Commonwealth Savers Plan; State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; Virginia College Access and Affordability Scholarship Fund established; work group; report. Directs the transfer of actuarial surplus defined benefit prepaid tuition contract funds from the Commonwealth Savers Plan (the Plan) Fund into a DB529 Fund established by the bill to be deposited into the Virginia College Access and Affordability Scholarship Fund (the Access Fund) established by the bill. Under the bill, the DB529 Fund and the Access Fund operate as subfunds of the Commonwealth Savers Plan Fund. The bill further provides that the Plan shall initially deposit $500 million from the DB529 Fund into the Access Fund to be invested and managed by the Plan. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall no less than biennially complete an independent evaluation and risk assessment of the Plan's risk assessment model, assumptions, and other measures employed by the Plan related to the DB529 Fund and the Access Fund. Funds in the Access Fund shall be used to establish a scholarship program that is managed and administered by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (the Council). The scholarship program provides scholarship awards to students enrolled in an eligible education program, defined in the bill, and a portion of the funds are to be devoted to college access resources or programs to assist low-income students, first generation college students, students from underrepresented communities, or other at-risk students with their introduction to the higher education system in Virginia, college applications, financial aid applications, and resources assisting with a successful transition from high school to college. The Council is required to report on the Access Fund and scholarship program no later than December 31 of each year. Finally, the bill (i) directs the Council to establish a work group of higher education stakeholders to make recommendations on allocations of funds available through the Access Fund and scholarship program and directs the work group to report to the House Committees on Education and Appropriations and Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance and Appropriations no later than November 1, 2026, and (ii) prohibits the Plan from implementing or taking part in any initiatives relating to the aforementioned college access programs on or after July 1, 2026, except for existing access programs related to a prepaid tuition contract entered into on or before June 30, 2026, and existing program offerings made available for SOAR Virginia and GEAR UP Virginia.
Prohibited acquisition of single-family homes; affidavit; civil penalty. Restricts any partnership, corporation, or real estate investment trust that manages funds pooled from investors, is a fiduciary to such investors, has net value or assets under management on any day during a taxable year, and holds an interest in more than 50 single-family homes from acquiring any interest in any other single-family home, as defined in the bill to include manufactured home parks and residential single-family homes split into multiple dwellings, on or after July 1, 2026. The bill also requires an offering purchaser of a manufactured home park to provide a notarized affidavit certifying that the purchaser is not prohibited from acquiring such an interest. Any false statements on such affidavit is subject to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per occurrence.
Local, regional, and school library material. Requires the establishment of model policies and the subsequent establishment of local policies that are consistent with such model policies on the selection, purchase, curation, display, and removal of library material, as that term is defined in the bill, in local, regional, and school libraries in the Commonwealth. The bill requires such policies, among other things, to prohibit the censorship, as such term is defined in the bill, of library material and to establish a process by which certain individuals with a vested interest in the relevant library may request that the library material be reclassified, moved to a different section of the library, or removed from the library. The bill also permits certain individuals to seek certain types of relief in a court of competent jurisdiction for certain harms suffered as the result of violations of such policies.
Grants for certain students at public institutions of higher education; qualifications. Removes the requirement for each public institution of higher education to provide a grant for the payment of tuition, certain mandatory education and general fees, and, at baccalaureate institutions, room and board, for any Virginia student who was considered a special needs adoption at any time after he turned 14. The bill also clarifies that only a Virginia student who has received a high school diploma or has passed a high school equivalency examination approved by the Board of Education and who was in foster care in the Commonwealth after he turned 14 or who was in foster care in the Commonwealth when he turned 18 and subsequently received a high school diploma or passed a high school equivalency examination approved by the Board of Education is eligible for such a grant. Current law that governs such grant eligibility is silent on the location of such foster care placement.
Public education; special education dispute resolution system; administration, organization, oversight, and training; regional special education ombudsman established. Makes several revisions and updates to the special education dispute resolution system, services, and resources in the Commonwealth, including by (i) requiring the Board of Education to prescribe procedures providing for a tiered dispute resolution system that encourages the use of mediation as an informal means of resolving disputes relating to special education and related services; (ii) expanding the duties of the State Parent Ombudsman for Special Education, including by requiring it to develop and implement an anonymous evaluation survey for individuals after contacting or using the State Parent Ombudsman for Special Education, collaborate with the Office of the Children's Ombudsman, provide certain training to its staff by a neutral, qualified expert, and provide additional support, resources, and technical assistance to the Parent Training and Information Center; (iii) expanding the duties of the Department of Education relating to the special education dispute resolution system, including requirements relating to oversight of school division complaints, the provision of neutral, qualified IEP facilitators and mediators, and the provision of training on the tiered dispute resolution system to parents, school personnel, and all special education mediators and hearing officers; and (iv) directing the Department of Education to establish four regional special education ombudsman centers for the purpose of serving as a resource for parents and school personnel on matters relating to the special education dispute resolution system and assisting with the monitoring and oversight of school division and school compliance with federal and state laws and regulations relating to special education dispute resolution.
Public utilities; vegetation management in public parks. Requires a public utility, when managing trees, shrubs, or other plants located in any public park owned or operated by a locality, to consult with the locality and aim to trim or prune such trees, shrubs, or other plants only to the extent necessary to preserve the reliability of service.
School Construction Program; eligibility; projects completed or initiated within immediately preceding 10-year period. Provides that public school buildings and facilities that are eligible for grants pursuant to the School Construction Program include any building or facility for which the construction, renovation, or expansion was completed or initiated within the 10-year period immediately preceding the grant application.
Zoning; special exceptions; City of Portsmouth. Adds the City of Portsmouth to those localities that have been granted authority to impose a condition upon any special exception relating to retail alcoholic beverage control licensees that provides that such special exception will automatically expire upon a change of ownership of the property, a change in possession, a change in the operation or management of a facility, or the passage of a specific period of time.
Charter; City of Newport News. Amends the charter for the City of Newport News by requiring the establishment of a citizen compensation committee that shall perform a detailed analysis and provide salary recommendations for members of city council prior to the city council approving any salary increase.
Public school funding; composite index of local ability-to-pay; use value of real estate devoted to certain uses. Requires, for the purpose of determining the state and local shares of basic aid funding, that the composite index of local ability-to-pay utilize the use value of all applicable real estate (i) devoted to agricultural use, horticultural use, forest use, and open-space use in each locality that has adopted an ordinance by which it provides for the use valuation and taxation of such real estate and (ii) used in agricultural and forestal production within an agricultural district, forestal district, agricultural and forestal district, or agricultural and forestal district of local significance in each locality that provides for the use valuation and taxation of such real estate, regardless of whether it has adopted a local land-use plan or local ordinance for such valuation and taxation.
Court fines and fees; indigent defendant; waiver of fees. Provides that in any criminal or traffic case, the court may waive the assessment of certain fees specified in the bill, either wholly or in part, if the court determines the defendant to be indigent pursuant to the financial criteria set forth in relevant law and unable to pay such fee. The bill provides that the court may make such determination sua sponte or upon motion of the defendant at any time prior to the entry of an order for which such fee is assessed or the final order has been entered.
Extreme Weather Taxpayer Protection Program and Fund established. Establishes the Extreme Weather Taxpayer Protection Program and Fund, administered by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, for the purpose of holding parties responsible for covered greenhouse gas emissions between the covered period of January 1, 1995, and December 31, 2025, for the parties' share of the Commonwealth's costs due to climate change. The bill defines responsible parties as fossil fuel extractors or crude oil refiners causing emissions of one billion metric tons or more of covered greenhouse gases during the covered period. Under the bill, responsible parties are strictly liable for cost recovery payments to the Commonwealth. The bill requires the State Treasurer to conduct an assessment of the costs to the Commonwealth and its residents of the emissions of covered greenhouse gases during the covered period. The bill establishes the Extreme Weather Relief Fund into which the cost recovery payments from responsible entities are deposited and used to pay for extreme weather relief projects, as defined in the bill.
