SB451 - Income tax, corporate; distribution of revenues to state parks.

2 Co-Sponsors

Corporate income tax; distribution of revenues; state parks. Requires five percent beginning July 1, 2024, of all corporate income tax revenues to be distributed to the State Park Conservation Resources Fund to provide (i) free entry to Virginia state parks and (ii) the conservation, development, maintenance, and operations of state parks acquired or held by the Department of Conservation and Recreation as provided in the appropriation act. The bill provides that such distribution shall not reduce the total amount of annual appropriations for the Department and the Fund below the total amounts appropriated for the most recent fiscal year ending before July 1, 2024, except as provided by a subsequent appropriation act.

SB704 - Rural Virginia, Center for; renames Center the Senator Frank M. Ruff, Jr. Center for Rural Virginia.

40 Co-Sponsors

Center for Rural Virginia; name change. Renames the Center for Rural Virginia as the Senator Frank M. Ruff, Jr. Center for Rural Virginia.

SB207 - Law-enforcement officers, certain; universal certification, necessary training.

3 Co-Sponsors

Universal certification for certain law-enforcement officers. Provides that any sworn law-enforcement officer with at least one year of experience (i) whose training qualifications meet or exceed current training standards established by the Board of Criminal Justice Services and who is in compliance with the minimum qualifications, (ii) who has not had a break in service of more than 24 months, and (iii) who is leaving the transferring agency in good standing with no pending investigations or disciplinary actions shall be eligible for employment at any law-enforcement agency within the Commonwealth or its political subdivisions. Prior to any conditional offer of employment, the bill requires the hiring law-enforcement agency to request certain specified information from all prior law-enforcement agencies and to employ all reasonable means to obtain personnel records for law-enforcement officers transferring from an out-of-state or federal law-enforcement agency. The bill requires that upon the receipt of all requested information by the hiring law-enforcement agency, the applicant law-enforcement officer shall complete a sworn declaration that the provided information or records are, to the best of the applicant's knowledge, a true, correct, and complete response to such request.

SB733 - Chief Resilience Officer of the Commonwealth; moves position under the Governor.

1 Co-Sponsor

Chief Resilience Officer of the Chief Resilience Officer of the Commonwealth; Office of Commonwealth Resilience; Interagency Resilience Working Group; Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund; Resilient Virginia Revolving Fund; Advisory Review Committee. Moves the position of Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) from under the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources to under the Governor and creates an Office of Commonwealth Resilience to support the CRO in his functions and duties. The bill requires the CRO to convene an Interagency Resilience Working Group to support the coordination of planning and implementation of resilience efforts, eliminates the position of Special Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Adaptation and Protection, and requires the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation to convene an Advisory Review Committee to assist in the distribution of loans and grants from the Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund. The bill also requires the Director to convene an Advisory Review Committee to assist in the distribution of loans and grants from the Resilient Virginia Revolving Fund and adds the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources and the CRO to the list of those with whom the Virginia Resources Authority is required to consult in directing the distribution of loans or grants from the Fund. The bill requires the Department to make available for public inspection at the office of the Department and on a publicly accessible website records of each application for grants and loans from the two Funds and the actions taken thereon. The Virginia Flood Resilience Advisory Committee replaces the Virginia Coastal Resilience Technical Advisory Committee effective February 1, 2025.

SJR67 - Commending Sandra Gioia Treadway.

40 Co-Sponsors

SB2 - Assault firearms & certain ammunition, etc.; purchase, possession, sale, transfer, etc., prohibited.

18 Co-Sponsors

Purchase, sale, transfer, etc., of assault firearms and certain ammunition feeding devices prohibited; penalty. Creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person who imports, sells, manufactures, purchases, or transfers an assault firearm, as that term is defined in the bill, and prohibits a person who has been convicted of such violation from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm for a period of three years from the date of conviction. The bill provides that an assault firearm does not include any firearm that is an antique firearm, has been rendered permanently inoperable, is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action, or was manufactured before July 1, 2024. The bill also prohibits the sale of a large capacity ammunition feeding device, as that term is defined in the bill. The bill provides that any person who willfully and intentionally (i) sells an assault firearm to another person or (ii) purchases an assault firearm from another person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and that any person who imports, sells, barters, or transfers a large capacity ammunition feeding device is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person younger than 21 years of age to import, sell, manufacture, purchase, possess, transport, or transfer an assault firearm regardless of the date of manufacture of such assault firearm.

SB456 - Corrections Ombudsman, Office of the Department of; created, annual report.

3 Co-Sponsors

Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman; created. Creates, within the Office of the State Inspector General, the Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman (the Office) headed by an Ombudsman who is selected by the State Inspector General. The bill creates the Corrections Oversight Committee (the Committee) made up of four members of the General Assembly, nine nonlegislative citizen members appointed by the Governor, subject to criteria described in the bill, and two nonvoting members, appointed as described in the bill, who monitor the activities of the Ombudsman and the Department of Corrections (the Department). The bill provides the Office with authority to conduct inspections at least once every three years and more often when warranted of Department facilities and requires the Office to establish a statewide toll-free telephone number, website, mailing address, and paper and electronic forms for inmates, family members, friends, and advocates to submit complaints and inquiries. In addition, the bill requires the Committee to hold at least two public hearings per year and requires the Office to submit an annual report to be made available online and to be delivered to the Governor, the Attorney General, the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services, the House Committee on Public Safety, the Committee, and the Director of the Department. The bill directs the Office to develop a short-term and long-term strategic plan and to provide a report on its initial activities and strategic plan to the Governor and the General Assembly on or before November 15, 2025.

SB460 - Minors; parental admission for inpatient treatment.

1 Co-Sponsor

Parental admission of minors for inpatient treatment. Clarifies that for the purposes of admission of a minor to a willing mental health facility for inpatient treatment, the finding required to be made by a qualified evaluator that the minor appears to have a mental illness serious enough to warrant inpatient treatment may include a finding of substance abuse and such inpatient treatment may be related to such mental illness, which may include substance abuse. The bill also specifies that a temporary detention order shall not be required for a minor 14 years of age or older who objects to admission to be admitted to a willing facility upon the application of a parent. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Commission on Youth.

SB461 - Forestland and Urban Tree Canopy Conservation Plan; Department of Forestry to establish.

2 Co-Sponsors

Department of Forestry; Forestland and Urban Tree Canopy Conservation Plan required. Requires the Department of Forestry, in coordination with a Technical Advisory Committee composed of stakeholders, to develop a Forestland and Urban Tree Canopy Conservation Plan no later than November 1, 2026, and update such plan at least once every five years thereafter. The bill requires the Department to post and maintain on its website the most recent version of the Plan and to submit the Plan to the Governor and Chairmen of the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources no later than November 30, 2026, and following any update to such plan.

SJR28 - Public transit systems, joint subcommittee to study funding needs.

15 Co-Sponsors

Study; joint subcommittee; funding needs in certain Study; joint subcommittee; funding needs in certain transit systems; report. Establishes a joint subcommittee to study long-term, sustainable, dedicated funding and cost-containment controls and strategies to ensure the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, the Virginia Railway Express, and the public transit systems that serve the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission transportation districts meet the growing needs of public transit in the region.