Sales and use tax; sales through vending machines. Provides that, beginning January 1, 2026, only a one percent local sales and use tax shall be applied to sales through vending machines of food purchased for human consumption or essential personal hygiene products. Under current law, the rate applicable to such sales is 5.3 percent or 6.0 percent, as applicable depending on the locality, plus the one percent local sales and use tax.
Public schools; Virginia Opportunity Scholarship Grant Program established. Establishes the Virginia Opportunity Scholarship Grant Program, to be administered and managed by the Department of the Treasury pursuant to guidelines developed by the Board of Education in collaboration with the Department of the Treasury, for the purpose of ensuring that all children in the Commonwealth have access to quality educational opportunities by annually awarding a grant in the amount of $5,000 per eligible student, as that term is outlined in the bill, for up to 10,000 eligible students each year. The bill requires the grant funds awarded pursuant to the Program to be used to support qualified educational expenses of attending an accredited private school in the Commonwealth, as enumerated by the bill. The bill also (i) directs the Board of Education, in collaboration with the Department of the Treasury, to develop guidelines for the implementation and administration of the Program; (ii) requires the Board of Education to develop and make available to each school board and each school board to make available to parents at the start of each school year informational materials relating to the Program; and (iii) requires the Department of Education to annually collect data on and include as a part of the Board of Education's Annual Report on the Condition and Needs of Public Schools in Virginia the total student participation in the Program.
Benefits consortium for localities. Authorizes the governing bodies of three or more cities, counties, or school boards to form a benefits consortium for the purpose of establishing a self-funded employee welfare benefit plan. Under current law, such governing bodies or school boards are authorized to form such a benefits consortium if they comprised the membership of a multiple employer welfare arrangement as of December 31, 2014. Such a benefits consortium is required to be a nonstock corporation established to operate a benefits plan. Each member of the benefits consortium is contractually liable for its allocated share of the consortium's liabilities, and the benefits consortium is exempt from taxation and from insurance regulations.
Public institutions of higher education; presence of or material aid or support to terrorist activities, organizations, and states prohibited. Prohibits from accessing, occupying, or otherwise having a physical presence on any campus of a public institution of higher education any (i) terrorist organization, (ii) state or non-state sponsor of terrorism, (iii) representative of a terrorist organization, as those terms are defined by the bill, or (iv) individual who, knowingly and with the intent set forth in the bill, solicits or attempts to solicit any individual to engage in terrorist activity, become a member of terrorist organization, or provide funds or other material support or resources, as that term is defined by the bill, to support, facilitate, or aid or abet terrorist activity or a terrorist organization. The bill prohibits any public institution of higher education from (a) granting access to campus, (b) providing or facilitating the provision of funds or other material supports or resources, (c) making or facilitating the donation of material support or resources, or (d) entering into any contract providing for the exchange of services or material support or resources to any of the individuals or organizations described in clauses (i) through (iv). Finally, the bill sets forth certain exceptions for individuals that lack the requisite intent and knowledge, as set forth in the bill, to be subject to the prohibitions.
Virginia Retirement System; enhanced retirement benefits for 911 dispatchers, animal control officers, and municipal park rangers. Allows local governments to provide enhanced retirement benefits for hazardous duty service to (i) full-time salaried 911 dispatchers, (ii) full-time animal control officers, and (iii) sworn municipal park rangers qualifying as conservators of the peace. The bill provides that such enhanced retirement benefits apply only to service earned in such positions on or after July 1, 2026, but allows an employer, as that term is defined in relevant law, to provide such enhanced retirement benefits for service earned in such positions before July 1, 2026, in addition to service earned on or after that date. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.
Abuse, etc., of child younger than the age of 15 by person in custodial or supervisory relationship; penalty. Creates a Class 6 felony for any person 18 years of age or older who maintains a custodial or supervisory relationship over a child younger than the age of 15 and who knowingly and intentionally on three or more occasions within a 30-day period (i) commits assault or assault and battery in violation of relevant law against such child, (ii) causes such child to be an abused or neglected child as such term is defined in relevant law, or (iii) engages in any conduct that he should know or reasonably know places such child in reasonable fear of death or bodily injury. The bill also provides that a prosecution for such offense may be commenced regardless of whether such violations have been reported to a law-enforcement officer or the alleged offender has been charged with or convicted of such alleged violations.
Provision of county services within towns. Requires counties to provide their standard county services to towns located within county boundaries at the same level such services are provided in the unincorporated areas of the county.
Pedestrian crossing violation monitoring systems and stop sign violation monitoring systems; violation enforcement; civil penalty. Authorizes state and local law-enforcement agencies to place and operate pedestrian crossing violation and stop sign violation monitoring systems in school crossing zones, highway work zones, and high-risk intersection segments for purposes of recording pedestrian crossing and stop sign violations, as those terms are defined in the bill. The bill imposes the same requirements on pedestrian crossing and stop sign violation monitoring systems as currently exist for photo speed monitoring devices and requires local law-enforcement agencies implementing or expanding the use of such systems to, prior to the implementation or expansion of such systems, conduct a public awareness program for such implementation or expansion.
School boards; entitlement to one-time fee from certain data centers. Provides that any school board that governs a school division that contains a public school located within three miles of a data center, as such term is defined in relevant law, that received its certificate of occupancy from the relevant locality after July 1, 2025, is entitled to a one-time fee of $250,000 to be paid by the owner of such data center no later than 90 days after the issuance of such data center's certificate of occupancy by the locality.
Protective orders; dissolution of existing order. Provides that, upon the issuance of a new protective order involving a petitioner and respondent, the court shall dissolve any existing order issued by such court involving the same petitioner and respondent.
Siting of data centers; local authority. Provides that a locality, in considering any land use application required for the siting of a data center, may (i) require and consider water use estimates for proposed data center developments; (ii) require sound modeling studies for proposed data center developments; (iii) establish and enforce maximum allowable sound levels for operational data center facilities, including the use of alternative low-frequency metrics, and include such requirements in zoning ordinances; and (iv) require and consider power load demand estimates for a proposed data center development.
State plan for medical assistance services; recovery residences; work group; report. Directs the Board of Medical Assistance Services to amend the state plan for medical assistance services to include a provision for payment of care provided at certain recovery residences for individuals diagnosed with a substance use disorder. The bill also directs the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to (i) convene a work group of relevant stakeholders to (a) establish a monitoring and evaluation framework to assess the effectiveness and impact of recovery residences on long-term recovery outcomes and (b) study the economic impact of recovery residences on the Commonwealth and (ii) in consultation with such work group, promulgate regulations to ensure recovery residences are operating in compliance with American Society of Addiction Medicine standards. The bill directs the work group to report its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House Committee on Health and Human Services and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2025.
