Carrying dangerous weapon to place of religiousworship. Repeals the statutory prohibition on carrying a gun, pistol, bowie knife, dagger, or other dangerous weapon, without goodand sufficient reason, to a place of worship while a meeting forreligious purposes is being held at such place.
Security of public property. Provides thatany property owned by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision of the Commonwealth, or used by a public body, where firearms havebeen prohibited by law shall have law-enforcement officers or armedsecurity officers on the premises to provide security services.
Firearm-free zones designated by the Commonwealth or a locality; regulation of weapons; waiver of sovereign immunity. Provides that (i) if the Commonwealth designates any property owned by it as a firearm-free zone or (ii) if any locality designates such locality or any part of such locality as a firearm-free zone, the Commonwealth or such locality waives its sovereign immunity as it relates to any injuries sustained by persons lawfully present in such firearm-free zone. The bill further provides that if the Commonwealth or a locality adopts any ordinance, rule, policy, or regulation regulating weapons, the Commonwealth or locality assumes an affirmative duty to protect invitees lawfully on the premises of the Commonwealth or locality and establishes a waiver of sovereign immunity for any governmental entity or official responsible for such regulation.
Constitutional amendment (first resolution);political reform. Prohibits the establishment of electoral districtsthat intentionally or unduly favor or disfavor any political partyand requires the General Assembly to regulate the role of money inelections and governance to ensure transparency, to prevent corruption,and to protect against the buying of access to or influence overelected officials.
Constitutional amendment (first resolution);election of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General.Changes the method of election for the Governor, and by reference,the Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. The candidate receivingthe highest number of votes in a majority of each of the congressionaldistricts shall be declared elected. Under current law, the personreceiving the highest number of votes statewide is declared elected.Ties in the number of votes in a given congressional district or in the number of congressional districts won are determined by a majorityvote of the General Assembly.
Constitutional amendment (first resolution); qualifications of Governor and Lieutenant Governor; residency requirement. Increases from five to eight the number of years a person must have been a resident of and registered voter in the Commonwealth in order to be eligible to the office of the Governor and, by reference, the Lieutenant Governor.
Constitutional amendment (first resolution);General Assembly; term limits. Limits members of the Senate tothree full terms (12 years) and members of the House of Delegatesto six full terms (12 years). The limitations apply to service forboth consecutive and nonconsecutive terms. Service for a partialterm does not preclude serving the allowed number of full terms. The limits apply to terms of service beginning on and after the startof the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
Commending the Washington Nationals.
Public schools; electives on the Hebrew Scriptures/OldTestament and the New Testament. Requires the Board of Educationto authorize local school boards to offer as an elective in gradesnine through 12 with appropriate credits toward graduation a courseon the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament of the Bible or the New Testamentof the Bible or a combined course on both. The bill requires theBoard of Education to develop Standards of Learning and curriculumguidelines for such courses. The bill provides that the purpose ofsuch courses is to introduce students to biblical content, characters,poetry, and narratives that are prerequisites to understanding contemporarysociety and culture, including literature, art, music, mores, oratory,and public policy. The bill prohibits students from being requiredto use a specific translation of a religious text when taking thecourses and provides that such courses shall maintain religious neutralityand shall not endorse, favor, promote, disfavor, or show hostilitytoward any particular religion or nonreligious perspective.
Commending the Virginia 4-H shotgun developmentteam.
