Sen. Saddam Salim

Income tax credit; adaptive repurposing of underutilized structures. Creates a nonrefundable income tax credit in taxableyears 2024 through 2028 for eligible expenses, defined in the bill,incurred in converting office buildings to residential uses. Thecredit may be claimed only in the year during which a qualified convertedbuilding, defined in the bill, is placed into service and is equalto (i) 20 percent or (ii) 30 percent in an at-risk locality, definedin the bill, of the amount of eligible expenses incurred. No singletaxpayer may claim more than $2.5 million in credits in any singletaxable year and the credit is subject to an aggregate annual capof $30 million.

Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund; Resilient Virginia Revolving Fund; Advisory Review Committees. Requires the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation to convene an Advisory Review Committee to assist in the distribution of loans and grants from the Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund (the Preparedness Fund) and adds the Advisory Review Committee to the list of those with whom the Department is required to consult in establishing guidelines regarding the distribution and prioritization of loans and grants from the Preparedness Fund. The bill also requires the Director to convene an Advisory Review Committee to assist in the distribution of loans and grants from the Resilient Virginia Revolving Fund (the Revolving Fund) and adds the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources and the Advisory Review Committee to the list of those with whom the Virginia Resources Authority is required to consult in directing the distribution of grants or loans from the Revolving Fund to particular local governments and establishing the interest rates and repayment terms of such loans. The bill requires the Department to make available for public inspection at the office of the Department and on a publicly accessible website records of each application for grants and loans from the two Funds and the actions taken thereon, post such applications within 15 calendar days of the loan or grant round application deadline, and provide an opportunity for a 30-day public comment period prior to each new loan offering to solicit feedback on proposed revisions to the funds' manuals. This bill was incorporated into HB 1458.

Sales tax exemption; certain baby products.Creates a retail sales and use tax exemption for certain baby products,including (i) children's diapers, (ii) therapeutic or preventativecreams and wipes marketed primarily for use on the skin of children,(iii) child restraint devices or booster seats, (iv) cribs, and (v)strollers meant for transporting children, usually from infancy to36 months of age.

Local anti-rent gouging authority; civil penalty. Provides that any locality may by ordinance adopt anti-rent gougingprovisions. The bill provides for notice and a public hearing priorto the adoption of such ordinance and specifies that all landlordswho are under the ordinance may be required to give at least two months'written notice of a rent increase and cannot increase the rent bymore than the locality's calculated allowance, described in the billas the maximum amount a landlord can increase a tenant's rent duringany 12-month period, in effect at the time of the increase. The bill sets such allowance as equal to the annual increase in the ConsumerPrice Index or seven percent, whichever is less, states that suchallowance is effective for a 12-month period beginning July 1 each year, and requires the locality to publish such allowance on itswebsite by June 1 of each year. Certain facilities, as outlined inthe bill, are exempt from such ordinance. The bill also allows alocality to establish an anti-rent gouging board that will developand implement rules and procedures by which landlords may apply forand be granted exemptions from the rent increase limits set by theordinance. Finally, the bill provides that a locality may establisha civil penalty for failure to comply with the requirements set outin the ordinance.

Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services;Office of the Independent Living Community Ombudsman established.Establishes the Office of the Independent Living Community Ombudsman,with the purpose of receiving, recording, and responding to concernsrelated to independent living communities. The bill directs the Officeto operate a complaint line to receive, record, and respond to suchconcerns.

Local prohibition or regulation of gas-poweredleaf blowers; civil penalty. Provides that any locality may byordinance prohibit or regulate the use of gas-powered leaf blowers.The bill provides that the ordinance may include provisions for acivil penalty and that the funds from such civil penalties may beused by the locality to assist with the purchase of nonprohibitedleaf blowers by residents and local businesses.

Virginia Retirement System; enhanced retirementbenefits for 911 dispatchers. Allows local governments to provideenhanced retirement benefits for hazardous duty service to full-time salaried 911 dispatchers. The bill provides that such enhanced retirementbenefits apply only to service earned as a full-time salaried 911dispatcher on or after July 1, 2025, but allows an employer, as thatterm is defined in relevant law, to provide such enhanced retirement benefits for service earned as a full-time salaried 911 dispatcherbefore July 1, 2025, in addition to service earned on or after thatdate. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.

Commending the Culpeper County Volunteer FireDepartment.

Electric utilities; data center demand; allocationof costs among customer classes. Directs the State CorporationCommission to ensure that any plan, petition, or proposal from autility to meet demand associated with data centers considers generation,transmission, and distribution system costs so as to meet such demandat the lowest aggregate reasonable cost. The bill also directs theCommission to initiate a proceeding, on or before December 31, 2024,(i) to determine if the current allocation of costs among customersand the different classifications of customers of electric utilitiesresults in customers that are data centers receiving unreasonablesubsidies from other customers or classifications of customers and (ii) if it determines unreasonable subsidies exist, to amend suchallocation of costs.

Celebrating the life of Ben Judson Honaker,Jr.