Rights of persons with disabilities; definition of "place of public accommodation." Amends the definition of "place of public accommodation" as it relates to the rights of persons with disabilities to add that a place of public accommodation includes a website that a private entity owns, leases or leases to, or operates and whose operations affect commerce. Under current law, a "place of public accommodation" is defined as a facility that a private entity owns, leases or leases to, or operates and whose operations affect commerce.
Disaster Assistance Fund; established. Establishes the Disaster Assistance Fund for the purpose of addressing life, safety, and housing costs related to a disaster that are not covered by any form of federal assistance, private donations, or insurance. Expenditures and disbursements from the Fund require authorization by the General Assembly. In addition to all other appropriations to the Fund, the bill also directs proceeds generated from the Commonwealth's participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative auction that occurred in December 2023 and deposited into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Fund with the Department of Environmental Quality and all interest accrued to such fund.
Expired vehicle registration; fines. Establishes a tiered fine system for expired vehicle registrations. The bill establishes a fine of $25 if the registration has been expired for less than one year on the date the citation is issued and a fine of no less than $25 but no more than $250 if such registration has been expired for at least one year on the date the citation is issued. The bill provides that an expired registration does not constitute a traffic infraction if the registration sticker was valid within the last 60 days.
Local meals and prepared food and beverage taxes; maximum rate. Provides a cap on the maximum allowable tax rate that localities may impose on meals and prepared food and beverages. The bill sets the maximum rate at no more than four percent, unless a higher rate of no more than six percent is authorized via a referendum in the locality. The new limitation applies to localities beginning January 1, 2028. In the case of a town, the maximum rate is limited by the amount of any food and beverage tax imposed by the county in which the town is located. The bill requires that no town shall impose any rate if, when added to the county food and beverage tax rate, such tax rate exceeds the four or six percent limit, as applicable.
Short-term rentals; registration; civil penalty. Directs the Department of Taxation to establish a registry of short-term rental properties and require accommodations providers and intermediaries to register. Under the bill, an accommodations provider shall provide to the Department its name and the address of each property it offers for short-term rental. The bill states that the Department shall issue each such accommodations provider a unique numerical identifier for each such property. An accommodations intermediary shall provide the Department its name and the contact information for the individual responsible for liaising with state and local officials regarding noncompliant short-term rental listings. The bill states that as a condition of listing a short-term rental on its platform, an accommodations intermediary shall require each accommodations provider to provide such provider's name and the unique numerical identifier and specific address for each short term-rental offered. Under the bill, such information, as well as information regarding receipts and taxes paid, shall be provided to the Department by the accommodations intermediary on a quarterly basis. However, an accommodations intermediary shall not be required to provide such information to the Department if the intermediary provides monthly reports of property addresses and gross receipts for all accommodations facilitated by the accommodations intermediary to each locality in which an accommodation is located. Such monthly reports are a compliance requirement imposed by law for the payment of transient occupancy taxes. The bill states that the Department shall provide the commissioner of the revenue for each locality with access to the registry and information contained therein. The commissioner of the revenue shall notify an accommodations intermediary of any short-term rental on its platform that is not lawfully authorized to be offered on its platform, and the accommodations intermediary shall remove any such listing from its platform. Under the bill, any accommodations intermediary who does not remove such a listing from its platform shall be subject to a civil penalty of $1,000, to be paid into the Virginia Housing Trust Fund. Finally, the bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.
Health insurance; coverage for at-home blood pressure monitors. Requires health insurers, health maintenance organizations, and corporations providing health care coverage subscription contracts to provide coverage for at-home blood pressure monitors to individuals who (i) have a diagnosis of hypertension, (ii) are at risk of developing hypertension, or (iii) have been recommended for at-home blood pressure monitoring by a licensed health care provider. The coverage provided under the bill shall not be subject to any copayment or fees for an at-home blood pressure monitor. The bill directs the Bureau of Insurance, in consultation with the Department of Health, to establish guidelines for implementing the coverage required by the bill, to monitor compliance of such requirements by health care providers, and to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly by December 1, 2026.
Assault and battery; serious bodily injury; penalty. Creates a Class 6 felony for any person who commits an assault and battery that results in serious bodily injury, as defined in relevant law, and adds such new offense to the list of violent felony offenses for the purposes of the discretionary sentencing guidelines. The bill contains technical amendments.
School boards; employee criminal history records checks and applications; penalty for noncompliance. Clarifies that certain school board employees who are (i) employed in an in-person or remote capacity or some combination thereof or (ii) fully licensed, provisionally licensed, or unlicensed are subject to the requirements in existing law to undergo a criminal history records check and a search of the registry of founded complaints of child abuse and neglect and to disclose certain criminal history information at the employment application stage and upon arrest. The bill provides that in the event that any school board fails or refuses to perform its duty to require any employee to undergo a criminal history records check as set forth in relevant law, each individual member of such board is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and his position on such school board shall be deemed vacant.
Institutions of higher education; confidential resource advisors. Requires each public institution of higher education and each private institution of higher education to designate at least one confidential resource advisor to serve as a confidential resource for students and employees to discuss alleged acts of sexual misconduct and receive information on resources available to such students or employees. The bill creates a statutory privilege between the confidential resource advisor and a student or employee who shares information with such confidential resource advisor.
HB 1801 expands the maximum boundary for school crossing zones from 750 feet to 1,500 feet from school property limits. This change directly affects drivers approaching schools, requiring reduced speeds over a larger area surrounding school grounds. The bill modifies existing traffic safety rules to create a broader protected zone for students crossing streets near schools. The proposal is currently under review in the Transportation Committee after a subcommittee recommended removing it from the agenda.
Procurement; local budget. Provides that a locality may make an Invitation to Bid, a Request for Proposal, and any other solicitation prior to budgeting an anticipated expenditure for such proposal and may include a statement in an Invitation to Bid, a Request for Proposal, or any other solicitation of an intention to cancel any such invitation, request, or solicitation if all bids exceed the anticipated expenditure.
HB 2311 requires local governments (counties, cities, towns) to display the POW/MIA flag on public buildings on designated days each year. The bill mandates this display as a formal observance on specific dates, though it does not specify which days. Currently pending in committee, the bill has not yet been enacted into law. This is a procedural requirement affecting local government operations, not a substantive policy change.
