Earned income tax credit. Allows eligible low-income taxpayers to claim a refundable income tax credit equal to 20 percent of the federal earned income tax credit claimed that year by the taxpayer for the same taxable year. The bill also states that individuals who would have been entitled to the federal equivalent of this credit but for the fact that the individual, the individual's spouse, or one or more of the individual's children does not have a valid social security number are eligible to claim this credit. Under current law, taxpayers may choose to claim either a nonrefundable tax credit equal to 20 percent of the federal earned income tax credit claimed that year or a refundable tax credit equal to 15 percent of the federal earned income tax credit claimed that year.
Del. Phil Hernandez
Sponsored bills
Board of Education; Child Care Subsidy Program; maximum reimbursement rate; vendors providing care outside of normal business hours. Directs the Board of Education to amend its regulations relating to the Child Care Subsidy Program to permit payment over the maximum reimbursable rate for any vendor that provides child care outside of normal business hours, provided that such rate may not exceed twice the maximum reimbursable rate for child care provided within normal business hours.
Living Shoreline Grant Fund established. Establishes the Living Shoreline Grant Fund to be administered by the Marine Resources Commission for the purpose of awarding grants to a local government or a federally recognized tribe in the Commonwealth to match federal or other matching funds. The bill requires such grants be used for the construction, renovation, or improvement of living shorelines greater than 1.5 miles in any shore angle direction. The bill requires the Commission to give priority to projects that (i) are located on public lands, (ii) demonstrate the ability for the living shoreline to migrate upland over time through documented control of upland properties, or (iii) are identified as priorities in the Virginia Coastal Resilience Master Plan.
Motion picture production tax credit. Increases the aggregate cap on the motion picture production tax credit allocated in each fiscal year from $6.5 million to $8.5 million beginning in fiscal year 2025.
Local anti-rent gouging authority; civil penalty. Provides that any locality may by ordinance adopt anti-rent gouging provisions. The bill provides for notice and a public hearing prior to the adoption of such ordinance and specifies that all landlords who are under the ordinance may be required to give at least two months' written notice of a rent increase and cannot increase the rent by more than the locality's calculated allowance, described in the bill as the maximum amount a landlord can increase a tenant's rent during any 12-month period, in effect at the time of the increase. The bill sets such allowance as equal to the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index or seven percent, whichever is less, states that such allowance is effective for a 12-month period beginning July 1 each year, and requires the locality to publish such allowance on its website by June 1 of each year. Certain facilities, as outlined in the bill, are exempt from such ordinance. The bill also requires a locality to establish an anti-rent gouging board that will develop and implement rules and procedures by which landlords may apply for and be granted exemptions from the rent increase limits set by the ordinance. Finally, the bill provides that a locality shall establish a civil penalty for failure to comply with the requirements set out in its ordinance.
Coastal storm risk management; Office of Commonwealth Resilience to study costs of feasibility studies; report. Directs the Office of Commonwealth Resilience to conduct a study to (i) examine the methodologies and criteria, if any, that other states in the United States use to apportion responsibility between the state and the participating localities for that portion of the cost of coastal storm risk management (CSRM) feasibility studies and plan implementation for which the nonfederal sponsor is responsible and (ii) develop a recommended methodology and associated criteria for apportioning responsibility of the same for CSRM feasibility studies and plan implementation in Virginia. The bill directs the Office of Commonwealth Resilience to complete its work no later than November 30, 2026, and the Chief Resilience Officer of the Commonwealth to submit a report of the findings and recommendations of the study to the Governor and the General Assembly no later than December 31, 2026.
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 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.
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 4.1-305, 16.1-266, 16.1-267, 16.1-272, 16.1-273, 16.1-275, 16.1-278.7, 16.1-278.8, 16.1-278.9, 16.1-284, 16.1-284.1, 16.1-286, 16.1-290, 16.1-290.1, 16.1-292, 16.1-293.1, 16.1-298, 16.1-309.1, 16.1-330.1, 17.1-275.5, 18.2-246.13, 18.2-371.2, 19.2-159, 19.2-163, 19.2-163.4:1, 46.2-383, 46.2-808.2, 63.2-100, and 66-14 of the Code of Virginia, relating to abolition of juvenile fines and fees; criminal offenses.
Absentee voting in person; voter satellite offices; days and hours of operation. Authorizes the governing body of any county or city establishing voter satellite offices for absentee voting in person to prescribe, by ordinance, the dates and hours of operation for such offices. The bill prohibits any reduction in the dates or hours of operation of such offices to be enacted within 60 days of any general election.
Child tax credit. Creates a tax credit for taxable years 2024 through 2028 for individuals whose households include dependents younger than the age of 18. The bill provides that the amount of the credit will be equal to $500 for each such dependent for an individual or married persons filing a joint return whose family Virginia adjusted gross income, as defined by Virginia code, does not exceed $100,000. The bill provides that if the taxpayer is a resident of the Commonwealth for the full taxable year, and the amount of such credit exceeds the taxpayer's liability for the taxable year, the excess shall be refunded by the Tax Commissioner.