Rep. Mark Earley

Unlawful picketing or parading to obstruct orinfluence justice; penalty. Provides that any person who, withthe intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administrationof justice, or with the intent of influencing or intimidating inthe discharge of his duty any judge, juror, witness, court officer,or court employee, pickets or parades in or near a residence occupiedor used by such judge, juror, witness, court officer, or court employee is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also provides that theprovisions regarding the issuance and service of summons in placeof a warrant do not apply to such violations.

Line of Duty Act; campus police officers; privatepolice officers. Provides employees of contributing nonprofitprivate institutions of higher education, defined in the bill, andcontributing private police departments, defined in the bill, withthe benefits granted to employees of participating employers underthe Line of Duty Act. The bill clarifies that the Line of Duty Actshall not apply to any private institution of higher education orprivate police department that is not a contributing nonprofit private institution of higher education or contributing private police department, respectively.

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.

Virginia Education Success Account Program established. Permits the parents of qualified students, defined in the bill,to apply for a one-year, renewable Virginia Education Success 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 schooldivision in which the qualified student resides, including the perpupil share of state sales tax funding in basic aid and any per pupil share of state special education funding for which the qualifiedstudent is eligible. The bill permits the parent of the qualifiedstudent to use the moneys in such account for certain qualified expensesof the qualified student, including tuition, deposits, fees, and required textbooks at a private elementary school or secondary schoolthat is located in the Commonwealth. The bill also contains provisionsrelating to program and account administration by the Departmentof the Treasury and a third party that serves as program administratorpursuant to a contract with the Department of the Treasury.

Dangers and victims of communism; recognition;Standards of Learning and programs of instruction. Requires theGovernor to annually issue a proclamation setting the seventh dayof November as Victims of Communism Day and requiring such day tobe suitably observed in each public elementary and secondary schoolin the Commonwealth as a day honoring the approximately 100 millionindividuals who have fallen victim to communist regimes around theworld and to be suitably observed by a public exercise in the Capitoland elsewhere as the Governor may designate in such proclamation.The bill also requires the Board of Education to include in the historyand social science Standards of Learning in grades six through 12and each school board to emphasize in its Standards-aligned programof instruction in grades six through 12 the study of the dangersof communism.

Education Excellence for All Program established.Permits the parents of qualified students, defined in the bill, toapply for a one-year, renewable Education Excellence for All SavingsAccount, defined in the bill, that consists of an amount that isequivalent to a certain percentage of all applicable annual Standardsof Quality per pupil state funds appropriated for public school purposesand apportioned to the school division in which the qualified studentresides, including the per pupil share of state sales tax fundingin basic aid and any per pupil share of state special education fundingfor which the qualified student is eligible. The bill permits theparent of the qualified student to use the moneys in such accountfor certain qualified expenses of the qualified student, includingtuition, deposits, fees, and required textbooks at a private elementaryschool or secondary school that is located in the Commonwealth. Thebill also contains provisions relating to program and account administrationby the Department of the Treasury and a third party that serves asprogram administrator pursuant to a contract with the Department.

Unauthorized creation of image of another; AI-generated image; penalties. Creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person who knowingly and intentionally creates any videographic or still image using artificial intelligence of any nonconsenting person if (i) that person is totally nude, performing sexual acts, clad in undergarments, or in a state of undress so as to expose the genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female breast and (ii) such videographic or still image appears to be or is intended to appear to be such nonconsenting person. The bill provides that if such nonconsenting person is under the age of 18, the offender is guilty of a Class 6 felony.

Campgrounds; inherent risks; liability. Provides that a person who goes camping at a campground shall be presumed to have known the inherent risks of camping, as defined in the bill. The bill provides that a camping professional, as defined in the bill, shall not be liable for the injury to or death of a camping participant resulting from the inherent risks of camping. The bill further provides that no camping participant or camping participant's representative is authorized to maintain an action against or recover from a camping professional for injury to, loss or damage by, or death of the camping participant resulting exclusively from any of the inherent risks of camping, provided that in any action for damages against a camping professional for camping activity, the camping professional pleads the affirmative defense of assumption of the risk. The bill excludes from such immunity acts taken by a camping professional to intentionally cause personal injury or death or property damage, acts made with a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of the camping participant, and instances wherein the camping professional has actual knowledge or reasonably should have known of a dangerous condition on the land or in the facilities or equipment used in the activity and does not make the danger known to the camping participant.

K-12 schools and institutions of higher education; student participation in women's sports; civil cause of action. Requires each interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport sponsored by a public school, or any other school that is a member of the Virginia High School League, or by a public institution of higher education to be expressly designated as one of the following based on the biological sex of the students who participate on the team or in the sport: (i) males, men, or boys; (ii) females, women, or girls; or (iii) coed or mixed if participation on such team or sport is open to both males and females. The bill prohibits any such team or sport that is expressly designated for females from being open to students whose biological sex is male. The bill also provides that in the event of a dispute as to the biological sex of any student seeking to participate on any interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport that is expressly designated for males or females, such student may establish biological sex by presenting to the school or institution a signed physician's statement that attests to such student's biological sex based solely on (a) the student's internal and external reproductive anatomy; (b) the student's normal endogenously produced levels of testosterone; and (c) an analysis of the student's genetic makeup. The bill prohibits any government entity, licensing or accrediting organization, or athletic association or organization from entertaining a complaint, opening an investigation, or taking any other adverse action against any such school or institution of higher education based on a violation of the provisions of the bill and creates a cause of action for any school or institution of higher education that suffers harm as a result of a violation of the bill. Finally, the bill creates a civil cause of action for any student who suffers harm as a result of a knowing violation of a provision of the bill by a school or institution or as a result of the student's reporting a violation of a provision of the bill by a school, institution, athletic association, or organization.

Celebrating the life of Karen Harrison Jones.