Del. Nadarius Clark

Virginia Consumer Protection Act; prohibitedpractices; mandatory fees disclosure. Prohibits a supplier in connection with a consumer transaction from advertising, displaying,or offering any pricing information for goods or services withoutprominently displaying the total price, which shall include all mandatoryfees or charges other than taxes imposed.

Public high schools; personnel; college andcareer specialist required. Requires each school board to employat least one college and career specialist, as defined in the bill,in each public high school in the local school division. 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.

Affordable dwelling unit ordinances; accessibleunits. Provides that any locality that has adopted an affordabledwelling unit ordinance may require under such ordinance that a set percentage of the units built by a developer are compliant withthe appropriate requirements of the American National Standards forBuilding and Facilities for Type A units or with any other standards adopted as part of regulations promulgated by the U.S. Departmentof Housing and Urban Development providing accessibility and usabilityfor persons with a physical disability.

Electric utilities; notice required for customer return to service. Decreases the required written notice period to 90 days for certain electric energy customers to return to service by an investor-owned utility after purchasing electric energy from other suppliers. Currently, such electric energy customers must provide five years' written notice to return to service by Dominion Energy Virginia or three years' written notice to return to service by Appalachian Power.

Celebrating the life of Gloria Randolph-King.

Public school staffing ratios; school counselors. Decreases from one to 325 to one to 250 the ratio of full-time equivalent school counselors required to be employed by each local school boardper student enrolled in the local school division.

Expeditious resolution of complaints relatingto certain student transportation safety issues. Requires eachlocality and the Department of Transportation, as applicable, toexpeditiously respond to and assist in the resolution of, to themaximum extent practicable, any complaint received by or on behalfof any public elementary or secondary school student relating tosuch student's safety on the streets, roads, sidewalks, and crosswalkssurrounding school property as such student arrives to or departs from school and permits, for the purposes of complying with suchrequirement, any school board to enter into a memorandum of understandingwith the locality or the Department, as applicable, for the establishmentof a protocol or the designation of an ombudsman for the resolutionof such complaints.

First-time homebuyer tax credit. Createsa tax credit for taxable years 2024 through 2028 for individualsor married couples filing jointly who sell residential real propertythat is the taxpayer's primary residence and is located in the Commonwealthto a first-time homebuyer, as defined by the bill. Such credit willbe equal to two percent of the sales price of the property, not toexceed $5,000.

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.

Mattress stewardship program established; civilpenalty. Prohibits the disposal of a mattress, as defined inthe bill, in a landfill or an incinerator beginning January 1, 2028,and requires producers of mattresses sold at retail in the Commonwealthor a representative organization acting on a producer's behalf tosubmit a plan for the establishment of a mattress stewardship program.Such mattress stewardship program plan shall establish an assessmentfor all mattresses sold in the Commonwealth and a network of convenientand free collection sites for postconsumer mattresses, defined in the bill, that will facilitate higher rates of recycling and materials recovery for postconsumer mattresses. The bill establishes annualreporting requirements for mattress producers or representative organizationsand establishes a Mattress Stewardship Program Advisory Board toadvise on the proper implementation and sustainability of the mattressstewardship program. The bill also establishes the powers and dutiesof the Department of Environmental Quality as they relate to thebill and civil penalties for improper mattress disposal and violationsof the mattress stewardship program.