Court Date Reminder Program established. Establishes a Court Date Reminder Program, to be developed or procured by the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia, for the purpose of reminding criminal defendants to appear at each of their scheduled court appearances. The bill directs the Program to send a text message notification to any defendant with a criminal case in general district court or circuit court for whom the court has a telephone number prior to any scheduled hearing that requires his appearance and allows a defendant to opt out of participating in the Program. The Program has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.The bill also directs the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court to convene a Court Date Reminder Program work group to advise on the implementation and expansion of the Program and submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice by December 1, 2026.
Sponsored bills
Maddy summaryThis is a commemorative resolution (SJ 109) honoring Virginia Mozell Jefferson Tyler. It formally recognizes and celebrates her life and contributions, as is standard for such resolutions. The bill passed both the Senate and House in February 2026 and is now enacted as a ceremonial tribute with no substantive policy changes or direct impact on constituents or laws.
Department of Environmental Quality; data centers; use of emergency generation unit; disclosure requirements. Directs the Department of Environmental Quality to require each data center that operates an emergency generation unit, as those terms are defined in the bill, to report on a publicly accessible website within 24 hours the times when such emergency generation unit will be in operation.
Study; Virginia State Crime Commission; model policy framework; justice-involved veterans; report. Directs the Virginia State Crime Commission to study and propose recommendations for a model policy framework for the treatment and sentencing of veterans in the criminal justice system.
Timely local decision on certain land use permits; incentives and penalties. Requires that the average time period required for a locality to take final action to approve, approve with conditions, or deny all by-right permit applications from the date of submission of such applications to the locality shall not exceed 12 months. The bill requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to conduct semiannual compliance reviews of each locality and to publish and transmit to the Governor and the General Assembly a report identifying each locality as compliant or noncompliant for the applicable review period. The bill provides that any locality determined by the Department to be compliant for the preceding 12-month period shall be eligible to receive a state grant sufficient to fund one full-time equivalent position within the locality's planning department. The bill further provides that if the Department determines that a locality is noncompliant during a review period, the Commonwealth Transportation Board shall reduce program fund allocations from the Commonwealth Transportation Fund to any project within the boundaries of such noncompliant locality by two percent for the following fiscal year.
Fostering Access, Innovation, and Responsibility in Artificial Intelligence Act established. Establishes the Fostering Access, Innovation, and Responsibility in Artificial Intelligence Act (FAIR AI Act) that requires a developer of a base artificial intelligence model, as defined in the bill, to clearly and conspicuously disclose, in a manner that is appropriate for the medium of the content and is easily accessible to the user of such model, in the terms of service governing the use of such model, certain elements related to the artificial intelligence system. The bill creates the FAIR AI Enforcement Fund for the purpose of supporting agency enforcement of artificial intelligence system misuse, bias, and workforce disruption. Finally, the bill limits the defenses available in any criminal or civil action against a defendant that is alleged to have developed, modified, or deployed an artificial intelligence system that caused harm to a plaintiff. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.
Labor and employment; payment of wages. Provides that for purposes of requirements under existing law related to the payment of wages by employers, "wages" means all remuneration paid, or that should have been paid, for personal services, including salaries, commissions, bonuses, tips, back pay, dismissal pay, severance pay, and any other payments made by an employer to an employee during his employment and thereafter, and the cash value of all remuneration payable in any medium other than cash. The bill is intended to reverse Groundworks Operations, LLC v. Campbell, No. 241092 (Va. Dec. 30, 2025).
Consumer Data Protection Act; individual action for damages or penalty; social media platforms. Allows a parent or minor who suffers loss as the result of a violation of Consumer Data Protection Act provisions relating to social media platforms to initiate an action against a controller or processor in violation of such provisions. The bill requires a parent or minor to provide a controller or processor 30 days' written notice and an opportunity for the controller or processor to cure the noticed violation prior to initiating such an action.
Electric utilities; certificate of operation for high-load facilities. Prohibits any person from operating a high-load facility, defined in the bill as a facility whose electricity demand exceeds 25 megawatts that was not operating before July 1, 2026, without first having obtained a certificate of operation from the State Corporation Commission. The bill includes factors for the Commission to consider in reviewing a petition to operate a high-load facility. The bill establishes a presumption that a high-load facility shall be considered to have met certain requirements if the high-load facility has secured sufficient contracts for energy storage resources or zero-carbon electric generating resources or that the high-load facility has a plan to implement sufficient demand reduction measures. The bill also requires the Commission to consider certain factors in a review of a petition for a certificate to operate a high-load facility, including whether there is sufficient energy, capacity, and grid infrastructure to support the operation of the high-load facility and whether the operation of the high-load facility would create an unreasonable cross-subsidy across customers served by the incumbent electric utility.
Fatherhood Initiative; fatherhood needs assessment; Fatherhood Initiative Grants Program and Fund established. Requires the Virginia Department of Social Services to develop and implement the Fatherhood Initiative for the purpose of focusing on the recognition of fathers as essential partners in child and family well-being, addressing a critical gap in family support services, and promoting positive father involvement linked to improved maternal, child, and family outcomes. Under the bill, each local board of social services shall undertake a needs assessment to ensure that the local department of social services is addressing the unique needs of the fathers of children served by the local department. The bill also establishes the Fatherhood Initiative Grants Program and Fund, which awards grants to community-based organizations to address the needs of fathers.