Del. Kelly Fowler

An Act to amend and reenact § 3.01, as amended, § 3.01:1, and §§ 3.02:1 and 3.02:2, as amended, of Chapter 147 of the Acts of Assembly of 1962, which provided a charter for the City of Virginia Beach, and to repeal § 3.02:3 of Chapters 127 and 762 of the Acts of Assembly of 2020, relating to city council; voting districts; emergency.

Election of certain governing bodies; conversion to single-member districts. Requires every locality with a population of 400,000 or greater to elect the members of its governing body by individual single-member districts. The bill provides that a governing body's presiding officer may be elected at large. The bill further provides that any such governing body that does not already meet the requirements of the bill shall establish the required districts and shall reapportion the representation in the governing body in accordance with general law. Finally, the bill provides that for any such governing body that, prior to 2026, adopted an ordinance with a map to elect its members by individual single-member districts, such ordinance shall become effective upon the effective date of this act. This bill is identical to SB 51 and contains an emergency clause.

Virginia African American, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Latino, and Indigenous Education Advisory Board established; report. Creates the Virginia African American, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Latino, and Indigenous Education Advisory Board (the Board) to advise the Governor and General Assembly on current ways that history for such populations is described in relevant Standards of Learning and curriculum frameworks, how such content is taught in classrooms, and strategies to develop African American, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Latino, and Indigenous history and social studies elective courses. The bill requires the Board to submit an annual report to the Governor and General Assembly. Additionally, the bill requires the Board to meet at least once prior to December 31, 2027. Finally, the bill contains a sunset date of July 1, 2030.

Public high school students; opportunity to earn transferable meta-major associate degree during high school to reduce college debt. Requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, in cooperation with the Virginia Community College System and each associate-degree-granting public institution of higher education and each baccalaureate public institution of higher education, to establish a program by which qualified high school students earn an associate degree in a meta-major through dual enrollment, independent dual enrollment, as defined in the bill, or a combination thereof, that (i) is fully transferable to any baccalaureate public institution of higher education that offers a program of study in such meta-major and (ii) to the extent possible, and as determined by the applicable baccalaureate public institution of higher education, satisfies discipline-specific degree requirements in the student's preferred program of study.

Maddy summaryThis resolution (SJ 130) honors the life and legacy of Eddie L. Radden, Jr., a specific individual. It is a non-binding commemorative measure passed by both the Senate and House in 2026, expressing collective recognition for his contributions. The resolution does not create new laws or affect any policies or groups.

Certain student assessment requirements; calculation of final course grade; repeal. Repeals a provision of law that requires the score of any student in grades seven through 12 on any Standards of Learning assessment or permissive local alternative assessment to account for at least 10 percent of the student's final grade in the relevant course. The bill contains a reenactment clause.

Equity in public school funding and staffing; special education students; at-risk students; annual report. Establishes in Standard of Quality 2 the At-Risk Program and a state-supported add-on for special education students and requires corresponding formulas for the funding of such initiatives to be established in the general appropriation act. The bill also requires the Department of Education to report annually to the House Committees on Education and Appropriations and the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and on Education and Health the total and per pupil annual operating expenditures from local, state, and federal sources in each school division and the change in expenditures from each such source over the immediately preceding two-year, three-year, and five-year timeframes, expressed in both dollar amounts and percentages.

Voter registration; regular periodic review of registration records. Requires the Department of Elections to complete, not later than 90 days prior to the date of a primary or general election, any program the purpose of which is to systematically remove the names of ineligible voters from the voter registration system based on evidence of ineligibility, including evidence of lack of eligible residence or evidence of noncitizenship. This restriction is not to be construed to preclude (i) the removal of names from the voter registration system at the request of the registrant or as provided by existing law by reason of criminal conviction or mental incapacity or the death of the registrant if the triggering conviction, incapacity order, or death occurred within 120 days of the election or (ii) the correction of details, such as name and address, in a voter's registration record that does not result in the removal of a voter from the voter registration system. Under current law, such restriction only applies to federal primaries and federal general elections. The bill also provides a process for confirming a voter's citizenship status prior to cancellation based on a report of non-citizen status and extends (a) the period of time registrars have to cancel registrations from 30 days to 60 days after notification of the need to cancel by the Department of Elections and (b) the period of time a registered voter has to respond to a notice of cancellation related to citizenship status from 14 days to 28 days.

Administration of government; language access equity; report. Requires each public-facing state agency, defined in the bill, to designate a language access coordinator who will be responsible for the agency's annual language access report, the requirements of which are set out in the bill. The Secretary of Health and Human Resources is directed to establish criteria for state agencies to procure language interpretation and translation services and to establish a policy for compensating multilingual state employees who are required as part of their job to provide interpretation, translation, or other bilingual skills at least once a month.

Commonwealth Savers Plan; State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; Virginia College Access and Affordability Scholarship Fund established; work group; report. Directs the transfer of actuarial surplus defined benefit prepaid tuition contract funds from the Commonwealth Savers Plan (the Plan) Fund into a DB529 Fund established by the bill to be deposited into the Virginia College Access and Affordability Scholarship Fund (the Access Fund) established by the bill. Under the bill, the DB529 Fund and the Access Fund operate as subfunds of the Commonwealth Savers Plan Fund. The bill further provides that the Plan shall initially deposit $500 million from the DB529 Fund into the Access Fund to be invested and managed by the Plan. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall no less than biennially complete an independent evaluation and risk assessment of the Plan's risk assessment model, assumptions, and other measures employed by the Plan related to the DB529 Fund and the Access Fund. Funds in the Access Fund shall be used to establish a scholarship program that is managed and administered by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (the Council). The scholarship program provides scholarship awards to students enrolled in an eligible education program, defined in the bill, and a portion of the funds are to be devoted to college access resources or programs to assist low-income students, first generation college students, students from underrepresented communities, or other at-risk students with their introduction to the higher education system in Virginia, college applications, financial aid applications, and resources assisting with a successful transition from high school to college. The Council is required to report on the Access Fund and scholarship program no later than December 31 of each year. Finally, the bill (i) directs the Council to establish a work group of higher education stakeholders to make recommendations on allocations of funds available through the Access Fund and scholarship program and directs the work group to report to the House Committees on Education and Appropriations and Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance and Appropriations no later than November 1, 2026, and (ii) prohibits the Plan from implementing or taking part in any initiatives relating to the aforementioned college access programs on or after July 1, 2026, except for existing access programs related to a prepaid tuition contract entered into on or before June 30, 2026, and existing program offerings made available for SOAR Virginia and GEAR UP Virginia.