Del. Josh Thomas

Public schools; enrollment of certain military children with disabilities; provision of special education services and accommodations. Provides that whenever a child of a service member who enrolls in a school division in accordance with applicable law is also a child with disabilities, the school board of the school division is required to, upon receipt of documentation from the service member parent or an official letter from the service member's command indicating such service member's relocation to such school division, coordinate with such child's parent and such child's previous school division to facilitate the prompt provision of comparable special education services and accommodations for such child.

Real property tax; exemption for elderly and disabled individuals. Revises various provisions of the local real property tax exemption and deferral program for elderly and disabled individuals. The bill allows a locality to require that an individual (i) pay all delinquent taxes, penalties, and interest assessed by the locality and incurred prior to becoming eligible for an exemption or deferral; (ii) enter into an installment agreement with the locality for the payment of all such delinquent amounts in installments over a period that is reasonable under the circumstances, but that in no event shall exceed 72 months; (iii) submit and obtain the treasurer's agreement to an offer in compromise with respect to all amounts of delinquent taxes, penalties, and interest; or (iv) carry out a combination thereof. Additionally, the bill provides that notice of the terms and conditions of the exemption and deferral program may be included in any notice of change in assessment and that the treasurer shall post such information on the locality's website. Finally, the bill allows a locality to provide a prorated exemption or deferral for the portion of the taxable year during which the taxpayer would have qualified for such exemption or deferral but had not yet filed an application. This bill is identical to SB 816.

Public elementary and secondary schools; enrollment; dependent students of active duty service members; policies. Permits any school board to establish and implement policies providing for the enrollment of any student, upon request of such student's parent, (i) who does not reside within the applicable school division, (ii) whose parent is a full-time active duty member of the uniformed services of the United States and for whom the Commonwealth is the home of record, and (iii) who meets the other requirements set forth in the bill. The bill permits such policies to provide for the denial of any such enrollment request if the school board can demonstrate that it lacks the resources or capacity.

Florence Neal Cooper Smith Sickle Cell Research Endowment Fund established. Establishes the Florence Neal Cooper Smith Sickle Cell Research Endowment Fund to support medical and biomedical sickle cell disease research conducted in institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth that relates to the causes and potential cures of sickle cell disease. The Fund shall be administered by the Commonwealth Health Research Board.

Certified nurse midwives; licensed certified midwives; independent practice; organized medical staff. Permits licensed certified midwives who have completed 1,000 hours of practice under a practice agreement to practice without a practice agreement upon receipt of an attestation from the licensed physician or midwife with whom they entered into a practice agreement. The bill also permits certified nurse midwives and licensed certified midwives to enter into practice agreements with certified nurse midwives or licensed certified midwives who are authorized to practice independently. The bill directs the Department of Health to amend its regulations to clarify that an organized medical staff may include other practitioners, including independent practice midwives, in addition to physicians and dentists. This bill is identical to SB 1352.

Real property tax exemption; surviving spouses of members of the armed forces who died in the line of duty; clarification for deaths resulting from suicide. Clarifies that the real property tax exemption currently available to the surviving spouse of any member of the armed forces of the United States who died in the line of duty with a Line of Duty determination from the U.S. Department of Defense includes the death of any such member that was the result of suicide.

Captain Matthew "Chevy" Chiaverotti Memorial Bridge. Designates the bridge on Interstate 264 over South Rosemont Road in Virginia Beach the "Captain Matthew "Chevy" Chiaverotti Memorial Bridge."

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.

Local comprehensive plan; tiny homes; accessory dwelling units. Clarifies that the comprehensive plan prepared by a local planning commission and adopted by a local governing body may include the use of tiny homes and accessory dwelling units, defined in the bill, as part of any residential development and use designated within such plan. The bill contains technical amendments. This bill incorporates HB 1832.

Trespass with an unmanned aircraft system; contracted defense facility; penalty. Creates a Class 4 felony for any person who knowingly, intentionally, and without authorization causes an unmanned aircraft system to enter the property of and obtains or attempts to obtain any videographic or still image that contains or reveals any controlled technical information located within a contracted defense facility, as those terms are defined in the bill. The bill also provides that the owner or operator of a contracted defense facility and its employees shall be immune from criminal prosecution and civil liability as a result of preventing, stopping, deterring, interrupting, or repelling, or attempting to prevent, stop, deter, interrupt, or repel, an unmanned aircraft system from entering the property of such contracted defense facility or from stopping, interrupting, or repelling, or attempting to stop, interrupt, or repel, an unmanned aircraft system that has entered such property, provided that such action does not result in injury to any person. This bill is identical to SB 757.