Sickle cell disease education and screening program; cancer risk. Requires the sickle cell screening and treatment program to include the offering of educational resources to health care providers on the increased risks for certain cancers among individuals with sickle cell disease or the sickle cell trait.
Limited-duration licenses, driver privilege cards and permits, and identification privilege cards; expiration. Extends the validity of limited-duration licenses, driver privilege cards and permits, and identification privilege cards, other than REAL ID credentials and commercial driver's licenses and permits, to a period of time consistent with the validity of driver's licenses, which, under current law, is a period not to exceed eight years or, for a person age 75 or older, a period not to exceed five years, and permits and special identification cards. The bill aligns requirements for eligibility for limited-duration commercial driver's licenses and permits and REAL ID-compliant limited-duration commercial driver's licenses with federal requirements and clarifies the validity periods for such documents. The bill directs the Department of Motor Vehicles to implement the extended validity periods for limited-duration licenses, driver privilege cards, or permits upon renewal or reissuance. This bill is identical to SB 446.
Manufactured Home Lot Rental Act; right of first refusal; resident entities and localities. Provides for a right of first refusal, under the Manufactured Home Lot Rental Act, for resident entities, defined in the bill, and localities in which a manufactured home park is located when a manufactured home park owner enters into a contract to sell such manufactured home park.
Victims of crime; reimbursement for expenses; work group. Provides that all medical fees expended in the gathering of evidence through anonymous trace evidence collection kit examinations conducted on victims complaining of strangulation pursuant to relevant law shall be paid by the Commonwealth through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund (also known as the Virginia Victims Fund) administered by the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission. The bill states that such victims shall not be required to participate in the criminal justice system or cooperate with law-enforcement authorities in order to be provided with such medical exams. Under current law, all medical fees expended in the gathering of evidence through physical evidence recovery kit examinations conducted on victims complaining of sexual assault are paid by the Commonwealth via the Fund, and victims complaining of sexual assault are not required to participate in the criminal justice system or cooperate with law-enforcement authorities in order to be provided with such forensic medical exams.The bill expands the powers and duties of the Commission to adopt, promulgate, amend, and rescind suitable rules and regulations to include a distinct policy for the payment of anonymous trace evidence collection kit examinations.Lastly, the bill directs the Director of the Department of Criminal Justice Services to convene a work group of relevant stakeholders to discuss and submit recommendations for certain matters related to the reimbursement process for forensic medical examinations, enumerated in the bill. The bill directs the work group to submit a report with recommendations to the Chairs of the House Committee on Health and Human Services, the House Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Education and Health, and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations by November 1, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 812.
School nurses; sickle cell disease training. Directs local school divisions to require school nurses to complete, within six months of employment and at least every three years thereafter, an online or in-person course of instruction approved by the Board in collaboration with the Department of Health regarding recognition and management of sickle cell disease. This bill is identical to SB 822.
Financial institutions and services; virtual currency kiosk operators; license required; penalties. Establishes requirements for the operation of virtual currency kiosks, as defined in the bill, including a requirement that a virtual currency kiosk operator obtain licensure with the State Corporation Commission. The bill requires operators to file annual and quarterly reports, provide certain disclosures, and take reasonable steps to detect and prevent fraud and money laundering. The bill prohibits operators from accepting transactions above specified daily and monthly limits and establishes a maximum transaction charge of 18 percent of the value of such transaction. A person who violates the bill's provisions is subject to a fine of up to $1,000 per violation as well as the existing enforcement provisions of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. This bill is identical to SB 489.
Collective bargaining by public employees; individual home care providers; Virginia Home Care Council established; Public Employee Relations Board established; exclusive bargaining representatives. Repeals the existing prohibition on collective bargaining by public employees. The bill creates the Public Employee Relations Board, which shall determine appropriate bargaining units and provide for certification and decertification elections for exclusive bargaining representatives of state employees and local government employees. The bill requires public employers and employee organizations that are exclusive bargaining representatives to meet at reasonable times to negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. The bill establishes the Virginia Home Care Council within the Department of Medical Assistance Services to promote the stability of the individual provider workforce in the Commonwealth and tasks the Council with serving as the public employer of individual providers, as defined in the bill, for purposes of collective bargaining pursuant to the bill's provisions. The bill repeals a provision that declares that in any procedure providing for the designation, selection, or authorization of a labor organization to represent employees the right of an individual employee to vote by secret ballot is a fundamental right that shall be guaranteed from infringement. The bill directs the Department of Labor and Industry to promulgate any regulations necessary to effectuate the bill's provisions by July 1, 2028, and provides that upon the establishment of the Public Employee Relations Board, such regulations shall be transferred to the Board. The bill provides that until such regulations are adopted, no petitions or elections shall take place pursuant to the bill's provisions except pursuant to an ordinance or resolution adopted under current law. This bill is identical to SB 378.
Impersonating law-enforcement officer; penalties. Creates a Class 5 felony for impersonating a law-enforcement officer while wearing a facial covering, as that term is defined in the bill, and a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent violation.
Financial institutions and services; virtual currency kiosk operators; license required; penalties. Establishes requirements for the operation of virtual currency kiosks, as defined in the bill, including a requirement that a virtual currency kiosk operator obtain licensure with the State Corporation Commission. The bill requires operators to file annual and quarterly reports, provide certain disclosures, and take reasonable steps to detect and prevent fraud and money laundering. The bill prohibits operators from accepting transactions above specified daily and monthly limits and establishes a maximum transaction charge of 18 percent of the value of such transaction. A person who violates the bill's provisions is subject to a fine of up to $1,000 per violation as well as the existing enforcement provisions of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. This bill is identical to HB 665.
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.
