Zoning; manufactured housing. Amends existing provisions that require localities to permit manufactured housing in areas zoned for agriculture by expanding such requirement to all zoning districts where site-built housing is allowed. The bill provides that manufactured housing shall be subject to development standards that are equivalent to those applicable to site-built single-family dwellings but that such standards shall not have the effect of excluding manufactured housing. The bill also removes the authority of localities without a zoning ordinance to designate the areas within the locality in which manufactured housing may be located. This bill was incorporated into HB 655.
Local anti-rent gouging authority; civil penalty. Provides that any locality may by ordinance adopt anti-rent gouging provisions. The bill provides for notice and a public hearing prior to the adoption of such ordinance and specifies that all landlords who are under the ordinance may be required to give at least 90 days' written notice of a rent increase and cannot increase the rent by more than the locality's calculated allowance, not to exceed three percent, and states that such allowance is effective for a 12-month period beginning July 1 each year. The bill requires the locality to publish such allowance on its website by June 1 of each year. Certain facilities, as outlined in the bill, are exempt from such ordinance. The bill also requires a locality adopting an anti-rent gouging ordinance to establish an anti-rent gouging board to establish rules and procedures by which landlords may apply for and be granted exemptions from the rent increase limits set by the ordinance or delegate such duties and functions to an existing local board, department, or agency. The bill also requires the anti-rent gouging board to establish a fair return on investment rent increase exemption to the annual anti-rent gouging allowance where necessary to offset increased operating expenses. Finally, the bill provides that a locality shall establish a civil penalty for failure to comply with the requirements set out in its ordinance.
Child abuse or neglect; prenatal use of a controlled substance or drug as prescribed. Clarifies that a pregnant woman's prenatal use of a controlled substance or drug as prescribed by such woman's health care provider shall not solely be a reason to suspect that a child is abused or neglected.
Unregulated pregnancy clinics; unauthorized practice of medicine; unprofessional conduct of medical providers; civil penalty. Requires unregulated pregnancy clinics, as defined by the bill, to have a qualified medical provider who supervises and takes responsibility for the provision of all medical care at such facility. The bill provides that any such clinic is required to provide to a client, upon request, the name and contact information for the qualified medical provider who supervises medical care to such client. A clinic shall notify the Board of Health, in accordance with rules promulgated by the Board, of the name and contact information for its qualified medical providers. Any person who violates the provisions of the bill is subject to a civil penalty of up to $3,000 for a first violation and up to $10,000 for a second or subsequent violation. The bill provides that individuals licensed by the Board of Medicine or the Board of Nursing are subject to disciplinary action for making or knowing of certain willful representations of the care provided at such unregulated pregnancy clinics if such representations are not true.
Board of Health; Stillbirth Support Grant Program established. Establishes the Stillbirth Support Grant Program to provide grants to individuals who deliver a stillborn child, as defined in the bill, to assist with out-of-pocket expenses associated with such delivery. The bill authorizes the Board of Health to administer the Program and establish procedures and issue guidelines for administration of the Program as it deems appropriate. An application for such grant must be submitted within one year of delivery of a stillborn child.
Virginia militia; officers of certain educational institutions. Provides that the officers of certain educational institutions shall, for the purposes of being commissioned officers of the Virginia militia, be subject to the same rules and regulations as to discipline provided for the military organizations in which they previously served. Current law provides that such officers also shall be subject to the orders of the Governor and such rules and regulations as to discipline provided for other officers of the military organizations of the Commonwealth.
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; officers, employees, or members of a public body; alleged willful and knowing violations; mitigating factors to be considered. Specifies that civil penalties may only be imposed on officers, employees, or members of a public body in actions brought against them in their individual capacity for certain violations of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. The bill further requires a court, when determining whether an officer, an employee, or a member of a public body has committed certain violations of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act willfully and knowingly, to consider certain mitigating factors, including good faith reliance on (i) opinions of the Attorney General; (ii) court cases substantially supporting such officer's, employee's, or member's actions; (iii) advisory opinions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council; and (iv) advice of counsel for the public body, as evidence that such officer, employee, or member did not willfully and knowingly commit such violation. Current law provides any officer, employee, or member of a public body the right to introduce at any proceeding regarding such willful and knowing violation a copy of a relevant advisory opinion issued by the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council. This bill is a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.
Adult adoptee access to original birth certificate; contact preference form. Allows the State Registrar to provide, upon written request, any adult adopted person access to his original birth certificate. The bill allows a birth parent to indicate whether they would like to be contacted by an adoptee on a contact preference form provided by the State Registrar that will accompany the adoptee's original birth certificate, to be released to an adopted person when he requests his original birth certificate.
Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity; Virginia Public Procurement Act; certification for service disabled veteran-owned businesses and veteran-owned businesses; participation requirements; penalty. Provides that the Director of the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity may adopt regulations to implement certification programs for service disabled veteran-owned businesses and veteran-owned businesses in the Commonwealth and adds such businesses to the definition of "SWaM" and relevant provisions. The bill requires each public body to annually award at least one percent of its contract dollars to service disabled veteran-owned and veteran-owned businesses under the Virginia Public Procurement Act and requires each public body that has annual procurement expenditures exceeding $10 million to designate a Veteran Business Procurement Liaison. The bill requires the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity, in consultation with the Department of Veterans Services, to develop a plan to implement the provisions of the bill and make such plan available to the public on the electronic procurement system known as eVA by December 1, 2026. The bill requires the Department of General Services to update eVA to reflect the procurement opportunities available to service disabled veteran-owned and veteran-owned businesses. The bill directs the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill.
Real property tax; classification of land and improvements; City of Newport News. Authorizes the City of Newport News to levy a tax on the improvements to real property at a different rate than the tax imposed upon the land on which it is located. The rate levied on the improvements to real property shall not be zero and shall not exceed the rate of tax on the land on which it is located. This bill was incorporated into HB 282.
Real property tax; classification of land and improvements; City of Fredericksburg. Authorizes the City of Fredericksburg to levy a tax on the improvements to real property at a different rate than the tax imposed upon the land on which it is located. The rate levied on the improvements to real property shall not be zero and shall not exceed the rate of tax on the land on which it is located. This bill was incorporated into HB 282.
Income tax subtraction; incentive stock options. Establishes an income tax subtraction for any income received as gains from exercising incentive stock options, as defined by the bill, that were previously taxed in another state.
