School Divisions of Innovation; regulatory exemptions; clock hours of instruction. Requires the Board of Education's regulations relating to the designation of School Divisions of Innovation to require the local school board in the local school division so designated to be exempted, pursuant to a plan of innovation, from the regulatory requirement for a student to successfully complete 140 clock hours of instruction in order to earn a standard or verified unit of credit. This bill was incorporated into HB 1477.
School boards; placement in alternative educationprograms; disclosure of certain information in delinquency cases.Requires the clerk of any court in which a disposition is enteredor deferred in any proceeding where a student is charged with anoffense that, pursuant to relevant law, is required to be disclosedto the superintendent of the school division in which the studentis enrolled to, upon request of any such division superintendent,provide additional information that may be relevant to such student'splacement in an alternative education program, including the circumstancessurrounding the disposition or deferred disposition and any conditionsordered in relation to a deferred disposition. If the student is notenrolled in school at the time the disposition is entered or deferred,the clerk is required to send the additional information to the divisionsuperintendent of the school in which he was enrolled at the timeof the offense, upon request of such division superintendent.
Virginia Public Procurement Act; procurement of electric vehicles; forced and child labor prohibition. Prohibits public bodies from awarding contracts to acquire an electric vehicle or electric vehicle component from a business unless such business provides a sworn declaration from the manufacturer of such electric vehicle or electric vehicle component certifying that every person involved in the production of such electric vehicle or electric vehicle component and every person involved in the sourcing, manufacturing, or mining of the material used in such electric vehicle or electric vehicle component did not use forced labor or oppressive child labor, both terms defined in the bill, in the sourcing, manufacturing, or mining of such electric vehicle or electric vehicle component.
Vehicle exhaust systems; inspection and administrative fee. Prohibits passenger vehicle exhaust systems from emitting noise in excess of 95 decibels in Planning District 8 on a highway; any driveway or premises of a church, school, recreational facility, or business; any governmental property open to the public; any industrial establishment providing parking space for customers, patrons, or employees; and any highway under construction or not yet open to the public. The bill allows, in Planning District 8, a law-enforcement officer to stop a passenger vehicle he determines is emitting exhaust system noise in excess of such limit and issue a notice of an administrative fee of $250 to be assessed at the time of the vehicle's next registration renewal and establishes a process for inspecting such vehicle. The bill has a contingent effective date of January 1, 2025, provided that the Department of Environmental Quality has received the necessary funding to supply the necessary equipment for such vehicle exhaust system inspections to inspection stations. The bill sunsets on July 1, 2027.
Dam Safety, Flood Prevention, and Protection Assistance Fund; percentage of funds available; owner match requirements. Reduces from 50 percent to 30 percent the project match required of applicants to receive funds from the Dam Safety, Flood Prevention, and Protection Assistance Fund for grants (i) to a local government that owns a dam, (ii) to a local government for a dam located within the locality, or (iii) to a private entity that owns a dam for the design, repair, and safety modifications of such a dam if it is identified in a safety report. The bill provides that grants made from the Fund to a local government or private entity for the determination of the hazard classification for impounding structures, dam break analysis, the mapping and digitization of dam break inundation zones, incremental damage analysis, and other engineering requirements shall require no more than a 10 percent match by the applicant except that such applicant shall be required to provide a minimum of $5,000 of the cost of the project, if funded, and such match provided by such applicant may be used to pay the application fees for the necessary impounding structure operation and maintenance certificate. The bill removes the 50 percent limit on matching grants that owners of impounding structures may be eligible for from the Fund and other sources of funding available to the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation to assist in the development of dam break inundation zone maps and for conducting incremental damage assessments in accordance with the Virginia Impounding Structure Regulations. The bill also removes the limitation that the total amount of expenditures for grants in any fiscal year are not to exceed 50 percent of the total noninterest or income deposits made to the Fund during the previous fiscal year together with the total amount collected in interest or income from the investment of moneys in the Fund from the previous year as determined at the beginning of the fiscal year.
Southwest Regional Recreation Authority; powers. Provides for the Attorney General to provide legal services in civil matters upon the request of the executive director or board of directors of the Southwest Regional Recreation Authority. The bill also provides for the board of the Authority to adopt policies for the procurement of goods and services and requires such policies to incorporate certain provisions of the Virginia Public Procurement Act. In addition, the bill (i) makes the provisions of the Virginia Personnel Act and the policies of the Department of Human Resource Management applicable to employees of the Authority and (ii) authorizes the Director of the Department of General Services to lease vehicles and construction and forestry equipment to the Authority.
Public schools; instructional time. Makes several changes relating to student instructional time in public elementary and secondary schools, including (i) defining "instructional hour" for the purpose of minimum annual instructional hour requirements; (ii) establishing several provisions and requirements relating to the enrollment of part-time students in public elementary and secondary schools; (iii) requiring the Board of Education to adopt rules for approving alternative programs for which course credit may be granted for the purpose of satisfying high school graduation requirements to any student who completes such course and masters the course content by demonstrating at least 80 percent of the competencies required by course standards, regardless of time, place, or pace; and (iv) permitting school boards that govern school divisions of innovation to adopt instructional time models that allow students to personalize the pace of learning and accelerate their learning based on the mastery of course content by demonstrating at least 80 percent of the competencies required by course standards, regardless of time, place, or pace. This bill was incorporated into HB 1477.
Maximum number of judges in each judicial district. Increases from five to six the maximum number of authorized juvenile and domestic relations district court judges in the Thirty-first Judicial District. This bill is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts and is incorporated into HB 310.
Sale, transfer, etc., of certain firearms and firearm magazines; Virginia Firearm Buy-Back Program and Fund established; penalties. Provides that, unless otherwise prohibited by law, any person may import, sell, transfer, manufacture, or purchase an authorized rifle, defined in the bill, in accordance with the relevant provisions of law. The bill makes it a Class 6 felony for any person to import, sell, transfer, manufacture, or purchase a restricted rifle or large-capacity firearm magazine, both defined in the bill, with certain exceptions. The bill also provides that a person is civilly liable for injuries to person or property or wrongful death of another caused by a third party if it can be shown that the civil defendant sold or transferred a restricted rifle or large-capacity firearm magazine in violation of the provisions of the bill to the person who committed the crime resulting in such injury or death.The bill also provides that no person shall sell a firearm unless at least three days have elapsed from the time the prospective purchaser completes the written consent form to have a licensed dealer obtain criminal history record information, with exceptions enumerated in the bill.The bill also directs the Department of State Police to develop policies for the establishment of uniform standards for the creation of the Virginia Firearm Buy-Back Program. The bill clarifies that participation in the Program by a local law-enforcement agency is voluntary and also directs the Department to establish the Virginia Firearm Buy-Back Fund, a nonreverting fund to be used solely for the purposes of development and implementation of the Program.
High school graduation requirements; satisfaction of certain course credits with workforce credentials; development and maintenance of list of accepted credentials. Requires the Board of Education, in collaboration with the Virginia Community College System, to develop and maintain a current, comprehensive, and uniform list of industry-recognized workforce credentials that students may take as a substitute for certain units of credit required for graduation, including such credentials that are accepted as substitutes for (i) laboratory science credits or (ii) electives credits. The bill provides that such list uniformly applies across each local school division and that each school board is required to accept as a substitute for a required credit any credential listed as an accepted substitute for such required credit. The bill also requires any College and Career Access Pathways Partnership entered into between a school board and a comprehensive community college to specify, consistent with the list, industry-recognized credentials that are accepted as substitutes for certain credits required for high school graduation. Finally, the bill requires the Board, in establishing graduation requirements, to permit any student to substitute (a) three standard units of credit and one verified credit in laboratory science or (b) credits for electives for completion of any industry-approved workforce credential that is included on the list as an accepted substitute for such credits. This bill was incorporated into HB 1345.
Sales and use tax on services. Levies the retail sales and use tax on the following services: admissions; charges for recreation, fitness, or sports facilities; nonmedical personal services or counseling; dry cleaning and laundry services; companion animal care; residential home repair or maintenance, landscaping, or cleaning services when paid for directly by a resident or homeowner; vehicle and engine repair; repairs or alterations to tangible personal property; storage of tangible personal property; delivery or shipping services; travel, event, and aesthetic planning services; and communications services that are not subject to the communications sales and use tax and are not digital personal property.The bill also imposes the retail sales and use tax on digital personal property, defined in the bill as a digital product delivered electronically that the purchaser owns or has the ability to continually access without having to pay an additional subscription or usage fee to the seller after paying the initial purchase price.Revenues generated by the taxes levied on services and digital personal property shall be allocated in the same manner as other sales and use taxes; however, revenues from the state portion of the sales and use tax that would be allocated to the general fund shall instead be allocated to school divisions as follows: (i) 60 percent shall be distributed to localities on the basis of school-age population and (ii) 40 percent shall be distributed to localities on the basis of the high-need student population in the locality. The bill clarifies that a high-need student population includes students who are (a) automatically certified for free school meals because of participation in social services programs, (b) participants in a program of special education, or (c) English language learners.The bill provides certain exemptions to the sales and use tax on services, including health care services that must be performed by a person licensed or certified by the Department of Health Professions, veterinary services, professional services, Internet access services, and services provided by a person who does not receive more than $2,500 per year in gross receipts for performance of such services. The bill exempts services purchased by a nonprofit organization and services purchased by a homeowners' association or by a landlord for the benefit of his tenant. The bill also repeals the service exemptions currently provided for the sale of custom programs and modification of prewritten programs.The bill imposes the communications sales and use tax on prepaid calling services and on digital subscription services, defined in the bill as services for which the user pays in order to access and use software, reading materials, or other digital data or applications for a defined period of time, which products the user does not own or have permanent access to outside of such period of time.
Child tax credit. Creates a tax credit for taxable years 2024 through 2028 for individuals whose households include dependents younger than the age of 18. The bill provides that the amount of the credit will be equal to $500 for each such dependent for an individual or married persons filing a joint return whose family Virginia adjusted gross income, as defined by Virginia code, does not exceed $100,000. The bill provides that if the taxpayer is a resident of the Commonwealth for the full taxable year, and the amount of such credit exceeds the taxpayer's liability for the taxable year, the excess shall be refunded by the Tax Commissioner.
