Enterprise Zone Housing Availability Grant Program. Establishes the Enterprise Zone Housing Availability Grant Program. The bill provides that, to be eligible to receive a grant under the Program, a qualified zone developer, as defined by the bill, must rent or sell, subject to certain affordability restrictions, any residential property for which costs were incurred to construct, expand, or rehabilitate such property to a household that earns 80 percent or more of the area median income (AMI) of the locality in which the property is located, but less than 120 percent of such AMI. The bill further requires that such affordability restrictions remain in force for 10 years following the original execution of the lease or deed of sale for the property for which such costs were incurred. The bill authorizes grant awards based on a percentage of costs incurred to construct, expand, or rehabilitate the property. The bill directs the Board of Housing and Community Development to determine guidelines for the allocation of grants awarded, which must include a process for (i) certifying the income of the households renting or purchasing the residential property and (ii) monitoring compliance with ongoing affordability restrictions.
Fire Programs Fund; assessment. Increases the fire insurance assessment from one percent of total direct gross premium income for such insurance to (i) 1.5 percent on and after July 1, 2026, but before July 1, 2027, and (ii) two percent on and after July 1, 2027.
Board of Housing and Community Development; Uniform Statewide Building Code; stakeholder group to evaluate temperature regulation. Directs the Board of Housing and Community Development to convene a stakeholder advisory group to evaluate changes to the Uniform Statewide Building Code addressing temperature regulation. The stakeholder group shall submit its findings and recommendations to the Board and to the Chairs of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology no later than November 1, 2026.
Department of Social Services; foster care; new luggage; report. Directs the Department of Social Services to establish and maintain a decentralized supply of new luggage to be used to transport the personal belongings of a child in foster care. The bill requires the Department to provide new luggage to a child who is entering or exiting foster care or moving from one foster care placement to another and prohibits the Department from using disposable bags or trash bags to transport any items for a child in foster care. The bill requires the Commissioner of Social Services to report certain information related to new luggage to the General Assembly by no later than December 1 of each year.
Access to Housing Task Force; report. Establishes the Access to Housing Task Force for the purpose of evaluating short-term and long-term access to housing in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Task Force to report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly no later than November 1, 2026.
Early childhood care and education; Home-Based Child Care Provider Start-Up Grants Pilot Program established; requirements. Establishes the Home-Based Child Care Provider Start-Up Grants Pilot Program, whereby funds are provided to Child Care Aware of Virginia to work in conjunction with the public and private partners enumerated in the bill in order to expand the supply of licensed home-based child care providers in the Commonwealth, promote the safety of licensed home-based child care providers, and support access to child care for working parents in the Commonwealth, through providing for the award of grants to licensed and unlicensed home-based child care providers in the Commonwealth in accordance with the requirements of the bill. The bill requires Child Care Aware of Virginia to annually collect and make publicly available data on the number of home-based child care providers supported under the Program. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2029.
Comprehensive children's health care coverage program. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services (the Department) to establish a program to provide state-funded comprehensive health care coverage for individuals in the Commonwealth who are (i) under 19 years of age and (ii) not covered under a group health plan or health insurance coverage, or otherwise eligible for medical assistance services through the Commonwealth's program of medical assistance services established pursuant to Title XIX or XXI of the Social Security Act. The bill also requires the Department to ensure that all program information is made available in a manner that is accessible to individuals with limited English proficiency and individuals with disabilities through the provision of language access services, including oral interpretation and written translation, free of charge and to ensure that information obtained by the program remains confidential and is not disclosed for any purpose not related to the administration of the program or any purpose related to civil immigration enforcement unless the subject of the information consents to such disclosure or the requesting agency presents a valid judicial order, subpoena, or warrant. The bill requires the Department to seek all federal waivers and other approvals necessary to maximize federal financial participation in the cost of carrying out the program established by the bill.
Artificial Intelligence Workforce Impact Act established; report. Establishes reporting requirements for each state agency in the Commonwealth relating to the impact of artificial intelligence on the workforce. The bill requires each agency to submit quarterly reports to the Department of Human Resource Management detailing workforce impacts as a result of the use of one or more artificial intelligence systems during the preceding quarter. If an agency reports 10 or more workforce impacts as a result of the use of one or more artificial intelligence systems within a fiscal year, the bill requires such agency to submit an Artificial Intelligence Workforce Transition Plan to the Department within 120 days of such quarterly report in which the threshold was reached. The bill provides that a state employee whose job is eliminated, materially changed, or restructured due to the use of one or more artificial intelligence systems shall be eligible for (i) retraining or upskilling programs coordinated through the Department and the Virginia Community College System; (ii) priority consideration for vacancies for which such employee is qualified within any state agency; (iii) career transition services offered through the Virginia Employment Commission; and (iv) any additional support measures offered by the Department. The bill requires the Department to review the information received by agencies under the bill and submit annual reports to the Governor, the Secretary of Administration, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, and the Chairs of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations by November 1 of each year.
Line of Duty Act; transitional coverage. Requires the Department of Human Resource Management to acquire and provide temporary transitional health insurance coverage to disabled persons, eligible spouses, and eligible dependents during the period of transition into the LODA (Line of Duty Act) Health Benefits Plans. Current law authorizes but does not require the Department to acquire and provide such temporary transitional health insurance coverage to disabled persons, eligible spouses, and eligible dependents during such period.
Localities; Home Flood Protection Assistance Program. Enables a locality to establish by ordinance a Home Flood Protection Assistance Program to provide financial assistance to households to install temporary home flood exclusion tools at vulnerable entry points. Such financial assistance is limited to $3,000 per household and shall only be granted after a household has (i) completed a stormwater extension program, as defined in the bill, or local floodplain review, including an on-site assessment by the locality; (ii) completed all required or recommended passive or structural flood mitigation measures; and (iii) received verification from the locality that no further feasible passive or structural flood mitigation measures remain. The bill provides that a locality may utilize funds from the Resilient Virginia Revolving Fund in administering a Program and directs the Department of Conservation and Recreation to establish and maintain uniform product performance verification standards for home flood exclusion tools that will be the only such tools eligible for funds from a Program. The bill also provides that a locality establishing a Program may partner with locality-authorized nonprofit resilience organizations to assist in identifying households eligible for such Program, installing temporary home flood exclusion tools, training households on the proper deployment of such tools, and tracking the performance and effectiveness of such tools.
Virginia Military Community Infrastructure Grant Program and Fund; award guidelines. Provides that the Governor shall prioritize awarding grants pursuant to the Virginia Military Community Infrastructure Grant Program to projects that receive federal matching funds. The bill also updates the definition of "military community" to be one where more than five percent of the economy is derived from (i) military funding and (ii) supporting partner entities who aid in the planning, design, construction, or completion of infrastructure projects that enhance military readiness, installation resiliency, or quality of life for such locality's community, rather than only from military funding under current law.
Tangible personal property tax relief; rate of taxation. Requires, for tax year 2027 and all tax years thereafter, each county, city, or town to reduce its local tax rate on qualifying vehicles to no greater than $0.000001 per $100 of the eligible assessed value of the qualifying vehicle. The bill defines "eligible assessed value" as $5,000 of the assessed value of a qualifying vehicle. For tax year 2028 and all tax years thereafter, for any year in which the revenues of a county, city, or town grow by five percent or more, the bill provides that the eligible assessed value applied in such county, city, or town shall increase by an additional $5,000 until such time that the eligible assessed value equals $20,000.
