Del. Tommy Wright

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.

Celebrating the life of the Honorable John HowsonRust, Jr.

Celebrating the life of Thomas Francis FarrellII.

Girl Scout Week. Designates the week ofMarch 12, in 2022 and in each succeeding year, as Girl Scout Weekin Virginia.

Commending Glenn DuBois, Ph.D.

Income tax credits; Neighborhood Assistance Program and Education Improvement Scholarships. Makes several amendments to expand the availability of the Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP) and Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits (EISTC). The bill increases the limit on NAP credits approved by the Department of Education (DOE) from $9 million to $25 million. When added to the current limit of $8 million of NAP credits approved by the Department of Social Services (DSS), the overall limit on NAP credits would be $33 million. The bill makes decisions of DOE and DSS regarding the qualification of a scholarship foundation or the awarding of tax credits subject to judicial appeal; currently, such decisions are final. The bill provides that the annual allocation of tax credits among neighborhood organizations shall not rely solely on the amount of credits awarded in the previous year. For the EISTC, the bill allows certified public accountants to receive tax credits for donations of accounting services to scholarship organizations. The bill also authorizes scholarship foundations, which are the sole recipient of funding from the issuance of EISTC, to receive funding for scholastic assistance, defined in the bill as counseling or supportive services. Under current law, scholarship foundations may receive EISTC funding only for the purpose of providing scholarships.

Firearms; removal from persons posing substantialrisk; penalties. Repeals the procedure by which any attorney for the Commonwealth or law-enforcement officer may apply to a generaldistrict court, circuit court, or juvenile and domestic relationsdistrict court judge or magistrate for an emergency substantial riskorder to prohibit a person who poses a substantial risk of injuryto himself or others from purchasing, possessing, or transportinga firearm. The bill also removes the substantial risk order registryfor the entry of orders issued.

Admission to bail; rebuttable presumptions againstbail. Creates a rebuttable presumption against bail for certaincriminal offenses enumerated in the bill and for persons identifiedas being illegally present in the United States by U.S. Immigrationand Customs Enforcement who are charged with certain offenses. Thebill also requires the court to consider specified factors when determiningwhether the presumption against bail has been rebutted and whetherthere are appropriate conditions of release.

Control of firearms by localities. Removes the authority for a locality by ordinance to prohibit the possession or carrying of firearms, ammunition, or components or any combination thereof in (i) any building, or part thereof, owned or used by such locality for governmental purposes; (ii) any public park owned or operated by the locality; (iii) any recreation or community center facility; or (iv) any public street, road, alley, or sidewalk or public right-of-way or any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public and is being used by or is adjacent to a permitted event or an event that would otherwise require a permit. The bill provides that any firearm received by the locality pursuant to a buy-back program shall be offered for sale by public auction or sealed bids to a person licensed as a dealer. Current law provides that any such firearm shall be destroyed by the locality unless the person surrendering the firearm requests in writing that the firearm be offered for sale. The bill also limits the authority of localities and state governmental entities to bring lawsuits against certain firearms manufacturers and others.

Department of Education; policy on sexually explicit content in instructional material. Requires the Department of Education to develop and each local school board to adopt model policies for ensuring parental notification of any instructional material that includes sexually explicit content and include information, guidance, procedures, and standards relating to (i) ensuring parental notification; (ii) directly identifying the specific instructional material and sexually explicit subjects; and (iii) permitting the parent of any student to review instructional material that includes sexually explicit content and provide, as an alternative, nonexplicit instructional material and related academic activities to any student whose parent so requests. The bill provides that the local school board model policies may be more comprehensive than the model policies developed by the Department. The bill requires the Department to develop such model policies no later than July 31, 2022, and requires each local school board to adopt policies consistent with this act no later than January 1, 2023. The bill states that the provisions of the bill shall not be construed as requiring or providing for the censoring of books in public elementary and secondary schools.