Sen. Saddam Salim

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; tenant's remedies for exclusion from dwelling unit due to condemnation. Provides that the landlord shall be liable to the tenant for actual damages and reasonable attorney fees if the tenant gave notice to the landlord during the tenancy that his dwelling unit was in violation of an applicable building code, such violation posed a substantial risk to the health, safety, and welfare of a tenant, and such violation resulted in the tenant being excluded from his dwelling unit due to such unit being condemned. The bill includes exceptions to such liability, including negligence by the tenant, an act of God, and termination due to certain fire damage.

Secretary of Health and Human Resources; wholesale prescription drug importation program. Directs the Secretaryof Health and Human Resources to establish a wholesale prescriptiondrug importation program that complies with the requirements of federallaw and to report annually by October 1 to the Governor and the Chairmenof the House Committees on Appropriations and Health, Welfare andInstitutions and the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriationsand Education and Health on the wholesale prescription drug importationprogram. The bill also requires the Secretary to (i) convene a workgroup composed of relevant stakeholders to develop a plan for implementationof the wholesale prescription drug importation program and reportthe plan to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committeeson Appropriations and Health, Welfare and Institutions and the SenateCommittees on Finance and Appropriations and Education and Healthby December 1, 2024, and (ii) seek such federal approvals, waivers, exemptions, or agreements as may be necessary to enable all coveredentities enrolled in or eligible for the federal 340B Drug PricingProgram to participate in the wholesale prescription drug importationprogram to the greatest extent possible without jeopardizing theireligibility for the 340B Drug Pricing Program by July 1, 2025.

Virginia Petroleum Products Franchise Act; agreements between jobber/distributors and dealers; market valuation study. Provides that a term of an initial agreement between a jobber/distributor and a dealer relating to specific marketing premises shall not be less than one year and that the term of all subsequent agreements between the jobber/distributor and the dealer relating to the same marketing premises shall not be for less than three years. The bill provides that rental provisions in any such agreement or franchise shall be based on commercially fair and reasonable standards at a fair market value of the leased marketing premises under an objectively reasonable analysis, uniformly applied to all similarly situated dealers of the same jobber/distributor in the same geographic area. If a dealer believes the terms of the agreement offered do not meet a fair market value, such dealer may hire, at his expense, an independent third-party appraisal company from a list of appraisal companies provided by the jobber/distributor to provide a market valuation study. The bill provides that such study shall (i) be for informational purposes only, (ii) not require either party to disclose confidential business information, and (iii) not bind either party. The provisions of the bill apply to Planning District 8 and to initial franchise agreements and renewals of franchise agreements entered into after July 1, 2024. This bill is identical to HB 392.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; exclusionsfrom mandatory disclosure; purchase card statement. Clarifiesthat the name of a public employee, officer, or official as it appearson a purchase card statement or other payment record and the descriptionof individual purchases are not exempt from disclosure by the StateComptroller.

Employee protections; medicinal use of cannabisoil. Amends the provision that prohibits an employer from discriminatingagainst an employee for such employee's lawful use of cannabis oilpursuant to a valid written certification issued by a practitionerfor the treatment or to eliminate the symptoms of the employee'sdiagnosed condition or disease, with certain exceptions, by specifyingthat such use must conform to the laws of the Commonwealth and byexcluding the employees of the Commonwealth and other public bodiesfrom such protections.

Digital asset mining; holding, use, and transfer of digital assets; securities exemption; tax exemption. Exempts any person engaging in home digital asset mining, digital asset mining, or digital asset mining business activities, as those terms are defined in the bill, from the requirement to obtain a money transmitter license. The bill exempts issuers and sellers of digital assets from securities registration requirements if certain conditions are met. Under the bill, no locality's industrial zone may prohibit the use of such area for digital asset mining or digital asset mining business activities and no local sound ordinance may be more restrictive for digital asset mining or digital asset mining business activities than the current industrial zone noise ordinance of the locality. Additionally, the bill provides that, for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2024, up to $200 per transaction of any net capital gain from exchanges made after January 1, 2024, for one legal tender to another legal tender shall be subtracted from taxable income computations. The bill provides that any person in the Commonwealth may use or transfer digital assets to purchase legal goods or services or transfer or exchange digital assets using a blockchain protocol and that no person engaging in digital asset mining, digital asset mining business activities, or providing digital asset mining or staking services for another person or operating a node or series of nodes on a blockchain network shall be subject to liability for merely validating a transaction. The bill also directs to the Bureau of Financial Institutions of the State Corporation Commission to convene a work group for the purpose of studying and making recommendations related to blockchain technology, digital asset mining, and cryptocurrency activity in the Commonwealth.

Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Commission established; report. Establishes the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Commissionin the legislative branch of state government for the purpose of studying and making recommendations related to blockchain technologyand cryptocurrency and fostering the appropriate expansion of blockchaintechnology and the cryptocurrency industry in the Commonwealth. Thebill provides that the Commission shall consist of 15 members andthat meetings shall be held at the call of the chairman or whenevera majority of the members so request. The bill clarifies that appointmentsto the Commission are required to be made within 45 days of the effectivedate of the bill and that the chairman and vice-chairman of theCommission are required to meet with its members no later than 90days after the effective date of the bill. Additionally, the billdirects the Commission to submit an executive summary to the Governorand the General Assembly of its findings and recommendations no laterthan one year after all appointments to the Commission have beenmade and annually thereafter and to submit such executive summaryfor processing no later than the first day of the 2026 Regular Sessionof the General Assembly.

Public middle schools and high schools; student organizations; career and technical education organizations permitted.Permits each public middle school and high school to establishcareer and technical education student organizations, regardlessof whether such school offers career and technical education courses.

Marriage lawful regardless of sex, gender, or race of parties; issuance of marriage license. Provides that no person authorized to issue a marriage license shall deny the issuance of such license to two parties contemplating a lawful marriage on the basis of the sex, gender, or race of the parties. The bill also requires that such lawful marriages be recognized in the Commonwealth regardless of the sex, gender, or race of the parties. The bill provides that religious organizations or members of the clergy acting in their religious capacity shall have the right to refuse to perform any marriage. This bill is identical to HB 174.

Social Work Licensure Compact. Authorizes Virginia to become a signatory to the Social Work Licensure Compact. The Compact allows social workers who have or are eligible for an active, unencumbered license in the compact member state where they reside to apply for a multistate license. After verifying eligibility, the social worker is granted a multistate license that authorizes practice in all other compact member states. The Compact takes effect when it is enacted by a seventh member state. This bill is identical to HB 326.