License to teach dentistry; foreign dental program graduates. Allows the Board of Dentistry to grant, without examination, a faculty license to teach dentistry in an accredited dental program to a graduate of a dental school or college or the dental department of an institution of higher education in a foreign country that has been granted a certification letter from the dean or program director of an accredited dental program confirming that the applicant has clinical competency and clinical experience that meet the credentialing standards of the dental school with which the applicant is to be affiliated. The provisions of the bill expire on July 1, 2025.

Sales tax; exemption for food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products. Exempts food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products (the grocery tax) from all state, regional, and local sales taxes.

Elections; voter registration; lists of registered voters; provided to registered voters. Provides that the Department of Elections must provide the lists for their districts to any registered voter of the Commonwealth for a reasonable charge not to exceed its actual cost incurred in supplying the requested records.

Alcoholic beverage control; food-to-beverage ratio. Provides an alternative to the food-to-beverage ratio for mixed beverage restaurant licensees by allowing such licensees to meet applicable food sale requirements by demonstrating at least $10,000 in monthly food sales.

School principals; incident reports. Requires that school principals report to law enforcement certain enumerated acts that may constitute a misdemeanor offense and report to the parents of any minor student who is the specific object of such act that the incident has been reported to law enforcement. Under current law, principals are required to make such reports only for such acts that may constitute a felony offense.

Powers of State Health Commissioner in epidemic; vaccine; religious tenets or practices. Allows a parent or guardian to object to the vaccination or immunization of a child on the grounds that the administration of immunizing agents conflicts with his religious tenets or practices, even if an emergency or epidemic of disease has been declared by the State Board of Health, which is not allowed under current law. The bill also provides that nothing shall preclude the State Health Commissioner from requiring immediate immunization of all persons in the case of an epidemic of any disease of public health importance for which a vaccine exists other than a person, including a parent or guardian on behalf of a child, who objects on the grounds that the administration of the vaccine conflicts with his religious tenets or practices. Under current law, the only exception to the Commissioner's power to require immediate immunization of all persons in case of an epidemic of any disease of public health importance for which a vaccine exists is for a person to whose health the administration of a vaccine would be detrimental as certified in writing by a physician licensed to practice medicine in the Commonwealth.

Study; Secretary of Study; Secretary of Administration; State Board of Elections; electronic return of voted military-overseas ballots; pilot program; report. Requests the Secretary of Administration to oversee and develop a charter and directives for the State Board of Elections to form a working group to study implementation of electronic return of voted military-overseas ballots. In conducting its study, the State Board of Elections with the working group shall study and develop initial instructions and procedures that (i) consider issues related to accessibility, auditability, authentication, verification, and security through encryption, in order to ensure that any process implemented would guarantee the accuracy and integrity of voted military-overseas ballots, and (ii) recommend (a) security measures necessary to reasonably secure the transmission, processing, and storage of voter data from interception and unauthorized access; (b) methods for verifying and authenticating the identity of the voter electronically when registering to vote and when requesting a ballot from and returning a ballot to the voter's jurisdiction; (c) methods for the encryption of voted ballots; and (d) a procedure for security reviews after an election. The study shall focus on implementation of electronic return of voted military-overseas ballots first as a limited pilot program in 2023 and later on a statewide basis. An executive summary and report shall be submitted as no later than the first day of the 2023 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

College partnership laboratory schools; application and establishment. Permits any public institution of higher education and any nonprofit private institution of higher education that is eligible for the Tuition Assistance Grant Program to establish a college partnership laboratory school as a new school or through the conversion of all or part of an existing school. Under current law, only public and private institutions of higher education that operate approved teacher education programs are permitted to apply to the Board to establish such a school, and no explicit provision is made for the conversion of an existing school. The bill requires applications for formation of a college partnership laboratory school to describe how the applicant will cooperate with local school boards, including allowing the local school board to elect to name a board member to the governing board of the college partnership laboratory school, and to include assurances that the applicant will work with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to develop programs that may award college credits. The bill requires the Board, among other criteria for reviewing and ruling on such applications, to give substantial preference to any application from a historically black college or university; any application to establish a college partnership laboratory school in an underserved community, which the bill defines as a geographical area that is served by public schools in which a high percentage of students are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunch, as determined by the Board; and any joint application submitted by an institution of higher education in partnership with one or more local school boards. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act. College partnership laboratory schools; application and establishment. Permits any public institution of higher education and any nonprofit private institution of higher education that is eligible for the Tuition Assistance Grant Program to establish a college partnership laboratory school as a new school or through the conversion of all or part of an existing school. Under current law, only public and private institutions of higher education that operate approved teacher education programs are permitted to apply to the Board to establish such a school, and no explicit provision is made for the conversion of an existing school. The bill requires applications for formation of a college partnership laboratory school to describe how the applicant will cooperate with local school boards, including allowing the local school board to elect to name a board member to the governing board of the college partnership laboratory school, and to include assurances that the applicant will work with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to develop programs that may award college credits. The bill requires the Board, among other criteria for reviewing and ruling on such applications, to give substantial preference to any application from a historically black college or university; any application to establish a college partnership laboratory school in an underserved community, which the bill defines as a geographical area that is served by public schools in which a high percentage of students are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunch, as determined by the Board; and any joint application submitted by an institution of higher education in partnership with one or more local school boards. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

Short-term rental properties; definition; locality requirements and restrictions. Prohibits, except as provided, localities from (i) requiring or allowing the approval of neighbors or the neighborhood for the operation of short-term rental properties; (ii) imposing requirements or restrictions that exceed those of regular properties, including special parking and occupancy restrictions; or (iii) restricting short-term rentals by geographic location within the locality by means other than the normal general land use and zoning authority. The bill expands the current definition of short-term rental to include any house provided for such purpose.

Commissioner of Health and local health director qualifications; local variances. Requires the Commissioner of Health to possess a Doctor of Public Health degree, a Master of Public Health degree, or a doctoral degree in the area of public health in addition to the current requirement that the Commissioner of Health be a physician licensed to practice medicine in the Commonwealth with certification from the American Board of Preventive Medicine or a recognized board in a primary care specialty as approved by the American Board of Medical Specialties. The bill allows local health directors to possess a Doctor of Public Health degree, a Master of Public Health degree, or a doctoral degree in the area of public health as an alternative to the current requirement that local health directors be physicians licensed to practice medicine in the Commonwealth. Additionally, the bill allows the Commissioner to grant a variance to a state law or regulation of the Board when the Commissioner determines that, upon review of an application from a county, city, or town, (i) the applicant for such variance has demonstrated that the implementation of a regulation would impose a substantial financial or programmatic hardship and (ii) the variance would not adversely affect the safety and well-being of residents of the county, city, or town or the Commonwealth.

Sports betting; Virginia college sports. Allows betting, with the exception of proposition betting, on Virginia college sports. Under current law, betting other than proposition betting is allowed on all college sports except Virginia college sports.

Virginia Human Rights Act; nondiscrimination in places of public accommodation and certain private establishments; face coverings. Prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodations including public and private elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education and certain private establishments because the individual is or is not wearing a face covering for the purpose of preventing the transmission of COVID-19. Virginia Human Rights Act; nondiscrimination in places of public accommodation and certain private establishments; face coverings. Prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodations including public and private elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education and certain private establishments because the individual is or is not wearing a face covering for the purpose of preventing the transmission of COVID-19.

Conformity of the Commonwealth's taxation system with the Internal Revenue Code; Rebuild Virginia grants and Paycheck Protection Program loans; emergency. Advances Virginia's date of conformity with the Internal Revenue Code from December 31, 2020, to December 31, 2021. The bill also deconforms from provisions of the (i) federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) related to the net operating loss limitation and carryback, a loss limitation applicable to taxpayers other than corporations, the limitation on business interest, and certain loan forgiveness and other business financial assistance and (ii) federal American Rescue Plan Act related to restaurant revitalization grants and emergency injury disaster loans received for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2021. The bill also increases from $100,000 to $1 million the maximum individual and corporate income tax deduction or subtraction, as applicable, for Rebuild Virginia grants and certain amounts related to Paycheck Protection Program loans for taxable year 2020. The bill contains an emergency clause. Conformity of the Commonwealth's taxation system with the Internal Revenue Code; Rebuild Virginia grants and Paycheck Protection Program loans; emergency. Advances Virginia's date of conformity with the Internal Revenue Code from December 31, 2020, to December 31, 2021. The bill also deconforms from provisions of the (i) federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) related to the net operating loss limitation and carryback, a loss limitation applicable to taxpayers other than corporations, the limitation on business interest, and certain loan forgiveness and other business financial assistance and (ii) federal American Rescue Plan Act related to restaurant revitalization grants and emergency injury disaster loans received for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2021. The bill also increases from $100,000 to $1 million the maximum individual and corporate income tax deduction or subtraction, as applicable, for Rebuild Virginia grants and certain amounts related to Paycheck Protection Program loans for taxable year 2020. The bill contains an emergency clause.

Department of General Services; state fleet managers to use total cost of ownership calculations; report. Requires the Department of General Services, beginning October 1, 2022, to procure a total cost of ownership calculator prior to procuring any light-duty vehicles. Beginning January 1, 2023, the Department and all agencies of the Commonwealth shall utilize the calculator prior to purchasing or leasing light-duty vehicles and to purchase electric vehicles unless the calculator clearly indicates that purchasing or leasing an internal combustion-engine vehicle has a lower cost of ownership. The bill requires the Department to provide technical assistance to all public bodies in the use of such calculator. The bill requires the Department to report a summary of such procurements to the Governor and the General Assembly by January 1, 2026, and every three years thereafter. The bill exempts emergency vehicles and vehicles used by agencies of the Commonwealth for law-enforcement, incident response, or other emergency response activities from its provisions. The bill requires the Department of General Services Public Body Procurement Workgroup to (i) evaluate the appropriateness of requiring the Department to use a total cost of ownership calculator to, prior to purchasing or leasing any medium-duty or heavy-duty vehicle, assess and compare the total cost to purchase, own, lease, and operate such internal combustion-engine vehicles versus comparable electric vehicles and (ii) report its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology on or before December 1, 2022. Department of General Services; state fleet managers to use total cost of ownership calculations; report. Requires the Department of General Services, beginning October 1, 2022, to procure a total cost of ownership calculator prior to procuring any light-duty vehicles. Beginning January 1, 2023, the Department and all agencies of the Commonwealth shall utilize the calculator prior to purchasing or leasing light-duty vehicles and to purchase electric vehicles unless the calculator clearly indicates that purchasing or leasing an internal combustion-engine vehicle has a lower cost of ownership. The bill requires the Department to provide technical assistance to all public bodies in the use of such calculator. The bill requires the Department to report a summary of such procurements to the Governor and the General Assembly by January 1, 2026, and every three years thereafter. The bill exempts emergency vehicles and vehicles used by agencies of the Commonwealth for law-enforcement, incident response, or other emergency response activities from its provisions. The bill requires the Department of General Services Public Body Procurement Workgroup to (i) evaluate the appropriateness of requiring the Department to use a total cost of ownership calculator to, prior to purchasing or leasing any medium-duty or heavy-duty vehicle, assess and compare the total cost to purchase, own, lease, and operate such internal combustion-engine vehicles versus comparable electric vehicles and (ii) report its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology on or before December 1, 2022.

Real property taxes; rate of increase. Requires the governing body of a locality to hold a referendum before making most increases in their real property tax rate. Under current law, the governing body of a locality is required to limit their real property tax rate to a rate that would collect no more than 101 percent of the amount of real property taxes collected for the previous year. Increases above this rate may only be imposed if the locality holds a public meeting. The bill replaces the public meeting requirement with a requirement that any such increase be approved in a referendum.