Virginia Public Procurement Act; competitive negotiation; allows localities to post public notice on appropriate websites. Removes the requirement that if a local public body elects not to publish notice of a Request for Proposal in a newspaper of general circulation in the area in which the contract is to be performed, then such local public body shall post such notice on the Department of General Services' central electronic procurement website. The bill allows local public bodies to post such notice on any appropriate website without requiring local public bodies to post such notice in a newspaper.

Auditor of Public Accounts; civil penalty for local noncompliance. Provides that localities and localities' constitutional officers shall be subject to monetary penalties for failure to comply with various deadlines for preparing local financial audit reports and submitting such reports to the Auditor of Public Accounts.

Students who receive home instruction; participation in interscholastic programs. Prohibits public schools from joining an organization governing interscholastic programs that does not deem eligible for participation a student who (i) receives home instruction; (ii) has demonstrated evidence of progress for two consecutive academic years; (iii) is in compliance with immunization requirements; (iv) is a person of school age for whom public school is free; (v) has not reached the age of 19 by August 1 of the current academic year; (vi) is an amateur who receives no compensation but participates solely for the educational, physical, mental, and social benefits of the activity; (vii) complies with all disciplinary rules and is subject to all codes of conduct applicable to all public high school athletes; and (viii) complies with all other rules governing awards, all-star games, maximum consecutive semesters of high school enrollment, parental consents, physical examinations, and transfers applicable to all high school athletes. The bill provides that no local school board is required to establish a policy to permit students who receive home instruction to participate in interscholastic programs. The bill permits reasonable fees to be charged to students who receive home instruction to cover the costs of participation in such interscholastic programs, including the costs of additional insurance, uniforms, and equipment. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2028.

Retired circuit court and district court judges; recall; qualification by Senate Committee on the Judiciary and House Committee for Courts of Justice. Provides that no retired judge shall be authorized or eligible for temporary recall if such judge, prior to submitting a notice of retirement, sought reelection to a subsequent term but was not reelected by a majority of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly. Retired circuit court and district court judges; recall; qualification by Senate Committee on the Judiciary and House Committee for Courts of Justice. Provides that no retired judge shall be authorized or eligible for temporary recall if such judge, prior to submitting a notice of retirement, sought reelection to a subsequent term but was not reelected by a majority of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly.

Virginia Stormwater Management Program; Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Program; exemptions for the harvesting of forest crops. Clarifies that the exemptions for the harvesting of forest crops from the provisions of the Virginia Stormwater Management Program and the Erosion and Sediment Control Program apply only to land-disturbing activity that is silvicultural activity related to forest management or related to a conversion to bona fide agricultural or improved pasture use.

Public school buildings and facilities; construction and renovation; renewable energy generation facilities; report. Directs the Commission on School Construction and Modernization, in consultation with the Department of Energy, to develop and make recommendations on strategies to assist interested school divisions with incorporating renewable energy generation facilities in the construction or renovation of school buildings. The bill requires the Commission to report the recommendations to the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations no later than November 1, 2023.

Evidence of defendant's mental condition admissible; mental illness. Eliminates "mental illness" from the list of mental conditions for which a defendant may offer evidence to show his mental condition at the time of an alleged offense.

Campaign advertisements; independent expenditures; electioneering communications; disclaimer requirements. Broadens the scope of disclaimer requirements for campaign advertisements to include electioneering communications, as defined in the bill, and messages advocating for the passage or defeat of a referendum. The bill also requires an advertisement that is an independent expenditure or that expressly advocates for the passage or defeat of a referendum to contain a disclaimer providing the names of the advertisement sponsor's three largest contributors.

Theft of or trafficking in trade secrets; penalty. Provides that any person who willfully and without authorization obtains or uses, or endeavors to obtain or use, a trade secret, as defined in the bill, with the intent to either temporarily or permanently (i) deprive or withhold from the owner thereof the control or benefit of a trade secret or (ii) appropriate a trade secret to his own use or to the use of another person not entitled to the trade secret is guilty of a Class 6 felony. The bill also provides that any person who willfully traffics in, or endeavors to traffic in, a trade secret that he knows or should know was obtained or used without authorization is guilty of a Class 5 felony. The punishments for such violations increase to the Class 5 felony and Class 4 felony when such offenses are committed with the intent to benefit a foreign government, a foreign agent, or a foreign instrumentality. Theft of or trafficking in trade secrets; penalty. Provides that any person who willfully and without authorization obtains or uses, or endeavors to obtain or use, a trade secret, as defined in the bill, with the intent to either temporarily or permanently (i) deprive or withhold from the owner thereof the control or benefit of a trade secret or (ii) appropriate a trade secret to his own use or to the use of another person not entitled to the trade secret is guilty of a Class 6 felony. The bill also provides that any person who willfully traffics in, or endeavors to traffic in, a trade secret that he knows or should know was obtained or used without authorization is guilty of a Class 5 felony. The punishments for such violations increase to the Class 5 felony and Class 4 felony when such offenses are committed with the intent to benefit a foreign government, a foreign agent, or a foreign instrumentality.

Charter; City of Norton; municipal elections; boundaries; school board. Makes several changes to the charter for the City of Norton to reflect the city's shift from May to November municipal elections. Other changes update the city's boundary description and remove outdated provisions related to an appointed school board.

Conformity of the Commonwealth's taxation system with the Internal Revenue Code; emergency. Advances Virginia's date of conformity with the Internal Revenue Code from December 31, 2021, to December 31, 2022. The bill enacts Chapters 6 and 18 of the Acts of Assembly of 2022, Special Session I. The bill contains an emergency clause.

Elections; registration, absentee voting, and conduct of election. Repeals provisions of law permitting registration on election day; requires an excuse to vote absentee; removes the option to vote absentee in person; requires absentee ballots to either be accompanied by a copy of an approved form of identification or be notarized; requires absentee ballots returned to drop boxes to be returned by the voter; requires absentee ballots to be received by the general registrar by the close of polls on election day in order to be counted; requires presentation of a form of identification containing a photograph in order to vote; repeals the provisions of law permitting a voter who does not have one of the required forms of identification to vote after signing a statement that he is the named registered voter he claims to be; eliminates the use of electronic poll books and voting machines while polls are open; and requires that ballots be manually tabulated in order to determine the results of an election.

Traffic control device violation monitoring systems. Authorizes localities in Planning District 23, after completing an engineering safety analysis that addresses congestion, accident rates, and driver disregard for traffic control devices, to establish traffic control device violation monitoring systems, defined in the bill, imposing monetary liability on the operator of a motor vehicle for failure to comply with traffic control devices at any intersection deemed by the local governing body to be negatively impacted by traffic due to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Express Lanes Hampton Segment (4C) Project. The bill prohibits the use of such devices for enforcing traffic signal or speed limit violations and provides that a driver's first offense is punishable by a written warning, not a monetary penalty. The bill expires on July 1, 2027, or upon certification by the Secretary of Transportation that the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Express Lanes Hampton Segment (4C) Project is complete, whichever occurs earlier. The bill contains technical amendments. Traffic control device violation monitoring systems. Authorizes localities in Planning District 23, after completing an engineering safety analysis that addresses congestion, accident rates, and driver disregard for traffic control devices, to establish traffic control device violation monitoring systems, defined in the bill, imposing monetary liability on the operator of a motor vehicle for failure to comply with traffic control devices at any intersection deemed by the local governing body to be negatively impacted by traffic due to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Express Lanes Hampton Segment (4C) Project. The bill prohibits the use of such devices for enforcing traffic signal or speed limit violations and provides that a driver's first offense is punishable by a written warning, not a monetary penalty. The bill expires on July 1, 2027, or upon certification by the Secretary of Transportation that the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Express Lanes Hampton Segment (4C) Project is complete, whichever occurs earlier. The bill contains technical amendments.

Highway use fee and mileage-based user fee program; repeal. Eliminates the highway use fee and mileage-based user fee program. The bill directs the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles to continue to reimburse the cost of the highway use fee to any applicant that paid a highway use fee and is eligible for reimbursement of the original vehicle registration fee pursuant to relevant law. The bill directs the Commissioner to refund the cost of the highway use fee to any owner of a vehicle who prepaid the fee before the effective date of the bill, prorated for the period after which the highway use fee is no longer in effect.

Family abuse protective orders filed on behalf of minors. Provides that for purposes of filing a petition for preliminary protective order in a family abuse situation, the attorney for the Commonwealth or a law-enforcement officer may file a petition on behalf of a minor as his next friend if an emergency protective order was previously issued for the protection of such minor and the respondent is a parent, guardian, or person standing in loco parentis, and such petition is filed before the emergency protective order expires or within 24 hours of the expiration of such emergency protective order. Family abuse protective orders filed on behalf of minors. Provides that for purposes of filing a petition for preliminary protective order in a family abuse situation, the attorney for the Commonwealth or a law-enforcement officer may file a petition on behalf of a minor as his next friend if an emergency protective order was previously issued for the protection of such minor and the respondent is a parent, guardian, or person standing in loco parentis, and such petition is filed before the emergency protective order expires or within 24 hours of the expiration of such emergency protective order.