Public schools; right to free public elementary and secondary education; discrimination based on immigration status prohibited; requirements; civil cause of action. Prohibits any child in the Commonwealth from being denied a free public education through secondary school on the basis of the actual or perceived immigration or citizenship status of the child or the child's parents, in accordance with the Constitution of Virginia and consistent with the requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The bill prohibits any school board or public elementary or secondary school from engaging in certain enumerated actions and practices that involve or result in the denial of a free public education, or denial of the benefits or exclusion from participation in any program or activity thereof, of a child on the basis of the actual or perceived immigration or citizenship status of the child or the child's parents. The bill also requires each public elementary and secondary school to develop and implement procedures for reviewing and authorizing requests from law enforcement agents to enter a public school or public school facility. The bill establishes a civil cause of action for any party aggrieved by conduct that violates the provisions of the bill, in accordance with the provisions of the bill. Finally, the bill directs (i) the Department of Education to develop and make available to each school board by August 1, 2026, guidance for school personnel on the requirements of the bill and training guidelines and materials for the training of all public school principals and administrators on compliance with the provisions of the bill, and (ii) each school board to (a) develop and implement by August 1, 2026, policies and procedures in accordance with the provisions of the bill and (b) require each public school principal and administrator to complete training on compliance with the provisions of the bill by the beginning of the 2026–2027 school year. This bill was incorporated into HB 836.
Sponsored bills
Student bullying; definition; characteristics of victim. Adjusts the definition of "bullying" in the context of public education to specify that the real or perceived power imbalance between the aggressor or aggressors and victim includes such a power imbalance on the basis of the membership of the victim in a group that is protected from discrimination pursuant to the Virginia Human Rights Act.
Virginia Clean Energy and Battery Storage Promotion Program established; report. Directs the Director of the Department of Energy to establish the Virginia Clean Energy and Battery Storage Promotion Program. The purpose of the Program is to (i) promote the adoption, deployment, and understanding of solar energy and battery storage technologies; (ii) support market development, public information, and workforce development initiatives; and (iii) conduct research and technical studies on cost reduction, deployment barriers, and grid integration. The bill establishes the Virginia Clean Energy and Battery Storage Promotion Board as a policy board in the executive branch of state government to coordinate with the Director to establish a program for the promotion, research, and market development of clean energy and battery storage. Additionally, the bill establishes the Virginia Clean Energy and Battery Storage Promotion Fund to fund the administration and implementation of the Program. The bill requires the developer of a solar energy project or an energy storage system to pay a one-time fee of $0.02 per watt of generation or storage capacity to the Fund. The fee is assessed by the Department of Energy.
Uniform Statewide Building Code; amendments; energy efficiency and conservation. Requires the Board of Housing and Community Development to adopt amendments to the Uniform Statewide Building Code within 18 months of publication of a new version of the International Code Council's International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) to incorporate the latest IECC standards related to energy efficiency and conservation. The bill requires the Board to adopt Building Code standards that are at least as stringent as those contained in the new version of the IECC.
Local Environmental Impact Fund. Allows a locality to create a permanent and perpetual fund to be known as the Local Environmental Impact Fund. The bill provides that the Fund shall consist exclusively of appropriated local moneys and any gifts, donations, grants, bequests, and other funds received on its behalf, and that the Fund is to be created for the purpose of granting funds to residents or locally owned businesses for the mitigation of environmental impacts. Such grants from the Fund shall be used only for the purchase of energy efficient (i) lawn care and landscaping equipment; (ii) home appliances; (iii) heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment; or (iv) micromobility devices. The bill requires the Fund to be administered and managed by the locality.
Elections; polling places; prohibited activities; acts in furtherance of federal immigration laws. Prohibits any person from performing any act for the purpose or in furtherance of enforcement of federal immigration laws within 40 feet of any building, or part thereof, used as (i) a polling place, (ii) a meeting place for the local electoral board while the electoral board meets to ascertain the results of an election, or (iii) the place for a recount.
Protected areas; certain federal immigration enforcement prohibited; penalty. Prohibits any employee or agent acting on behalf of a protected area from knowingly permitting any person to enter a nonpublic area of such protected area for the purpose of federal immigration enforcement. The bill defines protected area as any place or facility that is owned or operated by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof and is (i) a hospital or other facility providing health care services; (ii) a school, including a preschool, primary school, or secondary school, vocational or trade school, or public institution of higher education; (iii) an office of an attorney for the Commonwealth; or (iv) any other place or facility designated by the Attorney General. The bill creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for any violation of such provision, subject to certain exceptions. The bill also makes the performance of certain acts for the purpose of identifying, arresting, or otherwise imposing a penalty upon a person for federal immigration enforcement punishable by a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Public elementary and secondary schools and public institutions of higher education; certain federal immigration investigation and enforcement activities; certain notifications and prohibitions. Requires, no later than July 1, 2027, and subject to certain enumerated conditions and requirements, (i) the written school crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response plan for each public elementary or secondary school to include (a) a requirement that whenever the division superintendent confirms that an individual is present on the property of a public elementary or secondary school in the school division to investigate compliance with, enforce, or assist in the investigation for compliance with or enforcement of any federal civil immigration law or any federal criminal immigration law that penalizes an individual's presence in, entry or reentry into, or employment in the United States, each school board employee at such school and the parents of each student enrolled in such school shall be notified of such presence and (b) a prohibition against any individual present on the property of a public elementary or secondary school in the school division to investigate compliance with, enforce, or assist in the investigation for compliance with or enforcement of any federal civil immigration law or any federal criminal immigration law that penalizes an individual's presence in, entry or reentry into, or employment in the United States from accessing any nonpublic area of such school property without a warrant signed by a judge or magistrate and (ii) each public institution of higher education to (a) notify all students, faculty, and staff whenever the institution confirms that an individual is present on campus to investigate compliance with, enforce, or assist in the investigation for compliance with or enforcement of any federal civil immigration law or any federal criminal immigration law that penalizes an individual's presence in, entry or reentry into, or employment in the United States and (b) prohibit any individual present on campus to investigate compliance with, enforce, or assist in the investigation for compliance with or enforcement of any federal civil immigration law or any federal criminal immigration law that penalizes an individual's presence in, entry or reentry into, or employment in the United States from accessing any nonpublic area of campus without a warrant signed by a judge or magistrate.
Covenants not to compete; exceptions; civil penalty. Prohibits an employer from entering into, enforcing, or threatening to enforce a covenant not to compete with employees who perform key duties of the employer's enterprise or customarily and regularly solicit customers or make sales or contracts for the employer. Under the bill, certain employees are permitted to enter agreements to refrain from soliciting business from the employer for a stated period of time following termination. The penalty provisions in current law for covenants not to compete for low-wage employees shall apply to a violation of the provisions of the bill. The provisions of the bill apply to contracts entered into, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2026.
Prohibition on outdoor shooting of firearm on property without reasonable care; penalty. Permits localities to adopt an ordinance prohibiting outdoor shooting of a firearm unless the discharge of such firearm is conducted (i) on land of at least five acres and (ii) with reasonable care, described in the bill, to prevent a projectile from crossing the bounds of the land. The bill permits such an ordinance to create a rebuttable presumption that the discharge of firearms across or over the bounds of a property without written permission of that property owner was without reasonable care. The bill requires that a violation of such an ordinance not exceed a Class 1 misdemeanor.