Professions and occupations; regulation of geologists. Adds geology to the definition of "professional services" as used in the Virginia Public Procurement Act. The bill also eliminates the option for the Board for Professional Soil Scientists, Wetland Professionals, and Geologists to waive the examination requirement for licensure as a professional geologist for an applicant who has at least 12 years of geological work. The bill also requires the Board to promulgate regulations governing continuing education requirements for geologists licensed by the Board that require the completion of eight hours annually in continuing education for any license renewal or reinstatement. This bill is identical to SB 492.
Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. Makes several amendments for the purposes of regulatory boards within the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation to include (i) removing the exemption for a person engaged in the practice of engineering, architecture, or land surveying as a full-time, salaried employee of the Commonwealth on March 8, 1992, from certain licensure requirements provided the employee does not furnish advisory service for compensation to the public in connection with engineering, architecture, or land surveying; (ii) providing that any state agency or political subdivision that is unable to employ a qualified licensed engineer, architect, or land surveyor to fill a responsible charge position, after a reasonable and unsuccessful search, may fill the position with an unlicensed person upon the determination by the chief administrative officer of the agency or political subdivision that the person, by virtue of education, experience, and expertise, can perform the work required of the position; (iii) directing the Board for Hearing Aid Specialists and Opticians to promulgate regulations for the issuance of training permits and work permits; and (iv) repealing provisions of the Code allowing for the waiver of examinations for wax technicians and estheticians. The bill contains technical amendments.
Special election to fill certain vacancies in the General Assembly; deadline for parties to nominate. Requires parties to nominate candidates for any special election to fill a vacancy in the General Assembly occurring between December 10 and March 1 within seven days of any writ of election or order calling such special election.
Tax Commissioner; information sharing; eligibility for medical assistance. Authorizes the Tax Commissioner to provide to the Virginia Health Benefit Exchange information voluntarily provided by taxpayers for the purposes of identifying persons who meet the income eligibility requirements for medical assistance and would like to newly enroll in medical assistance. The bill authorizes the Virginia Health Benefit Exchange to divulge to the Department of Medical Assistance Services and the Department of Social Services, upon entering into a written agreement, such information to facilitate such enrollments and applications, as applicable. The bill contains technical amendments and is effective for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2026.
Service member community members; medical care facilities; health care equity. Permits medical care facilities to screen each patient for information on their eligibility as a service member community member, as defined by the bill. The bill permits medical care facilities to identify service member community members as a vulnerable population and comply with the most recent health care equity standards published by The Joint Commission.
Department of Environmental Quality; special orders; Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Program; civil penalties. Increases the maximum civil penalty amount that the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality may assess for any special order to a person to comply with certain related laws, regulations, permits, and certifications from $10,000 to $32,500. The bill increases from $1,000 to $32,500 the maximum civil penalty that a locality authorized to administer a Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Program is able to collect for any one violation of certain regulations, orders, ordinances, program provisions, conditions of land-disturbance approvals, and provisions of state law. The bill also provides, however, that for a land-disturbing activity that (i) disturbs an area measuring at least 10,000 square feet but less than one acre in an area not designated as a Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area and (ii) is not part of a larger common plan of development or sale that disturbs one or more acres of land, the civil penalty shall not exceed $5,000 for each violation, and a series of violations arising from the same set of facts shall not exceed $50,000.
An Act to amend and reenact §§ 13.1-803, 13.1-804, 13.1-804.1, 13.1-806 through 13.1-811, 13.1-813 through 13.1-816, 13.1-819 through 13.1-828, 13.1-831, 13.1-834, 13.1-835, 13.1-837 through 13.1-852.1, 13.1-853 through 13.1-860, 13.1-862, 13.1-864, 13.1-865, 13.1-867 through 13.1-870.1, 13.1-871, 13.1-872 through 13.1-897.1, 13.1-898.2 through 13.1-898.5, 13.1-899, 13.1-900, 13.1-902, 13.1-904 through 13.1-910, 13.1-912 through 13.1-923, 13.1-925 through 13.1-936.1, 13.1-937, 13.1-939, 13.1-945, 13.1-1002, and 13.1-1082 of the Code of Virginia; to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Chapter 10 of Title 13.1 an article numbered 1.1, consisting of sections numbered 13.1-814.2 through 13.1-814.9, by adding sections numbered 13.1-837.1 and 13.1-837.2, by adding in Article 7 of Chapter 10 of Title 13.1 a section numbered 13.1-852.01, by adding in Chapter 10 of Title 13.1 an article numbered 7.2, consisting of sections numbered 13.1-852.3 through 13.1-852.7, by adding sections numbered 13.1-861.1, 13.1-871.2, 13.1-889.1, 13.1-894.1, 13.1-895.1, and 13.1-898.5:1, by adding in Chapter 10 of Title 13.1 an article numbered 11.2, consisting of sections numbered 13.1-898.8 through 13.1-898.14, by adding in Article 13 of Chapter 10 of Title 13.1 a section numbered 13.1-901.1, by adding in Chapter 10 of Title 13.1 an article numbered 13.1, consisting of sections numbered 13.1-918.1 and 13.1-918.2, and by adding a section numbered 13.1-935.2; and to repeal §§ 13.1-898.6 and 13.1-898.7 and Article 17.1 (§§ 13.1-944.1 through 13.1-944.7) of Chapter 10 of Title 13.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Virginia Nonstock Corporation Act.
Public education; early childhood care and education; child care access calculations; report. Requires the Department of Education to establish and maintain calculations for the provision of early childhood care and education services based on cost of quality rate per child, actual data from the prior year, an estimate of parental demand and choice preferences based on historic growth trends and current eligibility criteria, and an estimate of the number of slots to be added to support local or regional economic development efforts and public-private partnerships focused on increasing the supply of child care services, giving priority to localities or regions identified as child care deserts, as determined by the Department. The bill also contains several provisions relating to the use and appropriation of funds as applicable to such calculations, including (i) providing that the calculations shall not obligate the General Assembly to a specific appropriation, (ii) requiring the calculations to be used to provide information to guide the General Assembly in making decisions about the proportion of parental demand for and supply of early childhood care and education services to be addressed and level of appropriation required to address such demand, and (iii) providing that the annual overall funding available for slots shall be subject to appropriation as determined by the General Assembly. The bill also provides that if waitlists for slots at early childhood care and education sites remain, up to $5 million from prior-year unexpended state general funds appropriated for such purpose in a general appropriation act may be carried forward to the current fiscal year to temporarily provide additional slots during the current fiscal year solely to reduce or eliminate waitlists, unless the general appropriation act authorizes a greater amount to be carried forward and that such prior-year funds shall not be used to increase the base amount of funding required in the subsequent fiscal year and the Department shall monitor program utilization and attrition to ensure that no families will lose access at the end of the current fiscal year. Finally, the bill requires the Department to annually submit to the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education and post on its website a report on the data used to calculate the minimum funding and number of slots for the calculations in accordance with the provisions of the bill. This bill is identical to HB 1208.
Virginia Consumer Protection Act; shipping goods without certain information. Provides that it is a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act for a supplier to ship goods to a consumer in the Commonwealth in accordance with an automatic renewal or continuous service offer without including a shipping invoice stating (i) the amount the consumer was charged for shipping, if any; (ii) information on how to return the goods, if returns are accepted by the supplier; and (iii) information on how to cancel the automatic renewal or continuous service offer. The bill exempts any supplier that provides such information to a consumer by a timely electronic confirmation of purchase or by otherwise making such information readily available.
Insurance; contingent deferred annuities; nonforfeiture benefits. Permits the State Corporation Commission to adopt reasonable standards for contingent deferred annuities, as defined in the bill, including nonforfeiture benefits. The bill subjects contingent deferred annuities to certain requirements applicable under current law to other types of insurance contracts.
Contracts; retainage bonds permitted in construction contracts. Allows, in any construction contract between an owner and a general contractor or between a general contractor and a subcontractor, such contractor or subcontractor to tender a retainage bond, defined in the bill, as a substitute for retainage withheld as security in such contracts. The provisions of the bill do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2027 Session of the General Assembly.
Excise tax on peanuts; sunset extended. Extends from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2027, the sunset date of the excise tax on all peanuts grown in and sold in Virginia for processing.
