Department of Education; recommendations; model policies; selection and removal of public school library materials. Requires the Department of Education, in consultation with local school boards, public school librarians, parents of public school students, and other interested stakeholders, to make recommendations to the General Assembly, the Board of Education, and local school boards no later than September 1, 2024, on the adoption of model policies for the selection and removal of books and other audiovisual materials available to students in public school libraries. Department of Education; recommendations; model policies; selection and removal of public school library materials. Requires the Department of Education, in consultation with local school boards, public school librarians, parents of public school students, and other interested stakeholders, to make recommendations to the General Assembly, the Board of Education, and local school boards no later than September 1, 2024, on the adoption of model policies for the selection and removal of books and other audiovisual materials available to students in public school libraries.

Study; School Health Services Committee; feasibility of implementing Department of Education recommendations; school personnel who administer health services to students; report. Directs the School Health Services Committee to study the feasibility of implementing the recommendations of the Department of Education relating to standardizing the qualification and training requirements for school personnel, such as school nurses, who administer health services to students in order to improve the equity, consistency, and quality of school health services, including mental health services, provided in public schools in the Commonwealth.

Public schools; background checks; Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. Provides that the Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind is deemed a governmental entity for the purpose of receiving from the Central Criminal Records Exchange criminal history record information pertaining to an application for employment. The bill also provides that the Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind is subject to the same requirement of each local school board that all applicants for employment as instructional personnel at such school, or for employment as a contractor who shall have direct contact with students on school property during regular school hours or during school-sponsored activities, be required to provide data on prior convictions for certain crimes and submit to fingerprinting for the purpose of obtaining criminal history record information on such applicants. Public schools; background checks; Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. Provides that the Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind is deemed a governmental entity for the purpose of receiving from the Central Criminal Records Exchange criminal history record information pertaining to an application for employment. The bill also provides that the Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind is subject to the same requirement of each local school board that all applicants for employment as instructional personnel at such school, or for employment as a contractor who shall have direct contact with students on school property during regular school hours or during school-sponsored activities, be required to provide data on prior convictions for certain crimes and submit to fingerprinting for the purpose of obtaining criminal history record information on such applicants.

Transient occupancy tax; administration. Requires the Department of Taxation to annually publish on its website the current transient occupancy tax rates imposed in each locality. The bill also (i) requires the tax-assessing officer of a locality to administer and enforce the assessment and collection of transient occupancy taxes from accommodations intermediaries and (ii) specifies certain return filing requirements for accommodations intermediaries. Transient occupancy tax; administration. Requires the Department of Taxation to annually publish on its website the current transient occupancy tax rates imposed in each locality. The bill also (i) requires the tax-assessing officer of a locality to administer and enforce the assessment and collection of transient occupancy taxes from accommodations intermediaries and (ii) specifies certain return filing requirements for accommodations intermediaries.

Permanent farm use placards. Repeals the requirement for the 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. Under current law, such requirement will become effective July 1, 2023. The bill reinstates the authority of any law-enforcement officer to inquire about the address or real property parcel identification number of the farm or lands with which the exempt vehicle is associated. Permanent farm use placards. Repeals the requirement for the 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. Under current law, such requirement will become effective July 1, 2023. The bill reinstates the authority of any law-enforcement officer to inquire about the address or real property parcel identification number of the farm or lands with which the exempt vehicle is associated.

Selling, giving, or distributing a substance containing fentanyl; penalties. Provides that any person who sells, gives, or distributes a substance he knows or should know contains two milligrams or more of any mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl, including its isomers, esters, ethers, salts, and salts of isomers, to another person without such person's knowledge that the substance sold, given, or distributed contains fentanyl is guilty of attempted murder of the first degree by poison. The bill also provides that if such sale, gift, or distribution results in the death of the other person from his use of the substance containing fentanyl, then the person who sold, gave, or distributed the substance is guilty of murder of the first degree by poison.

Substance Abuse Services Council; name change; membership. Renames the Substance Abuse Services Council as the Virginia Addiction Recovery Council and increases from 29 to 32 the membership of the Council by adding two members representing the problem gambling recovery community and one member representing the board of directors of the Opiod Abatement Authority. Substance Abuse Services Council; name change; membership. Renames the Substance Abuse Services Council as the Virginia Addiction Recovery Council and increases from 29 to 32 the membership of the Council by adding two members representing the problem gambling recovery community and one member representing the board of directors of the Opiod Abatement Authority.

Constitutional amendment (first reference); qualifications of voters; 16-year-olds permitted to vote. Provides that, notwithstanding the requirement that a voter shall be 18 years of age, any person who is 16 years of age or older and is otherwise qualified to vote shall be permitted to register to vote and to vote in local elections.

Medical cannabis program; transition from Board of Pharmacy to Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. Transfers oversight and administration of the Commonwealth's medical cannabis program from the Board of Pharmacy to the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2024, and is identical to

Establishment of the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act; health benefit plans; coverage for gender transition procedures. Creates the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, which prohibits gender transition procedures, defined in the bill, for individuals younger than 18 years of age and prohibits the use of public funds for gender transition procedures for individuals younger than 18 years of age. The bill establishes enforcement procedures for violations of the SAFE Act. The bill provides that a health benefit plan providing health care coverage in the Commonwealth is prohibited from providing coverage for gender transition procedures for individuals younger than 18 years of age and is not required to provide coverage for gender transition procedures for individuals 18 years of age or older. Establishment of the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act; health benefit plans; coverage for gender transition procedures. Creates the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, which prohibits gender transition procedures, defined in the bill, for individuals younger than 18 years of age and prohibits the use of public funds for gender transition procedures for individuals younger than 18 years of age. The bill establishes enforcement procedures for violations of the SAFE Act. The bill provides that a health benefit plan providing health care coverage in the Commonwealth is prohibited from providing coverage for gender transition procedures for individuals younger than 18 years of age and is not required to provide coverage for gender transition procedures for individuals 18 years of age or older.

Constitutional amendment (first reference); General Assembly; term limits. Limits members of the Senate to three full terms (12 years) and members of the House of Delegates to six full terms (12 years). The limitations apply to service for both consecutive and nonconsecutive terms. Service for a partial term does not preclude serving the allowed number of full terms. The limits apply to terms of service beginning on and after the start of the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Community Policing Act; repeal. Repeals the Community Policing Act that, under current law, prohibits law-enforcement officers and State Police officers from engaging in bias-based profiling in the performance of their official duties. The bill also repeals the provisions requiring the State Police to create the Community Policing Reporting Database into which sheriffs, police forces, and State Police officers report certain data pertaining to, among other law-enforcement activities, investigatory motor vehicle stops.

COVID-19 immunization; prohibition on requirement; discrimination prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits the State Health Commissioner and the Board of Health, the Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, the Department of Health Professions and any regulatory board therein, and the Department of Social Services from requiring any person, including any child, to undergo vaccination for COVID-19 and prohibits discrimination based on a person's COVID-19 vaccination status (i) with regard to education, employment, or issuance of a driver's license or other state identification or (ii) in numerous other contexts. The bill establishes a civil penalty for violation of this prohibition by an employer.

Rights beginning at conception. Provides that life begins at conception and each person is accorded the same rights and protections guaranteed to all persons by the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of Virginia, and the laws of the Commonwealth beginning at the moment of conception. The bill also repeals all provisions of the Code of Virginia allowing for the performance of abortions.

Personal property taxes; valuation. Requires, for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2024, that tangible personal property employed in a trade or business be valued for taxation using the federal Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) of depreciation in place of the valuation methods currently in effect. The MACRS is also required to be used for machinery and tools taxes.