Fort Monroe Authority; powers and duties. Renames the executive director of the Fort Monroe Authority as the chief executive officer of the Authority. This bill is identical to HB 1138.
Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; real estate board; continuing education requirements for real estate brokers and salespersons. Increases from eight to 11 the number of hours of continuing education an applicant for relicensure as a real estate broker or salesperson shall complete in the topics of ethics and standards of conduct, fair housing, legal updates and emerging trends, real estate agency, and real estate contracts. The bill also decreases from eight to five the number of hours of general elective courses such applicants shall complete. The bill directs the Real Estate Board to adopt regulations to implement the provisions of the bill against current licensees beginning in such licensee's next full renewal cycle following the effective date of such regulations. This bill is identical to SB 330.
Fort Monroe Authority; land and utility ownership. Removes the number of acres and the instrument number of the quitclaim deed recorded in the Clerk's Office of the Circuit Court of the City of Hampton on June 14, 2013, in reference to the area that is known as Fort Monroe and redefines such area to be what is shown in the land records of the City of Hampton as being owned by the Commonwealth, whether in the name of the Commonwealth or the Fort Monroe Authority. This bill is identical to HB 1139.
Virginia Coastal Resilience Collaborative atThe College of William and Mary in Virginia. Changes referencesrelating to coastal resilience policy from the Coastal Policy Centerat William and Mary School of Law to the Virginia Coastal ResilienceCollaborative at The College of William and Mary in Virginia to reflectthe dissolution of the Coastal Policy Center. The bill also addsthe Collaborative to the list of entities with whom the Secretaryof Natural and Historic Resources may seek input and consultationin setting coastal resilience policies.
Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; practice of geology; definitions. Expands the definition of the practice of geology to include the performance of any professional service or work wherein the principles and methods of geology are applied, including (i) investigating, evaluating, and consulting; (ii) geological mapping; (iii) describing the natural processes that act upon the earth's materials; (iv) predicting the probable occurrence of natural processes; and (v) inspecting, planning, and performing and supervising geological work in order to enhance and protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public and the environment. The bill also defines "geological mapping." The bill contains technical amendments. This bill is identical to SB 184.
Public education; student literacy measures. Clarifies several provisions of the Virginia Literacy Act (the Act), enacted during the 2022 Regular Session of the General Assembly and effective with the 2024-2025 school year, including (i) clarifying that the term "evidence-based literacy instruction" does not include practices that instruct students to gain meaning from print through the use of (a) three-cueing, which includes semantic, syntactic, and graphophonic cues; (b) meaning, structure, and visual cues; or (c) visual memory for word recognition; (ii) removing the option to use a literacy screener approved by the Department of Education for certain purposes enumerated in the Act; (iii) requiring the Department to develop a list of core literacy curricula for students in kindergarten through grade five and supplemental instruction practices and programs and intervention programs for students in kindergarten through grade eight that consist of evidence-based literacy instruction aligned with science-based reading research; and (iv) requiring each divisionwide literacy plan to address how the local school board will align (a) core reading and literacy curriculum for students in kindergarten through grade five and (b) screening, supplemental instruction, and interventions for students in kindergarten through grade eight with evidence-based literacy instruction practices aligned with science-based reading research. This bill is identical to HB 647.
Rental conveyances; leases; assignments. Relocates certain provisions of Title 55.1 (Property and Conveyances) of the Code of Virginia related to assignments of rent from a chapter related to nonresidential tenancies to a chapter related to leases. The bill corrects a technical error from the 2019 recodification of Title 55 of the Code of Virginia. This bill is identical to SB 589.
Virginia Military Parents Equal Protection Act;Space Force; deployment. Adds members of the Space Force to thelist of service members included in the definition of deploying parentor guardian for the purposes of the Virginia Military Parents EqualProtection Act.
Public institutions of higher education; admissions applications; legacy admissions and admissions based on donor status prohibited. Prohibits any public institution of higher education from providing any manner of preferential treatment in the admissions decision to any student applicant on the basis of such student's legacy status, defined in the bill, or such student's familial relationship to any donor to such institution. This bill incorporates SB 71 and is identical to HB 48.
Guardians and conservators; order of appointment and certificate of qualification; annual report. Requires a petitioner to file with a petition for the appointment of a guardian, a conservator, or both a cover sheet on a form prepared by the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia. The bill requires a guardian to file an initial annual report reflecting the first four months of guardianship since qualification within six months of the date of qualification and to file the second and each subsequent annual report for each succeeding 12-month period within four months from the last day of the last 12-month period covered by the previous annual report. The bill also specifies which documents the clerk shall forward to certain entities upon the qualification of a guardian or conservator. This bill is a recommendation of the Judicial Council of Virginia and is identical to SB 290.
Prescription Monitoring Program; release ofrecords to drug court administrators and behavioral health docketadministrators. Requires the Director of the Department of HealthProfessions to release otherwise confidential information from thePrescription Monitoring Program when such information is relevantto a specific investigation, supervision, or monitoring of a specific recipient for purposes of the administration of criminal justiceto drug court administrators and behavioral health docket administratorswho have completed the Virginia State Police Drug Diversion Schooldesignated by the Director of the Department of Corrections or hisdesignee. The bill requires release of the information upon receivinga request for information in accordance with the Department of HealthProfession's regulations and in compliance with applicable federallaw and regulations.
Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; early termination for military personnel; stop movement order; emergency. Allows certain military personnel to terminate a rental agreement upon receipt of a stop movement order issued in response to a local, national, or global emergency that is effective for either an indefinite period or for a period of not less than 30 days and that prevents the service member from occupying the leased dwelling unit for a residential purpose. The bill also allows such military personnel to terminate a rental agreement after receiving any permanent change of station order or temporary duty order in excess of three months' duration. Current law allows such termination only for orders requiring a departure of 35 miles or more from the dwelling unit. The bill contains an emergency clause and is identical to SB 213.
