Public school funds; state share for basic aid; basic aid and supplemental basic aid payment limit. Removes the limitation on any school division qualifying for adjustment of state share of aid that capped the sum of the basic aid payment and any supplemental basic aid payment to the basic aid payment appropriated to such locality by the 2007 Session of the General Assembly.

Lien for attorney fees; written notice requirements; validity and amount determinations. Provides that written notice of a lien for attorney fees shall be given either within 45 days of the end of representation or (i) in causes of action sounding in tort or for liquidated or unliquidated damages on contract, before settlement or adjustment or (ii) in cases of annulment or divorce, before final judgment is entered, whichever is earlier. The bill further provides that the validity and amount of such a lien may be determined either by motion in the case in which the lien is claimed or by separate action after final judgment has been entered therein or if no case has been filed. The bill specifies that the validity and amount of such a lien shall be determined by the court without a jury and directs the Office of the Executive Secretary to create a form to be filed with the clerk of the circuit court. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference. Lien for attorney fees; written notice requirements; validity and amount determinations. Provides that written notice of a lien for attorney fees shall be given either within 45 days of the end of representation or (i) in causes of action sounding in tort or for liquidated or unliquidated damages on contract, before settlement or adjustment or (ii) in cases of annulment or divorce, before final judgment is entered, whichever is earlier. The bill further provides that the validity and amount of such a lien may be determined either by motion in the case in which the lien is claimed or by separate action after final judgment has been entered therein or if no case has been filed. The bill specifies that the validity and amount of such a lien shall be determined by the court without a jury and directs the Office of the Executive Secretary to create a form to be filed with the clerk of the circuit court. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.

Comprehensive community colleges; conditionally forgivable Comprehensive community colleges; conditionally forgivable loans for tuition and other fees and expenses. Requires each comprehensive community college to establish a process whereby admitted students may apply for a conditionally forgivable loan in an amount sufficient to cover the full cost of tuition, mandatory fees, and required textbooks or other course materials to earn a certain degree or credential at such college. The bill provides that the student is eligible for such loan if the student (i) demonstrates that the student is a single parent of a dependent child or dependent children and has a total household income that is not more than 250 percent of the current annual federal poverty guidelines; (ii) signs an agreement to (a) pursue a field of study that leads to a high-demand occupation identified by the Virginia Office of Education Economics on its high-demand occupations list, (b) earn within 30 months of initial enrollment at the comprehensive community college a degree or credential that leads to such a high-demand occupation, and (c) maintain employment in the Commonwealth in such a high-demand occupation for at least five years during the seven-year period that begins on the date on which the student earns such a degree or credential; and (iii) signs a promissory note to repay the full amount of the loan in a lump sum, without interest, 84 months from the date on which the student fails to meet any condition of the agreement signed pursuant to clause (ii). The bill requires each comprehensive community college to forgive the full amount of any such loan on the date on which the recipient demonstrates full satisfaction of the conditions of the signed agreement, as determined by the Office of the Attorney General. The bill permits any comprehensive community college that forgives such a loan to request reimbursement for the forgiven amount from the General Assembly and requires the General Assembly to establish a process and procedure for receiving and acting upon such reimbursement requests.

Public schools; Standards of Quality; early intervention services for reading and mathematics; use of certain alternative assessments permitted. Provides that each local school division is permitted to use any nationally recognized, research-based assessment or screener in identifying and assessing the progress of any student in need of reading or algebra readiness intervention services as an alternative to a diagnostic test that must be approved by the Department of Education.

Income tax; military benefits subtraction; age restriction. Removes the age 55 or older restriction on those individuals allowed a military benefits income tax subtraction beginning with taxable year 2023.

Commending James Douglas Butler, Sr.

Commending Birddogs Country Store.

Oyster Replenishment Fund. Adds the recycling of oyster shells to the list of activities eligible to receive funds from the Oyster Replenishment Fund. The bill also allows the Fund to be used for the encouragement of oyster shell donations for oyster replenishment projects. Oyster Replenishment Fund. Adds the recycling of oyster shells to the list of activities eligible to receive funds from the Oyster Replenishment Fund. The bill also allows the Fund to be used for the encouragement of oyster shell donations for oyster replenishment projects.

Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Fund; Tobacco Region Revolving Fund; eligible localities; Giles County; Pulaski County. Adds Giles County and Pulaski County to a group of localities that is eligible to receive funds from the Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Fund and the Virginia Tobacco Region Revolving Fund.

Public elementary and secondary schools; reports of certain arrests and convictions; receipt, report, and compilation. Requires each division superintendent to annually designate an employee in the local school division as the division safety official whose duty is to receive all reports required to be made pursuant to relevant law from (i) every state official or agency and every sheriff, police officer, or other local law-enforcement officer or conservator of the peace having the power to arrest for a felony upon arresting a person who is known or discovered by the arresting official to be a full-time, part-time, permanent, or temporary teacher or any other employee in such local school division for a felony or a Class 1 misdemeanor or an equivalent offense in another state and (ii) the clerk of any circuit court or any district court in the Commonwealth upon the felony conviction of any person known by such clerk to be employed by such local school division. Public elementary and secondary schools; reports of certain arrests and convictions; receipt, report, and compilation. Requires each division superintendent to annually designate an employee in the local school division as the division safety official whose duty is to receive all reports required to be made pursuant to relevant law from (i) every state official or agency and every sheriff, police officer, or other local law-enforcement officer or conservator of the peace having the power to arrest for a felony upon arresting a person who is known or discovered by the arresting official to be a full-time, part-time, permanent, or temporary teacher or any other employee in such local school division for a felony or a Class 1 misdemeanor or an equivalent offense in another state and (ii) the clerk of any circuit court or any district court in the Commonwealth upon the felony conviction of any person known by such clerk to be employed by such local school division. The bill requires each division superintendent to include such division safety official designation in the collated packet of school safety audits submitted to the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety pursuant to relevant law and requires the Center to designate an employee of the Center as the school personnel safety official for the Commonwealth whose duty is to compile, maintain, and make publicly available a list of each such division safety official. The bill requires such designation to include updated contact information for the division safety official and requires such safety official to at least annually confirm with each division superintendent that such contact information is up to date and accurate. The bill also provides that a probation and parole officer who is supervising a person employed by a local school division in the Commonwealth shall, upon discovering that such supervised person has been arrested or convicted of a felony offense or an equivalent offense in another state, report such arrest or conviction to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the designated division safety official in the local school division where such supervised person is employed as soon as practicable. The bill requires any such report to be transmitted via certified mail to the mailing address identified by the division superintendent or via fax and email to the fax number and email address identified by the division superintendent, pursuant to the applicable provisions of the bill. Finally, the bill requires, until July 1, 2027, that all such arresting officials or agencies request in writing that the Virginia Employment Commission provide the name of the current employer of each arrested person for purposes of determining whether such notice is required.

Study; State Route 100 widening; report. Requests the Department of Transportation study the feasibility of widening that portion of State Route 100 between the intersection of State Route 100 and State Route 692 in Giles County and the border of Giles County and Pulaski County from a two-lane highway to a four-lane highway.

Installation, maintenance, and operation of devices in highway right-of-way for law-enforcement purposes; regulation authority; civil penalty. Provides that the authority of the Commonwealth Transportation Board to make regulations for the use of systems of state highways includes the use of devices in the right-of-way of such highways for law-enforcement purposes. The bill authorizes the Department of State Police or chief law-enforcement officer of a locality to install, maintain, and operate devices for law-enforcement purposes on highways maintained by VDOT. The bill requires that all data collected by such devices be purged and not retained later than 30 days after collection unless such data is being used in an active law-enforcement investigation. The bill prohibits the use of such data to enforce speed limits, traffic regulations, tolling requirements, or high-occupancy vehicle requirements. Installation, maintenance, and operation of devices in highway right-of-way for law-enforcement purposes; regulation authority; civil penalty. Provides that the authority of the Commonwealth Transportation Board to make regulations for the use of systems of state highways includes the use of devices in the right-of-way of such highways for law-enforcement purposes. The bill authorizes the Department of State Police or chief law-enforcement officer of a locality to install, maintain, and operate devices for law-enforcement purposes on highways maintained by VDOT. The bill requires that all data collected by such devices be purged and not retained later than 30 days after collection unless such data is being used in an active law-enforcement investigation. The bill prohibits the use of such data to enforce speed limits, traffic regulations, tolling requirements, or high-occupancy vehicle requirements.

Constitutional amendment (first reference); local government; sale of property; authority to grant perpetual easements to units of government. Allows easements on public property to be granted in perpetuity to a public body, political subdivision, or authority of the Commonwealth or to the United States or any of its departments or agencies. The requirement to advertise and publicly receive bids does not apply to easements conveyed to any such governmental entity.

Maximum number of judges in each judicial district. Increases from two to three the maximum number of authorized general district court judges in the Twenty-second Judicial District. This bill is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts.