Del. Michelle Maldonado

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 establishes the Fire Service Cooperation Board to administer its provisions. 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. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2026.

Maddy summaryThis is a ceremonial resolution honoring the late state legislator Frank Miller Ruff, Jr. It does not create new laws or affect any policies or people. The resolution formally commemorates his service and life through a symbolic tribute. As a non-binding resolution, it has no practical impact beyond recognition.

Electric utilities; data center cost allocation. Directs the State Corporation Commission to initiate proceedings to determine if the current allocation of costs among different customer classifications of electric utilities requires customers that are not data centers to unreasonably subsidize the costs of customers that are data centers. If the Commission determines that the current allocation of costs requires customers that are not data centers to unreasonably subsidize the costs of customers that are data centers, the bill directs the Commission to promulgate such rules as necessary to eliminate or minimize such unreasonable subsidies to the maximum possible extent. The bill directs the Commission to complete such proceedings prior to January 1, 2026.

Earned income tax credit. Allows eligible low-income taxpayers to claim a refundable income tax credit equal to 20 percent of the federal earned income tax credit claimed that year by the taxpayer for the same taxable year. The bill also states that individuals who would have been entitled to the federal equivalent of this credit but for the fact that the individual, the individual's spouse, or one or more of the individual's children does not have a valid social security number are eligible to claim this credit. Under current law, taxpayers may choose to claim either a nonrefundable tax credit equal to 20 percent of the federal earned income tax credit claimed that year or a refundable tax credit equal to 15 percent of the federal earned income tax credit claimed that year.

Income tax; energy efficient homes tax credits. Authorizes an eligible contractor, defined in the bill, to claim a nonrefundable income tax credit, during taxable years 2025 through 2029, in an amount equal to $1,000 per construction of a qualified new energy efficient home and $2,000 per construction of a zero energy ready home, as those terms are defined in the bill. The bill establishes a maximum credit amount that an eligible contractor may claim per taxable year of $250,000.

Consumer Data Protection Act; Artificial Intelligence Training Data Transparency Act. Allows consumers to authorize a third party, acting on the consumer's behalf, to opt out of the processing of the consumer's personal data. Such authorization may be made using technology that indicates the consumer's intent to opt out, including a browser setting, browser extension, global device setting, or other user-selected universal opt-out mechanism. Where a controller has actual knowledge or willfully disregards that a consumer is an adolescent, defined in the bill as at least 13 years of age but younger than 16 years of age, no controller shall process any personal data collected or collect precise geolocation data from such adolescent without obtaining consent from such adolescent. The bill provides that the Attorney General has discretion regarding whether to provide an opportunity to cure a violation to a controller or processor beginning January 1, 2026. The bill also revises the definitions of "sale of personal data," "sensitive data," and "biometric data." The bill requires a developer of a generative artificial intelligence system or service, defined in the bill, to disclose on the developer's website information about the generative artificial intelligence data set used to train such system or service. A developer shall keep detailed records of the generative artificial intelligence data set used to train a generative artificial intelligence system or service and provide clearly designated and publicly available mechanisms for submissions of Training Data Verification Requests, defined in the bill, and Training Data Deletion Requests, defined in the bill. The bill also prohibits nondisclosure or confidentiality agreements from concealing noncompliance with the bill. The bill allows the Attorney General to offer developers an opportunity to cure noncompliance that is noticed by the Attorney General and provides that a person or entity claiming to be injured due to a violation of such provisions shall be entitled to initiate an action for monetary damages or equitable relief. The provisions of the bill regarding such developers have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

Digital Content Authenticity and Transparency Act established; civil penalty. Requires a developer of an artificial intelligence system or service to apply provenance data to synthetic digital content that is generated by such developer's generative artificial intelligence system or service and requires a developer to make a provenance application tool and a provenance reader available to the public. The bill requires a controller of an online service, product, or feature to retain any available provenance data and requires a capture device to include a provenance application tool by default. The bill grants the Attorney General the exclusive authority to enforce such provisions and impose civil penalties pursuant to the bill. Under certain circumstances, the Attorney General may offer a developer an opportunity to cure a violation before imposing such civil penalties. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

Line of Duty Act; payments to beneficiaries. Provides that if a deceased person, as that term is defined in the Line of Duty Act, died as a result of certain cancers within 10 years from his date of retirement, his beneficiary shall be entitled to the payment of certain benefits. Under current law, such beneficiary shall be entitled to such payment if the deceased person's death (i) arose out of and in the course of his employment or (ii) was within five years from his date of retirement.

National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund; eligibility; incentive grant awards. Renames the National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund as the National Board Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund, expands eligibility for incentive grant awards from such Fund pursuant to such Program from solely teachers who have obtained national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to (i) all public school staff who are candidates for initial national certification or maintenance of national certification to cover certain costs of obtaining or maintaining such certification and (ii) all public school staff who have successfully obtained or maintained such certification. The bill also declares as eligible for an annual incentive grant award in the amount of $7,500 all public school staff who have obtained or maintained such certification and an additional $2,500 in any year during the life of certificate in which the public school staff member is employed in a Title 1 school. Current law declares as eligible for an annual incentive grant award of $5,000 in the first year and $2,500 in each subsequent year all teachers who have obtained or maintained such certification.

Maximum number of judges in each judicial district. Increases from five to six the maximum number of authorized general district court judges in the Thirty-first Judicial District. This bill is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts.