School Construction Program; use of grants; debt service. Permits local school boards to use School Construction Program grants to make debt service payments on the construction of new public school buildings or the renovation or expansion of existing public school buildings and facilities in the local school division.
Certain school divisions; cost-savings agreements; requirements. Removes the limitation on any school board that enters into certain cost-savings agreements with a school board that governs a contiguous school division for the consolidation or sharing of educational, administrative, or support services and thus qualifies for adjustment of the state share of basic aid computed annually on the basis of the composite index of local ability-to-pay of such contiguous school division that caps such adjusted basic aid payment at an amount equal to the basic aid payment appropriated to such locality by the 2007 Session of the General Assembly. The bill also permits, notwithstanding the requirement set forth in relevant law that a school division have 65 percent or more of its local taxes come from real estate taxes in order for the school board that governs such school division to be eligible to enter into such cost-savings agreements with a contiguous school division, the Bath County School Board to enter into such cost-savings agreements with the Augusta County School Board, provided that all other conditions and limitations set forth in relevant law apply to any such agreement.
Rappahannock Area Transportation Authority created; funding; recordation tax; sales and use tax; report. Creates the Rappahannock Area Transportation Authority, initially comprising the counties with a population in excess of 150,000 and cities located in Planning District 16. The bill authorizes any locality in Planning District 16 to join the Authority by resolution or ordinance of such governing body. The Authority will administer transportation funding generated through the imposition of (i) an additional regional 0.5 percent sales and use tax, (ii) an additional transportation improvement grantor's fee at a rate of $0.06 per $100 of the consideration for the conveyance, and (iii) a local transportation transient occupancy tax at a rate of one percent of the amount of the charge for the occupancy of any room or space occupied in any county or city in Planning District 16. The bill also increases the annual distribution of recordation tax revenues to cities and counties from $20 million to $55 million and dedicates $15 million of such annual distribution to the Rappahannock Area Transportation Fund, created by the bill.
Human trafficking digital identification and reporting platforms; duties of Human Trafficking Response Coordinator; quarterly reports. Creates a process for the use of digital identification and reporting platforms, defined in the bill, to report suspected instances of human trafficking. The bill requires the Human Trafficking Response Coordinator to certify such platforms and requires the administering organization, defined in the bill, of such platform to submit quarterly performance reports to the Coordinator and the General Assembly on certain data. The bill expands the use of funds from the existing Virginia Prevention of Sex Trafficking Fund to be utilized for such programs. Lastly, the bill states that the provisions of the bill are subject to the availability of funds appropriated for such purposes.
State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; work group; study; uniform acceptance of credit earned through participation in certain volunteer or public service organizations; report. Requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to establish a work group consisting of representatives of each baccalaureate public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth and such other stakeholders as it deems appropriate to study the feasibility of the uniform acceptance by each such institution of college credit earned through student participation in certain volunteer or public service organizations such as AmeriCorps. The bill requires the work group, in conducting such study, to consider barriers to implementation, strategies for ensuring the rigor and quality of the service-learning opportunities for which credit would be granted, and innovative approaches in other states that could be emulated in the Commonwealth, such as California College Corps or similar state-sanctioned programs whereby students have access to a statewide program of service-learning opportunities through partnerships between campuses and community-based service organizations. The bill requires the work group to submit its findings to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2026.
Department of Health; mobile food units; centralized office; study; report. Directs the Department of Health to conduct a study to determine the viability of establishing a centralized mobile food unit office that processes licensure, permitting, taxation, and any other procedures relevant to the operation of a mobile food unit. The bill directs the Department to report its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House Committee on Health and Human Services and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2026.
Health insurance; pharmacy benefits managers; requirements and prohibited conduct; retail pharmacy network access standards; enforcement; civil penalty. Amends the definition of "pharmacy benefits management" to exclude certain activities and amends certain provisions related to prohibited conduct by health carriers and pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs). The bill prohibits a health carrier or PBM from denying a pharmacy the opportunity to participate in a network at preferred status if the pharmacy is willing to accept the same terms and conditions as other pharmacies that receive preferred status. The bill prohibits a health carrier or PBM from retroactively denying or reducing reimbursement for a covered service claim, except in certain circumstances. The bill also prohibits health carriers and PBMs from failing to make a payment due to a pharmacy or pharmacist upon termination from a network and from charging a pharmacist or pharmacy a fee related to participation in a PBM's network. Under the bill, no PBM shall restrict a pharmacy from informing an individual of any differential between the individual's out-of-pocket costs and the amount the individual would pay to purchase the drug directly or through the individual's health insurance coverage. The bill also requires PBMs to establish and maintain an electronic claim inquiry processing system using national standards to provide certain disclosures and to maintain records of network development activities. The bill prohibits a PBM from including the name of any pharmacy or hospital in any material issued by the PBM unless it lists all pharmacies participating in the preferred and nonpreferred pharmacy and health networks. Under the bill, the Attorney General is authorized to issue civil investigative demands regarding violations of the provisions of the bill and to bring an action in circuit court to enjoin any violation of such provisions. If the court finds that a person has willfully violated the provisions of the bill, the Attorney General may assess a civil penalty of up to 5,000 per violation.
Competency treatment in misdemeanor proceedings. Provides that in cases where the defendant has been charged with a misdemeanor offense, the court may (i) order outpatient treatment or (ii) dismiss the charges. Where a defendant is found to be incompetent, the bill permits a court to (a) order that such defendant receive treatment to restore his competency on an outpatient basis in a local correctional facility or at a location determined by the appropriate community services board or behavioral health authority, (b) order that such defendant be evaluated to determine whether he meets the criteria for temporary detention, or (c) dismiss the misdemeanor charge and release such defendant. The bill also requires a court to dismiss misdemeanor charges in a competency proceeding when a defendant is charged with both misdemeanor and felony offenses.
Study; Department of Human Resource Management; required annual trainings; state employees; public elementary and secondary school teachers; report. Directs the Department of Human Resource Management (the Department), in collaboration with the Department of Education and the Board of Education, to review the number of annual trainings required of employees of the Commonwealth and public elementary and secondary school teachers and determine if certain trainings could be reduced in frequency. The bill directs the Department to report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly no later than January 1, 2027.
Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity; work group; one-stop small business permitting program. Directs the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity to convene a work group to determine methods of modernizing the existing one-stop small business permitting program.
Potomac River Ferry Restoration of Service Working Group; report. Requires the Commissioner of Highways to convene the Potomac River Ferry Restoration of Service Working Group (the Working Group) to identify and implement a solution to resume ferry service for any ferry service that ceased operations on or after December 1, 2020, between Point of Rocks and the American Legion Bridge along the Potomac River. The bill authorizes the Office of the Attorney General, Secretary of Transportation, and Commissioner of Highways to enter into any agreement proposed by the Working Group, provided that each such official determines that the agreement is necessary, prudent, and in the public interest, and the agreement places no additional financial burden on the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Working Group to submit a report on its findings and recommendations by December 1, 2026.
Aggravated murder; admission to bail; rebuttable presumption against bail; magistrates. Creates a rebuttable presumption against bail for certain criminal offenses enumerated in the bill. The bill requires the court to consider certain factors when determining whether the presumption against bail has been rebutted and whether there are appropriate conditions of release. The bill also expands the information a judicial officer can consider for determining bail, including any involuntary admission or commitment order within the previous three years, and provides that any person arrested for a felony who (i) has never been convicted of a violent offense, as defined in § 19.2-297.1, but his current arrest is for a violent felony, or (ii) has been convicted within the previous 10 years of three or more offenses, provided that each such offense is a Class 1 misdemeanor or felony and that the defendant has been at liberty between such convictions, may be released only upon a secure bond. The bill requires the judicial officer to file written findings if he grants bail in certain instances. Additionally, the bill requires the chief magistrate to file a written order with the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court if a magistrate is suspended that states the reasons for such suspension, including a failure to issue such written findings. Lastly, the bill also provides that the willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person while such person is on or within a vehicle operated by a public transportation service, as defined in relevant law, is guilty of aggravated murder.
