Del. Jason Ballard

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.

Automatic renewal or continuous service offerto consumer; cancellation and online opt-out. Requires that the supplier of automatic renewals or continuous service offers thatinclude a free trial notify the consumer of the automatic renewalseven days prior to expiration of the free trial and obtain the consumer'saffirmative consent to the automatic renewal beyond the trial period.The bill also requires that suppliers of automatic renewals or continuousservice offers through an online website must make available a conspicuousonline option to cancel a recurring purchase of a good or servicewithin the website by which such purchase was made.

Motor vehicle insurance; underinsured motor vehicle. Requires any motor vehicle liability insurance policy issued, delivered, or renewed in the Commonwealth after July 1, 2023, to include a specific statement regarding the insurer requirements to provide underinsured motorist coverage that pays any damages due to an insured in addition to any bodily injury or property damage liability that is applicable to the insured's damages. The bill requires that the endorsement or provisions of a motor vehicle liability policy to provide uninsured motorist insurance coverage also provide underinsured motorist insurance coverage with limits that are equal to the uninsured motorist insurance coverage limits. Under the bill, underinsured motorist coverage shall be paid without any credit for the bodily injury and property damage coverage available for payment, unless any named insured elects to reduce any underinsured motorist coverage payments by notifying the insurer. If an injured person is entitled to underinsured motorist coverage under one or more policies wherein a named insured has elected to reduce the underinsured motorist limits by the available bodily injury liability insurance or property damage liability insurance coverage available for payment, any amount available for payment shall be credited against such policies in payment priority established in current law, and where there is more than one such policy entitled to such credit, the credit shall be apportioned pro-rata pursuant to the policies' respective available underinsured motorist coverages. The bill also provides that taxicab operators may fulfill their insurance filing requirement by showing evidence of a certificate of self-insurance. The bill requires, with regard to the self-insurance protection of a taxicab operator, the amount of bodily injury or property damage liability coverage available for payment from any source to be credited against and reduce the amount of protection otherwise available against an underinsured motorist.

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.

Local Food and Farming Infrastructure GrantProgram. Increases from $25,000 to $50,000 the amount of a grantthat may be made to a political subdivision for projects that supportlocal food production and sustainable agriculture.

Nonsuits; appeals from judgment of a general district court; emergency. Permits a plaintiff to nonsuit a claim appealed from a general district court in a circuit court. As introduced, the bill was a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference. The bill contains an emergency clause.

Business park electric transmission infrastructure pilot program; location of qualifying projects. Amends the definition of "business park" by adding that a business park may be established by a locality and by removing the requirement that a business park be located in an area of the Commonwealth designated as an opportunity zone by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury via his delegation of authority to the Internal Revenue Service. The bill also removes the requirement that the location of a qualifying project for an existing pilot program to promote economic development in the Commonwealth by allowing Dominion Energy Virginia and Appalachian Power to complete the construction phase of electric transmission infrastructure for up to three business parks prior to the public announcement of a prospective occupant of the business parks be in an opportunity zone and provides that such a qualifying project may be within a business park in Planning District 19.

Human trafficking training for law-enforcement personnel. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish training standards for law-enforcement personnel regarding the recognition, prevention, and reporting of human trafficking. This bill is identical to SB 467.

Military honor guards and veterans service organizations; paramilitary activities; exception. Exempts members of a lawfully recognized military color guard, honor guard, or similar organization, and members of a veterans service organization that is congressionally chartered or officially recognized by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, when such member is participating in a training or educational exercise, funeral, or public ceremony on behalf of such military color guard, honor guard, or similar organization or veterans service organization, from the crime of unlawful paramilitary activity unless such member engages in such activity with malicious intent. This bill is identical to SB 618.