Del. Vivian Watts

Commending the Honorable Dr. Luke E. Torian.

Presidential electors; National Popular VoteCompact. Enters Virginia into an interstate compact known asthe Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by NationalPopular Vote. Article II of the Constitution of the United Statesgives the states exclusive and plenary authority to decide the mannerof awarding their electoral votes. Under the compact, Virginia agreesto award its electoral votes to the presidential ticket that receivesthe most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.The compact goes into effect when states cumulatively possessinga majority of the electoral votes have joined the compact. A statemay withdraw from the compact; however, a withdrawal occurring withinsix months of the end of a President's term shall not become effectiveuntil a President or Vice President has qualified to serve the next term.

Constitutional amendment (first reference);qualifications of voters; right to vote; persons not entitled tovote. Provides that every person who meets the qualificationsof voters set forth in the Constitution of Virginia shall have thefundamental right to vote in the Commonwealth and that such rightshall not be abridged by law, except for persons who have been convictedof a felony and persons who have been adjudicated to lack the capacityto understand the act of voting. A person who has been convictedof a felony shall not be entitled to vote during any period of incarcerationfor such felony conviction, but upon release from incarceration forthat felony conviction and without further action required of him,such person shall be invested with all political rights, includingthe right to vote. Currently, in order to be qualified to vote a personconvicted of a felony must have his civil rights restored by theGovernor or other appropriate authority. The amendment also providesthat a person adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction aslacking the capacity to understand the act of voting shall not be entitled to vote during this period of incapacity until his capacityhas been reestablished as prescribed by law. Currently, the Constitutionof Virginia provides that a person who has been adjudicated to bementally incompetent is not qualified to vote until his competencyis reestablished.

Constitutional amendment (first reference); marriage between two individuals; repeal of same-sex marriage prohibition; affirmative right to marry. Repeals the constitutional provision defining marriage as only a union between one man and one woman as well as the related provisions that are no longer valid as a result of the United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015). The amendment provides that the right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of persons and prohibits the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions from denying the issuance of a marriage license to two parties contemplating a lawful marriage on the basis of the sex, gender, or race of such parties. The Commonwealth and its political subdivisions are required to recognize any lawful marriage between two parties and to treat such marriages equally under the law, regardless of the sex, gender, or race of such parties. The amendment provides that religious organizations and clergy acting in their religious capacity have the right to refuse to perform any marriage.

Income taxes. Creates a new income tax bracketfor taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2024, for incomein excess of $600,000, which is to be taxed at seven percent. Thebill also creates two new tax credits: a child and dependent caretax credit and a family caregiver tax credit. Both tax credits wouldbe refundable for Virginia residents and would be available for taxableyears beginning on and after January 1, 2024, but before January1, 2029. The child and dependent care tax credit would equal 50 percentof the federal tax credit allowed for employment-related expensesfor household and dependent care services. A similar income tax deductionfor employment-related expenses would be sunsetted by the bill. Thefamily caregiver tax credit would apply to expenses incurred by anindividual in caring for an eligible family member, defined in thebill, who requires assistance with one or more activities of dailyliving, also defined in the bill. The family caregiver tax creditequals 50 percent of eligible expenditures incurred by the caregiverup to $1,000. The family caregiver tax credit shall be availableonly to taxpayers that have federal adjusted gross income that isno greater than $100,000 for individuals or $200,000 for marriedpersons.

Virginia taxable income; standard deduction.Removes the sunset on elevated standard deduction amounts forsingle individuals and married persons that was scheduled to expirefor taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2026.

Public school staffing ratios; specializedstudent support positions. Increases the number of specialized student support positions required to be employed by each local schoolboard from at least three to at least four such positions per 1,000students in the local school division. Such specialized student supportpositions include school social workers, school psychologists, schoolnurses, licensed behavior analysts, licensed assistant behavior analysts,and other licensed health and behavioral positions.

Sales and use tax; exemption for data centers.

Sales and use tax on services. Levies the retail sales and use tax on the following services: admissions; charges for recreation, fitness, or sports facilities; nonmedical personal services or counseling; dry cleaning and laundry services; companion animal care; residential home repair or maintenance, landscaping, or cleaning services when paid for directly by a resident or homeowner; vehicle and engine repair; repairs or alterations to tangible personal property; storage of tangible personal property; delivery or shipping services; travel, event, and aesthetic planning services; and communications services that are not subject to the communications sales and use tax and are not digital personal property.The bill also imposes the retail sales and use tax on digital personal property, defined in the bill as a digital product delivered electronically that the purchaser owns or has the ability to continually access without having to pay an additional subscription or usage fee to the seller after paying the initial purchase price.Revenues generated by the taxes levied on services and digital personal property shall be allocated in the same manner as other sales and use taxes; however, revenues from the state portion of the sales and use tax that would be allocated to the general fund shall instead be allocated to school divisions as follows: (i) 60 percent shall be distributed to localities on the basis of school-age population and (ii) 40 percent shall be distributed to localities on the basis of the high-need student population in the locality. The bill clarifies that a high-need student population includes students who are (a) automatically certified for free school meals because of participation in social services programs, (b) participants in a program of special education, or (c) English language learners.The bill provides certain exemptions to the sales and use tax on services, including health care services that must be performed by a person licensed or certified by the Department of Health Professions, veterinary services, professional services, Internet access services, and services provided by a person who does not receive more than $2,500 per year in gross receipts for performance of such services. The bill exempts services purchased by a nonprofit organization and services purchased by a homeowners' association or by a landlord for the benefit of his tenant. The bill also repeals the service exemptions currently provided for the sale of custom programs and modification of prewritten programs.The bill imposes the communications sales and use tax on prepaid calling services and on digital subscription services, defined in the bill as services for which the user pays in order to access and use software, reading materials, or other digital data or applications for a defined period of time, which products the user does not own or have permanent access to outside of such period of time.

Certified nursing facilities; administrative sanctions; facilities subject to minimum standards. Amends the administrative sanctions that may be imposed on certified nursing facilities in relation to compliance with staffing requirements. The bill directs the State Health Commissioner, in determining whether or not to impose sanctions, to make the determination of whether a certified nursing facility was located in a medically underserved area that severely limited the ability of the certified nursing facility to recruit and retain direct care staff. The bill requires nursing facilities subject to a corrective action plan to demonstrate compliance with the corrective action plan on a quarterly basis. Under the bill, in determining whether a corrective action plan is needed, the Commissioner shall consider certain evidence of direct care staff hours, unless the facility has had a change in ownership. The bill changes from three to two the number of corrective action plans after which, if a a certified nursing facility fails to show compliance or improvement, the Commissioner may place the facility on probation. The bill also includes all nursing homes eligible to receive Medicaid reimbursement for residents in the list of facilities subject to minimum standards for (i) construction and maintenance; (ii) operation, staffing, and equipping; and (iii) the qualifications and training of staff. The bill changes the effective date of certain provisions passed in the 2023 Session of the General Assembly relating to staffing requirements for certified nursing facilities from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2024.