Sen. Travis Hackworth

Commending Bluefield University.

Commending Liberty University.

Public charter schools; applications; reviewand approval. Permits the Board of Education (the Board) to receive, review, and rule upon applications for public charter schools andenter into agreements for the establishment of public charter schools.Under current law, the power to grant or deny a public charter schoolapplication and enter into an agreement for the establishment ofa public charter school rests solely with local school boards. Thebill also provides that the decision of the Board or a local schoolboard to grant or deny a public charter school application or to revoke or fail to renew a public charter school agreement is finaland is not subject to appeal. Current law contains an appeal processfor such decisions.

Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act; penalty.Creates the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The Act prohibitsan abortion after 20 weeks gestation unless, in reasonable medicaljudgment, the mother has a condition that so complicates her medicalcondition as to necessitate the abortion to avert her death or toavert serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairmentof a major bodily function. When an abortion is not prohibited post-20weeks' gestation, the physician or authorized nurse practitioner is required to terminate the pregnancy in a manner that would providethe unborn child the best opportunity to survive. The bill punishes performance of an abortion in violation of the Act as a Class 6felony. The bill also provides for civil remedies against a physicianor authorized nurse practitioner who performs an abortion in violationof the Act.

Agribusiness. Clarifies that existing agribusinessin the Commonwealth includes farmers markets and roadside farm markets.

Income tax; Education Improvement ScholarshipsTax Credits. Increases the aggregate annual cap on the EducationImprovement Scholarships Tax Credits from $25 million to $50 million,increases the value of the credit from 65 percent to 80 percent,and removes the credit's current sunset of January 1, 2028.

Celebrating the life of the Honorable FrankDuVal Hargrove, Sr.

Commending the Honorable Paul S. Trible, Jr.

Treatment of transgender students; model policies.Eliminates the requirement that each school board adopt policiesthat are consistent with the model policies developed by the Departmentof Education concerning the treatment of transgender students in public elementary and secondary schools.

Department of Planning and Budget; RegulatoryBudget Program; report. Directs the Department of Planning andBudget, under the direction of the Secretary of Finance, to establisha continuous Regulatory Budget Program with the goal of setting atarget for each executive branch agency subject to the AdministrativeProcess Act to (i) reduce regulations and regulatory requirements,(ii) maintain the current number of regulations and regulatory requirements,or (iii) allow regulations and regulatory requirements to increaseby a specific amount over a two-year period. The bill requires the Secretary of Finance to report to the Speaker of the House of Delegatesand the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules on the status ofthe Program no later than October 1 of each odd-numbered year. Finally,the bill provides that the Department, in consultation with the Officeof the Attorney General, shall, by October 1, 2024, issue guidancefor agencies regarding the Program and how an agency can comply withthe requirements of the Program.