Income tax credit; braille labeling program. Creates a nonrefundable individual and corporate income tax credit, as applicable, for up to $50,000 of expenditures incurred in the development and implementation of a braille labeling program on products, items, or packages sold in or shipped to the Commonwealth in taxable years 2025 through 2029. The aggregate amount of credits allowed for all taxpayers in a taxable year is $1,000,000.
Department of Medical Assistance Services; work group; state plan amendment; reimbursement for services by certified community health workers. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to convene a work group to (i) design a state plan amendment to provide reimbursement for services provided by certified community health workers, (ii) identify opportunities to expand the use of community health workers by Medicaid managed care organizations, and (iii) determine the feasibility of developing flexible training and certification standards that allow community health workers to use their education and experience to satisfy some of the requirements for qualification as a doula or registered peer recovery specialist. The bill requires the Department to report the work group findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by October 1, 2025. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Health Care.
Animal testing facilities operated by public institutions of higher education; report. Requires each public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth that operates an animal testing facility to publish an annual report that includes specific information about such institution's animal testing operations. The bill requires each such institution to submit the annual report to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, which shall make it publicly available on its website.
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Chapter 2 of Title 32.1 an article numbered 23, consisting of sections numbered 32.1-73.28 through 32.1-73.31, relating to Postpartum Depression Education Act; report.
Commonwealth Savers Plan; Virginia College Opportunity Endowment and Fund established; report. Establishes (i) the Endowment Scholarship Program for the purpose of providing scholarships to students at eligible institutions, as defined in the bill; (ii) the Virginia College Opportunity Endowment as an agency of the Commonwealth for the purpose of establishing and administering the Endowment Scholarship Program; (iii) as a subfund of the Commonwealth Savers Plan's fund, the DB529 Fund for the purpose of holding in trust the assets of prepaid tuition contracts to meet contractual obligations; (iv) as a subfund of the Commonwealth Savers Plan's fund, the Virginia College Opportunity Fund (the Opportunity Fund), into which certain funds from the DB529 Fund shall be deposited for the purpose of funding, by income generated from investments of such deposits, the Endowment Scholarship Program and other programs established for the purpose of enhancing educational access and affordability for students with recognized financial need, as set forth in the bill; and (v) the College Opportunity Investment Advisory Committee for the purpose of making recommendations to and assisting the General Assembly in determining the prudence of directing deposits, and the amounts of any such deposits, of actuarial surpluses of the Commonwealth Savers Plan from the DB529 Fund into the Opportunity Fund. The bill requires the board of the Commonwealth Savers Plan to (a) after the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2025, deposit $500 million into the Opportunity Fund from the DB529 Fund; (b) each fiscal year thereafter, in accordance with the timeline set forth in the bill, submit to the General Assembly a report on the funded status, as defined by applicable law, of the DB529 Fund and the recommendation of the College Opportunity Investment Advisory Committee as to the prudence of directing deposits of additional actuarial surpluses of the Plan from the DB529 Fund into the Opportunity Fund; and (c) each subsequent year, deposit additional actuarial surpluses into the Opportunity Fund in accordance with the provisions of the bill. Finally, the bill contains provisions (1) relating to voluntary contributions to the Opportunity Fund for the purpose of receiving tax fund contributions and income tax deductions; (2) exempting from mandatory disclosure requirements certain information contained in a public record relating to the Commonwealth Savers Plan or the Virginia College Opportunity Endowment and Fund, and (3) authorizing the College Opportunity Investment Advisory Committee to hold closed meetings for certain purposes.
Maternal Health Coordinator Program; purpose. Creates the Maternal Health Coordinator Program to serve preconception, pregnant, postpartum, and interconception women and their families within clinical, community, virtual, and home settings. Under the bill, the Department shall appoint a maternal health coordinator in each of the 35 health districts to conduct (i) case finding and outreach, (ii) assessment of risk factors, (iii) case management, (iv) home visitation, (v) childbirth and parenting education, and (vi) father engagement activities. The bill directs the Department to also appoint a regional coordinator in each of the five health regions of the Commonwealth to provide consultation and assistance to the district maternal health coordinators and collect data on the Program for each local health district and compile a report to be submitted to the Department no later than December 1, 2026, and annually thereafter.
Highway maintenance; Town of New Market. Adds the Town of New Market to the list of localities authorized to receive state funds for the performance of certain highway maintenance projects.
Autism Advisory Council; name change; membership; staffing; powers and duties. Provides for the Autism Advisory Council to be reconstituted as a permanent, independently staffed agency in the legislative branch of state government. Currently, the Autism Advisory Council is set to expire on July 1, 2027. The bill repeals that expiration date and renames the agency as the Autism Commission. The bill also modifies the membership of the Commission to more closely align with the membership makeup of other independently staffed legislative agencies and directs the Commission to appoint and employ an executive director and other staff to assist in carrying out the duties of the Commission.
Department of Education; Medicaid billing navigator positions; report. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish within the Department of Education two Medicaid billing navigator positions for the purpose of providing school divisions with guidance and assistance to effectively navigate the laws, policies, rules, regulations, and guidelines governing Medicaid billing for reimbursable services rendered at school sites and ensuring that all school divisions are able to fully leverage Medicaid funding opportunities to enhance student health services. The bill establishes the qualifications for and duties of such navigators and requires such navigators to annually report certain data to the Secretary of Education, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health.
Public schools; student discipline; Restorative Schools in Virginia Pilot Program; established. Establishes the Restorative Schools in Virginia Pilot Program (the Program), to be administered by the Department of Education (the Department), for the purpose of addressing school discipline issues and promoting evidence-based restorative practices, as that term is defined in the bill, in public schools in the Commonwealth by awarding grants to an eligible school in each superintendent's region in the Commonwealth to be used in developing and implementing a comprehensive plan to integrate evidence-based restorative practices in such schools in accordance with the provisions of the bill. The bill directs the Department to (i) develop the application process by which a school board may apply on behalf of an eligible school, as defined in the bill, in the applicable school division to receive funds pursuant to the Program; (ii) establish criteria for the selection and award of grants pursuant to the Program; and (iii) develop a process for evaluating the progress and performance of each eligible school selected to receive a grant pursuant to the Program in implementing such evidence-based restorative practices and satisfying the Program requirements set forth in the bill. The bill requires any eligible school selected to receive funds pursuant to the Program, in collaboration with the applicable school board, to (a) establish a learning collaborative for the purpose of developing a comprehensive plan for implementing evidence-based restorative practices in such school in accordance with the provisions of the bill and (b) submit to the Department by July 1 of each year a report on the school's progress in implementing such evidence-based restorative practices for the preceding school year. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2027.
Real property tax exemption; surviving spouses of members of the armed forces who died in the line of duty. Authorizes localities by ordinance to provide a total exemption from real property taxes regardless of assessed value beginning in taxable year 2025. Under current law, a total exemption is only allowed for those dwellings in the locality with assessed values in the most recently ended tax year that are not in excess of the average assessed value for such year of a dwelling situated on property that is zoned as single family residential.
Sales and use tax exemption; data centers. Requires data center operators to meet certain energy efficiency standards in order to be eligible for the sales and use tax exemption for data center purchases. Under the bill, a data center operator shall be eligible for the exemption only if such operator demonstrates that (i) its facilities either have a power usage effectiveness score of no greater than 1.2 or, for data centers co-located in buildings with other commercial uses, achieve an energy efficiency level of no less than the most efficient 15 percent of similar buildings constructed in the previous five years and (ii) by January 1, 2028, it will procure carbon-free renewable energy and associated renewable energy certificates equal to 90 percent of its electricity requirements or its electricity will be otherwise derived from non-carbon-emitting, renewable sources.
