Firearm in unattended motor vehicle; civil penalty. Provides that no person shall leave, place, or store a handgun in an unattended motor vehicle, as defined in the bill, when such handgun is visible to any person who is outside such motor vehicle. The bill provides that any person violating such prohibition is subject to a civil penalty of no more than $500 and such unattended motor vehicle may be subject to removal for safekeeping.

K-12 schools and institutions of higher education; student participation in women's sports; civil cause of action. Requires each interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport sponsored by a public school, or any other school that is a member of the Virginia High School League, or by a public institution of higher education to be expressly designated as one of the following based on the biological sex of the students who participate on the team or in the sport: (i) males, men, or boys; (ii) females, women, or girls; or (iii) coed or mixed if participation on such team or sport is open to both males and females. The bill prohibits any such team or sport that is expressly designated for females from being open to students whose biological sex is male. The bill also provides that in the event of a dispute as to the biological sex of any student seeking to participate on any interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport that is expressly designated for males or females, such student may establish biological sex by presenting to the school or institution a signed physician's statement that attests to such student's biological sex based solely on (a) the student's internal and external reproductive anatomy; (b) the student's normal endogenously produced levels of testosterone; and (c) an analysis of the student's genetic makeup. K-12 schools and institutions of higher education; student participation in women's sports; civil cause of action. Requires each interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport sponsored by a public school, or any other school that is a member of the Virginia High School League, or by a public institution of higher education to be expressly designated as one of the following based on the biological sex of the students who participate on the team or in the sport: (i) males, men, or boys; (ii) females, women, or girls; or (iii) coed or mixed if participation on such team or sport is open to both males and females. The bill prohibits any such team or sport that is expressly designated for females from being open to students whose biological sex is male. The bill also provides that in the event of a dispute as to the biological sex of any student seeking to participate on any interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport that is expressly designated for males or females, such student may establish biological sex by presenting to the school or institution a signed physician's statement that attests to such student's biological sex based solely on (a) the student's internal and external reproductive anatomy; (b) the student's normal endogenously produced levels of testosterone; and (c) an analysis of the student's genetic makeup. The bill prohibits any government entity, licensing or accrediting organization, or athletic association or organization from entertaining a complaint, opening an investigation, or taking any other adverse action against any such school or institution of higher education based on a violation of the provisions of the bill and creates a cause of action for any school or institution of higher education that suffers harm as a result of a violation of the bill. Finally, the bill creates a civil cause of action for any student who suffers harm as a result of a knowing violation of a provision of the bill by a school or institution or as a result of the student's reporting a violation of a provision of the bill by a school, institution, athletic association, or organization.

Board of Counseling; registration of behavioral health technicians and behavioral health technician trainees. Establishes requirements for the Board of Counseling to register individuals as behavioral health technicians or behavioral health technician trainees. The bill authorizes the Board to promulgate regulations for such registration, including necessary qualifications, education, and experience. The bill removes references to qualified mental health professionals with a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

Tangible personal property tax; classification; certain vehicles. Removes the sunset on authorization for localities to assign a rate of tax or assessment different from the general tangible personal property rate on certain automobiles, trucks, motor vehicles for use by the handicapped, motorcycles, mopeds, all-terrain vehicles, off-road motorcycles, campers, and other recreational vehicles. Under current law, such authorization is limited to taxable years 2022 through 2024.

Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program; fee. Raises from $300 to $350 the maximum fee that may be charged to a person required by the court to enter the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program upon conviction of certain offenses related to driving a motor vehicle or commercial vehicle while intoxicated, operating a boat while intoxicated, or refusing to have samples of breath taken for chemical tests to determine alcohol content of blood.

Dam Safety, Flood Prevention, and Protection Assistance Fund; percentage of funds available; owner match requirements. Reduces from 50 percent to 30 percent the project match required of applicants to receive funds from the Dam Safety, Flood Prevention, and Protection Assistance Fund for grants (i) to a local government that owns a dam, (ii) to a local government for a dam located within the locality, or (iii) to a private entity that owns a dam for the design, repair, and safety modifications of such a dam if it is identified in a safety report. The bill provides that grants made from the Fund to a local government or private entity for the determination of the hazard classification for impounding structures, dam break analysis, the mapping and digitization of dam break inundation zones, incremental damage analysis, and other engineering requirements shall require no more than a 10 percent match by the applicant except that such applicant shall be required to provide a minimum of $5,000 of the cost of the project, if funded, and such match provided by such applicant may be used to pay the application fees for the necessary impounding structure operation and maintenance certificate. The bill removes the 50 percent limit on matching grants that owners of impounding structures may be eligible for from the Fund and other sources of funding available to the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation to assist in the development of dam break inundation zone maps and for conducting incremental damage assessments in accordance with the Virginia Impounding Structure Regulations. The bill also removes the limitation that the total amount of expenditures for grants in any fiscal year are not to exceed 50 percent of the total noninterest or income deposits made to the Fund during the previous fiscal year together with the total amount collected in interest or income from the investment of moneys in the Fund from the previous year as determined at the beginning of the fiscal year. Dam Safety, Flood Prevention, and Protection Assistance Fund; percentage of funds available; owner match requirements. Reduces from 50 percent to 30 percent the project match required of applicants to receive funds from the Dam Safety, Flood Prevention, and Protection Assistance Fund for grants (i) to a local government that owns a dam, (ii) to a local government for a dam located within the locality, or (iii) to a private entity that owns a dam for the design, repair, and safety modifications of such a dam if it is identified in a safety report. The bill provides that grants made from the Fund to a local government or private entity for the determination of the hazard classification for impounding structures, dam break analysis, the mapping and digitization of dam break inundation zones, incremental damage analysis, and other engineering requirements shall require no more than a 10 percent match by the applicant except that such applicant shall be required to provide a minimum of $5,000 of the cost of the project, if funded, and such match provided by such applicant may be used to pay the application fees for the necessary impounding structure operation and maintenance certificate. The bill removes the 50 percent limit on matching grants that owners of impounding structures may be eligible for from the Fund and other sources of funding available to the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation to assist in the development of dam break inundation zone maps and for conducting incremental damage assessments in accordance with the Virginia Impounding Structure Regulations. The bill also removes the limitation that the total amount of expenditures for grants in any fiscal year are not to exceed 50 percent of the total noninterest or income deposits made to the Fund during the previous fiscal year together with the total amount collected in interest or income from the investment of moneys in the Fund from the previous year as determined at the beginning of the fiscal year.

Tax credit for purchase of mobile machinery and equipment used by road contractors for processing recyclable asphalt materials on pavements and roadways. Creates a nonrefundable tax credit for taxable years 2025 through 2029 in an amount equal to 20 percent of the purchase price paid, as defined in the bill, during the taxable year for machinery and equipment used to reclaim, recycle, or reprocess existing asphalt materials from pavements and roadways. The bill requires a taxpayer to submit invoices with an income tax return verifying the amount of purchase price paid for such machinery and equipment. The bill provides a $3 million aggregate annual cap on the number of credits to be distributed, as administered by the Department of Taxation. Any credit not used for the taxable year in which the purchasing price for recycling machinery was paid may be carried over for the next 10 years until the total credit amount is used.

Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia; work group to study trauma-informed training and education; report. Directs the Office of the Executive Secretary to convene a work group to make recommendations on the development, adoption, and implementation of trauma-informed training and education for judges, magistrates, and court personnel. The bill requires the work group to submit its recommendations by December 1, 2024, to the Chairmen of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice.

Industrial hemp; maximum THC concentration. Increases from 0.6 percent to one percent, in the definition of industrial hemp, the maximum allowable concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in the plant Cannabis sativa. The bill allows the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services to destroy Cannabis sativa found to have a THC concentration greater than one percent only if such Cannabis sativa is intended for human consumption; reduces the application and registration requirements for any person seeking to grow, deal in, or process industrial hemp; and prohibits the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Commissioner from adopting any regulation that prohibits the use of industrial hemp or hemp products in the production of any commercial feed product regulated by the Board.

Commending the Honorable Dr. Luke E. Torian.

Toll-relief programs; low-income residents. Requires the Department of Transportation to establish and administer toll-relief programs for low-income residents of any locality impacted by the presence of a toll facility in proximity to such locality, as determined by the Department.

Elections; administration; chief deputy and other deputy registrars. Requires that each locality have one chief deputy registrar. The bill requires any chief deputy registrar serving on a full-time basis to be paid not less than 60 percent of the salary paid to the general registrar. The bill requires that any chief deputy registrar of a locality whose population is greater than 10,000 serve on a full-time basis and gives the general registrar in a locality whose population is 10,000 or less the authority to determine whether the chief deputy registrar serves on a full-time basis. The bill gives general registrars in all localities the authority to determine whether any other deputy registrar serves on a full-time or part-time basis and the authority to determine the terms of deputy registrars, including the chief deputy registrar. Under current law, requirements for employees in a registrar's office are determined on the basis of a population of 15,500 or less or more than 15,500 and some of the determinations are made by the electoral board rather than by the general registrar.

Crash reports; contracted service providers. Authorizes law-enforcement agencies to utilize a contracted service provider to forward crash reports electronically to the Department of Motor Vehicles and manage or disseminate copies of certain crash reports as authorized by law. The bill authorizes the release of nonpersonally identifiable vehicle information from crash reports to a contracted service provider.

Local tax; penalties and interest. Requires localities to apply voluntary payments made by a taxpayer to the tax return that accompanies such payment or according to instructions sent with such payment. The bill also states that a city's director of finance may waive a taxpayer's local tax penalties and interest when in the best interest of the locality. The bill contains an emergency clause. Local tax; penalties and interest. Requires localities to apply voluntary payments made by a taxpayer to the tax return that accompanies such payment or according to instructions sent with such payment. The bill also states that a city's director of finance may waive a taxpayer's local tax penalties and interest when in the best interest of the locality. The bill contains an emergency clause.

Commending Rick and Cheryl Rowlands.