Employment; paid sick leave; civil penalties; civil actions. Requires one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked for all employees of private employers and state and local governments, with certain exceptions. The bill requires that employees who are employed and compensated on a fee-for-service basis accrue paid sick leave in accordance with regulations adopted by the Commissioner of Labor and Industry. The bill provides that employees transferred to a separate division or location remain entitled to previously accrued paid sick leave and that employees retain their accrued paid sick leave under any successor employer. The bill allows employers to provide a more generous paid sick leave policy than prescribed by its provisions and specifies that employees, in addition to using paid sick leave for their physical or mental illness or to care for a family member, may use paid sick leave to seek or obtain certain services or to relocate or secure an existing home due to domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking. The bill requires the Commissioner to promulgate regulations for the implementation and enforcement of the bill's provisions by July 1, 2027.The bill authorizes the Commissioner, in the case of a knowing violation, to subject an employer to a civil penalty not to exceed $150 for the first violation, $300 for the second violation, and $500 for each successive violation. The Commissioner or Attorney General may commence administrative proceedings or bring a civil action to enforce the bill's provisions. Additionally, the bill authorizes an aggrieved employee to bring a civil action against the employer in which he may recover double the amount of any unpaid sick leave and the amount of any actual damages suffered as the result of the employer's violation. Certain provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. This bill is identical to SB 199.
Covenants not to compete; health care professionals; civil penalty. Adds health care professionals as a category of employee with or upon whom no employer shall enter into, enforce, or threaten to enforce a covenant not to compete. The bill defines "health care professional" as any person licensed, registered, or certified by the Board of Medicine, Nursing, Counseling, Optometry, Psychology, or Social Work. The bill provides that any employer that violates the prohibition against covenants not to compete with a health care professional is subject to the civil penalty in current law of $10,000 for each violation. This bill is identical to HB 627.
Voter registration; restoration of political rights upon release from incarceration; certain adjudications. Provides that any person who loses his political rights as a result of a felony conviction shall be invested with those rights upon his release from incarceration and shall be entitled to register to vote. The bill directs the Department of Corrections and the State Board of Local and Regional Jails to transmit to the Department of Elections certain information for incarcerated persons with a pending date of release and requires the Department of Elections to process the information and make the necessary changes to the voter registration system to permit such persons to register to vote by the date of the person's scheduled date of release. On the date of an incarcerated person's release, the appropriate authority is required by the bill to provide a voter registration application, information on returning the form by mail or completing it by electronic means, and an official release document to serve as a safety net for voter registration. The bill also amends the language regarding adjudications of mental incompetency for purposes of being qualified to vote; a person adjudicated to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting shall not be entitled to vote until that capacity has been reestablished. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027, contingent upon the approval of the constitutional amendments at the November 3, 2026, general election. This bill is identical to HB 964.
Recovery residences; regulations. Establishes certain requirements for recovery residences and directs the State Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Board) to promulgate regulations to establish minimum certification standards for recovery residences. The bill also requires that the regulations promulgated by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Department) related to the certification of recovery residences include provisions that no recovery residence, or operator, employee, or agent of a recovery residence, may require a resident to participate in medical or psychological services, including clinical substance use treatment, that such recovery residence receives financial benefit from, either directly or indirectly, as a condition of entering or continuing residence at such recovery residence. The bill requires the Department to monitor credentialing agencies providing credentials to recovery residences to ensure criteria related to certification comply with regulations and specifies that no such credentialing agency shall provide credentials to a recovery residence that is owned or operated by an individual who is employed by or in a position of authority at such credentialing agency, or an immediate family member of any such individual. The bill also requires that referrals to recovery residences made by the Department, any agency of the Commonwealth, or by a court may only be made to recovery residences that are certified. This bill is identical to HB 931.
Voter registration; restoration of political rights upon release from incarceration; certain adjudications. Provides that any person who loses his political rights as a result of a felony conviction shall be invested with those rights upon his release from incarceration and shall be entitled to register to vote. The bill directs the Department of Corrections and the State Board of Local and Regional Jails to transmit to the Department of Elections certain information for incarcerated persons with a pending date of release and requires the Department of Elections to process the information and make the necessary changes to the voter registration system to permit such persons to register to vote by the date of the person's scheduled date of release. On the date of an incarcerated person's release, the appropriate authority is required by the bill to provide a voter registration application, information on returning the form by mail or completing it by electronic means, and an official release document to serve as a safety net for voter registration. The bill also amends the language regarding adjudications of mental incompetency for purposes of being qualified to vote; a person adjudicated to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting shall not be entitled to vote until that capacity has been reestablished. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027, contingent upon the approval of the constitutional amendments at the November 3, 2026, general election. This bill is identical to SB 162.
Electric utilities; small portable solar generation devices; local regulation; installation by tenants; consumer protection. Prevents a locality from prohibiting the use of a small portable solar generation device, as defined in the bill, on a residential structure, provided that certain requirements are met. The bill includes provisions related to the installation of small portable solar generation devices by tenants and prevents landlords from prohibiting such installation in certain circumstances. Under the bill, small portable solar generation devices are excluded from the provisions of net metering programs applicable to eligible agricultural customer-generators, eligible customer-generators, or small agricultural generating facilities. The bill also permits any electric utility customer to own and operate a small portable solar generation device, provided that certain requirements are met. The bill prohibits an investor-owned utility, municipal utility, or electric cooperative from imposing interconnection requirements, charging any fee related to the device, or requiring that the customer obtain the utility's approval before installing or using the device. Under the bill, no electric utility, municipal utility, electric cooperative shall be liable for damage or injury caused by a small portable solar generation device. The bill directs the State Corporation Commission to develop and publish a notification form for a customer of an electric utility or cooperative to install a small portable solar generation device and directs the Secretary of Commerce and Trade to convene a work group to evaluate and develop recommendations regarding the safety standards and requirements applicable to small portable solar generation devices. Certain provisions of the bill become effective on January 1, 2027. This bill is identical to HB 395.
Streaming advertisement volume control; civil penalty. Requires a video streaming service, social media video service, or third-party advertising manager, as defined in the bill, that serves consumers residing in the Commonwealth to exercise reasonable care to normalize the audio of short-form content, as defined in the bill, so that such audio is not transmitted at a louder volume than the long-form content, also defined in the bill, it accompanies, consistent with the regulations adopted by the Federal Communications Commission pursuant to the federal Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act for television broadcast stations, cable operators, and other multichannel video programming distributors. The bill provides that the Office of the Attorney General shall enforce the provisions of the bill. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.
Civil actions filed on behalf of multiple persons; class actions; violations of Virginia Consumer Protection Act; award of damages. Provides that one or more members of a class may, as representative parties on behalf of all members, bring a civil action or may be proceeded against in a civil action, provided that (i) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable, (ii) there are questions of law or fact common to the class, (iii) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class, and (iv) the representative parties shall fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class. The bill further sets out the procedure to certify a class action, the duties of counsel appointed in a class action, the various orders a court may issue during the course of a class action, and the process by which a settlement, voluntary dismissal, or compromise may occur. The bill also applies the procedure by which an individual may be awarded damages in an action for a violation of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act to a class action. Finally, the bill permits the Court of Appeals to permit an appeal to be taken from an order certifying a class in accordance with the provisions of the bill or any other order that is not a final order of the circuit court in a class action. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027. This bill is identical to HB 449.
Voter registration; list maintenance activities, cancellation procedures, required record matches. Requires certain, specified identification information to be included on the lists received by the Department of Elections (the Department) for list maintenance purposes and requires the Department, upon receiving any such list, to do an initial comparison of the information included on such list with the list of registered voters and to determine the confidence score for any match. The Department is required to transmit matches with a confidence score of at least 80 to the appropriate general registrars. The bill prohibits the use of voter data received from another state or jurisdiction or through a list comparison for list maintenance purposes when the data file does not include a unique identifier for each individual whose information is contained in the data file. The bill requires the Department to annually review all sources of data utilized for list maintenance activities for the purpose of determining the validity, completeness, accuracy, and reliability of the data received from each source, and to include the results of such review in its annual report to the House and Senate Committees on Privileges and Elections regarding its list maintenance activities. The bill provides that the Department of Elections may only use the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program (SAVE Program) operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the sole purpose of individually verifying that voters listed in the Virginia voter registration system are United States citizens. The Department of Elections is prohibited from (i) using information received from the SAVE Program as the sole reason for rejecting a registration application, (ii) uploading lists of registered voters to the SAVE Program for verifying their citizenship status in bulk, or (iii) transferring any information to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or any subdivision thereof beyond the minimum information necessary. The bill requires the general registrars to send notice prior to cancelling a voter's registration regardless of the reason for cancellation. Lastly, the bill clarifies that when a voter's registration is cancelled, a cancellation record must be created, and that such records are public in accordance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and the National Voter Registration Act. The bill includes numerous technical amendments for organizational purposes. Certain provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. This bill incorporates HB 966.
Recovery residences; regulations. Establishes certain requirements for recovery residences and directs the State Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Board) to promulgate regulations to establish minimum certification standards for recovery residences. The bill also requires that the regulations promulgated by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Department) related to the certification of recovery residences include provisions that no recovery residence, or operator, employee, or agent of a recovery residence, may require a resident to participate in medical or psychological services, including clinical substance use treatment, that such recovery residence receives financial benefit from, either directly or indirectly, as a condition of entering or continuing residence at such recovery residence. The bill requires the Department to monitor credentialing agencies providing credentials to recovery residences to ensure criteria related to certification comply with regulations and specifies that no such credentialing agency shall provide credentials to a recovery residence that is owned or operated by an individual who is employed by or in a position of authority at such credentialing agency, or an immediate family member of any such individual. The bill also requires that referrals to recovery residences made by the Department, any agency of the Commonwealth, or by a court may only be made to recovery residences that are certified. This bill is identical to SB 270.
Health insurance; coverage for contraceptive drugs and devices. Requires health insurance carriers to provide coverage, under any health insurance contract, policy, or plan that includes coverage for prescription drugs on an outpatient basis, for contraceptive drugs and contraceptive devices approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including those available over-the-counter. The bill prohibits a health insurance carrier from imposing upon any person receiving prescription contraceptive benefits pursuant to the provisions of the bill any copayment, coinsurance payment, or fee, except in certain circumstances. Additionally, the bill requires any health benefit plan that provides coverage for hormonal contraceptives to provide point-of-sale coverage without cost-sharing at in-network pharmacies for hormonal contraceptives available over-the-counter. This bill is identical to HB 1182.
Distributed Energy Resources Task Force established; reports; sunset. Establishes the Distributed Energy Resources Task Force as an advisory commission within the executive branch with the purpose of developing a comprehensive strategy to advance the Commonwealth's transition toward integrated distributed energy resource markets and to support the Commonwealth's compliance with certain regulations. The bill describes the membership, powers, and duties of the Task Force and requires the Task Force to submit various reports to the Governor, the State Corporation Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Chairs of the House Committee on Labor and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor. The bill sunsets on July 1, 2027. This bill is identical to HB 285.
