Virginia Bills

Study; JLARC; effect of salaries, employmentbenefits, and other relevant factors on teacher recruitment and retention;report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commissionto study the effect of salaries, employment benefits, and other relevantfactors on recruiting and retaining high-quality, fully licensed teachers, including (i) examining salaries, employment benefits, andother financial benefits and incentives available to teachers inrelation to teacher recruitment and retention in each local schooldivision; (ii) identifying disparities in salaries, employment benefits,and other financial benefits and incentives available to teachersin relation to teacher recruitment and retention rates between high-povertyand rural school divisions, high-income school divisions, and theCommonwealth on average; (iii) reviewing salaries, employment benefits,and other financial benefits and incentives available to teachersin relation to the rates of teacher recruitment and retention andthe numbers of fully licensed teachers in adjoining states and theDistrict of Columbia; and (iv) identifying factors that positivelyimpact the recruitment and retention of high-quality, fully licensedteachers.

General Assembly; intergovernmental affairs;delegates to a convention for proposing amendments held under ArticleV of the Constitution of the United States. Provides for theselection by the General Assembly of delegates to attend a conventionfor proposing amendments held under Article V of the Constitutionof the United States. The bill grants the General Assembly the powerto recall delegates, appoint new delegates, and convene an advisorycommittee to oversee the conduct of delegates. The bill providesthat delegates must take an oath to adhere to the instructions ofthe General Assembly.

Animal control officers; additional training.Increases the number of hours of required additional training inanimal control and protection from 15 to 24 every three years forall animal control officers and deputy animal control officers employedby a locality.

Local tax credits; emergency services providers. Enables localities to by ordinance provide a credit against taxes and fees imposed by the locality to an individual who provides approved emergency services in the locality. As defined in the bill, "approved emergency services" include professional or volunteer local law enforcement or first responders who provide emergency services to a nonprofit organization or to the locality. The bill specifies that the credit shall not be applied against any property taxes or payments in lieu of property taxes but otherwise gives localities discretion to determine which taxes or fees are permissible uses of the credit. Under current law, localities may only provide such credit to volunteer first responders.

Marine Resources Commission; permits; public notice. Requires the Commissioner of Marine Resources to ensure that for any project under consideration for a Commission-issued permit the Commission sends public notice electronically to any business, residence, or civic organization that has requested to be added to the Commission's public notice email list.

Local government; installation of water-basedfire protection systems in new townhouse construction. Permitsa locality to allow the installation of automatic water-based fireprotection systems in new townhouse construction. The bill providesthat such ordinance shall require that the installation be completedin compliance with standards, requirements, and specifications forthe installation of an automatic water-based fire protection systemas prescribed by the National Fire Protection Association's NFPA13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems; NFPA13R, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems in Low-RiseResidential Occupancies; or NFPA 13D, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems in One- and Two-Family Dwellingsand Manufactured Homes in accordance with the Uniform StatewideBuilding Code.

Health insurance; disclosure of summary healthinformation. Requires, to the extent permitted by various protectedhealth information privacy laws, a group health plan that has 50or more participants to disclose information that summarizes theclaims history, claims expenses, or type of claims experienced byindividuals for whom a plan sponsor has provided health benefitsunder a group health plan to the plan sponsor if the plan sponsor requests the summary health information for the purposes of (i) obtaining premium bids from health plans for providing health insurance coverageunder the group health plan or (ii) modifying, amending, or terminatingthe group health plan.