Virginia 2024 Regular Session All Bills
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB484
Introduced
1/8/24
Refer
1/8/24
Refer
1/19/24
Statewide Fire Prevention Code; State Fire Marshal; consumer fireworks; penalties. Authorizes the use of consumer fireworks in the Commonwealth and distinguishes by definition consumer fireworks from display fireworks and permissible fireworks. The bill defines "consumer fireworks" as small fireworks devices (i) containing restricted amounts of pyrotechnic composition designed primarily to produce visible or audible effects by combustion and (ii) complying with certain federal regulations regarding composition and labeling. The bill also provides that the storage and transportation of consumer fireworks are to be considered the same hazard class as the storage and transportation of 1.4G explosives under the Statewide Fire Prevention Code (SFPC) and Uniform Statewide Building Code. The bill excludes from the provisions of the SFPC, unless prohibited by a local ordinance, (a) the sale of permissible or consumer fireworks; (b) any person using, igniting, or exploding permissible or consumer fireworks on residential or agricultural property with the consent of the owner of such property; or (c) such permissible or consumer fireworks when they are being transported from a locality where they were legally obtained to a locality where they are legally permitted. Current law only excludes sale of permissible fireworks or the use of such fireworks on private property. The bill also directs 10 percent of the sales and use tax revenue generated by the local sales and tax use on the sale of consumer or permissible fireworks to be allocated to a special fund used solely for providing funding for first responders, as defined in the bill. The bill contains technical amendments. Statewide Fire Prevention Code; State Fire Marshal; consumer fireworks; penalties. Authorizes the use of consumer fireworks in the Commonwealth and distinguishes by definition consumer fireworks from display fireworks and permissible fireworks. The bill defines "consumer fireworks" as small fireworks devices (i) containing restricted amounts of pyrotechnic composition designed primarily to produce visible or audible effects by combustion and (ii) complying with certain federal regulations regarding composition and labeling. The bill also provides that the storage and transportation of consumer fireworks are to be considered the same hazard class as the storage and transportation of 1.4G explosives under the Statewide Fire Prevention Code (SFPC) and Uniform Statewide Building Code. The bill excludes from the provisions of the SFPC, unless prohibited by a local ordinance, (a) the sale of permissible or consumer fireworks; (b) any person using, igniting, or exploding permissible or consumer fireworks on residential or agricultural property with the consent of the owner of such property; or (c) such permissible or consumer fireworks when they are being transported from a locality where they were legally obtained to a locality where they are legally permitted. Current law only excludes sale of permissible fireworks or the use of such fireworks on private property. The bill also directs 10 percent of the sales and use tax revenue generated by the local sales and tax use on the sale of consumer or permissible fireworks to be allocated to a special fund used solely for providing funding for first responders, as defined in the bill. The bill contains technical amendments.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB485
Introduced
1/8/24
Refer
1/8/24
School boards; employee criminal history records checks and applications; penalty for noncompliance. Clarifies that certain school board employees who are (i) employed in an in-person or remote capacity or some combination thereof or (ii) fully licensed, provisionally licensed, or unlicensed are subject to the requirements in existing law to undergo a criminal history records check and a search of the registry of founded complaints of child abuse and neglect and to disclose certain criminal history information at the employment application stage and upon arrest. The bill provides that in the event that any school board fails or refuses to perform its duty to require any employee to undergo a criminal history records check as set forth in relevant law, each individual member of such board is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and his position on such school board shall be deemed vacant.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB486
Introduced
1/8/24
Refer
1/8/24
Certain public institutions of higher education; enrollment limitations in incoming freshman classes; Virginia Higher Education Scholarship Act Fund and Program established. Requires, beginning with the incoming freshman class in the 2025 academic year, the board of visitors of each baccalaureate public institution of higher education, with the exception of Norfolk State University, Virginia Military Institute, and Virginia State University, to ensure that the annual percentage of undergraduate non-Virginia students in each incoming freshman class does not exceed 45 percent. The bill also establishes the Virginia Higher Education Scholarship Act Fund and Program whereby certain Virginia public high school graduates who graduated at or near the top of their graduating classes are permitted to apply to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia for a scholarship in an amount equal to the cost of tuition, room and board, and mandatory fees to attend a public institution of higher education enumerated in the bill for eight semesters.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB487
Introduced
1/8/24
Refer
1/8/24
Harassment by computer or other electronic means; civil action. Creates a civil cause of action for an individual injured by a person who coerces, intimidates, or harasses such individual by computer or other electronic means, regardless of whether such person has been charged with or convicted of a corresponding criminal violation. The bill provides that such injured individual may recover for damages caused by such coercion, intimidation, or harassment and reasonable attorney fees and costs.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB488
Introduced
1/8/24
Refer
1/8/24
Sexual abuse of certain children; penalty. Raises the penalty for sexual abuse of a child who is 13 or 14 years of age from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB489
Introduced
1/8/24
Refer
1/8/24
Refer
1/19/24
Report Pass
2/8/24
Refer
2/8/24
Report Pass
2/9/24
Engrossed
2/12/24
Refer
2/14/24
Report Pass
2/26/24
Insurance; Fire Programs Fund; purposes. Provides that the portion of the Fire Programs Fund allocated to localities may be used for the additional purposes of (i) constructing, improving, or expanding fire station facilities, (ii) providing mental health resources, or (iii) hiring additional fire personnel and funding recruitment and retention programs. The bill also prohibits such funds from being used, except as provided, for the purposes of investments, operating expenses, debt repayment, taxes, or fees.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB49
Introduced
12/21/23
Refer
12/21/23
Window tint; emergency vehicles. Authorizes window tinting on all emergency medical services vehicles and vehicles used to fight fire, including publicly owned state forest warden vehicles. Current law authorizes tinting on the rear and rear side windows of emergency medical services vehicles used to transport patients.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB490
Introduced
1/8/24
Refer
1/8/24
Electors for President and Vice President; method of allocating electoral votes. Revises the process by which the Commonwealth's electoral votes are allocated among the slates of presidential electors. The bill provides that the qualified voters of the Commonwealth will choose 11 of the Commonwealth's 13 electors for President and Vice President, with each voter voting for one elector for the congressional district in which he is qualified to vote. The candidates for President and Vice President receiving the highest number of votes cast in a congressional district are allocated the one electoral vote for that congressional district. The candidates for President and Vice President who represent the political party of the Governor serving at the time are allocated the two electoral votes for the Commonwealth at large.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB491
Introduced
1/8/24
Refer
1/8/24
Virginia taxable income; subtractions; volunteer firefighters and volunteer emergency medical services personnel. Provides a state income tax subtraction of $2,000 per taxable year for bona fide volunteers who perform qualifying services, defined in the bill as volunteer firefighting and fire prevention services, emergency medical services, auxiliary police officer services, ambulance services, emergency rescue services, and all training and training-related activities required by law to perform such qualifying services.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB492
Introduced
1/8/24
Refer
1/8/24
Department of Fire Programs; statewide contract language for procurement of fire and emergency medical services apparatuses and equipment; work group; report. Directs the Department of Fire Programs, the Department of Health's Office of Emergency Medical Services, and the Department of General Services to establish a work group to prepare statewide contract language for the procurement of fire and emergency medical services apparatuses and equipment. The bill requires the Department of Fire Programs to report the work group's findings and recommendations to the Virginia Fire Services Board and State EMS Advisory Board on or before October 1, 2024, and to make such report available to the Chairmen of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology, upon request.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB493
Introduced
1/8/24
Refer
1/8/24
Power to arrest on property of owner. Provides that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, any agent of the Commonwealth is prohibited from entering the property of another to remove the owner of such property or a family member of such person from such property (i) without the consent of such owner or such owner's family member, unless such agent has probable cause to arrest for a felony violation of a criminal offense, or (ii) to enforce quarantine or other health policies.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB494
Introduced
1/8/24
Refer
1/8/24
Refer
1/17/24
Virginia Fire and EMS Safety Loan Fund. Creates the Virginia Fire and EMS Safety Loan Fund, to be administered by the Virginia Resources Authority. Under the bill, money in the Fund would be used exclusively for the financing of purchases by local fire and EMS services of at least $50,000 (i) for capital projects to construct or modernize facilities that house firefighting equipment or vehicles or ambulance or rescue vehicles; (ii) of firefighting apparatus, ambulances, or rescue vehicles; and (iii) of protective, accessory, or communication equipment for firefighting or EMS services. The bill also establishes the Joint Fire and EMS Loan Board, which shall be responsible for directing the distribution of loans from the Fund, with an emphasis on localities in need of financing assistance to meet minimum standards.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB495
Introduced
1/8/24
Refer
1/8/24
Board of Education; Standards of Quality; Standards of School Safety. Requires the Board of Education, in collaboration with the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety and such other stakeholders as it deems appropriate, to establish pursuant to regulation the Standards of School Safety for the purpose of assessing school safety in each local school division in the Commonwealth and each school building therein based on such objective, quantifiable measures of safety as the Board deems appropriate. The bill requires the Board to incorporate compliance with the Standards of School Safety as a school and school division accountability measure for the purposes of the Standards of Accreditation.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB496
Introduced
1/8/24
Refer
1/8/24
Report Pass
1/31/24
Refer
1/31/24
Report Pass
2/7/24
Engrossed
2/12/24
Refer
2/14/24
Waste tire disposal by tire producers and haulers; fee; requirements. Requires a hauler, as defined in the bill, to (i) register with the Department of Environmental Quality and (ii) transfer all waste tires to a transfer station, material recovery facility, landfill with a solid waste permit as required by law, or waste tire end user. The bill expands the purpose of the Waste Tire Trust Fund to include paying the costs of implementing the waste tire disposal requirements of haulers and funding research, studies, and demonstration projects that stimulate the growth of existing and emerging markets for waste tires. The bill also increases the tire recycling fee from $0.50 to $2 beginning July 1, 2024, and directs the Waste Management Board to adopt regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. Waste tire disposal by tire producers and haulers; fee; requirements. Requires a hauler, as defined in the bill, to (i) register with the Department of Environmental Quality and (ii) transfer all waste tires to a transfer station, material recovery facility, landfill with a solid waste permit as required by law, or waste tire end user. The bill expands the purpose of the Waste Tire Trust Fund to include paying the costs of implementing the waste tire disposal requirements of haulers and funding research, studies, and demonstration projects that stimulate the growth of existing and emerging markets for waste tires. The bill also increases the tire recycling fee from $0.50 to $2 beginning July 1, 2024, and directs the Waste Management Board to adopt regulations to implement the provisions of the bill.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB497
Introduced
1/8/24
Refer
1/8/24
Public secondary schools; naloxone procurement, possession, and administration; school board employee training and certification; opioid overdose prevention and reversal training program; guidelines and requirements. Requires each local school board to develop, in accordance with the guidelines developed by the Department of Health in collaboration with the Department of Education, plans and policies for each secondary school relating to opioid overdose prevention and reversal, including: (i) the procurement, storage, and maintenance of at least two unexpired doses of naloxone at each such secondary school; (ii) the possession and administration of naloxone by school board employees; (iii) the requirement that each faculty and staff member employed at each secondary school complete training and certification in the administration of naloxone; (iv) the development and implementation of an opioid overdose prevention and reversal training program to be completed by each secondary school student by grade 10; and (v) the provision of disciplinary immunity for a student who, on school grounds and during regular school hours, has been found in possession of naloxone or has administered naloxone in the event of a life-threatening opioid overdose, provided that such student has completed the opioid overdose prevention and reversal training program and is 16 years of age or older. Public secondary schools; naloxone procurement, possession, and administration; school board employee training and certification; opioid overdose prevention and reversal training program; guidelines and requirements. Requires each local school board to develop, in accordance with the guidelines developed by the Department of Health in collaboration with the Department of Education, plans and policies for each secondary school relating to opioid overdose prevention and reversal, including: (i) the procurement, storage, and maintenance of at least two unexpired doses of naloxone at each such secondary school; (ii) the possession and administration of naloxone by school board employees; (iii) the requirement that each faculty and staff member employed at each secondary school complete training and certification in the administration of naloxone; (iv) the development and implementation of an opioid overdose prevention and reversal training program to be completed by each secondary school student by grade 10; and (v) the provision of disciplinary immunity for a student who, on school grounds and during regular school hours, has been found in possession of naloxone or has administered naloxone in the event of a life-threatening opioid overdose, provided that such student has completed the opioid overdose prevention and reversal training program and is 16 years of age or older. The bill contains provisions requiring each local school board and each secondary school to implement the applicable provisions of the bill. The bill also modifies the individuals who are authorized to administer naloxone or other opioid antagonists to include any school board employee who has completed training and is certified in the administration of naloxone by an organization authorized by DBHDS to provide such training and certification and to include any student enrolled at a public secondary school who has completed and received certification through the opioid overdose prevention and reversal training program and is 16 years of age or older. Current law limits such authorization to school nurses or school board employees contracted by a school board to provide school health services. Finally, the bill directs the Department of Health and the Department of Education to collaborate to develop guidelines and policies for the implementation of the provisions of the bill and for the Department of Education to submit such guidelines to the House Committee on Appropriations, the House Committee on Education, the Senate Committee on Education and Health, and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations by January 1, 2025. The bill requires such guidelines and policies to be implemented by each school board by the beginning of the 2025–2026 school year.