Del. Irene Shin

Regulation of discharging preproduction plastic; requirements. Requires the Department of Environmental Quality to establish a program to ensure zero discharge or release from point and nonpoint source at certain facilities that discharge to (i) a surface water under a Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued by the Department or (ii) a publicly owned treatment works under an industrial pretreatment program permit or other written authorization issued by a local permit control authority and to require the prompt and environmentally responsible containment and cleanup of discharged or released preproduction plastic. The bill requires the Department to adopt and implement certain requirements in order to reduce and control the discharge or release of preproduction plastic from such facilities. The bill allows the Department to exempt a facility from the requirements of the program if a facility satisfies the criteria for a no exposure certification and complies with inspection requirements administered by the Department. The bill also allows the Department to establish additional requirements regarding the regulation of discharges and releases of preproduction plastic from certain facilities into water or onto land in the Commonwealth.

Study; Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity; small business set-asides; report. Directs the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity to study small business set-asides and their effectiveness in promoting the growth and economic development of small businesses through participation in government contracting. For purposes of the study, \"small business\" includes women-owned and minority-owned businesses.

Virginia Retirement System; enhanced retirement benefits for 911 dispatchers. Allows local governments to provide enhanced retirement benefits for hazardous duty service to full-time salaried 911 dispatchers. The bill provides that such enhanced retirement benefits apply only to service earned as a full-time salaried 911 dispatcher on or after July 1, 2026, but allows an employer, as that term is defined in relevant law, to provide such enhanced retirement benefits for service earned as a full-time salaried 911 dispatcher before July 1, 2026, in addition to service earned on or after that date. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

Child tax credit; Virginia adjusted gross income. Creates a one-time tax credit in taxable years 2025 through 2029 for taxpayers whose households include dependents younger than 12 years of age and whose family Virginia adjusted gross income, defined in the bill, does not exceed $100,000. Such credit shall be in an amount equal to $300 for each such dependent and only one credit may be claimed for each such dependent. The bill provides that if the taxpayer is a resident of the Commonwealth for the full taxable year, the credit is refundable. Otherwise, the credit is nonrefundable.

Local anti-rent gouging authority; civil penalty. Provides that any locality may by ordinance adopt anti-rent gouging provisions. The bill provides for notice and a public hearing prior to the adoption of such ordinance and specifies that all landlords who are under the ordinance may be required to give at least two months' written notice of a rent increase and cannot increase the rent by more than the locality's calculated allowance, described in the bill as the maximum amount a landlord can increase a tenant's rent during any 12-month period, in effect at the time of the increase. The bill sets such allowance as equal to the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index or seven percent, whichever is less, states that such allowance is effective for a 12-month period beginning July 1 each year, and requires the locality to publish such allowance on its website by June 1 of each year. Certain facilities, as outlined in the bill, are exempt from such ordinance. The bill also requires a locality to establish an anti-rent gouging board that will develop and implement rules and procedures by which landlords may apply for and be granted exemptions from the rent increase limits set by the ordinance. Finally, the bill provides that a locality shall establish a civil penalty for failure to comply with the requirements set out in its ordinance.

Department of Veterans Services; powers and duties of Commissioner; identification of incarcerated veterans. Provides that the Commissioner of the Department of Veterans Services shall utilize, in consultation with the Department of Corrections, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Veterans Re-Entry Search Services system to identify veterans incarcerated in state, local, or community correctional facilities to prepare such veterans for release and reentry, reduce recidivism and homelessness, provide behavioral health resources, and refer eligible veterans to behavioral health dockets. This bill was incorporated into HB 2071.

Students with individualized education programs or Section 504 Plans; emergency protocol and guide. Requires each individualized education program implemented for a public school student with a disability in accordance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and each Section 504 Plan implemented for a public school student in accordance with § 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to contain an addendum that has been reviewed and signed by the student's parent and that includes a protocol for individualized accommodations and supports for the student during emergency situations at school and a step-by-step guide on how to execute such protocol. The bill requires such addendum to be provided to all of such student's teachers for implementation.

Local anti-rent gouging authority; civil penalty. Provides that any locality may by ordinance adopt anti-rent gouging provisions. The bill provides for notice and a public hearing prior to the adoption of such ordinance and specifies that all landlords who are under the ordinance may be required to give at least two months' written notice of a rent increase and cannot increase the rent by more than the locality's calculated allowance, not to exceed three percent, and states that such allowance is effective for a 12-month period beginning July 1 each year. The bill requires the locality to publish such allowance on its website by June 1 of each year. Certain facilities, as outlined in the bill, are exempt from such ordinance. The bill also requires a locality to establish an anti-rent gouging board to establish rules and procedures by which landlords may apply for and be granted exemptions from the rent increase limits set by the ordinance or delegate such duties and functions to an existing local board, department, or agency. Finally, the bill provides that a locality shall establish a civil penalty for failure to comply with the requirements set out in its ordinance.

Department of Labor and Industry; work group to evaluate workplace violence. Directs the Department of Labor and Industry to convene a work group for the purpose of evaluating the prevalence of workplace violence in the Commonwealth, including its effects on the workplace and measures to address workplace violence. The bill requires the work group to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Labor and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor no later than December 1, 2026.

Electric utilities; retail competition. Authorizes a customer who is a customer of a Phase I Utility that had a typical residential customer bill for a residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month that exceeded 125 percent of the statewide average during the most recent calendar year to purchase electric energy from any supplier of electric energy licensed to sell retail electric energy within the Commonwealth. The bill also decreases the period that such a customer who switches from an investor-owned electric utility to a competing supplier is barred from returning as a customer of its utility from five years to 90 days.