Del. Bonita Anthony

Conduct of elections; electoral board to meetto ascertain results; permitted period of adjournment. Permitslocal electoral boards, when meeting after an election to ascertainthe results of such election, to adjourn as needed for a period notto exceed seven calendar days from the deadline for timely postmarkedabsentee ballots to be returned in order to be counted. Under currentlaw, the local electoral boards are permitted to adjourn for a periodnot to exceed seven calendar days from the date of the election.The bill contains technical amendments for organizational purposes.

Compensation of court-appointed counsel. Raises the limitation of fees that court-appointed counsel can receive for representation on various offenses in district and circuit courts. The bill also limits the fees charged for the cost of court-appointed counsel or public defender representation to persons determined to be indigent to an amount no greater than the amount such person would have owed if such fees had been assessed on or before June 30, 2024. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025. This bill is identical to SB 356.

Social Work Licensure Compact. Authorizes Virginia to become a signatory to the Social Work Licensure Compact. The Compact allows social workers who have or are eligible for an active, unencumbered license in the compact member state where they reside to apply for a multistate license. After verifying eligibility, the social worker is granted a multistate license that authorizes practice in all other compact member states. The Compact takes effect when it is enacted by a seventh member state. This bill is identical to SB 239.

Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; inclusive housing plan; individuals with disabilities. Directs the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Commissioner) to work with stakeholders to develop a plan to ensure that people with disabilities across the Commonwealth, including individuals affected by the Settlement Agreement entered into on August 23, 2012, pursuant to U.S. of America v. Commonwealth of Virginia, have an opportunity to access affordable and inclusive housing, as defined in the bill. The bill requires the Commissioner to present the plan to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health and Human Services and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2025.

Alert for missing or endangered children; Virginia Critical Operation for a Disappeared Child Initiative (Codi) Alert Program. Creates a program for local, regional, or statewide notification of a missing or endangered child. The bill defines a missing or endangered child as a child (i) who is 17 years of age or younger or is currently enrolled in a secondary school in the Commonwealth, regardless of age; (ii) whose whereabouts are unknown; and (iii) whose disappearance is under suspicious circumstances or poses a credible threat as determined by law enforcement to the safety and health of the child and under such other circumstances as deemed appropriate by the Virginia State Police. The bill requires the Virginia State Police to develop, in consultation with representatives of local law-enforcement agencies, including representatives from the Virginia Sheriffs' Association and the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, policies for the establishment of uniform standards for the creation of Codi Alert Programs throughout the Commonwealth. This bill is identical to SB 201.

Veterans' Services Protection Act; prohibited practices; penalty. Creates the Veterans' Services Protection Act to prohibit any person from receiving compensation for preparing, presenting, prosecuting, advising, consulting, or assisting any individual regarding any veterans' benefits matter, as defined in the bill, except as permitted under federal law. The bill provides that a violation of its provisions constitutes a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.

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.

Early childhood care and education system; need-based and demand-based funding. Requires, for the purpose of addressing family demand and preferences for affordable, high-quality early childhood care and education services, state general funds to be provided to support the provision of services to families for early childhood care and education, as specified in the general appropriation act. The bill requires the Department of Education to report each year by November 15 on the projected general funds needed for the upcoming two fiscal years based on cost of quality rate per child in order to (i) maintain the current number of slots at early childhood care and education programs, (ii) increase the number of slots using a projected growth report, and (iii) increase the number of slots to fully accommodate parent demand and eliminate waitlists. The bill requires such projected general funds to be based on the annual per-child cost, determined as set forth in the bill, for the Virginia Preschool Initiative, the Mixed Delivery Program, and the Child Care Subsidy Program, the current eligibility criteria for such programs, and maximization of certain regularly recurring federal funds. The bill requires each regional entity established by the Board of Education pursuant to applicable law, each local school division, and each locality to annually indicate the number of slots needed, respectively, in the region for the Mixed Delivery Program, the local school division for the Virginia Preschool Initiative, and the locality for the Child Care Subsidy Program. The bill requires the Department of Education to (a) reallocate by July 1 any slots with available funding from the Child Care Subsidy Program and the Mixed Delivery Program, (b) make adjustments based on family preferences following the fall enrollment periods, and (c) first expend all current-year state general funds in providing funding for slots. This bill is identical to SB 54.

Division of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency;powers and duties. Requires the Department of Energy's Divisionof Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency to identify and monitorany federal grant programs, loan programs, or other opportunitiesfor federal funding to further the Commonwealth's energy efficiencygoals. The bill also requires the Division to aid businesses in theCommonwealth, industries, utilities, academic institutions, stateand local governments, and private institutions in securing federalfunding for energy efficiency efforts as part of its duty to encourage efforts to develop energy resources and energy conservation programs.

Electric utilities; integrated resource plans; grid-enhancing technologies and advanced conductors. Requires an electric utility to include in an integrated resource plan (i) a comprehensive assessment of the potential application of grid-enhancing technologies and advanced conductors, as those terms are defined in the bill, in a manner that ensures grid reliability and safeguards the cybersecurity and physical security of the electric distribution grid and (ii) if applicable, a detailed explanation of why such technologies or conductors are not included in such plan.