Short-term rental property; locality's abilityto prohibit use of accessory dwelling unit. Prohibits a locality from barring the use of or requiring that a special exception, specialuse, or conditional use permit be obtained for the use of an accessorydwelling unit for a short-term rental in an area zoned for residentialuse where the primary dwelling unit on the site is occupied by theproperty owner.
Manufactured Home Lot Rental Act; manufactured home park; notice of sale and relocation expenses. Requires a manufactured home park owner to provide notice to the Department of Housing and Community Development and each manufactured home park tenant 90 days prior to unconditionally accepting an offer to purchase a manufactured home park. The bill permits an entity of tenants to negotiate for purchase of the manufactured home park. The bill also requires the manufactured home park owner provide notice to the locality in which the manufactured home park is located if the locality delivers a proposed purchase agreement with substantially similar terms and conditions as the entity of tenants to the manufactured home park owner. The bill provides an additional 60-day period for an entity to obtain financing for the purchase of a manufactured home park. The bill requires that its provisions be liberally construed to preserve affordable housing and expand the opportunities for owners of manufactured homes to purchase a manufactured home park. The bill provides for $5,000 in relocation expenses for a manufactured home owner if a rental agreement is terminated due to the sale of the manufactured home park to a buyer that is going to redevelop the park and change its use. The provisions of the bill do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2025 Session of the General Assembly.
Notarial acts; knowledge-based authentication assessment; requirements. Adds a knowledge-based authentication assessment to the methods by which a notary public may obtain satisfactory evidence of identity of an individual. As defined in the bill, a knowledge-based authentication assessment requires a principal to take a quiz composed of at least five questions related to the principal's personal history or identity and to score at least 80 percent on such quiz. The bill provides that if the principal fails to achieve a score of at least 80 percent, he may attempt up to two additional quizzes within 48 hours following the first failed quiz. The bill also provides that no notarial act shall be invalidated solely based on the failure of a notary public to perform a duty or meet a requirement as required by law; however, the validity of a notarial act shall not prohibit an aggrieved person from invalidating a record or transaction or from seeking other remedies as allowed by law. The bill provides that these provisions shall apply retroactively to any notarial act that was performed before July 1, 2024.
Energy efficiency programs; incremental annualsavings. Provides that it is in the public interest and the policyof the Commonwealth to deploy demand-side management programs andenergy efficiency measures throughout the Commonwealth to achievethe greatest possible reductions in energy consumption. The billpermits the State Corporation Commission to increase or decreasean investor-owned electric utility's combined rate of return basedon the utility's success in complying with energy efficiency programtargets in existing law. Additionally, the bill states that "in thepublic interest" for the purpose of assessing energy efficiency programsmeans that the Commission determines that the program is cost-effective.Finally, the bill directs the Commission to promulgate regulationsno later than December 31, 2025, establishing a single, consistent cost-effectiveness test for use in evaluating proposed energy efficiency programs.
Space Force; extension of certain benefits andprivileges for persons serving in a branch of the Armed Forces. Amends several provisions of law related to certain benefits andprivileges available to persons serving or having served in a branchof the Armed Forces to include the Space Force as an eligible branch.
Registration of tobacco products retailers; purchase, possession, and sale of retail tobacco products; retail tobacco products and liquid nicotine tax; penalties. Prohibits any person from selling any retail tobacco product, as defined in the bill, at retail without first obtaining a permit from the Department of Taxation and prohibits such sale at a location within 1,000 feet of a youth-oriented facility, as defined in the bill. The bill prohibits Internet sales of retail tobacco products, except to a permit-holding retailer, and prohibits the sale of retail tobacco products from vending machines. Under the bill, permits are subject to annual renewal and subject to revocation for violations of federal, state, or local laws related to tobacco products. The bill imposes recordkeeping requirements and makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to engage in fraud or misrepresentation in connection with an application for a permit. The bill updates, for the purpose of the crime of selling or distributing tobacco products to a person younger than 21 years of age, the definition of "retail tobacco products" by including in such definition products currently defined as "nicotine vapor products" or "alternative nicotine vapor products." The bill also removes provisions prohibiting the attempt to purchase, the purchase, or the possession of tobacco products by persons younger than 21 years of age. The bill provides that the punishment of a retail establishment that sells, gives, or furnishes a tobacco product to a person younger than 21 years of age or to a person who does not demonstrate that such person is at least 21 years of age is (i) a civil penalty of $1,000 for a first offense, (ii) a civil penalty of $5,000 for a second offense and a 30 day suspension of such establishment's distributor's license, and (iii) a civil penalty of $10,000, revocation of such license, and such distributor shall be ineligible to hold a license for a period of three years following the most recent violation. Under current law, such penalties apply only to the sale, distribution, or purchase of a bidi and do not require a suspension or revocation of the establishment's distributor's license, while violations involving all other products are punishable by a civil penalty of $100 for a first offense, $200 for a second offense, and $500 for a third or subsequent offense. The bill also removes the exception allowing the sale, giving, or furnishing of any tobacco product, nicotine vapor product, or alternative nicotine vapor product to active-duty military personnel who are 18 years of age or older. The bill requires the Department, in collaboration with the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority and local law enforcement, to conduct a compliance check every 24 months on any retailer selling retail tobacco products and to use a person younger than 21 years of age to conduct such checks. The bill also imposes a tax upon liquid nicotine in closed systems, as defined in the bill, at the rate of $0.066 per milliliter and upon liquid nicotine in open systems, as defined in the bill, at the rate of 20 percent of the wholesale price. The bill applies licensing requirements to manufacturers, distributors, and retail dealers of liquid nicotine and creates new safety requirements related to the advertising, marketing, and labeling of liquid nicotine and nicotine vapor products.
Children's advocacy centers; definitions; investigationsby local departments of social services. Replaces the term "childadvocacy center" with "children's advocacy center" and defines suchterm. The bill provides that if during the course of an investigationof child abuse by a local department of social services a local multidisciplinaryteam determines that an interview of the child by a children's advocacycenter is needed and such interview cannot be completed within thejurisdiction within 14 days, the local department of social services may facilitate the interview with another trained child forensicinterviewer. The bill also provides that if it is determined duringa human trafficking assessment that a forensic interview of the childis needed, such interview may be conducted by a children's advocacycenter within the jurisdiction; however, if the interview cannotbe completed within 14 days, the forensic interview may be conductedby a children's advocacy center located in another jurisdiction or another trained child forensic interviewer.
Department of Education; development of Title IX and sexual harassment prevention training modules for high school students. Requires the Department of Education to develop culturally appropriate, age-appropriate, and trauma-informed Title IX and sexual harassment prevention training modules concerning Title IX rights and protections, consent, and sexual harassment prevention and reporting and to make such training modules available to each school board for the education of high school students. The bill also requires each school board to (i) ensure that all high school students complete such training modules within 31 days of the start of each school year, (ii) set aside instructional time during school hours for the completion of such training modules, (iii) allow all high school students to opt-out of participation in the completion of such training modules by request of the student's parents if such student is under the age of 18, or by request of the student if such student is 18 years of age or older, and (iv) inform all high school students of any counseling services related to sexual harassment that are available to them prior to such students completing such training modules. Finally, the bill requires (a) the Department to develop and make available to each school board such training modules by December 31, 2024; (b) the Department to revise such training modules to ensure continued compliance with applicable state and federal laws no later than December 31 of each year; and (c) each school board to adopt policies to implement such training modules by the beginning of the 2025–2026 school year.
Department of Medical Assistance Services; lien for claim of personal injuries. Creates a process by which a lien in favor of the Department of Medical Assistance Services on a claim for personal injuries may be satisfied upon the request of the injured person who received medical care or services to treat such personal injury. The bill provides that the Department is required within 60 days of receipt of the request of the injured person to provide such injured person or his personal representative with an itemized statement detailing all health care expenses paid for by a program of the Department and a sum specific demand for payment in full and final resolution of the Department's lien. Such request shall not be made by the injured person or his personal representative until all claims for health care expenses to be paid for by a program of the Department for an alleged injury on which the claim is based have been submitted to and processed for potential payment by the Department. The bill provides that if the Department fails to respond to such request, the injured party or his personal representative may submit to the Department an offer of payment for a sum certain in satisfaction of the lien, including an explanation of the reasons for such offer, and the Department may then, within 30 days, accept or reject such offer. The bill also clarifies that such process is not the exclusive means by which an injured person or his personal representative may request such itemized statement of health care expenses. Under the bill, the Department shall report on a quarterly basis those offers of the payment for a sum certain in satisfaction of liens to which it does not respond to the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations and the House Committee on Appropriations.
Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity; Small Business Procurement Enhancement Program and Women-owned and Minority-owned Business Procurement Enhancement Program established; report. Establishes the Small Business Procurement Enhancement Program with a statewide goal of 42 percent of certified small business utilization in all discretionary spending by state agencies and covered institutions in procurement orders, prime contracts, and subcontracts, as well as a target goal of 50 percent subcontracting to certified small businesses in instances where the prime contractor is not a small business for all new capital outlay construction solicitations that are issued. In addition, the bill provides for a small business set-aside for state agency and covered institution purchases of goods, services, and construction, requiring that purchases up to $100,000 be set aside for award to certified small businesses and that purchases up to $10,000 be set aside for award to microbusinesses. The bill also establishes the Women-owned and Minority-owned Business Procurement Enhancement Program with a statewide goal of 23.1 percent of certified women-owned and minority-owned business utilization in all discretionary spending by state agencies and covered institutions in procurement orders, prime contracts, and subcontracts. The bill creates the Division of Procurement Enhancement within the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity for purposes of collaborating with the Department of General Services, the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, the Department of Transportation, and covered institutions to further the Commonwealth's efforts to meet the goals established under the Small Business Procurement Enhancement Program and the Women-owned and Minority-owned Business Procurement Enhancement Program, as well as implementing initiatives to enhance the development of small businesses, microbusinesses, women-owned businesses, and minority-owned businesses in the Commonwealth. Finally, the bill amends the Virginia Public Procurement Act to permit public bodies to establish purchase procedures, if adopted in writing, not requiring competitive sealed bids or competitive negotiation for single or term contracts for the purchase or lease of goods, or for the purchase of services, insurance, or construction, if the aggregate or the sum of all phases is not expected to exceed $125,000. Under current law, such purchase procedures may only be established for (i) goods and services other than professional services and non-transportation-related construction, if the aggregate or the sum of all phases is not expected to exceed $200,000; (ii) transportation-related construction, if the aggregate or sum of all phases is not expected to exceed $25,000; and (iii) professional services, provided that the aggregate or the sum of all phases is not expected to exceed $80,000. The bill has a general delayed effective date of January 1, 2025, and delayed effective dates of July 1, 2025, for covered institutions, and July 1, 2026, for certain university hospitals and medical centers. The provisions of the bill creating the Women-owned and Minority-owned Business Procurement Enhancement Program sunset on July 1, 2031.
Special justices and independent evaluator fees; emergency custody and voluntary and involuntary civil admissions. Increases the fee that a special justice receives for presiding over emergency custody and voluntary and involuntary civil admissions from $86.25 to $120 for each commitment hearing and from $43.25 to $70 for each certification hearing. The bill also increases the fee that an independent evaluator receives if required to serve as a witness or an interpreter from $75 to $120 for each commitment hearing and from $43.25 to $70 for each certification hearing. Lastly, the bill specifies that any such necessary expenses incurred by such special justices or independent evaluators, or by attorneys appointed to such commitment and certification hearings, shall be paid in accordance with guidelines established by the Supreme Court of Virginia. The bill contains technical amendments.
First offense drug program; previous misdemeanor marijuana conviction. Allows any person to participate in the first offender drug program even if such person was previously convicted of an offense related to misdemeanor possession of marijuana or who has had a previous dismissal of a misdemeanor offense for possession of marijuana pursuant to the program. Current law prohibits any person with a previous marijuana conviction from participating in the program. This bill is identical to HB 452.
