Del. Jeion Ward

High school graduation requirements; satisfaction of certain course credits with workforce credentials; development and maintenance of list of accepted credentials. Requires the Board of Education, in collaboration with the Virginia Community College System, Career and Technical Education directors, and industry partners, to develop and maintain a current, comprehensive, and uniform list of industry-recognized workforce credentials that students may take as a substitute for certain units of credit required for graduation, including such credentials that are accepted as substitutes for electives credits and credentials completed outside of regular school hours. The bill requires each school board to accept as a substitute for a required credit any credential listed as an accepted substitute for such required credit. The bill also requires any College and Career Access Pathways Partnership entered into between a school board and a comprehensive community college to specify, consistent with the list, industry-recognized credentials that are accepted as substitutes for certain credits required for high school graduation. Finally, the bill requires the Board, in establishing graduation requirements, to permit any student to substitute elective credits for completion of any industry-approved workforce credential that is included on the list as an accepted substitute for such credits. This bill incorporates HB 1009 and is identical to SB 199.

Chief Resilience Officer of the Commonwealth; Office of Commonwealth Resilience; Interagency Resilience Working Group; Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund; Resilient Virginia Revolving Fund; Advisory Review Committee. Moves the position of Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) from under the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources to under the Governor and creates an Office of Commonwealth Resilience to support the CRO in his functions and duties. The bill requires the CRO to convene an Interagency Resilience Working Group to support the coordination of planning and implementation of resilience efforts, eliminates the position of Special Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Adaptation and Protection, and requires the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation to convene an Advisory Review Committee to assist in the distribution of loans and grants from the Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund. The bill also requires the Director to convene an Advisory Review Committee to assist in the distribution of loans and grants from the Resilient Virginia Revolving Fund and adds the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources and the CRO to the list of those with whom the Virginia Resources Authority is required to consult in directing the distribution of loans or grants from the Fund. The bill requires, for the two Funds, the Department to (i) make available for public inspection at the office of the Department and on a publicly accessible website records of each application for grants and loans and the actions taken thereon and (ii) provide an opportunity for a 30-day public comment period prior to each new grant or loan offering to solicit feedback on proposed revisions to the Funds’ manuals. This bill incorporates HB 948.

Absentee voting; persons confined awaiting trialor for conviction of a misdemeanor. Provides that any registeredvoter who is confined while awaiting trial or for having been convictedof a misdemeanor may vote by absentee ballot and requires the institutionor facility in which such voter is confined to (i) provide the meansand opportunity for such voter to complete and submit a timely applicationfor an absentee ballot and to properly mark his absentee ballot and(ii) ensure such voter's marked absentee ballot is returned in accordancewith law. The bill further provides that such voter shall be permittedto vote absentee in person or at the polling place on election dayif the deadline for making an application has passed and directsthe institution or facility to facilitate the safe and secure transportof the voter to do so.

Firearm safety device tax credit; definition of firearm safety device. Expands the definition of "firearm safety device" as it relates to the firearm safety device tax credit to include any device that, when installed on a firearm, is designed to prevent the firearm from being operated without first deactivating the device. The provisions of the bill are effective for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2024. This bill incorporates HB 945.

All-terrain vehicles and off-road motorcycles; seizure, impounding, and disposition. Authorizes the governing body of any city to provide by ordinance for the lawful seizure, impounding, and disposition of an illegally operated all-terrain vehicle or off-road motorcycle operated on a highway or sidewalk within such city. This bill is identical to SB 516.

Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety;school safety audit; requirements. Requires the Virginia Centerfor School and Campus Safety to include in the list of items to bereviewed and evaluated in school safety audits and each school boardto require all schools under its supervision to review and evaluatein their annual school safety audits information relating to thetype of school security technology utilized in each public schoolbuilding in the applicable school division, including informationrelating to the specific types of technology systems and the age of such systems.

Department of Education; establishment of Farm to School Program Task Force. Requires the Department of Education to establish and appoint such members as it deems necessary or appropriate to the Farm to School Program Task Force for the purpose of increasing student access throughout the Commonwealth to high-quality farm to school programs, defined in the bill as programs (i) whereby public schools purchase and feature prominently in school meals locally produced food or (ii) that involve experiential student learning opportunities relating to local food and agriculture, including school and community garden programs and local farm visits. The bill requires the Task Force to collaborate with local school boards, community-based organizations, farmers, relevant state and local agencies, and other relevant stakeholders to (a) assess existing farm to school programs within the Commonwealth to identify and disseminate to each local school board best practices for implementing and sustaining such programs, (b) establish and distribute to each local school board a guidance document for the establishment and operation of school garden programs, (c) provide information and resources to each local school board to assist it in leveraging grant funds to support farm to school programs, and (d) collect such data and make such policy recommendations to local school boards, the Board of Education, and the General Assembly as it deems appropriate. This bill is identical to SB 314.

Public schools; certain local school divisions; youth and community violence prevention; Community Builders Pilot Program established; report. Establishes the Community Builders Pilot Program for the purpose of reducing youth involvement in behaviors that lead to gun violence and increasing community engagement among public school students by providing to students who are entering the eighth grade and enrolled in Roanoke City Public Schools and Petersburg City Public Schools opportunities during the school year after regular school hours and during the summer months for community engagement, workforce development, postsecondary education exploration, and social-emotional education and development. The bill provides that the school boards of Roanoke City Public Schools and Petersburg City Public Schools shall be responsible for the administration of the Program and are directed to collect data and report to the Governor and relevant committees of the General Assembly by November 1 of each year on the progress of the Program. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2027. This bill is identical to SB 484.

Hate crimes and discrimination; ethnic animosity; penalties. Provides that it is the policy of the Commonwealth to safeguard all individuals within the Commonwealth from unlawful discrimination in employment and in places of public accommodation because of such individual's ethnic origin and prohibits such discrimination. The bill also adds victims who are intentionally selected because of their ethnic origin to the categories of victims whose intentional selection for a hate crime involving assault, assault and battery, or trespass for the purpose of damaging another's property results in a higher criminal penalty for the offense. The bill also provides that no provider or user of an interactive computer service on the Internet shall be liable for any action voluntarily taken by it in good faith to restrict access to material that the provider or user considers to be intended to incite hatred on the basis of ethnic origin. This bill is identical to SB 7.

Superintendent of Public Instruction; pandemicrecovery task force; report. Requires the Superintendent ofPublic Instruction to establish and appoint such members as he deems necessary or appropriate to a pandemic recovery task force (the taskforce) within the Department of Education, the purpose of which isto examine the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on publiceducation in the Commonwealth and to provide recommendations, guidance,and resources to each local school division in order to enable allenrolled students to thrive academically, socially, and emotionallyand to meet or exceed pre-pandemic levels on all relevant metricsof student achievement and well-being. The bill requires the taskforce to focus particularly on student learning loss, attendance,and mental health and on vulnerable populations of students and toannually submit a report of its findings and recommendations to theBoard, the Governor, the General Assembly, and each school boardno later than November 1.