Sen. Glen Sturtevant

E-Verify program. Requires every employerto enroll in the E-Verify program by January 1, 2025, and to usethe program for each newly hired employee who is to perform workwithin the Commonwealth. Under current law, only state agencies andcertain employers with contracts with state agencies are requiredto use the program. The bill also requires the Attorney General torequest the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, once each calendarquarter, to provide a list of agencies and employers that are enrolledand participate in the E-Verify program and to make such list availableon the Attorney General's website.

Study; JLARC; effect of salaries, employmentbenefits, and other relevant factors on teacher recruitment and retention;report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commissionto study the effect of salaries, employment benefits, and other relevantfactors on recruiting and retaining high-quality, fully licensed teachers, including (i) examining salaries, employment benefits, andother financial benefits and incentives available to teachers inrelation to teacher recruitment and retention in each local schooldivision; (ii) identifying disparities in salaries, employment benefits,and other financial benefits and incentives available to teachersin relation to teacher recruitment and retention rates between high-povertyand rural school divisions, high-income school divisions, and theCommonwealth on average; (iii) reviewing salaries, employment benefits,and other financial benefits and incentives available to teachersin relation to the rates of teacher recruitment and retention andthe numbers of fully licensed teachers in adjoining states and theDistrict of Columbia; and (iv) identifying factors that positivelyimpact the recruitment and retention of high-quality, fully licensedteachers.

School board policies; alternative educational opportunities. Requires each school board to create a processallowing a qualified student, as defined in the bill, to access fundingset aside for alternative educational opportunities, as defined inthe bill. The bill provides that the school boards must also determineif an alternative educational program qualifies as a means to earnclass credit or satisfy a graduation requirement.

Virginia Commonwealth University Health SystemAuthority; board of directors membership; powers and duties; capital projects; issuance of bonds. Provides for a number of reformsrelated to the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System Authority.The bill reduces the number of members serving on the Authority's board of directors and the number of physician-faculty members thatare required to serve on the board, requires persons who are appointedby the Speaker of the House of Delegates and the Senate Committeeon Rules to be nonlegislative citizen members, and changes the termof office for board members. Additionally, the bill amends the Authority's powers and duties to provide outside oversight of certain actionstaken or contemplated by the Authority. The Authority is requiredto notify the Governor, the Secretary of Finance, and the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees priorto seeking financing or incurring debt or entering into a contractrelated to hospital facilities and other projects. Further, the Authorityis required to conduct a comprehensive financial and risk analysis for every proposed capital project and, for capital projects exceeding$15 million, to consult with the Secretary of Finance and the Departmentof Planning and Budget on various details, in addition to notifyingthe House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committeesand providing specific information related to the capital project.

Foster Child Scholarship Program; established. Establishes the Foster Child Scholarship Program (the Program), to be administered by the Department of Education, for the purpose of providing school-age children in foster care the option to attend the participating public or private school of their caregiver's choice. The bill provides that any student is eligible to participate in the Program who (i) is a foster child, (ii) resides in a school division in the Commonwealth, (iii) is subject to compulsory attendance requirements, and (iv) is entering kindergarten or was eligible to enroll at a public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth during the semester immediately preceding the semester or term for which the child's parent initially applies for the Program or who is entering kindergarten. The bill provides that the caregiver of any eligible student may apply for the Program and, upon approval of such application, receive an annual scholarship, through quarterly disbursements into such eligible student's Foster Child Scholarship Account (FCSA), for the purposes of paying for education-related expenses, as set forth in the bill, at the participating school of the caregiver's choice in which the eligible student enrolls under the Program. The bill contains provisions relating to (a) the Department's powers and duties in administering the Program, including establishing and implementing policies and procedures for reviewing and approving applications, conducting public awareness campaigns, establishing procedures for audit and review of FCSAs and of participating schools, and establishing procedures and requirements for the management of and disbursing of funds into FCSAs; (b) the duties of participating schools in the Program relating to the acceptance of eligible students participating in the Program; (c) requirements for the division superintendent of each school division to report each year to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to report each year to the Governor and the Chairs of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, on data relating to participation in the Program by eligible students and participating schools; and (d) the conditions and limitations to which caregivers of eligible students must agree in order to participate in the Program.

Comprehensive community colleges; authority to offer and confer certain baccalaureate degrees. Authorizes the State Board for Community Colleges, subject to approval and certification by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia of a proposal submitted for such purpose, to establish an upper division of any comprehensive community college consisting of the third and fourth years of baccalaureate degree programs that lead to occupations in a high-demand field and confer baccalaureate degrees in such degree programs. The bill requires any proposal submitted to the Council for such purpose to include (i) the information required for application for Council certification pursuant to relevant law; (ii) any information necessary to establish that the applicable comprehensive community college meets the requirements for Council certification and accreditation by an accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education; (iii) the specific baccalaureate degree programs the State Board is seeking approval to offer at the applicable comprehensive community college and information to establish that such baccalaureate degree programs lead to occupations in a field that meets the criteria of a high-demand field, as set forth in the bill; and (iv) any other information that the Council deems necessary.

Commending Sandra Gioia Treadway.

Foreign adversaries; restrictions; civil penalty.Restricts any foreign adversary or foreign business, as those termsare defined in the bill, from acquiring any interest in land in theCommonwealth and requires registration with the Secretary of the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Secretary to report annuallyby December 1 on the registrations and any penalties assessed forfailure to register and to submit such report to the Governor and the General Assembly. The bill restricts foreign entities governedby a foreign adversary from transacting business in, forming an entityin, or becoming an entity of the Commonwealth. The bill also requiresall real property tax bills to contain notice of such foreign propertyownership restrictions and registration requirements.

Crimes; offenses against the sovereignty of the Commonwealth; unfaithful delegates to a convention for proposing amendments held under Article V of the Constitution of the United States; penalties. Provides that a delegate or interim delegate to a convention for proposing amendments held under Article V of the Constitution of the United States may not vote or otherwise act beyond the authority granted in his commission, as that term is defined in the bill. The bill provides that a delegate or interim delegate who exceeds the scope of his authority is guilty of a Class 5 felony. The bill also provides that any individual who knowingly bribes, threatens, intimidates, or unlawfully obstructs or attempts to bribe, threaten, intimidate, or unlawfully obstruct any delegate or interim delegate to the such convention is guilty of a Class 5 felony.

General Assembly; intergovernmental affairs;delegates to a convention for proposing amendments held under ArticleV of the Constitution of the United States. Provides for theselection by the General Assembly of delegates to attend a conventionfor proposing amendments held under Article V of the Constitutionof the United States. The bill grants the General Assembly the powerto recall delegates, appoint new delegates, and convene an advisorycommittee to oversee the conduct of delegates. The bill providesthat delegates must take an oath to adhere to the instructions ofthe General Assembly.