State plan for medical assistance services;adult hearing screenings; audiological examinations; hearing aids.Directs the Board of Medical Assistance Services to amend the stateplan for medical assistance services to include a provision for paymentof medical assistance for all medically necessary (i) adult hearingscreenings; (ii) audiological examinations; (iii) initial purchasesor replacements of hearing aids, up to $1,500 per year; and (iv)hearing aid batteries, up to 60 batteries per year.
Southside Regional Recreation Authority.
Certification of boiler and pressure vesseloperators by localities. Repeals an existing statute that allowslocalities by ordinance to require certification of boiler and pressurevessel operators.
Attorney General; instituting or conductingcriminal prosecutions for violations of criminal sexual assault andcommercial sex trafficking committed against children. Authorizesthe Attorney General to institute or conduct criminal prosecutionsin cases involving a violation of criminal sexual assault or commercialsex trafficking when such crimes are committed against children.
Virginia Public Procurement Act; participationby veteran-owned small businesses. Requires all public bodiesto include in their goals for participation by small businesses aminimum of five percent participation by veteran-owned businessesand service disabled veteran-owned businesses. Current law only requiresa goal of three percent participation by service disabled veteran-ownedbusinesses and does not impose such goal upon local public bodies.The bill also requires the Department of General Services to updatethe eVA portal to include a category for veteran-owned and servicedisabled veteran-owned small businesses that is conspicuous to thegeneral public to easily display and search set-aside opportunitiesfor such businesses.
Possession, purchase, or transportation of handgunby persons convicted of certain drug offenses and operating a boator vehicle while intoxicated prohibited; penalty. Provides thatany person who within a five-year period has been convicted of two misdemeanor driving or boating while intoxicated offenses shall beineligible to possess, purchase, or transport a handgun. The billalso provides that any person who within a three-year period hasbeen convicted of two misdemeanor drug offenses shall be ineligibleto possess a handgun. Under current law, such person who has beenconvicted of two misdemeanor drug offenses is ineligible to purchaseor transport a handgun. The bill also provides that any person whois convicted of a second or subsequent offense for violating theprohibition on possessing, purchasing, or transporting a handgunfollowing convictions of these offenses shall be given the opportunityto voluntarily relinquish any firearm in his possession.
Department of Motor Vehicles; commercial driver'slicense work group. Directs the Department of Motor Vehiclesto convene a work group to develop and implement a statewide strategyto incentivize and promote the issuance of commercial driver's licensesto qualified applicants in the Commonwealth.
Virginia-Ireland Advisory Board established;report. Creates the Virginia-Ireland Advisory Board to advisethe Governor and General Assembly on ways to improve economic andcultural links between Virginia and Ireland, with a focus on theareas of commerce and trade, art and education, and general government.The bill requires the Board to submit an annual report to the Governorand General Assembly.
Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; conservation officers. Extends membership in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System (VaLORS) to conservation officers of the Department of Conservationand Recreation. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1,2025, and provides that such membership would apply only to serviceearned on or after July 1, 2025.
Local government employees; expression of certainopinions protected. Provides that an employee of a locality shallnot be penalized by his employer for expressing his opinion regardinga current or proposed regulation, rule, policy, position, or otheraction or purpose of a public body at an open meeting of such publicbody when such employee is speaking on his own behalf. The bill excludesany speech that is unprotected under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, including speech that (i) incites violence;(ii) is obscene, defamatory, or fraudulent; or (iii) discloses privilegedand confidential information. The bill specifies that for purposesof this provision an employee of a locality does not include anyperson appointed to a position in a locality by an elected officialor by a government body composed in whole or in part of electedofficials.
Validity of conservation easements; open-spaceland; public body. Requires the public body to hold a conservationeasement or the public body acquiring real property for open-space land to determine that the limitations or obligations fromacquiring such easement or real property for open-space land conformin all respects to the comprehensive plan for the area in which theeasement or real property is located.
Firearm safety device tax credit; definitions.Defines an "eligible transaction" for purposes of the firearm safetydevice tax credit as one in which a taxpayer purchases one or morefirearm safety devices from a commercial retailer, as defined inthe bill.
