Local government; employment of grant writer. Requires all counties and cities to employ a grant writer to assist individuals and organizations with (i) researching and identifying public and private grant opportunities; (ii) developing, writing, and submitting proposals to federal, state, and private funding agencies; and (iii) satisfying eligibility requirements for grant funds sought or received.

Public institutions of higher education; admission, in-state tuition, and tuition waivers; members of certain American Indian tribes. Requires each public institution of higher education to establish and implement an admissions policy whereby a certain number of annual offers of student admission is reserved for individuals who are members of a state-recognized or federally recognized American Indian tribe that is headquartered in the Commonwealth. The bill declares eligible for in-state tuition charges regardless of domicile any non-Virginia student who is a member of a state-recognized or federally recognized American Indian tribe that is headquartered in the Commonwealth. The bill also provides that any student who is a member of a state-recognized or federally recognized American Indian tribe headquartered in the Commonwealth and who has been admitted to a public institution of higher education is eligible for a tuition waiver up to the amount necessary to cover the last-dollar cost of the institution's in-state tuition and mandatory fees after all other federal and state financial aid to which the student is entitled is taken into account.

Commending the Amherst High School softball team.

School safety audits; law-enforcement officers. Requires each local school board to require its schools to collaborate with the chief law-enforcement officer of the locality or his designee when conducting required school safety audits. Under current law, the division superintendent is required to make the results of such audits available to the chief law-enforcement officer upon request. The bill also requires that the completed walk-through checklist using the standardized checklist provided by the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety be made available to the chief law-enforcement officer of the locality or his designee. Current law requires that the completed walk-through checklist be made available to the chief law-enforcement officer or his designee upon request.

Commending the Patrick Henry High School boys' volleyball team.

Constitutional amendment (first reference); qualified immunity for government officials. Establishes the right of government officials to qualified immunity. The amendment provides that a government official may not be found liable for the deprivation of any person's rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution of Virginia and the laws of Virginia if such official establishes that (i) the right, privilege, or immunity alleged to be violated was not clearly established at the time of the person's deprivation by the official, or that at such time, the state of the law was not sufficiently clear that every reasonable official would have understood that the conduct alleged constituted a violation of the Constitution or the laws of Virginia or (ii) a court of competent jurisdiction had issued a final decision on the merits holding that the specific conduct alleged to be unlawful was consistent with the Constitution and the laws of Virginia.

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.

Absentee voting; deadline for returning absentee ballot. Requires that an absentee ballot be received before the closing of the polls on election day in order to be counted. Currently, an absentee ballot that is received after the closing of the polls but before noon on the third day after the election is counted if it is postmarked on or before the date of the election.

Tribal nations; acknowledging harmful history and policies in the Commonwealth. Expresses the sense of the House of Delegates in acknowledging with profound regret the existence, acceptance, and perpetuation of the dispossession of lands and the racist and assimilationist policies designed to erase the identity, culture, and sovereignty of tribal nations in the Commonwealth.

Comprehensive plan; environmental justice strategy. Requires cities with populations greater than 20,000 and counties with populations greater than 100,000 to consider, at the next and all subsequent reviews of the comprehensive plan, adopting an environmental justice strategy. The bill provides that the locality's strategy shall be to identify environmental justice and fenceline communities within the jurisdiction of the local planning commission and identify objectives and policies to reduce health risks, to promote civic engagement, and to prioritize improvements and programs that address the needs of the environmental justice and fenceline communities.

Superintendent of Public Instruction and local school boards; standards for certain public school library materials; parental review of library and other educational materials. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop and distribute to each local school board and each such school board to enforce throughout the local school division mandatory statewide standards for evaluating, classifying, and removing from any public elementary or secondary school library any explicit material. The bill also permits the Office of the Attorney General to enforce compliance with such standards in any local school division. The bill also establishes means and processes for the review of education materials and the review and approval of library materials by parents, including requiring the parents of all students who attend a public elementary or secondary school to comprise the Parental Review and Approval Committee for such school and requiring such Committee to review and vote to approve or disapprove of each item on a list of proposed library materials distributed to it by the school.

Group health benefit plans; bona fide associations; formation of benefits consortium. Provides that certain trusts constitute a benefits consortium and are authorized to sell health benefit plans to members of a sponsoring association that (i) has been formed and maintained in good faith for purposes other than obtaining or providing health benefits; (ii) does not condition membership in the sponsoring association on any factor relating to the health status of an individual, including an employee of a member of the sponsoring association or a dependent of such an employee; (iii) makes any health benefit plan available to all members regardless of any factor relating to the health status of such members or individuals eligible for coverage through a member; (iv) does not make any health benefit plan available to any person who is not a member of the association; (v) makes available health plans or health benefit plans that meet requirements provided for in the bill; (vi) operates as a nonprofit entity under § 501(c)(5) or 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code; and (vii) has been in active existence for at least five years. The bill replaces references to "bona fide association," as used in provisions applicable to health care plans in the small employer market, with the term "sponsoring association." Group health benefit plans; bona fide associations; formation of benefits consortium. Provides that certain trusts constitute a benefits consortium and are authorized to sell health benefit plans to members of a sponsoring association that (i) has been formed and maintained in good faith for purposes other than obtaining or providing health benefits; (ii) does not condition membership in the sponsoring association on any factor relating to the health status of an individual, including an employee of a member of the sponsoring association or a dependent of such an employee; (iii) makes any health benefit plan available to all members regardless of any factor relating to the health status of such members or individuals eligible for coverage through a member; (iv) does not make any health benefit plan available to any person who is not a member of the association; (v) makes available health plans or health benefit plans that meet requirements provided for in the bill; (vi) operates as a nonprofit entity under § 501(c)(5) or 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code; and (vii) has been in active existence for at least five years. The bill replaces references to "bona fide association," as used in provisions applicable to health care plans in the small employer market, with the term "sponsoring association." The bill requires any health benefit plan issued by a self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangement (MEWA) that covers one or more employees of one or more small employers to (a) provide essential health benefits and cost-sharing requirements; (b) offer a minimum level of coverage designed to provide benefits that are actuarially equivalent to 60 percent of the full actuarial value of the benefits provided under the plan; (c) not limit or exclude coverage for an individual by imposing a preexisting condition exclusion on that individual; (d) be prohibited from establishing discriminatory rules based on health status related to eligibility or premium or contribution requirements as imposed on health carriers; (e) meet the renewability standards set forth for health insurance issuers; (f) establish base rates formed on an actuarially sound, modified community rating methodology that considers the pooling of all participant claims; and (g) utilize each employer member's specific risk profile to determine premiums by actuarially adjusting above or below established base rates, and utilize either pooling or reinsurance of individual large claimants to reduce the adverse impact on any specific employer member's premiums. The bill prohibits a self-funded MEWA from issuing health benefit plans in the Commonwealth until it has obtained a license pursuant to regulations promulgated by the State Corporation Commission. The bill authorizes the Commission to adopt regulations applicable to self-funded MEWAs, including regulations addressing financial condition, solvency requirements, and the exclusion of self-funded MEWAs from the Virginia Life, Accident and Sickness Insurance Guaranty Association.

Fair Repair Act; access to diagnostics, tools, service documentation, and firmware; penalties. Requires the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of digital electronic equipment, or parts for such equipment, to make available to owners of such equipment and to independent repair providers, on fair and reasonable terms, documentation, parts, and tools for purposes of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of such equipment. The bill requires, for digital electronic equipment that contains an electronic security lock or other security-related function, OEMs to make available to the owner and to independent repair providers, on fair and reasonable terms, any special documentation, tools, and parts needed to disable the lock or function, and to reset it when disabled. A violation is a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2023.

Gubernatorial appointments to boards; membership and terms. Revises the length of terms for persons appointed to several commodity and commodity-related boards within the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and further standardizes the term dates so all terms begin on July 1 and end on June 30. The bill amends the membership of the Virginia Board for Asbestos, Lead, and Home Inspectors, standardizes the term dates for appointments to the Board of Visitors for Mount Vernon, and clarifies that certain members of the A.L. Philpott Manufacturing Extension Partnership Board of Trustees may name a designee to serve on the Board. The bill corrects the staggering of terms for the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the State Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board.

Paraquat information. Requires the Department of Health to develop an information sheet regarding the public health risks of the pesticide known as paraquat and make the sheet available to download from its website. The bill requires the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to require that employers with employees licensed to apply paraquat provide a copy of the information sheet to each licensee, keep records concerning licensees, and update and annually report data regarding the use of paraquat to the Department of Health. Paraquat information. Requires the Department of Health to develop an information sheet regarding the public health risks of the pesticide known as paraquat and make the sheet available to download from its website. The bill requires the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to require that employers with employees licensed to apply paraquat provide a copy of the information sheet to each licensee, keep records concerning licensees, and update and annually report data regarding the use of paraquat to the Department of Health.