Electric utilities; energy storage requirements; Department of Energy and Department of Environmental Quality to develop model ordinances; work groups; reports. Increases the targets for energy storage capacity that Appalachian Power and Dominion Energy Virginia are required to petition the State Corporation Commission for approval to construct, acquire, or procure and extends the time frame by which such capacity must be met. Under the bill, (i) Appalachian Power shall petition the Commission for approval to construct, acquire, or procure at least 780 megawatts of short-duration energy storage capacity by 2040 and 520 megawatts of long-duration energy storage capacity by 2045 and (ii) Dominion Energy Virginia shall petition the Commission for approval to construct, acquire, or procure at least 5,220 megawatts of short-duration energy storage capacity by 2045 and 3,480 megawatts of long-duration energy storage capacity by 2045. "Long-duration energy storage" and "short-duration energy storage" are defined in the bill. The bill requires the Commission to conduct a technology demonstration program for long-duration energy storage resources and initiate a proceeding to determine if such technology is viable and that the targets in the bill are reasonably achievable, for which a final order shall be entered no later than March 1, 2030. Certain provisions of the bill are only effective upon such determination by the Commission.The bill requires the Department of Energy, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Fire Programs, to create model ordinances for use by localities in their regulation of energy storage projects and to convene a work group to develop such model ordinances and submit a report by December 1, 2025. The bill directs the Department of Energy and the Department of Environmental Quality to convene a work group to develop recommendations and financial incentives related to the development of long-duration energy storage projects and submit a report by December 1, 2025. The bill also directs the Department of Energy to engage with PJM Interconnection, LLC, in reviewing regional market conditions related to energy storage resources and permits Dominion Energy Virginia to propose a partnership with institutions of higher education to deploy energy storage resources. This bill is identical to HB 2537.

Charitable gaming; poker events. Defines poker event for the purposes of charitable gaming to mean a Texas Hold'em poker game or Texas Hold'em poker tournament in which (i) a schedule of fixed and variable fees for entry into the poker event and the number of chips received for such fees is established and posted; (ii) rebuys, reentries, and add-ons are permitted without limitation; (iii) chips with cash value are permitted to be used; (iv) games and tournaments may be run concurrently; (v) no limit applies to how many poker events occur during the time listed on the permit for such poker event; and (vi) a seating fee may be charged at a rate of up to $8 up to once every 30 minutes. The bill requires any qualified organization that conducts any poker event to use at least 20 percent of its poker adjusted gross receipts, defined in the bill, from the conduct of Texas Hold'em poker tournaments for (a) those lawful religious, charitable, community, or educational purposes for which the organization is specifically chartered or organized or (b) those expenses related to the acquisition, construction, maintenance, or repair of any interest in real property involved in the operation of the organization and used for lawful religious, charitable, community, or educational purposes. The bill also outlines certain specifics related to the conduct of poker events, including remuneration to operators and tips or gratuities paid to dealers and employees of such operators.

Persian Heritage Month. Designates March, in 2025 and in each succeeding year, as Persian Heritage Month in Virginia.

Constitutional amendments (first reference); executive branch of government; Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General; term limits. Prohibits any person from being eligible to be elected to more than two terms as Lieutenant Governor or Attorney General. The amendments provide that service for a partial term does not preclude serving the allowed number of full terms and applies the limits to terms of service to persons elected to serve as Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General in 2029 and thereafter.

Reaffirming the Commonwealth's support and commitment to the State of Israel and its supporters. Reaffirms the Commonwealth's support and unwavering commitment to the welfare, security, and survival of the State of Israel and to Jewish Americans and to the inherent rights and safety of those who support Israel regardless of their faith or persuasion.

School crossing zones; institutions of higher education. Expands the definition of "school crossing zone" to include areas surrounding schools where the presence of students reasonably requires a special warning to motorists and provides that the term "school" includes public institutions of higher education and nonprofit private institutions of higher education. Currently, the definition of "school crossing zone" includes only areas surrounding schools where the presence of children requires such warning. Existing provisions of law allowing photo speed monitoring devices to be installed in school crossing zones will apply to any location that meets the expanded definition.

State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; School of Dentistry of Virginia Commonwealth University; efficacy of expanding facilities; study; report. Directs the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to, in consultation with the entities set forth in the bill, study and submit to the Governor, the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance and Appropriations, and the House Committees on Education and Appropriations by November 1, 2025, a report on the efficacy of expanding the School of Dentistry of Virginia Commonwealth University's facilities into a building owned by the Commonwealth located in Southern Virginia.

Mass Violence Care Fund established.

Income tax; family caregiver tax credit. Creates a nonrefundable family caregiver tax credit for taxable years 2025 through 2029 for expenses incurred by an individual in caring for an eligible family member, defined in the bill, who requires assistance with one or more activities of daily living, also defined in the bill. The credit equals 50 percent of eligible expenditures incurred by the caregiver up to $1,000. To qualify for the credit, the family caregiver must (i) not receive any compensation or reimbursement for the eligible expenditures and (ii) have federal adjusted gross income that is no greater than $100,000 or, if such family caregiver is married and filing jointly, shall have federal adjusted gross income of no greater than $200,000. The bill requires the Tax Commissioner to establish guidelines for claiming the credit and provides that any unused credit may be carried forward by the taxpayer for five taxable years following the taxable year for which the credit was issued.

Military and emergency laws; closure of United States government; civil relief for furloughed employees and contractors; emergency. Extends from 30 days to 60 days the stay of a foreclosure proceeding on any mortgage or the execution of or sale under any deed of trust for any (i) homeowner who defaults on a note that is secured by a one-family to four-family residential property or (ii) owner who rents a one-family to four-family residential dwelling unit who defaults on a note that is secured by such property after the commencement of a closure of the United States government. The bill also removes from the definition of "closure of the United States government" the requirement that such closure be for a period of 14 consecutive days or longer. The bill contains an emergency clause.

Online marketplace; high-volume third-party sellers. Establishes requirements for high-volume third-party sellers, defined in the bill as participants in an online marketplace that have entered into at least 200 discrete sales or transactions for 12 continuous months during the past 24 months resulting in accumulation of an aggregate total of $5,000 or more in gross revenues. The bill requires an online marketplace to (i) require high-volume third-party sellers to provide identifying and contact information to the online marketplace; (ii) verify the information provided by a high-volume third-party seller within 10 days of receipt; and (iii) require that high-volume third-party sellers make certain conspicuous disclosures to consumers on their product listing pages, with certain limited exceptions. The bill provides that the Attorney General has the exclusive authority to enforce its provisions and authorizes the Attorney General to seek an injunction to restrain any violations of the bill and seek civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation. The bill also makes it a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act for any supplier in connection with a consumer transaction to sell, offer for sale, or facilitate the sale, including through an online marketplace platform or other online website or through the supplier's warehouse or distribution center, of stolen goods.

School-issued devices; protection of student personal information. Establishes certain enumerated requirements for the protection of student personal information on school-issued devices, as defined in the bill, by certain public schools and school boards and by school technology providers, as defined in the bill, that are substantially similar to the requirements established in current law for the protection of student personal information on school services by school service providers.

Governor; protecting the resiliency of the Commonwealth's critical infrastructure. Directs the Governor to establish two committees, the Critical Infrastructure Committee and the Resilient Energy Committee, consisting of security professionals, energy experts, utility representatives, and scientists, for the purpose of assessing Virginia's critical infrastructure and making recommendations for the protection of such infrastructure from all hazards.

Public schools; textbooks and other high-quality instructional materials.

Pilot program for underground  transmission lines; qualifying projects. Authorizes the State Corporation Commission to, in reviewing any application submitted by a public utility for a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the construction of an electrical transmission line of 500 kilovolts filed between January 2025 and July 2032, approve up to two applications for qualifying projects to be constructed in whole or in part underground as part of the pilot program for underground transmission lines and to provide an expedited review of any such application. The bill removes certain provisions related to the existing pilot program. Under the bill, a project shall be qualified if an engineering analysis demonstrates that it is technically feasible, if the applicant provides an overall cost of the project and its impact on electric service rates, and if the governing body of each locality in which a portion of the proposed line will be placed underground indicates support for the transmission line to be placed underground. The bill permits the Commission to deny an application for a project that otherwise meets the criteria to qualify, provided that the Commission shares its rationale for doing so. Additionally, rather than assigning certain costs to be recovered by Virginia jurisdictional customers, the bill requires that such costs be allocated by the Commission in a manner that is just and reasonable for customers.