Stalking by electronically transmitted communication; penalty. Provides that "electronically transmitted communication" includes communication by telephone, computer, or other electronic device for the offense of stalking, which is punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor or, if the second offense occurs within five years of a prior conviction for stalking, is punishable as a Class 6 felony.
Department of Education; STEM+C Competition Grant Program eligibility. Requires the Department of Education, prior to the 2026 application period for grants pursuant to the STEM+C Competition Team Grant Program (the Program), to consider making the following changes to the grant application and eligibility guidelines: (i) clarify that, in accordance with the provision of relevant law that provides that the purpose of the Program is to provide grants for use in establishing or supporting STEM+C competition teams, grants may be awarded to establish new STEM+C competition teams or support existing STEM+C competition teams and (ii) provide that, in the event that grant applications exceed available funds, priority shall be given to applications for the establishment of new STEM+C competition teams with demonstrated financial need.
Virginia Consumer Protection Act; prohibited practices; consumer reproductive or sexual health information. Provides that, for the Virginia Consumer Protection Act prohibition on obtaining, disclosing, selling, or disseminating any personally identifiable reproductive or sexual health information without consumer consent, such prohibition does not apply to nonpublic personal information subject to the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
Joint Commission on Technology and Science; artificial intelligence; independent verification organizations. Directs the Joint Commission on Technology and Science (JCOTS) to evaluate the feasibility and impact of developing a framework for any person or entity seeking to act as an independent verification organization that assesses artificial intelligence models' or applications' adherence to standards reflecting best practices for the prevention of personal injury and property damage. The bill directs JCOTS to submit a report with its recommendations and any findings to the Chairs of the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and General Laws and Technology and the House Committees on Appropriations and Communications, Technology and Innovation by November 1, 2026. This bill is identical to HB 797.
Joint Commission on Technology and Science; artificial intelligence; independent verification organizations. Directs the Joint Commission on Technology and Science (JCOTS) to evaluate the feasibility and impact of developing a framework for any person or entity seeking to act as an independent verification organization that assesses artificial intelligence models' or applications' adherence to standards reflecting best practices for the prevention of personal injury and property damage. The bill directs JCOTS to submit a report with its recommendations and any findings to the Chairs of the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and General Laws and Technology and the House Committees on Appropriations and Communications, Technology and Innovation by November 1, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 384.
School boards; use of social media platforms as sole means of certain communications prohibited. Provides that each school board shall prohibit public elementary and secondary schools, school board employees, and school volunteers from using a social media platform as the sole means of communication with students for the facilitation of school-related extracurricular activities. The bill provides an exception to such prohibition when such use is required to meet an objective that cannot be reasonably achieved without such use, provided that the division superintendent or his designee (i) provides clear, written instructions on such use and (ii) may revoke such exception at any time.
Elections; candidates and elected officials; address confidentiality. Prohibits the custodian of any filing made by a candidate from releasing the address, phone number, or email address of such candidate in response to a request made under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. The bill permits a candidate to provide the unique identifier assigned to him in the voter registration system pursuant to relevant law in place of his residence address on any candidate filing. The State Board of Elections is prohibited from requiring candidates to disclose their address or unique identifier on petitions prior to their being filed. The bill also adds elected officials to the list of people who may furnish, in addition to their residence street address, a post office box address located within the Commonwealth to be included in lieu of their street address on the lists of registered voters. The certificate of election delivered to the winner of an election is required to be accompanied by a notice that the person meets the qualifications for being granted protected voter status along with instructions for updating their voter registration in order to attain such status. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027. This bill is identical to HB 835.
Damage or trespass to public services or utilities or critical infrastructure; penalties. Adds the intentional destruction of or damage to any fixture, equipment, or information technology system that is used to provide, process, transmit, or maintain public services, public utilities, cable television, broadband, or other critical infrastructure, as defined in relevant law, to the existing offense of damage or trespass to public services or utilities. The bill contains technical amendments and is identical to HB 317.
Use of unmanned aircraft systems by law-enforcement officers; search warrants; model policy. Expedites the issuance of a search warrant for unmanned aircraft systems by law-enforcement officers upon a finding of reasonable and probable cause by an authorized judicial official, as defined in the bill, and permits the use of unmanned aircraft systems without a search warrant when law enforcement is surveying the scene of a crime or to respond to a public safety call for service when such crime scene or call for service is located on public property, to locate a person when such person has fled the offense location during the initial response to an incident, or to provide real-time aerial observation to increase on-scene safety and security. Such provisions are subject to a reenactment clause. The bill also requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services, in consultation with the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission and the Virginia Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys, to establish a model policy for the use of unmanned aircraft systems by December 1, 2026. This bill is identical to HB 1219.
School boards; student cell phone and smart device possession and use policies. Amends the requirements for the student cell phone and smart device possession and use policies that each school board is required to develop and each public elementary and secondary school is required to implement pursuant to applicable law to require such policies to, except as provided in applicable law, restrict student cell phone and smart device possession and prohibit student cell phone and smart device use on school property from bell to bell. Current law only requires such policies to restrict student cell phone and smart device possession and use on school property from bell to bell.
