Del. Irene Shin

Constitutional amendment (first reference); marriage between two individuals; repeal of same-sex marriage prohibition; affirmative right to marry. Repeals the constitutional provision defining marriage as only a union between one man and one woman as well as the related provisions that are no longer valid as a result of the United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015). The amendment provides that the right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of persons and prohibits the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions from denying the issuance of a marriage license to two parties contemplating a lawful marriage on the basis of the sex, gender, or race of such parties. The Commonwealth and its political subdivisions are required to recognize any lawful marriage between two parties and to treat such marriages equally under the law, regardless of the sex, gender, or race of such parties. The amendment provides that religious organizations and clergy acting in their religious capacity have the right to refuse to perform any marriage.

Electric utilities; State Corporation Commission;energy policy of the Commonwealth. Requires the State CorporationCommission to ensure that the Commonwealth implements the energypolicy of the Commonwealth, as defined by relevant law, at the lowestreasonable cost, taking into account all cost-effective demand-sidemanagement options and the security and reliability benefits of theregional transmission entity that each incumbent electric utilityhas joined. The bill establishes a rebuttable presumption that plans,petitions, or proposals from utilities that do not ensure such implementationat the lowest reasonable cost are not in the public interest.

Department of Professional and OccupationalRegulation; application review timelines. Requires each regulatoryboard within the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulationto adopt a timeline of each stage that a completed application forlicensure, certification, or registration will undergo as it is reviewedby such board. The bill also requires that such regulatory boardapprove any completed application within 30 days of its receipt unless such board has reasonable certainty that such applicationincludes grounds for denial.

Electric utilities; energy efficiency programs; duty to implement the Energy Policy of the Commonwealth; RPS program requirements; competitive procurement. Provides that "in the public interest" for the purpose of assessing energy efficiency programs means that the State Corporation Commission determines that the program is cost-effective and directs the Commission to initiate a proceeding no later than December 31, 2025, to establish a single, consistent cost-effectiveness test for use in evaluating proposed energy efficiency programs.The bill provides (i) that "total electric energy" for purposes of the RPS Program requirements does not include energy sold to certain customers purchasing 100 percent renewable energy and (ii) that in any RPS program compliance year, any electric energy that was generated in the previous calendar year from certain nuclear generating plants, or any zero-carbon electric generating facilities, including small modular nuclear reactors and green hydrogen facilities, will reduce the utility's RPS Program requirements by an equivalent amount.The bill provides that the Commission and its staff have the affirmative duty to ensure the Commonwealth implements the Energy Policy of the Commonwealth at the lowest reasonable cost, taking into account all cost-effective demand-side management options and the security and reliability benefits of the regional transmission entity to which each incumbent electric utility has joined.The bill requires that for certain required petitions by Appalachian Power and Dominion Energy Virginia for approvals to construct, acquire, or purchase the generating capacity using energy derived from sunlight or onshore wind, at least 35 percent of such generating capacity is from the purchases of energy from solar or onshore wind facilities owned by persons other than such utilities. Current law requires 35 percent of such generating capacity to be from the purchases of energy from solar or onshore wind facilities owned by persons other than such utilities.

Local anti-rent gouging authority; civil penalty.Provides that any locality may by ordinance adopt anti-rent gougingprovisions. The bill provides for notice and a public hearing priorto the adoption of such ordinance and specifies that all landlordswho are under the ordinance may be required to give at least twomonths' written notice of a rent increase and cannot increase therent by more than the locality's calculated allowance, describedin the bill as the maximum amount a landlord can increase a tenant'srent 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 theConsumer Price Index or seven percent, whichever is less, statesthat such allowance is effective for a 12-month period beginningJuly 1 each year, and requires the locality to publish such allowanceon its website by June 1 of each year. Certain facilities, as outlinedin the bill, are exempt from such ordinance. The bill also allowsa locality to establish an anti-rent gouging board that will developand implement rules and procedures by which landlords may apply forand be granted exemptions from the rent increase limits set by theordinance. Finally, the bill provides that a locality may establisha civil penalty for failure to comply with the requirements set outin the ordinance.

Public high schools; personnel; career coachrequired. Requires each school board to employ at least one careercoach in each public high school in the local school division whoseduties are required to include assisting students with securing internships, externships, and credentialing opportunities as required by the Profileof a Virginia Graduate, providing students with information on apprenticeship programs, and connecting students to career opportunities. The billprovides that each such individual shall be employed in additionto and not as a replacement for the required school counselor positions,specialized student support positions, or support services positions.

Public school staffing ratios; specializedstudent support positions. Increases the number of specialized student support positions required to be employed by each local schoolboard from at least three to at least four such positions per 1,000students in the local school division. Such specialized student supportpositions include school social workers, school psychologists, schoolnurses, licensed behavior analysts, licensed assistant behavior analysts,and other licensed health and behavioral positions.

Income tax; contributions to Virginia College Savings Planaccounts; report. Increases the maximum individual income tax deduction foramounts paid or contributed to a prepaid tuition contract or college savingstrust account entered into with the Virginia College Savings Plan from $4,000to $7,500 in taxable year 2024, $11,000 in taxable year 2025, and $15,000 fortaxable year 2026 and thereafter. Such amount shall be adjusted for changes inthe Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) beginning in taxableyear 2024. The deduction is limited to $4,000 for taxpayers with federaladjusted gross income that is greater than $100,000 for an individual or$200,000 for married persons filing a joint return.The bill also creates an individual or corporate deduction, asapplicable, of up to $4,000 for the amount a child day center or child dayprogram paid or contributed to a customer's or client's prepaid tuitioncontract or college savings trust account entered into with the Virginia CollegeSavings Plan.The bill also provides a nonrefundable income tax credit fortaxable years 2024 through 2028 for 35 percent of expenses incurred by abusiness during the taxable year for contributions into a Virginia CollegeSavings Plan account owned by an employee of the business. If the employeereceiving the contribution is a qualified employee, as defined in the bill, thebill specifies that the credit shall not exceed $500 annually for each suchemployee. If the employee receiving the contribution is a qualified employeewho is not highly compensated, as defined in the bill, the bill specifies thatthe credit shall not exceed $1,000 annually for each such employee. The billprovides that the total amount of tax credits available for a calendar year shallnot exceed $5 million and that any unused tax credit may be carried over forfive years.

Local anti-rent gouging authority; civil penalty. Provides that any locality may by ordinance adopt anti-rent gougingprovisions. The bill provides for notice and a public hearing priorto the adoption of such ordinance and specifies that all landlordswho are under the ordinance may be required to give at least two months'written notice of a rent increase and cannot increase the rent bymore than the locality's calculated allowance, described in the billas the maximum amount a landlord can increase a tenant's rent duringany 12-month period, in effect at the time of the increase. The bill sets such allowance as equal to the annual increase in the ConsumerPrice Index or seven percent, whichever is less, states that suchallowance is effective for a 12-month period beginning July 1 each year, and requires the locality to publish such allowance on itswebsite by June 1 of each year. Certain facilities, as outlined inthe bill, are exempt from such ordinance. The bill also allows alocality to establish an anti-rent gouging board that will developand implement rules and procedures by which landlords may apply forand be granted exemptions from the rent increase limits set by theordinance. Finally, the bill provides that a locality may establisha civil penalty for failure to comply with the requirements set outin the ordinance.

Virginia Real Estate Time-Share Act; terminationwithout cause. Provides purchasers of any time-share within theCommonwealth a right to terminate such time-share if, at least 10years after the initial purchase, the purchaser has paid the entirepurchase price of such time-share and does not have any outstandingobligations in regard to the property.