same sport and in the same NCAA division at each other baccalaureate public institution of higher education. The bill provides that the foregoing provisions shall not be construed to prohibit or affect any contract or agreement between baccalaureate public institutions of higher education for the provision and receipt of compensation for competition between their intercollegiate athletics programs.
Conditional release of geriatric prisoners. Expands the list of offenses that prohibit a person from petitioning the Parole Board for conditional release as a geriatric prisoner.
Abortion; treatment of a nonviable pregnancy; emergency. Provides that the criminal penalties applicable to the performance of an abortion do not apply to the treatment of a nonviable pregnancy, as defined in the bill, provided that, pursuant to reasonable standards of care, failure to treat such nonviable pregnancy by terminating the pregnancy or attempting to terminate the pregnancy by performing an abortion or inducing a miscarriage is likely to result in the death of the woman or would substantially and irremediably impair the physical health of the woman. The bill contains an emergency clause.
Income tax; imposition of tax and standard deduction. Adds, beginning in taxable year 2026, a new top income tax bracket such that a seven percent tax shall be imposed on Virginia taxable income in excess of $600,000. Current law imposes a top tax bracket of five and three-quarters percent on income in excess of $17,000. Additionally, the bill increases the standard deduction to $12,000 for single individuals and $24,000 for married individuals beginning in taxable year 2025 and indexes such deduction amount for inflation annually beginning in taxable year 2026.
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; virtual meetings; advisory boards, commissions, and councils. Allows advisory boards, commissions, and councils to convene all-virtual public meetings regardless of whether any such board, commission, or council convenes in-person meetings. Current law prohibits certain public bodies from convening an all-virtual public meeting (i) more than two times per calendar year or 50 percent of the meetings held per calendar year rounded up to the next whole number, whichever is greater, or (ii) consecutively with another all-virtual public meeting.
Virtual Virginia; availability to every public middle school in the Commonwealth. Requires Virtual Virginia to be made available to every public middle school in the Commonwealth. Under current law, Virtual Virginia is only required to be made available to every public high school in the Commonwealth.
Tax credit; purchase of asphalt recycling equipment for reprocessing existing asphalt materials from pavements and roadways; report. Creates a nonrefundable tax credit for taxable years 2025 and 2026 in an amount equal to 20 percent of the purchase price, as defined in the bill, paid during the taxable year for asphalt recycling equipment. The bill defines asphalt recycling equipment as machinery and equipment that is used to reclaim, recycle, or reprocess existing asphalt materials from pavements and roadways in the Commonwealth and that has been certified by the Department of Environmental Quality as being integral to the recycling process. The bill provides a $3 million aggregate annual cap on the number of credits to be distributed, as administered by the Department of Taxation, and an annual cap of 40 percent of the taxpayer's liability for taxes for any taxable year. Any credit not used for the taxable year in which the purchase price for recycling machinery was paid may be carried over for the next 10 years until the total credit amount is used. Finally, the bill requires the Department of Taxation, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Transportation, to submit a report to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Finance and Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations no later than December 1, 2025, on the number of claims for such credit and any impact to environmental quality and pavement performance resulting from the use of asphalt recycling equipment.
Public schools; school libraries; catalog of print or digital materials available in school libraries and used as instructional materials; development, implementation, and maintenance. Requires the principal of each public elementary or secondary school or his designee to develop, implement, and maintain in an electronic spreadsheet or substantially similar electronic format a catalog of all print or digital materials, as defined in the bill, available in the school library and all instructional materials, as defined in the bill, used as a part of the school curriculum. The bill requires such catalog to (i) be developed and posted in a publicly accessible location on the school website in a searchable and downloadable format; (ii) identify each item by the item's title, author, and, if applicable, International Standard Book Number, or such other identifying features or information as the principal or his designee deems appropriate; and (iii) be maintained and updated as necessary to accurately reflect all print or digital materials available in the school library and any instructional materials used as a part of the school curriculum.
Income tax credit; advertising in local newspapers and media. Creates, for taxable years 2025 through 2029, a nonrefundable income tax credit for eligible small businesses with fewer than 50 employees for certain expenses incurred for local media advertising in a local newspaper or in a broadcast of a local radio or television station. The credit is equal to (i) for the first taxable year in which the credit is claimed, the lesser of 80 percent of the actual amounts paid or incurred for qualified local media advertising expenses or $4,000 and (ii) in subsequent taxable years, the lesser of 50 percent of the actual amounts paid or incurred for qualified local media advertising expenses during such taxable year or $2,000. The credit includes an aggregate cap of $10 million per taxable year.
Public institutions of higher education; certain grants from and partnerships and agreements with foreign countries of concern prohibited; report; civil penalty. Prohibits, except with the approval of the governing board of the institution of higher education or the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia under certain circumstances, any public institution of higher education from accepting any grant from or participating in any partnership or agreement with any foreign country of concern, as that term is defined in the bill. The bill requires the Council to establish and enforce mechanisms for compliance and penalties for noncompliance with such prohibition, which shall include civil penalties not to exceed $25,000 per offense and may include periodic institutional reporting until any such noncompliance is remedied by the institution. The bill requires each public institution of higher education, by December 1 of each year, to report to the General Assembly, the Governor, and the Council any grant that it accepted from or agreement or partnership in which it participated with a foreign country of concern during the previous fiscal year and the date on which such grant, agreement, or partnership is expected to terminate.
