Del. Bonita Anthony

Statewide unified public-private system for early childhood care and education in the Commonwealth; state goal; capacity and family choice. Requires the statewide, unified, public-private system for early childhood care and education in the Commonwealth to be established with the goal of increasing and maintaining capacity systemwide to provide each family with meaningful access to high-quality and affordable choices among publicly funded, federally funded, mixed delivery, and private providers.

Department of Education; Child Care Subsidy Program waiting list; additional priority group; target timeline for assigning slots to priority groups. Requires the Department of Education to amend its Child Care Subsidy Program Guidance Manual to add a seventh priority group to the Child Care Subsidy Program waiting list that consists of any family that meets all other Program eligibility criteria and includes a parent who is employed for at least 30 hours per week by a publicly funded child care provider in the Commonwealth that serves children from birth to age five, excluding employment by a local school division but including employment by a Head Start program that is located within a public school building. The bill also directs the Department of Education to require local departments of social services to target a maximum of 30 days for moving priority group families from the waiting list into services; regularly assess, in coordination with the Department of Social Services, the length of time it takes for priority groups to be assigned slots; and provide quarterly updates, beginning October 1, 2025, to the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education on such timeline and any other barriers experienced by families in priority groups on the waiting list in accessing services.

Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Board established; report. Continues the Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Bank (the Bank) as a division of the Department of Energy to implement the provisions of the bill and approve expenditures and disbursements from the Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Fund. The bill describes the powers of duties of the Bank and requires certain lending practices. The bill requires the Bank to develop and adopt a strategic plan biennially starting in 2025 to develop programs to overcome market impediments through access to Bank financing and technical assistance and outreach and marketing strategies designed to make potential project developers, participants, and communities aware of financing and technical assistance available from the Bank. The bill requires the Bank to adopt a long-term investment strategy by December 15, 2025, and every four years thereafter. The bill requires the bank to maintain a public website and submit an annual report to the Governor and General Assembly. The bill also creates an Advisory Board and specifies how initial appointments of nonlegislative citizen members shall be staggered and made.

Surplus real property; prioritization of disposition for affordable housing. Requires the Department of General Services to determine whether, following an offer of surplus property to the chief administrative officer of the locality within which the surplus property is located, as well as to any economic development entity for such locality, such surplus property is suitable for the development of affordable housing, as defined by the bill. If the Department so determines, the bill provides that such property shall be offered for at least 90 days exclusively to eligible organizations, as defined by the bill, for the purpose of developing affordable housing, provided that the terms of the disposition include a recorded covenant to provide affordable housing for at least 30 years.The bill also requires the governing body of each locality to prepare an inventory list of all real property within its jurisdiction to which the locality or any dependent special district within its boundaries holds fee simple title that is suitable for the development of affordable housing. If the governing body of a locality chooses to dispose of such a property, such property shall be offered for at least 90 days exclusively to eligible organizations, as defined by the bill, for the purpose of developing affordable housing, through purchase, lease, exchange, or donation in return for a recorded covenant to provide affordable housing for at least 30 years.

Local school boards; powers and duties; binding arbitration agreements. Permits any school board to enter into a written agreement to submit any existing controversy to binding arbitration and to execute a contract, including a collective bargaining agreement, that contains a provision to submit to binding arbitration any controversy arising thereunder.

Employment health and safety standards; heat illness prevention. Requires the Safety and Health Codes Board to adopt regulations establishing reasonable standards designed to protect employees from heat illness and establish a list of high-hazard industries, as defined in the bill. The bill authorizes a person aggrieved by a violation of its provisions or the regulations promulgated thereunder to seek to obtain injunctive relief, to recover statutory damages of $1000, or both, in an action commenced within one year of the cause of action. The bill requires the Safety and Health Codes Board, in consultation with the Department of Labor and Industry, to develop a list of high-hazard industries by January 1, 2026, and to develop and adopt regulations requiring employers in high-hazard industries to implement standards for heat illness prevention by May 1, 2026.

Employee Child Care Assistance Pilot Program. Establishes the Employee Child Care Assistance Pilot Program (the Program) to provide matching funds to employers in order to incentivize employers to contribute to the child care costs of their employees. The Program shall be administered by the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (the Foundation). To participate in the Program, an employer shall agree to make child care contributions to the eligible mixed-delivery provider on behalf of the employee and shall provide any other information deemed necessary by the Foundation. To the extent funds are available, the Foundation shall issue a state match directly to such eligible mixed-delivery provider or to a third-party administrator. Program funds shall be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis; however, the Foundation is encouraged to prioritize awards to proposals involving contributions from small businesses. The bill requires the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation to provide an interim report to the General Assembly by September 1, 2026, and a summative report to the General Assembly by September 1, 2027, on the effectiveness and impact of the Program.

Virginia Housing Trust Fund; geographic equity impact assessment. Requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to conduct an annual geographic equity assessment (GEIA) to identify distressed localities that have historically received less investment for housing and economic development. The bill provides that, of the 80 percent of moneys from the Virginia Housing Trust used to provide flexible financing for low-interest loans, no more than 20 percent shall be allocated to a single locality unless such locality has been identified as underserved in the most recent GEIA.

Collective bargaining by firefighters and emergency medical services providers. Authorizes firefighters and emergency medical services providers employed by a political subdivision of the Commonwealth to engage in collective bargaining through labor organizations or other designated representatives. The bill establishes the Fire Service Cooperation Board to administer its provisions. The bill provides for the appointment of a three-member board of arbitration regarding any dispute arising between an employer and firefighters or emergency medical services providers. Under the bill, determinations made by such board of arbitration are final on a disputed issue and are binding on the parties involved. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2026.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; algorithmic pricing devices; study; report. Prohibits a landlord from, for the purpose of advising the landlord of the amount of rent to charge a prospective tenant for the occupancy of a dwelling unit, using, incorporating, or training an algorithmic pricing device, defined in the bill, to restrain the rental housing market in ways that constitute an unfair method of competition. The bill grants a tenant with a reasonable belief that his landlord has violated the prohibition an opportunity to file a written complaint with the Office of the Algorithmic Rent Pricing Ombudsman, created in the bill, or to bring an action against his landlord. The bill requires a landlord who uses an algorithmic pricing device to advise him of the amount of rent to charge a prospective tenant for the occupancy of a dwelling unit to disclose the same to a tenant. The bill also directs the Virginia Housing Commission to study the deployment of algorithmic pricing devices and similar predictive technologies for the sale of housing in the Commonwealth to determine whether such devices perpetuate systemic biases prevalent in the housing market. The Commission shall report its findings and any recommendations for legislation to the Chairmen of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology by November 1, 2026.