Del. Joe McNamara

Academic year Governor's Schools; certain practices prohibited and permitted. Prohibits any academic year Governor's School or governing board member, director, administrator, or employee thereof from (i) discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin; (ii) engaging in proxy discrimination, as defined in the bill, in student admissions; or (iii) seeking information on students' race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin during the application process for admission to such school unless expressly required by federal law, and to the extent it is required by federal law, the bill requires such information to be withheld to the maximum extent practicable from any individual involved in admissions decisions to the end that admissions decisions are blind as to the applicants' race, sex, color, ethnicity, and national origin. The bill permits any academic year Governor's School or governing board member, director, administrator, or employee thereof to use traditional academic success factors, as defined in the bill, in student admissions and provides that such use presumptively does not constitute proxy discrimination. The bill also contains provisions relating to evidentiary burdens of proof in certain causes of action involving such proxy discrimination or traditional academic success factors. The bill requires each local school board that jointly manages and controls a regional academic year Governor's school to collaborate to ensure that each public middle school that is eligible to send students to attend such Governor's school offers coursework, curriculum, and instruction that is comparable in content and in rigor in order to provide each student in each such middle school with the opportunity to gain admission to and excel academically at such Governor's school.

Veteran-owned small businesses; waiving of fees. Directs the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs and the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, in conjunction with the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity, to examine the waiving of fees associated with permits necessary to establish a small business for veteran-owned small businesses. This bill is identical to SB 572.

Virginia Literacy Act; early student literacy; evidence-based literacy instruction; science-based reading research. Makes several changes relating to early student literacy, including requiring (i) each education preparation program offered by a public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education or alternative certification program that provides training for any individual seeking initial licensure with an endorsement in a certain area, including as a reading specialist, to demonstrate mastery of science-based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction, as such terms are defined in the bill; (ii) the literacy assessment required of individuals seeking initial teacher licensure with endorsements in certain areas to include a rigorous test of science-based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction; (iii) each local school board to establish a divisionwide literacy plan; (iv) each local school board to employ one reading specialist for each 550 students in kindergarten through grade three; and (v) each local school board to provide a program of literacy instruction whereby, among other things, (a) the program provides reading intervention services to students in kindergarten through grade three who demonstrate deficiencies based on their individual performance on the Standards of Learning reading assessment or an early literacy screener provided or approved by the Department of Education; (b) a reading specialist, in collaboration with the teacher of any student who receives such reading intervention services, develops, oversees implementation of, and monitors student progress on a student reading plan; and (c) each student who receives such reading intervention services is assessed utilizing either the early literacy screener provided or approved by the Department or the grade-level reading Standards of Learning assessment again at the end of that school year. The provisions of the bill become effective beginning with the 2024–2025 school year. This bill is identical to SB 616.

Property tax; data centers. Provides that if data center fixtures are taxed as part of the real property where they are located, they shall be valued based on depreciated reproduction or replacement cost, rather than based on the amount of income they generate. This bill is identical to SB 513.

Limited liability companies; prepayment of annual registration fees. Permits domestic and foreign limited liabilitycompanies to prepay annual registration fees for two or three years.Under the bill, a domestic or foreign limited liability company mustmake the election to prepay its annual registration fees before itsannual registration fee would otherwise be due and seek approvalfrom the State Corporation Commission to engage in prepayment fortwo or three years. The bill provides that such optional prepaymentdoes not apply to the initial annual registration fees assessed againsta limited liability company that is newly formed or recently convertedfrom another entity. The bill requires that, if applicable, the Commissionprovide notice of this prepayment option to a foreign or domesticlimited liability company that has failed to pay its annual registrationfee as a method of avoiding future delinquencies.

Tax returns of affiliated corporations; permission to change basis of type of return filed. Decreases from 20 years to 12 years the time period for which an affiliated group of corporations must file on the same basis before it may apply to the Tax Commissioner for permission to change the basis of the type of return filed (i) from consolidated to separate or (ii) from separate or combined to consolidated.

Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence VictimFund; purpose; fee apportionment. Provides that the Departmentof Criminal Justice Services shall adopt guidelines to make fundsfrom the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Victim Fund, whichis used to support the prosecution of domestic violence cases andvictim services, available to sexual assault service providers andhospitals for the purpose of funding the cost of salaries and equipmentfor sexual assault forensic examiners, sexual assault nurse examiners,and pediatric sexual assault nurse examiners, with priority for fundingsuch costs given to such forensic examiners and nurse examiners serving rural or underserved areas of the Commonwealth. The bill also increasesthe amount apportioned to the Fund from the fixed fees for misdemeanorsand traffic infractions tried in district court.

Local cigarette tax; unsold inventory. Requires any locality that increases its cigarette tax rate to allow, for one calendar year after the increase, a person with unsold inventory to pay the tax increase on the unsold inventory by filing a return, rather than requiring the use of a stamp or meter impression. The bill imposes a duty on regional cigarette tax boards to effectuate the policy. This bill is identical to SB 25.

Local taxes; surplus revenues. Grants localities permissive authority to return surplus personal property tax revenues to taxpayers. Under current law, localities may return only surplus real property tax revenues. This bill is identical to HB 267.

Local taxes; surplus revenues. Grants localities permissive authority to return surplus personal property tax revenues to taxpayers. Under current law, localities may return only surplus real property tax revenues. This bill is identical to SB 12.