Alcoholic beverage control; advertising materials; purchase and display of barrels. Allows a retail licensee to elect to receive the physical barrel or lid in addition to purchasing the bottled contents of a distilled spirits barrel from a manufacturer through a barrel purchase agreement supplied to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority. The bill provides that such physical barrel or lid shall not be considered a gift and may be displayed on the retail licensee's premises.
Marine Products Board; blue catfish; Chesapeake Wild Harvest certification. Directs the Marine Products Board to establish and maintain a voluntary Chesapeake Wild Harvest certification and labeling program for any blue catfish that is taken or caught in the Chesapeake Bay or its tributaries and is processed in the Commonwealth. The bill prohibits any person from labeling any product as Chesapeake Wild Harvest unless such product conforms to the provisions of the bill.
Phase II Utility; rates, terms, and conditions of services; certain customers. Requires Dominion Energy Virginia to establish rates, terms, and conditions for the provision of generation and distribution services for its customers within the GS-5 rate class, as established by final order of the State Corporation Commission, that require each such customer to pay a minimum generation charge equal to 100 percent of such customers' contracted electric demand.
Virginia Retirement System; service retirement allowance; return to work. Allows a retired law-enforcement officer to continue to receive his service retirement allowance during a subsequent period of employment by a local law-enforcement agency in a civilian role that does not require law-enforcement certification as a fingerprint examiner, forensics specialist, property and evidence technician, background investigator, or firearms instructor, so long as he has a break in service of at least six calendar months between retirement and reemployment, did not retire under an early retirement program, did not retire under the Workforce Transition Act of 1995, and retired in good standing from his sworn law-enforcement officer position.
Unemployment benefits; maximum duration. Provides that, beginning July 1, 2026, for claims effective on or after July 1, 2026, an eligible individual's weekly unemployment compensation benefit amount shall be paid for a maximum duration of 26 weeks.
Court appearance of a person not free on bail. Makes various changes to provisions regarding bail hearings in jurisdictions having a public defender office, including (i) the appointment of counsel for the accused and (ii) a requirement that counsel for the accused, when practicable, be provided with adequate time to confer with the accused prior to any bail hearing. The bill also allows a jurisdiction that does not have a public defender office establish to implement such provisions. The bill provides that, effective in due course, the chief judge in each circuit shall create a plan to be completed by November 1, 2026, that establishes the means by which the jurisdiction will meet such provisions. The remaining provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.
High load facilities; impact assessments. Prohibits a governing body or board of zoning appeals from issuing final approval for any special exception, special use permit, variance, rezoning application, or other land disturbing permit, including building permits and erosion and sediment control permits, for a high load facility, defined in the bill, until the applicant submits a finding of no impact or minimal impact issued by the State Corporation Commission. The bill provides that upon request by the owner or operator of a high load facility, the Commission will assess whether the high load facility will have a material adverse impact upon the incumbent electric utility's ability to (i) to maintain electric grid reliability, (ii) avoid exceeding available generation or transmission capacity constraints, or (iii) meet certain statutory requirements.
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 2.2-234, 2.2-401.01, 2.2-1149, 2.2-1604, 2.2-2699.10, 2.2-4310, 10.1-104.02, 10.1-659, 10.1-1003, 10.1-1018, 10.1-1020, 10.1-1186.3:1, 10.1-1188, 10.1-2202.5, 10.1-2205.1, 10.1-2206.1, 10.1-2214, 10.1-2305, 15.2-4202, 15.2-4203, 18.2-423.1, 20-88.32, 20-146.1, 22.1-254, 24.2-128, 28.2-104.01, 28.2-302.5, 29.1-301, 29.1-401, 29.1-521, 32.1-272, 36-105.5, 51.1-700, 56-46.1, 56-576, 58.1-2201, 58.1-2403, 59.1-480, 62.1-266, 64.2-701, 64.2-2100, and 64.2-2600 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Subtitle II of Title 2.2 a part labeled D, containing a chapter numbered 61, consisting of sections numbered 2.2-6100 and 2.2-6101, relating to definitions; American Indians; Virginia recognized tribes; federally recognized tribes; sovereignty.
Additional local sales and use tax to support schools; referendum. Authorizes all counties and cities to impose an additional local sales and use tax at a rate not to exceed one percent with the revenue used only for capital projects for the construction or renovation of schools if such levy is approved in a voter referendum. The bill removes the requirement that such a tax must have an expiration date on either (i) the date of the repayment of any bonds or loans used for such capital projects or (ii) a date chosen by the governing body. Under current law, only Charlotte, Gloucester, Halifax, Henry, Mecklenburg, Northampton, Patrick, and Pittsylvania Counties and the City of Danville are authorized to impose such a tax.
Department of Emergency Management; emergency services and disaster preparedness programs; inclusion of federally recognized tribes. Requires the Department of Emergency Management to administer certain emergency services in coordination with federally recognized tribes that the Department has entered into a contract or memorandum of understanding with for assistance regarding such emergency services. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on Updating Virginia Law to Reflect Federal Recognition of Virginia Tribes.
Virginia Conservation Easement Act; definitions; federally recognized tribes. Provides that a federally recognized tribe, as defined in the bill, can be a conservation easement holder and that such a tribe is not bound by the same restrictions on the location of a principal office or the duration of existence that are placed on other types of easement holders. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on Updating Virginia Law to Reflect Federal Recognition of Virginia Tribes.
Deferred or installment payment agreements; outstanding court-assessed fines, fees, taxes, or costs. Provides that the attorney for the Commonwealth or the clerk of the circuit court shall not require any defendant sentenced to an active term of incarceration and ordered to pay any fine cost, forfeiture, or penalty related to the charge for which such defendant was incarcerated, or any other chare for which such defendant was sentenced on the same day, the court shall enter such defendant into a deferred payment agreement with a due date set no earlier than 180 days after the defendant's scheduled release from incarceration on the charges for which such defendant was sentenced on the same day.
