Del. Nadarius Clark

Commending Melicia Brown.

Commending Angels of Assisi.

Commending the Reverend Anthony Curtis Paige.

Virginia African Diaspora Advisory Board. Establishes the Virginia African Diaspora Advisory Board to advise the Governor on ways to improve economic and cultural links between the Commonwealth and African nations, with a focus on the areas of commerce and trade, agriculture, art, education, and government. The Board is composed of 18 nonlegislative citizen members, of whom at least 15 must be persons who identify as part of the African diaspora, to be appointed by the Governor. The Secretaries of Agriculture and Forestry, Commerce and Trade, and Education or their designees serve as ex officio members.

Charter; City of Portsmouth; recall of electiveofficers. Makes various changes to the City of Portsmouth's processfor recall of an elective officer, including (i) applying provisionsto an officer who has been appointed to fill an elective office,(ii) making the law apply immediately rather than after one yearfrom the beginning of an officer's term, (iii) specifying the specificcauses that may trigger the recall process, and (iv) allowing a judgeof the Circuit Court of the City of Portsmouth to hold a hearingand take evidence to determine the sufficiency of the recall petition.

Study; JLARC; effects of gun violence on communities;report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commissionto study the social, physical, emotional, and economic effects ofgun violence on communities across the Commonwealth.

Victim of sex trafficking; affirmative defense;writ of vacatur; minors. Makes changes to the definitions ofvictim of sex trafficking used for the purposes of the issuance ofa writ of vacatur and the affirmative defense available to victimsof sex trafficking to include a minor charged with, convicted, oradjudicated delinquent of a qualifying offense in the Commonwealthwho committed such offense while younger than 18 years of age.

Elections; removal of officers; recall elections;petition. Provides for the removal of certain elected officersand officers appointed to elected offices by recall referendum. Thebill requires a petition for recall be signed by 30 percent of thetotal number of votes cast at the last election for the office forwhich a recall is sought.

Telework expenses tax credit. Reinstatesthe telework expenses tax credit for taxable years 2022 through 2031.The previous version of the credit expired on January 1, 2019. Thebill removes requirements that were in place under the previous versionof the credit, such as requiring the employee and employer to signa telework agreement. The bill also eliminates a previous requirementthat credit claimants apply for and reserve credits in advance andinstead directs the Department of Taxation to develop proceduresfor claiming the credit.

Public schools; English language learners. Requires state funding to be provided to support new divisionwide ratiosof English learner students in average daily membership to full-time equivalent teaching positions, as follows: (i) for each English language learner identified as proficiency level one, one position per 25students; (ii) for each English language learner identified as proficiencylevel two, one position per 30 students; (iii) for each English languagelearner identified as proficiency level three, one position per 40 students; and (iv) for all other English language learners, one positionper 50 students.