Study; Department of Transportation; taxation of hybrid and electric trucks; report. Requests the Department of Transportation to study options for taxation of hybrid and electric trucks to account for the shortfall in gas and diesel tax revenues that will result from the use of such vehicles.
National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund; eligibility; incentive grant awards. Renames the National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund as the National Board Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund, expands eligibility for incentive grant awards from such Fund pursuant to such Program from solely teachers who have obtained national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to (i) all public school staff who are candidates for initial national certification or maintenance of national certification to cover certain costs of obtaining or maintaining such certification and (ii) all public school staff who have successfully obtained or maintained such certification. The bill also declares as eligible for an annual incentive grant award in the amount of $7,500 all public school staff who have obtained or maintained such certification and an additional $2,500 in any year during the life of certificate in which the public school staff member is employed in a Title 1 school. Current law declares as eligible for an annual incentive grant award of $5,000 in the first year and $2,500 in each subsequent year all teachers who have obtained or maintained such certification.
Abolition of fees; legal representation of indigent defendant. Eliminates the fees for the cost of court-appointed counsel or public defender representation for persons who are determined to be indigent.
Transportation network companies; minimum compensation. Establishes minimum compensation rates for TNC partners. The bill also prohibits gratuities from passengers from being included in TNC partner compensation calculations, authorizes TNC partners to collect gratuity in cash or electronically, and prohibits transportation network companies from limiting the amount that can be paid as gratuity through such companies' digital platforms.
History Education Advisory Board established. Establishes the 32-member History Education Advisory Board to advise the Governor, his cabinet members, the Board of Education, and the General Assembly on the current ways in which African American, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Latino, Indigenous, Women's, and LGBTQ+ history are described in the relevant Standards of Learning and associated curriculum frameworks; how that content is taught in classrooms; and strategies to develop African American history and social studies elective courses, Asian American and Pacific Islander history and social studies elective courses, Latino history and social studies elective courses, Indigenous history and social studies elective courses, Women's history and social studies elective courses, and LGBTQ+ history and social studies elective courses.
Virginia Commission on Lynching Sites Memorialization established; report. Establishes the Virginia Commission on Lynching Sites Memorialization as an advisory commission in the executive branch of state government. The purpose of the 15-member Commission is to acknowledge the history of racial violence in Virginia through the placement of historical markers at the sites of lynchings. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2028.
Local tax authority; nicotine vapor products. Authorizes localities by ordinance to impose a sales and use tax on nicotine vapor products and includes directives for the administration and enforcement of any such ordinance. The bill also directs the Department of Taxation to consult with localities, the Virginia Association of Counties, and the Virginia Municipal League in implementing and administering such local taxation of nicotine vapor products.
Best interests of the child; custody; orders to return a minor child; violations of orders regarding motions to relocate. Provides that in any case in which a party to a custody case (i) was subject to an order to return a minor child or (ii) violated a stay on or denial of a motion to relocate within the previous 10 years of such custody case, there shall be a presumption that it is in the best interests of the child for such child to be placed in the primary custody of the party not subject to or in violation of any such order.
Zoning; traffic studies. Provides that no locality shall require a traffic study as a condition for approval of a rezoning application that involves either a single-family or multifamily residential use of fewer than 50 residential units. The bill further provides that in any instance in which a locality requires a rezoning applicant to submit a traffic study as part of the application, the applicant shall be reimbursed by the locality for the costs of the traffic study if the locality does not accept the results of the traffic study or if the locality requires the applicant to make additional traffic-related improvements that are not required by the traffic study.
Workers' compensation; injuries caused by repetitive and sustained physical stressors. Provides that, for the purposes of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act, "occupational disease" includes injuries or diseases from conditions resulting from repetitive and sustained physical stressors, including repetitive and sustained motions, exertions, posture stresses, contact stresses, vibrations, or noises. The bill provides that such injuries or diseases are covered under the Act and that such coverage does not require that such repetitive or sustained physical stress occurred over a particular time period, provided that the time period over which such physical stress occurred can be reasonably identified.
Notification by individuals finding companion animals; civil penalty. Increases from $50 to $500 the civil penalty for violating provisions requiring an individual who finds a companion animal and (i) provides care or safekeeping or (ii) retains the companion animal in such a manner as to control its activities to notify the owner of such companion animal and a public animal shelter that serves the locality where such companion animal was found and provide adequate care of such companion animal.
Department of State Police; work group; reporting threshold for motor vehicle accidents; report. Directs the Department of State Police to convene a work group of relevant stakeholders to review the property damage threshold for submitting a motor vehicle accident report to the Department of Motor Vehicles.
