Del. Irene Shin

Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); fundamental right to reproductive freedom. Provides for a referendum at the November 3, 2026, election to approve or reject an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia relating to the right to make one's own decisions related to reproductive health care, including access to abortion. The amendment protects patients and their doctors and nurses from being punished for making such decisions. The amendment allows the state to place restrictions on access to abortion during the third trimester of pregnancy except when the patient's life or physical or mental health is at risk or the pregnancy cannot survive. This bill is identical to SB 449.

Transportation network companies; minimum compensation; civil penalty. Establishes minimum compensation rates for TNC partners. The bill also prohibits gratuities from passengers from being included in TNC partner compensation calculations, authorizes TNC partners to collect gratuity in cash or electronically, and prohibits transportation network companies from limiting the amount that can be paid as gratuity through such companies' digital platforms. The bill requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to establish a process for reporting violations and to investigate claims. The bill authorizes enforcement by civil action or by civil penalties assessed by the DMV Commissioner.

Artificial Intelligence Chatbots Act established; prohibited practices; penalties. Creates the Artificial Intelligence Chatbots Act, which prohibits an operator from making a companion chatbot, as those terms are defined in the bill, available to a user in the Commonwealth unless the companion chatbot is incapable of certain actions specified in the bill. The bill also requires an operator of a companion chatbot to include a disclaimer to users of all ages that a companion chatbot is not a human via a static, persistent disclosure and notify a user via a pop-up that he is not engaging with a human counterpart at specified intervals. The bill makes it unlawful for any operator of a companion chatbot to operate or provide a companion chatbot to a user unless such companion chatbot contains a protocol to take reasonable efforts for detecting and addressing expressions of suicidal ideation or self-harm by a user to the companion chatbot. The bill also includes certain data privacy and transparency requirements. The bill provides that a violation of its provisions constitutes a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.

School breakfast; availability at no cost to students. Requires each school board to require each public elementary and secondary school in the local school division to participate in the federal National School Lunch Program and the federal School Breakfast Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and to make breakfast available to any student who requests such a meal at no cost to the student, unless the student's parent has provided written permission to the school board to withhold such a meal from the student. The bill clarifies that the provision of a breakfast by a school to a student at no cost to the student shall not be construed as creating a disincentive for the school or local school division to participate in the federal Community Eligibility Provision program. Additionally, the bill provides that schools shall maximize the number of students who participate in the school breakfast program by implementing one or more suggested service models to increase access to such program. The bill requires the Department of Education to reimburse each public elementary and secondary school for each eligible school breakfast served to a student, with a maximum of one reimbursable breakfast per student per school day, and provides the formula for determining the state reimbursement rate for such meals. Finally, the bill repeals a provision of law relating to the federal School Breakfast Program that is rendered obsolete by the provisions of the bill. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Commission to End Hunger.

Public elementary and secondary schools and public institutions of higher education; certain federal immigration investigation and enforcement activities; certain notifications and prohibitions. Requires, no later than July 1, 2027, and subject to certain enumerated conditions and requirements, (i) the written school crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response plan for each public elementary or secondary school to include (a) a requirement that whenever the division superintendent confirms that an individual is present on the property of a public elementary or secondary school in the school division to investigate compliance with, enforce, or assist in the investigation for compliance with or enforcement of any federal civil immigration law or any federal criminal immigration law that penalizes an individual's presence in, entry or reentry into, or employment in the United States, each school board employee at such school and the parents of each student enrolled in such school shall be notified of such presence and (b) a prohibition against any individual present on the property of a public elementary or secondary school in the school division to investigate compliance with, enforce, or assist in the investigation for compliance with or enforcement of any federal civil immigration law or any federal criminal immigration law that penalizes an individual's presence in, entry or reentry into, or employment in the United States from accessing any nonpublic area of such school property without a warrant signed by a judge or magistrate and (ii) each public institution of higher education to (a) notify all students, faculty, and staff whenever the institution confirms that an individual is present on campus to investigate compliance with, enforce, or assist in the investigation for compliance with or enforcement of any federal civil immigration law or any federal criminal immigration law that penalizes an individual's presence in, entry or reentry into, or employment in the United States and (b) prohibit any individual present on campus to investigate compliance with, enforce, or assist in the investigation for compliance with or enforcement of any federal civil immigration law or any federal criminal immigration law that penalizes an individual's presence in, entry or reentry into, or employment in the United States from accessing any nonpublic area of campus without a warrant signed by a judge or magistrate.

Virginia Accountability Commission established. Creates the Virginia Accountability Commission (the Commission). The Commission shall (i) create a public record of the conduct of federal agents and any federal military-style operations throughout the Commonwealth, (ii) examine the impact of that conduct on individuals and communities, and (iii) consider policy recommendations to prevent future harms to these individuals and communities. The bill requires the Commission to provide, not later than January 31, 2027, an initial status report outlining its findings and recommendations to the Governor, and not later than April 30, 2027, any supplementary reports the Commission deems appropriate. The bill provides that the Commission shall be composed of a chair, vice-chair, and up to seven additional members, for a total membership of up to nine uncompensated members, as appointed by the Governor, the House of Delegates, and the Senate. The bill also provides that the term of each Commission member shall expire one year from the date of his appointment, and Commissioners may be reappointed or replaced at the pleasure of the appointing authority. Finally, the bill requires the Office of Civil Rights with the Office of the Attorney General to provide administrative and professional staff support to the operations of the Commission. The Commission may also work with subject matter experts and non-profit organizations as it deems appropriate.

Agencies of the Commonwealth; law-enforcement agencies; employees and officers; agreements with federal authority for immigration enforcement; prohibitions and limitations. Prohibits a state agency or a law-enforcement agency, defined in the bill, from entering into a written agreement authorizing any employee or law-enforcement officer to perform a function of a federal immigration officer. The bill provides that federal immigration laws shall be enforced by a state or local law-enforcement agency of the Commonwealth pursuant to a valid judicial warrant, federal or statutory regulations, or as otherwise required by state law. The bill also prohibits an employee of a state agency or a law-enforcement officer, defined in the bill, from conducting certain actions or inquiries regarding a person's citizenship or immigration status while engaged in the performance of his duties and creates a cause of action for appropriate equitable, injunctive, or declaratory relief against such employee or law-enforcement officer who willfully conducts such actions or inquiries in violation of the provisions of the bill. Finally, the bill requires any state agency or law-enforcement agency that has an existing written agreement with a federal authority to perform federal immigration functions to terminate such written agreement by September 1, 2026.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Chapter 26 of Title 2.2 an article numbered 16.1, consisting of sections numbered 2.2-2649.1 through 2.2-2649.4, relating to Children's Cabinet established; report.

Maddy summaryHB 858 changes the state holiday observed on the second Monday in October from Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day. This policy affects state government operations, including public offices and schools, which typically close for legal holidays. The bill formally redesignates the holiday by replacing the current name and historical reference with Indigenous Peoples' Day. It does not alter the date or create new government obligations, only updating the official designation of an existing holiday.

Secretary of Health and Human Resources; private equity ownership of health care facilities; work group; report. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources (the Secretary) to convene a work group to study the impact of private equity on health care. The bill requires the Secretary to submit a report on the work group's findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House Committee on Health and Human Services and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2026.