Local land use approvals; extension of approvals to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Extends from July 1, 2023, to July 1, 2025, the sunset date for various local land use approvals that were valid and outstanding as of July 1, 2020. The bill also provides that its provisions shall not be construed to extend previous extensions related to the housing crisis and that any extension of approvals outstanding as of July 1, 2020, shall apply to any such approvals granted subsequent to July 1, 2020 that expire prior to July 1, 2025.

Court duties of sheriff; commitment hearings at locations other than a courthouse. Allows a judge or special justice who conducts a commitment hearing at a location other than a courthouse to request that the sheriff of the appropriate jurisdiction provide a deputy to accompany the judge or special justice to such commitment hearing. The bill requires that, upon receiving such request, such sheriff shall provide a deputy to accompany such judge or special justice to such commitment hearing.

Commending the Wildlife Center of Virginia.

Public schools; unscheduled remote learning days. Provides that when severe weather conditions or other emergency situations have resulted in the closing of any school in a school division for in-person instruction, the school division shall declare an unscheduled remote learning day whereby the school provides instruction and student services that are consistent with guidelines established by the Department of Education to ensure the equitable provision of such services, provided, however, that no school division claims more than 10 unscheduled remote learning days in a school year unless the Superintendent of Public Instruction grants an extension. Under current law, such unscheduled remote learning days are permissive rather than mandatory.

Minimum wage; employees younger than the age of 18. Requires employers to pay employees younger than the age of 18 wages at a rate not less than the greater of (i) $9.00 per hour or (ii) the federal minimum wage.

Commending Vivian Cheatham.

Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, Department of Health Professions, and related regulatory boards; disclosure of information regarding examinations, licensure, certification, registration, or permitting. Allows the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, the Department of Health Professions, and professional, occupational, and health regulatory boards to mail or email upon request records regarding applications for admission to examinations or for licensure, certification, registration, or permitting and the related scoring records to the individual to whom such records pertain. Under current law, such records may be made available for copying by the subject individual at the office of the Department or board that possesses the material during normal working hours.

Local business taxes; penalties. Requires license application forms to include the due date for the application and the amount of the penalty charged for late application filing, the underpayment of estimated tax, and the late payment of tax. The bill requires the assessing official, upon assessing any such penalty or any interest, to notify the affected taxpayer of the amount of such penalty, any interest assessed, and the total amount of tax owed. This bill is a recommendation of the Small Business Commission. Local business taxes; penalties. Requires license application forms to include the due date for the application and the amount of the penalty charged for late application filing, the underpayment of estimated tax, and the late payment of tax. The bill requires the assessing official, upon assessing any such penalty or any interest, to notify the affected taxpayer of the amount of such penalty, any interest assessed, and the total amount of tax owed. This bill is a recommendation of the Small Business Commission.

Study; JLARC; effects of gun violence on communities; report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study the social, physical, emotional, and economic effects of gun violence on communities across the Commonwealth.

Public education; student mental health and counseling; definitions; licensure requirements. Requires the Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and the Department of Medical Assistance Services, to develop, adopt, and distribute to each school board a model memorandum of understanding between a school board and a public or private community mental health services provider that sets forth parameters for the provision of mental health services to public school students enrolled in the local school division by such provider. The bill requires the memorandum of understanding to be available to each school board no later than the beginning of the 2023–2024 school year. The bill also permits, in order to fill vacant school psychologist positions, any local school board to employ, under a provisional license issued by the Department of Education for three school years with an allowance for an additional two-year extension, clinical psychologists licensed by the Board of Psychology, provided that any such individual makes progress toward completing the requirements for full licensure as a school psychologist during such period of employment. Finally, the bill defines the terms "direct counseling" and "program planning and school support" for the purpose of the provision of law that requires each school counselor to spend at least 80 percent of his staff time during normal school hours in the direct counseling of individual students or groups of students.

Consumer Data Protection Act; protections for children. Requires a controller or processor to obtain verifiable parental consent, defined in the bill, prior to registering any child with the operator's product or service or before collecting, using, or disclosing such child's personal data and prohibits a controller from knowingly processing the personal data of a child for purposes of (i) targeted advertising, (ii) the sale of such personal data, or (iii) profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning a consumer. The bill also amends the definition of child for purposes of the Consumer Data Protection Act to include any natural person younger than 18 years of age. Consumer Data Protection Act; protections for children. Requires a controller or processor to obtain verifiable parental consent, defined in the bill, prior to registering any child with the operator's product or service or before collecting, using, or disclosing such child's personal data and prohibits a controller from knowingly processing the personal data of a child for purposes of (i) targeted advertising, (ii) the sale of such personal data, or (iii) profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning a consumer. The bill also amends the definition of child for purposes of the Consumer Data Protection Act to include any natural person younger than 18 years of age.

Weapon of terrorism; definition; penalty. Includes any mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl, including its isomers, esters, ethers, salts, and salts of isomers, as a weapon of terrorism for the purpose of defining terrorism offenses. The bill provides that any person who knowingly and intentionally manufactures or knowingly and intentionally distributes a weapon of terrorism when such person knows that such weapon of terrorism is, or contains, any mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl is guilty of a Class 4 felony.

Virginia student environmental literacy; plan; grant fund Virginia student environmental literacy; plan; grant fund and program. Requires the Board of Education, in consultation with the Office of Environmental Education at the Department of Conservation and Recreation, The Science Museum of Virginia, any other stakeholder that it deems appropriate, and the public, and in order to assist each local school board in developing and implementing a program of instruction for grades kindergarten through 12 that is aligned to the Standards of Learning and emphasizes environmental literacy as an essential skill and concept of citizenship that is necessary for responsible participation in American society and in the international community, to establish and update at least once every five years a Virginia student environmental literacy plan (the plan) that includes certain descriptions and (i) prepares students to understand, analyze, and address the major environmental challenges facing the Commonwealth and the United States; (ii) provides field experiences as part of regular school curricula and creates programs that contribute to healthy lifestyles through outdoor recreation and sound nutrition; and (iii) creates opportunities for the enhanced and ongoing professional development of teachers that improves teachers' environmental subject matter knowledge and pedagogical skills in teaching about environmental issues, including the use of interdisciplinary, field-based, and research-based learning and innovative technology in the classroom. The bill establishes the Virginia Student Environmental Literacy Plan Grant Fund and Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, for the purpose of awarding grants on a competitive basis to any local school board that seeks assistance to initiate, expand, or improve teacher professional development opportunities or student environmental education programs that align with the content and objectives of the plan.

Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure; teacher licensure, recruitment, and retention. Directs the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure to advise the Board of Education and submit recommendations on policies related to helping school divisions more effectively recruit and retain licensed teachers. The bill also requires the Board of Education to extend for at least one additional year, but for no more than two additional years, a teacher's three-year provisional license upon receiving from the division superintendent (i) a recommendation for such extension and (ii) satisfactory performance evaluations for such teacher for each year during the original three-year provisional license for which such teacher was actually employed and received a filed performance evaluation. Current law requires satisfactory performance evaluations for such teacher for each year of the original three-year provisional license in order to be eligible for such an extension. Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure; teacher licensure, recruitment, and retention. Directs the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure to advise the Board of Education and submit recommendations on policies related to helping school divisions more effectively recruit and retain licensed teachers. The bill also requires the Board of Education to extend for at least one additional year, but for no more than two additional years, a teacher's three-year provisional license upon receiving from the division superintendent (i) a recommendation for such extension and (ii) satisfactory performance evaluations for such teacher for each year during the original three-year provisional license for which such teacher was actually employed and received a filed performance evaluation. Current law requires satisfactory performance evaluations for such teacher for each year of the original three-year provisional license in order to be eligible for such an extension.

Private activity bonds; public hearings. Updates notice requirements for public hearings on private activity bonds throughout the Code. The bill also removes the requirement that an applicant provide the approving authority with a form specified in relevant law when requesting private activity bond financing. Private activity bonds; public hearings. Updates notice requirements for public hearings on private activity bonds throughout the Code. The bill also removes the requirement that an applicant provide the approving authority with a form specified in relevant law when requesting private activity bond financing.