SB328 - Virginia Retirement System; enhanced retirement benefits for 911 dispatchers.

3 Co-Sponsors

Virginia Retirement System; enhanced retirement benefits for 911 dispatchers. Allows local governments to provide enhanced retirement benefits for hazardous duty service to full-time salaried 911 dispatchers. The bill provides that such enhanced retirement benefits apply only to service earned as a full-time salaried 911 dispatcher on or after July 1, 2025, but allows an employer, as that term is defined in relevant law, to provide such enhanced retirement benefits for service earned as a full-time salaried 911 dispatcher before July 1, 2025, in addition to service earned on or after that date. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025. Virginia Retirement System; enhanced retirement benefits for 911 dispatchers. Allows local governments to provide enhanced retirement benefits for hazardous duty service to full-time salaried 911 dispatchers. The bill provides that such enhanced retirement benefits apply only to service earned as a full-time salaried 911 dispatcher on or after July 1, 2025, but allows an employer, as that term is defined in relevant law, to provide such enhanced retirement benefits for service earned as a full-time salaried 911 dispatcher before July 1, 2025, in addition to service earned on or after that date. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.

SB593 - Workers' compensation benefits; post-traumatic stress disorder incurred by firefighters, etc.

3 Co-Sponsors

Workers' compensation benefits; post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder incurred by law-enforcement officers and firefighters. Increases from 52 weeks to 104 weeks the maximum duration after the date of diagnosis that workers' compensation benefits are payable for post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder incurred by law-enforcement officers and firefighters acting in the line of duty.

SB310 - Nonfamily adoptions; creates a $4,000 nonrefundable tax credit for taxable years 2024 through 2028.

2 Co-Sponsors

Tax credit; nonfamily adoptions. Creates a $4,000 nonrefundable tax credit for taxable years 2024 through 2028 for an individual or married couple who, during the taxable year, finalize a legal nonfamily adoption as defined in the bill.

SB171 - Zoning; enhanced civil penalties for violations involving nonpermitted commercial uses.

2 Co-Sponsors

Zoning; civil penalties; commercial uses. Allows enhanced civil penalties for zoning violations involving nonpermitted commercial uses. The bill also requires that for any violation involving nonpermitted commercial uses, a person who admits liability shall be required to abate or remedy the nonpermitted commercial use violation within a period of time specified by the locality that is no less than 30 days but no more than 24 months from the date of admission of liability.

SB367 - Fentanyl and Heroin Enforcement, Task Force on; established, report.

18 Co-Sponsors

Task Force on Fentanyl and Heroin Enforcement established. Creates the Task Force on Fentanyl and Heroin Enforcement whose purpose is to study ways to enhance the ability of law-enforcement officers throughout the Commonwealth to combat the illegal manufacturing, importation, and distribution of fentanyl, heroin, and other similar controlled substances. The bill requires the Task Force to meet at least annually and to report to the Governor and General Assembly by December 1 of each year regarding its activities and any recommendations. Task Force on Fentanyl and Heroin Enforcement established. Creates the Task Force on Fentanyl and Heroin Enforcement whose purpose is to study ways to enhance the ability of law-enforcement officers throughout the Commonwealth to combat the illegal manufacturing, importation, and distribution of fentanyl, heroin, and other similar controlled substances. The bill requires the Task Force to meet at least annually and to report to the Governor and General Assembly by December 1 of each year regarding its activities and any recommendations.

SB294 - Local tax; penalties and interest.

2 Co-Sponsors

Local tax; penalties and interest. Requires localities to apply voluntary payments made by a taxpayer to the tax return that accompanies such payment. The bill provides that no interest will accrue on any unpaid balances 90 days after the date on which a taxpayer files an application for correction by the locality, an administrative appeal, or an application to court for meals taxes, until such appeal is resolved. The bill creates notice procedures prior to a locality making a levy on property due to delinquent tax payments.

SB558 - School choice educational savings accounts; permits parents of qualified students to apply to DOE.

2 Co-Sponsors

School choice educational School choice educational savings accounts. Permits the parents of qualified students to apply to the Department of Education for a renewable school choice education savings account, consisting of a monetary 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 qualified student resides, from which the parent of such student may use the funds to make education-related qualifying expenditures, including tuition, deposits, fees, and required textbooks and instructional materials, at (i) a private elementary or secondary school located in the Commonwealth, (ii) certain nonpublic online learning programs, and (iii) institutions of higher education and requires the Department of Education to establish certain policies, procedures, and processes relating to the savings accounts. The bill defines the term "qualified student" to provide for the annual expansion of the students who are eligible to receive savings accounts, from including for the 2024–2025 school year only students who meet a limited set of criteria and gradually expanding to declare eligible for the 2028–2029 school year and each year thereafter any student who (a) is deemed to reside in a school division in the Commonwealth, (b) for whom compulsory attendance is required pursuant to relevant law, (c) is eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth, and (d) is entering kindergarten or was enrolled at and attended a public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth during the two semesters immediately preceding the semester for which the child's parent initially applies for a savings account. The bill contains several provisions relating to the terms and conditions to which the parent of any qualified student is required to agree to receive a savings account, requirements relating to renewal of savings accounts and the management of funds remaining when accounts are closed or become inactive, and the consequences of noncompliance with the terms and conditions. The bill also provides that the Department of Education shall be responsible for the administration of the savings accounts, including (1) making quarterly disbursements in the appropriate amount to each savings account and managing retained savings; (2) developing informational materials for interested parents relating to the savings accounts; and (3) developing policies and procedures relating to the administration and management of the savings accounts, the application process, quarterly reviews and annual audits of each savings account, and addressing incidents of intentional and substantial misrepresentation, fraud, or noncompliance in relation to expenditures from savings accounts.

SJR38 - Commending Amanda L. Newins.

2 Co-Sponsors

SB689 - Casino gaming; cruise ship gaming in the offshore waters of the Commonwealth.

2 Co-Sponsors

Exemptions to article; cruise ship gaming in the offshore waters of the Commonwealth.

SR26 - Commending Margaret L. Sanner.

33 Co-Sponsors