Summary: Department of Fire Programs; work group; options for local government employees who respond to emergencies with toxic material exposure. Directs the Department of Fire Programs to convene a work group to identify and analyze options to help ensure that local government employees who respond to emergencies that expose them to toxic materials have appropriate preemptive and ongoing health care and are able to pay any health expenses related to such emergency and its aftereffects that are not covered by relevant health insurance plans. The work group is directed to report its findings to the General Assembly by November 1, 2024. This bill is identical to SB 650.

Summary: Use of canines in correctional and juvenile correctional facilities; prohibited acts. Makes it unlawful for any correctional officer or other employee of a state correctional facility who is permitted to handle canines to use a patrol or security canine in any state correctional facility unless such correctional officer or other employee (i) reasonably believes that the use of a patrol or security canine is immediately necessary to protect any prisoner or any officer or employee from the threat of serious bodily injury or death or (ii) has the prior approval of the warden or a supervisor to use a patrol or security canine to intervene in an altercation, fight, or other incident between three or more prisoners. The bill also makes it unlawful for any juvenile correctional officer or other employee of a juvenile correctional facility to use a patrol or security canine in any juvenile correctional facility. The bill specifies that such provisions shall not apply to the training or use of detector canines or detector canine handlers.

Summary: Arrest, prosecution, and disciplinary or administrative procedures and penalties for individuals experiencing or reporting overdoses while incarcerated. Provides that no individual incarcerated in a local, regional, or state correctional facility shall be subject to arrest or prosecution for or disciplinary or administrative procedures or penalties related to the unlawful purchase, possession, or consumption of alcohol; possession of a controlled substance; possession of marijuana; procurement, sale, secretion, or possession of any chemical compound not lawfully received; intoxication in public; or possession of controlled paraphernalia if such individual seeks or obtains emergency medical attention for himself or another individual experiencing an overdose or is experiencing an overdose and another individual seeks or obtains emergency medical attention for him. The bill also provides that no correctional officer, deputy sheriff, or jail officer acting in good faith shall be found liable for false arrest if it is later determined that the person arrested was immune from prosecution or disciplinary procedures or penalties.

Summary: Private security services business; trainingrequirements; human trafficking. Requires the compulsory minimum,entry-level, and in-service training standards for an unarmed securityofficer, armed security officer, courier, security canine handler,and alarm respondent to include a training requirement on recognizingand reporting instances of suspected human trafficking. The billprovides that the Department of Criminal Justice Services shall havethe power and duty to develop an online course to meet such trainingrequirement.

Summary: Department of Criminal Justice Services; law-enforcement officers; interrogation practices. Provides that the Department of Criminal Justice Services shall have the power and duty to establish a comprehensive framework for the custodial and noncustodial interrogation of adults and juveniles by law-enforcement officers within the Commonwealth, which shall include (i) developing policies and procedures for interrogation practices, including guidance on when the use of the following is considered lawful: (a) false promises of leniency, (b) misleading statements regarding evidence or statements of witnesses or co-conspirators, and (c) inauthentic replica documents or computer-generated audiovisual evidence; (ii) establishing and publishing a model policy for conducting such interrogations to serve as a guideline for criminal justice agencies in the Commonwealth; and (iii) establishing compulsory minimum training standards for basic training and recertification of law-enforcement officers on conducting such interrogations. The bill provides that the Department shall establish and publish such model policy by January 1, 2025. The bill requires any person employed as a law-enforcement officer prior to July 1, 2024, to complete the training required by the bill by January 1, 2028.

Summary: Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman; created. Creates, within the Office of the State Inspector General, the Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman (the Office) headed by an Ombudsman who is selected by the State Inspector General. The bill creates the Corrections Oversight Committee (the Committee) made up of four members of the General Assembly, nine nonlegislative citizen members appointed by the Governor, subject to criteria described in the bill, and two nonvoting members, appointed as described in the bill, who monitor the activities of the Ombudsman and the Department of Corrections (the Department). The bill provides the Office with authority to conduct inspections at least once every three years and more often when warranted of Department facilities and requires the Office to establish a statewide toll-free telephone number, website, mailing address, and paper and electronic forms for inmates, family members, friends, and advocates to submit complaints and inquiries. In addition, the bill requires the Committee to hold at least two public hearings per year and requires the Office to submit an annual report to be made available 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, the Committee, and the Director of the Department. The bill directs the Office to develop a short-term and long-term strategic plan and to provide a report on its initial activities and strategic plan to the Governor and the General Assembly on or before November 15, 2025. This bill is identical to HB 555.

Summary: Training standards for law-enforcement officers; drug use. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish training standards and publish and periodically update model policies for law-enforcement personnel on the use of naloxone or other opioid antagonists to prevent opioid overdose deaths, in coordination with statewide naloxone training programs developed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and the Virginia Department of Health.

Summary: Substantial risk orders; training program. Directs the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish a Substantial Risk Order Training Program for the purposes of training law-enforcement agencies and other public institutions throughout the Commonwealth to use and implement the substantial risk order law. The bill states that the programming shall provide training regarding proper procedures to follow, the circumstances under which the law can be used, the benefits to public safety from proper use of the law, and the harm that may ensue from the law not being used when lawfully available. The Program shall also include efforts to educate the public on and increase awareness of the substantial risk order law.

Summary: Pneumatic guns; penalties. Makes it a Class6 felony to possess a pneumatic gun upon (i) the property of any child day center or public, private, or religious preschool or elementary,middle, or high school, including buildings and grounds; (ii) thatportion of any property open to the public and then exclusively usedfor school-sponsored functions or extracurricular activities whilesuch functions or activities are taking place; or (iii) any schoolbus owned or operated by any such school.

Summary: Purchase of certain firearms; age requirement; penalty. Prohibits any person under 21 years of age from purchasing a handgun or assault firearm, with exceptions for the purchase of an assault firearm by a law-enforcement officer, correctional officer, jail officer, or member of the Armed Forces of the United States, the Virginia National Guard, or the National Guard of any other state. Accordingly, the bill prohibits a licensed dealer from selling, renting, trading, or transferring from his inventory a handgun or assault firearm to any person under 21 years of age. A violation of either prohibition is a Class 6 felony. The bill also expands the definition of "assault firearm" as the term applies to criminal history record information checks. This bill is identical to SB 327.

Summary: Department of Labor and Industry; tipped employee wages; work group. Directs the Department of Labor and Industry to convene a work group to study (i) options for increasing tipped employee minimum cash wages, (ii) circumstances related to wage theft or payment inequities by employers of tipped wage employees, and (iii) amending the penalty provisions related to employee remedies and employer penalties for violations of minimum wage requirements. The bill directs the work group to submit a report of its findings no later than December 1, 2024.

Summary: Fisheries Innovation for Sustainable Harvest Fund established. Establishes the Fisheries Innovation for Sustainable Harvest Fund for the purposes of supporting and promoting the economic growth and development of Virginia's seafood economy. The Fund shall be administered by the Marine Resources Commission for the sole purpose of supporting and promoting the economic growth and development of Virginia's seafood economy while enhancing the sustainability of Virginia's marine fisheries resources through the awarding of grants, revolving loans, or other financial tools. The bill provides that the Commercial Fishing Advisory Board shall advise the Commission on expenditures from the Fund. This bill is identical to SB 464.

Summary: Virginia investment performance grants; Virginia economic development incentive grants. Requires, for any Virginia investment performance grant award determination that includes a job creation requirement, an eligible manufacturer or research and development service to pay an average wage, excluding fringe benefits, that is no less than the prevailing average wage for such new jobs. Under the bill, beginning July 1, 2024, (i) the aggregate amount of Virginia investment performance grants payable to all grant recipients in any fiscal year shall not exceed $7 million and (ii) grants shall be payable in amounts up to $5 million per eligible manufacturer or research and development service in five equal, annual installments of up to $1 million, beginning in the first year after verification of capital investment and pledged employment. The bill also provides that eligible companies shall be eligible to receive Virginia economic development incentive grants in the first year after verification that requirements applicable to such grant are satisfied. The bill contains an enactment clause clarifying that no existing agreement entered into prior to the effective date of the bill shall be impacted by the bill.

Summary: Apprenticeship program; film and television industry. Requires the Director of Workforce Development and Advancement to establish a program to promote apprenticeships in the film and television industry. The Director may provide financial incentives to employers who hire and retain an apprentice in the film and television industry for at least six months. In consultation with the Virginia Film Office, the Director shall establish guidelines and criteria for the program.

Summary: Local animal cruelty registries. Allows any locality to establish an animal cruelty registry for public access on the website of such locality or its local police department. The bill provides that such registry may include the names and relevant information of persons convicted of certain felony offenses for animal cruelty and that a person on such registry may request removal of his name after 15 years, provided that he has no additional felony convictions of an animal cruelty offense. The bill directs that all costs relating to a locality's animal cruelty registry shall be borne by such locality. This bill is identical to SB 93.

Summary: Electric Vehicle Rural Infrastructure Programand Fund created. Creates the Electric Vehicle Rural InfrastructureProgram and Fund to assist private developers with non-utility costsassociated with the installation of public electric vehicle chargingstations in certain localities. The bill provides that a private developeris eligible to receive grants of 70 percent of such non-utility costsfor public electric vehicle charging stations installed in a cityor county that meets the criteria of a distressed locality, as definedin the bill. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2028.

Summary: Investment of public funds. Allows any qualified public entity of the Commonwealth to invest in asset-backed securities that are guaranteed by the United States or any agency thereof. This bill is identical to SB 510.

Summary: Forest Sustainability Fund; fund allocation. Provides that moneys from the Forest Sustainability Fund must be allocated proportionally among localities that forgo tax revenues as a result of the use value assessment and taxation for real estate devoted for forest use. The bill specifies that no locality shall receive an allocation of more than four percent or less than one-half of one percent of available funds from the Fund. This bill is identical to SB 129.

Summary: Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; blue catfish work group; report. Requires the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to convene a work group of relevant stakeholders in order to support and encourage coordination regarding efforts to create a robust and resilient market for blue catfish. The work group shall (i) review past and ongoing efforts to promote the creation of a market for blue catfish, (ii) identify and explore potential sectors for the blue catfish market, and (iii) identify any actions that the Commonwealth can take to promote and expand the market for blue catfish. The Department shall submit a report of the findings and recommendations of the work group to the Governor, the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources, and relevant committees of the General Assembly no later than September 1, 2025. This bill is identical to SB 402.

Summary: Consultation with federally recognized Tribal Nations in the Commonwealth; permits and reviews with potential impacts on environmental, cultural, and historic resources. Requires the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Historic Resources, and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to establish policies and procedures for consulting with federally recognized Tribal Nations in the Commonwealth when evaluating certain permits and reviews relating to environmental, cultural, or historic resources that potentially impact those federally recognized Tribal Nations in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Secretary of the Commonwealth to designate an Ombudsman for Tribal Consultation to facilitate communication and consultation with federally recognized Tribal Nations in the Commonwealth and requires the Ombudsman to develop by January 1, 2025, a list of localities in which federally recognized Tribal Nations in the Commonwealth shall be consulted to effectuate the provisions of the bill. The bill codifies Executive Order 82 (2021).

Summary: Tax credit for participating landlords. Increases from $250,000 to $500,000 the maximum amount of tax credits that may be issued to participating landlords, as defined in relevant law, each fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 2025 and provides that, in the event that the amount of the qualified requests for tax credits for such participating landlords in the fiscal year exceeds $500,000, the Department of Housing and Community Development will prorate the tax credits among the qualified applicants. The bill also creates a pilot program that earmarks $100,000 for tax credits provided to a participating landlord renting a qualified housing unit in an eligible non-metropolitan census tract, as those terms are defined in the bill.

Summary: Virginia Retirement System; additional servicecredit. Allows an individual who serves concurrently as a full-timeprimary or secondary school teacher and as a full-time school busdriver to receive additional service credit in the Virginia RetirementSystem for providing such services. The bill specifies that the amountof credit allowable shall be equivalent to the amount of credit thatthe individual would earn if he were employed only as a full-timeschool bus driver.