Virginia

Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention Act; fund and council established; report. Establishes the Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention Fund (the Fund) to provide funding to support clinical research and implementation of FDA Breakthrough Therapies, defined in the bill, for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, treatment-resistant depression, major depressive disorder, and traumatic brain injury. Under the bill, the Fund shall be used to (i) establish public-private partnerships to jointly fund Phase III clinical trials of FDA Breakthrough Therapies; (ii) conduct investigator-initiated clinical trials; (iii) establish a compassionate use program; (iv) create education and training opportunities for mental health professionals; (v) begin patient access pilot programs; and (vi) conduct implementation studies for best practices, cost-effectiveness, and methods to reduce treatment costs. The bill also establishes the Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention Advisory Council to advise the Department of Health on administration of grant funding or contracting to carry out the purposes of the Fund. Finally, the bill requires the Board of Pharmacy to amend its regulations to designate, reschedule, or deschedule a controlled substance in accordance with federal law after the expiration of 30 days from the publication in the Federal Register of a final or interim final order or rule.

Adult protective services; adult abuse, neglect and exploitation central registry. Creates a central registry of substantiated complaints of adult abuse, neglect, and exploitation to be maintained by the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services. The bill establishes (i) investigation requirements for local departments of social services related to reports of adult abuse, neglect, and exploitation; (ii) record retention and disclosure requirements for the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services and local departments of social services; (iii) notice requirements related to findings by local departments and central registry entries; and (iv) an appeals process to contest the findings of a local department related to substantiated reports of adult abuse, neglect, or exploitation. The bill directs the Commissioner for Aging and Rehabilitative Services to adopt regulations to implement the provisions of the bill and exempts the Commissioner's initial adoption of such regulations from the provisions of the Administrative Process Act. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2028.

Department of Education; special education and related services; educational rights, protections, and duties relating to the education of children with disabilities; requirements. Updates several provisions relating to the provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE), as defined by the bill, including special education and related services, to children with disabilities in the Commonwealth to ensure such provisions are current and consistent with applicable federal law and regulations, including by (i) updating several relevant definitions to bring such definitions up-to-date and (ii) amending several provisions of current law relating to the duties of the Board of Education, the Department of Education, and each school board in ensuring the provision of FAPE, including special education and related services, to children with disabilities in accordance with federal law and regulation. The bill also codifies several provisions of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and its implementing regulations, including provisions relating to (a) the educational rights of children with disabilities and their parents and the corresponding duties of the Board, Department, and school boards to protect such rights; (b) the evaluation, eligibility determination, and reevaluation of children for special education and related services; (c) the development, review, and revision of the individualized education plan of each child with disabilities, and (d) the procedural safeguards guaranteed to children with disabilities and their parents with respect to receiving a free appropriate public education. The bill also codifies certain protections for qualified students with disabilities, as defined by the bill, from discrimination on the basis of disability in a public school setting, in accordance with § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and its implementing regulations. The provisions of the bill relating to protections for qualified students with disabilities from discrimination on the basis of disability in a public school setting shall not become effective unless and until any provision of § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and any of its implementing regulations has been repealed or declared invalid or nullified by the final judgement of a federal court applicable to the Commonwealth or by executive or administration action, including any action of the federal or judicial branch that nullifies the effectiveness of such law and regulations in prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability in federally funded programs or activities. Finally, the bill repeals certain sections and makes several technical amendments as necessary in order to update and bring into conformity with applicable federal law and regulation provisions of current law relating to the provision of special education and related services to children with disabilities.

State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; work group; best practices for student-athlete name, image, and likeness deal transparency; report. Requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to convene a work group to evaluate best practices for increasing transparency in name, image, and likeness deals for student-athletes at baccalaureate public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the work group to submit its findings to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2026.

Personal property taxes; valuation. Requires that tangible personal property employed in a trade or business, other than such property set out for different valuation in current law, shall be valued by means of a percentage or percentages of original cost to the taxpayer. Current law requires such property to be valued only by means of a percentage or percentages of original cost. The provisions of this bill do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2027 Session of the General Assembly.

Digital innovation and infrastructure; establishing rights in digital property and technology resources; requiring risk management policies for critical infrastructure facilities controlled by critical artificial intelligence systems; providing safe harbors; preempting local regulation; and providing for enforcement and remedies.

Disposition of Fort Whitworth. Authorizes the Governor to convey Fort Whitworth to the Petersburg Battlefields Foundation. The conveyance shall be made without consideration and in as-is condition.

Alcoholic beverage control; special events; mixed beverage caterer's licenses. Expands the definition of "special event" used in the context of alcoholic beverage control to include events where a duly organized nonprofit corporation or association is engaged to be the concession operator entitled to the net proceeds from the sale of alcoholic beverages for such event. The bill also allows mixed beverage caterers' licenses to be granted to a person regularly engaged in the business of providing food and beverages to others for service at cultural or sporting events sponsored by a locality, destination marketing organization, or regional attractions marketing agency.

Corporations; limited liability decentralized autonomous organizations (LLDs). Creates the Limited Liability Decentralized Autonomous Organization (LLD) Act, which establishes requirements for an LLD, defined as a distinct legal entity that operates through decentralized governance using blockchain technology and smart contracts that execute decentralized decision-making mechanisms. The bill permits the formation of an LLD by filing articles of formation with the State Corporation Commission (the Commission), and, if certain requirements are met, the Commission may issue a certificate of formation. The bill includes requirements for amending an LLD's articles of formation and also includes requirements for LLD bylaws, operating agreements, underlying smart contracts, and participant interests and management of the LLD. Under the bill, an LLD and its participants have limited liability for debts, obligations, and liabilities of the LLD. The bill also includes provisions related to recordkeeping, transferring interests, withdrawal of participants, and dissolution of the LLD. The bill directs the Commission to adopt emergency regulations to implement certain provisions of the bill. Except for the emergency rulemaking, the provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.

Restorative housing and isolated confinement; restrictions on use. Prohibits the use of isolated confinement, defined in the bill, in state correctional facilities, subject to certain exceptions. The bill requires that before placing an incarcerated person in restorative housing or isolated confinement for his own protection, the facility administrator shall place an incarcerated person in a less-restrictive setting, including by transferring such person to another institution or to a special-purpose housing unit for incarcerated persons who face similar threats. The bill requires that if an incarcerated person is placed in restorative housing or isolated confinement, such placement shall be reviewed every two business days and the facility administrator shall ensure that the incarcerated person receives a medical and mental health evaluation from certified medical and mental health professionals within one working day of placement in restorative housing or any form of isolated confinement. The bill also requires the facility administrator to notify the regional administrator in writing that an incarcerated person was placed in restorative housing or isolated confinement within 24 hours of such placement. Finally, the bill requires that formal reviews of an incarcerated person's placement in any form of isolated confinement shall be held in such person's presence, inform him of any reasons administrative officials believe isolated confinement remains necessary, and give the incarcerated person an opportunity to respond to those reasons, and a formal ruling shall be provided to the incarcerated individual within 24 hours.

Elections; political campaign advertisements; synthetic media; penalty. Prohibits electioneering communications containing synthetic media, as those terms are defined in the bill, from being published or broadcast without containing the following conspicuously displayed statement: "This message contains synthetic media that has been altered from its original source or artificially generated and may present conduct or speech that did not occur." The bill creates a civil penalty not to exceed $25,000 for a violation of such prohibition and a Class 1 misdemeanor for a willful violation. The bill permits any registered voter who receives an electioneering communication in violation of this requirement to institute an action for preventative relief to prohibit the publication or dissemination of such electioneering communication, including an application for a permanent or temporary injunction.

School division accessibility challenges and barriers; reports, summary, and plan. Requires each school board or division superintendent to review and report to the Department of Education no later than August 1, 2026, certain challenges and barriers relating to the accessibility of public elementary and secondary school buildings and grounds in the local school division. The bill requires the Department to consolidate all such reports into a summary document and submit (i) such document, (ii) a plan for achieving full compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 across all school divisions in the Commonwealth, and (iii) any legislative and budgetary recommendations for fully executing such plan to the Chairs of the Senate Committee on Education and Health, the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, the House Committee on Appropriations, and the House Committee on Education no later than November 1, 2026.

State pharmacy benefits manager; contractual provisions; report. Requires the Department of Medical Assistance Services' contract with the state pharmacy benefits manager to (i) require that that ingredient-cost reimbursement is based on the national average drug acquisition cost, or if unavailable, the wholesale acquisition cost minus a discount set by the Department, plus a professional dispensing fee, determined by the Department; (ii) require real-time or near real-time transparency in drug costs, rebates collected and paid, dispensing fees paid, administrative fees, and all other charges, fees, costs, and holdbacks, claim denials appeals, and network participation; (iii) prohibit the state pharmacy benefits manager from steering Medicaid recipients to affiliated pharmacies through differential cost-sharing, restrictive network design, or the mandatory use of a mail order pharmacy provider; (iv) require the state pharmacy benefits manager to (a) meet network adequacy standards established by the Department; (b) allow any willing pharmacy to participate in the pharmacy network; (c) verify that all contracted pharmacies are actively accepting Medicaid recipients; (d) submit annual reports containing certain information; (e) disclose to the Department pricing and maximum acquisition cost methodologies; and (f) allow invoice-based or national average drug acquisition cost-based appeals and require an adjustment of rates network-wide when an appeal is upheld; and (v) include enforcement mechanisms and monetary penalties for noncompliance. Additionally, the bill requires Department to annually calculate the savings generated by the use of the state pharmacy benefits manager and to annually increase its dispensing fee by the amount of such savings. The bill requires the Department to annually (1) publish and make available on its website its annual and total savings achieved, the annual and total amount applied to dispensing fees increases, and the updated dispensing fees and (2) report to the General Assembly on the state pharmacy benefits manager's compliance, national average drug acquisition cost compliance, pharmacy reimbursement trends, network adequacy compliance, and dispensing fee sufficiency.

Educational and cultural institutions; Recognition and restoration of status of Hampton University as a land-grant university; Hampton University Land-Grant Restoration Fund established; requirements.

Certain student assessment requirements; calculation of final course grade; repeal. Repeals a provision of law that requires the score of any student in grades seven through 12 on any Standards of Learning assessment or permissive local alternative assessment to account for at least 10 percent of the student's final grade in the relevant course. The bill contains a reenactment clause.

Official emblems and designations; state native pollinator; brown-belted bumblebee. Designates the brown-belted bumblebee (Bombus griseocollis) as the official state native pollinator.

Property and casualty insurance; regulation and licensing of all-lines adjusters. Provides for State Corporation Commission licensing and regulation of all-lines adjusters investigating, negotiating, or settling property, casualty, or workers' compensation claims for insurers or for self-insurers. The bill prohibits a person from acting as an all-lines adjuster without first obtaining a license from the Commission and requires all-lines adjusters to comply with standards of conduct and continuing education requirements. The bill also allows the Commission to suspend or revoke licenses under certain conditions. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.

Property Owners' Association Act; disclosure requirements; declarant control. Requires a declarant who has any unexpired right to control the conduct of business of a property owners' association, once the majority of the members of the board of directors other than the declarant are owners of improved lots in the association, to disclose such rights and the status of the declarant's control in any contract for the sale of any lot in the association other than for development or resale. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Housing Commission.

Virginia State Bar; work group to study the use of nondisclosure or confidentiality provisions in certain settlement agreements; report. Directs the Virginia State Bar to convene a work group of relevant stakeholders to study and make recommendations relating to the use of nondisclosure or confidentiality provisions or agreements pursuant to or contained in settlement agreements reached in civil actions for personal injury arising from an unlawful act that would constitute criminal sexual assault, commercial sex trafficking, or other sexual offense that occurred during the infancy or incapacity of the injured person. The bill directs the work group to report its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice by November 1, 2026.

Registration decals; discontinued. Discontinues the requirement for and issuance of decals displaying the expiration month and year of motor vehicle registration to be displayed on license plates. The bill also removes the requirement for the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue appropriately designated license plates for motor vehicles held for rental. The bill does not eliminate existing requirements that vehicles are to be registered.

Special fund for emergency medical services; distribution of certain funds to localities. Expands the use of funds by localities from the special emergency medical services fund. The bill allows funds to be used for (i) training of emergency medical services personnel; (ii) the purchase of equipment and supplies; (iii) maintenance of equipment, facilities, and certain vehicles; and (iv) operating expenses deemed necessary by the locality to ensure the provision of emergency medical expenses in such locality. Under current law, funds may only be used for training of personnel and purchase of equipment and supplies.

Department of Medical Assistance Services; Department of Social Services; administration of medical assistance and social services programs; technology modernization; report. Directs the Department of Social Services (DSS) and the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) to contract with a third-party vendor to study and create a plan for the modernization of the technological systems used to administer federal benefit programs in the Commonwealth. The bill requires DSS and DMAS to develop and submit a legislative report that includes a plan to modernize the current technological systems to the Governor and the Chairs of the House Committee on Health and Human Services and the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services by December 1, 2026, and to use the recommendations and plan outlined in such legislative report to move forward with the procurement process.

Insurance; Fire Programs Fund; fees for vehicles; Virginia At Risk Fire Grant Program established; Firefighter Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Fund established. Increases the fire insurance assessment from one percent of total direct gross premium income for such insurance to (i) 1.5 percent on and after July 1, 2026, but before July 1, 2027, and (ii) two percent on and after July 1, 2027. The bill also increases the vehicle registration fee used to provide support for emergency medical services from $4.25 to $6.25 for each pickup or panel truck and each motor vehicle. The bill also establishes (a) the Virginia At Risk Fire Grant Program, to be funded by 0.25 percent of the assessments on insurance companies, for the purposes of providing grants to localities with fire departments that are determined to be most at risk of being unable to provide fire suppression or rescue activities or maintain compliance with relevant laws and regulations and (b) the Firefighter Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Fund, for the purpose of purchasing breathing apparatus equipment and other non-vehicular equipment necessary for the protection of firefighters responding to a fire.

Deferred or installment payment agreements; outstanding court-assessed fines, fees, taxes, or costs. Provides that the attorney for the Commonwealth or the clerk of the circuit court shall not require any defendant sentenced to an active term of incarceration and ordered to pay any fine cost, forfeiture, or penalty related to the charge for which such defendant was incarcerated, or any other chare for which such defendant was sentenced on the same day, the court shall enter such  defendant into a deferred payment agreement with a due date set no earlier than 180 days after the defendant's scheduled release from incarceration on the charges for which such defendant was sentenced on the same day.

School boards; excusing students from attendance at school; grounds; verified medical reasons. Requires each school board to excuse from attendance any pupil who, for any continuous period of time not exceeding 30 school days in length, is absent from school for medical reasons as verified in writing by the student's health care provider.