Insurance; Fire Programs Fund; fees for vehicles; Virginia At Risk Fire Grant Program established; Firefighter Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Fund established. Increases the fire insurance assessment from one percent of total direct gross premium income for such insurance to (i) 1.5 percent on and after July 1, 2026, but before July 1, 2027, and (ii) two percent on and after July 1, 2027. The bill also increases the vehicle registration fee used to provide support for emergency medical services from $4.25 to $6.25 for each pickup or panel truck and each motor vehicle. The bill also establishes (a) the Virginia At Risk Fire Grant Program, to be funded by 0.25 percent of the assessments on insurance companies, for the purposes of providing grants to localities with fire departments that are determined to be most at risk of being unable to provide fire suppression or rescue activities or maintain compliance with relevant laws and regulations and (b) the Firefighter Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Fund, for the purpose of purchasing breathing apparatus equipment and other non-vehicular equipment necessary for the protection of firefighters responding to a fire.
Office of the Executive Secretary; annual trauma-informed education for certain court personnel. Requires the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia to provide annual continuing legal education on trauma-informed practices in proceedings involving sexual abuse or abuse of a family or household member to magistrates, clerks, judges of juvenile and domestic relations district courts, general district courts, and circuit courts, and other court employees.
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.
Department of Housing and Community Development; powers and duties of director; accessory dwelling unit construction guide. Requires the director of the Department of Housing and Community Development to develop an accessory dwelling unit construction guide that provides (i) an overview of the accessory dwelling unit construction process; (ii) a review of ordinances, permits, fees, programs, and incentives related to accessory dwelling unit development by locality; and (iii) a catalog of model accessory dwelling unit designs suitable for various local restraints. Such guide shall be updated at least every five years.
Virginia Institute of Marine Science; Atlantic Menhaden Research Fund established; report. Establishes the Atlantic Menhaden Research Fund to be used by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), in collaboration with Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) and relevant stakeholders, to produce research relating to Atlantic menhaden necessary to inform a scientifically defensible and ecologically meaningful harvest limit for Atlantic menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay and an annual report summarizing such research. VIMS is directed to annually report its progress, findings, recommendations, and a proposal for expenditures and disbursements from the Fund for the following year to the Chairs of the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources, the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources, the Ecological Reference Point Work Group of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, and the Menhaden Management Advisory Committee of VMRC no later than October 1 of each year.
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 2.2-234, 2.2-401.01, 2.2-1149, 2.2-1604, 2.2-2699.10, 2.2-4310, 10.1-104.02, 10.1-659, 10.1-1003, 10.1-1018, 10.1-1020, 10.1-1186.3:1, 10.1-1188, 10.1-2202.5, 10.1-2205.1, 10.1-2206.1, 10.1-2214, 10.1-2305, 15.2-4202, 15.2-4203, 18.2-423.1, 20-88.32, 20-146.1, 22.1-254, 24.2-128, 28.2-104.01, 28.2-302.5, 29.1-301, 29.1-401, 29.1-521, 32.1-272, 36-105.5, 51.1-700, 56-46.1, 56-576, 58.1-2201, 58.1-2403, 59.1-480, 62.1-266, 64.2-701, 64.2-2100, and 64.2-2600 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Subtitle II of Title 2.2 a part labeled D, containing a chapter numbered 61, consisting of sections numbered 2.2-6100 and 2.2-6101, relating to definitions; American Indians; Virginia recognized tribes; federally recognized tribes; sovereignty.
Personal property taxation; classifications; major energy consumer equipment upgrades. Establishes a special classification for generating equipment purchased on and after July 1, 2026, for the purpose of upgrading the backup or standby power systems of a major energy consumer (i) from equipment that does not meet Tier 2 emission standards to selective catalytic reduction generators that meet or exceed Tier 4 emission standards or (ii) to meet New Source Performance Standards as enforced by the Department of Environmental Quality, as applicable. The bill provides that such equipment may be taxed at a lower rate than is applied to other tangible personal property.
Department of Medical Assistance Services; Medicaid waivers; consumer-directed services; employer of record. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) to modify the program rules for consumer-directed services available through certain Medicaid waivers to allow an individual receiving services to serve as the employer of record (EOR) for his own service delivery and designate another individual to perform all or a portion of the duties of the EOR on the individual's behalf when the individual receiving services is unable to perform such duties or direct his own care. The bill specifies that when an individual (i) has not yet reached the age of majority, (ii) is ineligible to use his existing employer identification number (EIN) to facilitate the taxation of benefits, or (iii) is otherwise determined to be ineligible by DMAS by administrative rule, the EIN shall be assigned to the individual receiving services and shall not be transferred to another individual. Under the bill, DMAS has the authority to limit such amendments to specify that an individual receiving services may make such designation no more than twice per calendar year.
Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program; tuition and fee waivers. Requires the Commissioner of Veterans Services to consider certain domicile or physical presence requirements for the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program satisfied when (i) the failure to meet such requirements is solely attributable to a relocation outside of the Commonwealth by lawful military order or (ii) in the case of a survivor or dependent that meets all other eligibility requirements who has relocated to the Commonwealth by lawful military order, when the survivor or dependent has established residency in the Commonwealth, after having been enrolled in a higher education tuition and fees program for military survivors and dependents in another state.
State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; work group; best practices for student-athlete name, image, and likeness deal transparency; report. Requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to convene a work group to evaluate best practices for increasing transparency in name, image, and likeness deals for student-athletes at baccalaureate public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the work group to submit its findings to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2026.
Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; prohibited provisions in rental agreements; landlord's maintenance responsibilities. Prohibits a rental agreement from containing any provision stating that the tenant agrees to pay (i) any fee for the maintenance of the premises, including the maintenance or provision of heating and cooling systems, pest control, trash disposal, common area utilities, and mail or package delivery; (ii) a fee for internet, cable, or any other utilities or services that amount to more than the cost paid by the landlord; or (iii) for the maintenance or security of the common areas. The bill also repeals the provision allowing the landlord and tenant to agree in writing that the tenant may perform certain duties typically assigned to the landlord and also specified repairs, maintenance tasks, alterations, and remodeling, but only if the transaction is entered into in good faith and not for the purpose of evading the obligations of the landlord and if the agreement does not diminish or affect the obligation of the landlord to other tenants in the premises.
Local anti-rent gouging authority; civil penalty. Provides that any locality may by ordinance adopt anti-rent gouging provisions. The bill provides for notice and a public hearing prior to the adoption of such ordinance and specifies that all landlords who are under the ordinance may be required to give at least 90 days' written notice of a rent increase and cannot increase the rent by more than the locality's calculated allowance, not to exceed three percent, and states that such allowance is effective for a 12-month period beginning July 1 each year. The bill requires the locality to publish such allowance on its website by June 1 of each year. Certain facilities, as outlined in the bill, are exempt from such ordinance. The bill also requires a locality adopting an anti-rent gouging ordinance to establish an anti-rent gouging board to establish rules and procedures by which landlords may apply for and be granted exemptions from the rent increase limits set by the ordinance or delegate such duties and functions to an existing local board, department, or agency. The bill also requires the anti-rent gouging board to establish a fair return on investment rent increase exemption to the annual anti-rent gouging allowance where necessary to offset increased operating expenses. Finally, the bill provides that a locality shall establish a civil penalty for failure to comply with the requirements set out in its ordinance.
