Sen. Suhas Subramanyam

Commending Peter A. Blake.

Commending Scott McGeary.

Sales and use tax exemption; data centers. Requires data center operators to meet certain energy efficiency standards in order to be eligible for the sales and use tax exemption for data center purchases. Under the bill, a data center operator shall be eligible for the exemption only if such operator demonstrates that (i) its facilities either (a) have a power usage effectiveness score of no greater than 1.2 or (b) for data centers co-located in buildings with other commercial uses, achieve an energy efficiency level of no less than the most efficient 15 percent of similar buildings constructed in the previous five years and (ii) it will procure carbon-free renewable energy and associated renewable energy certificates from facilities equal to 90 percent of its electricity requirements or that its electricity will be otherwise derived from non-carbon-emitting, renewable sources.

Electric utilities; underground transmissionlines. Provides that the construction and reconstruction of any underground, in whole or in part, electrical transmission linesof at least 69 kilovolts and less than 500 kilovolts along a highwayright-of-way under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportationin Planning District 8 where a data center proposal is under constructionin an area located within a half mile of a National Battlefield Park and within one mile of a state forest is in the public interest.

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the HonorableYvonne Bond Miller's service in the Virginia General Assembly.

Celebrating the life of Charles Cragg Hines.

Commending Sandra Gioia Treadway.

Hate crimes and discrimination; ethnic animosity; penalties. Provides that it is the policy of the Commonwealth to safeguard all individuals within the Commonwealth from unlawful discrimination in employment and in places of public accommodation because of such individual's ethnic origin. The bill also adds victims who are intentionally selected because of their ethnic origin to the categories of victims whose intentional selection for a hate crime involving assault, assault and battery, or trespass for the purpose of damaging another's property results in a higher criminal penalty for the offense. The bill also provides that no provider or user of an interactive computer service on the Internet shall be liable for any action voluntarily taken by it in good faith to restrict access to material that the provider or user considers to be intended to incite hatred on the basis of ethnic origin. This bill was incorporated into SB 7.

Recovery residences; certification requirements;death and serious injury reports; work group; report. Requiresthe Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to promulgate regulations that require recovery residences to (i) complywith uniform health and safety requirements established by the Departmentand published on its website and (ii) report to the Department, inthe same manner as licensed facilities and programs, any death orserious injury that occurs in the recovery residence. The bill requiresthe Department to maintain on its website the certification standardsof the credentialing entity for each recovery residence. The billalso requires the Department to convene a work group to (a) analyzeand make recommendations regarding the creation of a process throughwhich the Department can provide oversight of all recovery residencesin the Commonwealth, (b) make recommendations to ensure transparencywith the public and residents or potential residents of recoveryresidences regarding the certification of each recovery residence,and (c) report its findings and recommendations to the General Assemblyby November 1, 2024.