Local government actions related to comprehensive plans, local planning commissions, subdivision plats and site plans, and zoning ordinances; approval process. Makes several changes to local government land use approval processes, including (i) prohibiting use of the comprehensive plan as the basis, in whole or in part, for the disapproval of a site plan that is otherwise in conformity with duly adopted standards, ordinances, and statutes and (ii) allowing automatic approval of certain land use applications rather than a right to petition the circuit court, as provided under current law, if a locality does not approve or disapprove the application within the required timeframe. The bill also reduces from 12 months to four months the time within which a locality must initially act upon certain proposed zoning ordinance amendments and requires a locality to act on all such proposed amendments to the zoning ordinance or map that it has previously disapproved within 45 days after an amended proposal has been resubmitted for approval.
Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Team established; penalty; report. Establishes the Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Team to develop and implement procedures to ensure that fetal and infant deaths occurring in the Commonwealth are analyzed in a systematic way. The bill requires the Team to compile triennial statistical data regarding fetal and infant deaths and to make such data available to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Department of Health. The bill provides that information and records obtained or created by the Team and portions of meetings of the Team at which individual fetal and infant deaths are discussed shall be confidential.
Virginia taxable income; standard deduction. Removes the sunset on elevated standard deduction amounts for single individuals and married persons that was scheduled to expire for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2026.
Nursing homes and certified nursing facilities; professional liability insurance. Specifies that the required minimum amount of professional liability coverage for nursing homes and certified nursing facilities is the amount per occurrence. The bill also requires such coverage to be noneroding, i.e., the coverage limits are not reduced by legal costs.
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 4.1-305, 16.1-266, 16.1-267, 16.1-272, 16.1-273, 16.1-275, 16.1-278.7, 16.1-278.8, 16.1-278.9, 16.1-284, 16.1-284.1, 16.1-286, 16.1-290, 16.1-290.1, 16.1-292, 16.1-293.1, 16.1-298, 16.1-309.1, 16.1-330.1, 17.1-275.5, 18.2-246.13, 18.2-371.2, 19.2-159, 19.2-163, 19.2-163.4:1, 46.2-383, 46.2-808.2, 63.2-100, and 66-14 of the Code of Virginia, relating to abolition of juvenile fines and fees; criminal offenses. 24104327D
Building service employees; public contracting. Permits any county, city, or town in the Commonwealth to provide for certain requirements concerning incumbent and successor building service employers, defined in the bill, by local ordinance or resolution. For example, such local ordinance or resolution may require that successor building service employers retain incumbent employees during a transition period of 90 days. Under the bill, building service employees are those who perform work in connection with the care or maintenance of property, services at an airport, or food preparation services at schools. The bill provides that a building service employer that violates the provisions of a local ordinance or resolution enacted pursuant to the bill may be subject to a civil action and monetary damages.
Prohibition on certain local government appointments. Prohibits a local governing body from appointing a spouse, child, stepchild, parent, stepparent, or grandparent of a governing body member as a member of any local government board, committee, or commission or as a member of a board of directors of a not-for-profit organization that receives funding from the locality.
Study; joint subcommittee; Dillon Rule; report. Creates a 13-member joint subcommittee for a one-year study of the Dillon Rule and its impact on Virginia's localities.
License plates; collector motor vehicles; penalty. Creates license plates for collector motor vehicles, defined in the bill, which the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles shall issue to any applicant who owns or has regular use of another passenger car, autocycle, or motorcycle and who owns at least a total of three collector motor vehicles. The bill designates the fee for such plates and registration as $50, specifies that the collector motor vehicles shall not be used for general transportation purposes and may only be used (i) for participation in shows, parades, charitable functions, and historical exhibitions for display, maintenance, and preservation; (ii) on the highways of the Commonwealth for the purpose of testing their operation or selling the vehicle, obtaining repairs or maintenance, transportation to and from events, and for occasional pleasure driving not exceeding 250 miles from the residence of the owner; and (iii) to carry or transport passengers and personal effects. The bill also prohibits such vehicles from being registered as antique vehicles or military surplus motor vehicles. Finally, the bill makes it a Class 4 misdemeanor to violate any provision relating to the registration of collector motor vehicles.
Dam Safety, Flood Prevention, and Protection Assistance Fund; percentage of funds available; owner match requirements. Reduces from 50 percent to 30 percent the project match required of applicants to receive funds from the Dam Safety, Flood Prevention, and Protection Assistance Fund for grants (i) to a local government that owns a dam, (ii) to a local government for a dam located within the locality, or (iii) to a private entity that owns a dam for the design, repair, and safety modifications of such a dam if it is identified in a safety report. The bill provides that grants made from the Fund to a local government or private entity for the determination of the hazard classification for impounding structures, dam break analysis, the mapping and digitization of dam break inundation zones, incremental damage analysis, and other engineering requirements shall require no more than a 10 percent match by the applicant except that such applicant shall be required to provide a minimum of $5,000 of the cost of the project, if funded, and such match provided by such applicant may be used to pay the application fees for the necessary impounding structure operation and maintenance certificate. The bill removes the 50 percent limit on matching grants that owners of impounding structures may be eligible for from the Fund and other sources of funding available to the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation to assist in the development of dam break inundation zone maps and for conducting incremental damage assessments in accordance with the Virginia Impounding Structure Regulations. The bill also removes the limitation that the total amount of expenditures for grants in any fiscal year are not to exceed 50 percent of the total noninterest or income deposits made to the Fund during the previous fiscal year together with the total amount collected in interest or income from the investment of moneys in the Fund from the previous year as determined at the beginning of the fiscal year.
Taxation; secrecy of information; taxpayer waiver. Allows a taxpayer to waive confidentiality and secrecy of information provisions of Virginia law with respect to tax information upon executing a written acknowledgement waiver.
Faith in Housing for the Commonwealth Act. Permits a religious organization, defined in the bill, to construct affordable housing on real estate owned by such religious organization (i) on or before January 1, 2024, or for a period of not less than five years, and (ii) for which the religious organization retains a majority ownership interest.
