Practice of certified registered nurse anesthetists. Allows certified registered nurse anesthetists to practice in consultation with a doctor of medicine, osteopathy, podiatry, or dentistry. Currently, certified registered nurse anesthetists are required to practice under the supervision of a doctor of medicine, osteopathy, podiatry, or dentistry.

Board for Waterworks and Wastewater Works Operators and Onsite Sewage System Professionals; membership. Removes from the membership of the Board for Waterworks and Wastewater Works Operators and Onsite Sewage System Professionals a faculty member of a public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth whose principal field of teaching is management or operation of waterworks or wastewater works and adds to the Board's membership a local or regional representative of the Department of Health.

Affordable housing; local zoning ordinance authority; comprehensive plan. Authorizes any locality in the Commonwealth to provide for an affordable housing dwelling unit program by amending the zoning ordinance of such locality. Current law restricts such authorization to counties with an urban county executive form of government or county manager plan of government and certain other localities. The bill also requires the comprehensive plan of each locality to show the connection between affordable housing and other needs of its residents, such as job creation, educational opportunities, and parks and recreational activities.

Use of subaqueous beds; nontidal waters; permit requirements; penalty. Authorizes any person to build, dump, trespass, encroach upon or over, or take or use any materials from subaqueous beds that are the property of the Commonwealth, provided that such activity is conducted in nontidal waters and such person obtains a Virginia Water Protection Permit and complies with all requirements of the Virginia Water Resources and Wetlands Protection Program. A violation of the provisions of the bill is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Animal testing facilities; noncompliance with federal laws and regulations; civil penalty. Establishes certain restrictions and civil penalties for animal testing facilities, as defined in the bill, that have received citations for noncompliance with the federal Animal Welfare Act or regulations adopted thereunder. The bill requires animal testing facilities to register annually with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, to pay an annual registration fee to the Department, and to report citations received for violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act or regulations adopted thereunder to the Department.

Crime Victim and Witness Rights Act; notifications to victims; Attorney General. Directs the Attorney General, whenever the Attorney General represents the Commonwealth in any criminal appeal, to consult with the victim in the same manner as prescribed by current law for the attorney for the Commonwealth in a felony case. Crime Victim and Witness Rights Act; notifications to victims; Attorney General. Directs the Attorney General, whenever the Attorney General represents the Commonwealth in any criminal appeal, to consult with the victim in the same manner as prescribed by current law for the attorney for the Commonwealth in a felony case.

Minimum qualifications for law-enforcement officers; citizenship; waiver. Allows individuals who are lawfully admitted for permanent residence who have resided in the United States and who are eligible for United States citizenship or individuals granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to qualify for the positions of chief of police and all police officers of any locality, all deputy sheriffs and jail officers in the Commonwealth, and all law-enforcement officers. The bill allows any agency or department employing law-enforcement officers to hire, recruit, or refer an individual who is a citizen of the United States over another individual who meets such qualifications if such individuals are equally qualified. Current law allows only citizens of the United States to qualify for the named positions; the citizenship requirement can be waived only by the Department of Criminal Justice Services for good cause shown, upon the request of a sheriff or chief of police or the director or chief executive of any agency or department employing law-enforcement officers.

Sex offenses prohibiting proximity to children and school property; penalty. Adds certain prostitution and commercial sex crimes to the list offenses that would prohibit an adult if convicted of such offense from (i) loitering within 100 feet of the premises of any place he knows or has reason to know is a primary, secondary or high school, (ii) working or engaging in any volunteer activity on property he knows or has reason to know is a public or private elementary or secondary school or child day center property, and (iii) entering or being present upon any property he knows or has reason to know is a public or private elementary or secondary school or child day center property, a school bus, or any property, public or private, during hours when such property is solely being used by a public or private elementary or secondary school for a school-related or school-sponsored activity.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; allow local public bodies to hold virtual meetings. Allows local public bodies, except for boards with the authority to deny, revoke, or suspend a professional or occupational license, to hold all-virtual public meetings in accordance with the other provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. The bill limits the requirement that public bodies do not convene all-virtual public meetings consecutively or more than twice per year to state public bodies.

Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program; eligibility. Makes several changes to the eligibility criteria for the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program, including (i) shortening from five years to one year all of the relevant mandatory physical presence or domicile requirements, (ii) changing the requirement for veterans to be at least 90 percent permanently disabled to qualify for program benefits to a requirement for such veterans to have a static rating of at least 90 percent disabled, and (iii) declaring eligible for program benefits the stepchildren of eligible living veteran military service members.

Behavioral Health Commission; agency assistance; access; records. Clarifies the duty of agencies and political subdivisions of the Commonwealth to cooperate with and assist the Behavioral Health Commission in the performance of its duties and requires such agencies and political subdivisions to provide to the Commission (i) to the fullest extent possible and except as prohibited by law, any records, including data and information, requested by the Commission and (ii) upon request and availability, access to the facilities of any such agency or political subdivision. The bill also excludes from the mandatory disclosure provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act records of the Commission.

Common interest communities; Property Owners' Association Act and Virginia Condominium Act; authority of association to suspend right to use certain facilities. Authorizes the board of directors of an association organized pursuant to the Property Owners' Association Act and the unit owners' association organized pursuant to the Virginia Condominium Act to suspend a member's or unit owner's, respectively, access to certain facilities for any violation of the declaration or rules and regulations for which the member or unit owner, or his family members, tenants, guests, or other invitees, is responsible. Current law allows the board of directors or unit owners' association to suspend such access only for nonpayment of assessments that are more than 60 days past due. Common interest communities; Property Owners' Association Act and Virginia Condominium Act; authority of association to suspend right to use certain facilities. Authorizes the board of directors of an association organized pursuant to the Property Owners' Association Act and the unit owners' association organized pursuant to the Virginia Condominium Act to suspend a member's or unit owner's, respectively, access to certain facilities for any violation of the declaration or rules and regulations for which the member or unit owner, or his family members, tenants, guests, or other invitees, is responsible. Current law allows the board of directors or unit owners' association to suspend such access only for nonpayment of assessments that are more than 60 days past due.

Study; Department of Housing and Community Development; affordable housing; report. Requests the Department of Housing and Community Development, in collaboration with the Virginia Housing Development Authority, to study ways to increase affordable housing options for public servants on publicly owned property.

Health Insurance Reform Commission; review of essential health benefits plan. Requires that the Health Insurance Reform Commission review the essential health benefits benchmark plan and establish a process for such review. The bill requires the Commission, in coordination with the Bureau of Insurance, to conduct a review of the essential health benefits benchmark plan in 2025 and every five years thereafter. The bill requires during such review (i) the Bureau to convene a stakeholder work group to make recommendations to the Commission, (ii) the Bureau to estimate the effects of certain referred legislation on the costs of health coverage in the Commonwealth, (iii) the Commission to determine if any changes are to be made to the benchmark plan and to identify such changes, (iv) the Bureau to conduct an actuarial analysis of any changes identified by the Commission, and (v) the Commission to determine which changes will be recommended and to make a recommendation to the General Assembly in the form of a bill that directs the Bureau to select a new benchmark plan that includes any such changes at the next regular session of the General Assembly. The bill (a) requires public hearings to be held throughout the process, (b) establishes a timeline for each step of the process, and (c) requires the Bureau to maintain a website to convey relevant information regarding the process to the public. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Health Insurance Reform Commission.

Custodial interrogation of a child; statement of leniency. Creates a rebuttable presumption that any statement of leniency made by a law-enforcement officer to a child prior to or during an interrogation was not made knowingly and voluntarily. The bill defines "statement of leniency" as any statement regarding (i) the types or number of charges; (ii) the length of custody; (iii) any condition of release; (iv) contact with such child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian; or (v) any other promise, condition, fact, or factor that a court finds to have swayed the will of the child. The bill provides that the Commonwealth may rebut this presumption by clear and convincing evidence that the statement was made knowingly and voluntarily.