Juveniles; adjudication of delinquency. Specifies that a delinquent child is a child 11 years of age or older who has committed a delinquent act. Currently, there is no minimum age for a child to be adjudicated delinquent. The bill provides that if a juvenile younger than 11 years of age is found to have committed a delinquent act, the juvenile shall not be proceeded upon as delinquent; however, the court may make any orders of disposition authorized for a child in need of services or a child in need of supervision. The bill includes in the definition of "child in need of services" a child younger than 11 years of age who has committed a delinquent act.Finally, the bill includes in the offense of causing or encouraging acts rendering children delinquent, abused, etc., any person 18 years of age or older, including the parent of any child, who willfully contributes to, encourages, or causes any act, omission, or condition that causes a child younger than 11 years of age to commit a delinquent act. Under current law, any person who commits such offense is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. This bill is identical to HB 1420.
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Paid family and medical leave insurance program; notice requirements; civil action. Requires the Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer a paid family and medical leave insurance program with benefits beginning January 1, 2027. Under the program, benefits are paid to covered individuals, as defined in the bill, for family and medical leave. The bill specifies that covered individuals shall not include state employees, constitutional and other local officers, and employees of local school divisions and that funding for the program is provided through premiums assessed to employers and employees beginning January 1, 2026. The bill provides that the amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee's average weekly wage, not to exceed 80 percent of the state weekly wage, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the statewide average weekly wage. The bill caps the duration of paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year and provides self-employed individuals the option of participating in the program. Finally, the bill requires the Commission to update its 2021 Paid Family and Medical Leave study to include an assessment of the budgetary impacts of extending the benefits of the program to exempt individuals.
Board of Medicine; Board of Nursing; continuingeducation; continuing competency; unconscious bias and cultural competency.Directs the Board of Medicine and the Board of Nursing to requireunconscious bias and cultural competency training as part of thecontinuing education and continuing competency requirements for renewalof licensure. The bill specifies requirements for the training andrequires the Board of Medicine and Board of Nursing to report onthe training to the Department of Health and the Neonatal PerinatalCollaborative.
Temporary detention; certified evaluators; report. Authorizes hospitals with a psychiatric emergency department located in Senate District 23 to employ certain trained individuals to perform evaluations to determine whether a person meets the criteria for temporary detention for behavioral health treatment. The bill requires participating hospitals with psychiatric emergency departments in Senate District 23 to annually report the length of time between when a person who is the subject of an emergency custody order arrives at the psychiatric emergency department of a participating hospital and when the temporary detention order evaluation is completed and (ii) the number of (a) admissions, (b) psychiatric emergency department visits, (c) temporary detention order evaluations completed, (d) temporary detention orders executed, (e) individuals under temporary detention admitted to the participating hospital, and (f) individuals transferred from the psychiatric emergency department of the participating hospital to a state facility to the Senate Committee on Education and Health, the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, and the Behavioral Health Commission. The bill requires participating hospitals with psychiatric emergency departments in Senate District 23 to report monthly to the Commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services the number of (a) crisis evaluations conducted each month; (b) temporary detention orders executed as a result of such evaluations and the percentage of evaluations such temporary detention orders represent; (c) reportable events associated with such temporary detention orders and the percentage of temporary detention orders that such reportable events represent; (d) certain reportable events; and (e) other events. The bill requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to submit by October 1, 2026, to the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Health and Human Services an evaluation of the overall effectiveness of certified evaluators conducting temporary detention order evaluations pursuant to the bill. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2026.
Vacant buildings; registration. Permits any county, city, or town to require, by ordinance, the owner of any building that has been vacant for at least 12 months and (i) that meets the definition of "derelict building" in relevant law, (ii) that meets the definition of "criminal blight" in relevant law, or (iii) in which a locality has determined a person is living without the authority of the owner to register such building annually. Under current law, any city and certain towns are permitted to require the owner of any building that has been vacant for at least 12 months and meets the definition of "derelict building" in relevant law to register such building annually. This bill incorporates SB 478, is identical to HB 1486, and is a recommendation of the Virginia Housing Commission.
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; definitions of meetings and public business. Exempts certain public meetings from the definition of "meeting" under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act to clarify that three or more members of a public body may appear and participate in such public meeting without violating the Act, provided that no public business is transacted or discussed. The bill also exempts members of a public body who attend a public meeting of a second public body without violating the Act, provided that no public business is transacted or discussed. Finally, the bill defines "public business" as activity that a public body has undertaken or proposed to undertake on behalf of the people it represents. The bill states that its provisions are declarative of existing law. This bill is identical to HB 818.
Establishment by localities of certain real estate contract disclosures prohibited. Prohibits localities from establishing or enforcing a mandatory disclosure requirement for a real estate licensee, any party to a contract for the sale or listing of residential real property, or any authorized agent of such party. The bill provides that prohibited mandatory disclosures include mandatory notifications in contracts, contract amendments or addenda, advertising, other promotional materials, and subsequent deeds after the initial deed is recorded, related to the sale of residential real estate. This bill is identical to HB 467.
Early childhood care and education system;publicly funded providers; funding; Early Childhood Care and Education Fund established.Requires, for the purpose of addressing family demand and preferences for affordable, high-quality early childhood care and education services, state general funds to be provided to support the provision of services to families for early childhood care and education, as specified in the general appropriations act. The bill requires the Department of Education to report each year by November 1 on the projected general funds needed for the upcoming two fiscal years in order to (i) maintain the current number of slots at early childhood care and education programs, (ii) increase the number of slots using a projected growth report, and (iii) increase the number of slots to fully accommodate parent demand and eliminate waitlists. The bill requires such projected general funds to be based on the annual per-child cost, determined as set forth in the bill, for the Virginia Preschool Initiative, the Mixed Delivery Program, and the Child Care Subsidy Program, the current eligibility criteria for such programs, and maximization of certain regularly recurring federal funds. The bill requires each regional entity established by the Board of Education pursuant to applicable law, each local school division, and each locality to annually indicate the number of slots needed, respectively, in the region for the Mixed Delivery Program, the local school division for the Virginia Preschool Initiative, and the locality for the Child Care Subsidy Program. The bill requires the Department of Education to (a) reallocate by July 1 any slots with available funding from the Child Care Subsidy Program and the Mixed Delivery Program, (b) make adjustments based on family preferences following the fall enrollment periods, (c) first expend all current-year state general funds in providing funding for slots, and (c) if waitlists for slots at early childhood care remain, use available funds from the Early Childhood Care and Education Fund established by the bill to address family demand and preferences.
Community revitalization fund; expanding use for all localities. Expands the current provisions of law allowing for the establishment of a community revitalization fund for the purpose of preventing neighborhood deterioration to apply to all localities. Currently, only the City of Richmond is authorized to establish such a fund. This bill is identical to HB 478 and is a recommendation of the Virginia Housing Commission.
American Revolution 250 Commission; membership and staffing. Amends the membership of the American Revolution 250 Commission to allow for the appointment of ex officio members who are directors of historic homes, historic sites, or National Park Service sites or former legislative members of the Commission. The bill also provides for staff of the Commission to serve as the Commission's fiscal agent. This bill is identical to HB 839.