Rep. Tom Garrett

Schools boards; pupil transportation; alternatives. Expands the availability of allowable alternatives to traditional school bus transportation services relating to the transportation of students to and from school or school-related activities, including permitting any school board of a school division for which providing transportation by school bus is not cost effective to use a portion of its transportation funding to provide a grant to any parent of a student who provides student transportation to and from school, subject to certain conditions enumerated in the bill.

Department of Fire Programs; statewide contract language for procurement of fire and emergency medical services apparatuses and equipment; work group; report. Directs the Department of Fire Programs, the Department of Health's Office of Emergency Medical Services, and the Department of General Services to establish a work group to prepare statewide contract language for the procurement of fire and emergency medical services apparatuses and equipment. The bill requires the Department of Fire Programs to report the work group's findings and recommendations to the Virginia Fire Services Board and State EMS Advisory Board on or before October 1, 2024, and to make such report available to the Chairmen of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology, upon request.

School boards; employee criminal history records checks and applications; penalty for noncompliance. Clarifies that certain school board employees who are (i) employed in an in-person or remote capacity or some combination thereof or (ii) fully licensed, provisionally licensed, or unlicensed are subject to the requirements in existing law to undergo a criminal history records check and a search of the registry of founded complaints of child abuse and neglect and to disclose certain criminal history information at the employment application stage and upon arrest. The bill provides that in the event that any school board fails or refuses to perform its duty to require any employee to undergo a criminal history records check as set forth in relevant law, each individual member of such board is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and his position on such school board shall be deemed vacant.

Certain public institutions of higher education; enrollment limitations in incoming freshman classes; Virginia Higher Education Scholarship Act Fund and Program established. Requires, beginning with the incoming freshman class in the 2025 academic year, the board of visitors of each baccalaureate public institution of higher education, with the exception of Norfolk State University, Virginia Military Institute, and Virginia State University, to ensure that the annual percentage of undergraduate non-Virginia students in each incoming freshman class does not exceed 45 percent. The bill also establishes the Virginia Higher Education Scholarship Act Fund and Program whereby certain Virginia public high school graduates who graduated at or near the top of their graduating classes are permitted to apply to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia for a scholarship in an amount equal to the cost of tuition, room and board, and mandatory fees to attend a public institution of higher education enumerated in the bill for eight semesters.

Department of Medical Assistance Services; lien for claim of personal injuries. Creates a process by which a lien in favor of the Department of Medical Assistance Services on a claim for personal injuries may be satisfied upon the request of the injured person who received medical care or services to treat such personal injury. The bill provides that the Department is required within 60 days of receipt of the request of the injured person to provide such injured person or his personal representative with an itemized statement detailing all health care expenses paid for by a program of the Department and a sum specific demand for payment in full and final resolution of the Department's lien. Such request shall not be made by the injured person or his personal representative until all claims for health care expenses to be paid for by a program of the Department for an alleged injury on which the claim is based have been submitted to and processed for potential payment by the Department. The bill provides that if the Department fails to respond to such request, the injured party or his personal representative may submit to the Department an offer of payment for a sum certain in satisfaction of the lien, including an explanation of the reasons for such offer, and the Department may then, within 30 days, accept or reject such offer. The bill also clarifies that such process is not the exclusive means by which an injured person or his personal representative may request such itemized statement of health care expenses. Under the bill, the Department shall report on a quarterly basis those offers of the payment for a sum certain in satisfaction of liens to which it does not respond to the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations and the House Committee on Appropriations.

Annual retail sales and use tax holiday. Establishes an annual retail sales and use tax holiday that takes place on the first full weekend in August beginning on July 1, 2025, through July 1, 2030. During such weekend, state retail sales and use tax will not apply to certain (i) school supplies, (ii) clothing and footwear, (iii) qualified products designated as Energy Star or WaterSense, (iv) portable generators, or (v) hurricane preparedness equipment. This bill is identical to SB 116.

Health insurance for local employees. Permits any locality to allow participation in its group health insurance program by any non-benefitted employee, including members of governing bodies, if such non-benefitted employee or governing body member is not otherwise entitled to participate, provided that such non-benefitted employees reimburse the locality for the full cost of their participation. The bill provides that reimbursement may include forgoing all or a part of a local government salary.

Baccalaureate public institutions of higher education; provision of physical evidence recovery kits. Requires each baccalaureate public institution of higher education to either (i) staff its on-campus student health center with at least one on-campus certified sexual assault forensic examiner for the purpose of administering a physical evidence recovery kit to any student who is in need of such a kit or (ii) enter into a memorandum of understanding with a local organization or entity that is capable of providing the services of a certified sexual assault forensic examiner for the purpose of administering a physical evidence recovery kit to any student who is in need of such a kit.

Universal certification for certain law-enforcement officers. Provides that any sworn law-enforcement officer with at least one year of experience (i) whose training qualifications meet or exceed current training standards established by the Board of Criminal Justice Services and who is in compliance with the minimum qualifications, (ii) who has not had a break in service of more than 24 months, and (iii) who is leaving the transferring agency in good standing with no pending investigations or disciplinary actions shall be eligible for employment at any law-enforcement agency within the Commonwealth or its political subdivisions. Prior to any conditional offer of employment, the bill requires the hiring law-enforcement agency to request certain specified information from all prior law-enforcement agencies and to employ all reasonable means to obtain personnel records for law-enforcement officers transferring from an out-of-state or federal law-enforcement agency. The bill requires that upon the receipt of all requested information by the hiring law-enforcement agency, the applicant law-enforcement officer shall complete a sworn declaration that the provided information or records are, to the best of the applicant's knowledge, a true, correct, and complete response to such request. This bill is identical to SB 207.

Veterinary medicine; traineeships. Allowsany veterinary medicine licensure applicant enrolled in a traineeshipprogram to engage in the limited practice of veterinary medicine,as that term is defined by the Board of Veterinary Medicine, underthe direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian. The bill directsthe Board to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisionsof the bill.