Sen. Jennifer Carroll Foy

Celebrating the life of Captain Anderson KeatingKing, USAR.

Commending Mark E. Smith.

The annual House Senate Basketball Game.

Commending M. Siddique Sheikh.

Commending Peter A. Blake.

Celebrating the life of Michelle Antonette Leete.

Department of Social Services; task force; application for and use of foster care benefits; report. Directs the Department of Social Services to establish a task force with relevant stakeholders to assess the feasibility of (i) requiring local departments of social services to apply for benefits administered by the U.S. Social Security Administration or the Department of Veterans Affairs on behalf of children in foster care, (ii) prohibiting the use of federal benefits to pay for the care and support of children in foster care that the Commonwealth is otherwise obligated to pay for, and (iii) requiring local departments of social services that are representative payees for children in foster care to conserve such federal benefits in an appropriate trust instrument or protected account that is exempt from federal asset and resource limits. The bill requires the Department of Social Services to report its findings to the Chairmen of the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and Rehabilitation and Social Services and the Chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations and Health and Human Services by November 1, 2024.

Petition for modification of a sentence; eligibility; procedures. Provides procedures for individuals serving a sentence for certain felony convictions or a combination of such convictions who remain incarcerated in a state or local correctional facility or secure facility and meet certain criteria to petition the circuit court that entered the original judgment or order to (i) suspend the unserved portion of such sentence or run the unserved portion of such sentence concurrently with another sentence, (ii) place such person on probation for such time as the court shall determine, or (iii) otherwise modify the sentence imposed. Depending on the type of conviction, the bill allows the court to grant a hearing on such petition after an individual has served at least 25 years for certain offenses, after 20 years for certain other offenses, and after 15 years for any other felony conviction not specified. The bill does not allow an individual convicted of a Class 1 felony to petition for modification of his sentence. The bill requires the attorney for the Commonwealth and the victim to agree to hearing the petition in order for a court to conduct the hearing.

Study; Department of Taxation; reducing economicstress on retired Virginia State Police; report. Directs theDepartment of Taxation to study tax policy solutions for reducingeconomic stress on retired Virginia State Police.

Misdemeanor; maximum term of confinement. Reduces from 12 months to 364 days the maximum term of confinement in jail for a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill contains technical amendments. The bill also requires the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission to revise all labels on Sentencing Guidelines worksheets and instructions in the Sentencing Guidelines manual so that any conviction for an offense defined as a Class 1 misdemeanor or any other misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 364 days of incarceration, as provided by the bill, shall be scored as if the maximum penalty were 12 months for the purposes of preparing and using the discretionary sentencing guidelines.