Del. May Nivar

Department of Education; English language learner students; expenditures; data collection; report. Requires the Department of Education, in consultation with each school board, to annually collect, maintain, post publicly and conspicuously on its website, and report no later than November 1 to the Board of Education, the Governor, and the General Assembly data on expenditures for the education of English language learner students in each local school division. The bill requires such data to be disaggregated by school level, grade level, and student English proficiency level.

Court Date Reminder Program established. Establishes a Court Date Reminder Program, to be developed or procured by the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia, for the purpose of reminding criminal defendants to appear at each of their scheduled court appearances. The bill directs the Program to send a text message notification to any defendant with a criminal case in general district court or circuit court for whom the court has a telephone number prior to any scheduled hearing that requires his appearance and allows a defendant to opt out of participating in the Program. The Program has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.The bill also directs the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court to convene a Court Date Reminder Program work group to advise on the implementation and expansion of the Program and submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice by December 1, 2026.

Display of license plate; only rear plate required; exception. Permits every registered motor vehicle to display a single license plate issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles on the rear of the vehicle, except for tractor trucks, which shall display such license plate on the front of the vehicle. Current law requires license plates displayed on the front and rear of most such vehicles.

Charitable gaming; veterans service organizations; use of proceeds. Amends charitable gaming law to allow certain organizations, as a condition of receiving a charitable gaming permit or authorization to conduct electronic gaming, to use (i) with respect to charitable gaming other than electronic gaming, a predetermined percentage of its charitable gaming adjusted gross receipts, not to exceed 25 percent; and (ii) with respect to electronic gaming, a predetermined percentage of its electronic gaming adjusted gross receipts, not to exceed 25 percent; however, at no time shall such predetermined percentage be calculated at an amount equal to or less than 10 percent of its gross receipts derived from electronic gaming less the amount of prize money paid out to players. The bill adds to the definition of "organization" any organization that is exempt from income tax pursuant to § 501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Code and is operated, and has always been operated, to provide benefits to veterans of the United States Armed Forces. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.

Virginia Retirement System; enhanced retirement benefits for 911 dispatchers. Allows local governments to provide enhanced retirement benefits for hazardous duty service, other than a hazardous duty supplement, 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.

Average teacher salary in the Commonwealth; national average. Requires the Governor's introduced budget bills for the 2027 and 2028 Regular Sessions of the General Assembly to propose funding for, and state funding to be provided pursuant to the general appropriation act enacted during any regular or special session of the General Assembly during 2027 or 2028 to fund, the Commonwealth's share of compensation supplement incentives for Standards of Quality-funded instructional and support positions sufficient to increase the average teacher salary in the Commonwealth to at least the national average teacher salary by the end of fiscal year 2029 and establishes a detailed timeline and process for satisfying such requirement.

Virginia Retirement System; Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; emergency dispatchers. Extends membership in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System (VaLORS) to emergency dispatchers who are employed by the Department of State Police, Capitol Police, and agencies whose law-enforcement officers are eligible for membership in VaLORS. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027, and provides that such membership applies only to service earned on or after July 1, 2027.

Department of Health; Department of Social Services; publicly accessible nursing home information portal; publicly accessible assisted living facility information portal; reporting of incidents involving emergency medical services. Directs the Department of Health to establish a nursing home information portal and the Department of Social Services to establish an assisted living facility information portal to consolidate publicly available information on nursing homes and assisted living facilities, respectively. The bill requires operators of nursing homes and assisted living facilities to submit a quarterly report to the Department of Health or the Department of Social Services, respectively, with information on incidents involving emergency medical services.

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Adds (i) full-time sworn members of the enforcement division of the Department of Motor Vehicles, (ii) probation officers employed by the Department of Corrections, (iii) full-time sworn law-enforcement officers employed by the Department of Corrections, and (iv) full-time sworn law-enforcement officers employed by the Department of Juvenile Justice to membership in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027, and provides that such membership applies only to service earned on or after July 1, 2027.

Public high schools; personnel; career coach required. Requires each school board to employ at least one career coach in each public high school in the local school division whose duties shall include assisting students with securing internships, externships, and credentialing opportunities as required by the Profile of a Virginia Graduate, providing students with information on apprenticeship programs, and connecting students to career opportunities. The bill provides that each such individual shall work under the direction of school counselors to assist with direct counseling, as such term is defined in relevant law, relating to college and career readiness. The bill also provides that each such individual shall be employed in addition to and not as a replacement for the required school counselor positions, specialized student support positions, or support services positions.