Siting of data centers; site assessment. Allows a locality, prior to any approval for the siting of a data center, to perform a site assessment to examine the effect of the data center on water usage and carbon emissions within the locality.
Maddy summaryHB 550 would allow any adoptee who is 18 years or older to obtain their original birth certificate directly from state records. The bill removes current barriers that prevent adult adoptees from accessing this document without court involvement or consent from birth parents. This change directly affects adoptees in the state who seek to understand their biological family history or medical background. The policy would require state agencies to provide the original birth certificate upon request by eligible adoptees.
Counties, cities and towns; powers of local government; conveyance of real property; public hearing requirement. Adds to the list of exemptions from the requirement imposed upon localities to hold a public hearing prior to the disposition of real property owned by such locality the conveyance of any utility easement necessary to provide utilities to residential properties adjacent to property owned by the locality. Current law only excludes from such public hearing requirement (i) the leasing of real property to another public body, political subdivision, or authority and (ii) the conveyance of site development or utility easements related to transportation projects across public property.
Elections; voting equipment and systems; State Board approval process; printed receipt for cast ballot. Requires voting systems approved by the State Board of Elections to produce a printed receipt for each voter who has cast a ballot that shows the date and time the voter's ballot was cast, the voter's number corresponding to the order in which ballots were cast, and a list of all the voter's selections on the ballot as recorded by the voting system.
Human trafficking investigators; licensing by the Department of Criminal Justice Services. Authorizes the Department of Criminal Justice Services to register and issue licenses for human trafficking investigators. The bill provides that a human trafficking investigator is a private investigator who is GSA compliant and engages in the business of, or accepts employment to make, investigations to obtain information on sex trafficking or severe forms of trafficking as defined in the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and in the federal Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015.
Department of Education; model policy on student cell phone use during instructional time; local adoption. Requires the Department of Education to develop, adopt, and distribute to each school board a model policy whereby public elementary and secondary school students are prohibited from possessing or using personal cell phones or other personal handheld communication devices during instructional time at school. The bill requires the Department, in developing and adopting such model policy, to seek to balance the interests of students' academic achievement, cognitive development, safety, and general well-being and permits the Department to include appropriate exceptions in extraordinary circumstances such as emergency situations or situations involving the need to contact the student's parents. The bill requires each school board to develop and adopt a policy that is consistent with such model policy adopted by the Department.
Surveillance Technology Registry; created.Directs the Department of Criminal Justice Services (the Department)to create and maintain a registry of surveillance technologies, definedin the bill, and related information provided by localities and toprovide notice to localities that fail to properly register. Thebill requires localities, prior to implementing the use of any surveillancetechnology, to register such surveillance technology with the SurveillanceTechnology Registry and provide information including (i) the type of surveillance technology used, (ii) the cost and vendor of thesurveillance technology, (iii) the approximate location of the surveillancetechnology, and (iv) any storage and use requirements for the surveillancetechnology. The bill requires the Department, for any type of surveillancetechnology that has not previously been registered, to request theJoint Commission on Technology and Science to study and issue a reporton such surveillance technology.
Alzheimer's disease and dementia training fordispatchers, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel. Requirescertain agencies in the Commonwealth to develop curricula and providetraining related to Alzheimer's disease and dementia to dispatchersemployed by or in any local or state government agency, firefighters,and emergency medical services personnel. This bill is a recommendationof the Virginia Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Commissionand the Commonwealth Council on Aging.
Contracts assigning rights to inheritance funds; legal rate of interest. Provides that any contract entered into on or after July 1, 2024, pursuant to which a person receives a cash advance for assigning to a company or other entity a portion of such person's rights to receive inheritance funds from a will in a pending probate matter shall be considered a loan and any additional funds such person is obligated to pay under the terms of the contract shall be considered interest. The bill provides that such contract shall be subject to the legal rate of interest.
High school graduation requirements; satisfaction of certain course credits with workforce credentials; development and maintenance of list of accepted credentials. Requires the Board of Education, in collaboration with the Virginia Community College System, Career and Technical Education directors, and industry partners, to develop and maintain a current, comprehensive, and uniform list of industry-recognized workforce credentials that students may take as a substitute for certain units of credit required for graduation, including such credentials that are accepted as substitutes for electives credits and credentials completed outside of regular school hours. The bill requires each school board to accept as a substitute for a required credit any credential listed as an accepted substitute for such required credit. The bill also requires any College and Career Access Pathways Partnership entered into between a school board and a comprehensive community college to specify, consistent with the list, industry-recognized credentials that are accepted as substitutes for certain credits required for high school graduation. Finally, the bill requires the Board, in establishing graduation requirements, to permit any student to substitute elective credits for completion of any industry-approved workforce credential that is included on the list as an accepted substitute for such credits. This bill incorporates HB 1009 and is identical to SB 199.
