Del. Laura Jane Cohen

Commending Dr. Ben Fitzgerald III.

Commending the ASK Childhood Cancer Foundation.

Careers in Law Enforcement Incentive Grant Program established. Requires the Department of Education, with suchfunds as may be appropriated for such purpose pursuant to the generalappropriation act, to establish and administer the Careers in LawEnforcement Incentive Grant Program whereby any school board may apply for a grant in an amount up to $250,000, to be awarded on acompetitive basis, with which to offer courses relating to criminaljustice or law enforcement in at least one public high school inthe local school division.

Department of Medical Assistance Services; reimbursement rates for Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers withDisabilities; work group; report. Directs the Department of MedicalAssistance Services to convene a work group of relevant stakeholdersto assess and make recommendations related to reimbursement ratesfor the federal Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlerswith Disabilities. The bill requires the work group to report itsrecommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health,Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education andHealth by November 1, 2024.

Loan repayment programs; mental health professionals. Creates a loan repayment program for persons who have worked as mentalhealth professionals in the Commonwealth for at least five years.

Income tax deduction; union dues. Providesan income tax deduction beginning in taxable year 2024 for the amount paid by an individual for union dues for participation in a labor organization.

Possession, purchase, or transportation of handgunby persons convicted of certain drug offenses and operating a boator vehicle while intoxicated prohibited; penalty. Provides thatany person who within a five-year period has been convicted of two misdemeanor driving or boating while intoxicated offenses shall beineligible to possess, purchase, or transport a handgun. The billalso provides that any person who within a three-year period hasbeen convicted of two misdemeanor drug offenses shall be ineligibleto possess a handgun. Under current law, such person who has beenconvicted of two misdemeanor drug offenses is ineligible to purchaseor transport a handgun. The bill also provides that any person whois convicted of a second or subsequent offense for violating theprohibition on possessing, purchasing, or transporting a handgunfollowing convictions of these offenses shall be given the opportunityto voluntarily relinquish any firearm in his possession.

Department of Motor Vehicles; commercial driver'slicense work group. Directs the Department of Motor Vehiclesto convene a work group to develop and implement a statewide strategyto incentivize and promote the issuance of commercial driver's licensesto qualified applicants in the Commonwealth.

Central State Hospital; psychiatric bed allocation. Directs Central State Hospital to designate additional beds as forensicand psychiatric beds.

Campaign finance; prohibited personal use of campaignfunds; complaints, hearings, civil penalty, and advisory opinions.Prohibits any person from converting contributions to a candidate or hiscampaign committee to personal use. Current law only prohibits such conversionof contributions with regard to disbursement of surplus funds at thedissolution of a campaign or political committee. The bill provides that acontribution is considered to have been converted to personal use if thecontribution, in whole or in part, is used to fulfill any commitment,obligation, or expense that would exist irrespective of the person's seeking,holding, or maintaining public office but allows a contribution to be used forthe ordinary and accepted expenses related to campaigning for or holdingelective office, including the use of campaign funds to pay for the candidate'schild care expenses that are incurred as a direct result of campaign activity.The bill provides that any person subject to the personal use ban may requestan advisory opinion from the State Board of Elections on such matters. The billdirects the State Board of Elections to adopt emergency regulations similar tothose promulgated by the Federal Election Commission to implement theprovisions of the bill and to publish an updated summary of Virginia campaignfinance law that reflects the State Board of Elections' and Attorney General'sguidance on the provisions of such law that prohibit the personal use ofcampaign funds and any new regulations promulgated by the State Board ofElections.