Del. Cia Price

Prohibiting certain acts in furtherance of federal immigration enforcement in certain protected areas; exceptions; penalties. Prohibits certain federal civil immigration enforcement activities in certain protected areas including any courthouse, within 40 feet of any polling place or building used as a meeting place for the local electoral board while the electoral board meets to ascertain the results of an election, and any place or facility owned by the Commonwealth that is a hospital or other health care facility, a school or public institution of higher education, or an office of the attorney for the Commonwealth. The bill prohibits any civil arrest in a courthouse pursuant to a civil administrative warrant, subject to certain exceptions such as service or enforcement of an order for failure to pay child support or for any arrest occurring in connection with a court proceeding that is taking place or is scheduled to take place. The bill provides that such provisions shall not apply when such arrest is authorized by a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena.The bill also authorizes a local school board to include in its written school crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response plan a procedure for notifying school board employees and parents of enrolled students of the presence of certain individuals on school property for immigration investigation or enforcement purposes. The bill requires each public institution of higher education to adopt a policy that requires an individual present on campus to investigate compliance with, enforce, or assist in an investigation or enforcement of any federal immigration law to present a valid judicial warrant or judicial subpoena before accessing any nonpublic area of the campus. This bill incorporates HB 1260, HB 1265, HB 1440, and HB 1442 and is identical to SB 351.

Law-enforcement officers; restrictions on wearing of facial coverings; exceptions; penalty. Prohibits any law-enforcement officer, defined in the bill, from wearing a facial covering, defined in the bill, while engaged in the performance of his official duties. The bill sets out several exceptions to such prohibition, including protective facial coverings to protect against disease, infection, and exposure to toxic substances and facial coverings worn by any law-enforcement officer assigned to a special weapons and tactics team while engaged in the performance of his official duties with such team. The bill subjects the law-enforcement officer to disciplinary action, including dismissal, demotion, suspension, transfer, or decertification, and creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for any law-enforcement officer who wears a facial covering in violation of the provisions of the bill unless the law-enforcement agency that employs such law-enforcement officer has adopted and established a written policy for and restrictions on the use of facial coverings. The bill also directs the Department of Criminal Justice Services to develop a model policy for and restrictions on the use of facial coverings by law-enforcement officers. This bill is identical to SB 352.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies; noncompliance with rental agreement; payment plan. Requires a landlord who owns more than four rental dwelling units or more than a 10 percent interest in more than four rental dwelling units, before terminating a rental agreement due to nonpayment of rent if the exact amount of rent owed is less than or equal to one month's rent plus any late charges contracted for in the rental agreement and as provided by law, to serve upon such tenant a written notice informing the tenant of the exact amount due and owed and offer the tenant a payment plan under which the tenant must pay the exact amount due and owed in equal monthly installments over a period of the lesser of six months or the time remaining under the rental agreement. The bill prohibits the landlord from charging any additional late fees during the payment plan period in connection with the unpaid rental amount for which the tenant entered into the payment plan so long as the tenant makes timely payments in accordance with the terms of the payment plan. The bill also outlines the remedies a landlord has if a tenant fails to pay the exact amount due and owed or enter into a payment plan within five days of receiving notice or if a tenant enters into a payment plan and after such plan becomes effective fails to pay rent when due or fails to make a payment under the terms of the agreed-upon payment plan. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.

Employment; paid sick leave; civil penalties; civil actions. Requires one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked for all employees of private employers and state and local governments, with certain exceptions. The bill requires that employees who are employed and compensated on a fee-for-service basis accrue paid sick leave in accordance with regulations adopted by the Commissioner of Labor and Industry. The bill provides that employees transferred to a separate division or location remain entitled to previously accrued paid sick leave and that employees retain their accrued paid sick leave under any successor employer. The bill allows employers to provide a more generous paid sick leave policy than prescribed by its provisions and specifies that employees, in addition to using paid sick leave for their physical or mental illness or to care for a family member, may use paid sick leave to seek or obtain certain services or to relocate or secure an existing home due to domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking. The bill requires the Commissioner to promulgate regulations for the implementation and enforcement of the bill's provisions by July 1, 2027.The bill authorizes the Commissioner, in the case of a knowing violation, to subject an employer to a civil penalty not to exceed $150 for the first violation, $300 for the second violation, and $500 for each successive violation. The Commissioner or Attorney General may commence administrative proceedings or bring a civil action to enforce the bill's provisions. Additionally, the bill authorizes an aggrieved employee to bring a civil action against the employer in which he may recover double the amount of any unpaid sick leave and the amount of any actual damages suffered as the result of the employer's violation. Certain provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. This bill is identical to SB 199.

Voter registration; restoration of political rights upon release from incarceration; certain adjudications. Provides that any person who loses his political rights as a result of a felony conviction shall be invested with those rights upon his release from incarceration and shall be entitled to register to vote. The bill directs the Department of Corrections and the State Board of Local and Regional Jails to transmit to the Department of Elections certain information for incarcerated persons with a pending date of release and requires the Department of Elections to process the information and make the necessary changes to the voter registration system to permit such persons to register to vote by the date of the person's scheduled date of release. On the date of an incarcerated person's release, the appropriate authority is required by the bill to provide a voter registration application, information on returning the form by mail or completing it by electronic means, and an official release document to serve as a safety net for voter registration. The bill also amends the language regarding adjudications of mental incompetency for purposes of being qualified to vote; a person adjudicated to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting shall not be entitled to vote until that capacity has been reestablished. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027, contingent upon the approval of the constitutional amendments at the November 3, 2026, general election. This bill is identical to SB 162.

Voter registration; list maintenance activities, cancellation procedures, required record matches. Requires certain, specified identification information to be included on the lists received by the Department of Elections (the Department) for list maintenance purposes and requires the Department, upon receiving any such list, to do an initial comparison of the information included on such list with the list of registered voters and to determine the confidence score for any match. The Department is required to transmit matches with a confidence score of at least 80 to the appropriate general registrars. The bill prohibits the use of voter data received from another state or jurisdiction or through a list comparison for list maintenance purposes when the data file does not include a unique identifier for each individual whose information is contained in the data file. The bill requires the Department to annually review all sources of data utilized for list maintenance activities for the purpose of determining the validity, completeness, accuracy, and reliability of the data received from each source, and to include the results of such review in its annual report to the House and Senate Committees on Privileges and Elections regarding its list maintenance activities. The bill provides that the Department of Elections may only use the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program (SAVE Program) operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the sole purpose of individually verifying that voters listed in the Virginia voter registration system are United States citizens. The Department of Elections is prohibited from (i) using information received from the SAVE Program as the sole reason for rejecting a registration application, (ii) uploading lists of registered voters to the SAVE Program for verifying their citizenship status in bulk, or (iii) transferring any information to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or any subdivision thereof beyond the minimum information necessary. The bill requires the general registrars to send notice prior to cancelling a voter's registration regardless of the reason for cancellation. Lastly, the bill clarifies that when a voter's registration is cancelled, a cancellation record must be created, and that such records are public in accordance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and the National Voter Registration Act. The bill includes numerous technical amendments for organizational purposes. Certain provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. This bill incorporates HB 966.

Voter registration; list maintenance; third-party data exchanges; approval by State Board of Elections. Requires the Commissioner of Elections, prior to entering into or terminating a memorandum of understanding or modifying the terms of an existing memorandum of understanding with any third party for the exchange of voter registration data, to submit the proposed memorandum of understanding, the reason for termination, or the proposed modifications, as appropriate, to the State Board of Elections for review and approval. Approval shall require a vote of two-thirds of the State Board. The bill also requires the Commissioner of Elections to apply for, enter into, and maintain membership for the Commonwealth in the Electronic Registration Information Center.

Health insurance; coverage for contraceptive drugs and devices. Requires health insurance carriers to provide coverage, under any health insurance contract, policy, or plan that includes coverage for prescription drugs on an outpatient basis, for contraceptive drugs and contraceptive devices approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including those available over-the-counter. The bill prohibits a health insurance carrier from imposing upon any person receiving prescription contraceptive benefits pursuant to the provisions of the bill any copayment, coinsurance payment, or fee, except in certain circumstances. Additionally, the bill requires any health benefit plan that provides coverage for hormonal contraceptives to provide point-of-sale coverage without cost-sharing at in-network pharmacies for hormonal contraceptives available over-the-counter. This bill is identical to SB 361.

Law-enforcement agencies; agreements with federal authority for immigration enforcement; requirements. Prohibits any state or local law-enforcement agency, defined in the bill, from maintaining, renewing, or entering into any federal immigration agreement unless such agreement contains certain provisions. The bill also prohibits any person acting in his capacity as a law-enforcement officer to assist, cooperate with, or use any law-enforcement resources to facilitate any operation that seeks to identify, arrest, or otherwise impose a penalty upon an individual for any violation of federal civil immigration law. The bill provides that such prohibition shall not apply (i) if the authority to enforce such laws is otherwise permitted or required by law; (ii) if the person acting in his capacity as a law-enforcement officer is presented with a valid judicial warrant or judicial subpoena that authorizes such enforcement; or (iii) to the transfer of custody of an adult convicted of certain violent felonies from a state, local, or regional correctional facility upon such correctional facility's receipt of a federal immigration detainer. This bill incorporates HB 1438 and is identical to SB 783.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; terms and conditions of rental agreement; notice of rent increase. Requires a landlord who owns more than four rental dwelling units or more than a 10 percent interest in more than four rental dwelling units, whether individually or through a business entity, in the Commonwealth to provide a tenant with written notice of any increase in rent for the subsequent rental agreement term at least 90 days prior to the end of such term and to include in such notice a deadline, which shall be no sooner than 30 days after such notice is delivered, by which the tenant shall advise the landlord of whether the tenant will renew the rental agreement. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.