Sen. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker

Purchase, possession, or transportation of firearm; assault and battery of a family or household member or intimate partner; penalties. Adds to the definition of "family or household member," as such definition relates to juvenile and domestic relations district court, 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 as determined by the length, nature, frequency, and type of interaction between the individuals involved in the relationship. The bill also adds to the definition of "family or household member," as such definition relates to a person's purchase, possession, or transportation of a firearm following an assault and battery of a family or household member, any individual who cohabits or who, within the previous 12 months, cohabitated with the person. Finally, the bill 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, 2025, 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. This bill is identical to SB 883.

Firearm transfers to another person from a prohibited person. Provides that a person who is prohibited from possessing a firearm because such person is subject to a protective order or has been convicted of an assault and battery of a family or household member may transfer a firearm owned by such prohibited person to any person who is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing such firearm, provided that such person who is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing such firearm is 21 years of age or older and does not reside with the person who is subject to the protective order. Under current law, there is no requirement that such transferee cannot be younger than 21 years of age and cannot reside with such prohibited person. The bill also provides that such prohibited person who transfers, sells, or surrenders a firearm pursuant to the provisions of the bill shall inform the clerk of the court of the name and address of the transferee, the federally licensed firearms dealer, or the law-enforcement agency in possession of the firearm and shall provide to the transferee a copy of the form certifying that such person does not possess any firearms or that all firearms possessed by such person have been surrendered, sold, or transferred. The bill also provides that a person who is prohibited from possessing a firearm because such person is subject to a protective order or has been convicted of an assault and battery of a family or household member shall be advised that a law-enforcement officer may obtain a search warrant to search for any firearms from such person if such law-enforcement officer has reason to believe that such person has not relinquished all firearms in his possession. This bill is identical to SB 744.

Standards of Quality; standards of accreditation; measurement of student educational performance and academic achievement; calculation of proportionality score required. Directs the Board of Education (the Board), in consultation with the Department of Education (the Department), to establish and implement standards for determining and recognizing student educational performance and academic achievement in the form of a weighted proportionality score for each school, to account for no less than five percent of such school's accreditation rating score or metric under the current school accountability system, for the purpose of identifying, accounting for in determining accreditation ratings, and addressing disparities in access to educational resources across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups in public schools in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Department to (i) develop a metric for calculating the weighted proportionality score for each school using certain variables calculated by the Department; (ii) develop a metric for calculating the improvement of a school's proportionality score received year over year; (iii) assign for each school based on such school's proportionality score a proportionality designation of "highly proportional," "proportional," "somewhat disproportional," and "highly disproportional"; and (iv) require any school board that contains within the school division a school assigned a proportionality designation of "highly disproportional" to develop and submit to the Department a remediation plan detailing the actions such school board will take to reduce disparities in access to education resources. The bill directs the Board to (a) amend its regulations to include as a school quality indicator the weighted proportionality score developed in accordance with the bill and (b) submit to the U.S. Department of Education within 90 days of the effective date of the bill any amendments necessary to its state plan pursuant to the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended, that are necessary to implement the provisions of the act. Finally, the bill requires its provisions to be implemented beginning with the 2025–2026 school year.

Department of Criminal Justice Services; training curriculum on certain arrests. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish a training curriculum for law-enforcement agencies, law-enforcement officers, and special conservators of the peace on the discretion such officers can exercise regarding certain arrests. The bill requires that such training curriculum be created by July 1, 2027, and include (i) instruction on the scope and nature of law-enforcement officer discretion in arrest decisions, with particular emphasis on encounters with individuals experiencing a mental health crisis, including individuals currently subject to an emergency custody order, a temporary detention order, or an involuntary admission order, and (ii) instruction on the immediate and long-term effects of arrests on individuals in need of mental health services due to a mental health crisis, including impacts on treatment outcomes as identified in substantially accepted peer-reviewed research literature. The bill requires any person employed as a law-enforcement officer prior to July 1, 2027, to review any course material or course criteria related to such curriculum by January 1, 2028, and any person employed as a law-enforcement officer on or after July 1, 2027, to review any course material or course criteria related to such curriculum within one year of his date of hire. Lastly, the bill directs the Criminal Justice Services Board to promulgate regulations pursuant to relevant law requiring special conservators of the peace to review any course material or course criteria related to such curriculum established by the bill by July 1, 2027. The bill requires any person applying for an initial or renewal registration as a special conservator of the peace on or after July 1, 2027 to review any course material or course criteria related to such curriculum as part of his compulsory training standards.As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Behavioral Health Commission. This bill is identical to SB 1194.

Importation, sale, manufacture, etc., of assault firearms and certain ammunition feeding devices prohibited; penalties. Creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person who imports, sells, manufactures, purchases, or transfers an assault firearm, as that term is defined in the bill with some exceptions, and prohibits a person who has been convicted of such violation from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm for a period of three years from the date of conviction. The bill provides that an assault firearm does not include any firearm that is an antique firearm, has been rendered permanently inoperable, is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action, or was manufactured before July 1, 2025. The bill also prohibits the sale of a large capacity ammunition feeding device, as that term is defined in the bill. The bill provides that any person who willfully and intentionally (i) sells an assault firearm to another person or (ii) purchases an assault firearm from another person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and that any person who imports, sells, barters, or transfers a large capacity ammunition feeding device is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person younger than 21 years of age to import, sell, manufacture, purchase, possess, transport, or transfer an assault firearm regardless of the date of manufacture of such assault firearm with some exceptions. This bill is identical to SB 1181.

Real estate appraisers; educational requirements for licensure; fair housing and appraisal bias course. Requires applicants for licensure as a certified residential real estate appraiser, a certified general real estate appraiser, or a licensed residential real estate appraiser to successfully complete a minimum of two hours of education on fair housing and appraisal bias administered or approved by the Real Estate Appraiser Board prior to licensure. The bill requires any such educational course on fair housing and appraisal bias to be audited annually by the Fair Housing Board. This bill is identical to SB 995.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; rental payment methods. Prohibits a landlord subject to the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act from charging a tenant any fee for the collection or processing of any payment of rent, security deposit, or any other fees, unless the landlord offers an alternative method of payment that does not include additional fees. This bill is identical to SB 1356.

Department of Taxation; free tax filing program. Directs the Tax Commissioner to terminate the Virginia Free File program and the related agreement with the Consortium for Virginia. The bill also requires the Tax Commissioner to develop and offer a free individual state income tax filing program, effective beginning in taxable year 2028, that is similar to and compatible with the federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Direct File program. To implement the new program, the bill requires the Tax Commissioner to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the IRS and coordinate with the IRS in program development. The bill contains technical amendments that remove obsolete language regarding fillable forms. This bill is identical to SB 1306.

Collective bargaining by public employees; exclusive bargaining representatives. Repeals the existing prohibition on collective bargaining by public employees. The bill creates the Public Employee Relations Board, which shall determine appropriate bargaining units and provide for certification and decertification elections for exclusive bargaining representatives of state employees and local government employees. The bill requires public employers and employee organizations that are exclusive bargaining representatives to meet at reasonable times to negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. The bill repeals a provision that declares that, in any procedure providing for the designation, selection, or authorization of a labor organization to represent employees, the right of an individual employee to vote by secret ballot is a fundamental right that shall be guaranteed from infringement. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 917.

Life insurance; health insurance; unfair discrimination; pre-exposure prophylaxis for prevention of human immunodeficiency virus. Prohibits any person from refusing to insure, refusing to continue to insure, or limiting the amount or extent of life insurance or accident and sickness insurance coverage available to an individual or charge an individual a different rate for the same coverage based solely on the status of such individual as having received pre-exposure prophylaxis for the prevention of human immunodeficiency virus.