Display of license plate; only rear plate required; exception. Permits every registered motor vehicle to display a single license plate issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles on the rear of the vehicle, except for tractor trucks, which shall display such license plate on the front of the vehicle. Current law requires license plates displayed on the front and rear of most such vehicles.
Local governing bodies; appropriations of local school funds to families for compulsory student attendance in nonpublic school settings. Permits any local governing body to reserve per pupil amounts of apportioned Standards of Quality costs and appropriate such amounts to the parents of students in the local school division for the satisfaction of the compulsory attendance of their children in nonpublic school settings.
Alcoholic beverage control; suspension or revocation of certain retail licenses; reinstatement. Provides that if the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority suspends or revokes the license of a retail establishment solely due to the fact that the establishment's food establishment permit from the Department of Health was revoked or suspended, the Board shall automatically reinstate such license once the Department of Health has reinstated the food establishment permit, provided that the licensee is in compliance with all applicable provisions of law.
Individual income tax; first-time homebuyer tax credit. Creates a one-time, nonrefundable individual income tax credit in taxable years 2026 through 2030 for the purchase of a principal residence by a first-time homebuyer, as such terms are defined in the bill, in an amount equal to $5,000. The bill requires that any credits be repaid if the principal residence is sold or no longer serves as the first-time homebuyer's principal residence within three years from the purchase date of such property.
Department of Social Services; children in foster care; supplemental clothing allowance rate increase. Directs the Virginia Department of Social Services to increase the supplemental clothing allowance rate for children in foster care by 30 percent.
Elections; conduct of election; affirmation statement in lieu of identification; additional information required. Requires a person voting absentee in person or at the polls on election day who signs a statement in lieu of providing a valid form of identification to also provide his full name, year of birth, and the last four digits of his social security number, if any. The form containing the statement and voter information is required to be retained as election materials.
Division superintendents; evaluations. Requires each division superintendent performance evaluation to include a self-evaluation component in which the division superintendent describes the specific ways in which he supports student achievement and his goals and plans for improving student achievement. The bill requires each local school board to submit each annual division superintendent performance evaluation to the Department of Education no later than September 30 of the school year following such evaluation for a review of the consistency of the evaluation with the performance objectives set forth in Guidelines for Uniform Performance Standards and Evaluation Criteria for Teachers, Administrators, and Superintendents.
Child day-care facility investment and child day-care expense reimbursement tax credits. Reinstates, beginning January 1, 2027, the day-care facility investment tax credit previously deemed obsolete. The bill allows a taxpayer to claim a nonrefundable income tax credit for 25 percent of amounts incurred for eligible child day-care expenses of the taxpayer's employees that are either paid directly by the taxpayer or reimbursed by such taxpayer to the taxpayer's employees during the taxable year. The bill also increases from $25,000 to $50,000 the amount a taxpayer may claim a credit for establishing a child day-care facility in taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2027. Finally, the bill provides that approval of applications for the credits shall be limited to those that are assumed to result in no more than $5 million of credits in any fiscal year. Under current law, such limit is $100,000.
Department of Education; annual school division health insurance premium data collection and reporting; publication; requirements; regulations. Requires, beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, (i) each school board to annually collect and submit to the Department of Education certain health insurance premium data for the employees of the school board for the preceding fiscal year in accordance with the provisions of the bill and (ii) the Department to annually (a) compile the health insurance premium data submitted by each school board; (b) include such data in the Annual School Report required pursuant to applicable law; and (c) publish the compilation of such data on its website in a format that allows comparison of the data across school divisions, plan types, and coverage levels. The bill directs the Board of Education to promulgate such regulations as necessary for the implementation and administration of the annual school division health insurance premium data collection and reporting in accordance with the provisions of the bill.
Sales and use tax; sales through vending machines. Provides that, beginning January 1, 2027, only a one percent local sales and use tax shall be applied to sales through vending machines of food purchased for human consumption or essential personal hygiene products. Under current law, the rate applicable to such sales is 5.3 percent or six percent, as applicable depending on the locality, plus the one percent local sales and use tax.
High school graduation requirements; hands-on bleeding control training. Requires the Board of Education to establish as a requirement for graduation from high school hands-on practice of the skills necessary to perform bleeding control using a bleeding control kit, as such term is defined in relevant law.
Baccalaureate public institutions of higher education; livestreaming, recording, and archiving of boards of visitors meetings; closed sessions; guidelines. Requires each baccalaureate public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth to (i) provide for the livestreaming of each meeting of its full board of visitors in a manner that is accessible to the public in real time and (ii) ensure that recordings of such meetings (a) are made, archived, and made available to the public within five business days following the conclusion of the meeting; (b) remain accessible on the institution's official website for no less than five years from the date of the meeting; and (c) include closed captioning for accessibility and are presented in a format compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The bill requires the board of visitors of each such institution to include a report on the institution's compliance with the foregoing requirements in its statutorily required annual executive summary. The bill also requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to develop and provide to each baccalaureate public institution of higher education guidelines to assist such institutions with complying with the foregoing requirements, including recommendations for technology standards and accessibility features. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.
