Study; JLARC; solar development; agriculture,forestry, and environment; report. Directs the Joint LegislativeAudit and Review Commission to study the impact of utility-scale solar development in the Commonwealth on agriculture, forestry, andthe environment.
Consumer Data Protection Act; social media;parental consent. Requires social media platforms, defined inthe bill, that are subject to the provisions of the Children's OnlinePrivacy Protection Act to obtain verifiable parental consent priorto permitting any minor to create an account with such social mediaplatform and, with such account, use the social media platform. Thebill requires such social media platforms to give the parent or guardianthe option to consent to the collection and use of the minor's personaldata without consenting to the disclosure of such minor's personaldata to third parties.
Free-Roaming Cat Management Plan; regulations.Directs the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services to promulgateregulations establishing minimum requirements for a Free-RoamingCat Management Plan and establish a model plan for localities toreduce and control the population of free-roaming cats and the abandonmentof cats for the purpose of reducing the negative impacts of free-roamingcats on public health, wildlife, and the cat population. The billpermits a locality to adopt such plan created by the Board and includein such plan any ordinances related to cats that are currently ineffect. The bill directs the Board, in consultation with relevantstakeholders, to promulgate such regulations no later than July 31,2025.
Corporate income tax; distribution of revenues;state parks. Requires five percent beginning July 1, 2024, ofall corporate income tax revenues to be distributed to the StatePark Conservation Resources Fund to provide (i) free entry to Virginia state parks and (ii) the conservation, development, maintenance,and operations of state parks acquired or held by the Departmentof Conservation and Recreation as provided in the appropriation act.The bill provides that such distribution shall not reduce the totalamount of annual appropriations for the Department and the Fund belowthe total amounts appropriated for the most recent fiscal year endingbefore July 1, 2024, except as provided by a subsequent appropriationact.
Child day centers operated by religious institutions; exemption from licensure by Superintendent of Public Instruction.Exempts fully from the statutory requirement to be licensed by theSuperintendent of Public Instruction any child day center that is operated or conducted under the auspices of a religious institutionthat (i) has tax exempt status as a nonprofit religious institutionin accordance with § 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954,as amended, or (ii) owns and exclusively occupies real property thatis exempt from local taxation. Under current law, such child daycenters are exempt from licensure but are still subject to severalenumerated requirements. The bill, however, preserves the requirementfor such child day centers to conduct background checks for employeesand volunteers and prohibits the employment or service at such child day centers of any such individual who has been convicted of anybarrier crime as defined in relevant law or who is the subject ofa founded complaint of child abuse or neglect.
Absentee voting in person; available beginningon the fourteenth day prior to election; hours of operation.Limits absentee voting in person to the two weeks immediately precedingan election. During these two weeks, the bill requires that absentee voting in person be available Monday through Saturday, from 7:00a.m. to 7:00 p.m. each day.
Elections; voter identification containing photograph required; who may register up to and including the day of the election;absentee voting application requirements; absentee voting in personavailability; return of absentee ballots. Requires presentationof a form of identification containing a photograph in order to voteand provides that a voter who does not have one of the required formsof identification is entitled to cast a provisional ballot. The bill repeals a provision that would permit any person who is qualifiedto register to vote to do so in person up to and including the dayof the election and limits the persons who are entitled to registerto vote after the close of registration records to members of a uniformedservice on active duty, persons who are residing temporarily outsideof the United States, and their spouses and dependents. The billlimits the period during which absentee voting in person is availablefrom 45 days preceding the date of the election to the 14 days precedingthe date of the election. The bill requires that absentee ballotsreturned by mail be returned to the office of the general registrarby the close of polls on election day and be postmarked on or beforethe Saturday preceding the date of the election. The bill eliminatesthe use of drop-off locations for the return of absentee ballots.The bill requires absentee ballot applications to contain the lastfour digits of the applicant's social security number.
Expired vehicle registration; penalties. Establishesa tiered fine system for expired vehicle registrations. The billestablishes a fine of $25 if the registration has been expired for less than one year on the date the citation is issued and a fineof no less than $25 but no more than $250 if such registration hasbeen expired for at least one year on the date the citation is issued.The bill provides that an expired registration does not constitutea traffic infraction if the registration sticker was valid withinthe last 60 days.
Sexual extortion; penalty. Makes it a Class5 felony for any person to maliciously threaten eviction, loss ofhousing, property damage, or any financial loss with the intent tocause the complaining witness to engage in sexual intercourse, cunnilingus,fellatio, anilingus, anal intercourse, inanimate or animate object sexual penetration, or an act of sexual abuse and thereby engagein sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anilingus, anal intercourse,inanimate or animate object sexual penetration, or an act of sexualabuse. The bill also creates an unclassified felony punishable bynot less than one nor more than 20 years and a fine of not more than$100,000 for any adult who violates the provisions of the bill witha person younger than 18 years of age.
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.
