Virginia 2025 Regular Session All Bills
VA
Virginia 2025 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB1952
Introduced
1/6/25
Refer
1/6/25
Report Pass
1/24/25
Engrossed
1/29/25
Refer
1/31/25
Voter registration; lists of registered voters and persons voting; publication of costs. Requires the Department of Elections to publish on its website the cost of purchasing lists of registered voters and lists of persons voting at elections.
VA
Virginia 2025 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB1953
Introduced
1/6/25
Refer
1/6/25
Elections; general provisions; prohibited area; within 10 feet of the curbside voting area. Adds the 10 feet beyond any area designated for voting outside the polling place to the prohibited area where campaigning and certain other activities are unlawful during elections.
VA
Virginia 2025 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB1954
Introduced
1/6/25
Refer
1/6/25
Report Pass
1/27/25
Engrossed
1/30/25
Refer
2/3/25
Equity in public school funding and staffing; special education students; at-risk students; English language learner students; report. Requires state-funded add-ons to be provided to support special education students that are calculated by multiplying weights set forth in the general appropriation act by the relevant basic aid per-pupil amount for each such student. The bill establishes the At-Risk Program for the purpose of supporting programs and services for students who are educationally at risk, including prevention, intervention, or remediation activities required pursuant to relevant law, teacher recruitment programs and initiatives, programs for English language learners, the hiring of additional school counselors and other support staff, and other programs relating to increasing the success of disadvantaged students in completing a high school degree and providing opportunities to encourage further education and training. The bill also contains provisions relating to certain funding requirements for the At-Risk Program. The bill requires the Department of Education to develop and implement a data collection process related to English language learner expenditures and student English proficiency levels and identify other options to support English language learners and provide a status report to the Joint Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education Funding on its implementation and data collection efforts by September 1, 2025. Finally, the bill requires the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services or any other relevant stakeholders with expertise in special education as the Department of Education deems appropriate, to develop a plan for revised special education staffing requirements that addresses the staffing needs of each special education program in each school division as determined by the specific educational and behavioral support needs of students who receive special education and aims to improve special education teacher recruitment and retention and to report its findings to the Joint Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education Funding by November 1, 2025. The bill is a recommendation of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. This bill incorporates HB 1831.
VA
Virginia 2025 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB1955
Introduced
1/6/25
Refer
1/6/25
Report Pass
1/24/25
Engrossed
1/29/25
Refer
1/31/25
Report Pass
2/5/25
Enrolled
2/12/25
Chaptered
3/24/25
Passed
3/24/25
Manufacturing, selling, giving, distributing, or possessing with intent to manufacture, sell, give, or distribute a controlled substance or an imitation controlled substance prohibited; penalties. Removes the distinction between cocaine, which refers to powder cocaine, its salts, optical and geometric isomers, and salts of isomers and a mixture or substance that contains cocaine base, which refers to crack cocaine, for the offense of manufacturing, selling, giving, distributing, or possessing with intent to manufacture, sell, give, or distribute a controlled substance or an imitation controlled substance. This bill is identical to SB 888.
VA
Virginia 2025 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB1956
Introduced
1/6/25
Refer
1/6/25
Provider contracts; pharmacies; refusal to fill certain prescriptions. Requires a provider contract between a health carrier or its pharmacy benefits manager and a pharmacy or its contracting agent to contain a specific provision allowing the pharmacy to refuse to fill a prescription for a drug that is reimbursed below the actual cost of the medication.
VA
Virginia 2025 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB1957
Introduced
1/6/25
Refer
1/6/25
Report Pass
1/29/25
Engrossed
2/3/25
Refer
2/5/25
Report Pass
2/13/25
Report Pass
2/17/25
Engrossed
2/20/25
Engrossed
2/20/25
Engrossed
2/20/25
Enrolled
3/7/25
Chaptered
5/2/25
Passed
5/2/25
Board of Education; Standards of Learning assessments and related student assessment methods; assessment development, implementation, and administration reform. Modifies provisions relating to assessment methods for determining the level of achievement of the Standards of Learning objectives by all students, including (i) requirements relating to assessment administration aimed at maximizing instructional time and optimizing time used for assessment administration; (ii) criteria and guidelines for the structure and content of Standards of Learning assessments and alternative assessments developed by local school boards, including criteria for the types of assessment items that shall be included; (iii) provisions relating to eligibility and timelines for students to retake assessments; and (iv) the scoring of Standards of Learning assessments and related assessments, including a requirement that all such assessments be scored on a 100-point scale. The bill contains a provision exempting from the requirement that all end-of-course assessments be administered no earlier than two weeks prior to the last day of the school year any assessments administered as a part of a competency-based assessment system. The bill requires the Board of Education to provide any teacher who participates in the scoring of Standards of Learning assessments professional development points toward renewal of his license for the time spent scoring such assessments. The bill also requires the Board of Education to develop and make available to each school board certain templates and guidelines relating to assessment content and structure and assessment scoring. Certain provisions of the bill do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2026 Session of the General Assembly and certain others have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.
VA
Virginia 2025 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB1958
Introduced
1/6/25
Refer
1/6/25
Report Pass
1/22/25
School breakfasts; availability at no cost to students. Requires each school board to require each public elementary and secondary school in the local school division to participate in the federal National School Lunch Program and the federal School Breakfast Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and to make breakfast available to any student who requests such a meal at no cost to the student, unless the student's parent has provided written permission to the school board to withhold such a meal from the student. The bill requires the Department of Education to reimburse each public elementary and secondary school for each school breakfast served to a student, with a maximum of one breakfast per student per school day and provides the formula for determining the state reimbursement rate for such meals. Finally, the bill repeals a provision of law relating to the federal School Breakfast Program that is rendered obsolete by the provisions of the bill.
VA
Virginia 2025 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB1959
Introduced
1/6/25
Refer
1/6/25
Report Pass
1/29/25
Engrossed
2/3/25
Refer
2/5/25
Report Pass
2/13/25
Department of Education; Child Care Subsidy Program waiting list; additional priority group; target timeline for assigning slots to priority groups. Requires the Department of Education to amend its Child Care Subsidy Program Guidance Manual to add a seventh priority group to the Child Care Subsidy Program waiting list that consists of any family that meets all other Program eligibility criteria and includes a parent who is employed for at least 30 hours per week by a publicly funded child care provider in the Commonwealth that serves children from birth to age five, excluding employment by a local school division but including employment by a Head Start program that is located within a public school building. The bill also directs the Department of Education to require local departments of social services to target a maximum of 30 days for moving priority group families from the waiting list into services; regularly assess, in coordination with the Department of Social Services, the length of time it takes for priority groups to be assigned slots; and provide quarterly updates, beginning October 1, 2025, to the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education on such timeline and any other barriers experienced by families in priority groups on the waiting list in accessing services.
VA
Virginia 2025 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB1960
Introduced
1/6/25
Refer
1/6/25
Report Pass
1/17/25
Engrossed
1/22/25
Refer
1/28/25
Report Pass
2/10/25
Enrolled
2/17/25
Vetoed
3/24/25
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.
VA
Virginia 2025 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB1961
Introduced
1/6/25
Refer
1/6/25
Report Pass
1/29/25
Engrossed
2/3/25
Refer
2/5/25
Report Pass
2/13/25
Engrossed
2/19/25
Engrossed
2/20/25
Enrolled
3/7/25
Chaptered
4/2/25
Public elementary and secondary schools; student discipline; student cell phone possession and use policies; development and implementation. Directs each school board to develop and each public elementary and secondary school to implement age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate policies relating to the possession and use of cell phones by students on school property during regular school hours. The bill requires such policies to (i) restrict, to the fullest extent possible, student cell phone possession and use in the classroom during regular school hours; (ii) aim to reduce or prevent any distraction in or disruption to the learning environment, including bullying or harassment, that could be caused or facilitated by student cell phone possession and use on school property during regular school hours; (iii) ensure that implementation and enforcement of the policy is the responsibility of the administration, minimizes, to the extent possible, any conflict with the instructional responsibilities of teachers or any disruption to instructional time, and does not involve any school resource officer; (iv) include exceptions to such policies permitting any student, pursuant to an Individualized Education Plan or Section 504 Plan or if otherwise deemed appropriate by the school board, to possess and use a cell phone on school property, including in the classroom, during regular school hours to monitor or address a health concern; and (v) expressly prohibit any student from being suspended or expelled as a consequence of any violation of such policies. Finally, the bill clarifies that (a) no violation of any such student cell phone possession and use policy shall alone constitute sufficient cause for a student's suspension or expulsion from attendance at school and (b) any such violation that involves, coincides with, or results in an instance of disruptive behavior, as that term is defined in applicable law, shall be addressed in accordance with the regulations on codes of student conduct adopted by each school board pursuant to applicable law. This bill is identical to SB 738.
VA
Virginia 2025 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB1962
Introduced
1/6/25
Refer
1/6/25
Income tax; nonfamily adoption tax credit. Creates the nonfamily adoption tax credit as a $4,000 nonrefundable tax credit for taxable years 2025 through 2029 for an individual or married persons who, during the taxable year, finalize a legal nonfamily adoption as defined in the bill. The bill limits the aggregate amount of credits allowable to $5 million per taxable year with credits allocated by the Department of Taxation on a first-come, first-served basis.
VA
Virginia 2025 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB1963
Introduced
1/6/25
Refer
1/6/25
Report Pass
1/28/25
Report Pass
1/29/25
Engrossed
2/3/25
Engrossed
2/4/25
Refer
2/5/25
Report Pass
2/12/25
Virginia Military Community Infrastructure Grant Program; guidance and criteria for awarding grants; military community. Requires that the guidance and criteria developed by the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs for use in awarding grants under the Virginia Military Community Infrastructure Grant Program provide that such grants be awarded primarily to projects that receive federal matching funds. However, in the event that federal matching funds are not available, the bill provides that such grants may be made to other projects that promote the objectives of the Program. The bill redefines "military community" for purposes of the Program to mean any locality that can demonstrate that more than five percent of the community's economy is derived from military funding and supporting partner entities who aid in the planning, design, construction, or completion of infrastructure projects that enhance military readiness, installation resiliency, or quality of life for such locality's community. Under current law, such term means any locality that can demonstrate that more than five percent of the community's economy is derived from military funding.
VA
Virginia 2025 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB1964
Introduced
1/6/25
Refer
1/6/25
Report Pass
1/28/25
Report Pass
1/31/25
Engrossed
2/3/25
Engrossed
2/4/25
Refer
2/5/25
Report Pass
2/7/25
Future in Focus Program. Establishes the Future in Focus Program to provide services and support to individuals 21, 22, and 23 years of age who participated in the Fostering Futures program immediately prior to attaining 21 years of age. Such services and support shall be designed to assist participants in transitioning to adulthood, becoming self-sufficient, and creating permanent, positive relationships. The bill directs the State Board of Social Services to promulgate regulations to implement the bill's provisions.
VA
Virginia 2025 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB1965
Introduced
1/6/25
Refer
1/6/25
Income tax deduction; tips and overtime compensation. Provides, for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2026, an income tax deduction for the amount of tips received during the taxable year that are included on statements furnished to the employer for federal tax purposes. The bill also establishes, for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2026, an income tax deduction for any overtime compensation, defined in the bill, received by an employee who is not exempt from overtime compensation rules pursuant to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
VA
Virginia 2025 Regular Session
Virginia House Bill HB1966
Introduced
1/6/25
Refer
1/6/25
Commercial use of public places; civil penalty. Allows cities and towns by ordinance to establish a uniform schedule of civil penalties for commercial use of a street, avenue, park, bridge, or any other public place or public property or any public easement of a city or town, in a manner not permitted to the general public, without having first legally obtained the consent of the city or town. The bill provides that the schedule of civil penalties shall be uniform for each type of specified violation, and the penalty for any one violation, unless elsewhere authorized, shall not exceed (i) $500 for the initial violation, (ii) $1,000 for the second violation, or (iii) $1,500 for the third or subsequent violation.