Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies; noncompliance with rental agreement. Increases from five days to 14 days the mandatory waiting period after a landlord serves written notice on a tenant notifying the tenant of his nonpayment of rent and of the landlord's intention to terminate the rental agreement if rent is not paid before the landlord may pursue remedies for termination of the rental agreement. Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies; noncompliance with rental agreement. Increases from five days to 14 days the mandatory waiting period after a landlord serves written notice on a tenant notifying the tenant of his nonpayment of rent and of the landlord's intention to terminate the rental agreement if rent is not paid before the landlord may pursue remedies for termination of the rental agreement.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; enforcement by localities. Provides that if a condition exists in a rental dwelling unit that constitutes a material noncompliance by the landlord with the rental agreement or with any provision of law that, if not promptly corrected, constitutes a fire hazard or serious threat to the life, health, or safety of tenants or occupants of the premises, a locality may institute an action for injunction and damages to enforce the landlord's duty to maintain the rental dwelling unit in a fit and habitable condition, provided that (i) the property where the violation occurred is within the jurisdictional boundaries of the locality and (ii) the locality has notified the landlord who owns the property, either directly or through the managing agent, of the nature of the violation and the landlord has failed to remedy the violation to the satisfaction of the locality within a reasonable time after receiving such notice.

Pedestrian control signals; applicability to persons riding bicycles and other devices. Allows persons riding a bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, electric power-assisted bicycle, moped, or motorized skateboard or scooter to, while remaining in the travel lane, follow the pedestrian control signal corresponding to the person's direction of travel, provided that they travel straight or turn right and yield to pedestrians lawfully in the crosswalk and any vehicle approaching the intersection from the right. Pedestrian control signals; applicability to persons riding bicycles and other devices. Allows persons riding a bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, electric power-assisted bicycle, moped, or motorized skateboard or scooter to, while remaining in the travel lane, follow the pedestrian control signal corresponding to the person's direction of travel, provided that they travel straight or turn right and yield to pedestrians lawfully in the crosswalk and any vehicle approaching the intersection from the right.

Community service work in lieu of payment of fines and costs; work performed while incarcerated. Requires a court to establish a program and allow any person upon whom a fine and costs have been imposed to discharge all or part of the fine or costs by earning credits for the performance of community service work or work performed while incarcerated, defined in the bill as any work done on or after July 1, 2020, by a person confined in any penal or corrective institution of the Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions who is paid a wage that is less than the Virginia minimum wage. Community service work in lieu of payment of fines and costs; work performed while incarcerated. Requires a court to establish a program and allow any person upon whom a fine and costs have been imposed to discharge all or part of the fine or costs by earning credits for the performance of community service work or work performed while incarcerated, defined in the bill as any work done on or after July 1, 2020, by a person confined in any penal or corrective institution of the Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions who is paid a wage that is less than the Virginia minimum wage. The bill requires such program be available during imprisonment in a local, regional, or state correctional facility. The bill provides that a person who is performing work while incarcerated shall be credited at the same rate as the community service work rate less any wages received. Under current law, a court is required to establish a program for providing an option for community service work in lieu of payment of fines and costs but offering such option is not mandatory. The bill also requires the local, regional, or state correctional facility to provide confirmation of the hours worked and the credits earned for such work upon request of any person who has performed work while incarcerated or his representative.

Department of Education; review physical accessibility challenges in public schools; report. Requires the Department of Education, in consultation with each school board, the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities, and such other stakeholders as it deems appropriate, to review the extent to which (i) public elementary and secondary school buildings and grounds in the Commonwealth present physical accessibility challenges and barriers for individuals with disabilities, including challenges and barriers that may prevent such individuals from fully participating in school activities; (ii) such schools have begun or plan to address and eliminate such challenges and barriers; and (iii) state agencies can assist such schools to address and eliminate such challenges and barriers and fully comply with all applicable state and federal laws. The bill requires the Department of Education to report its findings and any associated recommendations to the Board, the Governor, the General Assembly, and each local school board no later than November 1, 2024.

Trustees; settlement of accounts; notice and statements to beneficiaries; requirements. Provides that the beneficiary of a trust shall be deemed to have released a trustee and ratified all actions of a trustee for the administration of a trust if, when the trust terminates or the trustee ceases to serve, the trustee sends the beneficiary notice and the beneficiary does not object within 60 days after the trustee sent such notice. The bill also requires the trustee to provide to the beneficiary certain financial information related to the trust.

Superintendent of Public Instruction; employment of certified school library specialists. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to employ in the Department of Education at least one certified school library specialist who fulfills several duties enumerated in the bill, including providing leadership and technical assistance with the implementation and use of information literacy skills to support student achievement for local school divisions, Department staff, and other stakeholders and directing the implementation of state and national school library standards and consulting with and providing technical assistance to local school divisions relating to such standards. Superintendent of Public Instruction; employment of certified school library specialists. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to employ in the Department of Education at least one certified school library specialist who fulfills several duties enumerated in the bill, including providing leadership and technical assistance with the implementation and use of information literacy skills to support student achievement for local school divisions, Department staff, and other stakeholders and directing the implementation of state and national school library standards and consulting with and providing technical assistance to local school divisions relating to such standards.

School boards; unexpended local funds; capital reserve fund permitted. Permits any school board, with the concurrence of the local governing body, to establish a capital reserve fund as a savings account into which it exclusively deposits the local operating funds that remain unexpended at the end of the year for future school division capital expenditures at no additional cost to local taxpayers, subject to certain conditions enumerated in the bill.

Assistant attorneys for the Commonwealth; Compensation Board. Provides that the Compensation Board shall provide for employing at least one compensated assistant to the attorney for the Commonwealth in every county and city where the attorney for the Commonwealth devotes his full time to his duties and does not engage in the private practice of law. Under current law, the Compensation Board has discretion in determining if a county or city needs to employ any compensated assistants to the attorney for the Commonwealth.

Funeral arrangements; disputes between next of kin; proof of next of kin status. Establishes a dispute resolution process for disagreements about what persons are responsible for a decedent's funeral and the disposition for such decedent's remains. The bill permits funeral service licensees to require a person claiming next of kin status to execute a document affirming that such person is the next of kin. Funeral arrangements; disputes between next of kin; proof of next of kin status. Establishes a dispute resolution process for disagreements about what persons are responsible for a decedent's funeral and the disposition for such decedent's remains. The bill permits funeral service licensees to require a person claiming next of kin status to execute a document affirming that such person is the next of kin.

Study; Board of Workforce Development; adequacy of the funding model for noncredit workforce credential programs; work group; report. Requests the Virginia Board of Workforce Development to study the current funding model for noncredit workforce credential programs offered at comprehensive community colleges in order to identify areas of inadequacy and make recommendations on options for reforming the funding model to address those inadequacies and improve the sustainability of offering and providing noncredit workforce credential programs to ensure that the Virginia Community College System as a whole is capable of continuing to meet the increasing demand for highly skilled credentialed workers in the Commonwealth.

Sales tax; additional local tax for schools; City of Newport News. Adds the City of Newport News to the list of localities that are authorized to impose an additional local sales tax at a rate not to exceed one percent in order to provide revenue for the construction or renovation of schools.

Zoning; certified recovery residence. Requires that a locality's zoning ordinances for all purposes shall consider a certified recovery residence in which individuals with substance use disorder reside as residential occupancy by a single family. The bill specifies that no conditions more restrictive than those imposed on residences occupied by persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption shall be imposed on such certified recovery residence.

Public school staffing and funding; National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund; At-Risk Program; English language learner students. Renames the National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund as the National Board Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund, expands eligibility for incentive grant awards from such Fund pursuant to such Program from solely teachers who have obtained national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to all public school staff who are candidates for initial national certification or maintenance of national certification to cover certain costs of obtaining or maintaining such certification and all public school staff who have successfully obtained or maintained such certification, and permits certain teachers to apply for additional incentive grants pursuant to such Program and Fund. The bill also establishes the At-Risk Program for the purpose of supporting programs and services for students who are educationally at risk, including prevention, intervention, or remediation activities required pursuant to relevant law, teacher recruitment programs and initiatives, programs for English language learners, the hiring of additional school counselors and other support staff, and other programs relating to increasing the success of disadvantaged students in completing a high school degree and providing opportunities to encourage further education and training. The bill also contains provisions relating to certain funding requirements for the At-Risk Program. Finally, the bill requires state funding to be provided pursuant to the general appropriation act to support ratios of instructional positions to English language learner students based on each such student's English proficiency level, as established in the general appropriation act.

Real property tax; notice of assessment changes. Provides that in certain localities, in the event that the total assessed value of real property would result in an increase of one percent or more in the total real property tax levied, the notice of assessment changes shall state the tax rate that would levy the same amount of real estate tax as the previous year when multiplied by the new total assessed value of real estate.