Unclaimed property; application to delinquent taxes. Directs the administrator of unclaimed property to transmit information to the Department of Taxation regarding the value of the property and the identity of the taxpayer. The bill also directs the Department to subtract the value of any unclaimed cash property, as defined in the bill, from the amount of any state taxes owed and specifies that the unclaimed cash property shall be paid to the Department.
Affordable housing; county executive form of government. Adds counties with the county executive form of government to the list of localities with authority to provide for an affordable dwelling unit program. Albemarle County, which is already granted such authority under current law, and Prince William County are the only counties that have adopted such form of government.
Manufacturing, selling, giving, distributing, etc., of fentanyl; weight-based and pill-based penalties. Creates a penalty structure for manufacturing, selling, giving, distributing, or possessing with the intent to manufacture, sell, give, or distribute fentanyl based on the weight of the fentanyl, its salts, isomers, or salts of its isomers; the weight of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl, its salts, isomers, or salts of its isomers; or the number of pills containing a detectable amount of fentanyl, its salts, isomers, or salts of its isomers.
Zoning; recovery residences. Provides that zoning ordinances for all purposes shall consider a certified recovery residence in which no more than eight individuals with substance use disorder reside, either with or without one or more resident or nonresident staff persons, as residential occupancy by a single family and that no conditions more restrictive than those imposed on residences occupied by persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption shall be imposed on such certified recovery residence. The bill provides that no clinical treatment shall take place in such recovery residence and that the recovery residence shall submit the individual name and contact information for the person responsible for the residence to the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.
Venison donation tax credit. Creates a nonrefundable income tax credit for taxable years 2025 through 2029 for expenses incurred by a taxpayer to butcher and process an antlerless deer for human consumption. A taxpayer may claim this credit provided that (i) the hunting and harvesting of the deer complies with the Commonwealth's hunting laws and regulations and (ii) the taxpayer donates the processed deer meat to a venison donation program administered by a nonprofit organization. The amount of the credit that may be claimed in any single taxable year cannot exceed (a) $200, if the taxpayer did not harvest each deer for which the credits are claimed in accordance with a deer management permit, or (b) the taxpayer's liability in that taxable year, if the taxpayer harvested each deer for which the credits are claimed in accordance with a deer management permit. Finally, the bill provides for an exemption from civil liability arising from injury or death resulting from the nature, age, condition, or packaging of the donated food.
HB 2673 would have allowed dealers to receive a discount on retail sales and use tax payments. The bill aimed to directly affect businesses that collect sales tax, potentially reducing their tax burden. However, the Finance Subcommittee voted unanimously (8-0) on January 27, 2025, to strike the bill from the committee docket, effectively killing it without further consideration. The bill did not advance beyond the subcommittee stage.
Gift certificate theft; penalty. Includes gift certificates, defined in relevant law, to the crime of credit card theft, which is punishable as grand larceny in existing law.
Cash proffers; land transfer; extinguishing development rights. Provides that (i) cash payments proffered pursuant to relevant zoning law and (ii) the transfer of land may be used by an applicant for the purpose of extinguishing development rights elsewhere in the locality if the development rights to be extinguished are greater than the development rights being granted and the extinguishing of those development rights results in a perpetual conservation easement. The bill also provides that cash payments proffered may be used to seek matching funds from the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation and the Virginia Farmland and Forestland Preservation Fund.
Teachers; employment and licensure; locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credentials. Establishes, enumerates criteria for, and permits a division superintendent or a comprehensive community college to issue a locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential, valid for a period not to exceed three years, to any individual who demonstrates expertise in content or subject matter area in order for such individual to provide instruction or coursework in a corresponding non-core subject or course, as that term is defined in the bill, in grades six through 12 at any public school in the Commonwealth or at a comprehensive community college in the Commonwealth, including dual enrollment or concurrent enrollment courses. The bill delineates the criteria for issuance of such locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential. The bill also contains several provisions relating to the employment of individuals under a locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential, including (i) permitting any school division or institution of higher education to hire any such individual on a full-time or part-time basis to teach a non-core subject or course; (ii) requiring any such individual to be subject to a background clearance check and the fingerprinting and criminal history records check requirements required as a condition of employment of any applicant who is offered or accepts employment at a school division pursuant to applicable law; (iii) requiring each employing school board to assign an individual employed by such school board as a mentor to supervise any individual issued a subject matter expert teaching credential; and (iv) permitting any division superintendent to renew an individual's locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential for a period not to exceed three additional years, provided that such individual receives satisfactory performance evaluations for each year of the original three-year locally awarded subject matter teaching credential. Finally, the bill requires each school division to annually report to the Department of Education the number of locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credentials issued for part-time and full-time teaching positions.
Child custody orders; transfer of custody to person with legitimate interest. Provides that when a juvenile and domestic relations district court has entered an order transferring custody of a child to a person with a legitimate interest, the court shall provide notice to such person with a legitimate interest of any motion to terminate or amend such order. The bill also provides that such person with a legitimate interest shall have the opportunity to be heard on such motion to terminate or amend.
Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court to update the petition for involuntary admission for treatment; penalty of perjury. Directs the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court to update the petition for involuntary admission for treatment, Form DC-4001, to include the following statement under the petitioner's signature: "I declare (or certify, verify, or state) under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct."
Stalking; penalty. Clarifies that the term "electronically transmitted communication" as used in the offense of stalking includes the use or monitoring of location services through an application or a device to remotely determine or track the position and movement of another person, regardless if such person has previously given consent for the accused to use or monitor such location services. The bill contains technical amendments.
