Electric utilities; generation of electricity from renewable and zero carbon sources; projects on or adjacent to public elementary or secondary schools. Provides that for purposes of compliance with a renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS) program, to the extent that low-income qualifying projects, as defined in existing law, are not available and projects located on or adjacent to public elementary or secondary schools are available, a certain percentage of the required projects shall be composed of projects located on or adjacent to public elementary or secondary schools. This bill is identical to SB 1192.

Coastal storm risk management; Office of Commonwealth Resilience to study costs of feasibility studies; report. Directs the Office of Commonwealth Resilience to conduct a study to (i) examine the methodologies and criteria, if any, that other states in the United States use to apportion responsibility between the state and the participating localities for that portion of the cost of coastal storm risk management (CSRM) feasibility studies and plan implementation for which the nonfederal sponsor is responsible and (ii) develop a recommended methodology and associated criteria for apportioning responsibility of the same for CSRM feasibility studies and plan implementation in Virginia. The bill directs the Office of Commonwealth Resilience to complete its work no later than November 30, 2026, and the Chief Resilience Officer of the Commonwealth to submit a report of the findings and recommendations of the study to the Governor and the General Assembly no later than December 31, 2026.

Waste tire disposal by producers and haulers; fee; requirements. Requires a hauler, as defined in the bill, to (i) register and submit a quarterly report with the Department of Environmental Quality, (ii) provide financial assurance in the form of a bond, and (iii) transfer all waste tires and speculatively accumulated waste tires to a transfer station, material recovery facility, landfill with a solid waste permit as required by law, waste tire end user, or waste tire processing facility. The bill requires a waste tire processing facility, as defined in the bill, to also submit a quarterly report to the Department and carry financial assurance in the form of a bond. The bill expands the purpose of the Waste Tire Trust Fund to include paying the costs of implementing the waste tire disposal requirements of haulers, paying the costs of removing waste tires during a locality-led amnesty day, and funding research, studies, and demonstration projects that stimulate the growth of existing and emerging markets for waste tires. Finally, the bill increases the tire recycling fee from $0.50 to $2 beginning July 1, 2026, and directs the Waste Management Board to adopt regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

Department of Education; survey of local education agencies on school-based mental and behavioral health services; report. Requires the Department of Education (the Department) to survey each local education agency (LEA) in the Commonwealth to determine (i) how public schools governed by such LEA currently grant access to local departments of social services and community services boards and other community-based providers of mental and behavioral health services and (ii) what school-based mental and behavioral health services are made available by such LEA. The bill requires the Department to utilize the results of and feedback from the survey to inform the continued development and improvement of guidelines for school professionals to support students and families by connecting them with community resources that provide mental and behavioral health services. The bill requires the Department to report to the Commission on Youth by November 1, 2025, any findings and recommendations that result from the survey. This bill is identical to SB 768.

Fair Voice Purchasing Act established; penalties. Prohibits a virtual assistant licensee or virtual assistant licensor, as such terms are defined in the bill, from providing voice purchasing on a smart speaker device or smart display device unless such licensee or licensor obtains consent from the user of such device.

Study; JLARC; transportation options in rural areas for persons with disabilities. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to study transportation options in rural areas for persons with disabilities and identify ways to expand or enhance such transportation services. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Disability Commission.

Board of Education; teacher licensure; career and technical education; alternative pathway to provisional licensure. Requires the Board of Education (the Board) to issue a provisional license to any person seeking an initial license in the Commonwealth with an endorsement in the area of career and technical education who has a high school diploma or a high school equivalency certificate and an industry-recognized credential, certification, or license in the area in which such person seeks an endorsement but has not completed all requirements specified in the Board's regulations for licensure to allow time for such person to complete, in lieu of the outstanding requirements specified in the Board's regulations for licensure, coursework in three areas specified in the bill. The bill directs the Board to amend its regulations as necessary in accordance with the provisions of the bill. This bill is identical to SB 879.

Charter; Town of Buchanan. Updates the charter of the Town of Buchanan in Botetourt County to reflect the shift to November municipal elections as required by general law. The bill also updates the town manager's residency requirements, requires the town manager to appoint the town clerk, and repeals the provisions of the town's charter relating to the appointment of commissioners of the Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; Board for Contractors; licensing examinations. Requires that Class A and Class B contractor licensing examinations contain questions that include factors for determining areas that constitute Resource Protection Areas pursuant to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act and factors for performing maintenance or constructing improvements on shorelines potentially subject to the requirements for living shorelines.

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 foregoing provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026. 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 is identical to HB 2165.

Teachers; employment and licensure; locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credentials. Establishes, enumerates criteria for, and permits a division superintendent or a comprehensive community college to issue a locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential, valid for a period not to exceed three years, to any individual who demonstrates expertise in content or subject matter area in order for such individual to provide instruction or coursework in a corresponding non-core subject or course, as that term is defined in the bill, in grades six through 12 at any public school in the Commonwealth or at a comprehensive community college in the Commonwealth, including dual enrollment or concurrent enrollment courses. The bill delineates the criteria for issuance of such locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential. The bill also contains several provisions relating to the employment of individuals under a locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential, including (i) permitting any school division or institution of higher education to hire any such individual on a full-time or part-time basis to teach a non-core subject or course; (ii) requiring any such individual to be subject to a background clearance check and the fingerprinting and criminal history records check requirements required as a condition of employment of any applicant who is offered or accepts employment at a school division pursuant to applicable law; (iii) requiring each employing school board to assign an individual employed by such school board as a mentor to supervise any individual issued a subject matter expert teaching credential; and (iv) permitting any division superintendent to renew an individual's locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential for a period not to exceed three additional years, provided that such individual receives satisfactory performance evaluations for each year of the original three-year locally awarded subject matter teaching credential. Finally, the bill requires each school division to annually report to the Department of Education the number of locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credentials issued for part-time and full-time teaching positions.

Short-term rental properties; human trafficking awareness training. Mandates every accommodations intermediary to require its accommodations providers to complete certain training on recognizing and reporting instances of suspected human trafficking. Current law limits this requirement to every hotel proprietor and its employees and excludes short-term rentals. The bill prohibits an accommodations intermediary from listing a short-term rental property prior to receipt of an up-to-date written certification signed by the accommodations provider of such property that such accommodations provider has complied with the relevant training requirements.

Elections; general provisions; prohibited area; 100 feet. Increases from 40 feet to 100 feet the areas around polling places, certain electoral board meetings, and recount locations within which certain activities or conduct are prohibited.

Northern Virginia Transportation Authority; recommendations related to the Northern Virginia Bicycle and Pedestrian Network Study; report. Directs the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority to coordinate with the Department of Transportation and certain other stakeholders to examine the findings of the Department of Transportation's December 2024 Northern Virginia Bicycle and Pedestrian Network Study and make recommendations on a method to implement and fund the infrastructure needs and other objectives identified in such study.

Certified public accountant; educational requirements. Clarifies education and experience requirements for candidates to qualify for CPA licensure. The bill also provides that, to qualify for practice privileges within the Commonwealth, an individual must have a license in good standing in another jurisdiction and have passed the CPA examination. The bill directs the Board of Accountancy to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. The bill contains technical amendments. This bill is identical to SB 1042.