Del. Anne Ferrell Tata

Income tax; real property tax relief credit. Provides a refundable income tax credit in taxable years 2026 through 2030 to eligible taxpayers, defined in the bill, who incur real property taxes in an amount equal to or greater than four percent of their federal adjusted gross income for up to $500 for single individuals and $1000 for married persons filing jointly.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Title 24.2 a chapter numbered 6.1, consisting of sections numbered 24.2-684.1 through 24.2-684.17, relating to statewide referendum ballot questions; fairness and transparency requirements; Ballot question fairness Commission; readability standards; language accessibility; public comment; judicial review.

Virginia Military Community Infrastructure Grant Program and Fund; award guidelines. Provides that the Governor shall prioritize awarding grants pursuant to the Virginia Military Community Infrastructure Grant Program to projects that receive federal matching funds. The bill also updates the definition of "military community" to be one where more than five percent of the economy is derived from (i) military funding and (ii) supporting partner entities who aid in the planning, design, construction, or completion of infrastructure projects that enhance military readiness, installation resiliency, or quality of life for such locality's community, rather than only from military funding under current law.

Charter; City of Virginia Beach; certain land use approvals. Amends the charter for the City of Virginia Beach by providing that no application to rezone property to a higher density or a more intense zoning district south of the blue line, as defined in the bill, shall be approved except by a recorded affirmative vote of three-fourths of all of the members elected to the city council. The bill further provides that no extension of public water and sanitary sewer shall extend south of the blue line absent a public hearing and specific findings by the city council.

Department of Medical Assistance Services; earned income disregard; cost-of-living adjustment. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to seek the necessary federal approvals to increase, as necessary based upon Social Security Administration cost-of-living adjustments, the earned income disregard for workers with disabilities.

Grants for certain students at public institutions of higher education; qualifications. Removes the requirement for each public institution of higher education to provide a grant for the payment of tuition, certain mandatory education and general fees, and, at baccalaureate institutions, room and board, for any Virginia student who was considered a special needs adoption at any time after he turned 14. The bill also clarifies that only a Virginia student who has received a high school diploma or has passed a high school equivalency examination approved by the Board of Education and who was in foster care in the Commonwealth after he turned 14 or who was in foster care in the Commonwealth when he turned 18 and subsequently received a high school diploma or passed a high school equivalency examination approved by the Board of Education is eligible for such a grant. Current law that governs such grant eligibility is silent on the location of such foster care placement.

Motor vehicles; insurance; highway use fee; tangible personal property tax relief for certain vehicles. Removes the highway use fee for fuel-efficient vehicles, and maintains the same highway use fee for electric vehicles and alternative fuel vehicles. The bill removes the prohibition on motor vehicle insurers establishing a repair facility network. Under current law, insurers are prohibited from requiring an insured or claimant to utilize designated replacement or repair facilities or services as a prerequisite to settling or paying any claim arising under a policy or policies of insurance. The bill also directs each county, city, or town that receives annual reimbursements from the Commonwealth for providing tangible personal property tax relief on qualifying vehicles to, beginning in tax year 2027, ensure that after first reimbursing certain tax attributable to qualifying vehicles leased by active duty members of the United States military, as is currently required by law, (i) no qualifying vehicle owned by an individual with an annual household income in excess of $200,000 receives any reimbursement for such vehicle and (ii) the remainder of the reimbursement provided to such locality is distributed based on a sliding scale for household incomes of residents of such locality, adopted by an ordinance of the governing body of such locality, as described in the bill.

Human trafficking digital identification and reporting platforms; duties of Human Trafficking Response Coordinator; quarterly reports. Creates a process for the use of digital identification and reporting platforms, defined in the bill, to report suspected instances of human trafficking. The bill requires the Human Trafficking Response Coordinator to certify such platforms and requires the administering organization, defined in the bill, of such platform to submit quarterly performance reports to the Coordinator and the General Assembly on certain data. The bill expands the use of funds from the existing Virginia Prevention of Sex Trafficking Fund to be utilized for such programs. Lastly, the bill states that the provisions of the bill are subject to the availability of funds appropriated for such purposes.

State correctional facilities; required education or vocational training; earned sentence credits classification levels. Requires a prisoner in a state correctional facility, as a part of his reentry plan developed and implemented by the Department of Corrections, to complete a high school equivalency test or vocational, technical, or other certification prior to such prisoner's release. The bill also provides that the annual review of a prisoner's classification level for earned sentence credits shall include such prisoner's quantifiable or measurable progress, as available, in any programs, job assignments, and educational curricula in which he is participating, such as test scores achieved or completion of a high school equivalency test or other trade or vocational certification.

Sales and use tax; food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products. Eliminates the remaining one percent local sales and use tax that is imposed on food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products. Under current law, no other sales and use tax is applied to such products. The bill requires an equivalent amount of revenue to be distributed to cities and counties on a monthly basis in compensation for the lost tax revenue. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.