Virginia 2024 Regular Session All Bills
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia Senate Bill SB223
Introduced
1/8/24
Refer
1/8/24
Unlawful picketing or parading to obstruct or influence justice; penalty. Provides that any person who, with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing or intimidating in the discharge of his duty any judge, juror, witness, court officer, or court employee, pickets or parades in or near a residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, court officer, or court employee is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also provides that the provisions regarding the issuance and service of summons in place of a warrant do not apply to such violations.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia Senate Bill SB224
Introduced
1/8/24
Refer
1/8/24
Voter registration; cancellation of registration by voter convicted of a felony; notice prior to cancellation. Requires the general registrar to mail a notice to all persons known by him to have been convicted of a felony prior to canceling any such person's voter registration. The bill specifies that such notice shall inform the person of the report from the Department of Elections based on information received from the Central Criminal Records Exchange indicating his felony conviction and allow such person to submit evidence that his right to vote has been restored within 14 days of the date the notice was mailed. The bill requires the general registrar to cancel the registration of such person who does not respond within 14 days.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia Senate Bill SB225
Introduced
1/8/24
Refer
1/8/24
Report Pass
2/1/24
Engrossed
2/5/24
Refer
2/13/24
Report Pass
2/21/24
Engrossed
2/26/24
Engrossed
2/28/24
Enrolled
3/4/24
School board policies; parental notification; safe storage of firearms in the household. Requires each local school board to develop and implement a policy to require the annual notification of the parent of each student enrolled in the local school division, to be sent by email and, if applicable, SMS text message within 30 calendar days succeeding the first day of each school year, of the parent's legal responsibility to safely store any firearm present in the household, risks associated with improperly stored firearms, statistics relating to firearm-related accidents, injuries, and death among youth, and other tips and strategies. The bill requires each school board to make such parental notification available in multiple languages on its website.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia Senate Bill SB226
Introduced
1/8/24
Refer
1/8/24
Report Pass
2/2/24
Engrossed
2/6/24
Refer
2/13/24
Report Pass
2/23/24
Refer
2/23/24
Department of Motor Vehicles; highway use fee; tiered flat rate system; work group; report. Directs the Department of Motor Vehicles to convene a work group to determine the feasibility of implementing a tiered flat rate system to accurately determine the correct amount of highway use fee to be charged at the point of sale of a motor vehicle. The bill directs the work group to complete its work and report its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the Senate and House Committees on Transportation no later than November 15, 2024.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia Senate Bill SB227
Introduced
1/9/24
Refer
1/9/24
Report Pass
2/1/24
Public school funding; certain calculations; certain support services positions; programs for at-risk students. Places several parameters on Standards of Quality funding calculations performed by the Department of Education, including (i) requiring the Department, when calculating the cost of salaries under the Standards of Quality funding formula, to include facilities staff and transportation staff salaries in the calculation of any cost of competing adjustment to salaries for instructional and support positions that is provided as part of the state share of basic aid pursuant to the general appropriation act; (ii) requiring the Department, when estimating the cost of any compensation supplement for instructional and support positions under the Standards of Quality funding formula, to include and estimate the cost of such a compensation supplement for facilities staff; (iii) prohibiting the Department from applying any cap on inflation rate adjustments to non-personal cost categories during the biennial process of rebenchmarking the direct aid to public education budget; and (iv) requiring the Department to utilize a three-year average of the most recently available data to calculate the composite index of local ability-to-pay for each school division. The bill also amends Standard of Quality 2 by (a) including in the definition of "support services position" any central office clerical position that is not otherwise set forth in such definition, (b) requiring a per-pupil Standards of Quality funding add-on to be provided for English language learner and special education students, (c) requiring, in addition to the positions supported by basic aid, state funding, pursuant to the general appropriation act, to be provided to cover the actual average school division cost to educate children with disabilities, and (d) establishing the At-Risk Program, defined in the bill as any state funding provided for programs of prevention, intervention, or remediation or pursuant to the at-risk add-on for the purpose of supporting programs for students who are educationally at risk. The bill requires (1) the determination of the amount of state funding for which a school division is eligible pursuant to such At-Risk Program to be based on the school division's identified student percentage, defined in the bill as the fraction, expressed as a percentage, that results from dividing the number of identified students enrolled in a school division by the total number of students enrolled in such school division, weighted by the factor of 1.5, and then adjusted by the addition of a percentage that corrects for undercounting English language learner students as identified students and (2) such funding to be distributed as follows: 60 percent on a flat per-student rate and 40 percent on a variable rate set out in the general appropriation act based on the concentration of poverty in the school division.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia Senate Bill SB228
Introduced
1/9/24
Refer
1/9/24
Report Pass
2/1/24
Public school funding; English language learner students and children with disabilities. Requires, in addition to the positions supported by basic aid, state funding, pursuant to the general appropriation act, to be provided to cover (i) the actual average school division cost to educate children with disabilities and (ii) a per-pupil Standards of Quality funding add-on for English language learner and special education students.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia Senate Bill SB229
Introduced
1/9/24
Refer
1/9/24
Report Pass
1/25/24
Report Pass
1/31/24
Engrossed
2/2/24
Refer
2/13/24
Health Commissioner; work group; recommendations on Advisory Council on Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention. Directs the State Health Commissioner to establish a work group to examine the feasibility of and make recommendations for the placement and infrastructure of an Advisory Council on Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention. Health Commissioner; work group; recommendations on Advisory Council on Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention. Directs the State Health Commissioner to establish a work group to examine the feasibility of and make recommendations for the placement and infrastructure of an Advisory Council on Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia Senate Bill SB23
Introduced
12/10/23
Refer
12/10/23
Report Pass
2/7/24
Engrossed
2/9/24
Refer
2/15/24
Report Pass
2/16/24
Engrossed
2/21/24
Engrossed
2/23/24
Enrolled
2/28/24
Vetoed
3/20/24
Juveniles; adjudication of delinquency. Specifies that a delinquent child is a child 11 years of age or older who has committed a delinquent act. Currently, there is no minimum age for a child to be adjudicated delinquent. The bill provides that if a juvenile younger than 11 years of age is found to have committed a delinquent act, the juvenile shall not be proceeded upon as delinquent; however, the court may make any orders of disposition authorized for a child in need of services or a child in need of supervision. The bill includes in the definition of "child in need of services" a child younger than 11 years of age who has committed a delinquent act. Juveniles; adjudication of delinquency. Specifies that a delinquent child is a child 11 years of age or older who has committed a delinquent act. Currently, there is no minimum age for a child to be adjudicated delinquent. The bill provides that if a juvenile younger than 11 years of age is found to have committed a delinquent act, the juvenile shall not be proceeded upon as delinquent; however, the court may make any orders of disposition authorized for a child in need of services or a child in need of supervision. The bill includes in the definition of "child in need of services" a child younger than 11 years of age who has committed a delinquent act. Finally, the bill includes in the offense of causing or encouraging acts rendering children delinquent, abused, etc., any person 18 years of age or older, including the parent of any child, who willfully contributes to, encourages, or causes any act, omission, or condition that causes a child younger than 11 years of age to commit a delinquent act. Under current law, any person who commits such offense is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia Senate Bill SB230
Introduced
1/9/24
Refer
1/9/24
Electric utilities; energy efficiency programs; duty to implement the Energy Policy of the Commonwealth; RPS program requirements; competitive procurement. Provides that "in the public interest" for the purpose of assessing energy efficiency programs means that the State Corporation Commission determines that the program is cost-effective and directs the Commission to initiate a proceeding no later than December 31, 2025, to establish a single, consistent cost-effectiveness test for use in evaluating proposed energy efficiency programs. Electric utilities; energy efficiency programs; duty to implement the Energy Policy of the Commonwealth; RPS program requirements; competitive procurement. Provides that "in the public interest" for the purpose of assessing energy efficiency programs means that the State Corporation Commission determines that the program is cost-effective and directs the Commission to initiate a proceeding no later than December 31, 2025, to establish a single, consistent cost-effectiveness test for use in evaluating proposed energy efficiency programs. The bill provides (i) that "total electric energy" for purposes of the RPS Program requirements does not include energy sold to certain customers purchasing 100 percent renewable energy and (ii) that in any RPS program compliance year, any electric energy that was generated in the previous calendar year from certain nuclear generating plants, or any zero-carbon electric generating facilities, including small modular nuclear reactors and green hydrogen facilities, will reduce the utility's RPS Program requirements by an equivalent amount. The bill provides that the Commission and its staff have the affirmative duty to ensure the Commonwealth implements the Energy Policy of the Commonwealth at the lowest reasonable cost, taking into account all cost-effective demand-side management options and the security and reliability benefits of the regional transmission entity to which each incumbent electric utility has joined. The bill requires that for certain required petitions by Appalachian Power and Dominion Energy Virginia for approvals to construct, acquire, or purchase the generating capacity using energy derived from sunlight or onshore wind, at least 35 percent of such generating capacity is from the purchases of energy from solar or onshore wind facilities owned by persons other than such utilities. Current law requires 35 percent of such generating capacity to be from the purchases of energy from solar or onshore wind facilities owned by persons other than such utilities.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia Senate Bill SB231
Introduced
1/9/24
Refer
1/9/24
Report Pass
2/1/24
Report Pass
2/8/24
Engrossed
2/12/24
Refer
2/15/24
Report Pass
2/27/24
Refer
2/27/24
Comprehensive children's health care coverage program. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to establish a program to provide state-funded comprehensive health care coverage for individuals in the Commonwealth who (i) are under 19 years of age, (ii) are not covered under a group health plan or health insurance coverage, and (iii) but for their immigration status would be eligible for medical assistance services through the Commonwealth's program of medical assistance services established pursuant to Title XIX or XXI of the Social Security Act. The bill also requires the Department to ensure that all program information is made available in a manner that is accessible to individuals with limited English proficiency and individuals with disabilities through the provision of language access services, including oral interpretation and written translations, free of charge and to ensure that information obtained by the program remains confidential and is not disclosed for any purpose not related to the administration of the program or any purpose related to civil immigration enforcement unless the subject of the information consents to such disclosure or the requesting agency presents a valid judicial order, subpoena, or warrant. Comprehensive children's health care coverage program. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to establish a program to provide state-funded comprehensive health care coverage for individuals in the Commonwealth who (i) are under 19 years of age, (ii) are not covered under a group health plan or health insurance coverage, and (iii) but for their immigration status would be eligible for medical assistance services through the Commonwealth's program of medical assistance services established pursuant to Title XIX or XXI of the Social Security Act. The bill also requires the Department to ensure that all program information is made available in a manner that is accessible to individuals with limited English proficiency and individuals with disabilities through the provision of language access services, including oral interpretation and written translations, free of charge and to ensure that information obtained by the program remains confidential and is not disclosed for any purpose not related to the administration of the program or any purpose related to civil immigration enforcement unless the subject of the information consents to such disclosure or the requesting agency presents a valid judicial order, subpoena, or warrant. The bill also requires the Department to (a) consult with individuals with direct and lived experience with the program eligibility criteria established by the bill and individuals with experience conducting outreach to individuals who are eligible for the program established by the bill to advise and assist the Department in carrying out marketing and outreach activities required by the bill and (b) seek all federal waivers and other approvals necessary to maximize federal financial participation in the cost of carrying out the program established by the bill. The provisions of the first, second, and third enactments of the bill have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2026.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia Senate Bill SB232
Introduced
1/9/24
Refer
1/9/24
Report Pass
1/17/24
Engrossed
1/23/24
Refer
2/13/24
Report Pass
2/15/24
Enrolled
2/26/24
Chaptered
4/8/24
Passed
4/8/24
Manufactured home parks; resident rights. Provides that a rental agreement with a term of one year or more will not be automatically renewed if the tenant notifies the landlord in writing 60 days prior to the expiration date of such tenant's intent to not renew the agreement. The bill permits a tenant to not renew a rental agreement due to a change in terms of the agreement by the landlord if such tenant notifies the landlord of his intent to not renew the rental agreement within 30 days of receiving the notice of the change in terms. The bill allows a landlord to include in a written rental agreement a late fee, not to exceed 10 percent of the amount of the rent due and owed, for unpaid rental payments. The bill removes the right of a tenant or landlord to terminate a rental agreement with a term of 60 days or more by written notice at least 60 days prior to the termination date of the agreement.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia Senate Bill SB233
Introduced
1/9/24
Refer
1/9/24
Faith in Housing for the Commonwealth Act. Permits a religious organization, defined in the bill, to construct affordable housing on real estate owned by such religious organization (i) on or before January 1, 2024, or for a period of not less than five years, and (ii) for which the religious organization retains a majority ownership interest.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia Senate Bill SB234
Introduced
1/9/24
Refer
1/9/24
Report Pass
1/29/24
Report Pass
2/6/24
Engrossed
2/8/24
Engrossed
2/9/24
Refer
2/15/24
Parking Lot Solar Development Pilot Grant Program; report. Establishes the Parking Lot Solar Development Pilot Grant Program for the purpose of encouraging development of distributed parking lot solar projects up to one megawatt in size in Chesterfield County and Richmond City through grants. The bill directs the Department of Energy, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Quality, to administer such program, to establish and publish guidelines and criteria for solar projects funded through such program, and to report annually to the General Assembly regarding the administration of the program for the preceding fiscal year. Parking Lot Solar Development Pilot Grant Program; report. Establishes the Parking Lot Solar Development Pilot Grant Program for the purpose of encouraging development of distributed parking lot solar projects up to one megawatt in size in Chesterfield County and Richmond City through grants. The bill directs the Department of Energy, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Quality, to administer such program, to establish and publish guidelines and criteria for solar projects funded through such program, and to report annually to the General Assembly regarding the administration of the program for the preceding fiscal year.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia Senate Bill SB235
Introduced
1/9/24
Refer
1/9/24
Report Pass
1/25/24
Engrossed
1/29/24
Refer
2/13/24
Report Pass
2/14/24
Enrolled
2/21/24
Vetoed
3/8/24
Policies on parental notification of instructional material that includes sexually explicit content; scope and use. Provides that nothing in the law requiring the Department of Education to develop and make available to each school board model policies for ensuring parental notification of any instructional material that includes sexually explicit content and requiring each school board to adopt policies that are consistent with but may be more comprehensive than such model policies or that is in such model policies or school board policies shall be construed to permit the censoring of books in any public elementary or secondary school.
VA
Virginia 2024 Regular Session
Virginia Senate Bill SB236
Introduced
1/9/24
Refer
1/9/24
Report Pass
1/24/24
Engrossed
1/29/24
Refer
2/13/24
Report Pass
2/16/24
Enrolled
2/26/24
Vetoed
4/2/24
Requests for reports of aggregated, nonconfidential case data; academic research. Allows a full-time faculty member of a baccalaureate public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth to request for the purposes of academic research, provided that such academic research has been approved through such public institution's institutional review board, a report for aggregated, nonconfidential case data for garnishment, unlawful detainer, and warrant in debt actions in a general district court. The bill provides that such report may include street addresses and the amount of money claimed in the action. The bill also requires any faculty member requesting the data to take all steps necessary to protect the privacy and security of such data and that such data shall not be subject to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Requests for reports of aggregated, nonconfidential case data; academic research. Allows a full-time faculty member of a baccalaureate public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth to request for the purposes of academic research, provided that such academic research has been approved through such public institution's institutional review board, a report for aggregated, nonconfidential case data for garnishment, unlawful detainer, and warrant in debt actions in a general district court. The bill provides that such report may include street addresses and the amount of money claimed in the action. The bill also requires any faculty member requesting the data to take all steps necessary to protect the privacy and security of such data and that such data shall not be subject to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.