Department of Health; opioid antagonist distribution program; reports. Directs the Department of Health to maintain a list of agencies and organizations that submit requests for and receive opioid antagonists through its distribution program and requires the Department to submit a quarterly report to the Chairs of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Resources, House Health and Human Services Committee, Senate Finance and Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Resources, and Senate Subcommittee on Health, and the chair of the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority on its distribution of opioid antagonists. The bill requires the Department to submit an annual report to the Joint Commission on Health Care and the Chairs of the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee by December 1 of each year estimating the costs of the opioid antagonist distribution program for the following fiscal year using a methodology developed by the Department pursuant to parameters set out in the bill. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Health Care.
Law-enforcement agencies; agreements with federal authority for immigration enforcement; requirements. Prohibits any state or local law-enforcement agency, defined in the bill, from maintaining, renewing, or entering into any federal immigration agreement unless such agreement contains certain provisions. The bill also prohibits any person acting in his capacity as a law-enforcement officer to assist, cooperate with, or use any law-enforcement resources to facilitate any operation that seeks to identify, arrest, or otherwise impose a penalty upon an individual for any violation of federal civil immigration law. The bill provides that such prohibition shall not apply (i) if the authority to enforce such laws is otherwise permitted or required by law; (ii) if the person acting in his capacity as a law-enforcement officer is presented with a valid judicial warrant or judicial subpoena that authorizes such enforcement; or (iii) to the transfer of custody of an adult convicted of certain violent felonies from a state, local, or regional correctional facility upon such correctional facility's receipt of a federal immigration detainer. This bill is identical to HB 1441.
Elections; administration; acceptance of certain gifts and funding; approval required. Removes the prohibition on accepting property and services provided by a private individual or nongovernmental entity for the purpose of funding voter education and outreach programs, voter registration programs, or any other expense incurred in the conduct of elections. Conditions the acceptance of money or grants of greater than $1,000 given by a private individual or nongovernmental entity for the purpose of funding voter education and outreach programs, voter registration programs, or any other expense incurred in the conduct of elections on approval of such funding by a two-thirds majority vote of all members of the State Board of Elections or the local governing body.
Distributed Energy Resources Task Force established; reports; sunset. Establishes the Distributed Energy Resources Task Force as an advisory commission within the executive branch with the purpose of developing a comprehensive strategy to advance the Commonwealth's transition toward integrated distributed energy resource markets and to support the Commonwealth's compliance with certain regulations. The bill describes the membership, powers, and duties of the Task Force and requires the Task Force to submit various reports to the Governor, the State Corporation Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Chairs of the House Committee on Labor and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor. The bill sunsets on July 1, 2027. This bill is identical to SB 223.
Elections administration; certain activities or conduct prohibited at polling places applicable to locations for absentee voting in person; prohibited possession of firearm within 100 feet of certain locations. Clarifies that the provisions of law prohibiting certain activities or conduct in and around a polling place shall also apply to locations where absentee voting in person is available. The bill also prohibits any person, with certain exceptions, from (i) knowingly carrying any firearm and (ii) knowingly doing so within 100 feet of the entrance of a polling place, the building used by the local electoral board to meet to ascertain election results, the building used to conduct a recount of an election, and other additional locations used for voting-related and elections-related activities. Under current law, this prohibition applies within 40 feet of such entrances.
Local competitive bidding for compost and other products containing organic soil amendments; waste disposal infrastructure; civil penalty. Allows the governing body of a locality to give preference to compost or other products containing organic soil amendments produced within such locality in the case of a tie bid when determining the award of any contract for compost or other products containing soil amendments to be purchased for use by such locality. The bill also provides that any locality may by ordinance require that certain generators, as defined in the bill, of large quantities of organic waste separate the organic waste from other solid waste and ensure that the organic waste is diverted from final disposal in a refuse disposal system by any of a variety of specified waste diversion activities. The ordinance may also establish civil penalties for violations of the ordinance, but a locality shall first issue a warning to a generator that violates the ordinance. Finally, the bill expresses that it is the intent of the General Assembly that new public school buildings and facilities and improvements and renovations to existing public school buildings and facilities include waste disposal infrastructure, as defined in the bill, that includes a place for the disposal of trash, recyclables, and food scraps and a sink for liquid waste. This bill is identical to SB 226.
Transportation network companies; requirements; civil penalties. Adds various additional requirements for (i) transportation network companies, including ensuring options for audio and video recording of rides for TNC partners and riders and requiring a TNC partner to verify his identity through the digital platform prior to the activation of a TNC partner's account and periodically thereafter, and (ii) TNC partners, including changes to requirements for background checks and circumstances that disqualify them from acting as TNC partners, verification of identity, and prohibitions on sharing digital platform accounts or credentials. The bill imposes civil penalties for transportation network companies or TNC partners who violate certain requirements to which they are subject and provides that the funds for such civil penalties be paid to the Department of Motor Vehicles for the administration of certain requirements of the bill. The provisions of the bill do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2027 Session of the General Assembly.
Virginia Parole Board; powers and duties; juvenile offenders; parole procedures and considerations. Increases the members of the Virginia Parole Board (the Board) from up to five to at least 11 members, five of whom shall be appointed by the Governor within 60 days of inauguration, three of whom shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates within 60 days of a new House being sworn in during a Senate election year, and three of whom shall be appointed by the Chair of the Senate Committee on Rules within 60 days of a new Senate being sworn in after an election, and all of whom shall be subject to confirmation by the General Assembly, if in session when such appointment is made, and if not in session, then at its next succeeding session. The bill specifies that all members of the Board shall have significant professional experience working in criminal law, corrections, reentry and community services, or victim services and that the Board members appointed by the Governor shall include (i) an attorney with significant experience in criminal prosecution; (ii) an attorney with significant experience in criminal defense; (iii) a qualified mental health professional with relevant background in adolescent development, trauma responses, psychology, and decision-making; and (iv) a representative of a crime victims organization or a victim of crime. These provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2028. The bill also requires the Board to provide a meaningful opportunity for release to certain juvenile offenders eligible for parole and specifies various factors the Board shall give substantial weight to when making a determination on whether to grant parole to such juvenile offender. The bill allows a juvenile offender to request for reconsideration or appeal of a decision by the Board not to grant parole based on (a) the Board's failure to give substantial weight to such juvenile offender's age and its related mitigating circumstances as required by the bill or (b) the Board's overreliance on static factors such as the nature and circumstances of the offense and failure to ground its decision in evidence of maturity, rehabilitation, and a lack of present danger to public safety. The bill requires the Board to provide individualized reasons for the grant or denial of parole upon reconsideration or appeal. The bill also requires that if parole is denied for any such juvenile offender, each Board member shall identify his reasoning for such decision at the time such member's vote is cast, including any youth-related factor and evidence of maturity and rehabilitation that was considered. The bill requires that the Board provide to such prisoner for whom parole is denied recommendations to demonstrate commitment to rehabilitation and at the next hearing, the Board is required to consider whether the prisoner has followed such recommendations. The bill also requires the Board to annually review the cases of such juvenile offenders eligible for parole. This bill is identical to HB 318.
Interjurisdictional law-enforcement agreements; behavioral health co-response teams. Provides that interjurisdictional law-enforcement agreements may allow for the development of co-response teams staffed by one or more law-enforcement agencies that respond to behavioral health-related calls in multiple jurisdictions. This bill is a recommendation of the Behavioral Health Commission. This bill is identical to HB 248.
Driver training school and driver training instructors; standards; discipline; report. Prohibits the licensure of a person as a driver training school instructor for driver education courses for minors if the person has been convicted of certain sex crimes or any offense that requires registration on the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry. The bill removes the five-year limitation on the period the Department of Motor Vehicles is authorized to set for a licensee whose license was revoked to reapply and provides that if the revocation was due to a conviction of (i) driving under the influence, (ii) reckless driving, (iii) refusal to submit to alcohol or drug testing, or (iv) vehicular manslaughter, such period shall be no less than 10 years. The bill requires the Department to establish and maintain a public, searchable database of disciplinary action taken by the Department against an instructor or driver training school. The bill requires driver training schools to notify students, prospective students, and guardians thereof of any such disciplinary actions taken in the preceding 24 months or while such student is enrolled. The bill also requires the Department to annually by November 1 submit a report to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Transportation detailing such disciplinary actions. This bill is identical to SB 399.
Driver training school and driver training instructors; standards; discipline; report. Prohibits the licensure of a person as a driver training school instructor for driver education courses for minors if the person has been convicted of certain sex crimes or any offense that requires registration on the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry. The bill removes the five-year limitation on the period the Department of Motor Vehicles is authorized to set for a licensee whose license was revoked to reapply and provides that if the revocation was due to a conviction of (i) driving under the influence, (ii) reckless driving, (iii) refusal to submit to alcohol or drug testing, or (iv) vehicular manslaughter, such period shall be no less than 10 years. The bill requires the Department to establish and maintain a public, searchable database of disciplinary action taken by the Department against an instructor or driver training school. The bill requires driver training schools to notify students, prospective students, and guardians thereof of any such disciplinary actions taken in the preceding 24 months or while such student is enrolled. The bill also requires the Department to annually by November 1 submit a report to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Transportation detailing such disciplinary actions. This bill is identical to HB 559.
Interjurisdictional law-enforcement agreements; behavioral health co-response teams. Provides that interjurisdictional law-enforcement agreements may allow for the development of co-response teams staffed by one or more law-enforcement agencies that respond to behavioral health-related calls in multiple jurisdictions. This bill is a recommendation of the Behavioral Health Commission. This bill is identical to SB 317.
