Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Program; extension of eligibility. Extends eligibility for the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Program to the lineal and collateral descendants of persons who were residing in jurisdictions in Virginia in which the public schools were closed to avoid desegregation between 1954 and 1964 and whose educations were affected by the school closings. Currently, only persons who resided in such jurisdictions at the time of the school closings are eligible for the program.

Control of firearms by localities. Removes the authority for a locality by ordinance to prohibit the possession or carrying of firearms, ammunition, or components or any combination thereof in (i) any building, or part thereof, owned or used by such locality for governmental purposes; (ii) any public park owned or operated by the locality; (iii) any recreation or community center facility; or (iv) any public street, road, alley, or sidewalk or public right-of-way or any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public and is being used by or is adjacent to a permitted event or an event that would otherwise require a permit. The bill provides that any firearm received by the locality pursuant to a buy-back program shall be offered for sale by public auction or sealed bids to a person licensed as a dealer. Current law provides that any such firearm shall be destroyed by the locality unless the person surrendering the firearm requests in writing that the firearm be offered for sale. The bill also limits the authority of localities to bring lawsuits against certain firearms manufacturers and others and further provides that the right to bring any such action is reserved exclusively to the Commonwealth and shall be brought by the Attorney General.

STEM+C Competition Team Grant Program and Fund; established. Establishes the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Computing (STEM+C) Competition Team Grant Program to encourage interest in STEM+C-related subject areas and support STEM+C-related extracurricular team-building activities in public schools in the Commonwealth by providing grants to qualified schools, as defined in the bill, for use in establishing or supporting STEM+C competition teams. The bill also creates the STEM+C Competition Team Grant Fund for the purpose of providing such grants to qualified schools.

Virginia Breeders Fund; disbursements to certain breeders and owners of horses. Provides that the Virginia Breeders Fund shall disburse amounts to breeders of Virginia-bred horses and to the owners of Virginia sires of Virginia-bred horses that finish first, second, or third in races at designated race meetings. Under current law, the disbursements only go to the winners of such races.

Celebrating the life of John Tilghman Hazel, Jr.

Individuals with disabilities; terminology. Replaces various instances of the terms "handicap," "handicapped," and similar variations throughout the Code of Virginia with alternative terms, as appropriate in the statutory context, such as "disability" and "impairment." The bill contains technical amendments. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Disability Commission.

Minimum staffing standards for certified nursing facilities; administrative sanctions. Sets nursing staffing requirements for certified nursing facilities, imposes administrative sanctions on a certified nursing facility if it does not comply with the staffing requirements, provides for exemptions to the administrative sanctions under certain circumstances, and directs the promulgation of regulations consistent with the bill. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.

Commending Howard E. Robinson, Sr.

Pet shops; posting of information about dogs; civil penalty. Provides for the assessment of a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per violation when (i) any owner of a pet shop that sells dogs does not maintain a written record for each dog in its possession containing certain information or (ii) a pet shop that sells dogs fails to post a notice stating that USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service inspection reports are available prior to purchase. Currently, such violations are subject to the enforcement provisions of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.

Administration of controlled substances; emergency medical services providers. Allows persons who are employed or engaged at a medical care facility who have a valid emergency medical services provider certification issued by the Board of Health as a requirement of being employed or engaged at the medical care facility to administer drugs and devices at the medical care facility pursuant to an oral or written order or standing protocol.

Hospital emergency departments; required security plan; regulations. Directs the Board of Health to amend its regulations to require every hospital with an emergency department to establish a security plan. The bill requires that such security plan be developed using standards established by the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety or other industry standard and be based on the results of a security risk assessment of each emergency department location of the hospital. The bill requires that the security plan include the presence of at least one off-duty law-enforcement officer or trained security personnel who is present in the emergency department at all times as indicated to be necessary and appropriate by the security risk assessment. The bill provides for a waiver from the requirement that at least one off-duty law-enforcement officer or trained security personnel be present at all times in the emergency department if the hospital demonstrates that a different level of security is necessary and appropriate for any of its emergency departments based upon findings in the security risk assessment. Hospital emergency departments; required security plan; regulations. Directs the Board of Health to amend its regulations to require every hospital with an emergency department to establish a security plan. The bill requires that such security plan be developed using standards established by the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety or other industry standard and be based on the results of a security risk assessment of each emergency department location of the hospital. The bill requires that the security plan include the presence of at least one off-duty law-enforcement officer or trained security personnel who is present in the emergency department at all times as indicated to be necessary and appropriate by the security risk assessment. The bill provides for a waiver from the requirement that at least one off-duty law-enforcement officer or trained security personnel be present at all times in the emergency department if the hospital demonstrates that a different level of security is necessary and appropriate for any of its emergency departments based upon findings in the security risk assessment.

Parental Choice Education Savings Accounts. Permits the parent of a public preschool, elementary, or secondary school student who meets certain criteria to apply to the school division in which the 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 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 to which the student is eligible. The bill permits the parent to use the moneys in such account for certain education-related expenses of the student, including tuition, deposits, fees, and required textbooks at a private, sectarian or nonsectarian elementary or secondary school or preschool that is located in the Commonwealth and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin. The bill also contains provisions relating to auditing, rescinding, and reviewing expenses made from such accounts.

Appointment of sworn unit investigators to Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Allows the Attorney General to designate up to 30 persons in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit as sworn unit investigators, sworn only to enforce the provisions of law related to the provision and receipt of medical assistance services in the Commonwealth. The bill defines sworn unit investigators as law-enforcement officers and specifies that sworn unit investigators will remain subject to the federal requirements authorizing State Medicaid Fraud Control Units and are required to notify and request assistance from the State Police or the local law-enforcement agency in order to execute a search warrant issued for a place of abode. Appointment of sworn unit investigators to Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Allows the Attorney General to designate up to 30 persons in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit as sworn unit investigators, sworn only to enforce the provisions of law related to the provision and receipt of medical assistance services in the Commonwealth. The bill defines sworn unit investigators as law-enforcement officers and specifies that sworn unit investigators will remain subject to the federal requirements authorizing State Medicaid Fraud Control Units and are required to notify and request assistance from the State Police or the local law-enforcement agency in order to execute a search warrant issued for a place of abode.

Home instruction; parents; criteria. Removes the four enumerated criteria—holding a high school diploma, being a teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education, providing the child with a program of study or curriculum that may be delivered through a correspondence course or distance learning program or in any other manner, or providing evidence of the ability to provide an adequate education for the child—by which a parent is permitted to provide home instruction for his school-aged child. The bill does not affect the requirement for such a parent to annually provide a description of the home instruction curriculum before the school year begins and evidence of the child's academic progress after the school year ends. Home instruction; parents; criteria. Removes the four enumerated criteria—holding a high school diploma, being a teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education, providing the child with a program of study or curriculum that may be delivered through a correspondence course or distance learning program or in any other manner, or providing evidence of the ability to provide an adequate education for the child—by which a parent is permitted to provide home instruction for his school-aged child. The bill does not affect the requirement for such a parent to annually provide a description of the home instruction curriculum before the school year begins and evidence of the child's academic progress after the school year ends.

Secretary of Health and Human Resources; administration of prescription medication by emergency medical services providers. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to consider adopting a process to allow emergency medical services providers to administer prescription medication to persons under certain circumstances.