Small Family Day Home Provider Incentive Pilot Program established. Establishes the four-year Small Family Day Home Provider Incentive Pilot Program whereby funds are provided to the Ready Region Chesapeake Bay lead to work in conjunction with public and private partners to (i) cover the cost of hiring a Navigator focused on providing training and support to small family day homes in the region, including weekend training sessions to provide information on first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification, medication administration, safe sleep practices, emergency planning, recordkeeping, insurance, and compliance with relevant local ordinances, and (ii) provide incentive payments of $500 to any small family day home in the region (a) that is not licensed or voluntarily registered when such home achieves voluntary registration, (b) that is voluntarily registered or otherwise unlicensed when such home achieves licensure, and (c) when such home first participates in the Virginia Quality Birth to Five (VQB5) system. The bill requires the Ready Region Chesapeake Bay lead to annually collect and make publicly available data on the number of small family day homes in the region that (1) participated in the weekend trainings provided by the Navigator and (2) received incentive payments for first achieving voluntary registration or licensure or participating in VQB5.

Carrying a firearm or explosive material within Capitol Square or building owned or leased by the Commonwealth; exemptions; public institutions of higher education; penalty. Permits the governing board of a public institution of higher education to adopt a policy prohibiting the carrying of any firearm, ammunition, or components or combination thereof within any building owned or operated by such public institution of higher education. The bill allows such policy to include security measures that are designed to reasonably prevent the unauthorized access of buildings that are open to the public. Finally, the bill exempts certain activities, defined in the bill, operated at public or private institutions of higher education from any policy created by a governing board. This bill is identical to SB 1182.

Assault and battery of law-enforcement officer; definition of law-enforcement officer; penalty. Adds officers of the Virginia Marine Police to the definition of law-enforcement officer, which means that the punishment for committing an assault and battery on such an officer who is engaged in the performance of his public duties is elevated from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony, with a six-month mandatory minimum term of confinement.

Real Estate Board; membership; qualifications. Increases from five to seven years the amount of time a licensed real estate broker or salesperson must be actively engaged in the profession in order to serve as a member of the Real Estate Board. The bill also provides additional qualifications and requirements specific to those members who are licensed real estate brokers or salespersons. This bill is identical to HB 2210.

Obscene materials; restrictions on purchase, distribution, exhibition, or loan; exceptions; libraries and schools. Modifies the exception to restrictions on the purchase, distribution, exhibition, or loan of any book, magazine, or other printed or manuscript material that contains obscene materials by providing that schools supported by public appropriation are not subject to the exception and limiting the exception applicable to libraries supported by public appropriation only to obscene material that is available exclusively in a section of the library to which access is restricted by age.

Assault and battery; Virginia Marine Police officers; penalty. Adds Virginia Marine Police officers to the definition of "law-enforcement officer" as such definition relates to the Class 6 felony for any person who commits an assault or assault and battery against another knowing or having reason to know that such other person is a law-enforcement officer.

Electric utilities; renewable portfolio standard program; deficiency payments. Removes provisions requiring deficiency payments by certain electric utilities if such utilities are unable to meet the compliance obligation of the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) program requirements or if the cost of renewable energy certificates necessary to comply with RPS program requirements exceeds $45 per megawatt hour.

Fishing with trawl nets and drag nets; shrimp and horseshoe crab; license fee; penalty. Allows the Marine Resources Commission to issue licenses or permits to any person to take or catch fish, shellfish, or marine organisms with a trawl net, drag net, or similar device within the three-mile limit of the Virginia Atlantic shoreline for the shrimp and horseshoe crab fisheries. The bill specifies that such license or permit shall be accompanied by a fee of $100 or as subsequently revised by the Commission for each boat so employed. Current law allows any person to fish with trawl nets and drag nets for fish, shellfish, or marine organisms, provided such person has a license issued by the Commission to trawl within the three-mile limit from Cape Charles north to the Maryland line, except during September and October and from 36° 40' north latitude south to the North Carolina line at any time, and from Cape Henry south to 36° 40' north latitude between October 1 and May 1. This bill is identical to HB 1697.

Real property tax exemption; surviving spouses of members of the armed forces who died in the line of duty. Authorizes localities by ordinance to provide a total exemption from real property taxes regardless of assessed value beginning in taxable year 2025. Under current law, a total exemption is only allowed for those dwellings in the locality with assessed values in the most recently ended tax year that are not in excess of the average assessed value for such year of a dwelling situated on property that is zoned as single family residential.

Dulles Greenway; toll rates. Requires that (i) the toll rates for the Dulles Greenway set by the State Corporation Commission do not materially discourage the public's use of the toll road; (ii) the cost of operating the toll road is reasonably apportioned across all toll road users based on the relative distance each class of user travels on the toll road, such that the toll rates are established in a reasonable and nondiscriminatory manner in relation to the benefit obtained; and (iii) such toll rates provide the operator with no more than a reasonable return, which is defined in the bill.

Industrial development authorities; Town of Front Royal. Extends from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2030, the period of time during which the industrial development authority created by the Town of Front Royal may include Warren County in any of its economic development projects.

Department of Veterans Services; powers and duties of Commissioner; online portal. Provides that the Commissioner of the Department of Veterans Services shall develop and maintain an online portal to connect veterans, members of the Virginia National Guard, Virginia residents in the Armed Forces Reserves who qualify for veteran status, and their immediate family members to available resources, programs, and services in the Commonwealth and provide a means to submit electronic applications for such resources, programs, and services.

Services for sexual assault patients; provision of information for sexual assault patients; Task Force on Services for Survivors of Sexual Assault; work group; report. Changes instances of "sexual assault survivor" and its variations to "sexual assault patient." The bill requires health care facilities to provide information on local or statewide sexual and domestic violence advocacy services to adult and pediatric patients. The bill removes language requiring hospitals to enter into a memorandum of understanding with rape crisis centers, removes language allowing sexual assault patients to be transferred to clinics, and repeals the statute establishing the Task Force on Services for Survivors of Sexual Assault. The bill directs the Director of the Department of Criminal Justice Services to convene a work group to address sustainable funding for sexual assault medical forensic examinations and services. The bill requires the work group to submit a report with recommendations to the Chairs of the House Committee on Health and Human Services, the House Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Education and Health, and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations by November 1, 2025. This bill is identical to SB 1005.

Decreasing probation period; criteria for mandatory reduction. Establishes criteria for which a defendant's supervised probation period shall be reduced, including completing qualifying educational activities, maintaining verifiable employment, complying with or completing any state-certified or state-approved mental health or substance abuse treatment program, securing and maintaining qualifying health insurance or a qualifying health care plan, and obtaining housing and establishing residence. The bill provides that a court may decrease a defendant's probation period if warranted by the defendant's conduct and in the interests of justice and may do so without a hearing, unless the defendant poses an imminent threat to the health and safety of himself or others. The bill requires the Department of Corrections to meet with all relevant stakeholders and report to the General Assembly on (i) current practices for community supervision as it relates to monitoring engagement and attainment in education, employment, treatment, and other programs and making recommendations to the court for modification of time served on probation; (ii) how such practices compare to the processes and practices that would be established pursuant to the bill; and (iii) a plan for such implementation by November 1, 2025. Except for this provision requiring the Department of Corrections to meet with all relevant stakeholders and report to the General Assembly, the provisions of the bill do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2026 Session of the General Assembly. This bill is identical to HB 2252.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; algorithmic device services or products prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits the sale of algorithmic device services or products, as defined in the bill, for the purpose of setting or recommending the amount of rent to be charged to a tenant for the occupancy of a dwelling unit. The bill also prohibits a person engaged in the business of providing algorithmic device services or products for the purpose of advising a landlord of the amount of rent that such landlord may consider charging a tenant for the occupancy of a dwelling unit from using nonpublic competitor data, defined in the bill, pertaining to residential properties in the Commonwealth in algorithmic calculations. A violation of such prohibited practices is considered an unfair deceptive trade practice for which the Attorney General may cause an action to be brought in the name of the Commonwealth.