Del. J.J. Singh

School boards; authority to prohibit sale of caffeinated beverages to students in public high schools. Permits any school board to prohibit the sale of caffeinated beverages to students in public high schools in the local school division, regardless of whether any such beverage meets the requirements to be considered a diet or low-calorie beverage under any relevant federal regulation.

Retail sales and use tax; exemption for data centers. Requires a data center operator, in order to be eligible for the existing data center sales and use tax exemption, to (i) beginning July 1, 2027, not use co-located generating facilities that emit carbon dioxide, other than backup generators; (ii) beginning July 1, 2029, contract for a certain percentage of energy, capacity, and renewable energy certificates from clean energy resources, as evidenced by a certification from the State Corporation Commission, or contracts and service agreements; (iii) utilize only non-carbon dioxide-emitting backup power sources, such as energy storage resources, beginning on a date dependent on the data center's initial service date; and (iv) demonstrate, for any new data center issued a final certificate of occupancy or its equivalent on or after January 1, 2030, or for any data center operator seeking an amended memorandum of understanding, sufficient investment in environmental management and energy efficiency measures to provide system-wide benefits, as defined in the bill. Finally, the bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.

Department of Conservation and Recreation; acquisition of property to establish a state park; Loudoun County. Allows the Department of Conservation and Recreation to acquire from the Conservation Fund approximately 1,240 acres of real property and any buildings or structures thereon between Little River Turnpike, James Monroe Highway, and Tail Race Road, known as Oak Hill Farm, in Loudoun County for the purpose of establishing and operating a state park on such property. This bill incorporates HB 239.

State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; fixed in-state tuition policy; review; report. Requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (the Council), in consultation with each baccalaureate public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth, to assess the potential impact of a policy whereby such institutions are required to establish a fixed in-state tuition rate for each incoming first year undergraduate Virginia student enrolled in a four-year baccalaureate program and declare each such student eligible for such rate for four academic years or any portion or term thereof during which the student makes satisfactory progress toward completing such degree program, provided that the student maintains continuous enrollment. The bill requires the Council to report its findings to the Chairs of the House Committee on Appropriations, the House Committee on Education, the Senate Committee on Education and Health, and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations no later than November 30, 2026.

Study; Division of Public Utility Regulation; undergrounding of electrical transmission lines; report. Requests the State Corporation Commission's Division of Public Utility Regulation to study the undergrounding of electrical transmission lines. The study requires the Division to submit its report no later than the first day of the 2027 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Study; Department of Environmental Quality; groundwater supply in western Loudoun and Fauquier Counties; report. Directs the Department of Environmental Quality to study the threats and challenges to the groundwater supply in western Loudoun and Fauquier Counties, to complete its meetings by November 30, 2026, and to report its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources no later than December 31, 2026.

Individual income tax; subtractions; Segal AmeriCorps Education Award. Provides that, for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2026, any amounts received as income from or otherwise pursuant to the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, as described in the bill, shall be subtracted from an individual's Virginia taxable income.

Department of Health; Department of Social Services; publicly accessible nursing home information portal; publicly accessible assisted living facility information portal; reporting of incidents involving emergency medical services. Directs the Department of Health to establish a nursing home information portal and the Department of Social Services to establish an assisted living facility information portal to consolidate publicly available information on nursing homes and assisted living facilities, respectively. The bill requires operators of nursing homes and assisted living facilities to submit a quarterly report to the Department of Health or the Department of Social Services, respectively, with information on incidents involving emergency medical services.

State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; work group; study; uniform acceptance of credit earned through participation in certain volunteer or public service organizations; report. Requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to establish a work group consisting of representatives of each baccalaureate public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth and such other stakeholders as it deems appropriate to study the feasibility of the uniform acceptance by each such institution of college credit earned through student participation in certain volunteer or public service organizations such as AmeriCorps. The bill requires the work group, in conducting such study, to consider barriers to implementation, strategies for ensuring the rigor and quality of the service-learning opportunities for which credit would be granted, and innovative approaches in other states that could be emulated in the Commonwealth, such as California College Corps or similar state-sanctioned programs whereby students have access to a statewide program of service-learning opportunities through partnerships between campuses and community-based service organizations. The bill requires the work group to submit its findings to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2026.

Public institutions of higher education; undergraduate Virginia student tuition and mandatory fees; two-year freeze. Requires the tuition and mandatory fees charged to undergraduate Virginia students at each public institution of higher education to be capped at the rate charged to such students for the first academic term of the 2025-2026 academic year. The provisions of the bill expire on July 1, 2028.