Virginia Bills

A BILL to amend and reenact § 23.1-408.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to intercollegiate athletics, student-athletes; compensation and representation for name, image, or likeness. 24105621D

Driving Decarbonization Program and Fund created. Creates the Driving Decarbonization Program and Fund to assist private developers with non-utility costs associated with the installation of electric vehicle charging stations. The bill provides that a private developer is eligible to receive grants of 70 percent of such non-utility costs for electric vehicle charging stations installed in a historically economically disadvantaged community or a rural community, as those terms are defined in the bill, and 50 percent of such non-utility costs for electric vehicle charging stations installed in any other area of the Commonwealth. The bill caps the total amount of grants awarded in any fiscal year at $20 million.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; noncompliance with rental agreement; emergency eviction process. Reduces from 15 to seven the number of days, after the date upon which a tenant is served a landlord's intent to terminate the tenancy due to certain illegal activities by the tenant, within which the initial hearing on the landlord's action for immediate possession of the premises shall be held. The bill also reorganizes certain provisions of the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act to consolidate language and organize the structure of certain provisions of the Act.

Collective bargaining by firefighters and emergency medical services providers. Authorizes firefighters and emergency medical services providers employed by a political subdivision of the Commonwealth to engage in collective bargaining through labor organizations or other designated representatives. The bill provides for the appointment of a three-member board of arbitration regarding any dispute arising between an employer and firefighters or emergency medical services providers. Under the bill, determinations made by such board of arbitration are final on a disputed issue and are binding on the parties involved.

Planning districts; King George County. Moves King George County from Planning District 16 (George Washington Regional Commission) to Planning District 17 (Northern Neck Planning District Commission). The bill requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to assist with this transition.

Grounds for divorce; cruelty, abuse, desertion, or abandonment; waiting period. Eliminates the one-year waiting period for a divorce to be decreed on the grounds of cruelty, reasonable apprehension of bodily hurt, or willful desertion or abandonment.

Improvements, repairs, or maintenance of property; entering adjoining property; petition for entry. Allows an owner or lessee of real property who seeks to improve, repair, or maintain his property to petition the circuit court for a license to enter adjoining property for the purpose of performing the improvements, repairs, or maintenance when the property is so situated that it is impossible to perform the improvements, repairs, or maintenance without entering such adjoining property and permission to enter such adjoining property has been denied. The bill provides that such license shall be granted by the court in an appropriate case upon such terms as justice requires. No such entry shall be deemed a trespass, and the licensee shall be liable to the adjoining owner or his lessee for actual damages occurring as a result of the entry.

Nursing facilities; electronic monitoring in resident rooms. Gives residents of nursing facilities the right to place electronic monitoring devices in their rooms. "Electronic monitoring" is defined in the bill as video or audio monitoring or recording of residents of a nursing facility as a means of monitoring resident wellbeing.

Commonwealth Mass Transit Fund; Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority; budget; operating assistance. Provides that payments and obligations arising from or related to any contract pertaining to employee compensation and work conditions under the normal operation of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) may be included in the calculation of a WMATA budget increase for purposes of the cap of such budget increase. Current law provides that any payment or obligation of any kind arising from or related to legal disputes or proceedings between or among WMATA and any other person or entity shall not be used in calculating a WMATA budget increase.

Statewide prioritization process; primary evacuation routes. Adds maintenance of primary evacuation routes to the list of factors that must be considered by the Commonwealth Transportation Board as part of the statewide prioritization process for project selection. The bill directs the Board, in incorporating this new factor into the prioritization process, to not assign a weight to such factor and, instead, to set a bonus point value that may be added for projects that include maintenance of primary evacuation routes and shall apply such bonus point values to such projects when applicable.

Public elementary and secondary schools; student athletes; pre-participation mental health assessment required. Provides that no public elementary or secondary school student is permitted to be a participant on or try out for any school athletic team or squad with a predetermined roster, regular practices, and scheduled competitions with other elementary or secondary schools unless such student has submitted to the school principal a signed report from a licensed physician, licensed advanced practice registered nurse, or licensed physician assistant acting under the supervision of a licensed physician attesting that such student has, within the preceding 365 days, received both a physical examination and a mental health assessment. Current law only requires that the signed report attest that any such student has received a physical examination within the preceding 12 months. The bill prohibits any public elementary or secondary school from becoming a member of any organization or entity that regulates or governs interscholastic programs that does not deem eligible for participation any student who has satisfied the requirements for eligibility in accordance with the provisions of the bill. The provisions of the bill other than the requirement for the Board of Education to convene a work group have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.

SB 694 clarifies that skill-based games (like certain arcade or online games) are considered illegal gambling under state law unless specific existing statutes explicitly permit them. This bill directly affects businesses operating skill-based games by confirming they must comply with current legal exceptions rather than assuming broader permission. The key provision is a straightforward clarification of the existing legal framework, stating that skill games remain illegal unless a specific law already authorizes them. The bill does not create new exceptions but reinforces that authorization must come from existing statutes.