2023 General Assembly Session

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Certain Construction Contracts; Performance and Payment Bonds HB 1490 (Davis) allows localities to allow a contractor of indefinite delivery or quantity contracts, defined in the bill, who is otherwise required to furnish performance and payment bonds in the sum of the contract amount to the public body with which he contracted to furnish such bonds only the dollar amount of the individual tasks identified in the underlying contract. Such contractors shall not be required to furnish the sum of the contract amount if the governing locality has adopted such an ordinance.

False Emergency Communication to Emergency Personnel; Penalties; Report HB 1572 (Walker) and SB 1291 (Deeds) provide that it is a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person to knowingly report, or cause another to report in reliance on intentionally false information provided by such person, a false emergency communication to any emergency personnel that results in an emergency response. The bills also provide that it is a Class 6 felony if such false emergency communication results in an emergency response during which and as a result of such emergency response any person suffers a serious bodily injury and a Class 5 felony if any person is killed. The bill authorizes any locality to provide by ordinance that a person convicted of such false emergency communication shall be liable for the reasonable expense in responding to such false emergency communication.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Cooperative Procurement; Installation of Playground Equipment HB 1610 (Tata) excludes the installation of playground equipment, including all associated and necessary construction and maintenance, from the prohibition on using cooperative procurement to purchase construction.

Civil Cause of Action; Sexual Abuse by Person of Authority; Limitations Period HB 1647 (Anderson) creates a civil cause of action for injury to a person 18 years of age or older resulting from sexual abuse by a person of authority, defined in the bill. The bill further specifies that any such action shall be brought within 15 years after the cause of action accrues.

School Resource Officer Grants Program and Fund HB 1691 (Greenhalgh)  and SB 1099 (Norment) provide that matching grants from the School Resource Officer Incentive Grants Fund may be awarded to local law-enforcement agencies and local school boards for the expenses related to the equipment necessary for uniformed school resource officers, school security officers, and other relevant school safety personnel and the enhancement of the school-law enforcement partnership through training and programming as determined by the Department; provided, however, that such grants shall not be used for any expense related to the purchase of firearms, handcuffs or other wrist restraints, or any stun weapon.

Passing Stopped School Buses; Purpose of Stop; Prima Facie Evidence HB 1723 (Simonds) makes evidence that a bus was stopped with at least one warning device activated prima facie evidence that the bus was stopped for the purpose of taking on or discharging children, the elderly, or mentally or physically handicapped persons.

School Bus Operators; Training; Remote Online and Spanish Language Options HB 1928 (Durant) permits the training program developed by the Board of Education for school bus operators to offer the option for an applicant for employment as a school bus operator to except as otherwise provided in relevant law, complete all or any portion of the required hours of classroom training in a remote online format, as determined by the local school division and receive instruction in the Spanish language for all or any portion of the required hours of classroom training, as determined by the local school division.

Passing Stopped School Buses; Rebuttable Presumption HB 1995 (Krizek) and SB 868 (Cosgrove) extends from 10 days to 30 business days the deadline for issuing a summons for an alleged violation of passing a stopped school bus in order for proof that the motor vehicle passed a stopped school bus and that the defendant was the registered owner of the vehicle to give rise to a rebuttable presumption that the owner of the vehicle was the operator during the violation.

School Crossing Zones HB 2104 (Bourne) increases the maximum boundaries of a school crossing zone from 600 feet to 750 feet from the limits of school property.

Firearm safety device tax credit. HB 2387 (Lopez) establishes a nonrefundable income tax credit for taxable years 2023 through 2027 for individuals who purchase one or more firearm safety devices, as defined in the bill, in an eligible transaction, as defined in the bill. An individual who properly claims this credit shall be allowed a credit in the amount of up to $300 for the cost incurred in such purchase. The aggregate amount of credits allowable under the provisions of the bill shall not exceed $5 million per taxable year.

Criminal Records; Expungement and Sealing of Records; Repeal HB 2400 (Herring) and SB 1402 (Surovell) repeal the statute providing for the limitation on the dissemination of criminal history record information related to the possession of marijuana and the statute related to automatic sealing for mistaken identity or unauthorized use of identifying information. The bills also repeal the provisions related to the automatic and petition-based expungement of former marijuana offenses and instead provides for the sealing of such offenses. The bills also remove the provisions related to the automatic sealing of underage possession of alcohol offenses and instead provides for petition-based sealing of such offenses. The bills create an electronic, name-based criminal history record search to be used when an expungement or sealing petition is filed and requires the court to maintain a copy of a sealing order and send an electronic notification, rather than an order as current law requires, to the Department of State Police after an offense is sealed. The bills also allow courts and attorneys for the Commonwealth to access sealed records in instances where the court or parties failed to strictly comply with sealing procedures or an order for sealing was entered contrary to law and clarifies that a petition for sealing can only include offenses that arose out of the same transaction or occurrence. The bills make additional changes to the processes for expungement and sealing, including updates to the process of forwarding a petitioner's criminal history record to the court and maintaining expungement pleadings under seal. The bills provide a petition process by which the person who was charged with an offense that was ordered to be expunged may request access to such expunged court or police record.  The repeal of the statute related to the limitation on the dissemination of criminal history record information related to the possession of marijuana and various other provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of the earlier of (i) the date on which the processes to seal criminal history record information and court records pursuant to Chapters 524 and 542 of the Acts of Assembly of 2021, Special Session I, become effective or (ii) July 1, 2025.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Construction Management; Contract Requirements HB 2450 (Campbell) and SB 1491 (Bell) exclude construction management contracts involving infrastructure projects from the requirement that no more than 10 percent of the construction work be performed by the construction manager with its own forces and that the remaining 90 percent of the construction work be performed by subcontractors of the construction manager.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Private Contracts; Payment of Subcontractors HB 2500 (Wiley) and SB 1313 (Bell) provide that in contracts for construction, contractors shall be liable to their subcontractors for the entire amount owed to their subcontractors regardless of the contractors’ receipt of payment from another party. The bills allow contractors to withhold payment from a subcontractor only for such subcontractor’s noncompliance with the terms of the contract and requires the contract or to provide reasonable notice of the reason for such withholding. Reasons for nonpayment in an agreement between an owner and general contractor must be disclosed within 45 days of the receipt of an invoice by the owner to the general contractor, and nonpayment reasons must be disclosed within 50 days of the receipt of an invoice by the contractor to the subcontractor.

School Security Officer Day HJ 469 (Taylor) designates the first Monday in October, in 2023 and in each succeeding year, as School Security Officer Day in Virginia.

Standards for the maintenance and operations, renovation, and new construction of public elementary and secondary school buildings. SB 1124 (Stanley) require the Board of Education to make recommendations to the General Assembly for amendments to the Standards of Quality to establish standards for the maintenance and operations, renovation, and new construction of public elementary and secondary school buildings. The bill requires such recommendations to include standards for the percentage of the current replacement value of a public school building that a school board should budget for the maintenance and operations of the building and such other standards as the Board deems appropriate. The bill also requires the Board to solicit the input of relevant stakeholders and the public in developing such recommendations. Finally, the bill requires the Board to submit its recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than December 1, 2023. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization. Note that an adopted Governor’s amendment pushes back the deadline for the submission of recommendations to July 1, 2024.

Threat Assessment Team Members; Training Requirement SB 1359 (Norment)  requires new threat assessment team members at each public elementary and secondary school to complete initial threat assessment training and all threat assessment team members to complete refresher training every three years.

Child Abuse or Neglect; Definition; Independent Activities SB 1367 (Vogel) Clarifies that no child whose parent or other person responsible for his care allows the child to engage in independent activities without adult supervision shall for that reason alone be considered to be an abused or neglected child, provided that (a) such independent activities are appropriate based on the child's age, maturity, and physical and mental abilities and (b) such lack of supervision does not constitute conduct that is so grossly negligent as to endanger the health or safety of the child. The bill provides that such independent activities may include traveling to or from school or nearby locations by bicycle or on foot, playing outdoors, or remaining at home for a reasonable period of time.

Automated External Defibrillators Required SB 1453 (McPike) requires each local school board to develop a plan for the placement, care, and use of an automated external defibrillator in every public elementary and secondary school in the local school division and to place an automated external defibrillator in every public elementary and secondary school in the local school division. Note that an adopted Governor’s amendment requires the Department of Education to compile and make publicly available on its website by August 1, 2024, a list of available public and private programs, grants, or funding sources for fulfilling the requirements of this act.

Control of Firearms by Localities HB 1427 (LaRock), SB 805 (Chase), SB 1236 (Obenshain) would have removed a locality's authority to prohibit the possession or carrying of firearms, ammunition, or components or any combination thereof in any public park owned or operated by the locality;  any recreation or community center facility operated by the locality; or any public street, road, alley, or sidewalk or public right-of-way or any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public and is being used by or is adjacent to a permitted event or an event that would otherwise require a permit.

Carrying Loaded Firearms in Public Areas Prohibited; Certain Localities; Repeal HB 1428 (LaRock) would have repealed the prohibition on carrying certain loaded shotguns and semi-automatic center-fire rifles and pistols in certain localities in the Commonwealth.

School Buses; Use of Warning Devices Before Proposed Stop HB 1537 (Jenkins) would have increased the distance before a proposed stop that a school bus must use its warning devices from 100 feet to 200 feet if the lawful speed limit is less than 35 miles per hour and from 200 feet to 500 feet if the lawful speed limit is 35 miles per hour or more.

Employment of K-9 Detection Teams in Public Schools Permitted HB 1556 (Brewer) would have permitted any school board to employ or hire on a contract basis in any public elementary or secondary school in the local school division a full-time or part-time K-9 Detection Team, defined in the bill as a safety assessment team that consists of a canine and a canine handler who are trained specifically to detect explosives, firearms, narcotics, and tobacco products and nicotine vapor products, as those terms are defined in relevant law, and is employed by a school board or hired by a school board on a contract basis to provide such detection services in public elementary and secondary schools in the local school division pursuant to a contract with an entity that is approved by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to train canines and canine handlers to provide such detection services.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Competitive Negotiation; Allows Localities to Post Public Notice On Appropriate Websites HB 1611 (Williams-Graves) and SB 859 (Cosgrove) would have removed the requirement that if a local public body elects not to publish notice of a Request for Proposal in a newspaper of general circulation in the area in which the contract is to be performed, then such local public body shall post such notice on the Department of General Services' central electronic procurement website. The bill would have allowed local public bodies to post such notice on any appropriate website without requiring local public bodies to post such notice in a newspaper.

False Emergency Communication to Emergency Personnel; Penalties; Report HB 1613 (Williams-Graves) would have provided that it is a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person to knowingly report, or cause another to report in reliance on intentionally false information provided by such person, a false emergency communication to any emergency personnel that results in an emergency response. The bill would have also provided that it is a Class 6 felony if such false emergency communication results in an emergency response during which and as a result of such emergency response any person suffers a serious bodily injury and a Class 5 felony if any person is killed.

Study; JLARC; Effects of Gun Violence on Communities; Report HB 1656 (Price) would have directed the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study the social, physical, emotional, and economic effects of gun violence on communities across the Commonwealth.

School Building Maintenance Reserves HB 1694 (Simonds) and SB 1045 (McPike) would have required each local school board to establish and include in any multiyear capital improvement plan or substantially similar document that it adopts a school building maintenance reserve target of at least 1.5 percent of the replacement value of such building in order to avoid major replacement costs in the future.

Attorney General; Instituting or Conducting Criminal Prosecutions for Violations of Criminal Sexual Assault and Commercial Sex Trafficking Committed Against Children HB 1705 (Bell) and SB 902 (McDougle) would have authorized the Attorney General to institute or conduct criminal prosecutions in cases involving a violation of criminal sexual assault or commercial sex trafficking when such crimes are committed against children.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Competitive Sealed Bidding; Invitation to Bid; Required Statements HB 1743 (Carr) would have required every written Invitation to Bid issued pursuant to the Virginia Public Procurement Act to incorporate certain statements of qualifications for potential contractors related to responsible contracting, direct hiring, prevailing wages, and participation in apprenticeship programs.

Speed Limit In Residence Districts; Local Authority; Penalty HB 1785 (Carr) would have authorized the governing body of any city to reduce the default speed limit on any highway maintained by the city that is located in a residence district to less than 25 miles per hour unless otherwise indicated by a sign and to adopt increased penalties for operation of a motor vehicle 15 miles per hour or more above the posted speed limit in a residence district. The bill would have clarified that the requirement for signage for a conviction of a speeding violation does not apply to ordinances adopted setting a default speed limit as provided in the bill.

Grant and Procurement Awards; Certification for Small, Women-Owned, or Minority-Owned Businesses HB 1829 (Torian) would have required that for any grant or contract issued or entered into by the Governor, a state agency, or a locality, such entity shall inquire whether the grant recipient, bidder, offeror, or contractor is a small, women-owned, or minority-owned business and whether it is certified by the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity (DSBSD) for procurement enhancement. If such business is eligible but not certified, the bill would have directed DSBSD to provide it with information on the certification process and encourage it to apply for certification.

Construction and Renovation; Renewable Energy Generation Facilities; Report HB 1852 (Subramanyam) and SB 848 (Favola) would have directed the Commission on School Construction and Modernization, in consultation with the Department of Energy, to develop and make recommendations on strategies to assist interested school divisions with incorporating renewable energy generation facilities in the construction or renovation of school buildings.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Prohibition on Boycotting Israel HB 1898 (McGuire) and SB 1375 (Vogel) would have required all public bodies to include in every contract in excess of $100,000 with a business that employs more than 10 employees and in every subcontract or purchase order in excess of $10,000 a provision that states that during the performance of the contract, neither the contracting business, nor any of its affiliates, shall engage in a boycott of Israel.

Powers of Local Authorities; Reducing Speed Limits; Highways In The Primary and Secondary State Highway Systems  HB 1939 (Plum) would have authorized the governing body of any locality to reduce to less than 25 miles per hour, but not less than 15 miles per hour, the speed limit of highways that are part of the primary and secondary state highway systems located in a business district or residence district within the locality's boundaries, provided that the reduced speed limit is indicated by lawfully placed signs.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Construction Management and Design-Build Contracting; Applicability HB 1957 (Leftwich) would have required a two-step process consisting of a preconstruction contract and competitive sealed bidding for construction services for certain projects totaling less than $125 million. Complex projects, defined in the bill, may request an exemption from the provisions of the bill and relevant law from the Secretary of Administration. If a complex project totals would have been more than $125 million, the bill would have provided that an exemption from the provisions of the bill and relevant law would not have been required. Finally, the bill would have stated that competitive sealed bidding is the preferred method of procurement for construction services in the Commonwealth.

Assault and Battery; Persons Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disability, or Mental Illness; Penalties HB 2074 (Murphy) and SB 1272 (Boysko) would have provided that any person charged with a simple assault and battery offense who has been diagnosed by a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist with an autism spectrum disorder, an intellectual disability, or serious mental illness shall not be subject to a mandatory minimum punishment if the court finds that the violation was caused by or had a direct and substantial relationship to the person's disorder or disability.

Firearm Locks Required for Sale or Transfer of Handguns; Warning Against Accessibility to Children; Penalty HB 2078 (Murphy) would have made it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, or licensed dealer to sell, deliver, or transfer any handgun to any person other than a licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, or licensed dealer, unless the transferee is provided with a locking device for that handgun, or unless the handgun is accompanied by a warning, in conspicuous and legible type in capital letters printed on a label affixed to the gun and on a separate sheet of paper included within the packaging enclosing the handgun, that handguns should be locked and kept away from children and that there may be civil and criminal liability for failing to do so. The bill would have provided exceptions for law-enforcement and governmental agencies.

Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit; Use for Historic School Buildings HB 2109 (Bourne) would have extended the historic rehabilitation tax credit to include improvements to or reconstruction of a historic school building. Historic school building would have been defined in the bill as a certified historic structure or a structure that is at least 50 years old that is a public school or is to be used as a public school.

Regulations Governing the Use of Seclusion and Restraint in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools in Virginia; School Security Officers and School Resource Officers HB 1981 (Kory) and would have required the Board of Education's Regulations Governing the Use of Seclusion and Restraint in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools in Virginia to apply to school security officers and school resource officers and would have required the Board to make such amendments to such regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the provisions of the bill.

Photo speed monitoring devices; locality-designated highway segments. HB 2119 (Hudson) would have authorized any locality to authorize, by ordinance, its local law-enforcement agency to place and operate photo speed monitoring devices in certain locations named in the ordinance, provided that (i) the highway has a posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour or greater; (ii) the ordinance identifies the locality-designated speeding offense to be enforced by the photo speed monitoring device; (iii) speeding, crash, or fatality data supports the need for stronger enforcement against speeding; and (iv) in counties and towns whose roads are subject to the control and jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation, the locality-designated highway segment is in the secondary state highway system. The bill would have directed the locality to also identify the speeding violations that may be enforced by photo speed monitoring device. Current law authorizes the use of photo speed monitoring devices in highway work zones and school crossing zones.

Mental Health Awareness Training; School Bus Drivers HB 2154 (Guzman) would have required each school bus driver employed in each local school division in the Commonwealth to complete at least once a mental health awareness training or similar program provided by the local school board.

School Crossing Zones; Speed Decrease; Planning District 8 HB 2218 (Tran) would authorized the governing body of a county in Planning District 8 to decrease the speed limit in a school crossing zone if the school board having jurisdiction over such school passes a resolution requesting the decrease of the speed limit in such school crossing zone. The bill would have provided that the authority to increase and decrease such speed limits applies on highways in the state highway system.

Secured Schools Program and Fund HB 2236 (Hayes) would have established the Secured Schools Program and Secured Schools Program Fund, established by and implemented by the Department of Criminal Justice Services (Department), as a comprehensive, prompt, and reliable first warning notification and emergency broadcast system for each PSAP in the Commonwealth to allow elementary or secondary school faculty to alert the local PSAP of an imminent threat to public safety within the elementary or secondary school and alert administration at each elementary and secondary school located within such PSAP's service area in the case of an imminent threat to public safety within the proximity boundary of the elementary or secondary school, as established by school administrators and local law enforcement. The bill would have allowed such alerts to be issued by means of website announcements; email notices; phone, cellular phone, or text messages; alert lines; public address systems; panic buttons; or any other means of communication.

Standards for the Maintenance and Operations, Renovation, and New Construction of Public Elementary and Secondary School Buildings HB 2307 (Simonds) would have required the Board of Education to make recommendations to the General Assembly for amendments to the Standards of Quality to establish standards for the maintenance and operations, renovation, and new construction of public elementary and secondary school.

Sports Facilities; Automated External Defibrillator Required HB 2337 (Sewell) would have required that every sports facility, defined in the bill, in the Commonwealth have a working automated external defibrillator.

Anonymous Reporting System; Assessment of Risk of Violence and Prevention of Student Harm to Self or Others HB 2346 (Guzman) would have encouraged each school board to contract with a private nonprofit organization to procure and make available an anonymous reporting system for the assessment of risk or violence and the prevention of student harm to self or others that includes the following features and components: a secure platform for students to submit messages and tips relating to violence or harm to self or others by telephone, website, and a multiplatform compatible mobile application; student access, 24 hours per day, seven days per week, and 365 days per year, to a national crisis center that is staffed by a team of highly skilled and trained crisis counselors whose sole duty is to respond to messages and tips from students relating to violence or harm to self or others; ongoing program support; and training for student and adult users.

Storage of Firearms In A Residence Where a Minor Is Present; Penalty HB 2350 (Simon) would have required any person who possesses a firearm in a residence where such person knows or reasonably should know that a minor under 18 years of age is present to store such firearm unloaded in a locked container, compartment, or cabinet and to store all ammunition in a separate locked container, compartment, or cabinet. The bill would have required that the key or combination to such locked containers, compartments, or cabinets be inaccessible to any minor. The bill would have provided that a violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor, and, in a case where there is more than one firearm stored in violation of these provisions, a violation for each firearm would have constituted a separate Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill would have exempted any person in lawful possession of a firearm who carries such firearm on or about his person, the storage of antique firearms, and the lawful authorization of a minor to access a firearm.

Employment of School Protection Officers in Public Schools HB 2358 (Durant) and SB 920 (Stuart) would have permitted any local law-enforcement agency to employ in any public elementary or secondary school in the local school division, pursuant to an agreement with the local school board, a school protection officer, defined in the bill as a retired law-enforcement officer hired by the local law-enforcement agency on a part-time basis to provide limited law-enforcement and security services to public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth. The bill would have required each such school board and local law-enforcement agency to enter into a memorandum of understanding that sets forth the powers and duties of school protection officers. The bill would have required the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish compulsory training standards for school protection officers and required the collection of certain data relating to the activities of such officers.

Possession of Firearm, Stun Weapon, or Other Weapon on School Property; Child Day Centers and Preschools HB 2421 (McGuire) would have limited the prohibition on the possession of firearms, stun weapons, or certain other weapons on the property of child day centers or public, private, or religious preschools to that portion of the child day center or preschool exclusively used for the conduct of the child day center or preschool and excluding any common areas or grounds open to the public.

Firearm-Free Zones Designated by the Commonwealth or a Locality; Waiver of Sovereign Immunity HB 2459 (McGuire) would have permitted a waiver of sovereign immunity for those firearm-free zones designated by the Commonwealth or a locality.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Competitive Negotiation; Exceptions to Contractual Terms and Conditions of the Request for Proposal SB 912 (Ruff) would have prohibited a public body from requiring an offeror to state in a proposal any exception to any contractual terms or conditions, including any liability provisions, contained in a Request for Proposal for information technology. The bill would have also required the offeror to state any such exception in writing at the beginning of negotiations, which exception shall be considered during negotiations.

Sex Offenses Prohibiting Proximity to Children and School Property; Penalty HB 2263 (Wilt) and SB 921 (Cosgrove) would have added certain prostitution and commercial sex crimes to the list offenses that would prohibit an adult if convicted of such offense from loitering within 100 feet of the premises of any place he knows or has reason to know is a primary, secondary or high school, working or engaging in any volunteer activity on property he knows or has reason to know is a public or private elementary or secondary school or child day center property, and entering or being present upon any property he knows or has reason to know is a public or private elementary or secondary school or child day center property, a school bus, or any property, public or private, during hours when such property is solely being used by a public or private elementary or secondary school for a school-related or school-sponsored activity.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Construction Management and Design-Build Contracting; Applicability SB 954 (Petersen) would have required a two-step process consisting of a preconstruction contract and  competitive sealed bidding for construction services for certain projects totaling less than $125 million. Complex projects, defined in the bill, could have requested an exemption from the provisions of the bill and relevant law from the Secretary of Administration. If a complex project totaled more than $125 million, the bill would have provided that an exemption from the provisions of the bill and relevant law would not have been required. Finally, the bill would have stated that competitive sealed bidding would have been the preferred method of procurement for construction services in the Commonwealth.

State and Local Prohibition On Single-Use Plastic and Expanded Polystyrene Products SB 1012 (Edwards) would have prohibited state agencies beginning July 1, 2024, from contracting for the purchase, sale, and distribution of single-use plastic bags, cutlery, straws, or water bottles and single-use plastic food service containers and expanded polystyrene food service containers, except during a declared state of emergency. The bill would have directed the Department of General Services to post public notice of all prohibited goods on its public procurement website. The bill would have also authorized any locality to prohibit by ordinance the purchase, sale, or provision, whether free or for a cost, of single-use plastic bags, cutlery, straws, or water bottles and single-use plastic food service containers and expanded polystyrene food service containers, with certain exceptions enumerated in the bill.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; preference for products made or manufactured in Virginia and the U.S.; recyclable content; report SB 1115 (DeSteph) and SB 1176 (McPike) would have provided preference for a bidder who is a resident of Virginia over a bidder who is a resident of any other state in determining the award for any contract for goods, services, or construction under the Virginia Public Procurement Act. The bill would have required a state agency to decrease by seven percent the price of any offer for a Virginia end product, defined in the bill, and to decrease by two percent the price of any offer for a U.S. end product, defined in the bill, when evaluating bids for purposes of making an award determination. When the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, after price preferences would have been taken into account, was a resident of Virginia and the offer price is within $10,000 or five percent, whichever was less, of the lowest responsive and responsible bidder who is a resident of another state, the Virginia resident would have been given the option to match the price of the nonresident bidder.

Storage of Firearms in a Residence Where a Minor is Present; Penalty SB 1139 (Boysko) would have required any person who possesses a firearm in a residence where such person knows that a minor under 18 years of age or a person who is prohibited by law from possessing a firearm resides shall store such firearm and the ammunition for such firearm in a locked container, compartment, or cabinet that is inaccessible to such minor or prohibited person. The bill would have provided that a violation is a Class 4 misdemeanor. The bill would have exempted any person in lawful possession of a firearm who carries such firearm on or about his person, the storage of antique firearms, and the lawful authorization of a minor to access a firearm. The bill would have also required firearm dealers to post a notice stating such firearm storage requirements and the penalty for not properly storing such firearms.

Codes of Student Conduct; Policies and Procedures Prohibiting Bullying; Parental Notification HB 1592 (Davis) and SB 1072 (Bell) Require each local school board to require the principal of each public school or his designee to notify the parent of any student who is involved in an alleged bullying incident of the alleged incident within 24 hours of learning of such allegation. Current law only requires the principal to notify any such parent of the status of any investigation into an alleged incident of bullying within five school days of when such an allegation was made.

Parental Notification of Certain Student Violations HB 1982 (Kory) requires the principal of any public elementary or secondary school or his designee to notify the parents of any student who violates a school board policy or the compulsory school attendance requirements when such violation is likely to result in the student's suspension or the filing of a court petition. Current law permits such principals to make such a notification when the violation could result in the student's suspension or the filing of a court petition and is silent on the designation of such power.

Drug Control Act; Schedule I HB 2364 (Wachsmann) and SB 894 (Newman) add certain chemicals to Schedule I of the Drug Control Act. The Board of Pharmacy has added these substances in an expedited regulatory process. A substance added via this process is removed from the schedule after 18 months unless a general law is enacted adding the substance to the schedule.

Uniform System of Discipline for Disruptive Student Behavior; Report HB 1461 (Wiley) would have required the Department of Education to establish, within its regulations governing student conduct, and each school board to adhere to, a uniform system of discipline for disruptive behavior and the removal of a student from a class that includes, among other things, criteria for teachers to remove disruptive students from their classes, including a requirement for a teacher to remove a disruptive student from a class if the disruptive behavior is violent.

Codes of Student Conduct; Student Discipline Alternatives HB 1980 (Kory) would have required the Board of Education to include in its guidelines and model policies for codes of student conduct criteria for the use of non-exclusionary student discipline measures. The bill would have required each school board's code of student conduct to be consistent with but permits such code to be more stringent than such guidelines and the Board of Education's guidelines for alternatives to short-term and long-term suspension. The bill would have also required each such code of student conduct to include a requirement to utilize as alternatives to suspension, expulsion, and exclusion other interventions such as positive behavior incentives, mediation, peer-to-peer counseling, and community service and to include a requirement to report on the use of student instructional supports and behavioral interventions as categorized by the Department of Education in its student behavior and administrative response data collection.

Best Practices for Positive Behavioral Supports for Students and Trauma-Informed School Security Practices; Report HB 1983 (Kory) would have required the Department of Education to establish a work group composed of certain enumerated and other stakeholders to consider best practices for positive behavioral supports for students and trauma-informed school security practices, including examining the feasibility and appropriateness of hiring of school safety coaches who can monitor the school environment for safety and build positive relationships with students and implementing policies and strategies for increasing the number of other appropriately trained school personnel.

Budget Bill HB 6001 (Knight) amends items of and adds items to Chapter 2 of the Acts of Assembly of 2022, Special Session I, as amended by Chapter 769 of the Acts of Assembly of 2023.

• Provides $418M GF in FY 2024 to support flexible funding for the implementation of the Virginia Literacy Act, learning loss recovery, and additional operating and infrastructure support. Funding shall be disbursed based on average daily membership, with additional funds provided based on the estimated number of federal Free Lunch participants in each school division. School divisions shall report on the use of these funds and the use of school division pass-through federal Elementary and Secondary School Education Relief funds used since 2020. Such reporting shall specify amounts obligated and expensed based on reporting categories as prescribed by the Department of Education. School divisions also shall report how funds address performance gains or losses related to reading and mathematics and support preparation and implementation of the Virginia Literacy Act.
• Provides $152.3M GF in FY 2024 to fund additional support positions in Basic Aid, using a funding ratio methodology for certain support positions based upon 24 support positions per 1,000 ADM. The Department of Education shall use this ratio in the second year to rebenchmark costs for the 2024-2026 biennium.
• Provides $54.6M GF in FY 2024 to increase salaries of funded SOQ instructional and support positions by two percent effective January 1, 2024. Sufficient funds are appropriated in the biennium, on a statewide basis, to support the state share of a five percent salary increase effective August 1, 2022, a five percent salary increase effective July 1, 2023, and a two percent salary increase effective January 1, 2024.  To access the funds for the two percent increase effective January 1, 2024, school divisions (1) must have provided at least an average 2.5 percent increase in the first year and an average 2.5 percent increase in the second year as provided in Item 137.C.37 and (2) shall certify to the Department of Education that an equivalent increase will be provided to instructional and support personnel effective no later than January 1, 2024. School divisions that previously provided a total average increase in excess of the five percent increases provided in the first year or the second year to instructional and support personnel may count average increases given in excess of those five percent increases toward this certification.
• Provides $12M GF and $8M from federal State and Local Recovery Funds in FY 2024 to support school safety and security grants. The Department of Education shall administer the program and develop guidelines. Funds may be used to support equipment and planning to improve safety and security, including purposes not authorized for the existing VPSA funded Security Equipment grant program. In determining grant awards, prioritization shall be placed on the severity of identified deficiencies and the school division's local ability to pay as identified by its local composite index.
• Provides $150,000 GF in FY 2024 for Critical National Security Language Grants. The Department of Education shall award these competitive grants to school divisions that provide one or more foreign language courses in a foreign language that is currently identified as critical by the National Security Language Initiative for Youth scholarship program.
• Exempts community-based providers that are recipients of Virginia Preschool Initiative grants from all regulatory and statutory provisions related to teacher licensure requirements and qualifications when paid by public funds within the confines of the Virginia Preschool Initiative community-add-on partnerships and provided that the provider meets the expectations of the statewide measurement and improvement system.
• Requests the Joint Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education Funding (i) review the recommendations and policy options offered in the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission's July 2023 report, “Virginia's K-12 Funding Formula"; (ii) determine the appropriateness of implementing each recommendation or policy option, (iii) propose appropriate amendments to each recommendation or policy option and (iv) develop a long-range plan for the phased implementation of its recommendations. In its deliberations, the Joint Subcommittee shall consider the long-term fiscal implications of each recommendation. The Joint Subcommittee shall submit initial recommendations and an implementation plan to the Governor and the Chairs of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees no later than November 1, 2024.

Note that the Budget Bill became effective upon the Governor’s signature on September 14, 2023.

Budget Bill HB 1400 (Knight) amends Chapter 2 of the 2022 Acts of Assembly, Special Session I related to funding in FY 2023 and FY 2024

The General Assembly adopted a “skinny” budget during their regular Session, which included the following:

• Provides $115.9 million GF in FY 2023 and $125.8 million GF in FY 2024 for the combined impact of K-12 technical adjustments related to average daily membership (ADM) changes, sales tax revenue forecast changes, and program participation rate updates.
• Provides $16.8 million GF in FY 2023 ensuring that no school division receives less funding than was communicated in error last June after accounting for the increased funding from enrollment and sales tax forecast changes.
• Appropriates $405.9 million in FY 2024 to the Rainy-Day Fund from the FY 2022 revenue surplus to meet a portion of the Constitutionally required deposit.
  • Additionally, transfers $498.7 million from the Revenue Reserve Fund to the Revenue Stabilization Fund to meet the remaining portion of the required deposit. This amount was deposited in FY 2022 to the Revenue Reserve Funds as a down payment for the required FY 2024 mandatory deposit. 
  • In total, this provides $904.6 million to the Rainy-Day Fund to fully meet the FY 2024 mandatory deposit.
• Provides $250.0 million GF in FY 2023 to the Virginia Retirement System to address unfunded liabilities. This amount was approved as a contingent appropriation by the 2022 General Assembly. This brings total lump sum deposits to $1.0 billion over the last two years.
• Provides an additional $100.0 million GF in FY 2023 to the 2022 Capital Supplement Pool for cost overruns on previously authorized capital projects. The amount was approved as a contingent appropriation by the 2022 General Assembly, bringing the total supplement pool to $450.0 million.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Certain Construction Contracts; Performance and Payment Bonds HB 1490 (Davis) allows localities to allow a contractor of indefinite delivery or quantity contracts, defined in the bill, who is otherwise required to furnish performance and payment bonds in the sum of the contract amount to the public body with which he contracted to furnish such bonds only the dollar amount of the individual tasks identified in the underlying contract. Such contractors shall not be required to furnish the sum of the contract amount if the governing locality has adopted such an ordinance.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Cooperative Procurement; Installation of Playground Equipment HB 1610 (Tata) excludes the installation of playground equipment, including all associated and necessary construction and maintenance, from the prohibition on using cooperative procurement to purchase construction.

Back to School Night Events; Free or Reduced Price Meals Applications HB 2021 (Roem) requires each school board to ensure that at any back to school night event in the local school division to which the parents of enrolled students are invited, any such parent in attendance receives prominent notification of and access, in paper or electronic form, or both, to information about application and eligibility for free or reduced price meals for students and a fillable free or reduced price meals application that may be completed and submitted on site.

SNAP Benefits Program Parent Information Sheet; Free or Reduced Price Meals Application HB 2025 (Roem) requires the Department of Social Services to develop, annually update, and provide to each school board in advance of the start of each school year an information sheet on the SNAP benefits program that sets forth the application process and such other information as the Department deems necessary or appropriate in order to properly inform the parents of students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools of such program and encourage application by those who are eligible. The bill requires each school board to ensure that such information sheet is sent home with each student enrolled in a public elementary or secondary school in the local school division at the beginning of each school year or, in the case of any student who enrolls after the beginning of the school year, as soon as practicable after enrollment. The bill also requires each school board to ensure that a fillable free or reduced price meals application is sent home with each such student at the beginning of each school year or, in the case of any student who enrolls after the beginning of the school year, as soon as practicable after enrollment.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Construction Management; Contract Requirements HB 2450 (Campbell) and SB 1491 (Bell) exclude construction management contracts involving infrastructure projects from the requirement that no more than 10 percent of the construction work be performed by the construction manager with its own forces and that the remaining 90 percent of the construction work be performed by subcontractors of the construction manager.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Private Contracts; Payment of Subcontractors HB 2500 (Wiley) provides that in contracts for construction, contractors shall be liable to their subcontractors for the entire amount owed to their subcontractors regardless of the contractors’ receipt of payment from another party. The bill allows contractors to withhold payment from a subcontractor only for such subcontractor’s noncompliance with the terms of the contract and requires the contract or to provide reasonable notice of the reason for such withholding. Reasons for nonpayment in an agreement between an owner and general contractor must be disclosed within 45 days of the receipt of an invoice by the owner to the general contractor, and nonpayment reasons must be disclosed within 50 days of the receipt of an invoice by the contractor to the subcontractor.

Department of Education; stakeholder work group; competitive teacher pay; report. SB 1215 (Lucas) requires the Department of Education to convene a work group no later than August 15, 2023, consisting of school board representatives, division superintendents, public elementary and secondary school teachers, parents of public elementary and secondary school students, representatives of major associations representing public elementary and secondary school staff, and such other stakeholders as the Department deems appropriate to consider and make recommendations in the form of a publicly available report posted on the Department website and addressed and sent to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than November 1, 2023, on the appropriateness, feasibility, potential fiscal impact, and potential unintended consequences of (i) preserving the definition of the term "competitive" contained in § 22.1- 289.1 of the Code of Virginia, as applied to the compensation of public elementary and secondary school teachers; (ii) amending such definition to incorporate an alternative metric, including the median annual salary of a Virginia worker who is 25 years of age or older and has a bachelor's degree; and (iii) requiring the Department or another entity to conduct an annual calculation to determine public school teacher compensation and the commensurate flat percentage increase to the state share of salary funding for Standards of Quality supported positions that is necessary to make such compensation competitive under any such definition.

State Share for Basic Aid; Basic Aid and Supplemental Basic Aid Payment Limit HB 1443 (Webert) would have removed the limitation on any school division qualifying for adjustment of state share of aid that capped the sum of the basic aid payment and any supplemental basic aid payment to the basic aid payment appropriated to such locality by the 2007 Session of the General Assembly.

Teacher Compensation; At Or Above National Average HB 1497 (Convirs-Fowler) would have required public school teachers to be compensated at a rate that is at or above the national average. The bill would have required state funding to be provided pursuant to the general appropriation act in a sum sufficient to fund a five percent annual increase for public school teacher salaries, effective for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years.

Compensation of Public School Teachers and Other Standards of Quality-Funded Positions; Competitive Rate HB 1566 (Rasoul) would have required the Commonwealth to compensate its public-school teachers at a rate that is competitive, defined in current law as at or above the national average teacher salary, in order to attract and keep highly qualified teachers.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Competitive Negotiation; Allows Localities to Post Public Notice On Appropriate Websites HB 1611 (Williams-Graves) would have removed the requirement that if a local public body elects not to publish notice of a Request for Proposal in a newspaper of general circulation in the area in which the contract is to be performed, then such local public body shall post such notice on the Department of General Services' central electronic procurement website. The bill would have allowed local public bodies to post such notice on any appropriate website without requiring local public bodies to post such notice in a newspaper.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Competitive Sealed Bidding; Invitation to Bid; Required Statements HB 1743 (Carr) would have required every written Invitation to Bid issued pursuant to the Virginia Public Procurement Act to incorporate certain statements of qualifications for potential contractors related to responsible contracting, direct hiring, prevailing wages, and participation in apprenticeship programs.

Grant and Procurement Awards; Certification for Small, Women-Owned, or Minority-Owned Businesses HB 1829 (Torian) would have required that for any grant or contract issued or entered into by the Governor, a state agency, or a locality, such entity shall inquire whether the grant recipient, bidder, offeror, or contractor is a small, women-owned, or minority-owned business and whether it is certified by the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity (DSBSD) for procurement enhancement. If such business is eligible but not certified, the bill would have directed DSBSD to provide it with information on the certification process and encourage it to apply for certification.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Prohibition on Boycotting Israel HB 1898 (McGuire) and SB 1375 (Vogel) would have required all public bodies to include in every contract in excess of $100,000 with a business that employs more than 10 employees and in every subcontract or purchase order in excess of $10,000 a provision that states that during the performance of the contract, neither the contracting business, nor any of its affiliates, shall engage in a boycott of Israel.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Construction Management and Design-Build Contracting; Applicability HB 1957 (Leftwich) would have required a two-step process consisting of a preconstruction contract and competitive sealed bidding for construction services for certain projects totaling less than $125 million. Complex projects, defined in the bill, may request an exemption from the provisions of the bill and relevant law from the Secretary of Administration. If a complex project totals would have been more than $125 million, the bill would have provided that an exemption from the provisions of the bill and relevant law would not have been required. Finally, the bill would have stated that competitive sealed bidding is the preferred method of procurement for construction services in the Commonwealth.

School Meals; Availability At No Cost to Students HB 1967 (Mullin) would have provided that each school board shall require each public elementary and secondary school in the local school division to participate in the federal National School Lunch Program and the federal School Breakfast Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or in the Community Eligibility Provision as provided in relevant law, if applicable, and to make lunch and breakfast available to any student who requests such a meal at no cost to the student, unless the student's parent has provided written permission to the school board to withhold such a meal from the student. The bill would have also repealed provisions of law relating to the federal School Breakfast Program and to school meal debt that are rendered obsolete by the aforementioned provisions of the bill.

Establishment of Farm to School Program Task Force HB 2031 (Roem) would have required the Department of Education to establish and appoint such members as it deems necessary or appropriate to the Farm to School Program Task Force for the purpose of increasing student access throughout the Commonwealth to high-quality farm to school programs, defined in the bill as programs whereby public schools purchase and feature prominently in school meals locally produced food or that involve experiential student learning opportunities relating to local food and agriculture, including school and community garden programs and local farm visits.

Certain Federal Pandemic Relief Funds for Public Education; Certain Conditions HB 2269 (Greenhalgh) would have required any local school division that, as of July 1, 2023, has available and unspent or unobligated federal ESSER formula funds exceeding 20 percent of its total awarded allocations to return unspent or unobligated ESSER or GEER state set-aside funds awarded to the local school division by the Virginia Department of Education (the Department) to the Department no later than July 15, 2023, unless precluded by federal law or regulation. The bill would have required the Department to subsequently expend, including through awarding such funds to local school divisions, any such returned ESSER or GEER state set-aside funds for student instruction and remediation. The bill would have also required each local school division to obtain the approval of the local school board for its federal ESSER III spending plan, update such spending plan at least once every six months, and publish such spending plan in an accessible format on a publicly available website.

Unexpended Local Funds; Capital Reserve Fund Permitted HB 2399 (Simonds) would have permitted any school board to establish a capital reserve fund as a savings account into which it exclusively deposits the local operating funds that remain unexpended at the end of the year for future school division capital expenditures at no additional cost to local taxpayers, subject to certain conditions enumerated in the bill.

Budget Bill SB 800 (Howell & Barker) Amends Chapter 2 of the 2022 Acts of Assembly, Special Session I.  By tradition, the House version of the budget bill (which includes budget conferee amendments) always becomes the vehicle for the finally adopted budget.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Competitive Negotiation; Allows Localities to Post Public Notice On Appropriate Websites SB 859 (Cosgrove) would have removed the requirement that if a local public body elects not to publish notice of a Request for Proposal in a newspaper of general circulation in the area in which the contract is to be performed, then such local public body shall post such notice on the Department of General Services' central electronic procurement website. The bill would have allowed local public bodies to post such notice on any appropriate website without requiring local public bodies to post such notice in a newspaper.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Competitive Negotiation; Exceptions to Contractual Terms and Conditions of the Request for Proposal SB 912 (Ruff) would have prohibited a public body from requiring an offeror to state in a proposal any exception to any contractual terms or conditions, including any liability provisions, contained in a Request for Proposal for information technology. The bill would have also required the offeror to state any such exception in writing at the beginning of negotiations, which exception shall be considered during negotiations.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Construction Management and Design-Build Contracting; Applicability SB 954 (Petersen) would have required a two-step process consisting of a preconstruction contract and  competitive sealed bidding for construction services for certain projects totaling less than $125 million. Complex projects, defined in the bill, could have requested an exemption from the provisions of the bill and relevant law from the Secretary of Administration. If a complex project totaled more than $125 million, the bill would have provided that an exemption from the provisions of the bill and relevant law would not have been required. Finally, the bill would have stated that competitive sealed bidding would have been the preferred method of procurement for construction services in the Commonwealth.

State and Local Prohibition On Single-Use Plastic and Expanded Polystyrene Products SB 1012 (Edwards) would have prohibited state agencies beginning July 1, 2024, from contracting for the purchase, sale, and distribution of single-use plastic bags, cutlery, straws, or water bottles and single-use plastic food service containers and expanded polystyrene food service containers, except during a declared state of emergency. The bill would have directed the Department of General Services to post public notice of all prohibited goods on its public procurement website. The bill would have also authorized any locality to prohibit by ordinance the purchase, sale, or provision, whether free or for a cost, of single-use plastic bags, cutlery, straws, or water bottles and single-use plastic food service containers and expanded polystyrene food service containers, with certain exceptions enumerated in the bill.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; preference for products made or manufactured in Virginia and the U.S.; recyclable content; report SB 1115 (DeSteph) would have provided preference for a bidder who is a resident of Virginia over a bidder who is a resident of any other state in determining the award for any contract for goods, services, or construction under the Virginia Public Procurement Act. The bill would have required a state agency to decrease by seven percent the price of any offer for a Virginia end product, defined in the bill, and to decrease by two percent the price of any offer for a U.S. end product, defined in the bill, when evaluating bids for purposes of making an award determination. When the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, after price preferences would have been taken into account, was a resident of Virginia and the offer price is within $10,000 or five percent, whichever was less, of the lowest responsive and responsible bidder who is a resident of another state, the Virginia resident would have been given the option to match the price of the nonresident bidder.

Cost of Competing Adjustment; Eligibility; Certain School Boards SB 1164 (Lewis) would have provided that the Accomack County School Board and the Northampton County School Board are eligible to receive the cost of competing adjustment to salaries for instructional and support positions as part of the state share of basic aid pursuant to the general appropriation act.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Preference for Products Made or Manufactured in Virginia and the U.S.; Recyclable Content; Report SB 1176 (McPike) provides preference for a bidder who is a resident of Virginia over a bidder who is a resident of any other state in determining the award for any contract for goods, services, or construction under the Virginia Public Procurement Act.

School Readiness Committee; Renaming as Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education; Purpose; Membership; Powers and Duties HB 1423 (Coyner) and SB 1404 (Barker) rename the School Readiness Committee as the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education and makes several changes to the Commission, including adjusting its purpose, increasing and adjusting its membership, and establishing eight enumerated powers and duties for the Commission.

Student Literacy Measures; Scope; Students in Grades Four Through Eight HB 1526 (Coyner) and SB 1175 (Lucas) expand several provisions of the Virginia Literacy Act, enacted during the 2022 Regular Session of the General Assembly, effective with the 2024–2025 school year, and currently applicable to students in kindergarten through grade three, to students in grades four through eight, including (i) requiring each local school board to provide a program of literacy instruction to such students that is aligned with science-based reading research and provides evidenced-based literacy instruction; (ii) requiring each local school board to provide reading intervention services to such students who demonstrate substantial deficiencies based on their individual performance on the Standards of Learning reading assessment or a literacy screener provided or approved by the Department of Education; (iii) permitting the reading plan required for certain students in grades six through eight to include a literacy course, in addition to the course required by the Standards of Learning in English, that provides the specific evidence-based literacy instruction identified in such plan; (iv) requiring the Department to develop a list of core literacy curricula, supplemental instruction practices and programs, and intervention programs that consist of evidence-based literacy instruction aligned with science-based reading research for such students; (v) requiring each local school board to employ one reading specialist for each 550 students in kindergarten through grade five; (vi) requiring the Board of Education to provide guidance on and each local school board to provide high-quality professional development and training in science-based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction for certain middle school personnel; and (vii) requiring each divisionwide comprehensive plan to include a divisionwide literacy plan for such students.  NOTE that the bills still differ on staffing requirements for reading specialists in grades six through eight, with one bill specifying a ratio of one reading specialist for every 550 students and the other specifying a ratio of one per 1,100 students  The legislation with the one per 1,100 student ratio was the last signed by the Governor, so that is the ratio that will be codified.

Internet Safety Advisory Council; collaboration, model instructional content, and resources HB 1575 (Walker) permits the Internet Safety Advisory Council (the Council) established by the Superintendent of Public Instruction to collaborate with certain agencies and organizations with expertise in child online safety issues and human trafficking prevention and requires the Council to establish model instructional content on certain student internet safety topics and post on the Department of Education website resources and assistance programs available for any child or parent who may have encountered online solicitation by sexual predators or other illegal online communications or activities, including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline.

Child Day Programs; Exemption From Licensure; Certain Programs Offered by Local School Divisions HB 1698 (Simon) exempts from the requirement to be licensed by the Board of Education any child day program offered by a local school division that is operated for no more than four hours per day on full instructional days or for more than four hours per day on shortened instructional days or noninstructional days, staffed by local school division employees, and attended by children who are at least three years of age and are enrolled in public school or a preschool program within such school division.

Certain child day programs exempt from licensure by the Superintendent of Public Instruction; age of children in attendance HB 1713 (Cherry) and SB 964 (Peake) Clarify that any child day program offered by a private school accredited by and in good standing with the Virginia Council for Private Education, operated for no more than four hours per day, staffed by the accredited private school's employees, and attended by school-age children who are enrolled in the accredited private school is exempt from licensure by the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Virginia-Based Nonprofit Organizations; Schools for Adults to Earn Credentials, College Credit, and High School Diplomas HB 1726 (Head) and SB 1019 (Edwards) require the Department of Education to authorize a Virginia-based nonprofit organization with demonstrated evidence of positive student outcomes to provide schools for adults to earn to earn (i) (a) an industry-recognized credential awarded through a partnership with a Virginia-based community college or an approved training provider or (b) dual college credit awarded through a partnership with a Virginia-based community college and (ii) a high school diploma on one or more diploma pathways set forth in the relevant Board of Education regulation in which enrollment is open, on a space-available basis, to adults who reside throughout the Commonwealth.

Division wide Literacy Plans; Contents; Posting HB 2137 (Delaney) requires each divisionwide literacy plan to be submitted to the Department of Education and to identify which core literacy curricula, supplemental instructional practices and programs, and intervention programs from the list developed by the Department or alternative programs approved by the Department that consist of evidence-based literacy instruction and align with science-based reading research will be used in each grade level, kindergarten through 12, at each of the schools within such school division. The bill requires each local school board to post, maintain, and update as necessary on such school board's website a copy of its divisionwide literacy plan and the job description and contact information for any reading specialist employed by such school division pursuant to relevant law and for any dyslexia specialist employed by such school division. The bill requires the Department to post each divisionwide literacy plan on its website.

Policies for the Possession and Administration of Epinephrine at Early Childhood Care and Education Entities; scope HB 2140 (Delaney) and SB 1146 (Boysko) limit, in the context of early childhood care and education entities, the requirement for the implementation of policies for the possession and administration of epinephrine to child day centers. The bills also require the Board of Education to amend its regulations to require each family day home provider or at least one other caregiver employed by such provider in the family day home to be trained in the administration of epinephrine and to notify the parents of each child who receives care in such family day home whether the provider stores an appropriate weight-based dosage of epinephrine in the residence or home in which the family day home operates. 

School Counselors; Staff Time HB 2187 (Rasoul) defines the terms "direct counseling" and "program planning and school support" for the purpose of the provision of law that requires each school counselor to spend at least 80 percent of his staff time during normal school hours in the direct counseling of individual students or groups of students and clarifies that each school counselor may also spend up to 20 percent of his staff time during normal school hours on program planning and support.  In addition to language parallel to HB 2187, SB 1043 (McPike) also requires the Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, to develop, adopt, and distribute to each school board a model memorandum of understanding between a school board and a public or private community mental health services provider that sets forth parameters for the provision of mental health services to public school students enrolled in the local school division by such provider. The bill requires the memorandum of understanding to be available to each school board no later than the beginning of the 2023 - 2024 school year. The bill also permits, in order to fill vacant school psychologist positions, any local school board to employ, under a provisional license issued by the Department of Education for three school years with an allowance for an additional two-year extension, clinical psychologists licensed by the Board of Psychology, provided that any such individual makes progress toward completing the requirements for full licensure as a school psychologist during such period of employment. Finally, the bill requires the Department to consult with the Virginia Academy of School Psychologists and other stakeholders to ensure that the process and criteria for provisionally licensed school psychologists to obtain full licensure as school psychologists appropriately address the challenges that are unique to school psychology training requirements and the school psychology profession generally. This bill incorporates SB 1257 (Favola) and SB 1268. (Favola)

Department of Workforce Development and Advancement Created; Consolidation of the Commonwealth's Workforce Development Policies and Programs; Report HB 2195 (Byron) and SB 1470 (Ruff) create the Department of Workforce Development and Advancement (the Department) to administer workforce development programs. The bills consolidate statewide workforce program evaluation and data sharing under the Department and provides protections against improper disclosure of data. The bills provide for the Virginia Board of Workforce Development to conduct an independent evaluation of the operations and program objectives of the Department on a biennial basis with the first report due on December 1, 2025. The bills also (i) transfer administration of apprenticeship programs from the Department of Labor and Industry to the Department, (ii) direct the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to collaborate with the Department to grow and expand the Innovative Internship Fund and Program, and (iii) direct the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to conduct a comprehensive review of the Commonwealth's workforce development programs and make recommendations to address a wide range of subjects relating to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of such programs. The Secretary is also required to convene a stakeholder work group to advise the Secretary during the transition period.

Career and Technical Education Letter of Intent Signing Day HJ 475 (McGuire) designates the fourth Wednesday in April, in 2023 and in each succeeding year, as Career and Technical Education Letter of Intent Signing Day.

Dyslexia Awareness Month HJ 488 (Simon) designates October, in 2023 and in each succeeding year, as Dyslexia Awareness Month in Virginia.

Driver Improvement Clinics and Driver Training Schools SB 1063 (Spruill) lengthens from one year to two years the validity of and increases the cost of licenses and certifications for driver training schools that are third party testers, third party examiners for Class A driver training schools, driver improvement clinics, driver training instructors, and driver training schools, including computer-based driver education providers, and provides for concurrent expirations of licenses and certifications for such schools and their instructors. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2024. The bill authorizes the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles, from July 1, 2023, to July 1, 2024, to issue such licenses and certifications for a validity period of between one and 24 months with a fee prorated on a monthly basis to ensure the even distribution of renewals over a calendar year.

High School Students; Academic Credit for Certain Work Experience and Fine Arts Programs; Guidelines SB 1277 (Dunnavant) directs the Board of Education to develop guidelines and policies permitting any high school student in grades 11 and 12 to earn one-half standard unit of credit per semester for employment in certain fields or industries or participation in certain fine arts programs in which such student works or participates a certain minimum number of hours per week for each week of the semester, as determined by the Board. The bill requires the Board to collaborate with and seek input from the Coordinator of Fine Arts for the Department of Education and a representative from the Virginia Coalition for Fine Arts Education in developing and implementing guidelines and policies for awarding academic credit for participation in certain fine arts programs.

Passport Dual Enrollment Courses; Course Credit; Guidelines SB 1281 (Dunnavant) directs the Board of Education to develop guidelines for prioritizing to the maximum extent practicable dual enrollment programs, including the Passport Program, the Uniform Certificate of General Studies Program, the New Economy Workforce Credential Grant Program, and other courses that allow high school students to receive credit toward the completion of an undergraduate course, degree, or credential offered in the Virginia Community College System. The bill provides that such guidelines shall include recommendations on how direct prioritization of funding to such programs. The bill requires the Department of Education to convene a stakeholder work group, consisting of representatives from the Virginia Education Association, the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, and the local school boards, to make recommendations on policies for the prioritization of such dual enrollment programs and requires such recommendations to be submitted to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2024. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2024.

Department of Education; Work Group on Reducing Barriers to Access to Paid-Work Based Learning Experiences for English Language Learner Students SB 1430 (Suetterlein) requires the Department of Education to convene a stakeholder work group to make recommendations on reducing barriers to and improving the access of paid work-based learning experiences for English language learner students.

Public Elementary and Secondary School Libraries; Catalog of Printed and Audiovisual Materials; Graphic Sexual Content; Parental Opt Out and Request for Review HB 1379 (Anderson) would have require the principal of each public elementary or secondary school or his designee to maintain in an electronic spreadsheet or a substantially similar electronic format a catalog of all printed and audiovisual materials, as defined in the bill, that are contained in the school library; identify each item in such catalog by title, author, and such other identifying features or information as the principal or his designee deems appropriate; identify with a prominent notation in such catalog each item that contains graphic sexual content, as defined in the bill; make such catalog available to any parent of a student enrolled in the school; permit any parent of a student enrolled in the school to restrict his child's access to any item in such catalog that is identified as containing graphic sexual content; and permit any parent of a student enrolled in the school to request a graphic sexual content review by school administrators for any item in such catalog that is not so identified.

Recommendations; Model Policies; Selection and Removal of Public School Library Materials HB 1448 (Orrock) would have required the Department of Education, in consultation with local school boards, public school librarians, parents of public school students, and other interested stakeholders, to make recommendations to the General Assembly, the Board of Education, and local school boards no later than September 1, 2024, on the adoption of model policies for the selection and removal of books and other audiovisual materials available to students in public school libraries.

Development of Title IX and Sexual Harassment Prevention Training Modules for High School Students HB 1560 (Watts) would have required the Department of Education to develop culturally appropriate, age-appropriate, and trauma-informed Title IX and sexual harassment prevention training modules concerning Title IX rights and protections, consent, and sexual harassment prevention and reporting and to make such training modules available to each school board for the education of high school students.

College and Career Specialist Required HB 1644 (Williams-Graves) would have required each school board to employ at least one college and career specialist, as defined in the bill, in each public high school in the local school division. The bill would have provide 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.

Virginia STEM Education Advisory Board; Purpose and Duties; Historically Underrepresented Students HB 1657 (Price) would have expanded the purpose of the Virginia Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Advisory Board to include promoting the participation of historically underrepresented students, as defined in the bill, in primary and secondary schools in STEM education. Advisory Board on State Recognition, Office of New Americans Advisory Board, and Virginia Board for People with Disabilities, with each chairman appointing one member representing the population served by his advisory board subject to the approval of a majority of the members of his advisory board.

Career Coach Required HB 1695 (Simonds) would have required each school board to employ at least one career coach in each public high school in the local school division whose duties are required to 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 would have provided 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.

Prohibited Sales and Loans of Materials Deemed Harmful to Juveniles; Exceptions; Repeal HB 1708 (LaRock) would have repealed the exceptions to application of the penalties for unlawfully selling, renting, or loaning to a juvenile or knowingly displaying for commercial purpose certain material that depicts sexually explicit nudity, sexual conduct, or sadomasochistic abuse and that is harmful to juveniles where such exceptions are provided in current law for the purchase, distribution, exhibition, or loan of any work of art, book, magazine, or other printed or manuscript material by an accredited museum, library, school, or institution of higher education and the exhibition or performance of any play, drama, tableau, or motion picture by any theatre, museum, school, or institution of higher education, either supported by public appropriation or which is an accredited institution supported by private funds.

Family life education curriculum guidelines; human reproduction; viewing of ultrasound video recording HB 1736 (LaRock) would have required the instruction on human reproduction contained in the Board of Education's family life education curriculum guidelines to include the viewing of a video recording of an ultrasound of a live unborn human in the uterus.

Virginia Student Environmental Literacy; Plan; Grant Fund and Program HB 1742 (Carr) would have required the Board of Education, in consultation with the Office of Environmental Education at the Department of Conservation and Recreation, The Science Museum of Virginia, any other stakeholder that it deems appropriate, and the public, and in order to assist each local school board in developing and implementing a program of instruction for grades kindergarten through 12 that is aligned to the Standards of Learning and emphasizes environmental literacy as an essential skill and concept of citizenship that is necessary for responsible participation in American society and in the international community, to establish and update at least once every five years a Virginia student environmental literacy plan (the plan) that includes certain descriptions and prepares students to understand, analyze, and address the major environmental challenges facing the Commonwealth and the United States.

Dangers and Victims of Communism; Recognition; Standards of Learning and Programs of Instruction HB 1816 (Avoli) would have required the Governor to annually issue a proclamation setting the seventh day of November as Victims of Communism Day and requiring such day to be suitably observed in each public elementary and secondary school in the Commonwealth as a day honoring the approximately 100 million individuals who have fallen victim to communist regimes around the world and to be suitably observed by a public exercise in the Capitol and elsewhere as the Governor may designate in such proclamation. The bill would have also required the Board of Education to include in the history and social science Standards of Learning and each school board to emphasize in its Standards-aligned program of instruction the study of the dangers of communism.

School Boards; Websites; Posting of Certain Information Required HB 1893 (Walker) would have required, prior to the start of each school year, each school board to post on its website in a prominent location and in a format that is easily accessible to the public a list of each textbook to be used in any elementary or secondary school in the local school division during that school year and the Standards of Learning and any associated curriculum framework that correlate with any course or class to be offered in any elementary or secondary school in the local school division during that school year or a link to another source that contains such information.

College and Career Readiness for English Language Learners Grant Program and Fund; established HB 1823 (Avoli) and SB 1109 (Hashmi) would have established the College and Career Readiness for English Language Learners Grant Program and Fund to support English language learner students in preparing for postsecondary opportunities by providing reimbursement grants to eligible school divisions for providing and expanding access to certain career, technical, apprenticeship, and college readiness and preparation programs and courses for high school students identified as having limited English proficiency.

Standards of Learning; Revision; Consultation HB 1851 (Subramanyam) would have required the Board of Education, at least 30 days prior to the public hearings that it is required to hold prior to establishing revised Standards of Learning, to publish on its website in a publicly accessible format a list of each individual and organization that has been consulted regarding the revision of such Standards of Learning and the amount paid by any state agency or entity for any such consultation, if applicable.

School boards; school libraries; contents; online portal for parents. HB 1903 (Durant) would have required each school board to develop and adopt policies that include a requirement for the school board to (i) develop and maintain an online portal that is accessible by the parent of each student enrolled in the local school division whereby the parent may access a detailed description of the content of and other relevant information about each book contained in the library of the school that his child attends and (ii) email to the parent of a student enrolled in the local school division whenever such student checks a book out of the school library (a) the name of the book and (b) a link to such online portal.

High School Equivalency and Employment Tax Credit HB 1933 (Runion) would have created a tax credit for taxable years 2023 through 2027 in the amount of $1,000 per year for eligible taxpayers who have successfully earned a high school equivalency certificate. The bill would have specified that the eligible taxpayer shall, within one year of earning such certificate, be employed full time within the Commonwealth in order to claim the credit and that the credit may be claimed for up to three years following the taxpayer's eligibility, provided that such taxpayer remains employed full time within the Commonwealth. The bill would have provided that such credit will be limited to 250 eligible individuals per fiscal year.

Staffing Ratios; School Counselors with Training or Experience in Mental Health HB 1938 (Plum) would have required each school board to employ, in addition to the school counselors that it employs as otherwise required by law, at least one full-time school counselor with specialized training or experience in mental health per 1,000 students in grades kindergarten through 12.

Removal or Restriction of Access to Printed or Audiovisual Material in Public School Libraries; Review Standards and Procedures; Protected Classes or Characteristics HB 2136 (Delaney) would have prohibited local school boards from removing or restricting access to printed or audiovisual materials available in public school libraries solely on the basis of the presence of characters, literary elements, themes, symbols, or other literary content relating to protected characteristics, including race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability or other medical condition, or protected classes as defined in relevant law.

Critical National Security Language Grant Fund and Program established HB 2177 (Sickles) would have established the Critical National Security Language Grant Fund and Program within the Department of Education for the purpose of awarding grants on a competitive basis to any school division that provides one or more foreign language courses in a foreign language that is currently identified as critical by the National Security Language Initiative for Youth scholarship program. The bill would have provided that such grants are limited to an annual amount sufficient to provide one or more full-time equivalent teaching positions to provide one or more critical foreign language courses.

Driver Training Instructors; Active Law-Enforcement Officers HB 2264 (Ransone) would have authorized the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles (Commissioner) to, in lieu of the requirements established by the Department of Education for driver education instructor qualification, accept an active law-enforcement officer in good standing who otherwise meets the same training and years of service standards as those retired or resigned law-enforcement officers eligible for such qualification under current law.

Mental Health Education; Curriculum Guidelines; Instruction Required HB 2388 (Price) and SB 818 (Spruill) would have required each public elementary, middle, and high school to provide at each grade level, in addition to health instruction, an additional age-appropriate course of instruction on mental health. The bills would have directed the Board of Education to develop mental health curriculum guidelines for an age-appropriate, sequential mental health curriculum for each grade level and required such curriculum guidelines to include instruction on understanding general themes of social and emotional learning, including self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision making, relationship skills, and social awareness; recognizing symptoms of common mental health challenges, promoting mental health wellness and healthy strategies for coping with stress and negative feelings, including conflict resolution skills; seeking assistance for mental health concerns and challenges; promoting awareness of the prevalence of mental health challenges and the importance of overcoming common mental health stigmas; understanding the importance of mental health to a student's physical, academic, and overall well-being; and understanding age-appropriate instruction at such grade levels as the Board deems appropriate regarding the connection between mental health and substance use disorders.

Driver Training Instructors; Active Law-Enforcement Officers HB 2404 (Moorefield) would have authorized the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles (Commissioner) to, in lieu of the requirements established by the Department of Education for driver education instructor qualification, accept an active law-enforcement officer in good standing who otherwise meets the same training and years of service standards as those retired or resigned law-enforcement officers eligible for such qualification under current law.

Temporary Funding For Instructional assistants HB 2439 (Maldonado) would have directed temporary funding to be provided to each elementary and secondary school identified as an underperforming school, as defined in the bill, for the purpose of hiring instructional assistants to aid and support teachers in providing small group and individualized instruction, meet the various instructional and behavioral needs of students, and reduce teacher workloads.

Establishment of Middle School Mathematics Innovation Zone Program HB 2495 (Durant) would have established the Middle School Mathematics Innovation Zone Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, for the purpose of assisting local school divisions to implement competency-based mathematics education and evidence-based mathematics learning models in grades six, seven, and eight in partnership with technical assistance providers and other approved providers, with preference to be given to public middle schools that demonstrate need based on data from the immediately preceding school year on the grades five, six, and seven mathematics Standards of Learning assessments, rural public middle schools, and public middle schools in economically disadvantaged areas.

Constitutional Amendment (first reference); Public Schools of High Quality; Right to Access a School-Based Licensed Mental Health Professional HJ 509 would have provided that each child attending public school has a right to access a school-based mental health professional licensed by the Commonwealth as a licensed clinical social worker or licensed professional counselor, including the right to choose a mental health professional who will not utilize applied behavioral analysis.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; Study of History HJ 575 (Tran) would have recognized the importance of teaching the history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Public School Libraries; Printed or Audiovisual Materials; Selection, Evaluation, and Checkout Procedures SB 787 (DeSteph) would have required each local school board to adopt policies addressing the selection and evaluation of all printed or audiovisual materials purchased by, donated to, or otherwise made available to the school division that will be made available to students in school libraries, with clear procedures for mandatory prior written parental consent before a student is permitted to check out from the school library any such printed or audiovisual materials that depict a child engaged in the fondling of the sexual or genital parts of another or the fondling of his sexual or genital parts by another, masturbation, sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anilingus, anal intercourse, or object sexual penetration and handling challenged controversial instruction materials.

Standards of Quality; Early Intervention Services for Reading and Mathematics; Use of Certain Alternative Assessments Permitted SB 819 (Favola) would have provided that each local school division would have been permitted to use any nationally recognized, research-based assessment or screener in identifying and assessing the progress of any student in need of reading or algebra readiness intervention services as an alternative to a diagnostic test that must be approved by the Department of Education.

Comprehensive School Counseling Program; Development and Implementation SB 856 (Spruill) would have required each local school board to develop and implement a written plan for a comprehensive school counseling program for the purpose of providing support that meets the mental and emotional health needs of all students and guiding students in academic progress, postsecondary planning, and social-emotional learning.

Hazing Prevention Training Program SB 1102 (Boysko) would have directed the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Resources, to convene an expert and stakeholder work group, consisting of representatives from families of hazing victims, experts knowledgeable about hazing prevention, school administrators and faculty, representatives from the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, the Virginia Education Association, and the Virginia School Boards Association, and other stakeholders as the Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Resources deem appropriate, to evaluate options for implementing hazing prevention training programs in middle and high schools in the Commonwealth. The bill would have directed the work group to consider a model hazing prevention training program that includes age-appropriate, extensive, and current education about hazing, the dangers of hazing, and school policies and laws relating to hazing;  alternatives to in-person participation for such training programs for virtual learners; and proposed language to include instruction on hazing prevention in the Standards of Learning for health education.

Employment of Teachers; English as a Second Language Incentive Reward Program and Fund; Established HB 1824 (Avoli) and  SB 1118 (Hashmi) would have provided that each local school board shall adopt employment policies and practices designed to promote the employment of highly qualified teachers to effectively serve the educational needs of students who are English language learners, including providing financial support for teachers seeking and obtaining an endorsement in English as a second language pre-kindergarten through grade 12. The bill would have also established the English as a Second Language Incentive Reward Program and Fund for the purpose of awarding incentive grants to public school teachers in the Commonwealth who obtain an endorsement in English as a second language pre-kindergarten through grade 12. The bill would have provided that the Board of Education would have awarded to any teacher who obtains such endorsement an initial incentive grant of $5,000 and a subsequent incentive grant of $2,500 each year for the life of the endorsement, with such incentive grants to resume upon renewal of the endorsement. Finally, the bill would have directed the Board to establish such guidelines as it deems necessary for the administration of the Program and to establish procedures for the award of such incentive grants in the event that the moneys in the Fund are not sufficient to award each eligible teacher the appropriate award amount.

Work Group on Twelfth Grade Transition Planning and assistance Online Programs SB 1148 (Marsden) would have required the Department of Education to convene a work group to evaluate options and make recommendations for online twelfth grade transition planning and assistance programs to be utilized by secondary school students in the Commonwealth.

Advanced Academic Opportunity Programs; Guidelines and Policies; Availability SB 1173 (Dunnavant) would have required the Board of Education to develop guidelines for advanced academic opportunity programs, as defined in the bill, offered at the secondary school level requiring any advanced academic opportunity program offered at any public secondary school in the Commonwealth to accept any eligible student and prohibiting the imposition of arbitrary class sizes or any other limitation that would impede the access of any otherwise eligible student to such program. The bill would have defined an "eligible student" as any student who has demonstrated an ability to participate and succeed in advanced academic opportunities, as determined by such student's performance on a merit-based application, such student's aptitude based on grades or exam results, or the recommendation of a teacher. The bill would have required each local school board to adopt policies that are consistent with and at least as rigorous as the guidelines developed by the Board. Finally, the bill would have required the Board to develop and make available to each local school board the guidelines for advanced academic opportunity programs by the 2023-2024 school year and would have required each local school board to develop and implement policies in accordance with the Board's guidelines by the 2025-2026 school year.

School Counselors; Staff Time SB 1257 (Favola) would have defined the terms "direct counseling" and "program planning and school support" for the purpose of the provision of law that requires each school counselor to spend at least 80 percent of his staff time during normal school hours in the direct counseling of individual students or groups of students and clarifies that each school counselor may also spend up to 20 percent of his staff time during normal school hours on program planning and support.  This bill was incorporated into SB 1043 (McPike).

Certain Public Libraries; Books; Sexually Explicit Materials; Parental Advisory Label SB 1463 (Chase) would have required each local school board, any local governing body or library board that governs a free public library system or regional library board that governs a regional library system, and the Library Board to require a parental advisory label to be affixed to the front of any book that contains sexually explicit content, as that term is defined elsewhere in law, and that is made available to minors in any public elementary or secondary school library, any public library in the free public library system or regional public library system, or the Library of Virginia, respectively.

Libraries; Acquisition of Books and Other Library Matter; Electronic Literary Material SB 1528 (Marsden) would have provided certain restrictions, outlined in the bill, for publishers contracting with The Library of Virginia and other libraries for the purpose of acquiring a license for electronic literary materials.

Standardized, Uniform, and Comprehensive Collaborative Exchange School Support (SUCCESS) Program; development and implementation SB 1530 (Dunnavant) would have required the Department of Education, the State Board for Community Colleges, and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to develop a plan to establish and implement the Standardized, Uniform, and Comprehensive Collaborative Exchange School Support (SUCCESS) Program for the purpose of improving the collaboration between comprehensive community colleges and high schools in the Commonwealth and increasing access for high school students to opportunities for earning postsecondary credits toward completion of an associate's degree or credential.

Internet Safety Advisory Council; Collaboration, Model Instructional Content, and Resources HB 1575 (Walaker) permits the Internet Safety Advisory Council (the Council) established by the Superintendent of Public Instruction to collaborate with certain agencies and organizations with expertise in child online safety issues and human trafficking prevention and requires the Council to establish model instructional content on certain student internet safety topics and post on the Department of Education website resources and assistance programs available for any child or parent who may have encountered online solicitation by sexual predators or other illegal online communications or activities, including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline.

Office of Data Governance and Analytics; Chief Data Officer HB 1591 (Davis) and SB 914 (Hanger) repeals the sunset provision enacted in 2021 that created the Office of Data Governance and Analytics (the Office) and the position of Chief Data Officer within the Office of the Secretary of Administration, making both permanent. The provision is currently scheduled to expire on July 1, 2023. The bill also requires the Office to oversee and support any workforce development data systems, to facilitate data sharing, to identify innovative technology solutions, and to support processes that create data-informed decisions.

Board of Education; Creation and Maintenance of Virginia Parent Data Portal; Report HB 1629 (Coyner) and SB 1329 (McClellan/Petersen) requires the Board of Education, on or before July 1, 2025, to create and maintain the Virginia Parent Data Portal that, among other things, (i) displays individualized student assessment data on all state-supported assessments, as that term is defined in the bill, (a) in a format that shows both current and cumulative data over time and (b) within 45 days of a state-supported assessment window closing for each state-supported assessment; (ii) provides a description of the purpose of each state-supported assessment, an explanation of how to interpret student data on each state-supported assessment, and a comparison of a student's performance on each state-supported assessment with the performance of the student's school, the student's school division, and the Commonwealth; (iii) is viewable from a mobile device in addition to a desktop computer; and (iv) provides functionality to enable school division personnel to manage and restrict user access to students and their parents. The bill requires the Board and the Department of Education to provide certain guidance and technical assistance to local school divisions on professional development for principals and teachers in parent engagement on and interpretation of student assessment data available through the Portal and requires each school board to annually provide high-quality professional development to principals and teachers on such topics. Finally, the bill establishes a work group for the purpose of advising the Board of Education on the criteria for and the process of procuring the goods and services necessary to implement the Portal and requires such work group to submit a report containing its findings and any recommendations to the Board of Education and the General Assembly no later than November 1, 2023.  Note that the bill contains a re-enactment clause, meaning that the provisions of the bill will not go into effect unless it is reenacted by the 2024 Session of the General Assembly. 

Administration of State Government; Prohibited Applications and Websites SB 1459 (McDougle) prohibits any employee or agent of any executive branch agency or person or entity contracting with any such agency from downloading or using any application, including TikTok or WeChat, or accessing any website developed by ByteDance Ltd. or Tencent Holdings Ltd. on any state-issued device or state-owned or state-leased equipment, including mobile phones, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablets, or other devices capable of connecting to the Internet, or while connected to any wired or wireless Internet network owned, operated, or maintained by the Commonwealth. Note that an adopted Governor’s amendment clarifies local law enforcement exemptions to the prohibition related to criminal investigations.

Commission on Social Media Established; Report HB 1391 (Gooditis) would have established the 20-member Commission on Social Media in the legislative branch to study and make recommendations on the impacts and harms to citizens caused by social media platforms hosting or amplifying content that includes threats or suggestions of physical violence or danger toward citizens, institutions, groups, associations, or physical structures of the Commonwealth.

Consumer Data Protection Act; Protections for Children HB 1688 (Brewer) and SB 1026 (Suetterlein) would have required a controller or processor to obtain verifiable parental consent, defined in the bill, prior to registering any child with the operator's product or service or before collecting, using, or disclosing such child's personal data and prohibits a controller from knowingly processing the personal data of a child for purposes of targeted advertising, the sale of such personal data, or profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning a consumer. The bill would have also amended the definition of child for purposes of the Consumer Data Protection Act to include any natural person younger than 18 years of age.

Information Technology Access Act HB 2207 (Tran) would have made numerous organizational changes to the Information Technology Access Act (the Act). The bill would have expanded the definition of “information technology” to "information and communications technology (ICT)" which now includes products or services primarily intended to fulfill or enable the function of information processing and communication by electronic means. The bill also would have defined “digital accessibility”. The bill would have modified the scope of the Act from applying to primarily individuals who are blind or visually impaired to all persons with disabilities. 

Administration of State Government; Prohibited Actions; Civil Penalty HB 2385 (Brewer) would have prohibited state agencies from entering into a contract for goods or services with a scrutinized company, defined in the bill as any company owned or operated by a foreign adversary, other than a company for which the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has determined that there are no unresolved national security concerns regarding the transaction that created such ownership or permitted such operation. The bill would have also required any company that submits a bid or proposal to a state agency with respect to a contract for goods or services to certify in writing that it is not a scrutinized company and outlines the penalties for falsifying information in submitting such certification, including a civil penalty in an amount equal to the greater of $250,000 or twice the amount of the contract for which the bid or proposal was submitted. Finally, the bill would have prohibited any employee or agent of any executive branch agency or person or entity contracting with any such agency from downloading or using any application, including TikTok or WeChat, or accessing any website developed by ByteDance Ltd. or Tencent Holdings Ltd. on any state-issued device or state-owned or state-leased equipment, including mobile phones, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablets, or other devices capable of connecting to the Internet, or while connected to any wired or wireless Internet network owned, operated, or maintained by the Commonwealth.

Enhancing the Usage of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Technology in K-12 Classrooms and Curricula; Use of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality In Special Education; Report HJ 534 (Wampler) would have requested the Department of Education to study ways to enhance the usage of augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) technology in the classroom and curricula for grades K-12 and how AR/VR technology can be used to improve and enhance education for students with certain disabilities and learning impairments.

Licensure of Professional Counselors; Counseling Compact HB 1433 (Scott) and SB 802 (Hashmi) authorize Virginia to become a signatory to the Counseling Compact. The Compact permits eligible licensed professional counselors to practice in Compact member states, provided that they are licensed in at least one member state. The bills have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2024, and direct the Board of Counseling to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. The Compact takes effect when it is enacted by a tenth member state.

Child Abuse or Neglect; Findings of Local Department of Social Services; Appeal HB 1550 (Campbell) provides that in cases in which a teacher licensed by the Board of Education or through an alternative pathway and employed by a local school board is found by a local department of social services to have committed child abuse or neglect, the teacher may, after exhausting all options for review by the local department and Commissioner of Social Services, petition the circuit court for a de novo review of such finding. Note that an adopted Governor’s amendment clarifies that in the case of a teacher who is the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect and whose license has been revoked pursuant to this subsection, in the event that a court reverses such finding of abuse or neglect and the individual submits to the Department an application for the reinstatement of his license as a teacher, the Board shall consider and act upon such application no later than 90 days after the date of submission.

Civil Cause of Action; Sexual Abuse by Person of Authority; Limitations Period HB 1647 (Anderson) creates a civil cause of action for injury to a person 18 years of age or older resulting from sexual abuse by a person of authority, defined in the bill. The bill further specifies that any such action shall be brought within 15 years after the cause of action accrues.

Reports of Certain Arrests and Convictions; Receipt, Report, and Compilation HB 1704 (Bell) and SB 821 (Surovell) require each division superintendent to annually designate an employee in the local school division as the division safety official whose duty is to receive all reports required to be made pursuant to relevant law. The bill requires each division superintendent to include such designation in the collated packet of school safety audits submitted to the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety pursuant to relevant law and requires the Center to designate an employee of the Center as the school personnel safety official for the Commonwealth whose duty is to compile, maintain, and make publicly available a list of each such division safety official and the contact information or such induvial. The bill also provides that a probation and parole officer who is supervising a person employed by a local school division in the Commonwealth shall, upon discovering that such supervised person has been arrested or convicted of a felony offense or an equivalent offense in another state, report such arrest or conviction to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the designated division safety official in the local school division where such supervised person is employed as soon as practicable. Additionally, the bill requires all arresting officials, agencies, and clerks that report certain offenses to the Superintendent of Public Instruction or a division safety official to transmit the required reports via certified mail, return receipt requested, or to the identified fax numbers and email addresses. The bill finally requires, until July 1, 2027, that in the event that the law-enforcement agency has existing access to the Virginia Employment Commission records, all such arresting officials or agencies request in writing that the Virginia Employment Commission provide the name of the current employer of each arrested person for purposes of determining whether a report is required.

School Boards; Teacher Reengagement Program established. HB 1762 (Reid) establishes the Teacher Reengagement Program for the purpose of addressing instructional personnel shortages and COVID-19 pandemic-related student learning loss. The bill permits any school board to hire an individual pursuant to the Program, subject to the following conditions and limitations: (i) the individual works on a part-time basis; (ii) the individual is compensated with part-time pay, with any health, dental, and vision insurance coverage that is available to full-time school board employees, or with some combination of such pay and coverage; (iii) in the case of an individual who holds a renewable or provisional teaching license issued by the Board of Education, the individual's duties consist of teaching students, providing one-on-one tutoring services to students, or mentoring teachers, or some combination thereof; (iv) in the case of an individual who does not hold a renewable or provisional teaching license issued by the Board, the individual has professional experience or expertise in a certain subject matter area and the individual's duties consist of providing one-on-one tutoring services to students in such subject matter area; and (v) the individual complies with all laws, regulations, and school board policies and procedures applicable to part-time school board employees. The bill requires any school board that hires any part-time employee pursuant to the Program to annually report to the Department of Education such data on the implementation of the Program that the Department deems necessary to evaluate its continued effectiveness at addressing instructional personnel shortages and student learning loss. The foregoing provisions of the bill expire on July 1, 2028. The bill requires the Department to submit to the General Assembly no later than October 1, 2027, its recommendation for preserving, extending, or eliminating such expiration date.

Offense Involving Solicitation of Sexual Molestation, Physical or Sexual Abuse, or Rape of a Child; Penalty HB 1822 (Avoli) provides that the convictions that bar employment and contract work that requires direct contact with students on school property during school hours or school-sponsored activities in public schools include any offense involving the solicitation of sexual molestation, physical or sexual abuse, or rape of a child.

Applicant Fingerprint Database; Participation in FBI Next Generation Identification Rap Back Service, through Virginia Rap Back Service, for Fingerprint-Based Criminal History Record Monitoring; Penalty HB 1859 (Webert) and SB 1183 (Reeves) require the Department of State Police (the Department) to participate in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Next Generation Identification (NGI) Record of Arrest and Prosecution (Rap) Back Service, through the Virginia Rap Back Service (the Service), for the purpose of allowing those agencies and governmental entities that require a fingerprint-based criminal background check as a condition of (i) providing care to (a) children, (b) the disabled, or (c) the elderly or (ii) (a) licensure, (b) certification, (c) employment, or (d) volunteer service to be advised when an individual subject to such screening is arrested for, or convicted of, a criminal offense. The bill provides that fingerprints submitted to the FBI through the Virginia Rap Back Service may be used for future searches, including latent searches.

The bills require the Department to ensure that notification is made to the participating entity, defined in the bill, when an FBI Rap Back report is received. Any unauthorized use of the information submitted to the Service is prohibited; any willful violation with the intent to harass or intimidate another is a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill requires the Department to promulgate regulations governing the Service and the removal and destruction of records on persons who are deceased or are no longer enrolled in the Service. The bill provides that such regulations shall provide that a participating entity shall disenroll any individual who is deceased or is no longer an individual, as defined in the bill, within 30 days of death or such event that no longer requires such individual to be enrolled in the Virginia Rap Back Service in order to ensure the prompt removal and destruction of records from the Virginia Rap Back Service. The bill authorizes the Department to charge a $12 fee per individual enrolled in the Service, paid by any participating entity enrolling the individual in the Service, and provides that when more than one participating agency enrolls the same individual in the Service, both entities shall be responsible for paying the full cost for maintenance and notification. The bill requires that any fees collected shall be deposited in a special account to offset costs of subscription fees, maintenance fees, and enhancements related to the Criminal and Rap Back Information Service.

Under current law, the Department maintains an Applicant Fingerprint Database (the Database) that functions similarly to the Service. The bill transitions the Department from using the Database and requires the Service to be operational no later than July 1, 2025, contingent upon appropriation of funds.

Nondisclosure or Confidentiality Agreements; Prohibited Nondisparagement Provisions; Claims of Sexual Harassment HB 1895 (Filler-Corn) provides that no employer may require an employee or prospective employee to execute or renew any provision in a nondisclosure or confidentiality agreement, including any provision regarding nondisparagement, that has the purpose or effect of concealing the details of a sexual harassment claim. Any such provision is against public policy and is void and unenforceable.

Minimum Wage; Employees with Disabilities HB 1924 (Hope) provides that individuals with disabilities that are paid at subminimum wage pursuant to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act are employees for the purposes of the Virginia Minimum Wage Act. The bill requires every employer of such employees to pay such employees’ wages at a rate not less than the Virginia minimum wage. The bill would be effective July 1, 2023, with an exemption until October 1, 2027 for employers who are authorized to pay such employees subminimum wage as of July 1, 2023. Note that adopted Governor’s amendments change the scope and dates of applicability of the legislation and would require that the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services shall prioritize efforts to support individuals with disabilities who desire to transition from subminimum wage employment to competitive integrated employment, and would require submission of a report by May 1, 2024, to the Governor and the General Assembly on the number of individuals with disabilities employed in subminimum wage employment and the movement of individuals from subminimum wage employment to competitive integrated employment.

School Psychologists; Staffing Flexibility HB 2124 (Wilt) provides that in order to fill vacant school psychologist positions, any local school board may employ, under a provisional license issued by the Department of Education for three school years with an allowance for an additional two-year extension with the approval of the division superintendent, clinical psychologists licensed by the Board of Psychology, provided that any such individual makes progress toward completing the requirements for full licensure as a school psychologist during such period of employment. The bill requires the Department to consult the Virginia Academy of School Psychologists, and other stakeholders as necessary, to ensure that the process and criteria for provisionally licensed school psychologists to obtain full licensure as school psychologists appropriately address the challenges that are unique to school psychology training requirements and the school psychology profession generally.

Virginia Board of Social Work; Licensed Clinical Social Worker Candidates; Licensure by Reciprocity; Workgroup; Report HB 2146 directs the Virginia Board of Social Work to convene a workgroup to examine the feasibility of licensure by reciprocity with other jurisdictions. The workgroup shall also examine the effectiveness of the Board's current licensure by endorsement provisions and shall examine the possibility of joining the Social Work Compact when that Compact becomes operational. The Board shall submit a report to the General Assembly no later than November 1, 2023.

Background Checks; Services for Children and Developmental Services; Adult Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services HB 2342 (Campbell) separates background check requirements for direct care positions with service providers and community boards. The bill separates provisions regarding background checks of employees in direct care positions providing adult substance abuse and mental health services from those of background checks of employees in direct care positions providing services for children and developmental services.

Provisional Teacher Licensure; Permissive Extension; Satisfactory Performance Evaluations During Years of Actual Employment HB 2375 (Sewell)  require the Board of Education to extend for at least one additional year, but for no more than two additional years, the three-year provisional license of a teacher upon receiving from the division superintendent a recommendation for such extension and satisfactory performance evaluations for such teacher for each year during the original three-year provisional license that such teacher was actually employed. SB 1052 (McPike) contains similar provisions but uses the phrasing “for any year during the original three-year provisional license.”  SB 1052 also directs the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure to advise the Board of Education and submit recommendations on policies related to helping school divisions more effectively recruit and retain licensed teachers.  Note that adopted Governor’s amendments to HB 2375 clarify that performance evaluations would be required for each year a teacher was actually employed and received a filed performance evaluation.  Similarly, amendments to SB 1052 conform to the amended language of HB 2375, making the two bills’ provisions related to provisional licenses identical.

Public Elementary and Secondary School Teachers; Frequency of Certain Training Activities; Length of Temporary Teacher Employment HB 2457 (Batten) prohibits any public elementary or secondary school teacher from being required to participate more frequently than once every five years in in certain training relating to the appropriate management of student conduct and student offenses in violation of school board policies or relating to secure mandatory test violations, unless the school board or division superintendent determines that additional training is necessary to comply with federal or state law or to remediate misconduct. Each such teacher who completes any such training shall sign a written attestation that the teacher has been trained in and understands the relevant subject matter. The bill requires each local school board to report to the Board of Education and the General Assembly no later than October 1, 2023, on the frequency with which each public elementary and secondary school teacher in the local school division participates in each required training or professional development activity. The bill allows that, notwithstanding the provisions of § 22.1-302 of the Code of Virginia, during the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years, any school board may employ a temporary employee to fill a teacher vacancy for a period of time not to exceed 180 days during one school year.

Immunity of Persons at Public Hearing; Statements Made by Employee Against Employer SB 845 (Petersen) provides that a person shall be immune from tort liability of the tort is based solely on statements (i) regarding matters of public concern that would be protected under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States made by that person that are communicated to a third party, (ii) made at a public hearing before the governing body of any locality or other political subdivision, or the boards, commissions, agencies, and authorities thereof, and other governing bodies of any local governmental entity concerning matters properly before such body, or (iii) made by an employee against his employer and where retaliatory action against an employee by such employer is otherwise prohibited by law. The bill also provides that any person who prevails in such a legal action may be awarded reasonable attorney fees and costs.

Employer Use of Employee's Social Security; Prohibited; Civil Penalty SB 1040 (McPike) prohibits an employer from using an employee's social security number or any derivative thereof as such employee's identification number or including an employee's social security number or any number derived thereof on any identification card or badge, any access card or badge, or any other similar card or badge issued to such employee. The bill imposes a civil penalty of up to $100 for any knowing violation of the prohibition.

Compensation of Public School Teachers and Other Standards of Quality-Funded Positions; Competitive Rate SB 1215 (Lucas) requires the Department of Education to convene a work group no later than August 15, 2023, consisting of school board representatives, division superintendents, public elementary and secondary school teachers, parents of public elementary and secondary school students, representatives of major associations representing public elementary and secondary school staff, and such other stakeholders as the Department deems appropriate to consider and make recommendations in the form of a publicly available report posted on the Department website and addressed and sent to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than November 1, 2023, on the appropriateness, feasibility, potential fiscal impact, and potential unintended consequences of (i) preserving the definition of the term "competitive" contained in § 22.1289.1 of the Code of Virginia, as applied to the compensation of public elementary and secondary school teachers; (ii) amending such definition to incorporate an alternative metric, including the median annual salary of a Virginia worker who is 25 years of age or older and has a bachelor's degree; and (iii) requiring the Department or another entity to conduct an annual calculation to determine public school teacher compensation and the commensurate flat percentage increase to the state share of salary funding for Standards of Quality supported positions that is necessary to make such compensation competitive under any such definition.

Worker Misclassification; Debarment Procedures HB 1684 (Orrock) and SB 1354 (Marsden) revises the procedure under which a contractor may be debarred from public contracts for misclassification of workers. The bill requires the Tax Department to notify an employer of a determination that the employer failed to properly classify an individual and allows the employer to apply for judicial or administrative review. Upon a subsequent violation, and once the opportunity for appeals has been exhausted, the Department is required to provide notice to all public bodies that they shall not award a contract to firms associated with the offending employer for specified periods.

Behavior Analysts; Assistant Behavior Analysts; Licensure Criteria; Certifying Entities HB 1946 (Wachsmann) and SB 1406 (Vogel) provides in the criteria for licensure as a behavior analyst or assistant behavior analyst established by the Board of Medicine that certain documentation must be provided by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board or its successor.

Annual Trauma-Informed Care Training Program SB 1300 (Deeds) directs the Department of Education to collaborate with the Virginia Tiered Systems of Support Research and Implementation Center (VTSS-RIC) to make modifications to the existing Trauma Learning Modules provided by VTSS-RIC.

National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund; Name; Eligibility; Incentive Grant Awards HB 1424 (Coyner) and SB 1260 (Lucas) would have renamed the National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund as the National Board Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund, expands eligibility for incentive grant awards from such Fund pursuant to such Program from solely teachers who have obtained national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to all public school staff who are candidates for initial national certification or maintenance of national certification to cover certain costs of obtaining or maintaining such certification and all public school staff who have successfully obtained or maintained such certification. The bills would have also declared eligible for an annual incentive grant award in the amount of $7,500 all public school staff who have obtained or maintained such certification.

Workplace Violence Policy Required for Certain Employers; Civil Penalty HB 1616 (Clark) would have required any employer of 100 or more employees to develop, implement, and maintain a workplace violence policy no later than January 1, 2024. The bill would have included requirements for such a policy, such as procedures and methods for employee reporting of incidents and post-incident investigations. Employers subject to the bill would have been required to maintain documentation of workplace violence incidents for not less than five years. An employer that violates the provisions of the bill would have been subject to a civil penalty of not more than $1,000 per violation. The bill would have prohibited retaliation from an employer on the basis of reporting a workplace violence incident and provided that any employee who makes a report of workplace violence shall be immune from civil liability.

Daily Lunch Breaks; Teachers HB 1696 (Simonds) would have require each school board to ensure that all elementary school teachers in its employment are provided one lunch break per school day that is at least 30 minutes in length and unencumbered by any teaching or supervisory duties but that may be shortened or eliminated in the case of a bona fide emergency relating to health or safety.

Attorney General; Instituting or Conducting Criminal Prosecutions for Violations of Criminal Sexual Assault and Commercial Sex Trafficking Committed Against Children HB 1705 (Bell) and SB 902 (McDougle) would have authorized the Attorney General to institute or conduct criminal prosecutions in cases involving a violation of criminal sexual assault or commercial sex trafficking when such crimes are committed against children.

Workplace Violence; Department of Labor and Industry to Convene Work Group to Evaluate, Report HB 1715 (Clark) would have directed the Department of Labor and Industry to convene a work group for the purpose of evaluating the prevalence of workplace violence in the Commonwealth, including its effects on the workplace and measures to address workplace violence.

Certain Training Activities; Frequency; Report HB 1717 would have prohibited any public elementary or secondary school teacher from being required to participate more frequently than once every five years in any training relating to the etiology, prevention, transmission modes, and effects of blood-borne pathogens; treating students with seizures and seizure disorders, including information about seizure recognition and related first aid; the appropriate management of student conduct and student offenses in violation of school board policies; or secure mandatory test violations. The bill would have required each such teacher who completes any such training to sign a written attestation that the teacher has been trained in and understands the relevant subject matter.

Length of Employment for Certain Temporarily Employed Teachers; Short-Term Extension Permitted HB 1728 (VanValkenburg) would have provided that, notwithstanding the relevant provision of law that permits a school board to employ a temporarily employed teacher to fill a teacher vacancy for a period of time not to exceed 90 days during one school year unless otherwise approved by the Superintendent of Public Instruction on a case-by-case basis, during the 2023 - 2024 and 2024 - 2025 school years, any school board may employ such a temporarily employed teacher to fill such a vacancy for a period of time not to exceed 180 days during one school year. The bill would have required each such temporarily employed teacher to be at least 18 years of age and hold a high school diploma or have passed a high school equivalency examination approved by the Board of Education but provided that no such teacher shall be required to be employed pursuant to a written contract or to hold a license issued by the Board of Education.

Virginia Teacher Residency Training Corps; established HB 1760 (Reid) would have established the Virginia Teacher Residency Training Corps for the purposes of attaining and retaining public elementary and secondary school teachers in school divisions in the Commonwealth by awarding scholarships to students seeking to obtain teaching degrees and certifications at participating institutions and requiring such students upon completion of their degree or certificate to fill teaching positions for one year for each year of scholarship receipt at a high-need school, as defined pursuant to federal law. The bill would have also created the Virginia Teacher Residency Training Corps Scholarship Fund and Program for the purpose of funding such scholarships at the participating institutions of Longwood University, Norfolk State University, Radford University, and Virginia Commonwealth University.

Administration of Government; Rights of State and Local Employees; Freedoms of Conscience and Expression HB 1810 (Davis) would have protected local government employees from being penalized by their employer for expressing their opinion regarding a current or proposed regulation, rule, policy, position, or other action or purpose of a public body at an open meeting of such public body during the time designated for public comment when such employees are speaking on their own behalf as members of the public. The bill would have exempted from such protection expressions made by state government employees during a public meeting of a committee or subcommittee of the General Assembly or State Corporation Commission.

Employment of Teachers; English as a Second Language Incentive Reward Program and Fund; Established HB 1824 (Avoli) and  SB 1118 (Hashmi) would have provided that each local school board shall adopt employment policies and practices designed to promote the employment of highly qualified teachers to effectively serve the educational needs of students who are English language learners, including providing financial support for teachers seeking and obtaining an endorsement in English as a second language pre-kindergarten through grade 12. The bill would have also established the English as a Second Language Incentive Reward Program and Fund for the purpose of awarding incentive grants to public school teachers in the Commonwealth who obtain an endorsement in English as a second language pre-kindergarten through grade 12. The bill would have provided that the Board of Education would have awarded to any teacher who obtains such endorsement an initial incentive grant of $5,000 and a subsequent incentive grant of $2,500 each year for the life of the endorsement, with such incentive grants to resume upon renewal of the endorsement. Finally, the bill would have directed the Board to establish such guidelines as it deems necessary for the administration of the Program and to establish procedures for the award of such incentive grants in the event that the moneys in the Fund are not sufficient to award each eligible teacher the appropriate award amount.

Child Care; Background Checks HB 1825 (Avoli) would have allowed applicants for employment and applicants to serve as volunteers to work in certain child day centers, family day homes, and family day systems pending the results of a full background check, provided that the applicant has received qualifying results on a fingerprint-based background check through the Central Criminal Records Exchange or the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the applicant is supervised at all times by a person who received a qualifying result on a full background check within the past five years.

Licensure of Professional Counselors Without Examination HB 1872 (Scott) would have allowed the Board of Counseling to issue a license to practice as a professional counselor without examination to an applicant seeking initial licensure or renewal of such license and who satisfies all other education, experience, and fitness to practice requirements set forth in regulation and who is qualified to practice professional counseling.

Local School Boards and Comprehensive Community Colleges; Compensation Structure for Adjunct Instructors; Credit-Bearing and Noncredit Workforce Credentials HB 1887 (Byron) would have directed the Virginia Community College System and the Department of Education to convene a work group to assess the costs and develop options for encouraging agreements between the community colleges and local school boards to prepare high school students and college students to earn credit-bearing and noncredit workforce credentials. The work group shall submit its findings to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Education and Health, the House Committee on Appropriations, and the House Committee on Education no later than November 1, 2023.

Staffing Ratios; School Counselors With Training or Experience in Mental Health HB 1938 (Plum) would have required each school board to employ, in addition to the school counselors that it employs as otherwise required by law, at least one full-time school counselor with specialized training or experience in mental health per 1,000 students in grades kindergarten through 12.

Employment; Training and Education; Sexual Harassment and Workplace Discrimination HB 2003 (Krizek) would have required each employer with 50 or more employees, including the Commonwealth and its agencies, institutions, and political subdivisions, to provide annual interactive training and education regarding sexual harassment and workplace discrimination by January 1, 2024. The bill would have included specific training and education requirements for supervisory and nonsupervisory employees, seasonal and temporary employees who are hired to work for less than six months, and migrant and seasonal agricultural workers. The training and education that would have been required under the bill would have had to be provided by an educator or human resources professional with knowledge and expertise in the subject matter and must include a method for employees to electronically save a certificate of completion of such training and education. The bill would have required the Department of Labor and Industry to make online courses for the required training available on its website beginning January 1, 2024.

Wage or Salary History Inquiries Prohibited; Civil Penalty HB 2023 (Maldonado) and SB 1136 (Boysko) would have prohibited a prospective employer from seeking the wage or salary history of a prospective employee; relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in determining the wages or salary the prospective employee is to be paid upon hire; relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in considering the prospective employee for employment; refusing to interview, hire, employ, or promote a prospective employee or otherwise retaliating against a prospective employee for not providing wage or salary history; failing or refusing to provide a prospective employee the wage or salary range for the position for which the prospective employee is applying prior to discussing compensation and at any time upon the prospective employee's request; and failing to set a wage or salary range in good faith. The bills would have established a cause of action for an aggrieved prospective employee or employee and provides that an employer that violates such prohibitions is liable to the aggrieved prospective employee or employee for statutory damages between $1,000 and $10,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater; reasonable attorney fees and costs; and any other legal and equitable relief as may be appropriate. The bill would have also provided for civil penalties for violations not to exceed $1,000 for a first violation, $2,000 for a second violation, and $4,000 for a third or subsequent violation.

Employment; Restrictions on Use of Credit Report for Employment Purposes HB 2116 (Hudson) would have prohibited employers from using a credit report in connection with or as a criterion for employment purposes, requesting or procuring a credit report for employment purposes, or requiring an employee or prospective employee to answer a question about the contents of a credit report or the information contained therein. Notwithstanding this prohibition, the bill lists conditions under which an employer or person acting on behalf of an employer may obtain, use, or seek a credit report from an employee or prospective employee. The bill would have prohibited any waiver of its requirements and prohibited retaliation and other discrimination or adverse action taken by an employer against an employee for alleging a violation of its requirements. The bill would have provided that the State Corporation Commission enforce the requirements of the bill by imposing civil penalties, notifying employers, and conducting informal conferences to assess violations.

Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back (G3) Program; Eligibility; High-Demand Fields HB 2142 (Guzman) would have defined, for the purpose of determining the eligibility for financial assistance under the Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back (G3) Program of an individual enrolled in a certain program that leads to an occupation in a high-demand field, the term "high-demand field" as a discipline or field in which there is a shortage of skilled workers to fill current and anticipated additional job vacancies, the K-12 teaching field, including teaching in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, or  the special education teaching field.

Teach for Virginia Loan Repayment Assistance Fund and Program Established HB 2143 (Guzman) would have  established the Teach for Virginia Loan Repayment Assistance Fund and Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, for the purpose of recruiting and retaining teachers in communities and subject areas in which they are needed the most by providing on a competitive basis an annual renewable grant of up to $5,000 toward loan repayment assistance to any teacher licensed by the Board of Education who has certain student loan debt, who is currently employed by a local school division in the Commonwealth, and who, for at least one year immediately preceding application, has taught in a public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth in a critical shortage area identified by the Superintendent of Public Instruction pursuant to relevant law or in a public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth in which the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced price lunch is higher than the statewide average percentage of students eligible for free or reduced price lunch.

Employment Discrimination; Employee Notification of Federal and State Statute of Limitations HB 2148 (Guzman) would have required an employer who receives an employee complaint alleging sexual assault, harassment, or any other form of discrimination for which the employee may seek enforcement by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the Office of the Attorney General to notify such employee that a charge may be filed with the EEOC or the Office of the Attorney General within 300 days after the alleged unlawful discriminatory practice occurred. The bill would have also required an employer to provide this information as part of any new employee training provided at the commencement of employment or anti-discrimination training provided to an employee.

Certain Public Elementary Schools; Parent Liaison Position HB 2149 (Guzman) would have required a local school board to employ, in any public elementary or secondary school in which at least 20 percent of enrolled students are identified as members of a single racial or ethnic group that constitutes a minority of the total population of the United States, at least one full-time parent liaison who is also a member of such racial or ethnic group per the first 200 students who are identified as members of such group and at least one such additional full-time parent liaison per each additional 300 students who are identified as members of such group beyond the first 200 such students. The bill would have required each such parent liaison to serve as a liaison between the guardians of such students and the school principal and staff and to provide guardians, particularly of minority students, with a variety of information about school programs, requirements, resources, events, and activities and perform related work as required. The bill would have required these positions to be included in the Standards of Quality and funded by the Commonwealth at a rate equivalent to the school division's prevailing average secondary teacher cost and provides that these positions shall not be considered support services positions.

Workplace Violence; Violence in Certain Public Places; Penalty HB 2167 (Williams) and SB 1103 (Stuart) would have made it a Class 3 felony for any person to commit an act of violence at such person's place of employment or former place of employment, or at any other workplace of the same employer, whether on or off duty and whether during or outside of normal business hours; a place of worship, including any education building or community center owned or leased by a place of worship; a courthouse; or a hospital. The bill would have provided that such offense is a separate and distinct offense, punishment for which would have been consecutive to any punishment received for the act of violence.

School Psychologists; Staffing Flexibility HB 2188 (Rasoul) would have provide that in order to fill vacant school psychologist positions, any local school board may employ, under a provisional license issued by the Department of Education for three school years with an allowance for an additional two-year extension with the approval of the division superintendent, clinical psychologists licensed by the Board of Psychology, provided that any such individual makes progress toward completing the requirements for full licensure as a school psychologist during such period of employment.

Licensure of Professional Counselors; Counseling Compact HB 2229 (Sickles) would have authorized Virginia to become a signatory to the Counseling Compact. The Compact would have permited eligible licensed professional counselors to practice in Compact member states, provided that they are licensed in at least one member state. The bill would have had a delayed effective date of January 1, 2024, and directed the Board of Counseling to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. The Compact would have taken effect when it was enacted by a tenth member state.

Comprehensive Community Colleges; Education Preparation Programs HB 2277 (LaRock) would have permitted comprehensive community colleges to offer four-year bachelor's degree programs in teacher education, subject to the requirements for accreditation and education preparation program approval prescribed by the Board of Education in its regulations.

Statewide Strategic Plan; Speech-Language Pathologists HB 2367 (Hudson) would have required the Department to develop and maintain a statewide strategic plan for recruiting and retaining speech-language pathologists that, at a minimum, analyzes data to determine the specific staffing needs of local school divisions on an ongoing basis; evaluates the potential effectiveness of strategies for addressing recruitment and retention challenges, including tuition assistance, differentiated pay for speech-language pathologists, and the expansion of speech-language pathologist mentorships; and estimates the costs of implementing each such strategy, including the extent to which federal funds could be used to support implementation.

Licensure; Recruitment and Retention; Provision of Temporary Funding HB 2378 (Maldonado) would have directed temporary funding to be provided to local school divisions identified as having experienced increased teacher turnover or teacher staffing shortages for the purpose of providing recruitment and retention bonuses to encourage teachers to attain employment and remain employed in such school divisions and teacher tuition assistance to support provisionally licensed teachers in such school divisions in attaining full licensure.

Elementary and secondary schools; temporary funding for instructional assistants HB 2439 (Maldonado) would have directed temporary funding to be provided to each elementary and secondary school identified as an underperforming school, as defined in the bill, for the purpose of hiring instructional assistants to aid and support teachers in providing small group and individualized instruction, meet the various instructional and behavioral needs of students, and reduce teacher workloads.

Offering Reduced Rate In-State Tuition Rates at Public Institutions of Higher Education in the Commonwealth to Dependents of Public Elementary and Secondary School Teachers in the Commonwealth; Report HJ 511 (Helmer) would have requested the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to study, in collaboration with the Department of Education, the feasibility and efficacy of offering the dependents of public elementary and secondary school teachers in the Commonwealth reduced rate in-state tuition at public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth for the purpose of improving retention rates of public school teachers in the Commonwealth.

Study; Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure; Impact of the Commonwealth joining the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact; report HJ 521 (Sewell) would have requested the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure to study the impact of the Commonwealth joining the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact and report to the General Assembly no later than November 30, 2023, its findings and a recommendation regarding whether the Commonwealth should join such compact.

Study; Virginia Community College System; feasibility of pursuing the approval of education preparation programs to be offered by comprehensive community colleges in the Commonwealth; report HJ 538 (LaRock) would have requested that the Virginia Community College System study the feasibility of pursuing the approval of education preparation programs to be offered by comprehensive community colleges in the Commonwealth and report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly no later than November 30, 2023.

Veterans' Teaching Licensure Support Fund and Program; Established SB 890 (Hashmi) would have established the Veterans' Teaching Licensure Support Fund and Program for the purpose of supporting veterans and service members teaching in a public school in the Commonwealth or pursuing a career in education in the Commonwealth by awarding a reimbursement grant to eligible veterans and service members to reimburse them for their professional studies tuition expenses incurred toward receiving teacher licensure in the Commonwealth.

Development of a Teacher Licensure Website and Licensure Application Portal SB 935 (Hashmi) would have directed the Department of Education to develop and maintain an easily accessible and streamlined website to provide clarification on teacher licensure and endorsement requirements, including information on specific requirements and certification credentials based on the specific type of licensure or endorsement. The bill would have also directed the Department to develop and maintain a teacher licensure application portal to integrate all forms and payment required for licensure and that includes a feature enabling any teacher to track his progress in earning professional development points, completing licensure renewal requirements, and fulfilling any additional credentialing or endorsement options offered by the Board of Education and options for sharing and sending any application documents and forms to allow Educator Preparation Programs or division leadership to review and approve such documents and forms prior to the Department review process.

Hate Crimes and Discrimination; Anti-Semitism; Penalties SB 1184 (Reeves) would have provided that it is the policy of the Commonwealth to safeguard all individuals within the Commonwealth from unlawful discrimination in employment and in places of public accommodation because of such individual's ethnic origin. The bill also would have added victims who are intentionally selected because of their ethnic origin to the categories of victims whose intentional selection for a hate crime involving assault, assault and battery, or trespass for the purpose of damaging another's property results in a higher criminal penalty for the offense. The bill also would have provided that no provider or user of an interactive computer service on the Internet shall be liable for any action voluntarily taken by it in good faith to restrict access to material that the provider or user considers to be intended to incite hatred on the basis of ethnic origin.

School Psychologists; Staffing Flexibility SB 1268 (Favola) would have provided that in order to fill vacant school psychologist positions, any local school board may employ, under a provisional license issued by the Department of Education for three school years with an allowance for an additional two-year extension with the approval of the division superintendent, clinical psychologists licensed by the Board of Psychology, provided that any such individual makes progress toward completing the requirements for full licensure as a school psychologist during such period of employment. This bill was incorporated into SB 1143 (McPike).

Study; Department of Education; feasibility of expanding waiver of teacher licensure requirements for certain hard-to-fill educator positions; report. SJ 246 (Boysko) would have requested the Department of Education to study options for and the feasibility of expanding the criteria for granting a waiver of teacher licensure requirements for certain hard-to-fill educator positions, such as advanced or specialized science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and computer science classes. In conducting its study, the Department shall (i) review the current law on granting a waiver of teacher licensure requirements; (ii) consider options for expanding the criteria for granting a waiver of teacher licensure requirements, with a focus on removing barriers to employing individuals to teach hard-to-fill elective and non-core courses, such as advanced or specialized STEM and computer science classes; and (iii) make recommendations on policies for granting a waiver of teacher licensure requirements, including amendments to the current law or pertinent regulations.

Virginia Retirement System; Return to Work HB 1630 (Coyner),  SB 1289 (Deeds), and SB 1479 (Lucas) reduce from 12 to six the number of months for the required break in service before a retiree can return to work full time as a critical shortage teacher, bus driver or other instructional or administrative employee, or as School Security Officers (SSO) and continue to receive their pension under the Virginia Retirement System (VRS). The bills add specialized student support personnel described in § 22.1-253:13.2(O) to the critical shortage provisions and adds these positions to the critical shortage surveys conducted by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, division superintendents, and school boards. The bills also adds that the employer of such individual in a critical shortage position shall include their compensation in membership payroll for purposes of the employer contribution to VRS. The bills amend Title 22.1 to require the Superintendent of Public Instruction, division superintendents, and school boards to include specialized student support positions in the survey of critical shortage positions. The bills require VRS to report on options for retirees with 25 years of service to be hired into temporary or other non-full-time positions during the break in service without impacting their retirement benefits. Finally, the bills extend the current sunset from 2025 to 2028.  SB 1107 (Cosgrove) also passed with similar provisions but with a delayed effective date of January 1, 2024. 

Unemployment Compensation; Venue for Prosecution of Certain Criminal Cases HB 2009 (Adams) and SB 1123 (Stanley) provide that the venue for criminal cases involving false statements, representations, or nondisclosures by an employing unit or an individual with regard to an unemployment claim lies in the county or city wherein the statement, representation, or nondisclosure originates or, alternatively, is received by the Virginia Employment Commission.

Mental Health Benefits; Coverage for Mobile Crisis Response Services and Residential Crisis Stabilization Units HB 2216 (Leftwich) and SB 1347 (Cosgrove) require health insurance carriers to provide coverage for mobile crisis response services, defined in the bills, and support and stabilization services provided in a residential crisis stabilization unit, defined in the bills, to the extent that such services are covered in other settings or modalities, regardless of any difference in billing codes. The bills require the State Corporation Commission, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, to convene a stakeholder work group to examine network standards for mobile crisis response services and the current availability of mobile crisis response services in the Commonwealth. The bills require the work group to make recommendations regarding (i) the definition and standards of care for mobile crisis response services and short-term residential crisis stabilization services as they apply to the commercial insurance market, including balance billing protections; (ii) the licensure or accreditation required for such services in the Commonwealth; and (iii) how cost-sharing and deductibles will be addressed as part of accessing such services for commercially insured individuals. The bills require the Commission to report the work group’s findings to the Health Insurance Reform Commission and the Governor no later than September 1, 2023.

Mandated Coverage for Hearing Aids for Minors SB 1003 (DeSteph) requires health insurers, health maintenance organizations, and corporations providing health care coverage subscription contracts to provide coverage for hearing aids and related services for children 18 years of age or younger when an otolaryngologist recommends such hearing aids and related services. The coverage includes one hearing aid per hearing-impaired ear, up to a cost of $1,500, every 24 months. The measure applies to policies, contracts, and plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on and after January 1, 2024.

Living organ donors; unpaid leave; civil penalty. SB 1086 (Ebbin) requires that an employer that employs 50 or more employees provide eligible employees, defined in the bill, with (i) up to 60 business days of unpaid organ donation leave in any 12-month period to serve as an organ donor and (ii) up to 30 business days of unpaid organ donation leave in any 12-month period to serve as a bone marrow donor. The bill requires the employer to restore the employee's position following the leave, to continue to provide coverage for the employee under any health benefit plan during the leave, and to pay the employee any commission earned prior to the leave. The bill prohibits the employer from taking retaliatory action against the employee for taking organ donation leave. The bill requires the Commissioner of Labor and Industry to enforce its provisions and provides for civil penalties for violations of its requirements.

Virginia Retirement System; Law-Enforcement Officers; Return to Work SB 1411 (Norment) directs the Virginia Retirement System and the Department of Criminal Justice Services to review and analyze options for allowing law-enforcement officers to return to work after retirement.

Health Insurance; Electronic Prior Authorization and Disclosure of Certain Prescription Drug Information HB 1471 (Fowler) and SB 1261 (Dunnavant) requires each health insurance carrier, beginning July 1, 2025, to establish and maintain an online process that (i) links directly to all e-prescribing systems and electronic health record systems that utilize the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs SCRIPT standard; (ii) can accept electronic prior authorization requests from a provider; (iii) can approve electronic prior authorization requests (a) for which no additional information is needed by the carrier to process the prior authorization request, (b) for which no clinical review is required, and (c) that meet the carrier's criteria for approval; (iv) links directly to real-time patient out-of-pocket costs for the encounter; and (v) otherwise meets the requirements for contracts between carriers and participating health care providers. The bill prohibits a carrier from (a) imposing a fee or charge on any person for accessing the required online process who is required to do so or (b) accessing, absent provider consent, provider data via the online process other than for the enrollee. The bill also requires carriers, no later than July 1, 2024, to provide contact information of any third-party vendor or other entity the carrier will use to meet the requirements of the bill to any provider that requests such information. The carrier may post such information on its website to meet such requirement.

The bill requires participating health care providers, beginning July 1, 2025, to ensure that any e-prescribing system or electronic health record system owned by or contracted for the provider to maintain an enrollee's health record has the ability to access the electronic prior authorization process established by a carrier and real-time cost information data for a covered prescription drug made available by a carrier. The bill provides that a provider may request a waiver of compliance for undue hardship for a period not to exceed 12 months. The bill requires any carrier or its pharmacy benefits manager to provide real-time cost information data to enrollees and contracted providers for a covered prescription drug, including any cost-sharing requirement or prior authorization requirements, and to ensure that the data is accurate. The bill requires that such cost information data be available to the provider in an accessible and understandable format, such as through the provider's e-prescribing system or electronic health record system that the carrier or pharmacy benefits manager or its designated subcontractor has adopted that utilizes the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs SCRIPT standard from which the provider makes the request.

The bill requires the State Corporation Commission's Bureau of Insurance to, in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human Resources and subject to the availability of nongeneral funds appropriated to the Commission, establish a work group to assess implementation and develop recommendations for electronic prior authorization and real-time cost benefit information for prescription drugs. The work group shall report its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the Senate Committees on Commerce and Labor and Education and Health and the House Committees on Commerce and Energy and Health, Welfare and Institutions annually by November 1 and shall make its final report by November 1, 2025.

Doula Care Services HB 1538 (Clark) and SB 1273 (Boysko) would have required health insurers, health care subscription plans, and health maintenance organizations whose policy, contract, or plan includes coverage for obstetrical services to provide coverage for doula care services provided by a state-certified doula.

Portability of Service Credit Between Virginia Retirement System and Certain Political Subdivisions of the Commonwealth; Remove Vesting Requirement for Transfers HB 1568 (Walker) would have removed the requirement that any transferring member be vested with benefits in his current retirement system in order to purchase service credit in the retirement system applicable to such member's new covered position, where the transfer of such assets is from the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) to a political subdivision of the Commonwealth that has a defined benefit plan that is not supplemental to VRS, from any such political subdivision's plan to VRS, or from one such political subdivision's plan to any other such political subdivision's plan.

Unemployment Compensation; Time to File Appeal HB 1639 (Walker) would have reduced from 30 days to 15 days the time after notice of the determination of a claim within which a claimant is required to file an appeal before such determination becomes final and the time after the date of notification or mailing of an appeal tribunal's decision on an unemployment compensation claim within which a party is required to file a subsequent appeal before such decision becomes final.

Workers' Compensation; Injuries Caused by Repetitive and Sustained Physical Stressors HB 1763 (Guzman) would have provided that, for the purposes of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act, "occupational disease" would have included injuries or diseases from conditions resulting from repetitive and sustained physical stressors, including repetitive and sustained motions, exertions, posture stresses, contact stresses, vibrations, or noises.

Health Insurance; Ensuring Fairness In Cost-Sharing HB 1782 (O’Quinn) would have amended provisions related to rebates provided by carriers and health benefit plans to health plan enrollees by defining defined cost-sharing, price protection rebates, and pharmacy benefits management services. The bill would have required that an enrollee's defined cost-sharing for each prescription drug shall be calculated at the point of sale based on a price that is reduced by an amount equal to at least 80 percent of all rebates received or expected to be received in connection with the dispensing or administration of the prescription drug.

Coverage for Breast Examinations HB 1815 (Simonds) would have required health insurance carriers to provide coverage for diagnostic breast examinations and supplemental breast examinations, as those terms are defined in the bill. The bill would have provided that such examinations include examinations using diagnostic mammography, breast magnetic resonance imaging, or breast ultrasound. The bill would have prohibited such examinations from being subject to cost-sharing requirements, including annual deductibles, coinsurance, copayments, or similar out-of-pocket expenses, or any maximum limitation on the application of such a deductible, coinsurance, copayment, or similar out-of-pocket expense.

Virginia Retirement System; Return to Work HB 1850 (Subramanyam) would have reduced from 12 to six months the required break in service for a teacher, school administrator, school bus driver, or school security officer to return to work full time and continue to receive his pension under the Virginia Retirement System (VRS). The employer of such individuals would have been required to include their compensation in membership payroll for purposes of the employer contribution to VRS.

Virginia Retirement System; Prior Service or Membership Credit HB 1867 (Scott) would have allowed a member of the Virginia Retirement System who is a teacher to receive at no cost up to four years of service credit for prior active duty military service in the armed forces of the United States.

Coverage for Audio-Only Telehealth Services HB 1918 (Batten) and SB 1157 (Marsden) would have required health insurers, health care subscription plans, and health maintenance organizations to provide coverage beginning January 1, 2024, for the cost of health care services provided through audio-only telehealth services, defined in the bill as counseling interventions designed to facilitate a patient's achievement of human development goals and remediate mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders and associated distresses that interfere with mental health and development by a mental health professional delivered to a patient via audio-only means when no other means of real-time two-way audio-visual or other telecommunications or electronic communications are available and operational to the patient or the patient does not have the capability to use such real-time two-way means of communication. The bill would have required that prescribing of controlled substances via audio-only telehealth services comply with state requirements for prescribing controlled substances and all applicable federal law.

Workers' Compensation; Failure to Timely Pay Compensation HB 1966 (Mullin) would have required, after the first occurrence of a failure to timely pay compensation under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act and upon the occurrence of any subsequent or successive failure to pay compensation, that an additional penalty be added to the unpaid compensation amount in an amount that increases from $100 for the first subsequent failure to pay compensation to $500 for the fifth and any subsequent failures to pay compensation.

Paid Sick Leave; Civil Penalties HB 1988 (Guzman) would have expanded provisions of the Code that currently provide paid sick leave for home health workers to cover all employees of private employers and state and local governments. The bill would have provided that accrued paid sick leave can be carried over to the following year and that employees transferred to a separate division or location remain entitled to previously accrued paid sick leave.

Paid Family and Medical Leave Program HB 2035 (Sewell) and SB 1101 (Boysko) would have required the Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer a paid family and medical leave program with benefits beginning January 1, 2026. The measures would have capped the duration of paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year. 

Coverage for Prescription Contraceptives HB 2089 (Mundon-King) and SB 1112 (Hashmi) would have required health insurance carriers to provide coverage, under any health insurance contract, policy, or plan that includes coverage for prescription drugs on an outpatient basis, for any prescribed contraceptive drug or contraceptive device. The bills would have prohibited a health insurance carrier from imposing upon any person receiving contraceptive benefits pursuant to the provisions of the bill any copayment, coinsurance payment, or fee. 

Certain Retired Licensed Public School Employees; Continued Employment; Service Retirement Allowance HB 2107 (Bourne) would have permitted any person receiving a service retirement allowance from the Virginia Retirement System who is hired by a local school board as an instructional or administrative employee required to be licensed by the Board of Education or as a school bus driver to elect to continue to receive the retirement allowance during such employment if he has been receiving such retirement allowance for at least two academic semesters, or the equivalent, preceding his employment and is not receiving a retirement benefit pursuant to an early retirement incentive program from any local school division within the Commonwealth.

Unemployment Compensation; Continuation of Benefits; Repayment of Overpayments HB 2115 (Hudson) would have made permanent provisions of the Code that expired on July 1, 2022, relating to unemployment compensation. The bill would have provided that when a claimant has had a determination of initial eligibility for unemployment benefits, as determined by the issuance of compensation or waiting-week credit, payments shall continue, subject to a presumption of continued eligibility, until a determination is made that provides the claimant notice and an opportunity to be heard.

Virginia Retirement System; School Resource Officers HB 2292 (Williams) would have required localities to provide enhanced retirement benefits to school resource officers. The bill would have also allowed a retired law-enforcement officer to return to work as a school resource officer after a break in service of at least 12 months without impacting his retirement benefits.

Virginia Retirement System; School Bus Drivers; Return to Employment HB 2303 (Bell) would have provided that if a retired school bus driver was employed by a local school division and had a bona fide break in service of at least three months between retirement and employment as a school bus driver in a local school division that identifies and experiences a critical shortage of school bus drivers reaching a vacancy rate that exceeds 20 percent, such person is not required to establish a 12-month break in service that would otherwise be required by law.

Virginia Retirement System; Investments; Environmental, Social, and Governance Investing Restricted HB 2335 (Durant) and SB 1437 (McDougle) would have provided that unless the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Retirement System can demonstrate that a social investment, defined in the bill, would have provided a superior rate of return compared to a similar investment that is not a social investment with a similar time horizon and risk, neither the Board nor any external fiduciary utilized by the Board could invest or make recommendations regarding state funds for the purpose of social investment on or after July 1, 2023.

Coverage for Colorectal Cancer Screening HB 2356 (McQuinn) would have required health insurers to provide coverage for examinations and laboratory tests related to colorectal cancer screening in accordance with the American Cancer Society guidelines for colorectal cancer screening of average-risk individuals. The bill would have prohibited such coverage from being subject to any deductible, coinsurance, or any other cost-sharing requirements for services received from participating providers and provided that an initial screening test is not complete until a follow-up colonoscopy is performed.

Coverage for the Diagnosis of and Treatment for Infertility and Standard Fertility Preservation Procedures HB 2366 (Kory) would have required health insurance policies, subscription contracts, and health care plans to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of infertility and for standard fertility preservation procedures, defined in the bill. Such coverage would have included coverage for in vitro fertilization, provided that procedures are performed at medical facilities or clinics that conform to guidelines published by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology or the American Fertility Society for in vitro fertilization procedures.

Establishment of the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act; Health Benefit Plans; Coverage for Gender Transition Procedures SB 791 (Chase) would have created the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, which would have prohibited gender transition procedures, defined in the bill, for individuals under 18 years of age and prohibited the use of public funds for gender transition procedures for individuals under 18 years of age. The bill would have established enforcement procedures for violation of the SAFE Act. The bill would have provided that a health benefit plan providing health care coverage in the Commonwealth would have been prohibited from providing coverage for gender transition procedures for individuals younger than 18 years of age and would not have been required to provide coverage for gender transition procedures for individuals 18 years of age or older.

Long-Term Care Insurance; Premium Rate Increases SB 828 (Spruill) would have prohibited the State Corporation Commission from approving any long-term care insurance annual premium rate increase or premium rate schedule increase that exceeds six percent of the current rate or current rate schedule.

Virginia Retirement System; Retired Law-Enforcement Officers Employed As School Security Officers SB 869 (Cosgrove) would have provided that if a retired law-enforcement officer was employed by a local school division as a school security officer on or after January 1, 2020, but before January 1, 2023, and had a bona fide break in service of at least one month between retirement and employment as a school security officer, such person would not have been required to establish the 12-month break in service that would otherwise be required by law.

Workers' Compensation; Notice to Employees SB 1037 (McPike) would have required each employer subject to the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act to provide notice to covered employees of the employees' right to dispute the denial of a claim through the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission. The bill would have specified the language of such notice. The bill would have also provided that an employer that fails to provide such notice may be subject to the civil penalty provisions of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act.

Disability Insurance; Disability Arising Out of Childbirth SB 1189 (Dunnavant) would have required each insurer proposing to issue individual or group accident and sickness insurance policies providing short-term disability income protection coverage whose policies provide coverage for short-term disability arising out of childbirth to, notwithstanding a disability determination or medical necessity requirement, provide for 12 weeks of income protection coverage for a payable benefit of at least 12 weeks immediately following childbirth. The provisions of the bill would have applied to any such a policy renewed, delivered, or issued for delivery in the Commonwealth on or after July 1, 2023.

Children Deserve Help Not Harm Act Established; Health Benefit Plans; Coverage for Gender Transition Procedures SB 1203 (Reeves) would have created the Children Deserve Help Not Harm Act (the Act), which prohibits gender transition procedures, defined in the bill, for individuals under 18 years of age and prohibits the use of public funds for gender transition procedures for individuals under 18 years of age. The bill would have established enforcement procedures for violation of the Act. The bill would have provided that a health benefit plan providing health care coverage in the Commonwealth would have been prohibited from providing coverage for gender transition procedures for individuals younger than 18 years of age and is not required to provide coverage for gender transition procedures for individuals 18 years of age or older.

Managed care health insurance plan licensees; network adequacy for mental health care services. SB 1301 (Deeds) would have required each managed care health insurance plan licensee (licensee) to (i) provide a sufficient number and mix of services, specialists, and practice sites to meet covered persons' mental health care needs; (ii) ensure that covered persons have telephone access 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to responsible and knowledgeable mental health care practitioners capable of assessing the covered persons' conditions and, as necessary, providing for appropriate services; and (iii) incorporate strategies into its access procedures to facilitate utilization of the licensee's mental health care services by covered persons with physical, mental, language, or cultural barriers.

Ensuring Fairness In Cost-Sharing SB 1425 (Mason) would have amended provisions related to rebates provided by carriers and health benefit plans to health plan enrollees by defining defined cost-sharing, price protection rebates, and pharmacy benefits management services. The bill would have required that an enrollee's defined cost-sharing for each prescription drug shall be calculated at the point of sale based on a price that is reduced by an amount equal to at least 80 percent of all rebates received or expected to be received in connection with the dispensing or administration of the prescription drug.

Virginia Retirement System; Certain Law-Enforcement Officers; Part Time SB 1445 (Boysko) would have provided that an employee of a political subdivision or of the Commonwealth who is compensated on a salaried or hourly basis; works at least 20 hours per week; and is employed as a law-enforcement officer would have been considered a full-time employee for purposes of participation in the Virginia Retirement System.

Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Program; extension of eligibility HB 1419 (Kory) and SB 1498 (McClellan) extend eligibility for the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Program to the lineal and collateral descendants of persons who were residing in jurisdictions in Virginia in which the public schools were closed to avoid desegregation between 1954 and 1964 and whose educations were affected by the school closings.

Antisemitism HB 1606 (Tata) provides that the Commonwealth adopts the non-legally binding Working Definition of Antisemitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance on May 26, 2016, including the contemporary examples of antisemitism set forth therein, exclusively as a tool and guide for training, education, recognizing, and combating antisemitic hate crimes or discrimination and for tracking and reporting antisemitic incidents in the Commonwealth.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; State Public Bodies; Meetings; Virtual Public Access HB 1738 (Carr) provides that all state public bodies may provide public access to meetings through electronic communication means and may provide the public with the opportunity to comment at such meetings through such the use of such electronic communication means when public comment is customarily received.

Virginia Public Records Act; Confidentiality of Certain Archived Records HB 1844 (Taylor) and SB 1024 (Bell) provide that medical and educational records made confidential by law shall remain so after being archived by The Library of Virginia.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; Public Records Charges; Electronic Payment Method HB 2006 (Roem) provides that any local public body that charges for the production of public records pursuant to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act may provide an electronic method of payment through which all payments for the production of such records to such locality may be made.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; Posting of Fee Policy HB 2007 (Roem) requires a public body to make available upon request and post on its website or otherwise publish a written policy explaining how the public body assesses charges for accessing or searching for requested records and noting the current fee charged, if any, by the public body for accessing and searching for the requested records.

State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act; Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council; Training for Members of Appointed School Boards HB 2122 (Watts) and SB 1460 (McClellan/Norment) add members of appointed school boards to the list of persons for whom the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council is required to provide certain training sessions. The bill also changes from January 15 to February 1 the annual date for certain employees to file a disclosure statement with the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council.

Local Government; Standardization of Public Notice Requirements for Certain Intended Actions and Hearings; Report HB 2161 (Williams) and SB 1151 (Edwards) standardize the frequency and length of time that notices of certain meetings, hearings, and other intended actions of localities must be published in newspapers and other print media, including required notice prior to school boundary changes and to budget adoption. The notice provisions included in the bills are organized into the following three groups: (i) publication required one week before the meeting, hearing, or intended action; (ii) publication required two consecutive weeks before the meeting, hearing, or intended action; and (iii) publication required three consecutive weeks before the meeting, hearing, or intended action. In addition, the bills amend provisions related to the content of notices for zoning ordinances and amendments to such ordinances by removing the requirement that such notices contain a descriptive summary of the proposed action and providing that such notices shall include the street address or tax map parcel number of the parcels subject to the action. In cases where the intended action affects more than 25 parcels, the notice must also include the approximate acreage subject to the intended action. The bills also remove the requirement that notices of proposed amendments to a zoning map state the general usage and density range of the proposed amendment and the general usage density set forth in the applicable part of the comprehensive plan. The bills direct the Virginia Code Commission to convene a work group to continue review of the notice requirements throughout the Code of Virginia and requires the Virginia Code Commission to submit a report to the Chairmen of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology summarizing the work and any recommendations of the work group by November 1, 2023.

Procedure for Removal of Elected and Certain Appointed Officers by Courts SB 1431 (Surovell) sets out the procedure by which, and clarifies the reasons for which, an elected officer or officer who has been appointed to fill an elective office may be removed from office. The bill requires, among other things, that the general registrar review the petition and determine its sufficiency in accordance with the uniform standards approved by the State Board of Elections; the general registrar certify the petition within 10 business days and promptly file such certification with the clerk of the circuit court; and the certification state the number of signatures required, the number of signatures on the petition, and the number of valid signatures, along with any signatures found to be invalid and any material omissions from the petition. The bill also provides that the Commonwealth and the elected officer shall be the only two parties to a removal proceeding.

Executive Branch Agencies; Posting of Regulations HB 1366 (Head) would have required all executive branch agencies to post on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall at each stage of the regulatory process any agency action that is subject to certain provisions of the Virginia Register Act (§ 2.2-4100 et seq.).

Education Savings Account Program established; Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits HB 1371 (Scott) would have established the Education Savings Account Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, whereby the parent of any individual who is a resident of the Commonwealth and who is eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school may apply for an Education Savings Account for his child into which the Department of Education deposits certain state and local funds and from which the parent makes certain enumerated qualifying expenses to educate his child in a setting and a manner other than full-time education in a public school. The bill would have also increased the value of the Education Improvement Scholarships income tax credit for a donation to a scholarship foundation from 65 percent to 100 percent of the donation. The bill would have removed the aggregate limit on tax credits per year, which under current law is $25 million, and removes individual minimum and maximum required donation amounts.

Education Savings Account Program Established; Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits HB 1396 (March) would have established the Education Savings Account Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, whereby the parent of any individual who is a resident of the Commonwealth and who is eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school may apply for an Education Savings Account for his child into which the Department of Education deposits certain state and local funds and from which the parent makes certain enumerated qualifying expenses to educate his child in a setting and a manner other than full-time education in a public school.

Home Instruction; Parents; Criteria HB 1454 (McGuire) would have removed the four enumerated criteria--holding a high school diploma, being a teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education, providing the child with a program of study or curriculum that may be delivered through a correspondence course or distance learning program or in any other manner, or providing evidence of the ability to provide an adequate education for the child--by which a parent is permitted to provide home instruction for his school-aged child. The bill does not affect the requirement for such a parent to annually provide a description of the home instruction curriculum before the school year begins and evidence of the child's academic progress after the school year ends.

Meetings of Local Governing Body; Live Broadcast and Archive. HB 1487 (March) would have required localities to provide a live video broadcast of public meetings of the local governing body and to archive such broadcasts on their websites.

Public Elementary and Secondary Schools; Fundamental Right of Parents HB 1507 (McGuire) would have required each school board and employee and agent thereof to seek to ensure that the fundamental right of parents in the care and upbringing of their children is recognized and protected and also requires each local school board to provide opportunities for parental involvement in several ways, including providing to parents of students enrolled in the local school division direct access to and an opportunity to review, within a reasonable period of time after the parent so requests, the complete curricular content in the local school division and the option to opt out of policies, surveys, research studies, or programs of instruction and instructional material that are inconsistent with the parent's beliefs, values, or goals and standards for his child.

Virginia Education Success Account Program; Establishment HB 1508 (Davis) would have permitted the parents of qualified students, defined in the bill, to apply for a one-year, renewable Virginia Education Success Account that consists of an amount that is equivalent to a certain percentage of all applicable annual Standards of Quality per pupil state funds appropriated for public school purposes and apportioned to the school division in which the qualified student resides, including the per pupil share of state sales tax funding in basic aid and any state per pupil share of special education funding for which the qualified student is eligible. The bill would have permitted the parent of the qualified student to use the moneys in such account for certain qualified expenses of the qualified student, including tuition, deposits, fees, and required textbooks at a private elementary school or secondary school that is located in the Commonwealth.

School Board Selection; Referendum on Direct Election of School Board Members by Voters; Authorization by Local Governing Body HB 1574 (Walker) would have allowed the governing body of a county, city, or town to file a petition with the circuit court of the county or city or of the county within which the town or the greater part thereof is located asking that a referendum be held on the question of whether the members of the school board of the county, city, or town shall be elected directly by the voters.

School Board for the City of Lynchburg; Staggered Terms in the Event of Election HB 1576 (Walker) would have required, in the event that the school board for the City of Lynchburg is required to be elected by popular vote in accordance with relevant law that permits a voter referendum on the question of changing the method of school board member selection from appointment to election, such school board to be elected for four-year terms and the school board elections to alternate biennially between the election of one member from each of the four ward districts and the election of one member from each of the three at-large districts to ensure staggered terms. The bill would have also established the timeline and process for the expiration of the terms of the nine then-currently appointed members and the election of the first seven elected members of such school board in the event of such a change in the school board member selection method in the City of Lynchburg.

Unscheduled Remote Learning Days HB 1666 (Marshall) would have provided that when severe weather conditions or other emergency situations have resulted in the closing of any school in a school division for in-person instruction, the school division shall declare an unscheduled remote learning day whereby the school provides instruction and student services that are consistent with guidelines established by the Department of Education to ensure the equitable provision of such services, provided, however, that no school division claims more than 10 unscheduled remote learning days in a school year unless the Superintendent of Public Instruction grants an extension.

School Boards; Meetings; Public Comment or Citizen Participation; Enrolled Students HB 1733 (VanValkenburg) would have required each school board to permit any student enrolled in a public elementary or secondary school in the local school division who provides acceptable proof of identification, including any current student identification card or other school document such as a report card or a personal school email address, and who signs up at least 12 hours in advance of the scheduled start of a school board meeting or is physically present at a school board meeting to submit oral comments during any public comment or citizen participation portion of such meeting.

Elections; Ranked Choice Voting; Local Governing Bodies, School Boards, and Primaries for Any Office HB 1751 (Davis) would have allowed ranked choice voting to be used in any state-run primary election at the option of the political party for which the primary is being held and changes from discretionary to mandatory the provision that the State Board of Elections promulgate regulations for the proper and efficient administration of elections determined by ranked choice voting. The bill would have also allowed elections of members of a local governing body or school board to be conducted by ranked choice voting. HB 2118 (Hudson) would have allowed elections for any local or constitutional office to be conducted by ranked choice voting. HB 2436 (Hudson) would have permitted political parties to hold primary elections for federal or statewide offices or offices in the General Assembly by ranked choice voting. The bill would have also allowed elections for any local or constitutional office to be conducted by ranked choice voting. The bill would have required the State Board of Elections to promulgate regulations for the proper and efficient administration of all elections determined by ranked choice voting.

Public Elementary and Secondary Schools; Certain Opportunities for Parental Involvement HB 1803 (Freitas) would have required the opportunities for parental involvement required to be provided by each school board to include the opportunity for parents of students enrolled in the local school division to receive advance written or electronic notification of and opt their child out of any speech, presentation, or performance in the relevant school by any outside individual or entity.

Bills Creating Certain Boards and Commissions; Required Sunset Provision HB 1869 (Scott) would have required all bills creating a board, council, commission, or other collegial body in the legislative branch to contain a provision for the expiration of such body three years after its creation.

Public Elementary and Secondary Schools; Establishment of Opportunity Classrooms HB 1909 (Batten) would have provided that, subject to school board or school administration approval, each local school board shall enter into an agreement to establish an opportunity classroom, or a classroom in which an alternative curriculum is offered, with a requesting party if such party represents more than 20 students and permits such local school board to enter into such an agreement if such requesting party represents fewer than 20 students. The bill would have provided that a "requesting party" includes a public elementary or secondary school teacher or a group of such teachers in a local school division or a parent whose child attends a public elementary or secondary school or group of such parents, with the involvement of at least one teacher employed in such local school division. Finally, the bill would have delineated requirements for such agreements to establish opportunity classrooms relating to funding for classroom instruction and services, provision of transportation for students enrolled in an opportunity classroom, and assessments and standards of evaluation for students enrolled in an opportunity classroom.

Administrative Process Act; Certain Regulations to Require Legislative Approval HB 1934 (Fowler) would have required any agency that estimates that a proposed regulation will have an adverse impact on economic growth or increase regulatory costs by more than $500,000 within five years of its implementation to advise the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules, the House Committee on Appropriations, and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations no later than 30 days prior to the next regular legislative session. The bill would have required the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules to review such regulation and issue a statement containing the Commission's findings.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; closed meeting exemption; home instruction of children HB 1953 (Greenhalgh) would have created an exemption from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act for discussion, consideration, or decisions relating to home instruction of children, unless objected to by a parent or guardian in an open meeting, that are exempt from disclosure pursuant to relevant law.

School Boards; Nonresident Student Enrollment Policies; Work Goup; Report HB 2030 (Ballard) would have required any school board that accepts for enrollment students who reside outside of the local school division to establish and make available to the public policies or regulations that include considerations for the eligibility for such nonresident student enrollment, application procedures and timelines, and a transparent and fair method to address enrollment requests beyond capacity. The bill would have require the Department of Education to compile and post publicly and prominently on its website a database of each such set of school board policies or regulations. The bill would have required the Secretary of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to convene a work group of relevant stakeholders to issue recommendations no later than October 1, 2023, to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, the House Committee on Education, and the Senate Committee on Education and Health on the implementation of tuition-free nonresident student enrollment in the Commonwealth.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; Electronic Meetings; Local and Regional Public Bodies HB 2050 (Bennett-Parker) would have allowed, with certain exceptions, local and regional public bodies to convene as many all-virtual public meetings as each such public body deems acceptable in its individual remote participation meeting policy, to be adopted at least once annually by recorded vote at a public meeting.

Noncitizens of the United States; Aliens; Terminology HB 2059 (Lopez) would have removed the term "alien" as it pertains to persons who are not citizens or nationals of the United States and replaces it with synonymous language, as appropriate, throughout the Code of Virginia.

School Boards; Student Member Required HB 2069 (Lopez) would have required each school board to establish a method for the selection of a student to serve as a member of the school board, subject to the following conditions: the student is enrolled in a public high school in the local school division; any such student is eligible to be selected as a member of the school board without regard to such student's age or citizenship status, provided, however, that in the event that the method for selection of the student member is election, the student would have to meet the qualifications to hold elective office set forth in Article II, Section 5 of the Constitution of Virginia; the school board would establish detailed policies, procedures, and timelines relating to such selection method, including policies that establish term length, eligibility to serve with or without voting privileges, eligibility for a salary, eligibility for selection to subsequent terms, and grounds for removal; and each student selected to serve as a member of the school board would serve in addition to and not as a replacement for any member duly authorized and selected to serve on the school board in accordance with relevant law, and each such student member would factor into the calculation of a quorum.

Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council; Powers and Duties; Complaints; Penalties HB 2281 (Williams) would have authorized the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council to investigate alleged violations of the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act and the General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act (the Acts). The Council could have initiated an investigation upon its own motion or in response to a complaint filed by a resident of the Commonwealth who has firsthand knowledge of an alleged violation. The bill would have directed the Council to review the disclosure forms filed by members of the General Assembly for compliance with applicable disclosure requirements and limitations on gifts and the accuracy of all information disclosed and authorizes the Council to initiate an investigation based on the findings of this review. The bill would have increased from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony the penalty for any knowing violation of the General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act.

Department of Planning and Budget; Regulatory Budget Program; Report HB 2347 (Webert) would have directed the Department of Planning and Budget, under the direction of the Secretary of Finance, to establish a continuous Regulatory Budget Program with the goal of setting a two-year target for each executive branch agency subject to the Administrative Process Act to reduce regulations and regulatory requirements, maintain the current number of regulations and regulatory requirements, or allow regulations and regulatory requirements to increase by a specific amount over a two-year period.

Division laboratory schools; application and establishment; Laboratory School Fund established HB 2490 (Davis) would have provided a framework for the application for and establishment of a division laboratory school as a public, nonreligious, or non-home-based alternative school located within a local school division that is created as a new public school or through the conversion of all or part of an existing public school and is subject to the student assessment and accountability requirements applicable to other public schools in the Commonwealth. The bill would have exempted division laboratory schools from certain laws that govern other public schools in the Commonwealth and permitted such schools to operate free from specified school division policies and state regulations and be granted flexibility in school scheduling. Finally, the bill would have established the Laboratory School Fund to be used for the purposes of establishing or supporting college partnership laboratory schools and division laboratory schools.

Public School Pupils and Parents; Access to Certain Postsecondary Information HB 2426 (Freitas) and SB 1481 (Dunnavant) would have prohibited any school board, public elementary or secondary school, including any joint or regional school, or employee or agent of such school board or school, including any division superintendent or school principal, from withholding from any pupil or the pupil's parent any information that is transmitted to such school board, school, employee, or agent and that relates to any recognition, award, or postsecondary scholarship eligibility earned by the student, including any such recognition, award, or eligibility earned as the result of the student's achievement on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) examination, or may affect the student's admission to an institution of higher education. The bills would have required all such information to be transmitted to the pupil and the pupil's parent as soon as practicable after receipt of the information.

Sage's Law; Minors and Students Self-Identifying As a Gender Different From Biological Sex; Counseling; Parental Notification; Parental Care HB 2432 (LaRock) would have required any person licensed as administrative or instructional personnel by the Board of Education and employed by a local school board who, in the scope of his employment, has reason to believe, as a result of direct communication from a student, that such student is self-identifying as a gender different from the student's biological sex to contact as soon as practicable at least one of such student's parents to ask whether such parent is aware of the student's mental state and whether the parent wishes to obtain or has already obtained counseling for such student. The bill would have required the Board of Education to include in its guidelines for making such contact criteria to assess whether students have begun to self-identify as a gender different from their biological sex and criteria for notification of and discussions with parents of students self-identifying as a gender different from their biological sex. The bill would have also prohibited any licensed school counselor, professional counselor, clinical social worker, or psychologist or other counseling personnel in any school division from encouraging or coercing a minor to withhold from the minor's parent the fact that the minor's perception of his or her gender or sex is inconsistent with the minor's biological sex or withholding from a minor's parent information relating to the minor's perception that his or her gender or sex is inconsistent with the minor's biological sex. Finally, the bill would have clarified, in the definition of the term "abused or neglected child," that in no event shall referring to and raising the child in a manner consistent with the child's biological sex, including related mental health or medical decisions, be considered abuse or neglect. Note that this bill incorporated HB 1707 (Durant).

Division Laboratory Schools; Application and Establishment; Laboratory School Fund Established HB 2490 (Davis) would have provided a framework for the application for and establishment of a division laboratory school as a public, nonreligious, or non-home-based alternative school located within a local school division that is created as a new public school or through the conversion of all or part of an existing public school and is subject to the student assessment and accountability requirements applicable to other public schools in the Commonwealth. The bill would have exempted division laboratory schools from certain laws that govern other public schools in the Commonwealth and permits such schools to operate free from specified school division policies and state regulations and be granted flexibility in school scheduling. Finally, the bill would have established the Laboratory School Fund to be used for the purposes of establishing or supporting college partnership laboratory schools and division laboratory schools.

Constitutional Amendments (first reference); General Assembly and Local Elected Officials; Term Limits HJ 458 (Anderson) would have limited members of the Senate to three consecutive terms and members of the House of Delegates to six consecutive terms. The amendments would have provided that the limits apply to terms of service beginning on and after the start of the 2026 Regular Session of the General Assembly. The amendments would have also limited officials elected to any county, city, town, or constitutional office to three consecutive terms, except for persons elected to the office of the clerk of the court, who are limited to two consecutive terms. These limits would have applied to terms of service in county, city, town, and constitutional offices beginning on and after January 1, 2026. Both amendments would have provided that service for a partial term does not preclude serving the allowed number of full terms.

Constitutional Amendment (first reference); Board of Education; Repeal; Transfer Powers and Duties to the Superintendent of Public Instruction HJ 474 (March) would have repealed the Board of Education and transferred its constitutional powers and duties to the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Student Appreciation Week HJ 500 (Bennett-Parker) would have designated the week of March 20, in 2023 and in each succeeding year, as Student Appreciation Week in Virginia.

Constitutional Amendment (first reference); Rights of Parents HJ 505 (Freitas) would have provided that parents have the right to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their children and that the Commonwealth shall not infringe these rights without demonstrating that its governmental interest is of the highest order and not otherwise served.

Study; JLARC; Election Governance Structure; Report HJ 547 (Sickles) would have directed the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to conduct a two-year study on the election governance structure in the Commonwealth.

Public Schools; Parental Rights to Educational Transparency SB 832 (Chase) and SB 1199 (Reeves) would have declared that the parent of any student enrolled in a public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth has the right to access a list of any printed or audiovisual instructional material; participate in the textbook review and approval process; receive notice of and give informed consent to any counseling or guidance program offered to his child by the school; access his child's education records;  receive advance, written notice of any school-sponsored field trip, activity, assembly, presentation, or other event at which his child's attendance is invited, including a clear opt-out provision; receive advance notice of any questionnaire or survey to be administered to his child; receive notice of and attend any public meeting of the school board in the local school division in which his child is enrolled; review the annual school division budget and expenditures; and petition the circuit court with jurisdiction over such child's local school division to review an action of the school board if the parent is aggrieved by such action. The bills would have required the Department of Education to develop and make available to each school board model policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the parental right to review and exempt his child from any printed or audiovisual instructional materials used as a part of the curriculum in any class or course in which such parent's child is enrolled. The bills would have also revised existing policies and duties of each local school board in accordance with the parental rights to transparency in education.

Youth Health Protection Act Established; Civil Penalty SB 960 (Peake) would have created the Youth Health Protection Act (the Act), which makes it unlawful for any individual to provide gender transition procedures for minors and prohibits the use of public funds for gender transition procedures. The bill would have allowed parents, guardians, or custodians to withhold consent for any treatment, activity, or mental health care services that are designed and intended to form their child's conceptions of sex and gender or to treat gender dysphoria or gender nonconformity. The bill would have prohibited government agents, other than law-enforcement personnel, from encouraging or coercing a minor to withhold information from the minor's parent. The bill would have established a duty for a government agent with knowledge that a minor has exhibited symptoms of gender dysphoria or gender nonconformity or otherwise demonstrates a desire to be treated in a manner incongruent with the minor's sex to immediately notify each of the minor's parents, guardians, or custodians in writing, with descriptions of relevant circumstances. The bill would have prohibited discrimination against persons providing information regarding violations of the Act to their employer or specified public entities or who make disclosures under the Act believed to be a violation of law, rule, or regulation; any violation of any standard of care or other ethical guidelines for the provision of health care service; or gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety. The bill would have established a civil action for any violation of the Act by a clinic, health care system, medical professional, or other responsible person with a two-year statute of limitations. The bill would have prohibited political subdivisions of the Commonwealth from enacting, adopting, maintaining, or enforcing any measure that interferes with the professional conduct and judgment of a mental health care professional or counselor undertaken within the course of treatment and communication with clients, patients, other persons, or the public. The bill would have provided for enforcement by the Attorney General or a mental health care professional or counsel through an action for injunctive relief and allows a mental health care professional to recover reasonable attorney fees and reasonable costs incurred in obtaining an injunction. The bill would have waived sovereign immunity to suit and immunity from liability under this statute.

Division Superintendents; Certain Localities; Qualifications SB 1041 (McPike) would have provided that the Board of Education shall require any candidate for division superintendent of a local school division serving a locality with a population greater than 140,000 people to have a master's degree and relevant endorsements or a doctorate degree in an education-related field and at least five years of instructional, administrative, and supervisory experience in education, with no exceptions or substitutes for senior leadership experience in non-education fields. The Board of Education may substitute certain requirements for education-specific endorsements, degrees, or educational, administrative, or supervisory experience for a certain amount of experience in senior leadership positions outside of the education field only for local school divisions serving a locality with a population not exceeding 140,000 people.

Education Savings Accounts SB 823 (Chase), SB 1191 (Reeves), SB 1290 (DeSteph) would have permitted the parent of a public preschool, elementary, or secondary school student who meets certain criteria to apply to the school division in which the student resides for a one-year, renewable Parental Choice Education Savings Account that consists of an amount that is equivalent to a certain percentage of all applicable annual Standards of Quality per pupil state funds appropriated for public school purposes and apportioned to the resident school division in which the student resides, including the per pupil share of state sales tax funding in basic aid and any state per pupil share of special education funding to which the student is eligible.

Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits; Eligible Student With a Disability SB 1179 (DeSteph) would have removed, beginning in taxable year 2024, the requirement that an eligible student with a disability also qualify as a student under the education improvement scholarships tax credit program and expands eligibility of students with disabilities to include those who are residents of Virginia and for whom an Individualized Education Plan has been written and finalized. The bill would have also provided that beginning in taxable year 2024 the aggregate amount of scholarships provided to each eligible student with a disability for a single school year from eligible donations shall not exceed the lesser of the actual qualified educational expenses of the eligible student with a disability or 300 percent of the per pupil amount distributed to the local school division (in which the eligible student with a disability resides) for the state's share of the standards of quality costs using the composite index of local ability-to-pay. Such scholarships could have only be provided to an eligible student with a disability who is attending a school licensed by the Department of Education to serve students with disabilities that complies with nonpublic school accreditation requirements, is exempt from taxation as a § 501(c)(3) organization, and does not receive public funds to supplement the cost of the education of the eligible student with a disability who is receiving the scholarship.

Legal Notices; Online Publications SB 1237 (Obenshain) would have provided that, where any ordinance, resolution, notice, or advertisement is required by law to be published in a newspaper, such ordinance, resolution, notice, or advertisement instead may be published in an online publication, subject to certain requirements specified in the bill.

Anti-Semitism SB 1252 (Dunnavant) would have provided that the term "anti-Semitism" when used in reference to discrimination in the Code of Virginia and acts of the General Assembly is defined by the Working Definition of Anti-Semitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance on May 26, 2016, including the contemporary examples of anti-Semitism set forth in such definition.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; Allow Local Public Bodies to Hold Virtual Meetings SB 1309 (Deeds) would have allowed local public bodies, except for boards with the authority to deny, revoke, or suspend a professional or occupational license, to hold all-virtual public meetings in accordance with the other provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. The bill would have limited the requirement that public bodies not convene all-virtual public meetings consecutively or more than twice per year to state public bodies.

Localities, Public and Private Schools, Institutions of Higher Education, and Employers; Face Coverings SB 1315 (Chase) would have prohibited any locality, school board, division superintendent, school principal, private school, institution of higher education, or employer from adopting, implementing, or enforcing any policy, rule, or order related to COVID-19 that requires individuals to wear a face covering.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; Electronic Meetings; Local and Regional Public Bodies SB 1351 (Marsden) would have allowed, with certain exceptions, local and regional public bodies to convene no more than 50 percent of the meetings held per calendar year rounded up to the next whole number as an all-virtual public meeting.

Standardized, Uniform, and Comprehensive Collaborative Exchange School Support (SUCCESS) Program; development and implementation HB 1530 (Dunnavant) would have required the Department of Education, the State Board for Community Colleges, and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to develop a plan to establish and implement the Standardized, Uniform, and Comprehensive Collaborative Exchange School Support (SUCCESS) Program for the purpose of improving the collaboration between comprehensive community colleges and high schools in the Commonwealth and increasing access for high school students to opportunities for earning postsecondary credits toward completion of an associate's degree or credential by maximizing technology and sharing resources between high schools and community colleges to allow instructional staff at community colleges to more easily teach high school students; providing transportation for high school students to and from their respective high schools and the community colleges at which they are participating in a dual enrollment program; standardizing the core curricula and the award of postsecondary credits for work completed through a dual enrollment program; and improving access to opportunities to earn postsecondary credits towards completion of an associate's degree or credential and increasing the ability of high school students to complete such degree or credential either prior to graduating from high school or more efficiently and quickly thereafter, with a focus on degrees or credentials in health care-related fields. Finally, the bill would have directed the Department of Education, the State Board for Community Colleges, and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to report on their progress in developing the plan for the SUCCESS Program to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Education by November 1, 2023, and to implement the SUCCESS Program by the beginning of the 2024­–2025 school year.

Constitutional Amendment (first reference); Charter Schools SJ 254 (Obenshain) would have granted to the Board of Education the authority, subject to criteria and conditions as the General Assembly may prescribe, to establish charter schools within the school divisions of the Commonwealth.

Individuals with Disabilities; Terminology HB 1450 (Orrock) and SB 798 (Hashmi) replaces various instances of the terms "handicap," "handicapped," and similar variations throughout the Code of Virginia with alternative terms, as appropriate in the statutory context, such as "disability" and "impairment." The bill contains technical amendments.

Board of Education; Special Education and Related Services; Certain Evaluation Deadlines HB 1492 (Davis) requires the Board of Education to amend certain regulations to permit local educational agencies to shorten the deadline of 65 business days from the date of receipt of referral for an initial evaluation or a reevaluation of a child to determine eligibility for special education and related services.

Public High Schools; Special Education; Identification of Faculty Member Responsible for School Transition Planning and Coordination HB 1554 (Brewer) and SB 943 (Suetterlein) require each public high school in the Commonwealth to publicly identify on its official website the faculty member responsible for special education transition planning and coordination at such high school. 

Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; Department of Education; Best Practice Standards Related to the Transition of Records and Transfer of Services for Students with Disabilities HB 1659 (Bell) and SB 830 (Favola) direct the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, in coordination with the Department of Education and relevant stakeholders, to develop and disseminate best practice standards for the transition of services and transfer of records for students with disabilities who reach the age of majority.

Standards of Learning Assessment Revision Work Group; Consideration of Effectiveness of Assessments for Students with Disabilities HB 1884 (Wampler) requires the work group established by the Secretary of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to study and develop a plan relating to revisions to Standards of Learning assessments to consider the effectiveness of assessments for students with disabilities, including the Virginia Alternate Assessment Program for those students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, and the use of those assessments to improve and individualize instruction.

Educational opportunities for children of certain foreign service employees and civilian employees of the Armed Forces of the United States HB 1929 (Durant) requires the provisions of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children to apply to school-age children who are dependents of foreign service employees and civilian members of the Armed Forces of the United States under federal orders when the parent produces documentation indicating that he is required to move in order to perform his job responsibilities and such move results in the student's intrastate, interstate, or overseas relocation, including any such relocation that results in the student attending a Department of Defense Education Activity school. The bill requires any such student who is in the eighth grade to be permitted to apply for admission to an academic year Governor's school in the same manner as an eighth grade student to whom the provisions of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children apply.  Note that adopted Governor’s amendments now more generally refer to “children of federal employees serving under orders pursuant to Title 22 (Foreign Relations) or Title 50 (War and National Defense) of the United States Code” and no longer refer to the Interstate Compact on Education Opportunity for Military Children.  Instead, the legislation codifies specific transfer flexibilities related to records, enrollment, course placement, extracurricular activities participation, and graduation requirements.

Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; Data Reporting on Children and Adolescents; Reporting Requirements HB 1945 (Durant) removes the requirement that the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services collect certain data relating to children and adolescents from each community policy and management team and each community services board or behavioral health authority.

Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact HB 2033 (Sewell) authorizes Virginia to become a signatory to the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact. The Compact increases public access to audiology and speech-language pathology services by providing for the mutual recognition of other member state licenses for such services. The Compact has been enacted in 23 states and the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Compact Commission is currently preparing rules and bylaws in order for the member states to be fully integrated in the Compact's data system.

Virginia Board for People with Disabilities; membership; terminology HB 2492 (Siebold) adds to the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities a representative from Department of Health. The bill amends existing references to "mentally impairing developmental disabilities" to "cognitive developmental disabilities."

Public Schools and Public Institutions of Higher Education; Student Identification Cards; 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Telephone Number Required SB 1044 (McPike) requires each local school division that issues student identification cards for any grade level, kindergarten through grade 12, and each public institution of higher education that issues student identification cards to clearly and conspicuously include on one side of each student identification card the telephone number for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (formerly the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) and to annually review the telephone number for accuracy and currency. The bill provides that each new student identification card and any replacement student identification card issued by any school division or by any public institution of higher education must comply with the provisions of the bill beginning with the 2023-2024 school year.

Office of the Children's Ombudsman SB 1081 (Edwards) repeals the Children's Advocacy Fund, created to support the Office of the Children's Ombudsman (Office), as general funds are used to fund the Office. The definition of "abused and neglected child" is amended to match the definition in Title 63.2. The bill removes the authority previously granted to the Office to investigate "adoption attorneys." The bill also clarifies that the Office is exempt from the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Finally, the bill contains several technical amendments. Note that adopted Governor’s amendments removed the proposed exemption for the Office from the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. SB 1443 (Deeds) directs the Office of the Children's Ombudsman to convene a work group to study and make recommendations for the establishment of the Parents Advocacy Commission. The bill directs the work group to report such recommendations to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the House Committee for Courts of Justice by November 1, 2023

Opioid Impact Reduction SB 1415 (Pillion) allows any person to possess and administer naloxone or other opioid antagonist used for overdose reversal other than naloxone in an injectable formulation with a hypodermic needle or syringe in accordance with protocols developed by the Board of Pharmacy in consultation with the Board of Medicine and the Department of Health, provided that certain other conditions enumerated in current law are met. The bill removes training requirements related to the possession and administration of naloxone. The bill directs the Department of Health, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, and the Department of Corrections to collaborate to develop a statewide comprehensive plan for the distribution of naloxone throughout the Commonwealth and allows such agencies to begin implementation of the plan to the extent the agencies are able to do so with existing resources. The bill requires the Department of Health to provide a report on the development of the comprehensive statewide naloxone plan, including the resources needed to fully implement the plan, to the Chairs of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations by September 1, 2023. The bill directs the Department of Health to begin the development of a registry consisting of nonprofit organizations that work to reduce the impact of opioids in the Commonwealth and directs the Department of Corrections to amend its regulations to require that training in the administration of naloxone be provided to every inmate prior to release.

State Executive Council for Children's Services; Membership SB 1513 (Mason) adds the Director of the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services and the Children's Ombudsman to the State Executive Council for Children's Services. The bill also adds a representative from the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services to the state and local advisory team tasked with advising the Council, managing cooperative efforts at the state level, and supporting local community efforts.

Administration of Controlled Substances for Treatment of Mental Illness or Emotional Disturbance; Parental Consent Required HB 1389 (Anderson) would have provided that a minor shall not be deemed an adult for the purpose of consenting to administration of medication for the treatment of mental illness or emotional disturbance.

Student Immunization Requirements; Parental Opt-Out HB 1397 (March) would have permitted any parent of a child who attends any public or private preschool, nursery school, licensed child care center, or elementary or secondary school or who is school-aged but receives home instruction or is exempted or excused from school attendance pursuant to relevant law to elect for his child not to receive any immunization otherwise required by the State Board of Health.

Student Records; Name Change; Court Order Required HB 1434 (Ballard) would have prohibited any school board member or school board employee from changing the name of a student enrolled in the local school division on any education record relating to such student unless the member or employee receives a change of name order for such student that was issued in accordance with relevant law.

High School Student Transcripts; Certain Test Scores Optional HB 1794 (Simonds) would have prohibited any high school student transcript from including any test record, including scores, of any standardized test used for the purpose of college admissions, including any SAT or ACT test but excluding any Standards of Learning test, except upon the request of a high school student or the student's parent that such a test record be included on the student's high school transcript.

Admission of Minors to Mental Health Facility for Inpatient Treatment HB 1923 (Tata) would have increased from 14 years of age to 16 years of age the minimum age requiring the consent of a minor prior to his admission to a mental health facility for inpatient treatment upon the joint application of such minor and the consent of such minor's parent. The bill would have also increased from younger than 14 years of age to younger than 16 years of age the maximum age for admission of a minor to a mental health facility for inpatient treatment upon application and with the consent of such minor's parent. The bill would have also increased from 14 years of age to 16 years of age the minimum age for a minor who objects to his admission to a mental health facility or is incapable of making an informed decision to be admitted to such mental health facility for up to 120 hours upon the application of such minor's parent. The bill would have also added addiction as a reason for a minor to be admitted to a mental health facility for inpatient treatment.

Children's Services Act; Information Sharing; Confidentiality Exception HB 2018 (Adams) allows family assessment and planning teams (FAPT) and community policy and management teams (CPMT) to share information with local law enforcement or threat assessment teams established by local school boards if a FAPT or CPMT obtains information from which the team determines that a child poses a threat of violence or physical harm to himself or others.

School Boards; Policies for Excusing Students From Attendance at School; Religious Reasons HB 2052 (Glass) would have required each local school board to develop policies for excusing students who are absent from school for religious reasons, including the observance of a religious holiday or participation in religious instruction.

Parental Access to Minor's Medical Records; Consent by Certain Minors to Treatment of Mental or Emotional Disorder HB 2091 (Mundon King) would have added an exception to the right of parental access to a minor child's health records if the furnishing to or review by the requesting parent of such health records would be reasonably likely deter the minor from seeking care. Under the bill, a minor 16 years of age or older who is determined by a health care provider to be mature and capable of giving informed consent would have been deemed an adult for the purpose of giving consent to treatment of a mental or emotional disorder. The bill would have provided that the capacity of a minor to consent to treatment of a mental or emotional disorder does not include the capacity to refuse treatment for a mental or emotional disorder for which a parent, guardian, or custodian of the minor has given consent or if the minor is under 16 years of age, consent to the use of prescription medications to treat a mental or emotional disorder.

Information Technology Access Act HB 2207 (Tran) would have made numerous organizational changes to the Information Technology Access Act. The bill would have defined "information and communications technology" that is used to promote digital accessibility, also defined in the bill, for all persons with disabilities. The bill would have required the head of each covered entity, defined in the bill, to designate an employee to serve as such covered entity's digital accessibility coordinator and to be responsible for developing and implementing such covered entity's digital accessibility policy and report.

Immunization; Immunization of Children Against COVID-19 HB 2276 would have specified that parents shall not be required to immunize their children against COVID-19.

Immunizations; Authority of the Commissioner of Health; Religious Exception HB 2306 (Freitas) would have exempted a person, including a parent or guardian on behalf of a child, who objects to administration of a vaccine on religious grounds from mandatory immunization requirements issued by the Commissioner of Health during an epidemic.

Study; Department of Health and Department of Education; Medical Forms and Medical Information Collection by Summer Camps and Similar Programs; Report HJ 508 (Simon) would have requested the Department of Health and the Department of Education to study medical forms and medical information collection by summer camps and similar programs and to determine the viability of a standardized medical information form for summer camps and similar programs, explore possibilities for streamlining the collection of medical information for such programs, and create a draft universal form for potential use by such programs.

COVID-19 Immunization; Prohibition on Requirement; Discrimination Prohibited; Civil Penalty SB 792 (Chase) and SB 833 (Chase) would have prohibited the State Health Commissioner and the Board of Health, the Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, the Department of Health Professions and any regulatory board therein, and the Department of Social Services from requiring any person, including any child, to undergo vaccination for COVID-19 and prohibits discrimination based on a person's COVID-19 vaccination status with regard to education, employment, or issuance of a driver's license or other state identification or in numerous other contexts. The bill would have established a civil penalty for violation of this prohibition by an employer.

Public Elementary and Secondary Schools; Enrollment; Immunization Requirements SB 876 (McDougle) would have prohibited any child from being denied admission to school for not receiving a COVID-19 vaccination. The bill would also have prohibited the State Board of Health from adopting any regulation requiring immunization against COVID-19 for attendance at any public elementary or secondary school.

Children's Services Act; Special Education Programs SB 1023 (Stuart) would have expanded eligibility for services under the Children's Services Act to students who transfer from an approved private school special education program to a public school special education program established and funded jointly by a local governing body and school division located within Planning District 16 (George Washington Regional) for the purpose of providing special education and related services when the public school special education program is able to provide services comparable to those of an approved private school special education program and the student would require placement in an approved private school special education program but for the availability of the public school special education program.

Board of Education; Individualized Education Program (IEP) Meeting Participant Code of Ethics; Development SB 1334 (Hashmi) would have directed the Department of Education (the Department) to convene a work group to provide recommendations for the development of a code of ethics relating to effective collaboration at Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings among school staff, parents, students, and any other participants with expertise or knowledge of the student. The bill would have required the work group to include a facilitator with knowledge and expertise in the scope and mission of the IEP; the director of the disAbility Law Center or his designee; representatives from the Legal Aid Justice Center, the Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center (PEATC), the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPPA), the Virginia School Counselor Association, the Arc of Virginia or the Virginia Down Syndrome Association, ChildSavers or Communities in Schools of Virginia, community service boards, and the Department; three representatives from the Virginia Council of Administrators of Special Education;  four parents, guardians, or caregivers of children with IEPs, with attention to families of color, families for whom English is not the primary language, and families who are economically disadvantaged; an independent parent advocate; and one division superintendent.

Virginia Fusion Intelligence Center; Mental Health Crisis Intervention Hotline; Creation SB 1383 (Stuart) would have directed the Virginia Fusion Intelligence Center to establish a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week toll-free Mental Health Crisis Intervention Hotline to receive anonymous tips regarding individuals suspected to be in need of mental health treatment in order to facilitate mental health treatment, crisis intervention, and the prevention of tragedies and develop and implement policies and procedures for referring tips received through the Hotline to state or local law enforcement, as may be appropriate, in a timely manner for follow-up and investigation.

Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind; Board of Visitors to Report to the Governor SB 1493 (Bell) would have moved the Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind (the Board of Visitors) from under the responsibility of the Secretary of Education to under the direction and supervision of the Governor. The bill would have exempted the Board of Visitors from the definition of "executive branch agency" with respect to the responsibilities of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency. The provisions of the bill would have been contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

Study; School Health Services Committee; feasibility of implementing Department of Education Recommendations; School Personnel Who Administer Health Services to Students; Report SJ 228 (Favola) would have directed the School Health Services Committee to study the feasibility of implementing the recommendations of the Department of Education relating to standardizing the qualification and training requirements for school personnel, such as school nurses, who administer health services to students in order to improve the equity, consistency, and quality of school health services, including mental health services, provided in public schools in the Commonwealth.

Deceased High School Seniors; Waiver of Graduation Requirements and Award of Posthumous High School Diplomas HB 1514 (Adams) requires the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to provide for the waiver of certain graduation requirements and the subsequent award of a high school diploma upon the request of the parent of any high school senior who died in good standing prior to graduation during the student's senior year. The bill provides that such waivers shall be granted only for good cause and shall be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Standards for Accreditation Review Frequency HB 1593 (Davis) and SB 883 (Newman) would have eliminated the requirement that the Board of Education perform a triennial review of the accreditation status of a public school that has been fully accredited for three consecutive years. The bills would have also eliminated the provision permitting the Board to do a review of the accreditation status of any other school once every two or three years and the requirement that any such school receiving a multiyear accreditation status other than full accreditation be covered by a Board-approved multiyear corrective action plan. Under the bills, the Board would have been required to review annually the accreditation status of all schools in the Commonwealth.

Standards of Quality; Funding to Support Achievement of At-Risk Students HB 2090 (Glass) would have required, in addition to the positions supported by basic aid, state funding to be provided to support the achievement of at-risk students, based upon the concentration of students identified as eligible for federal free or reduced lunch, as provided in the general appropriation act, in each school division.

Standards of Quality; Work-Based Learning; Teacher Leaders and Mentors; Principal Mentors; Certain Personnel Positions and Initiatives HB 2111 (Bourne) and SB 1325 (McClellan) would have made several changes to the Standards of Quality, including requiring the establishment of units in the Department of Education to oversee work-based learning and principal mentorship statewide and requiring the Board of Education to establish and oversee the local implementation of teacher leader and teacher mentor programs in Standard 5. The bilsl would have also made several changes relating to school personnel in Standard 2, including requiring each school board to employ teacher leaders and teacher mentors at specified student-to-position ratios; lowering the ratio of English language learner students to teachers; lowering the ratio of assistant principals to students in each elementary, middle, and high school; lowering the ratio of school counselors to students in grades kindergarten through 12; and increasing the required number of specialized student support positions from at least three to at least four such positions per 1,000 students. Such specialized student support positions would have included school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, licensed behavior analysts, licensed assistant behavior analysts, and other licensed health and behavioral positions.

High School Graduation; Alternative Pathways to the Advanced Studies Diploma and Associated Diploma Seals HB 2341 (Davis) would have directed the Board of Education to establish two pathways to the advanced studies high school diploma, and associated diploma seals for students who successfully follow and demonstrate excellence on such pathways: one pathway that requires advanced coursework in a career and technical education field but does not require coursework in world language and another pathway that requires advanced coursework in world language but does not require coursework in a career and technical education field. The bill would have required such pathways and associated diploma seals to become effective for the 2024-2025 school year and to be available to any student, regardless of the school year during which the student enters ninth grade.

High School Graduation Requirements; Passing Score on Select Questions From the U.S. Naturalization Test HB 2405 (Ware) would have required the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to require, except in the case of a high school student whose individualized education program indicates otherwise, each high school student to take and correctly answer at least 70 percent of the questions on a test composed of at least 50 but not more than 60 of the questions on the civics portion of the U.S. Naturalization Test in order to graduate high school with a standard or advanced studies diploma, provided that such student may take such test at any time during grades nine through 12 and as many times during such period as necessary to achieve the minimum 70 percent passing score.

Emergency Care; Exemption From Liability; Athletic Trainers HB 2429 (Avoli) authorizes licensed athletic trainers under contract with a local school division to administer albuterol inhalers and valved holding chambers or nebulized albuterol to students and exempts athletic trainers from liability for such administration. The bill permits prescribers to authorize licensed athletic trainers to possess and administer IV saline for use in emergency situations and subcutaneous lidocaine for wound closure.

K-12 Schools and Institutions of Higher Education; Designation of Interscholastic, Intercollegiate, Intramural, and Club Athletic Teams and Sports Based on Biological Sex; Student Participation in Female Teams or Sports; Civil Cause of Action HB 1387 (Grenhalgh), HB 1399 (March), SB 911 (Cosgrove), and SB 1186 (Reeves) would have required each interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport sponsored by a public elementary or secondary school or by a public institution of higher education to be expressly designated as one of the following based on biological sex: males, men, or boys; females, women, or girls; or coed or mixed if participation on such team or sport is open to both males, men, or boys and females, women, or girls. The bills would have required identification of the student's biological sex on an athletics eligibility form signed by a licensed physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant to be submitted by any such student who desires to try out for or participate in an interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport. The bills would have prohibited any such team or sport that is expressly designated for females, women, or girls from being open to students whose biological sex is male. The bills would have further prohibited any interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport sponsored by a public elementary or secondary school or a public institution of higher education from competing against any interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport sponsored by a private elementary or secondary school or private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth unless such private school or institution complies with the applicable provisions of the bill.

The bills would have prohibited any government entity, licensing or accrediting organization, or athletic association or organization from entertaining a complaint, opening an investigation, or taking any other adverse action against public school or institution of higher education based on a violation of the provisions of the bills and created a cause of action for any school or institution of higher education that suffers harm as a result of a violation of the bill. Finally, the bills would have created a civil cause of action for any student that suffers harm as a result of a knowing violation of a provision of the bill by a school or institution or as a result of the student's reporting a violation of a provision of the bills by a school, institution, athletic association, or organization. 

SB 962 (Peake) would have contained the same provisions as the three failed bills, except that it did not extend to institutions of Higher Education.

Students Who Receive Home Instruction; Participation in Interscholastic Programs HB 1475 (March) would have prohibited public schools from joining an organization governing interscholastic programs that does not deem eligible for participation a student who receives home instruction; has demonstrated evidence of progress for two consecutive academic years; is in compliance with immunization requirements; is a person of school age for whom public school is free; has not reached the age of 19 by August 1 of the current academic year; is an amateur who receives no compensation but participates solely for the educational, physical, mental, and social benefits of the activity; complies with all disciplinary rules and is subject to all codes of conduct applicable to all public high school athletes; and complies with all other rules governing awards, all-star games, maximum consecutive semesters of high school enrollment, parental consents, physical examinations, and transfers applicable to all high school athletes.

Public School Pupil Participation On Certain Teams and in Certain Clubs; Parental Consent and Notification HB 2170 (Williams) would have provided that the prior written consent of the parent of a public school pupil is required for the pupil to participate on any school-sponsored athletic or academic team or in any extracurricular club that meets before, during, or after regular school hours and that either is officially recognized by the school or meets on school property.

STEM+C Competition Team Grant Program and Fund; Established SB 806 (Stanley) would have  established the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Computing (STEM+C) Competition Team Grant Program to encourage interest in STEM+C-related subject areas and support STEM+C-related extracurricular team-building activities in public schools in the Commonwealth by providing grants to qualified schools, as defined in the bill, for use in establishing or supporting STEM+C competition teams. The bill would have also created the STEM+C Competition Team Grant Fund for the purpose of providing such grants to qualified schools.

Board of Education; Creation and Maintenance of Virginia Parent Data Portal; Report HB 1629 (Coyner) and SB 1329 (McClellan/Petersen) require the Board of Education, on or before July 1, 2025, to create and maintain the Virginia Parent Data Portal that, among other things, (i) displays individualized student assessment data on all state-supported assessments, as that term is defined in the bill, (a) in a format that shows both current and cumulative data over time and (b) within 45 days of a state-supported assessment window closing for each state-supported assessment; (ii) provides a description of the purpose of each state-supported assessment, an explanation of how to interpret student data on each state-supported assessment, and a comparison of a student's performance on each state-supported assessment with the performance of the student's school, the student's school division, and the Commonwealth; (iii) is viewable from a mobile device in addition to a desktop computer; and (iv) provides functionality to enable school division personnel to manage and restrict user access to students and their parents. The bills require the Board and the Department of Education to provide certain guidance and technical assistance to local school divisions on professional development for principals and teachers in parent engagement on and interpretation of student assessment data available through the Portal and requires each school board to annually provide high-quality professional development to principals and teachers on such topics. Finally, the bills establish a work group for the purpose of advising the Board of Education on the criteria for and the process of procuring the goods and services necessary to implement the Portal and requires such work group to submit a report containing its findings and any recommendations to the Board of Education and the General Assembly no later than November 1, 2023.  Note that the bill contains a re-enactment clause, meaning that the provisions of the bill will not go into effect unless it is reenacted by the 2024 Session of the General Assembly. 

Virtual School Programs; Virtual Through-Year Growth Assessment Administration HB 1820 (Avoli) permits, subject to certain enumerated conditions, any student enrolled in a virtual school program to take any beginning-of-year or mid-year growth assessment required pursuant to relevant law in a virtual setting that best meets the educational needs of the student.  Note that the Department of Education is required to develop guidance to implement the provisions of this act by January 1, 2024.

Standards of Learning Assessment Revision Work Group; Consideration of Effectiveness of Assessments For Students With Disabilities HB 1884 (Wampler) requires the work group established by the Secretary of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to study and develop a plan relating to revisions to Standards of Learning assessments to consider the effectiveness of assessments for students with disabilities, including the Virginia Alternate Assessment Program for those students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, and the use of those assessments to improve and individualize instruction.

Certain Student Assessment Results; Availability HB 2225 (Batten) and SB 1253 (Dunnavant) require each school board to provide teachers, parents, principals, and other school leaders with their students' results on any Standards of Learning assessment or Virginia Alternate Assessment Program assessment as soon as practicable after the assessment is administered. 

Standards of Learning Assessment Revision Work Group; Timeline for Request for Proposal for Provider of Revised Assessments HB 2469 (Cherry) prohibits the Department of Education from releasing a Request for Proposal for a provider of revised Virginia Standards of Learning summative assessments of proficiency until after the work group convened for the purpose of developing a plan for the implementation of such revised assessments has submitted its initial iteration of such plan. The bill permits the Department of Education to extend the current state assessment contract until December 31, 2025, to ensure continuity in the administration of the state assessment program.

Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate Exam Fee Elimination Fund and Program Established HB 2067 (Lopez) would have established the Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate (AP/IB) Exam Fee Elimination Fund and Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, pursuant to which each local school board is entitled to an annual grant in a sum sufficient to cover all applicable fees associated with taking an AP or IB examination for any public high school student in the local school division who is eligible to receive free or reduced price lunch.

Standards of Learning Assessments; English Language Learner Students; Parental Opt Out; Parental Notification; Translation; Report HB 2145 (Guzman) would have required each local school board to ensure that the parent of each English language learner student is notified of the option to not have his child take any Standards of Learning assessment. The bill would have required such notification to be made in the parent's preferred language and, in the case of the parent of a high school student, to include a detailed explanation of the implications of such a decision on the student's ability to satisfy high school graduation requirements.

Standards of Quality; Early Intervention Services for Reading and Mathematics; Use of Certain Alternative Assessments Permitted SB 819 (Favola) would have provided that each local school division would have been permitted to use any nationally recognized, research-based assessment or screener in identifying and assessing the progress of any student in need of reading or algebra readiness intervention services as an alternative to a diagnostic test that must be approved by the Department of Education.

None

Sales Tax; Exemption for Food Purchased for Human Consumption and Essential Personal Hygiene Products HB 1484 (McNamara), HB 1686 (Greenhalgh), and SB 850 (Suetterlein) would have provided an exemption from local sales and use tax beginning July 1, 2023, for food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products. The bills would have also provided an allocation of state revenues to fund the distribution to localities for funding that would have been distributed to them absent the exemption created by the bill.

Additional Local Sales and Use Tax to Support Schools; Referendum HB 2316 (Bourne) and SB 1408 (McClellan/McPike) would have authorized all counties and cities to impose an additional local sales and use tax at a rate not to exceed one percent with the revenue used only for capital projects for the construction or renovation of schools if such levy is approved in a voter referendum. Under current law, only Charlotte, Gloucester, Halifax, Henry, Mecklenburg, Northampton, Patrick, and Pittsylvania Counties and the City of Danville are authorized to impose such a tax. The bill was a recommendation of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization.  HB 1605 (Edmunds) would have added Prince Edward County to the list of localities that are authorized to impose an additional local sales and use tax at a rate not to exceed one percent with the revenue used only for capital projects for the construction or renovation of schools.  HB 2442 (Price) would have added the City of Newport News to the list of localities that, under current law, are authorized to impose an extra one percent local sales tax to provide revenue for constructing or renovating schools. SB 1287 (Deeds) would have added Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville to the list of qualifying localities that, under current law, are authorized to impose an additional local sales and use tax at a rate not to exceed one percent, with the revenue from such tax used only for capital projects for the construction or renovation of schools.

Income Tax Deduction; Teaching Materials HB 2065 (Lopex) would have created a tax deduction beginning taxable year 2023 for up to $500 of teaching materials purchased by a licensed teacher and used to teach Virginia students enrolled in a public institution of higher education as defined by Virginia Code.

Individual Income tax; Distribution of Revenues; Local School Construction HB 2176 (Sickles) would have required distribution of five percent of the individual income tax revenues collected from residents of a locality to be distributed to that locality. The bill would have required such funds to be used for school construction or renovation purposes and to be repaid to the state if used for any other purpose. The bill would have provided that a locality be required to maintain its level of expenditure for public school purposes as a condition of receiving the income tax revenues; however, a locality could reduce its level of expenditure to account for a loss of revenues resulting from a reduction in machinery and tools taxes.

Home Instruction and Private School Tax Credit HB 2480 (LaRock) would have created a nonrefundable tax credit for taxable years 2023 through 2027 for parents or legal guardians of a child who is homeschooled or attends a private school in Virginia. The bill would have provided that the credit would have been equal to the lesser of half of the average state Standards of Quality funding per student per year or the costs incurred for instruction-related materials, courses or programs used in home instruction, or private school tuition and is limited to 1,000 children selected by an application and lottery process developed by the Department of Education. Any savings resulting from the credit of less than a student's full state Standards of Quality funding to an individual or married couple would have been deposited into the School Construction Fund.

Education Improvement Scholarships; Expands Tax Credit Program HB 1821 (Avoli) and SB 1360 (Norment) would have expanded the education improvement scholarships tax credit program for taxable years 2023 through 2027 by increasing from 65 percent to 100 percent the credit amount for the value of the monetary or marketable securities donation made by the person to an included scholarship foundation,  removing the requirement that eligible pre-kindergarten children be at-risk four-year-olds unable to obtain services through Head Start or Virginia Preschool Initiative programs, requiring that nonpublic pre-kindergarten programs participate in the Unified Virginia Quality Birth to Five System (VQB5), rather than the Virginia Quality rating system, and expanding eligible students to include any school-aged child living in Virginia whose family income does not exceed 300 percent of federal poverty guidelines, regardless of prior public school enrollment or a recent move to Virginia.

Income Tax Credits; Neighborhood Assistance Act; Education Improvement Scholarships HB 2431 (Moorefield) and SB 1506 (Ruff) would have made several amendments to expand the availability of the Neighborhood Assistance Act Tax Credit and Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits (EISTC). The bill would have made subject to judicial appeal the decisions of the Department of Education and the Department of Social Services regarding the qualification of a scholarship foundation or the awarding of tax credits; currently, such decisions are final. The bill would have provided that the annual allocation of tax credits among neighborhood organizations shall not rely solely on the amount of credits awarded in the previous year. For the EISTC, the bill would have allowed certified public accountants to receive tax credits for donations of accounting services to scholarship organizations. The bill would have also authorized scholarship foundations, which are the sole recipient of funding from the issuance of EISTC, to receive funding for scholastic assistance, defined in the bill as counseling or supportive services.

Constitutional Amendment (first reference); Personal Property Tax; Exemption for Motor Vehicles Owned for Personal, Noncommercial Use HJ 462 (Anderson) would have required the General Assembly to exempt from personal property taxes motor vehicles owned by an individual for personal, noncommercial use. For purposes of the exemption, "motor vehicle" includes only automobiles, pickup trucks, and motorcycles. The amendment would have provided that the exemption would have been applicable on the date the motor vehicle is acquired or the effective date of the amendment, whichever would have been later, but would not have been applicable for any period of time prior to the effective date.

Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits; Student Definition SB 892 (Newman) would have provided that beginning in taxable year 2024, students eligible for a scholarship from an approved scholarship foundation shall include any school-aged child living in Virginia whose family income does not exceed 300 percent of federal poverty guidelines, regardless of prior public school enrollment or a recent move to Virginia.

Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits; Transferability SB 893 (Newman) would have allowed a taxpayer entitled to an education improvement scholarships tax credit to transfer such credit to any other taxpayer. 

Local Sales and Use Tax; Exemptions SB 1008 (DeSteph) would have authorized the governing board of a city or county to, by ordinance, exempt food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products from local sales and use tax.