Del. Mark Sickles

Directs the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation to conduct a grant round each year to identify and rank projects for the subsequent fiscal year. The bill requires the Foundation to assume an amount of funding of the grant program as provided in the general appropriation act. The bill requires the Foundation to provide rankings to the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance by December 15 of each year.

Directs the State Board of Elections to promulgate regulations and standards necessary to ensure the security and integrity of the Virginia voter registration system and the supporting technologies utilized by the counties and cities to maintain and record registrant information. The local electoral boards are also required to develop and update annually written plans and procedures to ensure the security and integrity of the supporting technologies. The local electoral boards are further required to report annually to the Department of Elections on their security plans and procedures. The bill authorizes the Department of Elections to limit a locality's access to the Virginia voter registration system if it is determined that the county or city has failed to develop security plans and procedures or to comply with the security standards established by the State Board; such access would be limited as necessary to address and resolve any security risks or to enforce compliance. Records describing protocols for maintaining the security of the Virginia voter registration system and the supporting technologies utilized to maintain and record registrant information are exempted from the Freedom of Information Act and meetings to discuss such protocols are permitted to be closed pursuant to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. The bill requires the State Board of Elections to convene a work group prior to adopting security standards and to establish a standing advisory group of local government IT professionals and general registrars to assist and consult on updates to security standards.

Creates the Major Headquarters Workforce Grant Fund. A qualified e-commerce company that makes a capital investment of at least $2 billion in a major headquarters facility in Arlington County and that creates at least 25,000 new full-time jobs with an average annual wage of $150,000 will be eligible for up to $550 million in grants from the Fund. A qualified company may also be eligible for an additional $200 million in grants for creating an additional 12,850 new full-time jobs. This bill is identical to

Provides that any financial institution staff who suspects that an adult has been financially exploited may provide supporting information and records to the local department of social services or the adult protective services hotline, in addition to reporting such suspected exploitation to such local department or such hotline provided for under current law.

Prohibits school employees from opening or closing an electronic room partition in any school building except under certain limited circumstances. The bill requires any annual safety review or exercise for school employees in a local school division to include information and demonstrations, as appropriate, regarding the operation of such partitions. The bill also requires the Department of Education to make available to each school board model safety guidance regarding the operation of such partitions.

Changes the special license plates for members of the International Association of Fire Fighters from nonrevenue sharing to revenue sharing and provides for the moneys to support the efforts of various charitable organizations supported by the firefighters throughout the Commonwealth. This bill is identical to

Creates the Commonwealth of Virginia Research Consortium Authority (the Consortium) to oversee and support research and commercialization in the Commonwealth. The Consortium will be advised by an Investment Advisory Committee and a Research and Technology Advisory Committee. Existing grant, loan, and investment funds currently administered by the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Investment Authority and the Virginia Research Investment Committee would be consolidated under the Consortium, and the Consortium would be responsible for the Commonwealth Research and Technology Strategic Roadmap. The Consortium would also be responsible for allocating research-related funds to the Virginia Biosciences Health Research Consortium and the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing. The bill repeals the existing Virginia Research Investment Committee and the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Investment Authority.  The Center for Innovative Technology would move under the authority of the Consortium. A stakeholder group would be appointed to oversee the transition to the Consortium, and the Governor would be authorized to appoint an interim chief executive officer of the Consortium based upon the recommendations of the stakeholder group.