Board of Housing and Community Development; work group to identify certain changes related to the building permit and certificate of occupancy processes. Requires the Board of Housing and Community Development to establish a work group to identify changes to the Uniform Statewide Building Code to streamline the processes for reviewing and issuing building permits and certificates of occupancy and to develop recommendations for maximum timelines for review of applications and revised applications.
Study; Autism Advisory Council; establishment of an autism data dashboard in the Commonwealth; report. Directs the Autism Advisory Council to study and advise the General Assembly on the establishment of an autism data dashboard for the purpose of promoting greater public transparency and access to information and resources on autism spectrum disorders. The Council is directed to submit a report with recommendations for such dashboard's development, including the types of data and resources that should be included, to the Chairs of the House Committee on Appropriations, the House Committee on Health and Human Services, the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than November 1, 2025.
Use of restraints on juveniles in court prohibited; exceptions. Prohibits the use of instruments of restraint, as defined in the bill, on a juvenile appearing before the juvenile and domestic relations district court unless the court makes a finding that (i) the use of such restraints is necessary (a) to prevent physical harm to such juvenile or another person, (b) because such juvenile has a history of disruptive courtroom behavior that has placed others in potentially harmful situations or presents a substantial threat of serious harm to himself or others as evidenced by recent behavior, or (c) because such juvenile presents a substantial risk of flight from the courtroom and (ii) there are no less restrictive alternatives to such restraints that will prevent flight of or harm to such juvenile or another person, including court personnel or law-enforcement officers. The bill requires the court to provide the juvenile's attorney an opportunity to be heard before the court orders the use of instruments of restraint, and if such restraints are ordered, requires the court to make written findings of fact in support of the order.
Department of Medical Assistance Services; state plan for medical assistance; patient-initiated consultation; provider-to-provider consultation. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to modify state plan provisions covering provider-to-provider consultations to also include patient-generated consultations. The bill specifies that consultations provided through telemedicine services, including audio-only telemedicine services where applicable, shall be included in such provision.
Data centers; industrial zoning. Requires a locality to review and amend its zoning ordinance to (i) designate data centers as industrial uses for zoning purposes; (ii) review the locations of zones allowing data centers by right, and adjust the zoning map, if needed, considering proximity to residential areas; (iii) review the minimum requirements in the zoning ordinance, such as setbacks and building heights, for the purpose of mitigating negative impacts on residential or other sensitive areas and consider adding requirements specific to data centers as needed; (iv) identify optimal areas for data center development in the locality, including locations that are suitable from the locality's perspective as well as the industry's perspective; (v) consider zoning ordinance changes to reduce the likelihood of noisy data centers, including through limiting allowable locations and requiring sound modeling, and prohibit the constant low-frequency noise of data centers from reaching residential areas; and (vi) require commitments from data centers making zoning requests to sufficiently mitigate negative impacts on any nearby residential areas. The provisions of the bill shall only apply to localities where data centers are already addressed in the locality's zoning ordinance and where a locality is revising its zoning ordinance to include data centers.
Unlawful picketing or parading to obstruct or influence justice; penalty. Provides that any person who, with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing or intimidating in the discharge of his duty any judge, juror, witness, court officer, or court employee, pickets or parades in or near a residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, court officer, or court employee is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also provides that the provisions regarding the issuance and service of summons in place of a warrant do not apply to such violations.
Manufacturing, selling, distributing, or possessing flavored nitrous oxide; penalties. Provides that any person who knowingly manufactures, sells, distributes, or possesses with the intent to manufacture, sell, give, or distribute flavored nitrous oxide, when intended for human consumption, is guilty of a Class 5 felony. Under the bill, any person who knowingly possesses flavored nitrous oxide, when intended for human consumption, is guilty of a Class 6 felony. The bill specifies that such prohibition does not apply to nitrous oxide that has been denatured or otherwise rendered unfit for human consumption or to (i) any person or establishment that is licensed to sell, serve, or offer for sale food or drink for human consumption; (ii) any person engaged in the business of selling or distributing catering supplies only or food processing equipment only, or of selling or distributing compressed gases for industrial or medical use that sells or otherwise distributes nitrous oxide in the course of that business; or (iii) any health care professional while engaged in the performance of his official duties.
Rights of persons with disabilities; definition of "place of public accommodation." Amends the definition of "place of public accommodation" as it relates to the rights of persons with disabilities to add that a place of public accommodation includes a website that a private entity owns, leases or leases to, or operates and whose operations affect commerce. Under current law, a "place of public accommodation" is defined as a facility that a private entity owns, leases or leases to, or operates and whose operations affect commerce.
Disaster Assistance Fund; established. Establishes the Disaster Assistance Fund for the purpose of addressing life, safety, and housing costs related to a disaster that are not covered by any form of federal assistance, private donations, or insurance. Expenditures and disbursements from the Fund require authorization by the General Assembly. In addition to all other appropriations to the Fund, the bill also directs proceeds generated from the Commonwealth's participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative auction that occurred in December 2023 and deposited into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Fund with the Department of Environmental Quality and all interest accrued to such fund.
Expired vehicle registration; fines. Establishes a tiered fine system for expired vehicle registrations. The bill establishes a fine of $25 if the registration has been expired for less than one year on the date the citation is issued and a fine of no less than $25 but no more than $250 if such registration has been expired for at least one year on the date the citation is issued. The bill provides that an expired registration does not constitute a traffic infraction if the registration sticker was valid within the last 60 days.
Local meals and prepared food and beverage taxes; maximum rate. Provides a cap on the maximum allowable tax rate that localities may impose on meals and prepared food and beverages. The bill sets the maximum rate at no more than four percent, unless a higher rate of no more than six percent is authorized via a referendum in the locality. The new limitation applies to localities beginning January 1, 2028. In the case of a town, the maximum rate is limited by the amount of any food and beverage tax imposed by the county in which the town is located. The bill requires that no town shall impose any rate if, when added to the county food and beverage tax rate, such tax rate exceeds the four or six percent limit, as applicable.
Short-term rentals; registration; civil penalty. Directs the Department of Taxation to establish a registry of short-term rental properties and require accommodations providers and intermediaries to register. Under the bill, an accommodations provider shall provide to the Department its name and the address of each property it offers for short-term rental. The bill states that the Department shall issue each such accommodations provider a unique numerical identifier for each such property. An accommodations intermediary shall provide the Department its name and the contact information for the individual responsible for liaising with state and local officials regarding noncompliant short-term rental listings. The bill states that as a condition of listing a short-term rental on its platform, an accommodations intermediary shall require each accommodations provider to provide such provider's name and the unique numerical identifier and specific address for each short term-rental offered. Under the bill, such information, as well as information regarding receipts and taxes paid, shall be provided to the Department by the accommodations intermediary on a quarterly basis. However, an accommodations intermediary shall not be required to provide such information to the Department if the intermediary provides monthly reports of property addresses and gross receipts for all accommodations facilitated by the accommodations intermediary to each locality in which an accommodation is located. Such monthly reports are a compliance requirement imposed by law for the payment of transient occupancy taxes. The bill states that the Department shall provide the commissioner of the revenue for each locality with access to the registry and information contained therein. The commissioner of the revenue shall notify an accommodations intermediary of any short-term rental on its platform that is not lawfully authorized to be offered on its platform, and the accommodations intermediary shall remove any such listing from its platform. Under the bill, any accommodations intermediary who does not remove such a listing from its platform shall be subject to a civil penalty of $1,000, to be paid into the Virginia Housing Trust Fund. Finally, the bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.
