Virginia College Savings Plan; Virginia College Opportunity Endowment and Fund. Directs the board of the Virginia College Savings Plan to deposit $250 million per year of surplus moneys from the Plan's fund into the Virginia College Opportunity Fund, established by the bill. The bill provides that such deposit shall not be made or shall be reduced in any year in which the College Opportunity Investment Advisory Committee determines that certain conditions relating to the Plan's funded status are not met. The Committee is established by the bill as an advisory committee for the Plan, for the purpose of determining the amount of deposits to be made to the Fund. The bill provides that financial management of the Fund is the responsibility of the board of the Plan but authorizes the board of the Virginia College Opportunity Endowment, also established by the bill, to manage a scholarship program funded by the Fund. The bill establishes an individual and corporate income tax subtraction for donations to the Fund. Under the bill, the Endowment provides scholarships to students who attend or plan to attend one of 12 eligible universities named in the bill. The bill provides that only such students who meet the eligibility requirements for a Federal Pell Grant and commit to being employed in Virginia, or being enrolled in postgraduate education in Virginia, for at least eight years after graduation from an eligible university are eligible for such scholarships.
Companion Animal Surgical Sterilization Program and Fund established. Establishes the Companion Animal Surgical Sterilization Program and Fund to reimburse participating veterinarians for the surgical sterilizations they perform on eligible cats or dogs. The bill provides that a surcharge of $50 per ton of pet food distributed in the Commonwealth be deposited in the Fund and such pet food be exempted from the existing litter tax. An animal will be eligible for sterilization under the Program if it is a feral or free-roaming cat or is owned by a low-income individual or a releasing agency such as an animal shelter.
Chief Resilience Officer of the Commonwealth; Office of Commonwealth Resilience; Interagency Resilience Working Group; Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund; Resilient Virginia Revolving Fund; Advisory Review Committee. Moves the position of Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) from under the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources to under the Governor and creates an Office of Commonwealth Resilience to support the CRO in his functions and duties. The bill requires the CRO to convene an Interagency Resilience Working Group to support the coordination of planning and implementation of resilience efforts, eliminates the position of Special Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Adaptation and Protection, and requires the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation to convene an Advisory Review Committee to assist in the distribution of loans and grants from the Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund. The bill also requires the Director to convene an Advisory Review Committee to assist in the distribution of loans and grants from the Resilient Virginia Revolving Fund and adds the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources and the CRO to the list of those with whom the Virginia Resources Authority is required to consult in directing the distribution of loans or grants from the Fund. The bill requires the Department to make available for public inspection at the office of the Department and on a publicly accessible website records of each application for grants and loans from the two Funds and the actions taken thereon. The Virginia Flood Resilience Advisory Committee replaces the Virginia Coastal Resilience Technical Advisory Committee effective February 1, 2025.
Special education; Parental Behavior Technician Registration and Participation Pilot Program; established. Establishes the Parental Behavior Technician Registration and Participation Pilot Program (the Pilot Program), to be developed and administered by the Board of Education in collaboration with the Department of Health and the Advisory Board on Behavioral Analysis, for the purpose of assisting parents of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with becoming a registered behavior technician (RBT) in order to provide assistance to their children both in the classroom as a volunteer under the supervision of a licensed behavior analyst or other qualified Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) individual and outside the classroom in the home environment. The bill provides that the Pilot Program shall assist any eligible parent, defined as any parent of a child with ASD who is enrolled in a public school in the Commonwealth and receives special education, by (i) providing assistance, resources, and support to any eligible parent in meeting the requirements to receive an RBT credential and (ii) coordinating with the school board of the school division in which the child of an RBT-credentialed parent is enrolled to set up a volunteer position for the parent to provide assistance as an RBT in his child's special education program under the supervision of a licensed behavior analyst or other qualified ABA individual. The bill provides that funds appropriated for the at-risk add-on or for support services from basic school aid, pursuant to relevant law, may be used to fund the Pilot Program. Finally, the bill requires the Board of Education to report annually to the Governor and the Generally Assembly by October 1 of each year for the duration of the Pilot Program on the progress of the Pilot Program. The provisions of the bill expire on July 1, 2027.
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 58.1-4030 and 58.1-4039 of the Code of Virginia and the fourth enactment of Chapter 1197 and the fourth enactment of Chapter 1248 of the Acts of Assembly of 2020, relating to sports betting; Virginia college sports. 24101271D
Constitutional amendment (first reference); marriage between two individuals; repeal of same-sex marriage prohibition; affirmative right to marry. Repeals the constitutional provision defining marriage as only a union between one man and one woman as well as the related provisions that are no longer valid as a result of the United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015). The amendment provides that the right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of persons and prohibits the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions from denying the issuance of a marriage license to two parties contemplating a lawful marriage on the basis of the sex, gender, or race of such parties. The Commonwealth and its political subdivisions are required to recognize any lawful marriage between two parties and to treat such marriages equally under the law, regardless of the sex, gender, or race of such parties. The amendment provides that religious organizations and clergy acting in their religious capacity have the right to refuse to perform any marriage.
Corporate income tax; distribution of revenues; state parks. Requires five percent beginning July 1, 2024, of all corporate income tax revenues to be distributed to the State Park Conservation Resources Fund to provide (i) free entry to Virginia state parks and (ii) the conservation, development, maintenance, and operations of state parks acquired or held by the Department of Conservation and Recreation as provided in the appropriation act. The bill provides that such distribution shall not reduce the total amount of annual appropriations for the Department and the Fund below the total amounts appropriated for the most recent fiscal year ending before July 1, 2024, except as provided by a subsequent appropriation act.
Surplus line broker taxes. Provides that any surplus lines broker or any person required to be licensed as one shall not be subject to the annual taxes, license taxes, or penalties under current law for any policy of insurance procured during the preceding calendar year on behalf of a commuter rail system jointly operated by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation District.
Board of Education; creation and maintenance of Virginia Parent Data Portal. Requires the Board of Education, on or before July 1, 2025, to create and maintain the Virginia Parent Data Portal that, among other things, (i) displays individualized student assessment data on all state-supported assessments, as that term is defined in the bill, (a) in a format that shows both current and cumulative data over time and (b) within 45 days of a state-supported assessment window closing for each state-supported assessment; (ii) provides a description of the purpose of each state-supported assessment, an explanation of how to interpret student data on each state-supported assessment, and a comparison of a student's performance on each state-supported assessment with the performance of the student's school, the student's school division, and the Commonwealth; (iii) is viewable from a mobile device in addition to a desktop computer; and (iv) provides functionality to enable school division personnel to manage and restrict user access to students and their parents. The bill requires the Board and the Department of Education to provide certain guidance and technical assistance to local school divisions on professional development for principals and teachers in parent engagement on and interpretation of student assessment data available through the Portal and requires each school board to annually provide high-quality professional development to principals and teachers on such topics. The bill satisfies the reenactment requirement of Chapter 652 of the Acts of Assembly of 2023.
Personal property tax relief; qualifying vehicles; reimbursement and appropriation. Provides for a portion of the general fund surplus at the close of the immediately preceding fiscal year to be appropriated for increased car tax relief. If more than $250 million in general fund surplus remains after all mandatory assignments under current law, then the total amount the Commonwealth shall pay in reimbursements to localities for providing required tangible personal property tax relief on qualifying vehicles for the immediately following tax year, beginning in tax year 2025, shall be $950 million plus up to 25 percent of the remaining surplus. In such case, the surplus amount would be held in reserve for appropriation for such tax relief and not further assigned by the Comptroller. If less than $250 million in general fund surplus remains after such mandatory assignments, the total amount of reimbursements from the Commonwealth to localities would remain at $950 million, the fixed amount under current law, and the remaining surplus would be assigned by the Comptroller for nonrecurring expenditures. Also beginning in tax year 2025, the bill increases from $20,000 to $30,000 the base vehicle value for which a county, city, or town shall establish its tangible personal property tax rate for each qualifying vehicle and reimbursements from the Commonwealth therefor.
Public elementary and secondary schools; compulsory attendance policies and procedures; educational neglect defined. Revises the policies and procedures relating to addressing the nonattendance or nonenrollment of a child subject to compulsory education requirements by expanding the definition of "abused or neglected child" to include educational neglect and, therefore, requiring any teacher, attendance officer, or other person employed by such child's school, to report such neglect to the appropriate authority in accordance with pertinent law. The bill defines "educational neglect" as the failure or refusal to provide necessary education for a child who is subject to compulsory attendance in accordance with relevant law and is enrolled in a public school and has missed 10 percent or more of the academic year, including by (i) causing or allowing the child to become chronically absent, defined as any student who has missed 10 percent or more of the academic year for any reason, including excused and unexcused absences, or (ii) failing or refusing to enroll a child in any school who is not otherwise exempt from school attendance if (a) such failure or refusal to enroll continues after the school notifies and institutes proceedings against the parent and (b) the time elapsed between the institution of proceedings and the continued noncompliance to date exceeds 10 percent of the academic year.
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 1 of Chapter 8 of Title 18.2 a section numbered 18.2-334.7, relating to exemptions to article; cruise ship gaming in the offshore waters of the Commonwealth. 24105708D
