Rep. Tom Garrett

All-terrain vehicles and off-road motorcycles; penalty. Authorizes the use of all-terrain vehicles on secondary state highways if (i) such operation is approved by action of the governing body of a locality for operation on the secondary state highways within such locality and (ii) such all-terrain vehicles, when operated between dusk and dawn, are equipped with two front and two rear lights that render discernible a person or object at a distance of 200 feet.

Governor; chief of staff and Governor's Secretaries. Provides that no chief of staff appointed by the Governor and no Secretary appointed by the Governor shall be members of each other's immediate family when each is serving in his appointed capacity at the same time.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 22.1-137.3 of the Code of Virginia, relating to school safety procedures; emergency situations; annual training; safety grants.

Local land use decision authority. Provides that the authority for a locality's planning and land use decisions belong solely to the locality and shall not be ceded to any state agency or state-sanctioned body.

Authority of Attorney General; criminal cases; human and sex trafficking. Authorizes the Attorney General to prosecute violations of criminal law relating to human and sex trafficking offenses in connection with racketeering.

Insurance; Fire Programs Fund; purposes; Aid to Localities Grant Program. Increases the assessment on certain insurance companies from one percent to 1.5 percent. The bill provides that the portion of the Fire Programs Fund allocated to localities may be used for the additional purposes of (i) constructing, improving, or expanding fire station facilities; (ii) providing mental health resources for fire personnel; or (iii) hiring additional fire personnel and funding recruitment and retention programs. The bill also prohibits such funds from being used, except as provided, for the purposes of investments, operating expenses, debt repayment, taxes, or fees. The bill also establishes the Aid to Localities Grant Program, to be funded by 0.25 percent of the assessments on insurance companies, for the purposes of providing assistance to local fire departments that are at risk of closing or facing major violations due to the lack of funds needed to be in compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

School boards; employment of school resource officers in each public elementary and secondary school. Requires each school board to enter into a collaborative agreement with the local law-enforcement agency to employ at least one school resource officer in each public elementary and secondary school in the local school division and provides that no school board shall be granted any full or partial waiver from such staffing requirements. The bill contains a contingent effective date that states that the foregoing requirement shall become effective beginning with the fiscal year in which funding has been provided pursuant to the general appropriation act to fully fund such requirement.

K-12 schools and institutions of higher education; student participation in women's sports; civil cause of action. Requires each interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport sponsored by a public school, or any other school that is a member of the Virginia High School League, or by a public institution of higher education to be expressly designated as one of the following based on the biological sex of the students who participate on the team or in the sport: (i) males, men, or boys; (ii) females, women, or girls; or (iii) coed or mixed if participation on such team or sport is open to both males and females. The bill requires that the biological sex of any student seeking to participate on such an expressly designated team be affirmed by a signed physician's statement. The bill prohibits any such team or sport that is expressly designated for females from being open to students whose biological sex is male. The bill prohibits any government entity, licensing or accrediting organization, or athletic association or organization from entertaining a complaint, opening an investigation, or taking any other adverse action against any such school or institution of higher education based on a violation of the provisions of the bill and creates a cause of action for any school or institution of higher education that suffers harm as a result of a violation of the bill. Finally, the bill creates a civil cause of action for any student who suffers harm as a result of a knowing violation of a provision of the bill by a school or institution or as a result of the student's reporting a violation of a provision of the bill by a school, institution, athletic association, or organization.

Income tax exclusion; veteran student loan forgiveness. Eliminates the sunset date and expands eligibility for the income tax exclusion for any income received by a disabled veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States from the discharge of federal student loan indebtedness.

Sexual abuse of certain children; penalty. Increases from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony the penalty for sexual abuse of a child who is 13 or 14 years of age.