Virginia

Malicious bodily injury to correctional officers; penalties. Provides that if any person maliciously causes bodily injury to another by any means, including the means set out in existing law, with intent to maim, disfigure, disable, or kill, and knowing or having reason to know that such other person is a correctional officer, as defined in relevant law, engaged in the performance of his public duties as a correctional officer, such person is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for a period of not less than five years nor more than 30 years and, subject to existing law, a fine of not more than $100,000; upon conviction, the sentence of such person shall include a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of two years. The bill also provides that if any person unlawfully, but not maliciously, with the intent aforesaid, causes bodily injury to another by any means, knowing or having reason to know such other person is a correctional officer engaged in the performance of his public duties as a correctional officer, he is guilty of a Class 6 felony, and upon conviction, the sentence of such person shall include a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of one year.

Real property tax exemption; surviving spouses of members of the armed forces who died in the line of duty. Authorizes localities to provide, for tax years beginning on and after January 1, 2026, up to a total exemption from real property taxes for dwellings owned by surviving spouses of members of the armed forces that are situated on property zoned as single family residential. Under current law, a total exemption is only allowed for such dwellings with assessed values in the most recently ended tax year that are not in excess of the average assessed value for such year of a dwelling situated on property that is zoned as single family residential.

Military leaves of absence for employees of the Commonwealth or political subdivisions; law-enforcement officers. Provides that any person who is employed by the Commonwealth or a political subdivision of the Commonwealth as a law-enforcement officer shall receive paid leaves of absence for up to 388 hours for which a leave of absence is required, during which such person is engaged in federally funded military duty, to include training duty, or is called forth by the Governor for military duty.

Salaries of certain full-time deputy sheriffs. Provides that, beginning on and after July 1, 2026, the salary of certain full-time deputy sheriffs shall be increased by an amount equal to $100 for each full year of service.

Callous disregard for human life and probable consequences; penalties. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person who commits a criminal act and whose conduct was so gross, wanton, or culpable as to indicate a callous disregard for human life and for the probable consequences of his conduct. The bill enhances the penalty to a Class 6 felony where such person knew or should have known that the consequences of such conduct would pose a greater risk to first responders.

Sales tax exemption; vital baby products. Creates a retail sales and use tax exemption for vital baby products, including (i) children's diapers, (ii) therapeutic or preventative creams and wipes marketed primarily for use on the skin of children, (iii) child restraint devices or booster seats, (iv) cribs, (v) strollers meant for transporting children from infancy to 36 months of age, and (vi) food represented for dietary use solely as a food for infants.

Court appearance of a person not free on bail. Makes various changes to provisions regarding bail hearings in jurisdictions having a public defender office, including (i) the appointment of counsel for the accused and (ii) a requirement that counsel for the accused, when practicable, be provided with adequate time to confer with the accused prior to any bail hearing. The bill also allows a jurisdiction that does not have a public defender office establish to implement such provisions. The bill provides that, effective in due course, the chief judge in each circuit shall create a plan to be completed by November 1, 2026, that establishes the means by which the jurisdiction will meet such provisions. The remaining provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.

Civil actions; assignment as business litigation action; requirements. Allows counsel for any party or the judge of the circuit court initially assigned to certain civil actions to request to have such action assigned by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia to have such civil action assigned as a business litigation action. The bill provides that an action to be eligible to be considered a business litigation action, the action shall (i) have a minimum amount in controversy of $1,000,000, (ii) present special complexity, including specialized issues or acute litigation management needs, and (iii) fall into one or more of several enumerated categories of civil actions. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.

Department of Veterans Services; benefit awareness and access; program. Establishes an outreach program to ensure military service members transitioning from military to civilian life, veterans, members of the Virginia National Guard, residents of the Commonwealth in the Armed Forces Reserves, and their family members can easily access federal, state, and local benefits and other programs and services available to them. The bill requires the outcomes of such program to be published in the annual report submitted to the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, the Governor, and the General Assembly.

Kei vehicles; operation and requirements. Prohibits kei vehicles, as defined in the bill, from being operated on any limited access highway, interstate highway, or highway with a posted speed limit of 55 miles per hour or more. The bill provides for the licensing and registration of kei vehicles by the Department of Motor Vehicles. The bill prohibits localities from placing certain restrictions on kei vehicles and prohibits the imposition of liability for motor vehicle dealers for any damages that are directly or indirectly attributable to the sale of a kei vehicle that was not manufactured in accordance with federal safety standards. The bill directs the State Air Pollution Control Board to develop and adopt emissions inspection standards for kei vehicles and directs the Superintendent of State Police to promulgate any regulations necessary for conducting safety inspections of kei vehicles.

Unemployment benefits; maximum duration. Provides that, beginning July 1, 2026, for claims effective on or after July 1, 2026, an eligible individual's weekly unemployment compensation benefit amount shall be paid for a maximum duration of 26 weeks.

Student literacy programs and plans; certain adjustments. Prohibits any Department of Education-approved student literacy screener that is administered to identify deficiencies that warrant reading intervention services for students in grades kindergarten through eight from commencing earlier than the tenth full instructional day of the academic year, and requires the testing window established by the Department to extend no fewer than 15 full instructional days to ensure adequate instructional readiness and equitable access. The bill requires (i) the Department's template for student reading plans to (a) auto-populate all available student data from the results on the literacy screener provided by the Department; (b) minimize duplicative manual data entry; (c) authorize the use of standardized instructional profiles for students presenting substantially similar literacy needs, where appropriate; and (d) permit the batch creation of plans when it is appropriate to the instructional context; (ii) the Department to annually compile, in a de-identified format, themes and trends reported through division-level educator feedback mechanisms related to the implementation of the literacy screeners provided by the Department and the development of reading plans; and (iii) prior to the statewide implementation of any substantial modification to the literacy screeners provided by the Department or associated data systems, the Department to conduct an implementation feasibility analysis that assesses system readiness, teacher workload impact, and anticipated training needs. The bill also establishes several new requirements for divisionwide literacy plans.

Mutual aid agreements; public safety radio equipment. Requires localities that have entered into certain public safety mutual aid agreements to provide access to the information necessary to program the public safety radio equipment owned or used by such locality, such as radio frequencies and security and encryption keys.

Authority of school division to request motor vehicle registration numbers. Provides that any school division may request the vehicle registration number of a vehicle owned or operated by any person using the services or facilities of the school division.

Department of Emergency Management; emergency services and disaster preparedness programs; inclusion of federally recognized tribes. Requires the Department of Emergency Management to administer certain emergency services in coordination with federally recognized tribes that the Department has entered into a contract or memorandum of understanding with for assistance regarding such emergency services. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on Updating Virginia Law to Reflect Federal Recognition of Virginia Tribes.

Line of Duty Act; payments to beneficiaries. Provides that if a deceased person, as that term is defined in the Line of Duty Act, died as a result of certain cancers within 10 years from his date of retirement, his beneficiary shall be entitled to the payment of certain benefits. Under current law, such beneficiary shall be entitled to such payment if the deceased person's death (i) arose out of and in the course of his employment or (ii) was within five years from his date of retirement.

All-terrain vehicles; operation on highways in certain localities. Authorizes the operation of all-terrain vehicles in Giles County and Pulaski County on highways designated by such counties, provided that certain conditions are met. The bill provides certain requirements for the operation of all-terrain vehicles on such designated highways.

First-time home buyer savings plan; townhouses; principal limits. Includes townhouses in the definition of single-family residence for purposes of the First-Time Home Buyer Savings Plan Act. The bill also increases (i) the aggregate amount of principal that can be contributed to a first-time home buyer savings account from $50,000 to $100,000 and (ii) the limit on the amount of principal and interest or other income on the principal that may be retained in such an account from $150,000 to $200,000.

Motorized mobility vehicles; civil penalties. Establishes a new class of vehicle, the motorized mobility vehicle, as defined in the bill, and establishes requirements for the sale, operation, registration, and titling of such vehicles. The bill requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to establish regulations governing motorized mobility vehicle safety training courses and to implement an educational outreach program to inform the public about the requirements of the bill. The bill, other than the educational outreach program, has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.

Electric utilities; licensed suppliers of electric energy; aggregate demands; total retail load limit. Amends provisions that permit two or more individual nonresidential retail customers of electric energy to petition the State Corporation Commission (the Commission) to aggregate their electric demands for the purpose of purchasing electric energy from a licensed supplier. Under the bill, the five megawatt participation threshold is based on noncoincident peak demand in calendar year 2024 and any year thereafter. Under the bill, such customers are not required to petition the Commission for approval to aggregate their demands, but are required to notify the Commission and incumbent electric utility in writing that they have met the requirements for doing so. The bill makes it voluntary rather than mandatory for the Commission to impose certain periodic monitoring and reporting obligations for such customers to demonstrate continued compliance with the aggregate demand limitations.

Tax on electronic distribution of material harmful to minors. Creates a tax at the rate of 10 percent of the gross receipts of any commercial entity operating an adult website, defined in the bill, for all sales, distributions, memberships, and other content amounting to material harmful to minors, defined in the bill, that is produced, sold, filmed, generated, or otherwise based in the Commonwealth. The bill provides that the revenues generated by this tax shall be deposited into the Behavioral Health and Developmental Services Trust Fund.

Marine Resources Commission; fisheries climate adaptation plan; report. Directs the Marine Resources Commission, in collaboration with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, to develop and maintain a fisheries climate adaptation plan that utilizes the best available science to consider climate-driven impacts to Virginia fisheries and aquaculture and identify adaptive management strategies and research needs necessary to safeguard the economic and environmental health of Virginia fisheries. The Commission is directed to convene a technical advisory committee of relevant stakeholders to aid in the development of such plan, to update the plan at least once every three years, and to submit a report detailing the plan to relevant executive agency personnel and committees of the General Assembly by December 1, 2026, for the initial plan and December 1 in any year in which the plan is updated.

Long-term care insurance; premium rate increases; regulations. Requires regulations promulgated by the State Corporation Commission for long-term care insurance rates to (i) provide a cap on premium rate schedule increases; (ii) require any capped premium rate schedule increase to be spread by the insurer over a period of not less than five years, during which time no further rate schedule increases may be requested; and (iii) prohibit additional premium rate schedule increases after prior cumulative rate schedule increases amount to 250 percent of the original premium. Under the bill, no additional rate increases shall be approved for a long-term care insurance policy that has already reached or surpassed the limit of 250 percent of its original premium. The bill directs the Commission to adopt regulations to implement the provisions of this act, including by establishing a regulatory cap on premium rate schedule increase for long-term care insurance policies that is no more than 30 percent of the maximum amount of premium rate schedule increase permitted under current regulations, as calculated on the request date of the premium rate increase.

Home care organizations; licensure. Provides that no license to establish or operate a home care organization shall be issued or renewed until such time as all existing home care organizations have been inspected. The bill also prohibits a home care organization from maintaining its office in a private residence or virtual office.