Public utilities; shared solar; minimum bill. Provides that the minimum bill a subscriber to a shared solar program is required to pay, which under current law the State Corporation Commission is required to establish, may include the basic customer charge, non-bypassable charges, and administrative costs of the shared solar program. The bill prohibits the minimum bill from exceeding two times the basic customer charge. The bill removes the requirement that the minimum bill include the costs of all utility infrastructure and services used to provide service and the requirement that the Commission, in establishing the minimum bill, consider further costs the Commission deems relevant to ensure that subscribing customers pay a fair share of the costs of providing electric services and minimize the costs shifted to customers not in a shared solar program. The bill requires the Commission to approve a shared solar facility program of at least 10 percent of the peak load for customers of each utility with a minimum requirement of 30 percent low-income customers. Under current law, the Commission is required to approve a program of 150 megawatts with a requirement for an additional 50 megawatts if a certain condition is met. Additionally, the bill requires the Commission's regulations for the shared solar program to allow all jurisdictional and non-jurisdictional customer classes to participate in the program. Public utilities; shared solar; minimum bill. Provides that the minimum bill a subscriber to a shared solar program is required to pay, which under current law the State Corporation Commission is required to establish, may include the basic customer charge, non-bypassable charges, and administrative costs of the shared solar program. The bill prohibits the minimum bill from exceeding two times the basic customer charge. The bill removes the requirement that the minimum bill include the costs of all utility infrastructure and services used to provide service and the requirement that the Commission, in establishing the minimum bill, consider further costs the Commission deems relevant to ensure that subscribing customers pay a fair share of the costs of providing electric services and minimize the costs shifted to customers not in a shared solar program. The bill requires the Commission to approve a shared solar facility program of at least 10 percent of the peak load for customers of each utility with a minimum requirement of 30 percent low-income customers. Under current law, the Commission is required to approve a program of 150 megawatts with a requirement for an additional 50 megawatts if a certain condition is met. Additionally, the bill requires the Commission's regulations for the shared solar program to allow all jurisdictional and non-jurisdictional customer classes to participate in the program. The bill requires the Commission to establish by regulation a shared solar program that allows customers of a Phase I Utility to purchase electric power through a subscription in a shared solar facility. Subscribers of such program are required to pay a minimum bill, established by the Commission, when the bill credit reduces the subscriber's bill below the minimum bill threshold, and low-income customers are exempt from the minimum bill. The bill provides that the Commission shall approve a shared solar program of 10 percent of the peak load for customers of a Phase I Utility, and a program facility shall allocate at least 30 percent of its capacity, or savings equivalent, to low-income customers or low-income service organizations.

Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan; effective date. Changes the contingency for the effective date of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan to allow consideration of a combination of point or nonpoint source pollution reduction commitments other than agricultural best management conservation practices when determining whether the Commonwealth's commitments in the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan have been satisfied. The bill advances from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2028, the contingency effective date of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan and requires the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources and the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry to convene a stakeholder advisory group to review annual progress and make recommendations toward the implementation of the Commonwealth's agricultural commitments in the Chesapeake Bay TMDL Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan. The group is required to submit its first annual report by July 1, 2024, and the Secretaries of Agriculture and Forestry and Natural and Historic Resources are required to jointly review such report by July 1, 2025. The bill also requires soil and water conservation districts to report to the Department of Conservation and Recreation recommendations for improving the disbursement of funding and for program efficiencies that would expedite disbursal of funds provided through the Virginia Natural Resources Commitment Fund and prohibits certain regulatory actions from being imposed on agricultural practices prior to July 1, 2028, provided that reasonable progress is being achieved and a detailed plan has been developed for reaching the needed number of voluntary incentivized practices.

Grant and procurement awards; certification for small, women-owned, or minority-owned businesses. Requires that for any grant or contract issued or entered into by the Governor, a state agency, or a locality, such entity shall inquire whether the grant recipient, bidder, offeror, or contractor is a small, women-owned, or minority-owned business and whether it is certified by the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity (DSBSD) for procurement enhancement. If such business is eligible but not certified, the bill directs DSBSD to provide it with information on the certification process and encourage it to apply for certification.

Early childhood care and education; licensure requirements; certain accredited private school exempt. Provides that child day programs that are affiliated with an accredited private school located west of Sandy Ridge and on the watersheds of Big Sandy River and to which no contributions are made by the Commonwealth shall not be required to obtain licensure to operate in the Commonwealth. Current law exempts only those programs that are offered to children who reside at such private school.

Renewable energy portfolio standard requirements; State Corporation Commission authority; report. Requires electric utilities to petition the State Corporation Commission for relief from the requirements of certain provisions of the Code that mandate the retirement of electric generating units that are coal-fired or emit carbon as a by-product of combusting fuel to generate electricity if such requirements would threaten the reliability or security of electric service to customers. Under current law, such electric utilities are permitted to petition the Commission for such relief if such requirements would threaten the reliability or security of electric service to customers. The bill requires investor-owned electric utilities to submit, by December 31, 2024, and annually thereafter, a report to the Governor and the General Assembly concerning the impact of potential power generation retirements on power generation infrastructure in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the State Corporation Commission to review, by December 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, provisions of the Code related to emissions trading programs, renewable energy generation requirements, and renewable energy portfolio standards and submit a report to the Governor and the General Assembly with recommendations for revisions to the Code to improve energy reliability, reduce electricity rates, and incorporate available and emerging electric energy generation technologies. Renewable energy portfolio standard requirements; State Corporation Commission authority; report. Requires electric utilities to petition the State Corporation Commission for relief from the requirements of certain provisions of the Code that mandate the retirement of electric generating units that are coal-fired or emit carbon as a by-product of combusting fuel to generate electricity if such requirements would threaten the reliability or security of electric service to customers. Under current law, such electric utilities are permitted to petition the Commission for such relief if such requirements would threaten the reliability or security of electric service to customers. The bill requires investor-owned electric utilities to submit, by December 31, 2024, and annually thereafter, a report to the Governor and the General Assembly concerning the impact of potential power generation retirements on power generation infrastructure in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the State Corporation Commission to review, by December 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, provisions of the Code related to emissions trading programs, renewable energy generation requirements, and renewable energy portfolio standards and submit a report to the Governor and the General Assembly with recommendations for revisions to the Code to improve energy reliability, reduce electricity rates, and incorporate available and emerging electric energy generation technologies.

Public school employees; offense involving solicitation of sexual molestation, physical or sexual abuse, or rape of a child; penalty. Provides that the convictions that bar employment and contract work that requires direct contact with students on school property during school hours or school-sponsored activities in public schools include any offense involving the solicitation of sexual molestation, physical or sexual abuse, or rape of a child. Current law prohibits any school board from employing or contracting with anyone who has been convicted of a violent felony set forth in the definition of barrier crime or any offense involving sexual molestation, physical or sexual abuse, or rape of a child, but does not specify that this includes any offense involving the solicitation of any such offense.

Education improvement scholarships tax credits. Expands the education improvement scholarships tax credit program for taxable years 2023 through 2027 by (i) increasing from 65 percent to 100 percent the credit amount for the value of the monetary or marketable securities donation made by the person to an included scholarship foundation, (ii) removing the requirement that eligible pre-kindergarten children be at-risk four-year-olds unable to obtain services through Head Start or Virginia Preschool Initiative programs, (iii) requiring that nonpublic pre-kindergarten programs participate in the Unified Virginia Quality Birth to Five System (VQB5), rather than the Virginia Quality rating system, and (iv) expanding eligible students to include any school-aged child living in Virginia whose family income does not exceed 300 percent of federal poverty guidelines, regardless of prior public school enrollment or a recent move to Virginia.

Study; Joint Subcommittee on Recurrent Flooding; membership increase. Increases the membership of the Joint Subcommittee on Recurrent Flooding from 11 to 13 by adding two local elected officials from separate regions of the Commonwealth representing Virginia's flood-prone communities. The resolution also replaces the existing member of the Joint Subcommittee who is a local official representing Virginia's flood-prone communities with a local official representing an area impacted by coastal flooding. Study; Joint Subcommittee on Recurrent Flooding; membership increase. Increases the membership of the Joint Subcommittee on Recurrent Flooding from 11 to 13 by adding two local elected officials from separate regions of the Commonwealth representing Virginia's flood-prone communities. The resolution also replaces the existing member of the Joint Subcommittee who is a local official representing Virginia's flood-prone communities with a local official representing an area impacted by coastal flooding.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; noncompliance with rental agreement; children and elderly tenants; local department of social services. Provides that a landlord, when serving written notice on a tenant of his intention to terminate a rental agreement for noncompliance by the tenant with such rental agreement, shall notify the tenant of the option to contact the local department of social services if an authorized occupant is (i) a dependent child younger than 18 years of age, with certain exceptions enumerated in the bill, or (ii) a mentally or physically incapacitated elderly person. The bill provides that where a landlord has received a favorable court order, such landlord shall be responsible for notifying the local department of social services.

Restrictive covenants; prohibited; use of Loudoun County recreational property. Invalidates any restrictive covenant that prohibits the public from using property acquired by Loudoun County for recreational purposes.

Virginia Retirement System; return to work. Reduces from 12 to six months the required break in service for a teacher, school administrator, school bus driver, or school security officer to return to work full time and continue to receive his pension under the Virginia Retirement System (VRS). The employer of such individuals shall include their compensation in membership payroll for purposes of the employer contribution to VRS.

Firearm industry members; standards of responsible conduct; civil liability. Creates standards of responsible conduct for firearm industry members, as that term is defined in the bill. The bill requires any firearm industry member that sells, manufactures, distributes, markets, or intends to sell, manufacture, distribute, or market firearm industry products, as that term is defined in the bill, within the Commonwealth, or that sells, manufactures, distributes, markets, or intends to sell, manufacture, distribute, or market firearm industry products to be used or possessed within the Commonwealth to comply with such standards of responsible conduct. Such standards include establishing and implementing reasonable controls regarding the manufacture, distribution, importation, marketing, and wholesale or retail sale of firearm industry products and taking reasonable precautions to ensure that such firearm industry products are not sold or distributed to a distributor or retailer that fails to establish and implement such reasonable controls. The bill also creates a civil cause of action for any person who suffers harm as a result of a firearm industry member's violation of the provisions of the bill.

Local government; standardization of public notice requirements for certain intended actions and hearings; report. Standardizes the frequency and length of time that notices of certain meetings, hearings, and other intended actions of localities must be published in newspapers and other print media. The notice provisions included in the bill are organized into the following three groups: (i) publication required one week before the meeting, hearing, or intended action; (ii) publication required two consecutive weeks before the meeting, hearing, or intended action; and (iii) publication required three consecutive weeks before the meeting, hearing, or intended action. In addition, the bill amends provisions related to the content of notices for zoning ordinances and amendments to such ordinances by removing the requirement that such notices contain a descriptive summary of the proposed action and providing that such notices shall include the street address or tax map parcel number of the parcels subject to the action. In cases where the intended action affects more than 25 parcels, the notice must also include the approximate acreage subject to the intended action. The bill also removes the requirement that notices of proposed amendments to a zoning map state the general usage and density range of the proposed amendment and the general usage density set forth in the applicable part of the comprehensive plan. The bill directs the Virginia Code Commission to convene a work group to continue review of the notice requirements throughout the Code of Virginia and requires the Virginia Code Commission to submit a report to the Chairmen of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology summarizing the work and any recommendations of the work group by November 1, 2023. Local government; standardization of public notice requirements for certain intended actions and hearings; report. Standardizes the frequency and length of time that notices of certain meetings, hearings, and other intended actions of localities must be published in newspapers and other print media. The notice provisions included in the bill are organized into the following three groups: (i) publication required one week before the meeting, hearing, or intended action; (ii) publication required two consecutive weeks before the meeting, hearing, or intended action; and (iii) publication required three consecutive weeks before the meeting, hearing, or intended action. In addition, the bill amends provisions related to the content of notices for zoning ordinances and amendments to such ordinances by removing the requirement that such notices contain a descriptive summary of the proposed action and providing that such notices shall include the street address or tax map parcel number of the parcels subject to the action. In cases where the intended action affects more than 25 parcels, the notice must also include the approximate acreage subject to the intended action. The bill also removes the requirement that notices of proposed amendments to a zoning map state the general usage and density range of the proposed amendment and the general usage density set forth in the applicable part of the comprehensive plan. The bill directs the Virginia Code Commission to convene a work group to continue review of the notice requirements throughout the Code of Virginia and requires the Virginia Code Commission to submit a report to the Chairmen of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology summarizing the work and any recommendations of the work group by November 1, 2023.

Protective orders; extensions and continuances; penalty. Provides that if a petitioner files a written motion requesting a hearing to extend a permanent protective order, the court may issue an ex parte protective order until the extension hearing, which shall be held within 15 days of the issuance of such ex parte protective order and may be held after the expiration of the permanent protective order. If the respondent fails to appear at the extension hearing because the respondent was not personally served with such motion, a new date for the extension hearing shall be given and the judge may extend the ex parte preliminary protective order until the new date. The bill also provides that if the respondent was personally served, where the petitioner shows by clear and convincing evidence that a continuance is necessary to meet the ends of justice or the respondent shows good cause, the court may continue the extension hearing and such ex parte preliminary protective order shall remain in effect until the extension hearing.

Board of Education; advanced academic opportunity programs; guidelines and policies; availability. Requires the Board of Education to develop guidelines for advanced academic opportunity programs, as defined in the bill, offered at the secondary school level (i) requiring any advanced academic opportunity program offered at any public secondary school in the Commonwealth to accept any eligible student and (ii) prohibiting the imposition of arbitrary class sizes or any other limitation that would impede the access of any otherwise eligible student to such program. The bill defines an "eligible student" as any student who has demonstrated an ability to participate and succeed in advanced academic opportunities, as determined by (a) such student's performance on a merit-based application, (b) such student's aptitude based on grades or exam results, or (c) the recommendation of a teacher. The bill requires each local school board to adopt policies that are consistent with and at least as rigorous as the guidelines developed by the Board. Finally, the bill requires the Board to develop and make available to each local school board the guidelines for advanced academic opportunity programs by the 2023-2024 school year and requires each local school board to develop and implement policies in accordance with the Board's guidelines by the 2025-2026 school year. Board of Education; advanced academic opportunity programs; guidelines and policies; availability. Requires the Board of Education to develop guidelines for advanced academic opportunity programs, as defined in the bill, offered at the secondary school level (i) requiring any advanced academic opportunity program offered at any public secondary school in the Commonwealth to accept any eligible student and (ii) prohibiting the imposition of arbitrary class sizes or any other limitation that would impede the access of any otherwise eligible student to such program. The bill defines an "eligible student" as any student who has demonstrated an ability to participate and succeed in advanced academic opportunities, as determined by (a) such student's performance on a merit-based application, (b) such student's aptitude based on grades or exam results, or (c) the recommendation of a teacher. The bill requires each local school board to adopt policies that are consistent with and at least as rigorous as the guidelines developed by the Board. Finally, the bill requires the Board to develop and make available to each local school board the guidelines for advanced academic opportunity programs by the 2023-2024 school year and requires each local school board to develop and implement policies in accordance with the Board's guidelines by the 2025-2026 school year.