Rep. Mike Webert

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.

Electric utilities; State Corporation Commission to investigate financial incentives; renewable energy portfolio standard; report. Directs the State Corporation Commission to conduct an investigation of financial incentives related to the renewable energy portfolio standard program and submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly by November 1, 2026.

Review of plats and plans by locality; designated agent. Allows any locality without a professional fire department to use its planning commission as the designated agent for purposes of reviewing and acting on subdivision plats, site plans, and plans of development. Currently, only localities with a population of 5,000 or less are permitted to use their planning commissions for such purpose.

Department of Taxation; memorandum of lien for collection of taxes; time to process requested information. Provides that no memorandum of lien shall be filed until at least 60 days after the Department of Taxation has requested any information from the taxpayer that would otherwise alleviate the need for collection of past due taxes or fees, including penalties and interest. The bill also provides that no memorandum of lien shall be filed until the Department has fully processed all of such requested information received by the Department regarding such taxpayer.

Electric utilities; State Corporation Commission; all-source competitive procurement. Directs the State Corporation Commission to conduct and review an all-source competitive procurement process for Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power. Under the bill, the Commission shall determine best practices for the competitive procurement, including methods to evaluate all available resources prior to selecting feasible and cost-effective options.

Electric utilities; renewable energy portfolio standard eligible sources; zero-carbon electricity generating nuclear facilities. Provides that, for the purposes of the renewable energy portfolio standard, eligible sources include zero-carbon electricity generating nuclear facilities located in the Commonwealth.

Virginia Brownfield and Coal Mine Renewable Energy Grant Fund. Increases from $100 per kilowatt of nameplate capacity from renewable energy sources that are located on brownfields to $200 per kilowatt of nameplate capacity from renewable energy sources that are located on brownfields the grant amount a project developer can receive from the Virginia Brownfield and Coal Mine Renewable Energy Grant Fund. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation.

Optional provisions in subdivision ordinances; time-based restrictions. Adds to the list of optional provisions in local subdivision ordinances provisions restricting the frequency of permissible subdivisions for a qualifying property within a specified time frame not to exceed seven years. The bill requires such provisions to enumerate the required qualifications for eligible properties and to establish procedures for seeking a subdivision of property.

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.

Certain school divisions; cost-savings agreements; requirements. Removes the limitation on any school board that enters into certain cost-savings agreements with a school board that governs a contiguous school division for the consolidation or sharing of educational, administrative, or support services and thus qualifies for adjustment of the state share of basic aid computed annually on the basis of the composite index of local ability-to-pay of such contiguous school division that caps such adjusted basic aid payment at an amount equal to the basic aid payment appropriated to such locality by the 2007 Session of the General Assembly. The bill also permits, notwithstanding the requirement set forth in relevant law that a school division have 65 percent or more of its local taxes come from real estate taxes in order for the school board that governs such school division to be eligible to enter into such cost-savings agreements with a contiguous school division, the Bath County School Board to enter into such cost-savings agreements with the Augusta County School Board, provided that all other conditions and limitations set forth in relevant law apply to any such agreement.