Del. Vivian Watts

Study; joint committee of the House Committeeon Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health tostudy fair school funding reform; report. Establishes a jointcommittee consisting of five members of the House Committee on Educationand three members of the Senate Committee on Education and Healthto study fair school funding reform by, among other things, identifyingand commissioning an independent firm with certain qualificationsto produce an adequacy cost study on Virginia's K-12 public schoolsand utilizing the findings from such study, the recommendations from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission in its July 2023report, "Virginia's K-12 Funding Formula," and any stakeholder inputand feedback received by the joint committee to produce and submitto the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriationsand the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations by November1, 2025, a set of recommendations on transitioning Virginia's K-12funding system to one that is student need-based.

Commending the Honorable Thomas K. Norment,Jr.

Commending Mark E. Smith.

Collective bargaining by firefighters and emergency medical services providers. Authorizes firefighters and emergency medical services providers employed by a political subdivision of the Commonwealth to engage in collective bargaining through labor organizations or other designated representatives. The bill provides for the appointment of a three-member board of arbitration regarding any dispute arising between an employer and firefighters or emergency medical services providers. Under the bill, determinations made by such board of arbitration are final on a disputed issue and are binding on the parties involved.

Commending Peter A. Blake.

Celebrating the life of Michelle Antonette Leete.

Acknowledging with profound regret the unethicaluse of Black bodies by medical institutions. Expresses the sentimentof the General Assembly in acknowledging with profound regret theunethical use of Black bodies by medical institutions in the Commonwealth.

Vehicle exhaust systems; inspection and administrative fee. Prohibits passenger car exhaust systems from emitting noise in excess of 95 decibels in Planning District 8 on any highway; driveway or premises of a church, school, recreational facility, or business; any governmental property open to the public; any industrial establishment providing parking space for customers, patrons, or employees; and any highway under construction or not yet open to the public. The bill allows, in Planning District 8, a law-enforcement officer to stop a passenger car he determines is emitting exhaust system noise in excess of such limit and issue a notice of an administrative fee of $250 to be assessed at the time of the vehicle's next registration renewal and establishes a process for inspecting such vehicle. The bill has a contingent effective date of January 1, 2025, provided that the Department of Environmental Quality has received the necessary funding to supply the necessary equipment for such vehicle exhaust system inspections to inspection stations. The bill sunsets on July 1, 2027.

Income tax; rolling conformity. Provides that when Virginia does not conform on a rolling basis to federal tax laws due to any changes in a single act of Congress with an impact of more than $15 million on revenues in the year in which the amendment was enacted or any of the next four years, such nonconformity shall not be considered for purposes of calculating the nonconformity threshold for all amendments in a year with a cumulative projected impact of more than $75 million in the year in which the amendments were enacted or any of the next four years.

Absentee voting in person; voter satellite offices; days and hours of operation. Authorizes the governing body of any county or city establishing voter satellite offices for absentee voting in person to prescribe, by ordinance, the dates and hours of operation for such offices. The bill prohibits any reduction in the dates or hours of operation of such offices to be enacted within 60 days of any general election.