Del. Debra Gardner

Elections; election offenses; intimidation and threats toward election officials; penalty. Removes the requirement that a person willfully hinder or prevent an election official from administering elections in order to be found guilty of intimidation and threats toward such official, which is a Class 5 felony under current law.

Wildlife Corridor Action Plan; interagency implementation group; report. Directs the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources to, in coordination with the Secretary of Transportation, convene an Interagency Implementation Group to advance projects, policies, and priorities identified under the Wildlife Corridor Action Plan. The bill requires the Group to (i) facilitate the development of a statewide memorandum of understanding among participating state agencies to formalize roles, data-sharing practices, and collaborative processes; (ii) facilitate sharing of wildlife vehicle collision data; (iii) support local level connectivity planning; (iv) develop and offer training to state agencies, localities, and metropolitan planning organizations relating to wildlife crossings and habitat connectivity strategies; (v) coordinate and prioritize projects identified in the Plan; and (vi) assist state agencies and political subdivisions, and by request any federal agency, in considering and incorporating wildlife corridors and the recommendations of the Plan when developing any governmental strategic plan, map, or action. The bill requires the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources to jointly submit a report of the Group's progress in advancing the Plan to the Chairs of the Senate Committees on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and Transportation and the House Committees on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and Transportation by September 1 of each year.

Board of Housing and Community Development; Uniform Statewide Building Code; stakeholder group to evaluate temperature regulation. Directs the Board of Housing and Community Development to convene a stakeholder advisory group to evaluate changes to the Uniform Statewide Building Code addressing temperature regulation. The stakeholder group shall submit its findings and recommendations to the Board and to the Chairs of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology no later than November 1, 2026.

Department of Social Services; foster care; new luggage; report. Directs the Department of Social Services to establish and maintain a decentralized supply of new luggage to be used to transport the personal belongings of a child in foster care. The bill requires the Department to provide new luggage to a child who is entering or exiting foster care or moving from one foster care placement to another and prohibits the Department from using disposable bags or trash bags to transport any items for a child in foster care. The bill requires the Commissioner of Social Services to report certain information related to new luggage to the General Assembly by no later than December 1 of each year.

Access to Housing Task Force; report. Establishes the Access to Housing Task Force for the purpose of evaluating short-term and long-term access to housing in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Task Force to report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly no later than November 1, 2026.

Local, regional, and school library material. Requires the establishment of model policies and the subsequent establishment of local policies that are consistent with such model policies on the selection, purchase, curation, display, and removal of library material, as that term is defined in the bill, in local, regional, and school libraries in the Commonwealth. The bill requires such policies, among other things, to prohibit the censorship, as such term is defined in the bill, of library material and to establish a process by which certain individuals with a vested interest in the relevant library may request that the library material be reclassified, moved to a different section of the library, or removed from the library. The bill also permits certain individuals to seek certain types of relief in a court of competent jurisdiction for certain harms suffered as the result of violations of such policies.

Public high schools; personnel; career coach required. Requires each school board to employ at least one career coach in each public high school in the local school division whose duties shall include assisting students with securing internships, externships, and credentialing opportunities as required by the Profile of a Virginia Graduate, providing students with information on apprenticeship programs, and connecting students to career opportunities. The bill provides that each such individual shall work under the direction of school counselors to assist with direct counseling, as such term is defined in relevant law, relating to college and career readiness. The bill also provides that each such individual shall be employed in addition to and not as a replacement for the required school counselor positions, specialized student support positions, or support services positions.

Maddy summarySJ 83 is a ceremonial resolution commending the Greater Washington Society for Clinical Social Work for its contributions to mental health services in the region. It has no policy provisions or direct impact on laws, regulations, or constituents - its purpose is solely to express legislative recognition. The bill passed unanimously in both the Senate and House via voice vote in February 2026 and was sent to the Governor. As a non-binding resolution, it does not alter any existing laws or create new obligations. This type of bill is common for honoring organizations but has no practical effect beyond symbolic acknowledgment.

Elections; districts, precincts, and polling places; super precincts; pilot program. Authorizes the State Board of Elections to conduct a pilot program under which one or more counties or cities with a population of more than 350,000 and less than 400,000 in the most recent United States census whose proposal for participation in such pilot program is unanimously approved by the State Board would be permitted to use super precincts in elections. The bill requires the governing body of a county or city applying to participate in the pilot program to submit a plan for participation that includes (i) the number of super precincts to be established in the county or city and the boundaries of each such super precinct, (ii) the number of vote centers to be established in each super precinct and the location of each such vote center, (iii) the elections during which such super precincts and vote centers are to be used, and (iv) a description of the process for operating such vote centers on election day, including how voters will be checked in, how ballots will be provided, how votes will be counted, and any additional voting systems that will be used to ensure the integrity of the election. The bill defines "super precinct" as the territory established by a county or city and approved by the State Board pursuant to the pilot program, to be served by one or more vote centers, and "vote center" as the structure that contains a place provided for a super precinct at which the qualified voters who are residents of the super precinct may vote in an election. The bill contains minimum criteria for any proposal for participation in the pilot program. The bill requires the State Board report on the implementation and effectiveness of the pilot program by December 1 of any year in which one or more localities participate in the pilot program. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2030.

Earned income tax credit. Removes the sunset from and makes permanent the increase in Virginia's refundable earned income tax credit from 15 percent to 20 percent of the allowable federal earned income tax credit. Under current law, the Virginia refundable earned income tax credit expires in taxable year 2027, and Virginia's nonrefundable earned income tax credit, which has no expiration date, is equal to 20 percent of the federal credit.