Real property taxes; notice by mail of proposedincrease. Requires localities, after conducting a reassessment of real estate, to provide notice to property owners by mail of certaininformation prior to adopting a tax rate that would increase theamount of real property tax collected above 101 percent of the prioryear's tax collections. The bill requires the notice to include (i)the dollar and percentage amount of increase that the proposed tax rate would levy on the owner's particular property compared to theprevious year's tax levy, (ii) the tax levy on the owner's particularproperty for the previous tax year and the proposed levy for thecurrent tax year, and (iii) all of the information regarding theproposed tax rate that under current law is required to be postedin a newspaper and a prominent public location.
Public secondary schools; public institutionsof higher education; Internet safety education required; report. Requires the Board of Education to develop and approve objectivesfor Internet safety education at the middle and high school gradelevels to be required of all students in grades six through 12, andto provide for the infusion of such objectives in the relevant Standardsof Learning and in career and technical education. The bill alsorequires the Board, in consultation with the Internet Safety AdvisoryCouncil or another appropriate entity, to develop a model curriculumfor such Internet safety education. The bill requires each publicsecondary school to provide instruction on Internet safety educationin accordance with the educational objectives and model curriculum developed by the Board. The bill also requires each public institutionof higher education to provide instruction on the principles of Internetsafety as a part of an existing general education course, a first-yearorientation program, or another appropriate program or course anddirects the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to encourageprivate institutions of higher education to provide instruction onthe principles of Internet safety.
Public high school students; economics educationand financial literacy; benchmark assessment. Requires the Boardof Education to develop and make available to each school board aneconomics education and financial literacy benchmark assessment andrequires each school board to require each public high school studentenrolled in the local school division, except in the case of a publichigh school student whose individualized education program indicatesotherwise, to take such assessment at least once during grades ninethrough 12. The bill requires the Board to annually report to theGovernor and the General Assembly the state-level and school division-levelstudent results on such benchmark assessment in order to aid decision-makingregarding any policy changes that may be necessary to improve studentlearning in the relevant subject matter areas.
Issuing citations; certain traffic offenses.Removes the provisions that provide that no law-enforcement officermay lawfully stop a motor vehicle for operating (i) without a light illuminating a license plate, (ii) with defective and unsafe equipment,(iii) without brake lights or a high mount stop light, (iv) withoutan exhaust system that prevents excessive or unusual levels of noise,(v) with certain sun-shading materials and tinting films, and (vi)with certain objects suspended in the vehicle. The bill also removesthe accompanying exclusionary provisions.
Tax credit; solar energy equipment. Establishesa nonrefundable income tax credit for taxable years 2024 through2028 for individuals who incur allowable expenses, as defined inthe bill, for the purchase and installation of solar energy equipment,as defined in the bill. An individual who properly claims this creditshall be allowed a credit in the amount of up to 15 percent of thecost of such equipment and allowable expenses, up to $1,000.
Department of Human Resource Management; recruitmentpolicy; direct work experience. Requires the Department of HumanResource Management to develop a statewide recruitment policy designedto provide guidance to state agencies on how to remove postsecondarydegree requirements from hiring considerations and recruit qualifiedemployees utilizing appropriate baseline requirements, the specificsof which are outlined in the bill.
Alcoholic beverage control; mixed beverage performingarts facility license; Cities of Norfolk and Richmond; minimum patroncapacity. Reduces from 1,400 to 400 the minimum patron capacitya performing arts facility in the City of Norfolk or Richmond is requiredto have as one of the conditions for being granted a mixed beverage license by the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic BeverageControl Authority.
Corporate income tax; distribution of revenues;state parks. Requires five percent beginning July 1, 2024, ofall corporate income tax revenues to be distributed to the StatePark Conservation Resources Fund to provide (i) free entry to Virginia state parks and (ii) the conservation, development, maintenance,and operations of state parks acquired or held by the Departmentof Conservation and Recreation as provided in the appropriation act.The bill provides that such distribution shall not reduce the totalamount of annual appropriations for the Department and the Fund belowthe total amounts appropriated for the most recent fiscal year endingbefore July 1, 2024, except as provided by a subsequent appropriationact.
Voter registration by political party affiliation;partially closed primary elections. Adds party affiliation, beginningJanuary 1, 2025, to the information that an applicant is asked toprovide when registering to vote. The applicant may indicate thathe is an independent. The bill specifies that voters registered priorto January 1, 2025, will be designated as independent unless theyprovide a political party affiliation to the general registrar. Votersmay change their political party affiliation or independent statusby written notice at any time before the registration records areclosed prior to an election. The bill also provides that voters whoare on the permanent absentee voter list will receive primary ballotsfor the political party with which they are registered as affiliated.Finally, the bill requires the state party chairman of each politicalparty to file written notice with the State Board of Elections byJanuary 31 of each year stating the rules adopted by the duly constitutedauthorities of the state political party for participation in theparty's primaries to be held from April 1 of that year through March31 of the following year.
Board of Education; model policies on parentalreview of instructional material; local adoption. Requires theBoard of Education to adopt and distribute to each school board modelpolicies requiring any instructional material used in any publicelementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth to be open forinspection during normal business hours by the parents of studentsenrolled in the relevant public school, regardless of the copyright status of any such material. The bill requires each school boardto adopt policies that are consistent with such model policies adoptedby the Board.
Vehicle safety inspections; frequency. Extendsfrom 12 months to 24 months the period for which a vehicle safetyinspection is valid.
National Teacher Certification Incentive RewardProgram and Fund; eligibility; incentive grant awards. Renamesthe National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fundas the National Board Certification Incentive Reward Program andFund, expands eligibility for incentive grant awards from such Fundpursuant to such Program from solely teachers who have obtained nationalcertification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standardsto (i) all public school staff who are candidates for initial nationalcertification or maintenance of national certification to cover certaincosts of obtaining or maintaining such certification and (ii) allpublic school staff who have successfully obtained or maintainedsuch certification. The bill also declares as eligible for an annualincentive grant award in the amount of $7,500 all public school staffwho have obtained or maintained such certification. Current law declaresas eligible for an annual incentive grant award of $5,000 in thefirst year and $2,500 in each subsequent year all teachers who haveobtained or maintained such certification.
