Rep. Mike Webert

Active-duty status for any service member injured while in the line of duty. Provides that the Adjutant General may maintain state active-duty status for any service member injured while in the line of duty during the course of a state active-duty mission who is unable to return to civilian employment for a period of up to 90 days after the date of the service member's injury.

Center for Rural Virginia; name change. Renames the Center for Rural Virginia as the Senator Frank M. Ruff, Jr. Center for Rural Virginia. This bill is identical to SB 704.

Soybean Board; assessment from sale of soybeans.Changes the amount of the assessment for research, education,publicity, and the promotion of the sale and use of soybeans, currentlyat $0.02 per bushel, to a rate of one half of one percent of thenet market price per bushel.

Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; Department of Forestry; Office of Farmland Preservation transferred. Transfers from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to the Department of Forestry the Office of Farmland Preservation and its powers and duties and reporting requirements, the Virginia Farm Link Program, the Century Farm Program, and the Virginia Farmland and Forestland Preservation Fund. The bill renames the Office as the Office of Working Lands Preservation. The bill makes technical amendments to effectuate the transfer and requires the Department of Environmental Quality to report to the Department of Forestry by July 1 of each year certain enumerated information about nonpoint source nutrient credits certified in the previous year that involve land use conversion. This bill is identical to SB 616.

Use of canines in correctional and juvenile correctional facilities; prohibited acts. Makes it unlawful for any correctional officer or other employee of a state correctional facility who is permitted to handle canines to use a patrol or security canine in any state correctional facility unless such correctional officer or other employee (i) reasonably believes that the use of a patrol or security canine is immediately necessary to protect any prisoner or any officer or employee from the threat of serious bodily injury or death or (ii) has the prior approval of the warden or a supervisor to use a patrol or security canine to intervene in an altercation, fight, or other incident between three or more prisoners. The bill also makes it unlawful for any juvenile correctional officer or other employee of a juvenile correctional facility to use a patrol or security canine in any juvenile correctional facility. The bill specifies that such provisions shall not apply to the training or use of detector canines or detector canine handlers.

Alcoholic beverage control; sale and delivery of mixed beverages and pre-mixed wine for off-premises consumption; third-party delivery license; sunset; repeal. Repeals the July 1, 2024, sunset on provisions that allow (i) distillers that have been appointed as agents of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, mixed beverage restaurant licensees, and limited mixed beverage restaurant licensees to sell mixed beverages for off-premises consumption and (ii) farm winery licensees to sell pre-mixed wine for off-premises consumption. The bill also repeals, effective July 1, 2026, third-party delivery licenses. The bill requires the Authority to convene a work group to review third-party delivery licenses and report its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services by November 15, 2024. This bill is identical to SB 635.

Virginia Nonstock Corporation Act; notice ofboard of directors' meetings. Provides that all meetings of theboard of directors, including any subcommittee or other committeeof the board of directors, where the business of the associationis discussed or transacted shall be open to all members of recordand that notice of the time, date, and place of each meeting of theboard of directors or of any subcommittee or other committee of the board of directors shall be published where it is reasonably calculatedto be available to a majority of the lot owners. Current law allowssuch meetings to be held without notice of the date, time, place,or purpose of the meeting.

Commending the Honorable Kathy J. Byron.

Commending the Honorable L. Kaye Kory.

Electric utilities; pilot program for underground transmission lines; additional project. Adds one project to the existing pilot program for underground transmission lines. The bill requires the State Corporation Commission to approve one additional application filed between January 1, 2024, and October 1, 2024, as a qualifying project to be constructed in whole or in part underground, as a part of the pilot program. The bill requires that the added qualifying project be a newly proposed 230-kilovolt underground line and that (i) an engineering analysis demonstrates that it is technically feasible to place the proposed line, in whole or in part, underground; (ii) the governing body of each locality in which a portion of the proposed line will be placed underground indicates, by resolution, general community support for the project and that the governing body supports the transmission line to be placed underground; (iii) a project has been filed with the Commission or is pending issuance of a certificate of public convenience and necessity by October 1, 2024; (iv) the estimated additional cost of placing the proposed line, in whole or in part, underground does not exceed $40 million or, if greater than $40 million, the cost does not exceed 2.5 times the cost of placing the same line overhead, assuming accepted industry standards for undergrounding to ensure safety and reliability; if the public utility, the affected localities, and the Commission agree, a proposed underground line whose cost exceeds 2.5 times the cost of placing the line overhead may also be accepted into the pilot program; (v) the public utility requests that the project be considered as a qualifying project under the pilot program; and (vi) the primary need of the project is for purposes of grid reliability or grid resiliency or to support economic development priorities of the Commonwealth, including the economic development priorities and the comprehensive plan of the governing body of the locality in which at least a portion of line will be placed, and not to address aging assets that would have otherwise been replaced in due course.