Teacher licensure; three-year license to teach career and technical education or dual enrollment courses at public high schools. Requires the Board of Education to provide for the issuance of a three-year license to teach solely career and technical education courses or dual enrollment courses at public high schools in the Commonwealth to any individual who (i) is employed as an instructor by an institution of higher education that is accredited by a nationally recognized regional accreditation body, (ii) is teaching in the specific career and technical education or dual enrollment subject area at such institution in which the individual seeks to teach at a public high school, and (iii) complies with the requirements set forth in relevant law to complete study in child abuse recognition and intervention and certification or training in emergency first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and the use of automated external defibrillators. The bill requires the Board to require any such instructor to maintain continuous employment in such position at the institution of higher education as a condition of continued licensure.
Individual income tax; first-time homebuyer tax credit. Creates a one-time, nonrefundable individual income tax credit in taxable years 2026 through 2030 for expenses incurred by a first-time homebuyer for the purchase of direct ownership in residential real property in an amount equal to five percent of the purchase price value of such property detailed on the purchase agreement up to $10,000. The bill requires that any credits be repaid in the event that the residential real property for which first-time homebuyer expenses were incurred and such credit was claimed is sold within three years from the purchase date of such property.
Virginia National Guard State Tuition Assistance Program; grants. Requires at least $50,000 of discretionary annual spending of Virginia National Guard State Tuition Assistance Program grant funds to be used for recruitment. Under current law, discretionary spending on recruitment from grant funds is capped at $50,000 per fiscal year.
Department of Veterans Services; benefit awareness and access; program. Establishes an outreach program to ensure military service members transitioning from military to civilian life, veterans, members of the Virginia National Guard, residents of the Commonwealth in the Armed Forces Reserves, and their family members can easily access federal, state, and local benefits and other programs and services available to them. The bill requires the outcomes of such program to be published in the annual report submitted to the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, the Governor, and the General Assembly.
Individual income tax subtractions; tips. Establishes an individual income tax subtraction for income attributable to tips in an amount equal to (i) 25 percent of the federal tip income deduction for taxable year 2026 and (ii) 50 percent of the federal tip income deduction in taxable year 2027 and thereafter.
State Council of Higher Education; Virginia-specific postsecondary transition counselor certificate program; development and establishment. Requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to collaborate with the Council for Exceptional Children and its Division on Career Development and Transition (DCDT) and each public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth that has an education preparation program to develop and establish a Virginia-specific postsecondary transition counselor certificate program that is equivalent in rigor and quality to the National Certification in Transition Services offered by DCDT in order to facilitate the establishment of postsecondary transition counselor certificate programs at such institutions that would qualify for program approval by DCDT.
Department of Conservation and Recreation; acceptance of property to establish a state park; Loudoun County. Authorizes the Department of Conservation and Recreation to accept from The Conservation Fund approximately 1,240 acres of real property and any buildings or structures thereon between Little River Turnpike, James Monroe Highway, and Tail Race Road in Loudoun County, known as Oak Hill Farm, for the purpose of establishing and operating a state park on such property.
Marine Resources Commission; fisheries climate adaptation plan; report. Directs the Marine Resources Commission, in collaboration with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, to develop and maintain a fisheries climate adaptation plan that utilizes the best available science to consider climate-driven impacts to Virginia fisheries and aquaculture and identify adaptive management strategies and research needs necessary to safeguard the economic and environmental health of Virginia fisheries. The Commission is directed to convene a technical advisory committee of relevant stakeholders to aid in the development of such plan, to update the plan at least once every three years, and to submit a report detailing the plan to relevant executive agency personnel and committees of the General Assembly by December 1, 2026, for the initial plan and December 1 in any year in which the plan is updated.
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 2.2-203.3, 2.2-401.01, 2.2-3705.3, 2.2-3705.6, 2.2-3705.7, 2.2-3711, 2.2-3802, 2.2-4002, 2.2-4346, 3.2-102, 3.2-6201, 4.1-100, 4.1-206.3, as it is currently effective and as it shall become effective, 8.01-216.3, 8.01-534, 11-16.1, 11-16.2, 15.2-912.2, 15.2-2825, 18.2-325, 18.2-326, 18.2-334.2 through 18.2-334.5, 19.2-66, 19.2-215.1, 19.2-389, 19.2-390, 22.1-140.1, 37.2-314.2, 52-53, 52-54, 58.1-3, 58.1-439, 58.1-460, 58.1-3510, 58.1-3732.1, and 59.1-542.1 of the Code of Virginia; to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a title numbered 29.5, containing a subtitle numbered I, containing chapters numbered 1 through 6, consisting of sections numbered 29.5-100 through 29.5-648, and a subtitle numbered II, containing chapters numbered 7 and 8, consisting of sections numbered 29.5-700 through 29.5-814; and to repeal §§ 2.2-2455 and 2.2-2456, Article 1.1:1 (§§ 18.2-340.15 through 18.2-340.37) of Chapter 8 of Title 18.2, Chapter 40 (§§ 58.1-4000 through 58.1-4048) of Title 58.1, Chapter 41 (§§ 58.1-4100 through 58.1-4141) of Title 58.1, Chapter 29 (§§ 59.1-364 through 59.1-405) of Title 59.1, and Chapter 51 (§§ 59.1-556 through 59.1-570) of Title 59.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Virginia Gaming Commission; established; penalties.
Firearm purchase requirements; penalties. Requires any person selling a firearm to obtain verification from the Department of State Police that the prospective purchaser is not prohibited under state or federal law or a criminal history record check from possessing a firearm. The bill requires any person purchasing a firearm from a firearms dealer to present a valid firearm purchaser license issued by the Department of State Police that allows the holder to purchase a firearm. The bill prohibits a firearms dealer from selling, renting, trading, or transferring from his inventory any firearm to any person until he has received such permit. The bill sets forth the procedures to apply for the permit and prohibits the permitting of any person who (i) is younger than 21 years of age; (ii) is prohibited from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm; (iii) within the two years prior to the date of application, has been convicted of any offense against a person that is an act of violence, force, or threat or a firearm-related offense that is punished as a Class 1 misdemeanor; or (iv) within the two years prior to the date of application, has not completed a firearms safety or training course or class offered to the public by a law-enforcement agency, institution of higher education, or private or public institution or organization or by a firearms training school utilizing instructors certified or approved by the Department of Criminal Justice Services and with a required curriculum, detailed in the bill. The bill provides that such firearm purchaser license is valid for five years from the date of issuance. The bill details reasons for revocation of a firearm purchaser license and provides that any person who fails to return a revoked firearm purchaser license to the Superintendent of State Police within five days' notice of revocation is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also states that any person who makes a materially false statement on the application form for a permit is guilty of perjury. The bill provides that the Department of State Police shall enter the name and description of a person issued a firearm purchaser license into the Virginia Criminal Information Network and specifies that such information will be withheld from public disclosure but shall not be withheld from any law-enforcement agency or officer, or any authorized agent of such agency or officer, acting in the performance of his official duties. Finally, the bill provides that the Department of State Police shall keep and maintain a computerized database containing certain enumerated information, which may be made available to institutions of higher education and other research organizations or institutions in the Commonwealth upon request and sets out exceptions for to whom its provisions should apply.
Civil action for deprivation of rights; liability of persons acting under color of law. Creates a state civil cause of action for violations of rights guaranteed by the constitutions or laws of the United States and the Commonwealth. The bill provides that a person acting under color of law who deprives an individual of such rights and any supervisor of such person who is responsible for directing or overseeing such person's conduct shall be liable to such individual for compensatory damages, punitive damages, equitable relief, and reasonable attorney fees and costs.
Seizure, forfeiture, and destruction of property used in connection with the exploitation and solicitation of children. Provides that all audio and visual equipment, electronic equipment, devices, and other personal property used in connection with the possession, production, distribution, publication, sale, possession with intent to distribute, or making of child pornography, or in connection with the solicitation of a person less than 18 years of age, in violation of current law, shall be subject to lawful seizure by a law-enforcement officer and forfeited to the Commonwealth by order of the court trying the case. The bill also (i) requires the court to order the destruction of all such equipment, devices, and other personal property, (ii) requires certain information to be provided by the law-enforcement agency responsible for the destruction, (iii) prohibits destruction of such items to be used in a criminal prosecution until all rights of appeal have been exhausted, and (iv) requires the law-enforcement agency to provide notice, by first-class mail, to the accused or other interested party, if known, and his attorney at least seven days prior to the destruction of the time and place the destruction will occur.
