Land development; solar canopies in parking areas. Provides that any locality may include in its land development ordinances a provision that requires that an applicant must install a solar canopy over designated surface parking areas. Such provisions shall apply only to nonresidential parking areas with 100 or more new off-street contiguous parking spaces and may require coverage of up to 50 percent of the surface parking area. The bill provides that an ordinance adopted pursuant to this bill shall be subject to various additional requirements and shall allow for deviations, in whole or in part, from the requirements of the ordinance when its strict application would prevent the development of uses and densities otherwise allowed by the locality's zoning or development ordinance or when a property owner shows that the solar canopy, if installed as otherwise required under the ordinance, will generate less than 75 percent of the electricity that would be expected, given the nameplate capacity of the solar modules installed on such canopy, if the canopy were to be installed at another location in the locality without surrounding impediments to insolation such as buildings or shading vegetation. Finally, the bill provides that the applicant or owner may use the electric energy generated from such solar canopy to offset the consumption of the parking lot or adjoining building served under the same account. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. This bill incorporates HB 457 and is identical to SB 26.
Sponsored bills
Elections; Voting Rights Act of Virginia. Revises provisions of the Voting Rights Act of Virginia (the Act) by (i) clarifying the legal standards for evaluating claims of alleged voter suppression and vote dilution, (ii) providing guidance to the courts to follow when determining whether a violation of the prohibition against voter suppression or vote dilution has occurred, and (iii) outlining the factors that the courts are permitted to consider and those factors that the courts are prohibited from considering. The bill expands the class of persons who may initiate a cause of action for an alleged violation of the Act to include organizations whose membership includes members of a protected class, organizations whose mission would be frustrated by a violation of the Act, and organizations that would expend resources in order to fulfill their mission as a result of a violation of the Act. The population thresholds for a locality to be designated as a covered locality for purposes of minority language accessibility pursuant to the Act are also amended. Current law designates a locality as a covered locality if, in the locality, (a) more than five percent of the voting age population or (b) more than 10,000 of the voting age population are members of a single language minority and are unable to speak or understand English adequately enough to participate in the electoral process; the bill reduces those thresholds from five to three percent and from 10,000 to 5,000. The bill contains technical amendments for organizational purposes.
Exemptions from garnishment; minimum protected account balance; certain benefit payments; procedure for financial institutions. Requires certain financial institutions to automatically exempt from garnishment (i) a minimum protected account balance, defined in the bill as the combined total of not more than $1,000 in a judgment debtor's account or across multiple accounts in the same financial institution, and (ii) a protected amount of certain benefit payments, defined in the bill, that have been deposited into the account via direct deposit or electronic deposit within the two months immediately preceding the day before a financial institution commences an account review. The bill describes an account review as a process of examining an account of a judgment conducted by a financial institution upon such financial institution's receipt of a garnishment summons to determine if any eligible benefit payments have been deposited within the applicable time period and, if so, to calculate the total sum of such benefit payments and establish the total as a protected amount that shall be automatically exempt from garnishment. The bill provides that such procedure to automatically exempt such funds shall not apply if the debt arises from a child support or spousal support obligation or if an exemption is otherwise prohibited by law.The bill further provides that a judgment debtor is not required to claim nor request a hearing for such automatic exemptions. Finally, the bill makes updates to the relevant provisions governing garnishment proceedings, notices to the garnishee and judgment debtor, and the form of a garnishment summons consistent with the provisions of the bill. This bill is identical to SB 301.
Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; civil action for unlawful detainer; termination notice; energy submetering equipment. Provides that no landlord shall file or maintain an action for unlawful detainer against a residential tenant for any alleged lease violation until the landlord has provided the tenant with a proper and effective termination notice and that no notice of termination of tenancy for nonpayment of rent pursuant to the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act shall be effective unless such notice contains a written statement of charges and payments over the course of the tenancy or the past 12 months, whichever is shorter, and any late charges, attorney fees, costs, and other charges or damages as contracted for in the rental agreement that are due and owing. The bill requires such notice to also include debits and credits incurred by the tenant for energy and utility bills and any additional charges permitted as applicable. The bill also requires the owner of any residential building to maintain adequate records indicating how monthly energy and utility billing fees are calculated and including a history of billing fee payments for each tenant over the duration of the tenancy or the past 12 months, whichever is shorter. Such records shall be made available to the tenant upon request. Finally, the bill removes a provision allowing for the collection of fees when a tenant requests such records. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. This bill is identical to SB 294.
Elections; absentee and provisional ballots; cure process. Requires that, if the electoral board determines that any person having submitted a provisional vote was not entitled to vote as a result of a material error or omission on the provisional ballot form, the registrar is required to promptly notify the voter by telephone or email of the error or omission and to provide information to the voter on how to correct the issue so his ballot may be counted. The voter is entitled to make such necessary corrections before noon on the Monday after the election. The bill moves the deadline for curing errors or omissions in absentee ballot applications from noon on the third day after the election to noon on the Monday after the election. The bill also requries the Department of Elections to issue guidance to local election officials on the uniform processing and counting of provisional ballots, including any provisional ballot cast by a person submitting a registration application on the same day as the election.
Secretary of Public Safety; firearm violence. Directs the Secretary of Public Safety to convene a work group to develop policy and legislative recommendations to establish the Virginia Gun Violence Prevention Center. The bill allows the work group to (i) meet both in-person and virtually, (ii) have small group breakouts for the purpose of advancing work in a timely and efficient manner, and (iii) collaborate with experts and other representatives as needed. The bill requires the work group to report its findings and any legislative and policy recommendations to the General Assembly by December 15, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 364.
Sickle Cell Trait Awareness and Education Program established. Directs the Department of Health to establish the Sickle Cell Trait Awareness and Education Program to raise public awareness of and provide education on sickle cell trait.
Private companies providing public transportation services; employee protections; report. Requires the governing body of any county or city that contracts with a private company to provide transportation services to (i) require such company to provide any employee of such company providing such services compensation and benefits that are, at a minimum, equivalent to the compensation and benefits provided to a public employee, as defined in the bill, with a position requiring equivalent qualifications and years of service; (ii) provide transportation services through such company's own employees; and (iii) if such county or city subsequently elects to provide its own system of public transportation, adopt an ordinance or resolution providing for collective bargaining and ensure all employees of such private company are offered employment with such subsequent public transportation system without loss of compensation or benefits. The bill clarifies that the bill only applies to actions occurring on or after the effective date and excludes any action taken, contract signed, liability incurred, or right accrued prior to July 1, 2026, from the requirements. Finally, the bill directs the Director of the Department of Rail and Public Transportation to convene a work group to develop recommendations on how to implement the provisions of the bill and requires the work group to report its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House Committee on Labor and Commerce and Senate Committee on Local Government by November 1, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 731.
Prior authorization; requiring physician review for denial. Prohibits a health insurance carrier from making an adverse determination of a prior authorization request (i) for prescription drugs unless such denial has been reviewed and approved by a licensed physician or, if a licensed physician is not available, by a licensed pharmacist or (ii) for health care services unless such adverse determination has been reviewed and approved by (a) a licensed physician; (b) in the case of mental health services, a licensed mental health provider if a licensed physician is unavailable; or (c) in the case of dental services, a licensed dentist if a licensed physician is unavailable.
Summons for unlawful detainer; additional information; legal resources; plain-language overview of process. Provides that any summons for an unlawful detainer issued may, with the approval of the chief judge of the general district court or the chief judge of the circuit court, have attached additional information prepared by the Commonwealth, the locality in which the unlawful detainer hearing is to be held, or a nonprofit organization serving the jurisdiction in which such hearing is to be held regarding (i) legal resources available to the plaintiff and defendant, (ii) a plain-language overview of the unlawful detainer process, and (iii) the Eviction Diversion Program eligibility and applicability.