Del. Rae Cousins

Department of Taxation; accounts receivable; collection. Directs the Department of Taxation, Department of Accounts, and Office of the Attorney General to analyze the pervasiveness of outstanding accounts receivable due to the Commonwealth and collection efforts related to such receivables. The Department of Taxation shall report on the findings and recommendations of such analysis and submit such report to the Chairs of the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations and House Committee on Appropriations by November 1, 2025.

Employee protections; minimum wage and overtime wages; civil actions; misclassification of workers. Provides that an employer that violates minimum wage or overtime wages provisions is liable to the employee for the applicable remedies, damages, or other relief available in an action brought pursuant to the civil action provisions currently available for the nonpayment of wages. Such provisions currently available provide that an employee may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction to recover payment of the wages, and the court is required to award the wages owed, an additional equal amount as liquidated damages, plus prejudgment interest thereon, and reasonable attorney fees and costs. Under current law, if the court finds that the employer knowingly failed to pay wages to an employee, the court is required to award the employee an amount equal to triple the amount of wages due and reasonable attorney fees and costs, and such actions are required to be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrued. The bill also increases from 300 days to two years the amount of time a complainant has to file an allegation of discriminatory practice with the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Law alleging a violation of the Virginia Human Rights Act or federal statutes governing discrimination in employment that also falls under the jurisdiction of the Virginia Human Rights Act. Additionally, the bill provides that a civil action brought by an individual against his employer for failing to properly classify the individual as an employee under current law shall be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrued.

Custodial interrogations; false statements to a child prohibited; inauthentic replica documents. Prohibits law-enforcement officers from knowingly and intentionally making false statements about any known material fact, including by use of inauthentic replica documents, prior to or during a custodial interrogation of a child to secure the cooperation, confession, or conviction of such child. The bill defines "inauthentic replica documents" as any documents, including computer-generated documents, created by any means, including artificial intelligence, by a law-enforcement officer or his agent that (i) contain a false statement, signature, seal, letterhead, or contact information or (ii) materially misrepresent any fact. The bill provides that if a law-enforcement officer knowingly violates such prohibition, any statements made by such child shall be inadmissible in any delinquency proceeding or criminal proceeding against such child, unless the attorney for the Commonwealth proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the statement was made knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; enforcement by localities. Provides that if a condition exists in a rental dwelling unit that constitutes a material noncompliance by the landlord with the rental agreement or with any provision of law that, if not promptly corrected, constitutes a fire hazard or serious threat to the life, health, or safety of tenants or occupants of the premises, a locality may institute an action for injunction and damages to enforce the landlord's duty to maintain the rental dwelling unit in a fit and habitable condition, provided that (i) the property where the violation occurred is within the jurisdictional boundaries of the locality and (ii) the locality has notified the landlord who owns the property, either directly or through the managing agent, of the nature of the violation and the landlord has failed to remedy the violation to the satisfaction of the locality within a reasonable time after receiving such notice.

Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage incrementally to $15.00 per hour by January 1, 2027. The bill codifies the adjusted state hourly minimum wage of $12.41 per hour that is effective January 1, 2025, and increases the minimum wage to $13.50 per hour effective January 1, 2026, and to $15.00 per hour effective January 1, 2027. The bill requires the Commissioner of Labor and Industry to establish an adjusted state hourly minimum wage by October 1, 2027.

Purchase, possession, or transportation of firearm; assault and battery of a family or household member or intimate partner; penalties. Adds to the definition of "family or household member," as such definition relates to juvenile and domestic relations district court, a person's intimate partner, defined in the bill as an individual who, within the previous 12 months, was in a romantic, dating, or sexual relationship with the person as determined by the length, nature, frequency, and type of interaction between the individuals involved in the relationship. The bill also adds to the definition of "family or household member," as such definition relates to a person's purchase, possession, or transportation of a firearm following an assault and battery of a family or household member, any individual who cohabits or who, within the previous 12 months, cohabitated with the person. Finally, the bill provides that any person who knowingly and intentionally purchases, possesses, or transports any firearm following a misdemeanor conviction for an offense that occurred on or after July 1, 2025, for the offense of assault and battery against an intimate partner or an offense substantially similar under the laws of any other state or of the United States is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. This bill is identical to SB 883.

Standards of Quality; standards of accreditation; measurement of student educational performance and academic achievement; calculation of proportionality score required. Directs the Board of Education (the Board), in consultation with the Department of Education (the Department), to establish and implement standards for determining and recognizing student educational performance and academic achievement in the form of a weighted proportionality score for each school, to account for no less than five percent of such school's accreditation rating score or metric under the current school accountability system, for the purpose of identifying, accounting for in determining accreditation ratings, and addressing disparities in access to educational resources across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups in public schools in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Department to (i) develop a metric for calculating the weighted proportionality score for each school using certain variables calculated by the Department; (ii) develop a metric for calculating the improvement of a school's proportionality score received year over year; (iii) assign for each school based on such school's proportionality score a proportionality designation of "highly proportional," "proportional," "somewhat disproportional," and "highly disproportional"; and (iv) require any school board that contains within the school division a school assigned a proportionality designation of "highly disproportional" to develop and submit to the Department a remediation plan detailing the actions such school board will take to reduce disparities in access to education resources. The bill directs the Board to (a) amend its regulations to include as a school quality indicator the weighted proportionality score developed in accordance with the bill and (b) submit to the U.S. Department of Education within 90 days of the effective date of the bill any amendments necessary to its state plan pursuant to the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended, that are necessary to implement the provisions of the act. Finally, the bill requires its provisions to be implemented beginning with the 2025–2026 school year.

Importation, sale, manufacture, etc., of assault firearms and certain ammunition feeding devices prohibited; penalties. Creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person who imports, sells, manufactures, purchases, or transfers an assault firearm, as that term is defined in the bill with some exceptions, and prohibits a person who has been convicted of such violation from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm for a period of three years from the date of conviction. The bill provides that an assault firearm does not include any firearm that is an antique firearm, has been rendered permanently inoperable, is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action, or was manufactured before July 1, 2025. The bill also prohibits the sale of a large capacity ammunition feeding device, as that term is defined in the bill. The bill provides that any person who willfully and intentionally (i) sells an assault firearm to another person or (ii) purchases an assault firearm from another person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and that any person who imports, sells, barters, or transfers a large capacity ammunition feeding device is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person younger than 21 years of age to import, sell, manufacture, purchase, possess, transport, or transfer an assault firearm regardless of the date of manufacture of such assault firearm with some exceptions. This bill is identical to SB 1181.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; rental payment methods. Prohibits a landlord subject to the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act from charging a tenant any fee for the collection or processing of any payment of rent, security deposit, or any other fees, unless the landlord offers an alternative method of payment that does not include additional fees. This bill is identical to SB 1356.

Trigger activator definition; penalty. Defines "trigger activator" as a conversion kit, tool, accessory, or device designed to alter the rate of fire of a semi-automatic firearm to mimic automatic weapon fire or used to increase the rate of fire to a rate faster than such semi-automatic firearm not equipped with a conversion kit, tool, accessory, or device. The bill clarifies that "trigger activator" includes a bump stock, trigger crank, hellfire trigger, binary trigger system, burst trigger system, or a copy thereof, but does not include a semi-automatic replacement trigger, designed for use in competitive shooting, that improves performance and functionality over the stock trigger. This bill is identical to SB 886.