Real Estate Appraiser Board; continuing education to include fair housing or appraisal bias courses. Provides that any regulation of the Real Estate Appraiser Board setting out continuing education requirements for real estate appraiser licensees as a prerequisite of license renewal shall include at least two hours of fair housing or appraisal bias courses if the Board requires continuing education for the renewal of such licenses. The bill directs the Real Estate Appraiser Board to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this act that include a course of at least two hours relating to fair housing or appraisal bias and exempts the initial adoption of such regulations from the Administrative Process Act, except that the Board shall provide an opportunity for public comment prior to adoption of the regulations. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2023. Real Estate Appraiser Board; continuing education to include fair housing or appraisal bias courses. Provides that any regulation of the Real Estate Appraiser Board setting out continuing education requirements for real estate appraiser licensees as a prerequisite of license renewal shall include at least two hours of fair housing or appraisal bias courses if the Board requires continuing education for the renewal of such licenses. The bill directs the Real Estate Appraiser Board to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this act that include a course of at least two hours relating to fair housing or appraisal bias and exempts the initial adoption of such regulations from the Administrative Process Act, except that the Board shall provide an opportunity for public comment prior to adoption of the regulations. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2023.

Celebrating the life of Kenneth Richard Lane.

Literary Fund; loans; application Literary Fund; loans; application process; maximum loan amounts; rates of interest; closing costs; waiting lists. Makes several changes to the provisions relating to loans from the Literary Fund to finance the construction and renovation of public elementary and secondary school buildings in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Board of Education (the Board) to establish an annual open application process for Literary Fund loans to occur during the period that the Board deems most suitable. The bill increases from $7.5 million to $25 million the maximum Literary Fund loan amount and permits the Board to increase such maximum to up to $35 million for loans for any school construction or renovation project that facilitates the consolidation of schools. The bill requires the Board to fix the interest rate on all loans made from the Literary Fund at not less than one percent per year, not more than three percent per year, and at increments of one half of one percent per year between such minimum and maximum rates, payable annually, and to utilize a sliding scale based on the local school division's composite index of local ability to pay to determine the interest rate on each such loan. Under current law, such rates are required to be set between two and six percent per year. The bill requires the Board to establish a competitive program for the award of up to $25,000 to a school division that receives a Literary Fund loan for the purpose of subsidizing all or a portion of the closing costs for such loan. The bill also permits the Board to remove any project that has been inactive for at least five years from any Literary Fund loan project waiting list that it maintains. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization.

Banks; virtual currency custody services. Permits banks in the Commonwealth to provide virtual currency custody services so long as the bank has adequate protocols in place to effectively manage the associated risks. The bill defines "virtual currency" and provides that a bank may choose to offer such custody services in a nonfiduciary capacity or a fiduciary capacity. If it chooses to provide such custody services in a fiduciary capacity, it must possess trust powers and have a trust department approved by the State Corporation Commission. Banks; virtual currency custody services. Permits banks in the Commonwealth to provide virtual currency custody services so long as the bank has adequate protocols in place to effectively manage the associated risks. The bill defines "virtual currency" and provides that a bank may choose to offer such custody services in a nonfiduciary capacity or a fiduciary capacity. If it chooses to provide such custody services in a fiduciary capacity, it must possess trust powers and have a trust department approved by the State Corporation Commission.

Multi-jurisdiction grand jury; elder abuse crimes. Adds the following to the list of crimes that a multi-jurisdiction grand jury may investigate: (i) financial exploitation of mentally incapacitated persons and (ii) abuse and neglect of incapacitated adults. Multi-jurisdiction grand jury; elder abuse crimes. Adds the following to the list of crimes that a multi-jurisdiction grand jury may investigate: (i) financial exploitation of mentally incapacitated persons and (ii) abuse and neglect of incapacitated adults.

School attendance; 4-H educational programs and School attendance; 4-H educational programs and activities. Provides that students who miss a partial or full day of school while participating in 4-H educational programs and activities shall not be counted as absent for the purposes of calculating average daily membership and shall receive course credit in the same manner as they would for a school field trip. The bill directs each local school board to develop policies and procedures for students to make up missed work and may determine the maximum number of school days per academic year that a student may spend participating in 4-H educational programs and activities to not be counted absent.

Group health benefit plans; sponsoring associations; formation of benefits consortium. Provides that sponsoring associations, including self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangements, may provide health benefit plans for small employers in the form of a trust benefit consortium, subject to certain requirements. The bill includes conditions for qualifying as a sponsoring association, requirements for the formation of a trust benefits consortium, and provisions to establish a board of trustees. Under the bill, such trust benefits consortium is subject to the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and U.S. Department of Labor regulations and such trust shall not include certain words or terms in its name that are uniquely descriptive of insurance companies or business, and a statement to this effect is required to be included on the first page of the health benefit plan documents. A benefits consortium or sponsoring association is exempt from the requirements of the Virginia Life, Accident and Sickness Insurance Guaranty Association and exempt from annual license taxes under the bill.

Commending George Mason University.

Agribusiness. Clarifies that existing agribusiness in the Commonwealth includes farmers markets and roadside farm markets.

Electric cooperatives; net energy metering; power purchase agreements; local facilities usage charges. Permits any customer, besides a farm or small agricultural generating facility and any customer selling power to the electric cooperative, to interconnect with an electric cooperative and enter an agreement for local facilities usage charges. The bill provides that electric cooperatives can seek approval from the State Corporation Commission at any time for a tariff for local facilities usage charges for the use of cooperative system facilities; however, the terms of an independent agreement for local facilities usage charges shall prevail if inconsistent with the approved tariff amount. Electric cooperatives; net energy metering; power purchase agreements; local facilities usage charges. Permits any customer, besides a farm or small agricultural generating facility and any customer selling power to the electric cooperative, to interconnect with an electric cooperative and enter an agreement for local facilities usage charges. The bill provides that electric cooperatives can seek approval from the State Corporation Commission at any time for a tariff for local facilities usage charges for the use of cooperative system facilities; however, the terms of an independent agreement for local facilities usage charges shall prevail if inconsistent with the approved tariff amount. The bill permits the board of directors of an electric cooperative to approve any voluntary tariff and associated cost recovery without filing additional information with the Commission besides an informational notice. Under the bill, the Commission may administratively approve a change in rate, tariff, or term or condition of service without notice or a hearing. The bill removes the limit on raising the cap for electric cooperatives' generating capacity beyond seven percent of system peak for the purposes of net energy metering. The bill also allows electric cooperatives to permit the use of third-party partial requirements power purchase agreements for eligible customer-generators without separate approval by the Commission; however, the cooperative is required to file a revised net energy metering compliance filing. Additionally, the bill permits impacted cooperative customers to file a petition with the Commission for redress and review of the local facilities usage charges.

Celebrating the life of Jack Moore Horn.

Certificate of public need; expedited review process. Requires the Department of Health to establish an expedited review process for certain projects involving addition of imaging equipment, addition of a new ambulatory or outpatient surgery center, addition of operating rooms at an existing ambulatory or outpatient surgery center, and addition of psychiatric beds or conversion of existing beds at a medical care facility to psychiatric beds and requires the Board of Health to include in regulations governing the certificate of public need program a provision for the development of review criteria and standards for specific medical care facilities and health care services for each health planning region that take into account the unique needs and characteristics of such region. The bill also amends the definition of "charity care" and defines "health care service" and "indigent."

Department of Motor Vehicles; permanent farm use placard. Requires an owner or lessee of a vehicle claiming a farm use exemption from the registration, licensing, and decal requirements for a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer to obtain a nontransferable permanent farm use placard from the Department of Motor Vehicles and to display the farm use placard on the vehicle at all times. The bill requires the applicant to provide specified information about the vehicle and its usage, pay a $15 fee, and certify that the vehicle is insured. The provisions of the bill requiring the owner or lessee of a farm vehicle to obtain and display a farm use placard have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2023.

Voter registration; registration permitted up to and including the day of the election. Repeals a provision that would permit any person who is qualified to register to vote to register to vote in person up to and including the day of the election, notwithstanding any deadline for the close of registration records. The repeal will limit the persons who are entitled to register to vote after the close of registration records to (i) any member of a uniformed service of the United States who is on active duty, (ii) any person residing temporarily outside of the United States, and (iii) the spouse or dependent residing with someone listed in (i) or (ii).

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; record exclusions; administrative investigations; onsite sewage complaints. Creates an exemption with respect to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act for records of active investigations and the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of complainants furnished in confidence with respect to an active investigation of onsite sewage complaints made to the Department of Health or the Department of Environmental Quality. Virginia Freedom of Information Act; record exclusions; administrative investigations; onsite sewage complaints. Creates an exemption with respect to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act for records of active investigations and the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of complainants furnished in confidence with respect to an active investigation of onsite sewage complaints made to the Department of Health or the Department of Environmental Quality.