Investment of public funds. Allows any qualified public entity of the Commonwealth to invest in asset-backed securities that are guaranteed by the United States or any agency thereof. This bill is identical to SB 510.
Virginia Nonstock Corporation Act; notice ofboard of directors' meetings. Provides that all meetings of theboard of directors, including any subcommittee or other committeeof the board of directors, where the business of the associationis discussed or transacted shall be open to all members of recordand that notice of the time, date, and place of each meeting of theboard of directors or of any subcommittee or other committee of the board of directors shall be published where it is reasonably calculatedto be available to a majority of the lot owners. Current law allowssuch meetings to be held without notice of the date, time, place,or purpose of the meeting.
Commending the Honorable Kathy J. Byron.
Commending the Honorable L. Kaye Kory.
Electric utilities; pilot program for underground transmission lines; additional project. Adds one project to the existing pilot program for underground transmission lines. The bill requires the State Corporation Commission to approve one additional application filed between January 1, 2024, and October 1, 2024, as a qualifying project to be constructed in whole or in part underground, as a part of the pilot program. The bill requires that the added qualifying project be a newly proposed 230-kilovolt underground line and that (i) an engineering analysis demonstrates that it is technically feasible to place the proposed line, in whole or in part, underground; (ii) the governing body of each locality in which a portion of the proposed line will be placed underground indicates, by resolution, general community support for the project and that the governing body supports the transmission line to be placed underground; (iii) a project has been filed with the Commission or is pending issuance of a certificate of public convenience and necessity by October 1, 2024; (iv) the estimated additional cost of placing the proposed line, in whole or in part, underground does not exceed $40 million or, if greater than $40 million, the cost does not exceed 2.5 times the cost of placing the same line overhead, assuming accepted industry standards for undergrounding to ensure safety and reliability; if the public utility, the affected localities, and the Commission agree, a proposed underground line whose cost exceeds 2.5 times the cost of placing the line overhead may also be accepted into the pilot program; (v) the public utility requests that the project be considered as a qualifying project under the pilot program; and (vi) the primary need of the project is for purposes of grid reliability or grid resiliency or to support economic development priorities of the Commonwealth, including the economic development priorities and the comprehensive plan of the governing body of the locality in which at least a portion of line will be placed, and not to address aging assets that would have otherwise been replaced in due course.
Drug Treatment Court Act; name change. Renames the Drug Treatment Court Act as the Recovery Court Act. The bill also directs the Supreme Court of Virginia to rename the state Drug Treatment Court Advisory Committee as the Recovery Court Advisory Committee. This bill is identical to SB 725.
Virginia Rap Back Service; criminal history record monitoring. Changes the time frame for which a participating entity in the Virginia Record of Arrest and Prosecution (Rap) Back Service is required to disenroll any individual who is deceased or no longer qualifies as an individual for the purposes of the Virginia Rap Back Service from within 30 days to within five business days. The bill also removes the provision stating that an individual who moves from one participating entity in the Virginia Rap Back Service to another need not be refingerprinted. The bill contains technical amendments and is identical to SB 169.
Public education; student literacy measures. Clarifies several provisions of the Virginia Literacy Act (the Act), enacted during the 2022 Regular Session of the General Assembly and effective with the 2024-2025 school year, including (i) clarifying that the term "evidence-based literacy instruction" does not include practices that instruct students to gain meaning from print through the use of (a) three-cueing, which includes semantic, syntactic, and graphophonic cues; (b) meaning, structure, and visual cues; or (c) visual memory for word recognition; (ii) removing the option to use a literacy screener approved by the Department of Education for certain purposes enumerated in the Act; (iii) requiring the Department to develop a list of core literacy curricula for students in kindergarten through grade five and supplemental instruction practices and programs and intervention programs for students in kindergarten through grade eight that consist of evidence-based literacy instruction aligned with science-based reading research; and (iv) requiring each divisionwide literacy plan to address how the local school board will align (a) core reading and literacy curriculum for students in kindergarten through grade five and (b) screening, supplemental instruction, and interventions for students in kindergarten through grade eight with evidence-based literacy instruction practices aligned with science-based reading research. This bill is identical to SB 624.
Quitclaim and release property rights. Authorizesthe Department of Conservation and Recreation to quitclaim and releasecertain real property rights related to a portion of real estateowned by the Department related to an offsite well and water systemserving New River Trail State Park in Wythe County.
Celebrating the life of the Honorable OnzleeWare.
