Virginia Retirement System; enhanced retirement benefits for 911 dispatchers. Allows local governments to provide enhanced retirement benefits for hazardous duty service to full-time salaried 911 dispatchers. The bill provides that such enhanced retirement benefits apply only to service earned as a full-time salaried 911 dispatcher on or after July 1, 2025, but allows an employer, as that term is defined in relevant law, to provide such enhanced retirement benefits for service earned as a full-time salaried 911 dispatcher before July 1, 2025, in addition to service earned on or after that date. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.
Health insurance; denial of referral by direct primary care provider prohibited. Prohibits a health insurance carrier from (i) denying payment for any health care service covered under an enrollee's health benefit plan based solely on the basis that such enrollee's referral was made by a direct primary care provider or (ii) imposing a cost-sharing requirement greater than the applicable cost-sharing requirement that would apply to the same health care service if the service was referred by a participating provider. The bill provides that a health insurance carrier may require a direct primary care provider to provide information demonstrating that such provider has entered into a direct primary care agreement with the enrollee.
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.
Human trafficking investigators; licensing by the Department of Criminal Justice Services. Authorizes the Department of Criminal Justice Services to register and issue licenses for human trafficking investigators. The bill provides that a human trafficking investigator is a private investigator who is GSA compliant and engages in the business of, or accepts employment to make, investigations to obtain information on sex trafficking or severe forms of trafficking as defined in the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and in the federal Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015.
Siting of energy facilities; approval by State Corporation Commission. Establishes a procedure under which an electric utility or independent power provider (applicant) is able to obtain approval for a certificate from the State Corporation Commission for the siting of an energy facility rather than from the governing body of a locality. Under the bill, applicants are authorized to submit an application to the Commission if (i) the locality fails to timely approve or deny an application; (ii) the application complies with certain requirements for Commission approval, but a host locality denies the application; or (iii) the locality amends its zoning ordinance after it has notified the applicant that its requirements are compatible with the requirements for Commission approval, and the amendment imposes additional requirements that are more restrictive. The bill provides that an applicant who is issued a certificate by the Commission for an energy facility is exempt from obtaining approvals or permits, including any land use approvals or permits under the regulations and ordinances of the locality. The bill applies to any solar energy facility with a capacity of 50 megawatts or more, any wind energy facility with a capacity of 100 megawatts or more, and any energy storage facility with a nameplate capacity of 50 megawatts or more and an energy discharge capability of 200 megawatt hours or more.
School board employees; civil cause of action against principals, division superintendents, and school boards for workplace injuries. Permits any school board employee who suffers bodily injury in the course of his employment on school board property after notifying the appropriate school principal, division superintendent, or school board that a working condition or situation was reasonably likely to lead to such bodily injury to bring a civil cause of action in a court of competent jurisdiction for appropriate relief, including damages, against any such school principal, division superintendent, or school board that acted negligently, recklessly, or willfully in failing to remedy the condition or situation that led to such bodily injury.
Firearm purchases; permit to purchase a firearm required; penalties. Requires any person purchasing a firearm from a firearms dealer to present a valid permit issued by the Department of State Police that allows the holder to purchase a firearm. The bill prohibits a firearms dealer from selling, renting, trading, or transferring from his inventory any firearm to any person until he has received such permit. The bill sets forth the procedures to apply for the permit and prohibits the permitting of any person who (i) is younger than 21 years of age; (ii) is prohibited from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm; (iii) within the two years prior to the date of application, has been convicted of any offense against a person that is an act of violence, force, or threat or a firearm-related offense that is punished as a Class 1 misdemeanor; (iv) is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance; (v) within the two years prior to the date of application, has not completed a firearms safety or training course or class offered to the public by a law-enforcement agency, institution of higher education, or private or public institution or organization or by a firearms training school utilizing instructors certified or approved by the Department of Criminal Justice Services, and with a required curriculum, detailed in the bill; or (vi) for whom it would not be in the interest of the public health, safety, or welfare of the Commonwealth as determined by the Department of State Police for the person to obtain a permit because the person is found to be lacking in essential character or temperament necessary to be entrusted with a firearm. The bill provides that such permit is valid for five years from the date of issuance. The bill details reasons for revocation of a permit and provides that any person who fails to return a revoked permit to the Superintendent of State Police within five days' notice of revocation is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also states that any person who willfully and intentionally makes a materially false statement on the application form for a permit is guilty of a Class 5 felony.
Study; Department of Housing and Community Development; tax implications of implementing a land value tax; report. Directs the Department of Housing and Community Development to study tax implications of local governing bodies implementing a land value tax.
Earned income tax credit. Allows eligible low-income taxpayers to claim a refundable income tax credit equal to 20 percent of the federal earned income tax credit claimed that year by the taxpayer for the same taxable year. The bill also states that individuals who would have been entitled to the federal equivalent of this credit but for the fact that the individual, the individual's spouse, or one or more of the individual's children does not have a valid social security number are eligible to claim this credit.
Department of Environmental Quality; protection of existing tidal and nontidal wetlands; wetland restoration and creation; work group; report. Directs the Department of Environmental Quality to establish a work group to develop (i) strategies for protecting the existing tidal and nontidal wetlands of the Commonwealth and (ii) plans for wetland restoration and creation to address losses and adverse impacts from human activities and climate change. The bill specifies that such work group shall include certain relevant stakeholders and will focus on (a) evaluating existing approaches to wetland conservation strategies in the Commonwealth and other states, (b) identifying wetlands adaption areas where tidal wetlands can persist in the landscape, and (c) exploring the circumstances in which climate can impact the wetlands' health and survival. The bill requires the work group to report its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources by December 1, 2024.
Sales and use tax exemption; data centers. Requires data center operators to meet certain energy efficiency standards in order to be eligible for the sales and use tax exemption for data center purchases. Under the bill, a data center operator shall be eligible for the exemption only if such operator demonstrates that (i) its facilities either (a) have a power usage effectiveness score of no greater than 1.2 or (b) for data centers co-located in buildings with other commercial uses, achieve an energy efficiency level of no less than the most efficient 15 percent of similar buildings constructed in the previous five years and (ii) it will procure carbon-free renewable energy and associated renewable energy certificates from facilities equal to 90 percent of its electricity requirements or that its electricity will be otherwise derived from non-carbon-emitting, renewable sources.
Charter; City of Richmond. Makes extensive updates to the charter for the City of Richmond. Many changes in the bill have the effect of removing outdated or duplicative provisions and more closely aligning the city's powers with those set out in general law. Other changes include authorizing compensation to individual council members as may be set by the city council by resolution as compensation for attending meetings of standing committees or other meetings of the city council, in addition to the sums permitted by general law. In addition, the bill authorizes the city council to fix an additional sum to be paid to the president and vice president of the city council, notwithstanding the limitations set out in general law. The bill makes the city's chief administrative officer, rather than the mayor, responsible for making certain recommendations to the council concerning the personnel system. Further changes in the bill provide for additional protected classes to include all of the protected classes recognized under general law. The bill also removes the requirement that the mayor annually submit a capital budget program to the city council and authorizes the city's chief administrative officer, not the mayor, to make transfers between completed projects and projects that are incomplete. The bill contains numerous technical amendments.
