State Board of Elections; appointment of Commissioner of Elections. Changes the appointing authority of the Commissioner of Elections from the Governor to the State Board of Elections, with an affirmative vote of four of the five State Board members required for the appointment or removal of the Commissioner, subject to confirmation by the General Assembly. The bill also changes the start of the four-year term of the Commissioner from July 1 of the year following a gubernatorial election to the second year following such election. The bill exempts the Department of Elections from provisions allowing the Governor to appoint a chief deputy and a confidential assistant for policy or administration. In the event that a vacancy occurs in the office of the Commissioner, the bill provides that the Director of Operations of the Department will perform the duties of the Commissioner until such vacancy is filled by the State Board. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2026.

Prisoners; Department of Corrections-issued identification; report. Requires that prior to the release or discharge into the community of any prisoner who has been confined for at least 90 days and does not possess a government-issued identification card, birth certificate, or social security card, the Department of Corrections, in conjunction with the Department of Motor Vehicles, the State Registrar of Vital Records, and any other relevant government agency, shall provide such prisoner with a certified copy of his birth certificate, his social security card, or a government-issued identification card, unless such provision of a government-issued identification card is not possible, in which case, the Department of Corrections shall provide the prisoner with a Department of Corrections Offender Identification form. The bill also specifies what identifying information must be included on such form and provides that such form shall be verified by the Department of Corrections and provided to the Department of Motor Vehicles in a secured format and by a means mutually agreed upon by both and shall serve as proof of identity and proof of Virginia residency and may serve as proof of legal presence in the United States or proof of a social security number, if one is available, as required to obtain a government-issued identification card for the 120 days immediately following the release or discharge of the prisoner identified on such form. The bill also requires the Department of Corrections and the Department of Motor Vehicles to cooperatively establish procedures for verifying a Department of Corrections Offender Identification form and all information contained therein and prohibits the Department of Motor Vehicles from accepting such form if the form or any of the information contained on the form cannot be verified. These provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026. The bill also directs the Department of Corrections, in coordination with the State Board of Local and Regional Jails, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and the State Registrar of Vital Records, to (i) identify the number of prisoners released with and without identification cards; (ii) review the processes involved in assisting a prisoner in applying for and obtaining a government-issued identification card, birth certificate, or social security card; (iii) identify any obstacles that may interfere with a prisoner obtaining such identification or documents prior to such prisoner's release or discharge; and (iv) issue a report of its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly no later than November 1, 2025.

Baccalaureate public institutions of higher education; intercollegiate athletics programs; certain intrastate competition required. Requires the board of visitors of each baccalaureate public institution of higher education that is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to ensure that each intercollegiate athletics program that contributes to the institution's athletics revenue competes at least once every eight years against the intercollegiate athletics program in the same sport and in the same NCAA division at each other baccalaureate public institution of higher education. The bill provides that the foregoing provisions shall not be construed to prohibit or affect any contract or agreement between baccalaureate public institutions of higher education for the provision and receipt of compensation for competition between their intercollegiate athletics programs.

Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities; program extension. Directs the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to take all steps necessary to implement the federal extension option for the federal Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities to allow children four years of age or younger to receive services through such program.

Department of State Police; Central Criminal Records Exchange; reports. Removes the requirement that the Central Criminal Records Exchange submit an annual report to the Governor and General Assembly on the status of unapplied criminal history record information and updates to fingerprinting policies and procedures. The bill also repeals a provision requiring the State Police to report annually on the list of governmental entities with access to the Department of Motor Vehicles' privileged information through certain databases.

State Board of Local and Regional Jails; oversight of local and regional jails; powers and duties. Increases from 11 to 19 the membership of the State Board of Local and Regional Jails (the Board) by requiring the appointment of (i) two members of the Senate and two members of the House of Delegates and (ii) four additional nonlegislative citizen members, including (a) one representative of a nonprofit organization that provides training or rehabilitation programs for incarcerated inmates; (b) one male citizen and one female citizen who were formerly incarcerated within the Commonwealth; and (c) one person who is a grandparent, parent, child, sibling, or spouse or domestic partner of a person currently incarcerated within the Commonwealth.The bill also adds numerous additional duties for the Board, including to (1) provide information, as appropriate, to inmates, family members, representatives of inmates, and local, regional, and community correctional facility employees and contractors and others regarding the rights of inmates; (2) establish policies for a statewide uniform reporting system to collect and analyze data related to complaints received in or about local, regional, and community correctional facilities; (3) monitor, document, review, and report on the operation of stores and commissaries in local correctional facilities and systems for providing electronic visitation and messaging and telephone calls; and (4) review, monitor, and report and make recommendations on policies related to (A) attorney access to clients for calls and visitation; (B) access to voting for incarcerated individuals who are eligible to vote; and (C) the collection of data on suicides, suicide attempts, and self-harm in custody. The bill also specifies additional information to be included in the Board's currently required annual report to the General Assembly and the Governor and requires such report to be made available to the public online.The bill enumerates certain items for assessment that may be included in the Board's annual inspection of each local correctional facility, as required by current law, and also specifies the Board's authority and right to access such facilities, interview persons, and access certain information and documents. Upon completion of an inspection, the bill requires the Board to produce a report, including information enumerated in the bill, to be made available to the public online and to be delivered to the Governor, the Attorney General, the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services, the House Committee on Public Safety, and the sheriff in charge of the local correctional facility or superintendent of the regional correctional facility.Finally, the bill allows the Board to initiate and attempt to resolve an investigation upon its own initiative, or upon receipt of a complaint from an inmate, a family member or representative of an inmate, or a local, regional, or community correctional facility employee or contractor, or others, regarding various concerns as enumerated in the bill. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

Property under common ownership; creation of easements. Provides that a private appurtenant easement may be created for any purposes by the owner of the dominant and servient estate by the recordation of an instrument that grants or reserves such easement. The bill further provides that the rule of property law known as the doctrine of merger shall not prevent such grant or reservation.

Office of New Americans Advisory Board; increase in membership. Increases from 18 to 21 the number of nonlegislative citizen members of the Office of New Americans Advisory Board and adds the Secretaries of Commerce and Trade, Education, Health and Human Resources, Labor, Public Safety and Homeland Security, and Transportation as ex officio members with nonvoting privileges. This bill was incorporated into HB 2279.

Constitutional amendment (first reference); right to food choice. Proposes an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia that declares the right of the people to acquire the food of their choice from the source of their choice shall not be infringed.

Guidelines and policies on school-connected overdose; response and parental notification. Adjusts the contents of the guidelines that the Board of Education is required to establish for school-connected overdose response and parental notification policies by requiring such guidelines to include guidance and model language for the development and implementation of a policy requiring each school board to provide within 24 hours of any school-connected overdose notification to the parent of each student within the local school division and criteria for ensuring sensitivity to the privacy interests of affected individuals in issuing such notification. The bill also requires each school board to notify the parent of each student in the local school division of any school-connected overdose within 24 hours of the overdose occurring in accordance with the guidance and criteria provided by the Board of Education.

Department of Taxation; free tax filing program. Directs the Tax Commissioner to terminate the Virginia Free File program and the related agreement with the Consortium for Virginia. The bill also requires the Tax Commissioner to develop and offer a free individual state income tax filing program, effective beginning in taxable year 2028, that is similar to and compatible with the federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Direct File program. To implement the new program, the bill requires the Tax Commissioner to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the IRS and coordinate with the IRS in program development. The bill contains technical amendments that remove obsolete language regarding fillable forms. This bill is identical to SB 1306.

Toll relief; maximum charges. Limits to $200 per month the tolls charged to residents of the Commonwealth via electronic toll collection devices for the use of toll bridges, toll ferries, toll tunnels, or toll roads in the Commonwealth. The bill prohibits misusing, sharing, or transferring an electronic toll collection device for the purpose of (i) generating tolls to reach the toll charges limit or (ii) obtaining toll-free use of toll facilities in the Commonwealth. The bill authorizes the free use of all toll bridges, toll roads, and other toll facilities in the Commonwealth for drivers who are recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits.

Entitlement to sales tax revenues from certain public facilities; sunset. Extends from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2028, the period of time during which authorized localities may issue bonds on or after January 1, 2013, for the construction of public facilities and retain sales and use tax revenue generated within such facilities to pay off such bonds.

Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund; Director of Department of Environmental Quality; point source pollution grant agreements. Clarifies that the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality is only required to enter into water quality improvement grant agreements with all facilities designated as significant dischargers or eligible nonsignificant dischargers that apply for such grants if sufficient and unobligated funds are available in the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund at the time the Director enters into such grant agreements.

Concealed handgun permit; demonstrated competence. Removes the requirement that an applicant for a concealed handgun permit demonstrate competence with a handgun in person. The bill adds the option for such applicant to participate in certain firearms safety or training courses or classes via a live class conducted using a two-way electronic video and audio communication system.