State correctional facilities; required education or vocational training; earned sentence credits classification levels. Requires a prisoner in a state correctional facility, as a part of his reentry plan developed and implemented by the Department of Corrections, to complete a high school equivalency test or vocational, technical, or other certification prior to such prisoner's release. The bill also provides that the annual review of a prisoner's classification level for earned sentence credits shall include such prisoner's quantifiable or measurable progress, as available, in any programs, job assignments, and educational curricula in which he is participating, such as test scores achieved or completion of a high school equivalency test or other trade or vocational certification.
Sponsored bills
Sales and use tax; food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products. Eliminates the remaining one percent local sales and use tax that is imposed on food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products. Under current law, no other sales and use tax is applied to such products. The bill requires an equivalent amount of revenue to be distributed to cities and counties on a monthly basis in compensation for the lost tax revenue. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.
Department of Health; Board of Health; powers and duties; onsite sewage system designs. Directs the Board of Health to establish and maintain a pre-certified library of engineered onsite sewage system designs that may be used by right when site conditions materially match the design envelope for such systems. The bill also directs the Department of Health, in coordination with the Department of Environmental Quality, to implement a fast-track permitting timeline for subdivision plat review when a subdivision will have identical, decentralized onsite sewage system designs. Within 30 days from the date of written submission of a request for approval of a site evaluation and design for subdivision plat review, the Department of Health shall (i) issue the requested letter, permit, or approval or (ii) set forth in writing the specific reasons for denial.
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding sections numbered 2.2-1500 through 2.2-1545, relating to government efficiency; agency reporting requirements; healthcare financing reform; Interagency Health Financing Task Force; managed care organization performance review; housing regulatory review; procurement reform; technology consolidation; real property management; personnel efficiency; federal funding contingency; establishment of the Joint Subcommittee on Government Efficiency; data integration and transparency.
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Title 59.1 a chapter numbered 58, consisting of sections numbered 59.1-607 through 59.1-616, relating to digital innovation and infrastructure; establishing rights in digital property and technology resources; requiring risk management policies for critical infrastructure facilities controlled by critical artificial intelligence systems; providing safe harbors; preempting local regulation; and providing for enforcement and remedies.
Twenty-seventh judicial district; boundary of judicial district; number of judges. Divides the twenty-seventh judicial district, currently composed of the Cities of Galax and Radford and the Counties of Montgomery, Giles, Bland, Pulaski, Wythe, Carroll, Floyd, and Grayson, into two separate judicial districts. The bill provides that the City of Radford and the Counties of Montgomery, Giles, and Bland shall constitute the twenty-seventh district and that the City of Galax and the Counties of Pulaski, Wythe, Carroll, Floyd, and Grayson shall constitute district twenty-seven-A. The bill also divides the maximum number of judges authorized to serve the twenty-seventh district general district court and the juvenile and domestic relations district court between the twenty-seventh district and district twenty-seven-A.
Barbers and cosmetologists; barbershop trainees. Establishes a path to licensure for barbershop trainees, as defined by the bill, through employment at a registered barbershop under the supervision of one or more licensed barbers. The bill allows any barbershop trainee to take the examination approved by the Board for Barbers and Cosmetology upon submission of a signed statement to the Board attesting that such trainee has the necessary skills to competently practice barbering. Barbershop trainees shall not exceed four years of training for competency-based licensure and shall pass the examination approved by the Board within four years of commencing training at any barbershop. The bill authorizes the Board to (i) develop forms for barbershop and barbershop trainee registration and the attestation required for examination; (ii) waive any part of the examination requirement for good cause; and (iii) establish penalties for any violation of the provisions of the bill.
Constitutional amendment (first reference); qualifications of voters; United States citizenship. Proposes an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia to clarify that a person who has not obtained United States citizenship either at birth or through naturalization is not qualified to vote.
Health insurance; reimbursement for services rendered by certain practitioners other than physicians. Requires health insurers and health service plan providers whose policies or contracts cover services that may be legally performed by a licensed certified midwife or licensed midwife to provide equal coverage for such services. The bill requires the reimbursement for a service provided by a licensed certified midwife or licensed midwife to be in the same amount as the reimbursement paid under the policy to a certified nurse midwife performing such service in the area served, subject to certain conditions.
Powers and duties of Parole Board; voting requirements; meetings. Removes various references to postrelease supervision and instead includes such references and related procedures in the provisions that govern probation so that such procedures, including revocation hearings, will be overseen and conducted by the sentencing court. The bill provides that except for a public meeting convened for conducting the final deliberation and vote regarding whether the Parole Board will grant parole to a prisoner, a meeting of the Parole Board members, regardless of whether such members invite staff or other guests to participate in such meeting, shall not be deemed a meeting subject to the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.The bill also provides that the final deliberation and vote of whether to grant parole to a person serving life imprisonment for murder in the first degree shall be attended by four or more members of the Parole Board, and a decision to grant such person discretionary parole shall require the concurrence of four or more members present. A final deliberation and vote of whether to grant parole to a person not sentenced to life imprisonment requires the attendance of a panel of no fewer than three members of the Parole Board and a concurrence of the majority of members present for such final deliberation and vote.