Provision of abortion; abortion based on thesex or ethnicity of unborn child prohibited; penalties. Providesthat, except in a medical emergency, a physician or an advanced practice registered nurse shall not perform, induce, or attempt to performor induce an abortion unless such physician or advanced practiceregistered nurse who is to perform or induce the abortion has firstconfirmed that the abortion is not being sought on the basis of thesex or ethnicity of the unborn child and has documented these factsin the maternal patient's chart, as well as in a report to be filedwith the State Health Commissioner within 15 days of the abortion.The bill further provides that any physician or advanced practiceregistered nurse performing such a prohibited abortion has committedan act of unprofessional conduct, that his license to practice medicineor as an advanced practice registered nurse in the Commonwealth shallbe suspended or revoked pursuant to the rules of unprofessional conduct,and that he is subject to a penalty of perjury for attesting to falseinformation on the required report and a civil penalty.
Sponsored bills
Public elementary and secondary school students;parents' bill of rights established. Establishes, consistentwith § 1-240.1 of the Code of Virginia, several enumerated rightsfor the parents of each public elementary or secondary school studentin the Commonwealth, including the right to review any books, curricula,or instructional materials being taught or made available to theirchild and the right to be notified of any situation that directly affects their child's safety at school.
Department of Human Resource Management; recruitmentpolicy; direct work experience. Requires the Department of HumanResource Management to develop a statewide recruitment policy designedto provide guidance to state agencies on how to remove postsecondarydegree requirements from hiring considerations and recruit qualifiedemployees utilizing appropriate baseline requirements, the specificsof which are outlined in the bill.
Board of Education; model policies on parentalreview of instructional material; local adoption. Requires theBoard of Education to adopt and distribute to each school board modelpolicies requiring any instructional material used in any publicelementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth to be open forinspection during normal business hours by the parents of studentsenrolled in the relevant public school, regardless of the copyright status of any such material. The bill requires each school boardto adopt policies that are consistent with such model policies adoptedby the Board.
Killing the fetus of another; manslaughter;penalties. Provides that any person who kills the fetus of anotherby an intentional act committed while in the sudden heat of passionupon reasonable provocation is guilty of voluntary manslaughter, which is punishable as a Class 5 felony. The bill also provides that anyperson who kills the fetus of another accidentally, contrary to theintention of the parties and while engaged in conduct so gross, wanton,and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life, is guiltyof involuntary manslaughter, which is also punishable as a Class5 felony.
Virginia Public Procurement Act; prohibitionon boycotting Israel. Requires all public bodies to include in every contract in excess of $100,000 with a business that employsmore than 10 employees and in every subcontract or purchase orderin excess of $10,000 a provision that states that during the performanceof the contract, neither the contracting business nor any of itsaffiliates shall engage in a boycott of Israel.
Adoption tax credit. Creates a tax creditfor taxable years 2024 through 2028 that may be claimed by an individualor married couple filing jointly for qualified adoption expenses,as defined in the bill. The bill imposes certain limitations onwho may claim this credit and how much credit may be claimed basedon a taxpayer's Virginia adjusted gross income.
Local government employees; expression of certainopinions protected. Provides that an employee of a locality shallnot be penalized by his employer for expressing his opinion regardinga current or proposed regulation, rule, policy, position, or otheraction or purpose of a public body at an open meeting of such publicbody when such employee is speaking on his own behalf. The bill excludesany speech that is unprotected under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, including speech that (i) incites violence;(ii) is obscene, defamatory, or fraudulent; or (iii) discloses privilegedand confidential information. The bill specifies that for purposesof this provision an employee of a locality does not include anyperson appointed to a position in a locality by an elected officialor by a government body composed in whole or in part of electedofficials.
Eligible educator income tax deduction; homeschool instruction income tax credit. Increases from $500 to$1,500 for tax years 2024 through 2026 the amount of income tax deductioncertain eligible educators may deduct for qualifying expenses. The bill also creates a nonrefundable taxcredit for taxable years 2024 through 2028 for amounts paid by anindividual or married couple filing jointly for their child receivinghome instruction for (i) instruction-related materials, includingtextbooks, workbooks, and supplies, or (ii) courses or programs used in home instruction. The bill provides that the credit equalsthe lesser of the amount actually paid during the year for such costsor $3,000.
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.