Firearm locking device required for purchase of a firearm; warning against accessibility to children; penalty. Requires any person who purchases a firearm to either (i) obtain or purchase from a licensed dealer a locking device for such firearm if a minor is present in such person's residence for 14 days or more in a calendar month or (ii) complete a certification statement on a form provided by the Department of State Police certifying that a minor is not present in such person's residence for 14 days or more in a calendar month, with exceptions enumerated in the bill. Accordingly, the bill provides that it is unlawful for any licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, or licensed dealer to sell, deliver, or transfer any firearm to any person, other than a licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, or licensed dealer, unless (a) the firearm is accompanied by a warning, in conspicuous and legible type in capital letters printed on a separate sheet of paper included within the packaging enclosing the firearm, that firearms should be locked and kept away from children and that there may be civil and criminal liability for failing to do so and (b) the transferee (1) obtains or purchases a locking device for such firearm if a minor is present in such person's residence for 14 days or more in a calendar month or (2) completes the certification statement. A violation of either provision is a Class 3 misdemeanor.
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Fines, costs, forfeitures, penalties, and restitution; collection fees; assessment against incarcerated defendant; deferred payment agreement. Extends from 90 days without payment to 180 days without payment the period of delinquency necessary for an account to be included on the required monthly report of delinquent accounts made by the clerk of the circuit court and district court. The bill also provides that for any defendant sentenced to an active term of incarceration and ordered to pay any fine, cost, forfeiture, or penalty related to the charge that such defendant is incarcerated for, or any other charge for which such defendant was sentenced on the same day, the court shall enter such defendant into a deferred payment agreement for such fines, costs, forfeitures, or penalties. The bill requires the due date for such deferred payment agreement to be set no earlier than the defendant's scheduled release from incarceration on the charge for which such defendant received the longest period of active incarceration. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025. This bill is identical to HB 612.
Public schools; mental health awareness trainingand instruction; requirements. Requires the health educationprogram required for each public school to include, at such gradelevels as the Board of Education deems appropriate, an age-appropriateprogram of instruction on suicide prevention and awareness, consistentwith curriculum guidelines developed by the Board and approved bythe State Board of Health, that includes instruction on the importanceof safe and healthy choices in relation to mental health wellness,healthy coping strategies, and strategies and resources for seekinghelp when a student is or knows someone who is experiencing thoughtsor ideations of suicide or self-harm. The bill requires the Boardto develop and the State Board of Health to approve curriculum guidelinesfor such program of instruction on suicide prevention and awareness.The bill also requires each teacher and other relevant personnel,as determined by the applicable school board, employed on a full-timebasis to complete mental health awareness training that addressesthe needs of youth populations that are at a high risk of experiencingmental health challenges and disorders. Current law requires suchteachers and personnel to complete mental health awareness trainingbut does not contain any requirements relating to the specific topicssuch training must address.
Prohibiting employer seeking wage or salaryhistory of prospective employees; wage or salary range transparency;cause of action; civil penalty. Prohibits a prospective employerfrom (i) seeking the wage or salary history of a prospective employee;(ii) relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employeein determining the wages or salary the prospective employee is tobe paid upon hire; (iii) relying on the wage or salary history ofa prospective employee in considering the prospective employee foremployment; (iv) refusing to interview, hire, employ, or promotea prospective employee or otherwise retaliating against a prospectiveemployee for not providing wage or salary history; and (v) failingor refusing to disclose in each public and internal posting for eachjob, promotion, transfer, or other employment opportunity the wage,salary, or wage or salary range. The bill establishes a cause ofaction for an aggrieved prospective employee or employee and providesthat an employer that violates such prohibitions is liable to theaggrieved prospective employee or employee for statutory damagesbetween $1,000 and $10,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater,reasonable attorney fees and costs, and any other legal and equitablerelief as may be appropriate. The bill also provides for civil penaltiesfor violations not to exceed $1,000 for a first violation, $2,000for a second violation, and $4,000 for a third or subsequent violation.
Reproductive health care services; prohibitions on extradition for certain crimes. Provides that no demand for extradition of a person charged with a criminal violation of law of another state shall be recognized by the Governor if such alleged violation involves the receipt or provision of or assistance with reproductive health care services within the Commonwealth unless the alleged criminal violation would also constitute a criminal offense under the laws of the Commonwealth. The bill also provides that such limit on extradition shall not apply when the person who is subject to such demand for extradition by another state was physically present in the demanding state at the time of the commission of the alleged offense and thereafter fled from such state.
Carrying a firearm or explosive material within Capitol Square or building owned or leased by the Commonwealth; exemptions; public institutions of higher education; penalty. Limits the exemption from the prohibition on the carrying of any firearm or explosive material within any building owned or leased by the Commonwealth or agency thereof or any office where employees of the Commonwealth or any agency thereof are regularly present for the purpose of performing their official duties that currently applies to any property owned or operated by a public institution of higher education to instead apply to any individual within a building owned or operated by a public institution of higher education who possesses a weapon as part of such public institution of higher education's curriculum or activities or as part of any organization authorized by such public institution of higher education to conduct its programs or activities within such building, as such uses are approved through the law-enforcement or public safety unit of such institution. This bill is identical to HB 454.
Purchase, possession, or transportation of firearm; assault and battery of a family or household member or intimate partner; penalties. Adds to the existing definition of "family or household member" a person's intimate partner, defined in the bill as an individual who, within the previous 12 months, was in a romantic, dating, or sexual relationship with the person. The bill also provides that any person who knowingly and intentionally purchases, possesses, or transports any firearm following a misdemeanor conviction for an offense that occurred on or after July 1, 2024, for the offense of assault and battery against an intimate partner or an offense substantially similar under the laws of any other state or of the United States is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill incorporates SB 319. This bill is identical to HB 362.
Minimum wage; farm laborers or farm employees;temporary foreign workers. Eliminates the exemptions from Virginia'sminimum wage requirements for (i) persons employed as farm laborers or farm employees and (ii) certain temporary foreign workers. This bill incorporates HB 866.
Manufacture, import, sale, transfer, or possession of plastic firearms and unfinished frames or receivers and unserialized firearms prohibited; penalties. Creates a Class 5 felony for any person who knowingly manufactures or assembles, imports, purchases, sells, transfers, or possesses any firearm that, after removal of all parts other than a major component, as defined in the bill, is not detectable as a firearm when subjected to inspection by the types of detection devices, including X-ray machines, commonly used at airports, government buildings, schools, correctional facilities, and other locations for security screening. The bill updates language regarding the types of detection devices that are used at such locations for detecting plastic firearms. Under current law, it is unlawful to manufacture, import, sell, transfer, or possess any plastic firearm and a violation is punishable as a Class 5 felony.The bill also creates a Class 1 misdemeanor, which is punishable as a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense, making it unlawful for any person to knowingly possess a firearm or any completed or unfinished frame or receiver that is not imprinted with a valid serial number or to knowingly import, purchase, sell, offer for sale, or transfer ownership of any completed or unfinished frame or receiver, unless the completed or unfinished frame or receiver (i) is deemed to be a firearm pursuant to federal law and (ii) is imprinted with a valid serial number. The bill creates a Class 1 misdemeanor, which is punishable as a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense, making it unlawful for any person to manufacture or assemble, cause to be manufactured or assembled, import, purchase, sell, offer for sale, or transfer ownership of any firearm that is not imprinted with a valid serial number. The portions of the bill prohibiting unfinished frames or receivers and unserialized firearms have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025; however, the portions of the bill prohibiting the knowing possession of a firearm or any completed or unfinished frame or receiver that is not imprinted with a valid serial number have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025. This bill is identical to HB 173.
Contract actions; medical debt. Provides that in any action, including those brought by the Commonwealth, upon any contract to collect medical debt, as defined in the bill, such an action is barred if not commenced within three years from the due date applicable to the first invoice for a health care service unless the contract with a hospital or health care provider is for a payment plan that allows for a longer period of time for the collection of debt by the hospital or health care provider. The bill specifies that such limitation shall not apply to medical debt arising from services provided by programs administered by the Department of Medical Assistance Services.