Rep. Mike Webert

Travel expenses; local officials. Provides that any travel expense of a local official, as defined in the bill, to be paid from public funds that is anticipated to exceed $2,500 shall be subject to approval in advance by a vote of the local governing body in an open meeting. If the final travel expense exceeds the previously approved amount, such expense shall be reported to the governing body and noted in the meeting agenda or meeting minutes within 60 days of the determination.

Public secondary schools; public institutionsof higher education; Internet safety education required; report. Requires the Board of Education to develop and approve objectivesfor Internet safety education at the middle and high school gradelevels to be required of all students in grades six through 12, andto provide for the infusion of such objectives in the relevant Standardsof Learning and in career and technical education. The bill alsorequires the Board, in consultation with the Internet Safety AdvisoryCouncil or another appropriate entity, to develop a model curriculumfor such Internet safety education. The bill requires each publicsecondary school to provide instruction on Internet safety educationin accordance with the educational objectives and model curriculum developed by the Board. The bill also requires each public institutionof higher education to provide instruction on the principles of Internetsafety as a part of an existing general education course, a first-yearorientation program, or another appropriate program or course anddirects the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to encourageprivate institutions of higher education to provide instruction onthe principles of Internet safety.

Absentee voting; absentee voting in person;available beginning 30 days prior to election. Limits the availabilityof absentee voting in person to 30 days before the election. Undercurrent law, absentee voting in person is available beginning 45 days prior to the election.

Personal property tax; classification; sunsetdate. Removes the sunset date from the provision of law that authorizes localities to classify most motor vehicles as a class ofproperty subject to a different rate of tax or rate of assessmentfrom the rate applicable to the general class of tangible personalproperty. Under current law, such classification would expire beginningwith taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2025.

Display of sexually explicit visual materialto a child unlawful; penalty. Makes it a Class 6 felony to display sexually explicit visual material, as defined in relevant law, toa child under 13 years of age with the intent to entice, solicit,or encourage the child to engage in the fondling of the sexual orgenital parts of another or the fondling of his sexual or genitalparts by another, sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anilingus,anal intercourse, or object sexual penetration. Current law prohibitsthe display of child pornography, as defined in relevant law, to suchchild under 13 years of age.

Line of Duty Act; campus police officers; privatepolice officers. Provides employees of contributing nonprofitprivate institutions of higher education, defined in the bill, andcontributing private police departments, defined in the bill, withthe benefits granted to employees of participating employers underthe Line of Duty Act. The bill clarifies that the Line of Duty Actshall not apply to any private institution of higher education orprivate police department that is not a contributing nonprofit private institution of higher education or contributing private police department, respectively.

State Air Pollution Control Board; motor vehicleemissions standards. Repeals the requirement that the State AirPollution Control Board implement a low-emissions and zero-emissionsvehicle program for motor vehicles with a model year of 2025 andlater. The bill prohibits the Board from adopting or enforcing anymodel year standards related to control of emissions from new motorvehicles or new motor vehicle engines, including low-emission vehicleand zero-emission vehicle standards pursuant to the federal CleanAir Act and prohibits the Commonwealth from requiring any new motorvehicle or new motor vehicle engine to be certified as compliantwith model year standards related to the control of emissions adoptedby California for which a waiver has been granted pursuant to thefederal Clean Air Act.

Virginia Retirement System; return to work for law-enforcement officers. Allows a retired law-enforcement officer to return to work full time as a law-enforcement officer and continue to receive his pension under the Virginia Retirement System. Such person shall be required to have a break in service of at least six calendar months before reemployment. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025.

Income tax subtractions; Virginia NationalGuard military pay. Creates an income tax subtraction for military pay received by an individual for active service in the VirginiaNational Guard during either (i) an out-of-state deployment or (ii)a state of emergency declared by the Governor.

Commending the Old Dominion Hounds hunting club.