Rep. Eric Zehr

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Title 24.2 a chapter numbered 6.1, consisting of sections numbered 24.2-684.1 through 24.2-684.17, relating to statewide referendum ballot questions; fairness and transparency requirements; Ballot question fairness Commission; readability standards; language accessibility; public comment; judicial review.

Land subdivision and development; mandatory provisions of a subdivision ordinance; periodic partial and final release of certain performance guarantees. Provides that the amount of a certified check, cash escrow, bond, or letter of credit required to be furnished by an owner or developer to a governing body related to certain improvements dedicated for public use within any subdivision shall not exceed the total estimated cost of construction as determined by a duly licensed professional engineer or land surveyor and a reasonable allowance for estimated administrative costs, inflation, and potential damage to existing roads or utilities, which shall not exceed five percent of the estimated construction costs. Current law requires that such amount not exceed the total of the estimated cost of construction based on unit prices for new public or private sector construction in the locality and such reasonable allowance, which shall not exceed 10 percent of the estimated construction costs. The bill also provides that periodic partial releases of certain performance guarantees granted to subdividers or developers may not occur before the completion of at least 15 percent of the public facilities covered by any bond, escrow, letter of credit, or other performance guarantee. Current law provides such partial release may not occur before the completion of at least 30 percent of such public facilities. The bill also requires that a certification of partial or final completion of such public facilities from a duly licensed professional engineer or land surveyor be accepted without requiring further inspection of such public facilities. Current law allows, but does not require, such certifications be accepted without further inspection.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 1 of Chapter 5 of Title 18.2 a section numbered 18.2-138.1, relating to approaching a first responder with specified intent after a warning; penalty.

Motor vehicles; insurance; highway use fee; tangible personal property tax relief for certain vehicles. Removes the highway use fee for fuel-efficient vehicles, and maintains the same highway use fee for electric vehicles and alternative fuel vehicles. The bill removes the prohibition on motor vehicle insurers establishing a repair facility network. Under current law, insurers are prohibited from requiring an insured or claimant to utilize designated replacement or repair facilities or services as a prerequisite to settling or paying any claim arising under a policy or policies of insurance. The bill also directs each county, city, or town that receives annual reimbursements from the Commonwealth for providing tangible personal property tax relief on qualifying vehicles to, beginning in tax year 2027, ensure that after first reimbursing certain tax attributable to qualifying vehicles leased by active duty members of the United States military, as is currently required by law, (i) no qualifying vehicle owned by an individual with an annual household income in excess of $200,000 receives any reimbursement for such vehicle and (ii) the remainder of the reimbursement provided to such locality is distributed based on a sliding scale for household incomes of residents of such locality, adopted by an ordinance of the governing body of such locality, as described in the bill.

Directing the Speaker of the House of Delegates to order a study of the legal effects and consequences of a constitutional amendment enshrining a right to reproductive freedom. Directs the Speaker of the House of Delegates to order a study of the legal effects and consequences of a constitutional amendment enshrining a right to reproductive freedom, including whether the language of the proposed amendment would constitutionally protect abortion throughout all of pregnancy, create a constitutional right for the parents of a dead child to sell such child's body parts, and legally permit partial birth infanticide, born-alive murder, child pornography, sexual assault, and any other crime after complete extraction or expulsion from the mother so long as the umbilical cord is attached.

Income tax; standard deduction. Removes the sunset from and makes permanent the enhanced standard deduction amounts of $8,750 for single individuals and $17,500 for married individuals filing jointly. Under current law, the standard deduction is scheduled to revert to $3,000 for single individuals and $6,000 for married individuals filing jointly after taxable year 2026.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding sections numbered 53.1-218.1 and 53.1-218.2, relating to the Ice-Free Communities Act; notification to federal immigration authorities of pending release of certain persons from custody.

Gift certificates; international transactions; fraud reports. Amends the definition of "gift certificate" and prohibits merchants from selling a gift certificate as part of an international transaction without first implementing a 24-hour hold on the activation of such gift certificate. The bill also requires local law enforcement to communicate reports of gift certificate fraud to the Internet Crime Complaint Center of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Tax on electronic distribution of material harmful to minors. Creates a tax at the rate of 10 percent of the gross receipts of any commercial entity operating an adult website, defined in the bill, for all sales, distributions, memberships, and other content amounting to material harmful to minors, defined in the bill, that is produced, sold, filmed, generated, or otherwise based in the Commonwealth. The bill provides that the revenues generated by this tax shall be deposited into the Behavioral Health and Developmental Services Trust Fund.

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.