Driving while holding a companion animal. Prohibits operating a motor vehicle while holding a companion animal.
Special license plates; NOT FORGOTTEN. Authorizesthe issuance of revenue-sharing special license plates for supportersof Americans listed as prisoners of war or missing in action bearingthe legend NOT FORGOTTEN. The bill requires that the design of suchplate incorporate the POW/MIA Flag as designated by the federal NationalPOW/MIA Flag Act. The bill exempts these special license plates fromthe requirement to obtain 450 prepaid applications for such plate.The bill provides that some of the license plate fees will be depositedin the POW/MIA Fund, established within the Department of Accounts,and paid annually to the National League of Families of American Prisonersand Missing in Southeast Asia and used to support its operation andprograms in Virginia.
In-person instruction; education vouchers; emergency. Requires, in the event that any school board does not provide theoption of in-person instruction as the sole method of instruction for any enrolled student, the parent of any such student who withdraws his child from attendance to receive, upon request, an educationvoucher in an amount equal to a prorated share of the applicableStandards of Quality per-pupil state funds appropriated for publicschool purposes and apportioned to the school division, includingthe per-pupil share of state sales tax funding in basic aid and anystate per-pupil share of special education funding for which thechild is eligible, to cover the expenses of providing in-person instructionin an alternative setting. The bill permits the Department of Educationto establish rules, regulations, or procedures for the issuance ofsuch education vouchers. The bill contains an emergency clause.
Local referendum on the legalization of marijuana. Provides that the qualified voters of a locality or supervisor's election district of a county may file a petition with the circuit court of the county or city asking that a referendum be held on the question of whether the legalization of marijuana should be prohibited within that jurisdiction. The petition shall be signed by qualified voters equal in number to at least 10 percent of the number registered in the locality or supervisor's election district on January 1 preceding its filing or at least 100 qualified voters, whichever is greater. The question on the ballot shall be: "Shall the legalization of marijuana be prohibited in __________ (name of locality or supervisor's election district of county)?" The referendum shall be ordered and held and the results certified, and thereupon the court shall enter of record an order certified by the clerk of the court to be transmitted to the governing body of the locality. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the legalization of marijuana shall be prohibited within the locality or supervisor's election district of a county on or after 30 days following the entry of the order if a majority of the voters voting in the referendum have voted "Yes." The bill shall become effective on July 1, 2023. The bill also directs the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to evaluate the potential retail sale of marijuana products in localities that have not prohibited the legalization of marijuana. DHCD specifically shall study the details of who should be allowed to establish such retail operations, the procedure to be followed by localities, and where the retail establishments shall be permitted. The study shall be conducted between July 1, 2022, and November 30, 2022, with the goal of making recommendations and proposing legislation to the 2023 Session of the General Assembly.
Alerts for missing veterans who have a service-relatedhealth condition.
Hearing notice by localities. Expands fromonly localities in Planning District 23 to all localities a provisionthat provides that in any instance in which a locality has submitted a timely notice of public hearing to a newspaper published or havinggeneral circulation in the locality and the newspaper fails to publishthe notice, such locality shall be deemed to have met certain noticerequirements so long as the notice was published in the next availableedition. Under current law, this provision that was created by the2020 Regular Session and only applies to localities in Planning District23 will expire on July 1, 2022. The provision in the bill as itapplies to all localities will also expire on July 1, 2022.
Board of Education; high school graduation requirements; certain substitutions. Requires the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to provide for the substitutionof computer coding course credit for any foreign language coursecredit required to graduate with a standard or advanced diploma forchildren with disabilities. Such requirement replaces a narrowerprovision in current law that requires the Board to permit a studentwho is pursuing an advanced diploma and whose individualized educationprogram specifies a credit accommodation for world language to substitutetwo standard units of credit in computer science for two standardunits of credit in a world language.
Virginia Law Enforcement Professional StandardsCommission Accreditation Grant Fund and Program. Establishesthe Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission AccreditationGrant Fund (the Fund) and the Virginia Law Enforcement ProfessionalStandards Commission Accreditation Grant Program (the Program). TheFund and Program shall be overseen by the Department of CriminalJustice Services. Disbursements from the Fund shall be made to law-enforcementagencies to pursue accreditation from the Virginia Law EnforcementProfessional Standards Commission.
Department of Health; certain communicationprohibited. Prohibits any person employed by or who has enteredinto a contract to provide services on behalf of the Department ofHealth or a local department of health from initiating communicationregarding health-related matters with a minor on behalf of the Departmentor local department of health without the consent of the minor'sparent, except as otherwise required by law.
Commonwealth Broadband Chief Advisor; broadbandservice territory maps. Requires the Commonwealth Broadband ChiefAdvisor to develop and maintain a map of private broadband providerservice territories, including accurate average broadband speeds insuch territories. The map shall be updated yearly and be made availableto the public.
