Rep. Phil Scott

Board of Education; policy on sexually explicitinstructional material. Requires the Board of Education to establish,and each local school board to comply with, a policy to require each public elementary or secondary school to (i) notify the parent ofany student whose teacher reasonably expects to provide instructionalmaterial that includes sexually explicit content, (ii) permit theparent of any student to review instructional material that includessexually explicit content upon request, and (iii) provide, as analternative to instructional material and related academic activitiesthat include sexually explicit content, nonexplicit instructionalmaterial and related academic activities to any student whose parentso requests.

Elections; absentee voting; ballots to be sortedand results to be reported by precinct. Provides that absentee ballots processed at a central absentee precinct must be sorted bythe precinct to which the voter who cast the absentee ballot is assignedand that the resulting vote totals from such ballots must be reportedseparately for each voter precinct.

Sales tax; exemption for food purchased forhuman consumption and essential personal hygiene products. Exemptsfood purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygieneproducts (the grocery tax) from all state, regional, and local salestaxes.

Education Savings Account Program; establishment. Establishes the Education Savings Account Program (the Program),to be administered by the Department of Education (the Department)with assistance from each local school board, whereby the parentof any elementary or secondary school student who (i) is a memberof a household whose annual income does not exceed two times theannual household income that would qualify the student for free orreduced-price lunch and (ii) was eligible to attend a public schoolin the Commonwealth in the preceding semester or is starting elementaryor secondary school in the Commonwealth for the first time is eligibleto receive an education savings account, for as long as the studentis of school age and the amount of which is determined pursuant toa calculation set forth in the bill, to cover certain enumeratededucational expenses for his child. The bill requires the Departmentto establish rules and regulations for the Program and contains conditions,limitations, and other requirements for the Program, including provisionsrelating to the accountability and educational autonomy of individualsand entities receiving account funds to cover qualified expenses.

Purchase of handguns; limitation on handgunpurchases. Removes the prohibition on any person who is not a licensed firearms dealer from purchasing more than one handgun ina 30-day period. Current law makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for aviolation of this provision, subject to certain exemptions.

Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act; penalty. Creates the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The Act prohibits an abortion after 20 weeks gestation unless, in reasonable medical judgment, the mother has a condition that so complicates her medical condition as to necessitate the abortion to avert her death or to avert serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function. When an abortion is not prohibited post-20 weeks' gestation, the physician or authorized nurse practitioner is required to terminate the pregnancy in a manner that would provide the unborn child the best opportunity to survive. The bill punishes performance of an abortion in violation of the Act as a Class 6 felony. The bill also provides for civil remedies against a physician or authorized nurse practitioner who performs an abortion in violation of the Act.

Public school buses; decals; "In God We Trust"and "One Nation Under God." Permits local school boards, notwithstandingany regulation to the contrary, to display on the sides and rearof public school buses decals containing the motto "In God We Trust"or the phrase "One Nation Under God", provided that no such decalobstructs the name of the school division or the number of the schoolbus.

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 immunizationrequirements 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.

Voter identification; identification containinga photograph required. Requires presentation of a form of identification containing a photograph in order to vote. The bill repeals the provisionsof law permitting a voter who does not have one of the required formsof identification to vote after signing a statement, subject tofelony penalties for false statements, that he is the named registeredvoter he claims to be. Instead, the bill provides that such voteris entitled to cast a provisional ballot.

Board of Counseling; licensure of professionalcounselors without examination.