Rep. Chris Runion

Compensation of local jails for cost of incarceration. Provides that the Department of Corrections shall compensate localjails for the cost of incarceration of convicted felons, calculated from the date of mailing of the final order, at the rate of $12 per inmate per day for the first 60 days, at the rate of $40 per inmateper day during the period of more than 60 but not more than 90 days,and for the actual cost of incarceration as calculated in the jailreport prepared annually by the Compensation Board for more than90 days. Currently, such compensation rates are provided for in thegeneral appropriation act.

Virginia Retirement System; enhanced retirementbenefits for animal control officers. Adds animal control officersto the list of local employees eligible to receive enhanced retirementbenefits for hazardous duty service. Under current law, localitiesmay provide such benefits to first responders, including firefightersand emergency medical technicians, and certain other hazardous dutypositions.

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.

Income tax; rolling conformity; report. Provides that, beginning with taxable year 2022, Virginia shall generally conform to federal tax laws on a rolling basis, meaning that Virginiatax laws incorporate changes to the Internal Revenue Code as soonas Congress enacts them. However, the bill provides that Virginiashall not conform to (i) any changes in a single act of Congresswith an impact of more than 0.3 percent on revenues in the year inwhich the amendment was enacted or any of the next four years and(ii) all changes enacted by Congress during the taxable year if their aggregate impact is more than 0.6 percent on the revenues for thatyear or any of the next four years.

Commercial driver's license examinations. Authorizes school boards to issue a commercial driver's license skills test certificate to employees of other school boards. This bill is incorporated into HB 1146.

Distribution of recordation tax to cities andcounties. Reestablishes the distribution of $20 million of state recordation tax revenue to counties and cities to be used for transportationor public education purposes. Legislation in 2020 dedicated the $20million to the Hampton Roads Regional Transit Program.

Absentee ballots; witness requirement; printedname and residence address. Requires that a witness to a voter's absentee ballot provide, in addition to his signature, his printedname, his date of birth, the last four digits of his social securitynumber, and his residence address.

School principals; incident reports. Requiresthat school principals report to law enforcement certain enumerated acts that may constitute a misdemeanor offense and report to theparents of any minor student who is the specific object of such actthat the incident has been reported to law enforcement. Under currentlaw, principals are required to make such reports only for such actsthat may constitute a felony offense.

Composite index of local ability-to-pay; usevalue of real estate in certain localities. Requires, for thepurpose of determining the state and local shares of basic aid funding,that the composite index of local ability-to-pay utilize the usevalue of all applicable real estate (i) devoted to agricultural use,horticultural use, forest use, and open-space use in each localitythat has adopted an ordinance by which it provides for the use valuationand taxation of such real estate and (ii) used in agricultural andforestal production within an agricultural district, forestal district,agricultural and forestal district, or agricultural and forestaldistrict of local significance in each locality that provides forthe use valuation and taxation of such real estate, regardless ofwhether it has adopted a local land-use plan or local ordinance forsuch valuation and taxation.

Falun Gong; Persecution by Chinese CommunistParty. Condemns the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners bythe Chinese Communist Party.