Health insurance; coverage for speech therapy as a treatment for stuttering. Requires health insurance carriers whose health care plans include coverage for habilitative services and rehabilitative services, as such terms are defined in the bill, to provide coverage for habilitative speech therapy and rehabilitative speech therapy, as such terms are defined in the bill, as a treatment for stuttering. The bill provides that such coverage is not (i) subject to any maximum annual benefit limit, including any limits on the number of visits an insured may make to a speech-language pathologist; (ii) limited based on the type of disease, injury, disorder, or other medical condition that resulted in the stuttering; or (iii) subject to utilization review or utilization management requirements, including prior authorization or a determination that the habilitative or rehabilitative speech therapy services are medically necessary. The bill applies to health care plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on and after January 1, 2026.

Civil immunity; health care professionals; professional programs related to career fatigue and wellness. Expands civil immunity for persons who participate in professional programs related to career fatigue and wellness for health care professionals to include those who participate in programs for (i) any health care professionals licensed, registered, or certified by the Department of Health Professions or (ii) students enrolled in programs that are prerequisites to licensure, registration, or certification by the Department of Health Professions. Under current law, civil immunity extends only to persons participating in programs for (a) professionals licensed, registered, or certified by the Boards of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, or Pharmacy or (b) students enrolled in a school of dentistry, dental hygiene, medicine, osteopathic medicine, nursing, or pharmacy.

Campaign finance; prohibited personal use of campaign funds; complaints, hearings, civil penalty, and advisory opinions. Prohibits any person from converting contributions to a candidate or his campaign committee for personal use. Current law only prohibits such conversion of contributions with regard to disbursement of surplus funds at the dissolution of a campaign or political committee. The bill provides that a contribution is considered to have been converted to personal use if the contribution, in whole or in part, is used to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense that would exist irrespective of the person's seeking, holding, or maintaining public office but allows a contribution to be used for the ordinary and accepted expenses related to campaigning for or holding elective office, including the use of campaign funds to pay for the candidate's dependent care expenses that are incurred as a direct result of campaign activity. The bill provides that any person subject to the personal use ban may request an advisory opinion from the State Board of Elections on such matters. The bill directs the State Board of Elections to adopt emergency regulations similar to those promulgated by the Federal Election Commission to implement the provisions of the bill and to publish an updated summary of Virginia campaign finance law that reflects the State Board of Elections' and Attorney General's guidance on the provisions of such law that prohibit the personal use of campaign funds and any new regulations promulgated by the State Board of Elections. This bill was incorporated into HB 2165.

Department of Social Services; improving access to and maximizing participation in federal food assistance programs; work group; report. Requires the Department of Social Services to convene a work group to evaluate methods to improve access to and maximize participation in federal public assistance programs relating to assistance with food access and improving food security. The Department shall report the work group's findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House Committees on Health and Human Services and Appropriations and the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance and Appropriations by December 1, 2025.

Public safety officer; definition. Adds dispatchers and animal control officers to the definition of a public safety officer for purposes of possible selection by the Governor for the Commonwealth Public Safety Medal of Valor, presented for performance above and beyond the call of duty involving extraordinary valor in the face of grave danger, at great personal risk. However, the bill specifies that dispatchers and animal control officers are not included in the definition of public safety officer for the purpose of an injury where weather constitutes a particular risk of a public safety officer's employment to be compensable under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act.

Public institutions of higher education; policies; individuals with disabilities; postsecondary transition planning and services; documentation or evidence; report. Requires any individualized education program (IEP) meeting for any student with a disability held for the purpose of postsecondary transition planning and consideration of postsecondary transition services to include, consistent with the guidance developed by the Department of Education pursuant to applicable law, consideration and documentation of any information relating to such student's postsecondary transition planning and service needs that may be necessary or relevant to coordinating and facilitating the successful and efficient transition of such student from secondary school to an institution of higher education. The bill directs the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to study and make recommendations in a report by November 1, 2025, on improving and standardizing the quality and consistency of IEPs or sections of IEPs developed and implemented for students with disabilities dedicated to postsecondary transition planning and services for students with disabilities by public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth.

Fire insurance; assignment of claims prohibited. Prohibits a fire insurance policy or a fire insurance policy in combination with other coverages from assigning or otherwise transferring, in whole or in part, to any other person the duties, rights, or benefits of the insured under the policy arising from a claim or covered loss without written consent of the insurer. Any such contract provision is void and unenforceable under the bill. This bill is identical to SB 1154.

Trespass with an unmanned aircraft system; contracted defense facility; penalty. Creates a Class 4 felony for any person who knowingly, intentionally, and without authorization causes an unmanned aircraft system to enter the property of and obtains or attempts to obtain any videographic or still image that contains or reveals any controlled technical information located within a contracted defense facility, as those terms are defined in the bill. The bill also provides that the owner or operator of a contracted defense facility and its employees shall be immune from criminal prosecution and civil liability as a result of preventing, stopping, deterring, interrupting, or repelling, or attempting to prevent, stop, deter, interrupt, or repel, an unmanned aircraft system from entering the property of such contracted defense facility or from stopping, interrupting, or repelling, or attempting to stop, interrupt, or repel, an unmanned aircraft system that has entered such property, provided that such action does not result in injury to any person. This bill is identical to SB 757.

Income tax; housing opportunity tax credit; sunset extended. Extends the housing opportunity tax credit sunset date from taxable year 2025 to taxable year 2030. The bill also increases the aggregate credit cap across all calendar years from $255 million to $595 billion and imposes an annual aggregate credit cap of $68 million in each calendar year between 2026 and 2030. The bill also provides that of the $68 million in credits authorized per calendar year from 2026 through 2030, 33 percent shall be reserved for qualified projects located in a geographic area within the Balance of State Pool, defined in the bill. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Housing Commission.

Resale Disclosure Act; resale certificate; responsibility for payment of insurance deductible. Requires the resale certificate form, developed by the Common Interest Community Board, to include a statement indicating that the governing documents of an association may make an owner responsible for payment of all or part of the deductible when making a claim against any insurance provided by the association for the benefit of the owners or insurance coverage recommended or required to be obtained by the owners. This bill is identical to SB 808.

Department of Human Resource Management; hiring on the basis of direct experience. Prohibits any state agency from requiring as a condition of eligibility for hire to a position in state employment that an applicant have a baccalaureate degree. The bill provides an exception to such prohibition if the knowledge, skills, or abilities required for the position for which an applicant is applying can only reasonably be obtained, as determined by the appointing authority, through a course of study in pursuit of, and culminating in the award of, a baccalaureate degree. This bill is identical to SB 1014.

Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program; annual report on eligibility and usage required. Requires the Department of Veterans Services and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to coordinate to report no later than December 1 of each year to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations (i) the number of qualified survivors and dependents who have been determined to be eligible for a waiver of tuition and mandatory fees at a public institution of higher education pursuant to the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program but have not yet enrolled at such an institution and (ii) the best available estimate of the number of qualified survivors and dependents who are enrolled at each public institution of higher education with a waiver of tuition and mandatory fees pursuant to the Program as of November 1 of the current fall semester. This bill was incorporated into HB 1694.

Virginia state militia; officers of certain educational institutions; Randolph-Macon Academy. Adds Randolph-Macon Academy to the list of educational institutions of which officers shall be commissioned officers of the Virginia state militia.

Virginia Residential Property Disclosure Act; required disclosures for buyer to beware; aircraft noise. Requires that the owner of a residential real property include in the residential property disclosure statement provided to a potential purchaser of such residential real property a statement that the owner makes no representations or warranties with respect to the property's proximity to a public use airport nor any noise from aircraft due to the proximity of the property to flight operations, and purchasers are advised to exercise whatever due diligence they deem necessary to determine whether the property is within proximity to a flight path or public use airport aircraft noise zone. The bill also requires the Department of Aviation to establish and provide to the Real Estate Board by July 31, 2025, a website address that allows purchasers to access public use airport aircraft noise zone maps, and requires the Real Estate Board to include such website address on the form for signature by the parties stating that the purchaser has been advised of the disclosures listed in the residential property disclosure statement. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Housing Commission. This bill is identical to SB 1210.

Elections; general provisions; loudspeakers prohibited at polls and certain other locations; penalty. Extends the prohibition on loudspeakers at the polls on election day to the office of the general registrar, a central absentee voter precinct, or a voter satellite office on election day and during hours when such facilities are open for the purpose of casting absentee ballots.