Department of Health; restrictions on expenditureof funds related to family planning services. Prioritizes thetypes of entities to which the Department of Health provides grantsfor family planning services.
Voter identification; identification containinga photograph required. Requires presentation of a form of identificationcontaining a photograph in order to vote. The bill repeals the provisionsof law permitting a voter who does not have one of the required formsof identification to vote after signing a statement, subject to felonypenalties for false statements, that he is the named registered voterhe claims to be. Instead, the bill provides that such voter is entitledto cast a provisional ballot.
Elections; local officers; election and termsof mayor and city council for cities and towns; minimum population.Limits to localities with a population of at least 25,000 the application of the requirement that, in a city or town that imposesdistrict-based or ward-based residency requirements for members ofthe city or town council, the member elected from each district or ward must be elected by the qualified voters of that district orward and not by the locality at large.
Carrying a concealed handgun; permit not required. Allows any person who is otherwise eligible to obtain a concealedhandgun permit to carry a concealed handgun without a permit anywherehe may lawfully carry a handgun openly within the Commonwealth.
Public education; parental rights; access to certain facilities and accommodations; instructional content; bullying. Declares that the parent of any student enrolled in a public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth has the right to (i) obtain and review any educational material and curriculum utilized in any class or course in which the student is enrolled; (ii) opt his child out of any class or course activity, lesson, or reading assignment or the use of any audiovisual material or library book to which the parent objects; (iii) easily access a list of the title and author of each book in each classroom and each library in the school in which the student is enrolled; (iv) receive notice of and attend any public meeting of the school board governing the local school division in which the student is enrolled; (v) review the annual school division budget and expenditures; (vi) send his child to attend school in a safe environment; and (vii) be updated by the school principal on any violent activity in the school in which the student is enrolled. The bill requires each school board to adopt policies to require each student and school board employee to have access to restrooms, locker rooms, and other changing facilities in public school buildings that are shared only by members of the same biological sex; lodging accommodations during school-sponsored trips that are shared only by members of the same biological sex; and a single-user restroom, locker room, or other changing facility in a public school building, upon request, if the school can reasonably accommodate such a request. The bill also prohibits any school board employee or individual who provides any school-sponsored program from teaching or promoting to any student or school board employee the concept that (a) any race is inherently superior or inferior; (b) any individual is racist, privileged, oppressive, biased, or responsible for actions committed by others of the same race or skin color by virtue of the individual's race or skin color; (c) the United States is fundamentally racist; or (d) market-based economics is inherently racist. The bill finally requires each school board to implement policies and procedures to educate school board employees about bullying and the need to create a school environment in which all individuals are treated with dignity and respect and any incident of bullying is taken seriously and handled in a robust manner.
Local school boards; requirement for studentsto wear masks or other face coverings; evidentiary substantiation.Prohibits any local school board from requiring any student enrolledat a public elementary or secondary school in the local school divisionto wear a mask, face covering, or other covering of the student'snose and mouth at school, on a school bus, or at a school-sponsoredactivity unless the local school board substantiates such requirementwith evidence that (i) such requirement is necessary to suppress a nuisance dangerous to the public health or a communicable, contagious,or infectious disease or other danger to the public life and health;(ii) no reasonable alternatives to such requirement exist in lightof the impact on quality of life and economic well-being; and (iii)such requirement is narrowly tailored to address the nuisance dangerousto the public health or the communicable, contagious, or infectiousdisease or other danger to the public life and health.
Family life education instruction; school yeartime limit. Requires each school board that offers a family lifeeducation curriculum to limit instruction delivered to students pursuantto such curriculum to one hour per school year in each grade level.
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.
Elections; time of certain local elections.Removes a provision that requires local elections for mayor, members of a local governing body, or members of an elected schoolboard to be held at the time of the November general election. Thebill allows cities and towns that made the transition between July1, 2021, and July 1, 2022, to provide by ordinance for its reversal.
Virginia Credential Registry; established.Directs the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to createthe Virginia Credential Registry for the purpose of ensuring thatthe general public has access to essential information about alleducational and occupational credentials that are delivered, issued,funded, recognized, authorized, overseen, or governed in the Commonwealth.The bill describes such credentials as all degrees, certificates,certifications, licenses, apprenticeships, military training, diplomas,and badges that are available in the Commonwealth. The bill setsout other information required to be included in the Registry andrequires the Council to establish and populate the Registry no laterthan July 1, 2023, and report on its progress in implementing theVirginia Credential Registry to the General Assembly no later thanOctober 1, 2023.
