Military personnel; free admittance to stateparks, museums, and cultural institutions. Provides free accessto state parks, museums, and cultural institutions to active dutyand reserved members of the United States Armed Forces and theirdependents.
Home instruction and private school tax credit.Creates an individual, nonrefundable income tax credit for taxableyears 2022 through 2026, for amounts paid by the parent or legalguardian of a child for the child's home instruction expenses or tuitionfor attending an accredited private school in Virginia. The creditshall equal the lesser of the amount actually paid in the taxableyear for such costs or half of the average state standards of quality funding per student per year. The credit may be taken for instruction-relatedmaterials, courses, or programs used in home instruction or for privateschool tuition. The credit is available for two years per child andcan be carried forward for five taxable years.
Constitutional amendment (voter referendum);qualifications of voters and the right to vote; persons not entitledto vote. Provides for a referendum at the November 8, 2022, generalelection to approve or reject an amendment that would provide forthe fundamental right to vote in the Commonwealth, revise the qualificationsof voters so that a person convicted of a felony is not entitledto vote during his period of incarceration but is automatically investedwith the right to vote upon release from incarceration, and updatethe existing prohibition on voting by persons found to be mentallyincompetent to instead apply to persons who have been found to lackthe capacity to understand the act of voting.
Campaign finance; prohibited personal use ofcampaign funds; complaints, hearings, civil penalty, and advisory opinions. Prohibits any person from converting contributionsto a candidate or a candidate's campaign committee for their personal use. Current law only prohibits such conversion of contributionswith regard to disbursement of surplus funds at the dissolution ofa campaign or political committee. The bill provides that a contributionis considered to have been converted to personal use if the contribution,in whole or in part, is used to fulfill any commitment, obligation,or expense that would exist irrespective of the person's seeking,holding, or maintaining public office but excepts from "personaluse" the ordinary and accepted expenses related to campaigning foror holding elective office, including the use of campaign funds topay for the candidate's child care expenses that are incurred as adirect result of campaign activity. Any person subject to the personaluse ban may request an advisory opinion from the State Board of Electionson such matters. The bill directs the State Board of Elections toadopt emergency regulations similar to those promulgated by the FederalElection Commission to implement the provisions of the bill and toprovide an updated summary of Virginia campaign finance law that reflects the Attorney General's opinion and any new regulations promulgatedby the State Board of Elections.
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.
Minimum standards for local correctional facilities and lock-ups; individuals in need of behavioral health or developmental services. Requires the State Board of Local and Regional Jails (the Board) to establish minimum standards for identification and care of individuals with developmental disabilities in local correctional facilities and procedures for enforcing such minimum standards, including requirements for (i) screening of individuals committed to local correctional facilities for developmental disabilities, (ii) referral of individuals committed to local correctional facilities for whom a screening indicates reason to believe the person may have a developmental disability to an appropriate provider for an assessment to determine whether the individual has a developmental disability and is in need of developmental services, and (iii) transfer of an individual determined to have a developmental disability and to be in need of developmental services from a local correctional facility to a facility at which appropriate developmental services are provided within 72 hours of completion of the assessment. The bill also requires the Board to amend standards governing the delivery of behavioral health services in local correctional facilities and lock-ups to provide that if an individual is assessed as being in need of behavioral health services, such individual shall be transferred from the local correctional facility or lock-up to a behavioral health facility within 72 hours of the assessment. Currently, standards governing behavioral health services in local correctional facilities and lock-ups require that if a person is assessed as being in need of behavioral health services, the local correctional facility or lock-up shall provide such services.
Hunting deer; use of .22 caliber rifle authorized.Authorizes the use of a rifle equipped with .22 caliber centerfireammunition for hunting big game. Current Department of Wildlife Resourcesregulations allow the use of rifles with a caliber of .23 or greater.
Involuntary commitment; release of person beforeexpiration of order. Provides that no person who is the subjectof an order for involuntary commitment shall be released from a statehospital or licensed hospital and that no community services boardshall petition for rescission of a mandatory outpatient treatmentorder or order authorizing discharge to mandatory outpatient treatmentfollowing inpatient treatment during the 96-hour period immediatelyfollowing entry of the order, unless in the opinion of (i) the psychiatristor clinical psychologist treating the person, based on an evaluationconducted by the psychiatrist or clinical psychologist, and (ii) a second psychiatrist or clinical psychologist who has evaluated theperson, the person will not meet the criteria for involuntary commitmentif released.
Virginia Retirement System; enhanced retirementbenefits for animal control officers. Adds animal control officersto the list of local employees eligible to receive enhanced retirementbenefits for hazardous duty service. Under current law, localitiesmay provide such benefits to first responders, including firefightersand emergency medical technicians, and certain other hazardous dutypositions.
Possession of firearms or other weapons on schoolproperty. Removes preschools and licensed child day centers thatare not operated at the residence of the provider or of any of thechildren from the list of schools where possessing a firearm or otherweapon on school property or on a school bus is prohibited.
