Veterinary medicine; traineeships. Allows any veterinary medicine licensure applicant enrolled in a traineeship program to engage in the limited practice of veterinary medicine, as that term is defined by the Board of Veterinary Medicine, under the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian. The bill directs the Board to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; electronic meetings. Amends the number of all-virtual public meetings that public bodies, with certain exceptions, may convene in a calendar year to no more than two times per calendar year or 50 percent of the meetings held per calendar year rounded up to the next whole number, whichever is greater. Current law limits the number of all-virtual public meetings to no more than two times per calendar year or 25 percent of the meetings held per calendar year rounded up to the next whole number, whichever is greater. The bill also provides that with respect to all-virtual public meetings, when audio-visual technology is available, a member of a public body shall, for purposes of a quorum, be considered absent from any portion of the meeting during which visual communication with the member is voluntarily disconnected or otherwise fails or during which audio communication involuntarily fails.

Regulated land-disturbing activities; submission and approval of erosion and sediment control plan. Prohibits a person from engaging in any land-disturbing activity until, where Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) permit coverage is required, the Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Program (VESCP) authority has obtained evidence of such permit coverage from the Department of Environmental Quality's online reporting system prior to issuing its land-disturbance approval. Current law requires the VESCP authority to obtain such evidence of VPDES permit coverage prior to approving an erosion and sediment control plan.

Study; procuring goods and services from employment service organizations; report. Requests the Department of General Services, in tandem with the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, to examine the current process for procurement, potential set-asides or percentage goals that could be utilized or bolstered by employment service organizations, and whether employment service organizations should be housed within the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity.

Campaign finance; independent expenditure reports; electronic filing required. Requires independent expenditure reports to be filed electronically. Current law allows such reports to be filed either electronically or in writing. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.

Commercial driver's licenses and commercial learner's permits; definitions; commercial driver training; drug and alcohol violations. Conforms the definition of commercial motor vehicle to federal regulations, codifies the entry-level driver training system required by federal regulations, and removes contradictory provisions. The bill also prohibits the issuance or continued validity of commercial driver's licenses and commercial learner's permits after a drug or alcohol violation by the applicant, licensee, or permittee. The bill contains technical amendments.

Benefits consortium for localities. Authorizes the governing bodies of three or more cities, counties, or school boards to form a benefits consortium for the purpose of establishing a self-funded employee welfare benefit plan. Under current law, such governing bodies or school boards are authorized to form such a benefits consortium if they comprised the membership of a multiple employer welfare arrangement as of December 31, 2014. Such a benefits consortium is required to be a nonstock corporation established to operate a benefits plan. Each member of the benefits consortium is contractually liable for its allocated share of the consortium's liabilities, and the benefits consortium is exempt from taxation and from insurance regulations.

Study; continuing the Joint Subcommittee on Recurrent Flooding; report. Continues the Joint Subcommittee on Recurrent Flooding for two additional years, through the 2025 interim.

Purchase of certain firearms; age requirement; penalty. Prohibits any person under 21 years of age from purchasing a handgun or assault firearm, with exceptions for the purchase of an assault firearm by a law-enforcement officer, correctional officer, jail officer, or member of the Armed Forces of the United States, the Virginia National Guard, or the National Guard of any other state. Accordingly, the bill prohibits a licensed dealer from selling, renting, trading, or transferring from his inventory a handgun or assault firearm to any person under 21 years of age. A violation of either prohibition is a Class 6 felony. The bill also expands the definition of "assault firearm" as the term applies to criminal history record information checks.

Elections; conduct of election; provisional voting procedures; type of identification to be noted. Requires officers of election to note on the green envelope used for persons voting provisionally the specific type of identification presented by the voter. Current law only requires officers to note whether or not identification was presented.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; charges for production of public records; report. Prohibits a public body from charging a requester for any costs incurred during the first hour spent accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for records requested in conjunction with the requester's first request. The bill provides that for any additional time spent accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for such records, or for any additional record requests, the public body shall not charge an hourly rate for accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for the records exceeding the lesser of the hourly rate of pay of the lowest-paid individual capable of fulfilling the request or $40 per hour. The bill allows a public body to petition the appropriate court for relief from the $40-per-hour fee cap upon showing by a preponderance of the evidence that there is no qualified individual capable of fulfilling the request for $40 per hour or less and requires such petition to be heard within seven days of when the petition is made, provided that the public body has sent and the requester has received a copy of the petition at least three working days prior to filing. The bill also provides that in certain instances a hearing on any petition shall be given precedence on a circuit court's docket over all cases that are not otherwise given precedence by law and that the time period the public body has to respond to a record request shall be tolled between the requester's receipt of the petition and the final disposition of the court. The bill prohibits a public body from charging a requester for any court costs or fees resulting from a petition. The bill directs the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council to study whether public bodies should charge requesters pursuant to the bill and report on its findings by December 2024. The provisions of the bill amending the Code of Virginia do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2025 Session of the General Assembly. Virginia Freedom of Information Act; charges for production of public records; report. Prohibits a public body from charging a requester for any costs incurred during the first hour spent accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for records requested in conjunction with the requester's first request. The bill provides that for any additional time spent accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for such records, or for any additional record requests, the public body shall not charge an hourly rate for accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for the records exceeding the lesser of the hourly rate of pay of the lowest-paid individual capable of fulfilling the request or $40 per hour. The bill allows a public body to petition the appropriate court for relief from the $40-per-hour fee cap upon showing by a preponderance of the evidence that there is no qualified individual capable of fulfilling the request for $40 per hour or less and requires such petition to be heard within seven days of when the petition is made, provided that the public body has sent and the requester has received a copy of the petition at least three working days prior to filing. The bill also provides that in certain instances a hearing on any petition shall be given precedence on a circuit court's docket over all cases that are not otherwise given precedence by law and that the time period the public body has to respond to a record request shall be tolled between the requester's receipt of the petition and the final disposition of the court. The bill prohibits a public body from charging a requester for any court costs or fees resulting from a petition. The bill directs the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council to study whether public bodies should charge requesters pursuant to the bill and report on its findings by December 2024. The provisions of the bill amending the Code of Virginia do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2025 Session of the General Assembly.

Threats to members of the General Assembly; obstruction of justice; penalties. Makes it a Class 6 felony to knowingly and willfully send, deliver or convey, or cause to be sent, delivered, or conveyed, to a current member of the General Assembly or his immediate family any threat to take the life of or inflict bodily harm upon a current member of the General Assembly or his immediate family, whether such threat be oral or written. The bill also provides that any person who without just cause knowingly obstructs any elected official in the performance of his duties as such or fails or refuses without just cause to cease such obstruction when requested to do so by such elected official is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Insurance; dental carriers; annual report. Requires each dental carrier, beginning in 2025, to annually, on or before April 30, file with the State Corporation Commission a report that includes the actual loss ratio, defined in the bill, for the preceding calendar year and any such other information as the Commission may require. The bill requires the Commission to post such reports on its website. The bill requires the Bureau of Insurance to evaluate the effectiveness of informing the public on the information being reported and to make recommendations, if any, on the continuation or modification of the obligation of dental carriers to report such information. The bill also requires the Commission to convene a work group of interested stakeholders to determine if any revisions are necessary to the Code of Virginia regarding ethics and fairness in dental carrier business practices and of health care providers of dental services. The work group is required to report its recommendations to the Chairs of the House Committee on Labor and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor on or before October 1, 2024.

Department of Motor Vehicles; medical review. Changes the standard for being denied a driver's license or having a driver's license reviewed or revoked for medical reasons by removing language regarding the presence of a disability or disease and requiring the existence of an impairment that will prevent the driver from exercising reasonable and ordinary control over a motor vehicle or drive a motor vehicle safely. Department of Motor Vehicles; medical review. Changes the standard for being denied a driver's license or having a driver's license reviewed or revoked for medical reasons by removing language regarding the presence of a disability or disease and requiring the existence of an impairment that will prevent the driver from exercising reasonable and ordinary control over a motor vehicle or drive a motor vehicle safely.

Public institutions of higher education; financial value transparency information and acknowledgement; requirements. Requires each public institution of higher education to require each student enrolled at such institution to sign, at the time such student enrolls in such institution or declares or changes his academic major, as defined in the bill, an acknowledgement form outlining (i) the total cost of completing such academic major and (ii) an estimate of the annual income such student could expect to earn upon completing such academic major, based on the median income potential of such academic major as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States or another reputable source.