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.
Board of Medicine; licensure of anesthesiologist assistants. Establishes criteria for the licensure of anesthesiologist assistants and directs the Board of Medicine to adopt regulations governing the practice of anesthesiologist assistants. The bill provides that no person shall use or assume the title "anesthesiologist assistant" or hold himself out as an anesthesiologist assistant unless such person holds a license as an anesthesiologist assistant issued by the Board.
Voter registration; jury commissioners; list of unqualified persons transmitted to general registrars; list maintenance. Requires jury commissioners to collect information obtained from those persons not qualified to serve as a result of a condition that would also make them unqualified to register to vote. The sheriff, clerk of court, or other official responsible for maintaining such information provided by the commissioners is required to regularly transmit such information to the general registrar for the locality or localities served by such official. The bill requires general registrars to utilize such information to identify voters who are no longer qualified to vote and to initiate list maintenance procedures. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.
Retail sales and use tax; exemption for data centers; reports. Requires a data center operator, in order to be eligible for the existing data center sales and use tax exemption to (i) beginning July 1, 2030, purchase a certain percentage of the data center's annual electric load from clean energy resources, (ii) beginning July 1, 2030, demonstrate sufficient investment in energy efficiency measures to provide system-wide benefits, and (iii) beginning July 1, 2027, use only backup generators that meet certain emissions standards. The bill requires the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation to examine the cost and feasibility of data centers using onsite backup and primary generation that is not diesel-fired and report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly no later than December 1, 2025. The bill requires the Department of Energy to (a) identify opportunities for beneficial use of waste heat from data centers; (b) create and publish on its website an interactive map of existing and proposed data centers and potential public and private heat users; (c) develop a strategic plan to accelerate data center heat reuse in the Commonwealth; (d) designate an employee within the Department to lead the Commonwealth's efforts to reuse data center heat; and (e) convene a stakeholder work group to provide expertise and feedback on the Department's efforts to accelerate the use of waste heat from data centers. The Department is required to report its findings to the General Assembly no later than December 1, 2025. Finally, the bill requires investor-owned electric utilities to file with the State Corporation Commission for approval of a voluntary tariff to facilitate large customer procurement of clean energy.
Charitable gaming; poker events. Defines poker event for the purposes of charitable gaming to mean a Texas Hold'em poker game or Texas Hold'em poker tournament in which (i) a schedule of fixed and variable fees for entry into the poker event and the number of chips received for such fees is established and posted; (ii) rebuys, reentries, and add-ons are permitted without limitation; (iii) chips with cash value are permitted to be used; (iv) games and tournaments may be run concurrently; (v) no limit applies to how many poker events occur during the time listed on the permit for such poker event; and (vi) a seating fee may be charged at a rate of up to $8 up to once every 30 minutes. The bill requires any qualified organization that conducts any poker event to use at least 20 percent of its poker adjusted gross receipts, defined in the bill, from the conduct of Texas Hold'em poker tournaments for (a) those lawful religious, charitable, community, or educational purposes for which the organization is specifically chartered or organized or (b) those expenses related to the acquisition, construction, maintenance, or repair of any interest in real property involved in the operation of the organization and used for lawful religious, charitable, community, or educational purposes. The bill also outlines certain specifics related to the conduct of poker events, including remuneration to operators and tips or gratuities paid to dealers and employees of such operators.
Voter registration; automatic registration of hunting, fishing, and milk distributor license and concealed handgun permit applicants; penalty. Provides for automatic voter registration by the clerk of any circuit court of the Commonwealth, the Department of Wildlife Resources, and the Milk Commission upon the application for any hunting, fishing, or milk distributor license or Virginia resident concealed handgun permit.
Elections; absentee voting in person; availability and affirmation statement in lieu of identification. Limits the availability of absentee voting in person to beginning 14 days prior to any election. Under current law, absentee voting in person is available beginning 45 days prior to any election. The bill also removes the ability of a voter voting by absentee ballot in person to sign a statement that he is the named registered voter he claims to be in lieu of showing one of the permitted forms of identification.
Absentee voting in person; available beginning 14 days prior to election; hours of operation. Limits the availability of absentee voting in person to beginning 14 days prior to any election. During these two weeks, the bill requires that absentee voting in person be available Monday through Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. each day. Under current law, absentee voting in person is available during regular business hours of the office of the general registrar beginning 45 days prior to any election with a requirement to be open a minimum of eight hours between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on the first and second Saturdays immediately preceding the election.
Revocation of postrelease supervision. Provides that a revocation hearing for a violation of postrelease supervision shall be conducted by the circuit court of the original sentencing jurisdiction in accordance with the provisions regarding revocation hearings for a suspended sentence or probation violation. Under current law, revocation hearings for violations of postrelease supervision are conducted by the Virginia Parole Board following the same procedures as a parole violation.
Virginia Public Procurement Act; local public bodies; bids for small purchases. Requires local public bodies to issue an invitation to bid for all goods and services over $500,000. The bill provides that a civil action may be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction to enforce any violation of such requirement and permits such court to impose a penalty of up to two times the amount of the total cost of the bid at issue.
State employee leave; attending health care with certain veterans. Allows a state employee to take up to 24 hours of paid leave per month in any calendar year to attend medical appointments or procedures at a Veterans Affairs hospital, center, or other facility or installation with an eligible parent who is a veteran and has a serious health condition, as those terms are defined in the bill. Prior to taking such leave, a state employee must demonstrate that he is eligible to take leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act for such purpose and must provide sufficient documentation of the medical appointment. The bill directs the Department of Human Resource Management to develop personnel policies providing for the use of such leave.
Department of Human Resource Management; Department of Health; pharmacogenomics pilot program established; report. Directs the Department of Human Resource Management, in conjunction with the Department of Health, to develop a two-year pharmacogenomics pilot program for state employees, beginning no later than January 1, 2026, and expiring on January 1, 2028. The bill also directs the Department of Human Resource Management to report annually on the pilot program to the Chairs of the House Committee on Health and Human Services and the Senate Committee on Education and Health.
