Del. Dan Helmer

Campaign advertisements; independent expenditures; electioneering communications; disclaimer requirements. Broadens the scope of disclaimer requirements for campaign advertisements to include electioneering communications, as defined in the bill, and messages advocating for the passage or defeat of a referendum. The bill also requires an advertisement that is an independent expenditure or that expressly advocates for the passage or defeat of a referendum to contain a disclaimer providing the names of the advertisement sponsor's three largest contributors. The bill also requires independent expenditure reports to be filed electronically. Current law allows such reports to be filed either electronically or in writing.

Financial institutions; reporting financial exploitation of elderly or vulnerable adults. Permits a financial institution, as defined in the bill, to allow an elderly or vulnerable adult, as defined in the bill, to submit and periodically update a list of trusted persons whom such financial institution or financial institution staff, as defined in the bill, may contact in the case of suspected financial exploitation of such adult. In such a case, the bill also allows a financial institution or financial institution staff to convey such suspicion to one or more certain individuals, provided that the recipient of such conveyance is not the suspected perpetrator of financial exploitation. The bill provides that a financial institution or financial institution staff shall be immune from any criminal, civil, or administrative liability for any act taken or omission made in accordance with the bill's provisions.

Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability of infertility for firefighters. Provides that firefighters who suffer from infertility are presumed to have developed infertility during the course and scope of employment as a firefighter in certain instances. The bill provides that such infertility is compensable under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act if diagnosed by a medical professional and that such compensation may include medical treatment, temporary total incapacity benefits, and temporary partial incapacity benefits for a maximum period of 52 weeks from the date of diagnosis. The bill also requires each employer of firefighters to refer a firefighter seeking infertility health care services to a licensed medical professional after January 1, 2025.

Study; joint subcommittee; Dillon Rule; report. Creates a 13-member joint subcommittee for a one-year study of the Dillon Rule and its impact on Virginia's localities.

Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder incurred by dispatchers. Allows dispatchers, as defined in the bill, to claim workers' compensation benefits relating to post-traumatic stress disorder under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act. Currently, only law-enforcement officers and firefighters may claim such benefits.

Public utilities; delay of termination of service for certain residential customers; serious medical condition; report. Requires the State Corporation Commission to conduct a proceeding to establish limitations on the authority of public utilities and cooperatives that provide electric, gas, water, or wastewater services to terminate service to any residential customer who provides certification that the customer has a serious medical condition or the customer resides with a family member with a serious medical condition. The bill directs the Commission to adopt regulations to implement such limitations after consulting with certain stakeholders. The bill requires the Commission to submit a report by November 1, 2026, and every three years thereafter, on the effectiveness of the serious medical condition policy after implementation of the regulations and include any suggested changes to such policy for residential utility and cooperative customers.

Net energy metering; eligible customer-generators and eligible agricultural customer-generators. Provides that no contract, lease, or arrangement by which a third party owns, maintains, or operates an electrical generating facility on an eligible customer-generator's property shall constitute the sale of electricity or cause the customer-generator or the third party to be considered an electric utility by virtue of participating in net energy metering. The bill prohibits an eligible customer-generator or eligible agricultural customer-generator from being required to provide proof of liability insurance or to purchase additional liability insurance as a condition of interconnection. The bill exempts eligible customer-generators and eligible agricultural customer-generators that operate a battery storage device of capacity commensurate with and equal to or greater than that of the electrical generating facility and in conjunction with the electrical generating facility from standby charges. The bill provides that any eligible customer-generator or eligible agricultural customer-generator may participate in demand response, energy efficiency, or peak reduction from dispatch of onsite battery service, provided that the compensation received is in exchange for a distinct service that is not already compensated by net metering credits for electricity exported to the electric distribution system or compensated by any other utility program or tariff. This bill is identical to SB 271.

MEI Project Approval Commission; board-levelgender and diversity requirements. Requires that the MEI ProjectApproval Commission considers, prior to recommending approval ofany major employment and investment (MEI) project, (i) whether abusiness has and commits to maintaining a balanced board of directorsbased upon gender and racial diversity, such that at least 30 percentof such board of directors consists of women and historically underrepresentedgroups, and (ii) whether a business seeking approval of a projectsubmits a board diversity disclosure and commits to updating such disclosure annually, specifying the number and percentage of diversedirectors on the board of such business who self-identify as femaleor represent a national, racial, ethnic, indigenous, or culturalminority in the country of the business's principal executive offices.

Purchase of firearms; waiting period; penalty. Provides that no person shall sell a firearm unless at least five days have elapsed from the time the prospective purchaser completes the written consent form to have a licensed dealer obtain criminal history record information, with exceptions enumerated in relevant law. This bill is identical to SB 273.

Teacher and support staff compensation; at orabove national average. Requires that public school teachersbe compensated at a rate that is at or above the national averageteacher salary. Under current law, compensation at such rate is aspirational.The bill also requires that public school instructional and noninstructionalsupport staff be compensated at a rate that is at or above the nationalaverage salary for such staff. The bill requires state funding tobe provided pursuant to the general appropriation act in a sum sufficientto fund an annual increase for public school teacher and instructionaland noninstructional support staff salaries such that, no later thanthe 2028-2029 school year, such individuals are compensated at arate that is at or above the respective national average salary.