Del. Nick Freitas

Celebrating the life of Francis Madison Graves,Jr., D.V.M.

Abortion; born alive infant; treatment and care; penalty. Requires every health care provider licensed by the Board of Medicine who attempts to terminate a pregnancy to (i) exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of an infant who has been born alive following such attempt as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age and (ii) take all reasonable steps to ensure the immediate transfer of the infant who has been born alive to a hospital for further medical care. A health care provider who fails to comply with the requirements of this act is guilty of a Class 4 felony and may be subject to disciplinary action by the Board of Medicine. The bill also requires every hospital licensed by the Department of Health to establish a protocol for the treatment and care of an infant who has been born alive following performance of an abortion and for the immediate reporting to law enforcement of any failure to provide such required treatment and care.

School security officers; scope of employment;carrying firearm in performance of duties. Provides that eachschool security officer, in addition to performing each enumeratedduty, is responsible for carrying out any other duty assigned to himby the local school board, excluding enforcement of discipline reservedsolely and exclusively to school administrators. The bill permitsa school security officer to carry a firearm in the performance ofhis duties if (i) within 10 years immediately prior to being hiredby the local school board or private or religious school, he was anactive duty member in the Armed Forces of the United States who servedon active duty for at least 10 years and received an honorable dischargefrom such service and (ii) he has provided proof of completion ofthe required training course.

Russia; boycott of goods and services. Encouragingall residents of the Commonwealth of Virginia to boycott all goodsand services originating in Russia.

Family life education programs; student participation; summaries. Prohibits any public elementary or secondary schoolstudent from participating in any family life education program withoutthe prior written consent of his parent. The bill requires the summarythat is required to be posted and distributed to parents for eachsuch program to include contact information for the individual oroffice responsible for maintaining printed and audio-visual programmaterials.

Parental Choice Education Savings Accounts established.Permits the parents of qualified students, defined in the bill, to apply to the school division in which the qualified student residesfor a one-year, renewable Parental Choice Education Savings Accountthat consists of an amount that is equivalent to a certain percentage of all applicable annual Standards of Quality per pupil state funds appropriated for public school purposes and apportioned to the residentschool division in which the qualified student resides, includingthe per pupil share of state sales tax funding in basic aid and any state per pupil share of special education funding for which thequalified student is eligible. The bill permits the parent of thequalified student to use the moneys in such account for certain education-relatedexpenses of the qualified student, including tuition, deposits, fees,and required textbooks at a private elementary school or secondaryschool that is located in the Commonwealth. The bill also contains provisions relating to auditing, rescinding, and reviewing expensesmade from such accounts.

Higher education; students and student organizations; remedies for certain violations. Permits any student or student organization aggrieved by a violation of certain provisions of lawrelating to campus free speech by a public institution of highereducation or any employee of such institution acting in his officialcapacity to (i) bring a cause of action against such institutionor employee for appropriate relief, including injunctive relief,monetary damages, reasonable attorney fees, and court costs; (ii)assert such violation as a defense or counterclaim in any disciplinaryaction or civil or administrative proceeding brought against suchstudent or student organization; and (iii) pursue any other remedyavailable to such student or student organization.

Immunizations; authority of the Commissionerof Health; religious exception. Exempts a person, including aparent or guardian on behalf of a child, who objects to administrationof a vaccine on religious grounds from mandatory immunization requirementsduring an epidemic. Currently, exemption from mandatory immunization requirements during an epidemic is available only to those personsto whose health the administration of the vaccine would be detrimental,as certified in writing by a licensed physician.

Kimchi Day. Designates November 22, in 2022and in each succeeding year, as Kimchi Day in Virginia.

Rate of tax on gasoline and diesel fuel. Lowers the rate of tax on gasoline and diesel fuel on July 1, 2022, from 26.2 cents per gallon to 21.2 cents per gallon on gasoline and from 27 cents per gallon to 20.2 cents per gallon on diesel fuel, the rates that were in effect before July 1, 2021. The bill provides that the rate of tax on gasoline and diesel fuel will return to 26.2 and 27 cents per gallon, respectively, on July 1, 2023, and will be indexed based on the change in the United States Average Consumer Price Index for both 2021 and 2022; thereafter, the rate will be indexed annually.