Del. Marty Martinez

Elections; Voting Rights Act of Virginia. Revises provisions of the Voting Rights Act of Virginia (the Act) by (i) clarifying the legal standards for evaluating claims of alleged voter suppression and vote dilution, (ii) providing guidance to the courts to follow when determining whether a violation of the prohibition against voter suppression or vote dilution has occurred, and (iii) outlining the factors that the courts are permitted to consider and those factors that the courts are prohibited from considering. The bill expands the class of persons who may initiate a cause of action for an alleged violation of the Act to include organizations whose membership includes members of a protected class, organizations whose mission would be frustrated by a violation of the Act, and organizations that would expend resources in order to fulfill their mission as a result of a violation of the Act. The population thresholds for a locality to be designated as a covered locality for purposes of minority language accessibility pursuant to the Act are also amended. Current law designates a locality as a covered locality if, in the locality, (a) more than five percent of the voting age population or (b) more than 10,000 of the voting age population are members of a single language minority and are unable to speak or understand English adequately enough to participate in the electoral process; the bill reduces those thresholds from five to three percent and from 10,000 to 5,000. The bill contains technical amendments for organizational purposes.

Certificate of public need; expedited review of certain projects; duties of the State Health Services Plan Task Force. Directs the State Health Services Plan Task Force to develop recommendations for designating areas of the state with an identifiable need for additional projects, taking into account numerous barriers of access to health care. The bill also directs the Board of Health to promulgate updated regulations for expedited application and review processes for certain projects. This bill is identical to SB 239.

Minimum energy and water conservation standards; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning facilities and home appliances; Department of Energy; prohibited practices; penalty. Provides that if any product or product categories under the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (the EPCA) are removed by the U.S. Secretary of Energy or the federal government, the Department of Energy shall adopt energy or water conservation standards that shall be equivalent to the last applicable federal standards with a product compliance date of on or before December 31, 2025. The bill prohibits any such new products from being sold, offered for sale, leased, or rented in the Commonwealth unless such products meet or exceed such standards. The bill excludes any energy or water conservation standards set aside by a court or any product if federal law preempts the application of the minimum energy and water conservation standards to such a product, including any product or product categories where there is a requirement to develop a standard under the EPCA.

Elections; absentee and provisional ballots; cure process. Requires that, if the electoral board determines that any person having submitted a provisional vote was not entitled to vote as a result of a material error or omission on the provisional ballot form, the registrar is required to promptly notify the voter by telephone or email of the error or omission and to provide information to the voter on how to correct the issue so his ballot may be counted. The voter is entitled to make such necessary corrections before noon on the Monday after the election. The bill moves the deadline for curing errors or omissions in absentee ballot applications from noon on the third day after the election to noon on the Monday after the election. The bill also requries the Department of Elections to issue guidance to local election officials on the uniform processing and counting of provisional ballots, including any provisional ballot cast by a person submitting a registration application on the same day as the election.

Secretary of Public Safety; firearm violence. Directs the Secretary of Public Safety to convene a work group to develop policy and legislative recommendations to establish the Virginia Gun Violence Prevention Center. The bill allows the work group to (i) meet both in-person and virtually, (ii) have small group breakouts for the purpose of advancing work in a timely and efficient manner, and (iii) collaborate with experts and other representatives as needed. The bill requires the work group to report its findings and any legislative and policy recommendations to the General Assembly by December 15, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 364.

Presidential electors; National Popular Vote Compact. Enters Virginia into an interstate compact known as the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote. Article II of the Constitution of the United States gives the states exclusive and plenary authority to decide the manner of awarding their electoral votes. Under the compact, Virginia agrees to award its electoral votes to the presidential ticket that receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact goes into effect when states cumulatively possessing a majority of the electoral votes have joined the compact. A state may withdraw from the compact; however, a withdrawal occurring within six months of the end of a President's term shall not become effective until a President or Vice President has qualified to serve the next term. The bill also provides for the manner of appointing electors when such agreement does and does not govern the appointment of electors. This bill is identical to HB 965.

Head Start State Collaboration Office; state of Head Start and Early Head Start in the Commonwealth; report. Requires the Head Start State Collaboration Office at the Department of Education, no later than December 1, 2026, to develop and recommend to the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education for endorsement a report summarizing the state of Head Start and Early Head Start in the Commonwealth that is required to address several topics enumerated in the bill.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; essential services. Adds central air conditioning when supplied by the landlord and operating or represented as operating as of the effective date of the rental agreement to the list of what constitutes an essential service for purposes of the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.

Sports betting; prohibition on use of credit cards. Prohibits the Director of the Virginia Lottery from approving the use of credit cards as a method for sports bettors to fund sports betting accounts. The bill also requires a permit holder to take reasonable measures to prohibit the acceptance of credit cards to fund sports betting accounts on its sports betting platform.

Department of Social Services; requests for records or information concerning applicants for and recipients of public assistance; public notice required. Requires the Commissioner of Social Services to make a public notice available on the Department of Social Services' website within 10 days of receiving a request for a record or information concerning 25 or more applicants for or recipients of public assistance or child support for a purpose not directly connected to the administration of such programs. If a local department of social services receives a request for information that meets the requirements of the bill, such local department of social services is required to notify the Commissioner of such request. The bill establishes the form of such public notice and requires such notice to be made available (i) regardless of whether such information has been previously been shared; (ii) regardless of the identity of the requestor, unless such request is permitted under existing law; and (iii) even when a request is made in compliance with state and federal law and regulation.