Cloud Computing Cluster Infrastructure Grant Fund; reclaimed water usage. Requires data center operators applying for grant payments from the Cloud Computing Cluster Infrastructure Grant Fund to utilize reclaimed water, defined in the bill, for water-dependent cooling processes at data center and cloud computing cluster operations facilities. The bill gradually increases the reclaimed water utilization requirement at such facilities from 60 percent of all water-dependent cooling processes beginning on July 1, 2027, to 100 percent on and after July 1, 2031.
Department of Conservation and Recreation; Disabled Veteran's Family Passport; free entry into state parks and discounted services. Directs the Department of Conservation and Recreation to establish a Disabled Veteran's Family Passport that entitles the bearer to enter state parks in the Commonwealth without the payment of a parking or admission fee. The bill provides that the Passport will be issued upon request to any immediate family member, as defined in the bill, of a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States who provides certain documentation to the Department. The bill authorizes the Department to require passport holders to re-certify such documentation no more than once every five years.
Workplace violence policy required for certain employers; civil penalty. Requires any employer of 100 or more employees to develop, implement, and maintain a workplace violence policy no later than January 1, 2027. The bill includes requirements for such a policy, such as procedures and methods for employee reporting of incidents and post-incident investigations. Employers subject to the bill are required to maintain documentation of workplace violence incidents for not less than five years. An employer that violates the provisions of the bill shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $1,000 per violation. The bill prohibits retaliation from an employer on the basis of reporting a workplace violence incident and provides that any employee who makes a report of workplace violence shall be immune from civil liability. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; proceedings for enforcement; petition for mandamus or injunction. Specifies that service of process or a summons for a hearing shall not be required when a petition for mandamus or injunction to enforce rights granted under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act has been filed.
Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention Act; fund and council established; report. Establishes the Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention Fund (the Fund) to provide funding to support clinical research and implementation of FDA Breakthrough Therapies, defined in the bill, for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, treatment-resistant depression, major depressive disorder, and traumatic brain injury. Under the bill, the Fund shall be used to (i) establish public-private partnerships to jointly fund Phase III clinical trials of FDA Breakthrough Therapies; (ii) conduct investigator-initiated clinical trials; (iii) establish a compassionate use program; (iv) create education and training opportunities for mental health professionals; (v) begin patient access pilot programs; and (vi) conduct implementation studies for best practices, cost-effectiveness, and methods to reduce treatment costs. The bill also establishes the Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention Advisory Council to advise the Department of Health on administration of grant funding or contracting to carry out the purposes of the Fund. Finally, the bill requires the Board of Pharmacy to amend its regulations to designate, reschedule, or deschedule a controlled substance in accordance with federal law after the expiration of 30 days from the publication in the Federal Register of a final or interim final order or rule.
Special license plates in recognition of those lost or injured in military service; fees. Eliminates the annual registration fee and annual fee for one special license plate for any veteran who has been certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as having a service-connected disability. Existing law authorizes the waiver of such fees for one special license plate for any disabled veteran who has either lost, or lost the use of, a leg, arm, or hand, is blind, or is permanently and totally disabled as certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or his unremarried surviving spouse. The bill also exempts special license plates for immediate family members of persons who have died in military service to their country from the annual fee assessed for special license plates.
Disposition of Fort Whitworth. Authorizes the Governor to convey Fort Whitworth to the Petersburg Battlefields Foundation. The conveyance shall be made without consideration and in as-is condition.
Localities; liability insurance; certain waiver of sovereign immunity. Provides that a locality or political subdivision may provide liability insurance, including self-insurance, to cover damages or other expenses in certain civil actions arising out of an act or omission of certain officers, employees, board or commission members, or volunteers while such person is acting within the scope of his official duties. The bill provides that the provision of such liability insurance or self-insurance shall constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity in an amount not to exceed the combined total of any self-insurance coverage, insurance coverage under a group self-insurance pool, or any coverage pursuant to a policy purchased from an insurance company, including any excess or reserve coverage. The bill also provides that the insurer or self-insured shall not have a duty to defend or indemnify any covered person in cases where the act or omission took place outside the scope of such covered person's employment or official duties, where such act or omission was done maliciously or occurred as a result of gross negligence or willful misconduct, or is otherwise excluded by the terms of the policy.
Superintendent of Public Instruction; employment of certified school library specialists. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to employ in the Department of Education at least one certified school library specialist who shall have several duties enumerated in the bill, including (i) providing leadership and technical assistance with the implementation and use of information literacy skills to school divisions, Department staff, and other stakeholders to support student achievement; (ii) directing the implementation of state and national school library standards and consulting with and providing technical assistance to local school divisions relating to such standards; (iii) collaborating on various grants and other initiatives that promote student literacy through school library programs throughout the Commonwealth; (iv) supporting student learning through instructional programs in which students are required to demonstrate information literacy, digital literacy and fluency, and effective use of technology and instructional programs that incorporate science, technology, engineering, and math learning; and (v) providing the Department, the Board of Education, the General Assembly, and school boards with support relating to student learning through the use of school library standards and library resources.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 58.1-3912 of the Code of Virginia, relating to real property tax bills; disclosure; resource protection area.
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.
Elections; filling vacancies in county and city governing bodies. Removes the ability to fill a vacancy in a county or city governing body by an interim appointment and requires that a special election be held to fill any such vacancy. The bill requires the local governing body to petition the court for a writ of special election within one day of the occurrence of the vacancy and for the court to promptly issue the writ for a special election no more than 45 days from the date the writ is issued, with extensions for special election dates that would conflict with primary and general elections.
