Department of Transportation; U.S. Route 60.Directs the Department of Transportation to propose a plan to renumberU.S. Route 60 to the Federal Highway Administration and the SpecialCommittee on U.S. Route Numbering of the American Association ofState Highway and Transportation Officials.
Home instruction and private school tax credit.Creates an individual, nonrefundable income tax credit for taxableyears 2022 through 2026, for amounts paid by the parent or legalguardian of a child for the child's home instruction expenses or tuitionfor attending an accredited private school in Virginia. The creditshall equal the lesser of the amount actually paid in the taxableyear for such costs or half of the average state standards of quality funding per student per year. The credit may be taken for instruction-relatedmaterials, courses, or programs used in home instruction or for privateschool tuition. The credit is available for two years per child andcan be carried forward for five taxable years.
Absentee voting; permanent absentee voter listrepealed. Repeals the provisions of law by which any registered voter may apply to receive absentee ballots for all elections inwhich he is eligible to vote and remains on the list until the voterrequests in writing to be removed from the list, the voter's registrationis canceled or placed on inactive status pursuant to law, or thevoter moves to a different address not in the same county or cityof his registration.
United States Constitution; application fora convention of the states. Makes application to Congress tocall a convention of the states to propose amendments to the UnitedStates Constitution that impose fiscal restraints on the federalgovernment, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government,and limit the terms of office for its officials and for members of Congress.
Law-enforcement officers; retired law-enforcementofficers; carrying a firearm or explosive material within CapitolSquare and the surrounding area. Exempts any law-enforcementofficer from the prohibition on carrying a firearm or explosive materialwithin the Capitol of Virginia and Capitol Square and the surroundingarea. The bill further allows any law-enforcement officer or qualifiedretired law-enforcement officer to carry a firearm or explosive materialwithin any building owned or leased by the Commonwealth or any agencythereof, or any office where employees of the Commonwealth or agencythereof are regularly present to perform their official duties. Undercurrent law, a law-enforcement officer is exempted only while actingin the conduct of his official duties, and a retired law-enforcementofficer is limited to carrying a firearm while visiting a gun rangeowned or leased by the Commonwealth. The bill also clarifies that "Capitol Square and the surrounding area" as defined in current lawdoes not include any public road or highway.
Absentee voting; excuse required to vote absenteeby mail; excuse required to vote absentee in person prior to thesecond Saturday preceding an election. Requires a registeredvoter to provide a reason for being absent or unable to vote at hispolling place on election day in order to receive an absentee ballotto vote by mail. Registered voters offering to vote absentee in personare similarly required by the bill to provide a reason until thesecond Saturday immediately preceding an election, at which timean excuse is not required to vote absentee in person. The bill providesthat an application for an absentee ballot is required to receivean absentee ballot by mail and to vote absentee in person beforethe second Saturday immediately preceding an election. The bill alsorepeals the permanent absentee voter list and limits the special annual application to those voters with an illness or disability.
Elections; absentee voting; ballots to be sortedand results to be reported by precinct. Provides that absentee ballots processed at a central absentee precinct must be sorted bythe precinct to which the voter who cast the absentee ballot is assignedand that the resulting vote totals from such ballots must be reportedseparately for each voter precinct.
Fair Labor Standards Act waiver; employeeswith disabilities. Removes the provision of the Code stating that any person who is paid pursuant to Section 14(c) of the Fair LaborStandards Act is not considered an employee for the purposes of theVirginia Minimum Wage Act.
Literary Fund; loans; application process; maximum loan amounts; rates of interest; closing costs; waiting lists. Makes several changes to the provisions relating to loans from the Literary Fund to finance the construction and renovation of public elementary and secondary school buildings in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Board of Education (the Board) to establish an annual open application process for Literary Fund loans to occur during the period that the Board deems most suitable. The bill increases from $7.5 million to $25 million the maximum Literary Fund loan amount and permits the Board to increase such maximum to up to $35 million for loans for any school construction or renovation project that facilitates the consolidation of schools. The bill requires the Board to fix the interest rate on all loans made from the Literary Fund at not less than one percent per year, not more than three percent per year, and at increments of one half of one percent per year between such minimum and maximum rates, payable annually, and to utilize a sliding scale based on the local school division's composite index of local ability to pay to determine the interest rate on each such loan. Under current law, such rates are required to be set between two and six percent per year. The bill requires the Board to establish a competitive program for the award of up to $25,000 to a school division that receives a Literary Fund loan for the purpose of subsidizing all or a portion of the closing costs for such loan. The bill also permits the Board to remove any project that has been inactive for at least five years from any Literary Fund loan project waiting list that it maintains. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization.
Purchase of handguns; limitation on handgunpurchases. Removes the prohibition on any person who is not a licensed firearms dealer from purchasing more than one handgun ina 30-day period. Current law makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for aviolation of this provision, subject to certain exemptions.
