Del. Delores Oates

School boards; certain examinations to be made available to students who satisfy compulsory school attendance requirements. Requires school boards to make Advanced Placement (AP), Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), and PreACT examinations available to any student whose parents satisfy the compulsory attendance requirements set forth in relevant law, including by having the student taught by a tutor or teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education and approved by the division superintendent.

Virginia taxable income; standard deduction; sunset. Removes the sunset on elevated standard deduction amounts for single individuals and married persons that is scheduled to expire for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2026.

Board of Housing and Community Development; Uniform Statewide Building Code; local building officials. Requires the Board of Housing and Community Development to amend the Uniform Statewide Building Code and corresponding regulations to remove any authority for local building departments to appoint local building officials for permanent terms. The bill requires the Board to require local building departments to appoint such officials for a term not to exceed 10 years and to only reappoint such officials after holding a performance evaluation.

Unfunded mandates; delay of implementation. Allows a county, city, or town, in its discretion, to delay implementing an unfunded mandate until the next fiscal year after the fiscal year in which any unfunded mandate became effective. The locality shall do so by ordinance that states with specificity the unfunded mandate that the locality seeks to delay implementing and the date on which the unfunded mandate shall become effective after the delay. The bill defines "unfunded mandate" as an act that imposes on a locality the responsibility of providing funding for new programs or increased levels of service under existing programs and for which the Commonwealth does not provide sufficient funding to cover the required costs of such new programs or increased services, whether by appropriation or other means.

Virginia Advisory Committee for Career and Technical Education; recommendations, guidelines, and best practices for incorporation of career and technical education into public elementary school curricula; report. Requires the Virginia Advisory Committee for Career and Technical Education established by the Board of Education to develop and submit to the Board of Education, the Governor, and the General Assembly no later than November 1, 2024, recommendations, guidelines, and best practices for the incorporation of career and technical education into public elementary school curricula.

Human trafficking investigators; licensing by the Department of Criminal Justice Services. Authorizes the Department of Criminal Justice Services to register and issue licenses for human trafficking investigators. The bill provides that a human trafficking investigator is a private investigator who is GSA compliant and engages in the business of, or accepts employment to make, investigations to obtain information on sex trafficking or severe forms of trafficking as defined in the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and in the federal Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015.

Center for Rural Virginia; name change. Renames the Center for Rural Virginia as the Senator Frank M. Ruff, Jr. Center for Rural Virginia. This bill is identical to SB 704.

Food inspections; private homes; pickles and acidified vegetables; gross sales. Increases from $3,000 to $9,000 the gross sales annual revenue cap for sales of pickles and other acidified vegetables that have an equilibrium pH value of 4.6 or lower and are processed and prepared in a private home without an inspection as otherwise required to operate a food establishment. The bill expands the exemption for private homes where the resident processes and prepares certain food products to allow for such person to sell the food at a temporary event that operates for a period of no more than 14 consecutive days. The bill also clarifies that such person may advertise such food products over the Internet provided that the sale takes place in person and complies with certain restrictions.

Commending the Honorable Kathy J. Byron.

Commending the Honorable L. Kaye Kory.