Del. Jackie Glass

Health insurance credits for general registrars and employees of general registrars. Increases the amount of monthly health insurance credits received by retired general registrars and employees of general registrars with a minimum of 15 years of creditable service from $1.50 to $1.75 per month per year of creditable service not to exceed $52.50 per month beginning July 1, 2026.

Maddy summarySJ 83 is a ceremonial resolution commending the Greater Washington Society for Clinical Social Work for its contributions to mental health services in the region. It has no policy provisions or direct impact on laws, regulations, or constituents - its purpose is solely to express legislative recognition. The bill passed unanimously in both the Senate and House via voice vote in February 2026 and was sent to the Governor. As a non-binding resolution, it does not alter any existing laws or create new obligations. This type of bill is common for honoring organizations but has no practical effect beyond symbolic acknowledgment.

Pesticides; manufacture, distribution, use, or sale of paraquat prohibited. Prohibits any person from manufacturing, distributing, using, or selling any pesticide containing paraquat, defined in the bill, as an active ingredient. The bill allows the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to seize any such pesticide containing paraquat on complaint to the circuit court in the area where the pesticide is located.

Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); marriage between two adult persons; repeal of same-sex marriage prohibition. Provides for a referendum at the November 3, 2026, general election to approve or reject an amendment that requires the equal treatment under the law of a lawful marriage between two adult persons regardless of the sex, gender, or race of such persons. The amendment also repeals the current provision that defines marriage as only a union between one man and one woman. This bill is identical to SB 311.

Artificial Intelligence Chatbots Act established; prohibited practices; penalties. Creates the Artificial Intelligence Chatbots Act, which prohibits an operator from making a companion chatbot, as those terms are defined in the bill, available to a user in the Commonwealth unless the companion chatbot is incapable of certain actions specified in the bill. The bill also requires an operator of a companion chatbot to include a disclaimer to users of all ages that a companion chatbot is not a human via a static, persistent disclosure and notify a user via a pop-up that he is not engaging with a human counterpart at specified intervals. The bill makes it unlawful for any operator of a companion chatbot to operate or provide a companion chatbot to a user unless such companion chatbot contains a protocol to take reasonable efforts for detecting and addressing expressions of suicidal ideation or self-harm by a user to the companion chatbot. The bill also includes certain data privacy and transparency requirements. The bill provides that a violation of its provisions constitutes a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.

School breakfast; availability at no cost to students. Requires each school board to require each public elementary and secondary school in the local school division to participate in the federal National School Lunch Program and the federal School Breakfast Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and to make breakfast available to any student who requests such a meal at no cost to the student, unless the student's parent has provided written permission to the school board to withhold such a meal from the student. The bill clarifies that the provision of a breakfast by a school to a student at no cost to the student shall not be construed as creating a disincentive for the school or local school division to participate in the federal Community Eligibility Provision program. Additionally, the bill provides that schools shall maximize the number of students who participate in the school breakfast program by implementing one or more suggested service models to increase access to such program. The bill requires the Department of Education to reimburse each public elementary and secondary school for each eligible school breakfast served to a student, with a maximum of one reimbursable breakfast per student per school day, and provides the formula for determining the state reimbursement rate for such meals. Finally, the bill repeals a provision of law relating to the federal School Breakfast Program that is rendered obsolete by the provisions of the bill. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Commission to End Hunger.

Certain civil arrests prohibited in courthouses; penalty. Provides that a party who is required to attend any court of the Commonwealth, or such party's family or household member or person attending the court with such party to serve as a witness, shall be privileged from civil arrest, defined in the bill, while attending, going to, or coming from the court. The bill also prohibits a person with the lawful authority to perform civil arrests from entering a courthouse to conduct a civil arrest unless he complies with certain requirements, including presenting a judicial warrant or judicial order authorizing the civil arrest to the appropriate courthouse officer or employee. Additionally, the bill requires that any judicial warrant or judicial order authorizing the civil arrest be reviewed by a designated judicial officer or attorney before a civil arrest pursuant to such warrant or order can be performed. Finally, the bill provides that any person who conducts a civil arrest, or facilitates or assists with the performance of, a civil arrest in violation of the provisions of the bill shall be punished with contempt of court.

State correctional facilities; visitation privileges; Visitation Enhancement Program established. Establishes the Visitation Enhancement Program (the Program) and requires all state correctional facilities to participate in the Program and provide visitation privileges to inmates in accordance with the standards specified in the bill. The bill provides that all inmates in state correctional facilities shall be classified within one of three phases of the Program, which shall be based on the class level at which the inmate earns good time such as good conduct time, good conduct allowances, or earned sentence credits. The bill specifies certain enhanced visitation privileges permitted for each of the three phases of the Program. The bill also requires visitors be permitted to visit an inmate for at least two hours prior to a visit being terminated due to capacity issues and provides that if the visitation area is at maximum capacity, state correctional facility staff shall ask visitors, on a voluntary basis, to end their visit. The bill states that if a sufficient number of visitors fail to volunteer, staff shall terminate visits, beginning with the first visitors processed, until the required seating or space is available for incoming visitors.

Maddy summaryHB 858 changes the state holiday observed on the second Monday in October from Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day. This policy affects state government operations, including public offices and schools, which typically close for legal holidays. The bill formally redesignates the holiday by replacing the current name and historical reference with Indigenous Peoples' Day. It does not alter the date or create new government obligations, only updating the official designation of an existing holiday.

Study; JLARC; non-federal sponsor contributions to conduct legacy property managed retreat studies; report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to study the methodology for determining the monetary contributions by localities or other non-federal sponsors to the total cost of legacy property managed retreat studies, as those terms are defined in the resolution. The study also directs JLARC to determine whether a stand-alone fund shall be established to support and manage cost-share requests from non-federal sponsors to provide relief to legacy property owners threatened by sea level rise.