Public schools; student support services; student personal information and data security; registration; requirements; grants; report. Requires any student support agency, as defined by the bill, to register with the Department of Education (the Department) in order to provide any student support programs, as defined by the bill, to students enrolled in any public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth. The bill establishes several requirements for the registration of any student support agency relating to the protection of any student personal information collected by the student support agency, including (i) requiring such agencies to adopt certain policies, procedures, and protocols designed to ensure the continued security, integrity, and confidentiality of student personal information; (ii) requiring the Department to ensure any student support agency obtains informed consent from the parent of any student or, if such student is 18 years of age or older, the student prior to collecting or using any student personal information; (iii) requiring the Department to develop a standard memorandum of understanding and each student support agency and school board to execute a memorandum of understanding establishing authorizations and limitations relating to the transmission, collection, and use of student personal information; (iv) requiring the Department to establish and administer a grant program for the purpose of awarding grants to certain student support agencies for data security upgrades, training for staff, and third-party audits; (v) prohibiting any student support agency from using or sharing student personal information for certain purposes set forth in the bill, including sharing any such student personal information for use in targeted advertising; (vi) requiring the Department to establish certain programs and provide certain resources to support certain registered student support agencies and school boards in effectively and efficiently providing student support programs in compliance with the provisions of the bill; and (vii) requiring the Department to conduct an annual audit of a certain percentage of registered student support agencies to ensure compliance with the provisions of the bill and establishing provisions relating to consequences for failure of the audit or otherwise being found in violation of the provisions of the bill.
Virginia Consumer Protection Act; professional mold remediators; study and report; emergency. Requires a professional mold remediator selling or offering for sale services to be performed upon any residential dwelling to hold a mold remediation certification from a nationally or internationally recognized certifying body for mold remediation. Under current law, such professional mold remediator is required to hold such certification from the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification. The provisions of the bill requiring such certification from a nationally or internationally recognized certifying body contain an emergency clause.The bill also directs the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation to study the current state of the mold inspection and mold remediation workforce in the Commonwealth to determine whether there is sufficient proof that justifies the licensure or certification of mold inspectors and mold remediators and, if so, recommend educational, experiential, or examination requirements for such licensure or certification. The bill directs the Department to submit a report on the state of the mold inspection and mold remediation workforce in the Commonwealth to the House Committee on General Laws, the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology, and the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules by November 1, 2025. This bill was incorporated into HB 2195.
Protective orders; military protective orders. Permits a court to find good cause to issue a preliminary protective order when a petitioner has a Military Protective Order. The bill directs a law-enforcement officer to notify the agency that entered the Military Protective Order into the National Crime Information Center Systems that the law-enforcement officer has probable cause to believe the person violated the Military Protective Order if such person violated provisions of a state-issued protective order.
Public schools; textbooks and other high-quality instructional materials. Makes several changes relating to the textbooks and other high-quality instructional materials that are utilized as the curriculum basis for public elementary and secondary school student instruction, including (i) defining such term for the purpose of various laws and regulations relating to approval, procurement, and no-cost provision of such materials; (ii) requiring each local school board to adopt and implement textbooks and other high-quality instructional materials in English language arts for grades six through 12 and mathematics, science, and history and social studies for grades kindergarten through 12 and requiring the Department of Education to support such local adoption and implementation in several ways, including by consolidating and simplifying the applications for all state and federal programs that provide funding to local school boards into a single application; and (iii) requiring each education preparation program offered by a public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education or alternative certification program that provides training for any student seeking initial licensure by the Board of Education with an endorsement in early/primary education preschool through grade three, elementary education preschool through grade six, middle education grades six through eight, and secondary education grades six through 12 to include a program of coursework and clinical experience and require all such students to demonstrate mastery in identifying and implementing textbooks and other high-quality instructional materials.
Prohibited acquisition of single family homes; affidavit; civil penalty. Restricts any partnership, corporation, or real estate investment trust that manages funds pooled from investors; is a fiduciary to such investors; has net value or assets under management on any day during a taxable year; and holds an interest in more than fifty single-family homes from acquiring any interest in any other single-family home, as defined in the bill to include manufactured home parks and single family-residential duplexes, on or after July 1, 2025. The bill also requires an offering purchaser of a manufactured home park to provide a notarized affidavit certifying that the purchaser is not prohibited from acquiring such an interest. Any false statements on such affidavit shall be subject to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per occurrence for deposit into the Revolving Loan Fund for the Purchase of Manufactured Home Parks pursuant to the appropriation act.
Guidelines and policies on school-connected overdose; response and parental notification. Adjusts the contents of the guidelines that the Board of Education is required to establish for school-connected overdose response and parental notification policies by requiring such guidelines to include guidance and model language for the development and implementation of a policy requiring each school board to provide within 24 hours of any school-connected overdose notification to the parent of each student within the local school division and criteria for ensuring sensitivity to the privacy interests of affected individuals in issuing such notification. The bill also requires each school board to notify the parent of each student in the local school division of any school-connected overdose within 24 hours of the overdose occurring in accordance with the guidance and criteria provided by the Board of Education.
Misbranded food; manufactured-protein food products. Provides that a food is misbranded if it purports to be or is represented as a meat food product and such food product (i) bears or contains a manufactured-protein food product, as defined in the bill; (ii) is offered for sale; and (iii) has a label that is part of or placed on the food product package or other container storing such product that identifies the food as a meat food product, unless such label bears a conspicuous and prominent qualifying term and is in close proximity to an identifying meat term, as such terms are defined in the bill. The bill exempts a meat food product that the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services determines contains a trace amount of a manufactured-protein food product.
Uniform labeling requirements for certain food packaging. Prohibits the use of a sell-by date on a label affixed to a food product that is manufactured on or after July 1, 2026. The bill instead requires a person selling or offering for sale such food product to use on the outside packaging or container of such food product the phrase "Best if Used by," "Best if Used or Frozen by," "Use by," or "Use by or Freeze by" or its associated abbreviations, as provided in the bill. The bill exempts from its provisions infant formula, eggs, including pasteurized in-shell eggs, beer or other malt beverages, certain shellfish, and any food that is required by law or regulation to bear a label indicating a date or time such food must be consumed, sold, or discarded. The bill maintains a person's discretion to use a quality date or safety date that is not otherwise required by law; however, the bill requires use of the specified label if a person chooses to include such a label on the food product. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.
Department of Education; statewide anonymous student reporting mobile application. Requires the Department of Education, with such funds as may be appropriated for such purpose pursuant to the general appropriation act or provided from any other source, and alone or in partnership with another state agency or a nonprofit organization, or a combination thereof, to (i) develop or procure a multiplatform compatible mobile application that permits any public elementary and secondary school student to submit anonymous reports relating to the health or safety of self or others, including threats of violence that are made on social media; (ii) train or contract for the training of individuals to respond to each such anonymous report in a timely and effective manner, including responding to the student and notifying the appropriate school official, local law-enforcement agency, or public safety answering point (PSAP), as that term is defined in relevant law; (iii) train students, parents, PSAP responders, law-enforcement officials, and school officials throughout the Commonwealth on the proper use of such mobile application; and (iv) provide permissible users with access to such mobile application at no cost.
Emergency services and disaster law; prohibition on media paywalls during states of emergency. Provides that in any case in which the Governor declares a state of emergency, no digital media outlet operating in the Commonwealth shall operate behind a paywall or collect personal information from users who seek access to digital media regarding the subject matter of any declared state of emergency while such state of emergency is in effect.
Secretary of Health and Human Resources; Pharmacy Benefits Manager and Third-Party Administrator Oversight Work Group; report. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, in consultation with the Attorney General, to convene the Pharmacy Benefits Manager and Third-Party Administrator Oversight Work Group to examine the impact of Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, 141 S. Ct. 474 (2020), and to formulate legislative recommendations for reducing prescription drug costs, minimizing health care expenses, reducing bureaucratic impediments to affordable health care, enhancing transparency, and improving overall health outcomes for residents of the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Work Group to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by November 1, 2026.
State Board of Local and Regional Jails; work group to review standards and regulations for pregnant and postpartum incarcerated persons in local and regional correctional facilities; report. Directs the State Board of Local and Regional Jails to convene a work group to conduct a review of existing standards for pregnant and postpartum incarcerated persons in local and regional correctional facilities and to develop recommendations for new standards and recommendations for pregnant and postpartum incarcerated persons by considering certain best practices. The bill requires the work group to report such findings and recommendations to the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security and to the Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees for Courts of Justice, the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services, and the House Committee on Public Safety by July 1, 2026, and to adopt regulations consistent with such findings and recommendations by December 1, 2027.
