Secretary of Administration; state agencies; telecommuting and alternative work schedules policy; application to otherwise qualified persons with a disability. Provides that the statewide telecommuting and alternative work schedule policy established by the Secretary of Administration and such policies developed by each state agency, as required by the statewide policy, shall specify that it is an unlawful discriminatory practice for a state agency to refuse to allow an otherwise qualified person with a disability to telecommute or participate in alternative work schedules as a form of reasonable accommodation. The bill also requires the Secretary to convene an interagency work group to identify model policies from both the public and private sector, to be made publicly available for all businesses in the Commonwealth, that enable persons with disabilities to participate in the Commonwealth's workforce through telecommuting and alternative work schedules. Finally, the bill (i) prohibits state agencies from including the number of otherwise qualified persons with a disability who are allowed to telecommute as a form of reasonable accommodation in annual percentage targets for the number of positions eligible for telecommuting or alternative work schedules and (ii) requires state agencies, in their report to the Secretary on the status and efficiency of telecommuting and participating in alternative work schedules and with regard to specific related budget requests, to separately identify such required information and data for (a) otherwise qualified persons with a disability who telecommute as a form of reasonable accommodation and (b) all other eligible employees. Secretary of Administration; state agencies; telecommuting and alternative work schedules policy; application to otherwise qualified persons with a disability. Provides that the statewide telecommuting and alternative work schedule policy established by the Secretary of Administration and such policies developed by each state agency, as required by the statewide policy, shall specify that it is an unlawful discriminatory practice for a state agency to refuse to allow an otherwise qualified person with a disability to telecommute or participate in alternative work schedules as a form of reasonable accommodation. The bill also requires the Secretary to convene an interagency work group to identify model policies from both the public and private sector, to be made publicly available for all businesses in the Commonwealth, that enable persons with disabilities to participate in the Commonwealth's workforce through telecommuting and alternative work schedules. Finally, the bill (i) prohibits state agencies from including the number of otherwise qualified persons with a disability who are allowed to telecommute as a form of reasonable accommodation in annual percentage targets for the number of positions eligible for telecommuting or alternative work schedules and (ii) requires state agencies, in their report to the Secretary on the status and efficiency of telecommuting and participating in alternative work schedules and with regard to specific related budget requests, to separately identify such required information and data for (a) otherwise qualified persons with a disability who telecommute as a form of reasonable accommodation and (b) all other eligible employees.

Arab American Heritage Month. Designates April, in 2022 and in each succeeding year, as Arab American Heritage Month in Virginia.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; repeal; release of certain law-enforcement criminal incident information and criminal investigative files. Repeals the provisions in the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (i) regarding the release of criminal investigative files that relate to a criminal investigation or proceeding that is not ongoing; (ii) that provide limitations to the mandatory release of criminal incident information relating to felony offenses and certain criminal investigative files; and (iii) that allow for, in the case of a request for certain criminal investigative files, an additional 60 work days to respond to such request after the initial allowable five-work-day response period.

Virginia taxable income; deductions; Energy Star certified water heater. Provides a deduction for the purchase of any water heater for residential use that is Energy Star certified equal to the lesser of 20 percent of the actual price paid or $500, beginning in taxable year 2022. The bill limits to taxable years beginning before January 1, 2022, the current provisions allowing individuals to deduct from their taxable personal income an amount equal to 20 percent of the sales taxes paid, up to $500, for an electric heat pump hot water heater that yields an energy factor of at least 1.7 and an advanced gas or oil water heater that has an energy factor of at least 0.65.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; methods of procurement; submitting bids electronically. Provides that all state public bodies accepting bids or proposals for contracts pursuant to the Virginia Public Procurement Act shall provide an option to submit bids or proposals through the Commonwealth's electronic procurement system, known as eVA. The Director of the Department of General Services, or his designee, is authorized under the bill to grant an exemption from such requirement at the request of a state public body and upon a showing of good cause. In the bill, local public bodies are encouraged to use eVA to offer an electronic submission option. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2023. Virginia Public Procurement Act; methods of procurement; submitting bids electronically. Provides that all state public bodies accepting bids or proposals for contracts pursuant to the Virginia Public Procurement Act shall provide an option to submit bids or proposals through the Commonwealth's electronic procurement system, known as eVA. The Director of the Department of General Services, or his designee, is authorized under the bill to grant an exemption from such requirement at the request of a state public body and upon a showing of good cause. In the bill, local public bodies are encouraged to use eVA to offer an electronic submission option. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2023.

Study; Apprenticeship Council; electric vehicle charging infrastructure apprenticeship programs; report. Requests the Virginia Apprenticeship Council to study the need for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and maintenance and repair of EV infrastructure apprenticeship programs in the Commonwealth, noting the stated goal of the Commonwealth to reduce carbon emissions intensity across all sectors, including the transportation industry. In conducting its study, the Apprenticeship Council should consider a number of factors in studying the need for such apprenticeship programs. The Apprenticeship Council is further requested to report the results of an in-depth study of similar apprenticeship programs in other states to the General Assembly and to convene a stakeholder advisory group to discuss the need for electric vehicle charging infrastructure apprenticeship programs in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Apprenticeship Council to complete its meetings by November 30, 2022, and report its findings to the Governor and the Chairmen of the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Commerce and Labor and the House Committees on Education and Labor and Commerce. Study; Apprenticeship Council; electric vehicle charging infrastructure apprenticeship programs; report. Requests the Virginia Apprenticeship Council to study the need for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and maintenance and repair of EV infrastructure apprenticeship programs in the Commonwealth, noting the stated goal of the Commonwealth to reduce carbon emissions intensity across all sectors, including the transportation industry. In conducting its study, the Apprenticeship Council should consider a number of factors in studying the need for such apprenticeship programs. The Apprenticeship Council is further requested to report the results of an in-depth study of similar apprenticeship programs in other states to the General Assembly and to convene a stakeholder advisory group to discuss the need for electric vehicle charging infrastructure apprenticeship programs in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Apprenticeship Council to complete its meetings by November 30, 2022, and report its findings to the Governor and the Chairmen of the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Commerce and Labor and the House Committees on Education and Labor and Commerce.

Paternity; genetic tests to determine parentage; relief from paternity; certain actions; penalty. Provides that any person who knowingly gives any false information or makes any false statements for the purpose of determining paternity is guilty of a Class 6 felony. The bill further requires an alleged father of a child be informed of his option to request the administering of a genetic test prior to being entered as the father on a birth certificate. The bill further states that, in addition to any other available legal relief, an individual relieved of paternity who previously paid support pursuant to a child support order entered in conjunction with the set-aside paternity determination may file an action against the other party for repayment of any such support.

Parental Choice Education Savings Accounts established. Permits the parents of qualified students, defined in the bill, to apply to the school division in which the qualified student resides for a one-year, renewable Parental Choice Education Savings Account that consists of an 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, including the per pupil share of state sales tax funding in basic aid and any state per pupil share of special education funding for which the qualified student is eligible. The bill permits the parent of the qualified student to use the moneys in such account for certain education-related expenses of the qualified student, including tuition, deposits, fees, and required textbooks at a private elementary school or secondary school that is located in the Commonwealth. The bill also contains provisions relating to auditing, rescinding, and reviewing expenses made from such accounts.

Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for certain diseases. Provides that the occupational disease presumption for death caused by hypertension or heart disease will apply for full-time sworn members of the Department of Motor Vehicles Law Enforcement Division who have at least five years of service.

Elections; local offices; reapportionment and redistricting; effect of certain changes. Requires in certain localities that the passage of an ordinance providing for the election of an additional member of the governing body on an at-large basis must coincide with an equal increase in the membership of the local elected school board on an at-large basis. The bills also clarifies that local elected officials in office on the effective date of a court-ordered redistricting plan must be allowed to complete their terms of office, regardless of loss of residency in a particular district due to reapportionment or redistricting.

Provision of abortion; abortion on the basis of genetic disorder, sex, or ethnicity prohibited; penalty. Removes from the list of persons who can perform first trimester abortions any person jointly licensed by the Board of Medicine and Nursing as a nurse practitioner acting within such person's scope of practice. The bill adds procedures and processes, including the performance of an ultrasound, required to effect a pregnant person's informed written consent to the performance of an abortion. The bill adds language classifying facilities that perform five or more first trimester abortions per month as hospitals for the purpose of complying with regulations establishing minimum standards for hospitals. The bill also provides that a person who performs an abortion with knowledge that the abortion is sought solely and exclusively on account of a genetic disorder, the sex, or the ethnicity of the unborn child is guilty of a Class 4 felony.

Workers' compensation; time period for filing claim; certain cancers. Provides that the time period for filing a workers' compensation claim for certain cancers is two years after a diagnosis of the disease is first communicated to the employee or within 10 years from the date of the last injurious exposure in employment, whichever first occurs. The bill provides, however, that such claim for benefits shall be barred if an employee is 65 years of age or older, regardless of the date of diagnosis, communication, or last injurious exposure in employment.

Paid sick leave; home health workers providing agency-directed services. Requires employers to provide paid sick leave to home health workers who provide agency-directed services. Under current law, employers are only required to provide paid sick leave to home health workers who provide consumer-directed services. The bill provides that "employer" includes the Commonwealth, any of its agencies, institutions, or political subdivisions, and any public body.

School boards; parental notification of certain threats, behavior, and unlawful acts; panic alarms. Requires, within four hours of receiving notification of (i) a preliminary determination by the threat assessment team that a student poses a threat of violence or physical harm to self or others; (ii) threatening or aberrant behavior that may represent a threat to the school; or (iii) unlawful acts committed on school property, on a school bus, or at a school-sponsored activity that involve the unlawful use or possession of a weapon, homicide, criminal sexual assault, or trespassing, each division superintendent to notify the parent of each student enrolled in the relevant school of such threat, threatening or aberrant behavior, or unlawful act. The bill requires each school board to equip each public elementary and secondary school building in the local school division with at least one panic alarm that adheres to nationally recognized industry standards, including the standards of the National Fire Protection Association and Underwriters Laboratories, and is installed by a licensed and qualified professional. The bill defines "panic alarm" as a silent security system by which the user manually activates a device that sends a non-audible signal to the local law-enforcement agency that indicates a school security emergency, including a non-fire evacuation, lockdown, or active shooter situation, that requires immediate response and assistance from such agency.

Economic development; incentives to attract knowledge workers. Provides, for taxable years 2022 through 2027, an income tax deduction for 50 percent of the amount a qualified knowledge worker, defined in the bill, pays for residential high speed internet access or $600, whichever is less. The bill provides a tax credit for qualified knowledge workers for the purchase of a residential electric vehicle charger, in an amount equal to 50 percent of the former federal tax credit for an electric vehicle charger. The bill also provides an income tax credit for qualified knowledge workers in an amount equal to the sales tax paid for up to $5,000 of certain computer equipment. For the deduction and both credits, the amounts provided are doubled if the qualified knowledge worker resides in a locality that has lost more than 10 percent of its population since the 2010 census. Qualified knowledge worker is defined in the bill as an individual who establishes new domicile in Virginia and who possesses advanced skills in the field of information technology, including network engineers, software developers, data scientists, and artificial intelligence, machine learning, or quantum computing professionals. The bill provides that no more than $1 million in credits shall be issued in any taxable year and that such credits shall be allocated evenly between distressed and non-distressed localities.