Virginia Private College Preservation and Maintenance Fund and Program established. Establishes the Virginia Private College Preservation and Maintenance Fund and Program, to be administered by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia in collaboration with the Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia and the Department of Historic Resources, for the purpose of awarding grants on a competitive basis to any nonprofit private institution of higher education whose primary purpose is to provide collegiate, graduate, or professional education and not to provide religious training or theological education to assist with the funding of renovation, restoration, repair, preservation, and deferred maintenance projects, with certain enumerated conditions such as providing sufficient evidence of matching funds for the project in an amount equal to the amount of the grant to be awarded and providing certain documentation and project monitoring for projects involving certified historic structures, as defined in the bill.
Consumer Data Protection Act; definition of "biometric data"; consent required for processing biometric data. Provides that, under the Consumer Data Protection Act, no consumer, controller, processor, or affiliate of the controller or processor shall process biometric data, defined separately in the bill, concerning an individual without obtaining the individual's consent, or, in the case of the processing of biometric data concerning a known child, without processing such data in accordance with the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
Virginia Retirement System; enhanced retirement benefits for 911 dispatchers. Allows local governments to provide enhanced retirement benefits for hazardous duty service to full-time salaried 911 dispatchers. The bill provides that such enhanced retirement benefits apply only to service earned as a full-time salaried 911 dispatcher on or after July 1, 2027, but allows an employer, as that term is defined in relevant law, to provide such enhanced retirement benefits for service earned as a full-time salaried 911 dispatcher before July 1, 2027, in addition to service earned on or after that date. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.
Fertilizer and lime permit requirements. Amends the provisions governing the permit requirements for bulk lime materials to add a distributor who holds a valid license to distribute a regulated product, as defined in the bill, to the list of people who can sell bulk liming material. The bill also removes duplicative language relating to (i) when a permit expires, (ii) the cost of obtaining a permit, and (iii) the authority of the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services to issue written notices and collect fees for failing to obtain a permit.
Income tax; energy-efficient homes tax credits. Authorizes a nonrefundable income tax credit, during taxable years 2026 through 2030, in an amount equal to $2,500 for the construction of an energy-efficient home or $1,000 for the purchase of such home. The bill also authorizes a nonrefundable income tax credit, during taxable years 2026 through 2030, in an amount equal to $5,000 for the construction of an extra-efficient home or $2,000 for the purchase of such home. The bill clarifies that either an eligible contractor or an eligible purchaser, but not both, shall be able to claim the credit for any single energy-efficient or extra-efficient home, as applicable, and establishes a maximum credit amount that an eligible purchaser or eligible contractor may claim per taxable year of $250,000.
Restaurants; sodium warning label required; civil penalty. Requires restaurants with three or more locations in the Commonwealth to display on its menu a sodium warning label next to or beneath each menu item containing 2,300 milligrams or more of sodium. Restaurants that violate the provisions of this bill shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $500 per violation.
Removal hearings; foster care; termination of parental rights; status as an Indian child; reasonable efforts; definition; services to families. Adds a definition of reasonable efforts for the purposes of hearings relating to the foster care of and petitions for the termination of parental rights over those children who are not determined to be a member of a Virginia-recognized or federally recognized tribe. The bill further requires that, at a preliminary removal hearing, or as soon as possible thereafter, and prior to any adjudicatory hearing, the court shall make a finding as to whether diligent efforts have been made to determine whether the child is an Indian child as defined in the Indian Child Welfare Act or a member of, or eligible for membership in, a tribe recognized by the Commonwealth. Under the bill, any such children would receive the protections of the Indian Child Welfare Act, including the federal standard of active efforts. The bill further directs the Department of Social Services to promulgate new regulations defining types of abuse and neglect, specifying that in situations where neglect is the result of family poverty and there are no outside resources available to the family, the parent or caretaker shall not be determined to have neglected the child, but the local department of social services shall provide appropriate and timely services to the family.
Department of Housing and Community Development; Virginia Disaster Assistance Fund; post-disaster recovery; floodplain mitigation and resilience projects. Requires the Department of Housing and Community Development (the Department) to amend its criteria for awarding money from the Virginia Disaster Assistance Fund (the Fund) to allow for moneys from the Fund to be used for post-disaster recovery projects that are consistent with the state floodplain management standards for state-owned buildings or local floodplain standards, whichever are more stringent. The bill requires the Department to give priority to projects that use nature-based solutions or promote green infrastructure when possible. The bill also requires the Department to coordinate with the Interagency Resilience Management Team when evaluating new applications for awards from the Fund to ensure that such projects are aligned with the Commonwealth's resilience principles.
Professions and occupations; regulation of real estate brokers, salespersons, and rental location agents; other powers and duties of the Real Estate Board; licensure; criminal history certification. Directs the Real Estate Board to promulgate regulations requiring an applicant for a new real estate license to certify his criminal history on his application. The bill further provides procedures for the Board to follow in granting licensure after applications are submitted but before criminal history is received. Finally, the bill directs the Board to require an applicant to certify on his license renewal application that he has no criminal history that he has not previously disclosed.
Elections; candidates for office; electronic filing of forms, petitions, and notifications with Department of Elections. Requires the Department of Elections to develop and implement an online filing system to accept any form, petition, or notification filed by electronic means by a party official or candidate. The bill requires the State Board of Elections to develop standards for the electronic preparation, production, submission, and transmittal of all forms required of party officials and candidates. The bill also requires the State Board to prescribe all candidate and party forms in both paper and electronic formats. The bill allows for the collection of petition signatures by electronic means and provides formal requirements for signatures on electronic petitions. The bill makes technical amendments to provide uniformity in requirements for all such electronic filings.
Sports betting; NCAA Division I sports. Creates an exception to the prohibition on placing or accepting bets on Virginia college sports by allowing such bets to be placed or accepted on Virginia colleges participating in an NCAA Division I competition for a given sport. The bill also imposes a tax of 50 percent on permit holders for bets placed on NCAA Division I sports played at Virginia colleges and universities and directs the Virginia Lottery to allocate 100 percent of such tax revenue to the NCAA Division I Sports Betting Fund, created in the bill, for the purpose of supporting NCAA Division I college and university athletic programs in the Commonwealth. The bill's effective date is contingent upon the enactment of legislation by the General Assembly that establishes a Virginia Gaming Commission or other similar agency for the purposes of overseeing legal forms of gaming in the Commonwealth.
Chesapeake Bay Pay for Outcomes Fund established. Establishes the Chesapeake Bay Pay for Outcomes Fund to provide outcome-based payments for verified reductions in nutrient and sediment pollution from nonpoint sources within the Chesapeake Bay watershed of the Commonwealth. The Department of Environmental Quality is directed to administer the Fund and to establish a competitive solicitation process for awarding payments from the Fund.
