Del. Anne Ferrell Tata

Celebrating the life of Alyson Sudow Bailey.

Commending Ryan Zimmerman.

Religious freedom; applicability of certainexecutive orders. Provides that no rule, regulation, or orderissued by the Governor or other governmental entity pursuant to theCommonwealth of Virginia Emergency Services and Disaster Law of 2000applies to the exercise of religion in a church, synagogue, or otherplace of worship.

Probation, revocation, and suspension of sentence; penalty. Makes changes to the definition of a technical violation as it pertains to the revocation of suspension of sentence and probation and clarifies that a technical violation shall not include a violation of any specific or special term or condition imposed by the court in the original or any subsequent sentencing order and includes the consequences of a violation based solely upon a first technical violation and for a second or subsequent technical violation or any other violation, including a violation of any specific or special term or condition imposed by the court in the original or any subsequent sentencing order. Currently, there are limitations on the amount of active incarceration a court may impose for technical violations. The bill also provides that the court may fix the period of probation and the period of suspension for up to the statutory maximum period for which the defendant might originally have been sentenced to be imposed for any felony offense and up to five years for an offense punishable as a Class 1 or Class 2 misdemeanor. Currently, the limitation on periods of probation and periods of suspension is up to the statutory maximum period of imprisonment for any offense. The bill also adds the offense of crimes against nature committed on or after July 1, 2022, to the list of offenses for which if some period of the sentence for such offense is suspended, the judge is required to order that period of suspension be for the length of time equal to the statutory maximum period for which the defendant might originally have been sentenced to be imprisoned.

Abortion; born alive infant; treatment and care; penalty. Requires every health care provider licensed by the Board of Medicine who attempts to terminate a pregnancy to (i) exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of an infant who has been born alive following such attempt as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age and (ii) take all reasonable steps to ensure the immediate transfer of the infant who has been born alive to a hospital for further medical care. A health care provider who fails to comply with the requirements of this act is guilty of a Class 4 felony and may be subject to disciplinary action by the Board of Medicine. The bill also requires every hospital licensed by the Department of Health to establish a protocol for the treatment and care of an infant who has been born alive following performance of an abortion and for the immediate reporting to law enforcement of any failure to provide such required treatment and care.

School security officers; scope of employment;carrying firearm in performance of duties. Provides that eachschool security officer, in addition to performing each enumeratedduty, is responsible for carrying out any other duty assigned to himby the local school board, excluding enforcement of discipline reservedsolely and exclusively to school administrators. The bill permitsa school security officer to carry a firearm in the performance ofhis duties if (i) within 10 years immediately prior to being hiredby the local school board or private or religious school, he was anactive duty member in the Armed Forces of the United States who servedon active duty for at least 10 years and received an honorable dischargefrom such service and (ii) he has provided proof of completion ofthe required training course.

Department of Planning and Budget; Regulatory Budget Program; report. Directs the Department of Planning and Budget, under the direction of the Secretary of Finance, to establish a continuous Regulatory Budget Program with the goal of setting a two-year target for each executive branch agency subject to the Administrative Process Act to (i) reduce regulations and regulatory requirements, (ii) maintain the current number of regulations and regulatory requirements, or (iii) allow regulations and regulatory requirements to increase by a specific amount over a two-year period. The bill requires the Secretary of Finance to report to the Speaker of the House of Delegates and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules on the status of the Program no later than October 1 of each odd-numbered year. Finally, the bill provides that the Department, in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, shall, by March 1, 2023, issue guidance for agencies regarding the Program and how an agency can comply with the requirements of the Program.

Russia; boycott of goods and services. Encouragingall residents of the Commonwealth of Virginia to boycott all goodsand services originating in Russia.

Department of Corrections; earned sentence credits. Repeals the four-level classification system for the awarding andcalculation of earned sentence credits currently set to go into effecton July 1, 2022. Under current law, a maximum of 4.5 sentence credits may be earned for each 30 days served.

Parental Choice Education Savings Accounts established.Permits the parents of qualified students, defined in the bill, to apply to the school division in which the qualified student residesfor a one-year, renewable Parental Choice Education Savings Accountthat consists of an amount that is equivalent to a certain percentage of all applicable annual Standards of Quality per pupil state funds appropriated for public school purposes and apportioned to the residentschool division in which the qualified student resides, includingthe per pupil share of state sales tax funding in basic aid and any state per pupil share of special education funding for which thequalified student is eligible. The bill permits the parent of thequalified student to use the moneys in such account for certain education-relatedexpenses of the qualified student, including tuition, deposits, fees,and required textbooks at a private elementary school or secondaryschool that is located in the Commonwealth. The bill also contains provisions relating to auditing, rescinding, and reviewing expensesmade from such accounts.