Virginia Freedom of Information Act; exclusions; Department of Workforce Development and Advancement. Excludes from the mandatory disclosure requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act certain information held by the Department of Workforce Development and Advancement, which includes any information of a proprietary or confidential nature, including trade secrets, employee compensation information, balance sheets and financial statements that are not available to the public through regulatory disclosure or otherwise, and revenue and cost projections supplied by a private or nongovernmental entity to the Department for the purpose of sponsoring, implementing, and operating (i) an apprenticeship program approved by the Department or (ii) a similar lawful workforce development or public-private partnership approved by the Department that assists the Department in fulfilling its mission and objectives and whose workforce development initiative could not advance without such exemption, as determined by the Commissioner of the Department and the Secretary of Labor. This bill is identical to SB 1107.

Emergency Response Exposure Grant Fund and Program. Creates the Emergency Response Exposure Grant Fund and Program to award grants to localities to support certain emergency responders who were exposed to a qualifying emergency, defined in the bill. The bill requires funding to be used for annual cancer screenings and health care expenses incurred by eligible emergency responders, defined in the bill, in the event such emergency responders are diagnosed with cancer from toxic material exposure. The bill permits funding to be used for out-of-pocket medical expenses not otherwise covered by insurance, workers' compensation, or other available funding. The Department of Fire Programs shall administer the Fund and Program.

Hospitals and nursing homes; licensure and inspection fees; Hospital and Nursing Home Licensure and Inspection Program Fund established. Directs the State Board of Health to require in its regulations the establishment of fees for the issuance, change, or renewal of a hospital or nursing home license to cover the costs of operating the hospital and nursing home licensure and inspection program in a manner that ensures timely completion of inspections. The bill requires the Board to distribute the costs of operating the hospital and nursing home licensure and inspection program in an equitable manner across all hospitals and nursing homes and specifies that the amount of such fees shall change no more frequently than annually. Such fee changes shall only be initiated under the bill if the expenses are more than 10 percent greater or less than the annual costs of operating the licensure and inspection program in a manner that ensures timely completion of inspections. The bill also creates the Hospital and Nursing Home Licensure and Inspection Program Fund to be used for the purposes of supporting the activities of the licensure and inspections requirements administered pursuant to current law. The bill directs the Board to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill related to the establishment of such fees and specifies that the provisions pertaining to the creation of the Fund shall not become effective until the Board adopts such emergency regulations. This bill is identical to SB 1484.

Use of safety belt systems. Requires all adult passengers in a motor vehicle equipped with a safety belt system to wear such safety belt system when the motor vehicle is in motion on a public highway. Current law requires adult passengers to wear such safety belts when occupying the front seat.

Inhaling drugs or other noxious chemical substances or causing, etc., others to do so; distribution of nitrous oxide to persons under 18 prohibited; penalties. Prohibits the sale or distribution of a device that is designed or intended to deliver a gas containing nitrous oxide to persons under 18 years of age with exceptions as defined in the bill. Any person who fails to make diligent inquiry as to whether the person trying to obtain such a device is 18 years of age or older or sells, distributes, or attempts to sell or distribute such a device to a person under 18 years of age is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also adds nitrous oxide to the list of noxious chemical substances for which it is unlawful to deliberately smell or inhale with the intent to become intoxicated, inebriated, excited, or stupefied or to dull the brain or nervous system, or to deliberately cause another person to do so. This bill is identical to SB 1361.

Celebrating the life of Michael David Killian.

Prescribed pediatric extended care centers; licensure; regulation. Authorizes the State Board of Health to license prescribed pediatric extended care centers, defined as nonresidential health care service centers that provide a link in the continuum of care for medically dependent or technologically dependent children. The bill establishes the scope of services offered by such centers and requirements for operation, management, staffing, facilities, and maintenance and directs the Board to promulgate emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

Transportation Trust Fund; investments; personal liability. Extends the limitation on personal liability for loss in investments from moneys in the Transportation Trust Fund to an individual's actions taken while serving on or employed by certain entities, even if such individual no longer serves on or is employed by any such entity. The bill also applies such limitation on personal liability for loss in investments to members and employees of the Central Virginia Transportation Authority. This bill is identical to SB 1250.

Dangerous dogs; criteria for adjudication. Allows a court to find an animal is a dangerous dog if the threat, injury, or damage was sustained by a person who was willfully trespassing or if at the time of the acts complained of the animal was protecting its kennel, its offspring, or its owner's property. The bill retains the restriction on a court from finding an animal is dangerous if such animal was responding to pain or injury to itself, its owner, or another person but requires the other person to be in the animal's presence.

Notifying the Governor of organization.

Virginia Consumer Protection Act; professional mold remediators; study and report; emergency. Requires a professional mold remediator selling or offering for sale services to be performed upon any residential dwelling to hold a mold remediation certification from a nationally or internationally recognized certifying body for mold remediation. Under current law, such professional mold remediator is required to hold such certification from the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification. The provisions of the bill requiring such certification from a nationally or internationally recognized certifying body contain an emergency clause.The bill also directs the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation to study the current state of the mold inspection and mold remediation workforce in the Commonwealth to determine whether there is sufficient proof that justifies the licensure or certification of mold inspectors and mold remediators and, if so, recommend educational, experiential, or examination requirements for such licensure or certification. The bill directs the Department to submit a report on the state of the mold inspection and mold remediation workforce in the Commonwealth to the House Committee on General Laws, the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology, and the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules by November 1, 2025. This bill was incorporated into HB 2195.

Real property tax; assessment of affordable rental housing. Directs the Department of Taxation to develop a uniform income and expense reporting form that may be provided by duly authorized assessors and completed by the owners of affordable rental housing properties prior to assessment of such affordable rental housing properties. The bill provides that the duly authorized real estate assessor charged with determining the fair market value of affordable rental housing shall use the income approach when such housing generates income unless certain information is not provided by the property owner. The bill specifies that the foregoing provisions shall become effective for assessments beginning on or after January 1, 2026. Finally, the bill directs the Department to develop, in consultation with a stakeholder group, the uniform income and expense reporting form no later than September 1, 2025, and directs the Department to provide by November 1, 2025, a letter to the Chairs of the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations and the House Committee on Finance with an update on the development of such form and implementation of training for assessing officials and contracted assessors on the assessment of affordable rental housing.

Postpartum Depression Education Act; report. Directs the Department of Health to establish a public awareness campaign, develop and distribute educational materials, and create an online resource hub focused on perinatal and postpartum depression. The bill requires the Department to submit an annual report to the Governor and the General Assembly on the implementation of the bill, with the first annual report due by November 1, 2026.

Baccalaureate public institutions of higher education; livestreaming, recording, and archiving of boards of visitors meetings; closed sessions; guidelines. Establishes several requirements, subject to a reenactment clause, relating to public access to meetings of the governing boards of baccalaureate public institutions of higher education. The bill also requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, in consultation with the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council and a representative from the Library of Virginia, to work with the public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth and with technology experts to develop minimal uniform standards, to the extent practicable, for (i) providing the public with real-time access to the meetings of governing boards of public institutions of higher education and the meetings of committees of such boards, (ii) archiving the recordings of such meetings, and (iii) taking minutes at such meetings. The bill requires any such minimal uniform standards to be implemented by each public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth no later than July 1, 2026.

Digital Right to Repair Act; access to diagnostics, tools, service documentation, and firmware; penalties; civil action. Requires an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of digital electronic equipment, or parts for such equipment, to make available to owners of such equipment and to independent repair providers, on fair and reasonable terms, documentation, parts, and tools for purposes of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of such equipment. The bill requires, for digital electronic equipment that contains an electronic security lock or other security-related function, OEMs to make available to the owners of such equipment and to independent repair providers, on fair and reasonable terms, any special documentation, parts, and tools needed to disable such lock or function and to reset it when disabled. A violation of the bill's provisions is a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. Any person who suffers a loss as the result of a violation of the bill's provisions shall be entitled to initiate an action for an injunction to enforce such provisions. The bill applies with respect to equipment sold or in use in the Commonwealth on or after January 1, 2026.