Commending Doris B. Land.

Board for Professional and Occupational Regulation; powers and duties. Requires the Board for Professional and Occupational Regulation to (i) review and comment on the budget for the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation and (ii) periodically review professions and occupations regulated by the Department and determine whether the regulation level for such professions or occupations should change or whether such professions or occupations should be deregulated. Should the Board determine that a profession or occupation should be regulated at a different level than its current level of regulation or should be deregulated, the bill provides that it must make such recommendation to the General Assembly. This bill is identical to SB 1096.

Secretary of the Commonwealth; wage garnishment process; work group; report. Directs the Secretary of the Commonwealth to convene a work group of relevant stakeholders to review the current wage garnishment process and assess whether the garnishment of wages, salaries, commissions, or other earnings should be an enforcement mechanism utilized only for the collection of specific types of debts owed by a judgment debtor. The bill directs the work group to report its findings to the Chairmen of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice by November 1, 2025.

Commending the Clover Volunteer Fire Department.

Charter; City of Poquoson. Amends the charter for the City of Poquoson to give the city council authority to expel, by a vote of four-sevenths of the whole city council, any person appointed to a city board or commission by the city council.

Uniform Statewide Building Code; amendments; natural gas leak detectors. Directs the Board of Housing and Community Development to consider adopting amendments to the Uniform Statewide Building Code to require the installation of natural gas leak detectors in residential buildings with natural gas piping installed.

Notifying defendant of consequences criminal proceedings can have on immigration. Requires that upon the defendant's first appearance for any misdemeanor or felony, the court shall advise the defendant of the following: The outcome of criminal proceedings may have federal immigration and naturalization consequences.

Electric utilities; request for proposals required for certain facilities. Requires an electric utility seeking approval to construct or purchase a generating facility that emits carbon dioxide to demonstrate that it has conducted a request for proposals designed to fairly evaluate all available supply-side and demand-side options prior to seeking approval for such generating facility. The bill requires the State Corporation Commission to review the request for proposals before the utility's issuance to ensure all available resources will be fairly evaluated.

History Education Advisory Board established. Establishes the 32-member History Education Advisory Board to advise the Governor, his cabinet members, the Board of Education, and the General Assembly on the current ways in which African American, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Latino, Indigenous, Women's, and LGBTQ+ history are described in the relevant Standards of Learning and associated curriculum frameworks; how that content is taught in classrooms; and strategies to develop African American history and social studies elective courses, Asian American and Pacific Islander history and social studies elective courses, Latino history and social studies elective courses, Indigenous history and social studies elective courses, Women's history and social studies elective courses, and LGBTQ+ history and social studies elective courses.

Subpoenas duces tecum; financial records of nonparty; report. Authorizes a nonparty to a civil proceeding to file a motion to quash or modify a subpoena duces tecum issued by a party to such proceeding for the production of (i) financial records of a nonparty account holder or (ii) if such nonparty is an attorney, such attorney's records subject to attorney-client privilege. The bill also prohibits certain financial entities from conditioning the compliance with a subpoena for production of financial records upon the payment of fees for producing such records. The bill directs the Supreme Court of Virginia to amend its rules as necessary to be consistent with the provisions of the bill. Finally, the bill directs the Boyd-Graves Conference to study whether the Code of Virginia should be amended further to grant standing to other nonparties to file a motion to quash or modify a subpoena duces tecum for other types of records requested by a party in a civil proceeding and to submit the findings of such study to the Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees for Courts of Justice by November 1, 2025. This bill is identical to SB 1010.

Abortion; treatment of a nonviable pregnancy; emergency. Provides that the criminal penalties applicable to the performance of an abortion do not apply to the treatment of a nonviable pregnancy, as defined in the bill, provided that, pursuant to reasonable standards of care, failure to treat such nonviable pregnancy by terminating the pregnancy or attempting to terminate the pregnancy by performing an abortion or inducing a miscarriage is likely to result in the death of the woman or would substantially and irremediably impair the physical health of the woman. The bill contains an emergency clause.

Virginia income tax subtractions; disability income. Allows an individual who claims an income tax subtraction for disability income to also claim an income tax deduction for taxpayers age 65 and older.

Donor human milk banks; health insurance; coverage for donor human milk; penalty. Prohibits any person from establishing or operating a donor human milk bank, as defined in the bill, without first obtaining a license from the State Health Commissioner and makes it a Class 6 felony for any person to establish or operate a donor human milk bank in the Commonwealth without obtaining such license. The bill also establishes requirements, policies, and procedures, for the operation and administration of licensed human donor milk banks, including procedures relating to disciplinary actions, application fees, and inspections and interviews related to such donor human milk banks. The bill directs (i) the State Board of Health to establish a regulatory and statutory scheme for the licensure and regulation of donor human milk banks operating or doing business in the Commonwealth and (ii) the Commissioner to implement and enforce numerous regulations relating to the issuance, renewal, denial, suspension, and revocation of such licenses. The bill requires (a) health insurers, corporations providing health care coverage subscription contracts, and health maintenance organizations to provide coverage for expenses and (b) the state plan for medical assistance services to include a provision for payment of medical assistance services incurred in the provision of pasteurized donor human milk for any infant that is younger than the age of six months and who satisfies certain criteria enumerated in the bill. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; conservation officers. Extends membership in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System (VaLORS) to conservation officers of the Department of Conservation and Recreation. The bill provides that such membership applies only to service earned on or after July 1, 2025.

Virginia Energy Facility Review Board established; localities; comprehensive plan and local ordinances related to siting of critical interconnection projects; planning district commissions; regional energy plans; Virginia Clean Energy Technical Assistance Center established. Establishes the Virginia Energy Facility Review Board as a political subdivision of the Commonwealth for the purposes of conducting critical interconnection reviews, conduct analysis and study policy options, review regional energy plans, local comprehensive plans, and local solar and storage ordinances and to facilitate the responsible siting of critical interconnection projects in the Commonwealth.The bill also establishes the Virginia Clean Energy Technical Assistance Center, consisting of public institutions of higher education, to serve as an interdisciplinary study, research, and information resource and to provide technical assistance to state agencies, planning district commissions, localities, the Review Board, other public bodies, and private entities in matters related to critical interconnection projects. The bill requires the Center to collaborate with the Review Board to issue the regional energy report and to establish the model local ordinance.The bill requires the Review Board to issue a regional energy report that models each planning district's meaningful annual contribution to clean energy generation, energy efficiency measures, and energy storage. Each planning district commission is required to adopt a regional energy plan to address energy generation, storage, and use that demonstrates a meaningful contribution to the Commonwealth's energy goals as determined by the regional energy report issued by the Review Board and to submit the plan to the Review Board. The Review Board is required to determine if a regional energy plan is in compliance with certain provisions within 60 days of receipt of such plan. If the Review Board determines that the regional energy plan is not in compliance, the relevant planning district commission has 60 days to adopt a compliant regional energy plan. If the relevant planning district commission fails to adopt a compliant energy plan within the 60 days, the Review Board, within 90 days of such failure, is required to issue an alternative regional energy plan that is in effect for such region.The bill requires the Review Board to establish a model local ordinance for siting, permitting, and zoning of critical interconnection projects and all other ground-mounted front-of-meter solar energy and energy storage projects. The bill requires each locality to adopt an ordinance for the permitting of solar energy facilities and energy storage facilities that is consistent with the Commonwealth Clean Energy Policy and the model ordinance and submit it to the Review Board. Under the bill, the Review Board is required to determine if the local ordinance is compliant with certain requirements. If the Review Board determines that the local ordinance is not in compliance, the locality has 60 days to adopt a compliant local ordinance. If the locality fails to adopt a compliant local ordinance within the 60 days, the bill provides that the model local ordinance established is in effect for such locality. The bill provides a procedure for a planning district commission or a locality to appeal a Review Board determination regarding a regional energy plan or a local ordinance.Under the bill, any developer planning to construct a critical interconnection project is required to submit an application to the Review Board. The Review Board is required to determine if the critical interconnection project (i) qualifies as a project of statewide significance, defined in the bill, and (ii) complies with the ordinance in each locality in which the proposed critical interconnection project would be located. In making its determination, the Review Board is required to consider the Commonwealth Clean Energy Policy, certain regulations adopted by the State Air Pollution Control Board, certain renewable portfolio requirements, and any other information it deems relevant. The bill provides that the Review Board has the discretion to disregard any unreasonable restriction, defined in the bill, in the local ordinance on the installation of the critical interconnection projects or the building of structures that facilitate the installation of critical interconnection projects. In addition, the Review Board may consider any regional energy plan developed by the relevant planning district commission. The Review Board is required to issue its opinion on the critical interconnection project within 90 days of receiving an application.The bill requires a locality to issue its final decision regarding any zoning change, variance, or the issuance of a special exemption, special use permit, or conditional use permit related to a critical interconnection project no later than 180 days after receiving a critical interconnection opinion issued by the Review Board. If the locality's final decision diverges from the Review Board's opinion, the locality is required to include a written determination setting forth all facts and conclusions reached by the locality that support its final decision. Under the bill, a locality's failure to make a final decision within the 180-day period constitutes a granting of the zoning change, variance, special exemption, special use permit, or conditional use permit related to a critical interconnection project.The bill requires that any appeal of a locality's decision related to a critical interconnection project will be filed in the circuit court of such locality. The bill provides that such appeal can be brought only by the aggrieved applicant or the owner of the property subject to a special exception and no other person has standing to file such appeal or seek judicial review. Under the bill, in any such appeal, there is a rebuttable presumption that the opinion of the Review Board is correct. Such presumption may be overcome by a preponderance of the evidence that the locality's decision to grant or deny a project or to include the challenged conditions was consistent with provisions in the locality's ordinance that are not unreasonable restrictions. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation.