Summary: Virginia Freedom of Information Act; definition of "caregiver"; remote participation in meetings by persons with disabilities and caregivers; remote voting. Provides that for purposes of determining whether a quorum is physically assembled, an individual member of a public body who is a person with a disability or a caregiver, defined in the bill, and uses remote participation counts toward the quorum as if the individual was physically present. The bill also provides that the participation policy adopted by a public body, as required by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, shall not prohibit or restrict any individual member of a public body who is participating in an all-virtual meeting or who is using remote participation from voting on matters before the public body. As introduced, the bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council. This bill is identical to HB 1040.

Summary: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fee disclosure statement. Requires landlords subject to the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act to include on the first page of a written rental agreement, in bold, 14-point type, a description of any rent and fees to be charged to the tenant. The bill requires that such rental agreement also contain, in bold, 14-point type: No fee shall be collected unless it is listed below. This bill is identical to HB 967.

Summary: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; enforcement by localities. Provides that if a condition exists in a rental dwelling unit that constitutes a material noncompliance by the landlord with the rental agreement or with any provision of law that, if not promptly corrected, constitutes a fire hazard or serious threat to the life, health, or safety of tenants or occupants of the premises, a locality may institute an action for injunction and damages to enforce the landlord's duty to maintain the rental dwelling unit in a fit and habitable condition, provided that (i) the property where the violation occurred is within the jurisdictional boundaries of the locality and (ii) the locality has notified the landlord who owns the property, either directly or through the managing agent, of the nature of the violation and the landlord has failed to remedy the violation to the satisfaction of the locality within a reasonable time after receiving such notice. This bill is identical to HB 597. 

Summary: Solar-ready roofs for certain government buildings; net-zero energy consumption building design for schools. Requires any executive branch agency or institution and any locality entering the design phase for the construction of a new building greater than 5,000 gross square feet in size, or the renovation of a building where the cost of the renovation exceeds 50 percent of the value of the building, to ensure that such building includes infrastructure for renewable energy systems. The bill also requires the Department of Energy to convene a work group to make recommendations on how to implement renovations to existing public school buildings and facilities. The provisions of this bill only apply to projects entering the design phase on or after January 1, 2026.

Summary: Virginia Small Business Economic Development Act established; regulation of skill game machines; penalties. Establishes the Virginia Small Business Economic Development Act for the purpose of providing a regulatory and registration scheme for skill game machines in the Commonwealth. The bill authorizes and specifies the registration requirements for the distribution, operation, hosting, and play of skill game machines, as defined in the bill. The bill imposes a 25 percent tax on the gross receipts from the play of each skill game machine from each distributor and provides for the use of such tax proceeds, with most being deposited into the PreK-12 Priority Fund, established in the bill. The bill directs the Virginia Lottery Board to promulgate regulations no later than January 1, 2027, to implement the provisions of the bill and authorizes the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority to grant a provisional registration, beginning July 1, 2024, to any entity that provides a laboratory certification from a laboratory approved by the Authority that the game being distributed, operated, or placed in an establishment meets the definition and requirements of a skill game machine.

Summary: Virginia Business Ready Expedited Permitting Program established; report. Establishes the Virginia Business Ready Expedited Permitting Program and directs the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority to designate up to two sites and four projects for participation in the Program. Sites and projects eligible for the Program shall include only (i) sites eligible for a site development grant under the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program or (ii) projects with significant local, regional, or statewide economic impact that the governing body of the locality in which the project is located has either (a) approved following a public meeting or hearing or (b) submitted, by resolution, for consideration to be included in the Program. No more than two eligible sites or projects shall be designated as part of the Program within any locality annually. The Authority shall complete a review process within 45 days of designating a site to reduce permitting conflicts and provide relevant guidance to applicants. The bill also provides that no project shall be considered eligible to enter the Program after December 31, 2027, and requires annual reporting from the Authority. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025, and expires on June 30, 2028. This bill is identical to HB 1125.

Summary: Virginia Public Procurement Act; competitive negotiation; exceptions to contractual terms and conditions of the Request for Proposal. Removes the prohibition on a public body from requiring an offeror to state in a proposal any exception to any liability provisions contained in a Request for Proposal for information technology. The bill also requires an offeror to state any exception to any contractual terms or conditions in writing at the time of responding to such Request for Proposal, if so requested by the public body, which exception shall be considered during negotiations, but prohibits the public body from basing the scoring or evaluation on such exceptions when selecting offerors for negotiations. Current law only prohibits a public body from requiring an offeror to state in a proposal any exception to the liability provisions of the Request for Proposal. As introduced, the bill was a recommendation of the Public Body Procurement Work Group. This bill is identical to HB 242.

Summary: Liquid nicotine and nicotine vapor products; certification and directory; penalties. Requires every manufacturer of liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor products that are sold for retail sale in the Commonwealth to certify to the Attorney General that (i) the manufacturer has received a marketing authorization or similar order for the liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor product from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or (ii) (a) the liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor product was marketed in the United States as of August 8, 2016, or (b) the manufacturer submitted a premarket tobacco product application for the liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor product to the FDA on or before September 9, 2020, and such application either remains under review by the FDA or a final decision on the application has not otherwise taken effect. The bill requires a manufacturer to submit such a form for each liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor product that such manufacturer sells for retail sale in the Commonwealth. Under the bill, any manufacturer that falsely represents any of the information required by the certification requirement is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor for each false representation.The bill requires the Attorney General to establish and maintain a directory that lists all liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor product manufacturers and liquid nicotine and nicotine vapor products for which current and accurate certification forms have been submitted. The bill requires the Attorney General to remove or exclude from such directory any such product that is not in compliance and to notify the manufacturer of such noncompliance. The bill allows a 10-business-day period for a manufacturer to establish compliance. The bill requires that any such products that are removed from the list be sold or removed from retail sale within 30 days or become subject to seizure and requires a manufacturer, wholesaler, or retail dealer to notify each purchaser of a removed product that it has been removed from the directory at the time of delivery of such product. The bill entitles such a purchaser to a refund of the purchase price and creates a cause of action to recover such refund.The bill prohibits the sale, distribution, importation, or offer for sale of any liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor product that is not listed in the directory. The bill provides for a civil penalty of $1,000 per day for each product offered for sale in violation of the bill's provisions until the offending product is removed from the market or until the offending product is properly listed on the directory.The bill requires any person that receives, stores, sells, handles, or transports liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor products to preserve all records relating to the purchase, sale, exchange, receipt, or transportation of all liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor products for a period of three years. The bill provides that all such records are subject to audit or inspection at any time by any duly authorized representative of the Attorney General. Any person who violates the recordkeeping provisions of the bill is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.Additionally, the bill provides that the Department of Taxation, the Attorney General, any other law-enforcement agency of the Commonwealth, or any federal law-enforcement agency conducting a criminal investigation involving the trafficking of liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor products may access at any time such records. The bill requires the Department of Taxation to impose a penalty of $1,000 for each day that a person fails or refuses to allow or cooperate with an audit, inspection, or investigation of such records.The bill authorizes the Attorney General and, with the concurrence of the Attorney General, any attorney for the Commonwealth, or the attorney for any city, county, or town to cause an action to enjoin any violation of the provisions of the bill. The circuit courts are authorized by the bill to (a) issue temporary or permanent injunctions to restrain and prevent violations of the provisions of the bill and (b) order forfeiture of any property seized for such a violation. The bill authorizes the Attorney General to issue a civil investigative demand.Under the bill, any retailer and wholesaler that sells or distributes any liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor product in the Commonwealth is subject to scheduled or unscheduled compliance checks carried out by the Attorney General, or an agent thereof, for enforcement purposes.The bill requires the Attorney General to provide an annual report to the General Assembly regarding the status of the directory, manufacturers and products included in the directory, and revenues and expenditures related to and enforcement activities undertaken pursuant to the requirements of the bill.Finally, the bill makes a violation of its provisions a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. This bill is identical to HB 1069.

Summary: Purchase, possession, and sale of retail tobacco products; retail tobacco products and liquid nicotine tax; penalties. Prohibits Internet sales of liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor products, except to a retail dealer, and prohibits the sale of retail tobacco products from vending machines. The bill updates, for the purpose of the crime of selling or distributing tobacco products to a person younger than 21 years of age, the definition of "retail tobacco products" by including in such definition products currently defined as "nicotine vapor products" or "alternative nicotine vapor products." The bill also removes provisions prohibiting the attempt to purchase, the purchase, or the possession of tobacco products by persons younger than 21 years of age.The bill provides that the punishment of a retail dealer that sells, gives, or furnishes a tobacco product to a person younger than 21 years of age or to a person who does not demonstrate that such person is at least 21 years of age is (i) a civil penalty of $1,000 for a first offense within a 36-month period, (ii) a civil penalty of $5,000 for a second offense within a 36-month period such retail dealer shall become subject to specific age-verification requirements, (iii) a civil penalty of $10,000 and a 30-day suspension of such retail dealer's distributor's license for a third offense within a 36-month period, and (iv) revocation of such license and such retail dealer shall be ineligible to hold a license for a period of three years following the most recent violation for a fourth offense within a 36-month period. The bill requires the Department of Taxation, in collaboration with the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority and local law enforcement, to conduct a compliance check every 24 months on any retail dealer selling retail tobacco products and to use a person younger than 21 years of age to conduct such checks.The bill also imposes a tax upon liquid nicotine in closed systems, as defined in the bill, at the rate of $0.066 per milliliter and upon liquid nicotine in open systems, as defined in the bill, at the rate of 20 percent of the wholesale price for purchases on and after July 1, 2024. The bill applies licensing requirements to manufacturers, distributors, and retail dealers of liquid nicotine and creates new safety requirements related to the advertising, marketing, and labeling of liquid nicotine and nicotine vapor products. This bill is identical to HB 790.

Summary: Department of Housing and Community Development; Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; affordable housing; criminal record screening model policy. Requires the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development (the Department) to develop a criminal record screening model policy for admitting or denying an applicant for affordable housing covered under the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's guidance on the application of the Fair Housing Act and maintain such model policy on its website. The bill prohibits a landlord of an affordable housing unit from inquiring about or requiring disclosure of, or if such information is received, basing an adverse action, in whole or in part, on an applicant's criminal or arrest record unless the landlord does so in accordance with the criminal record screening model policy developed by the Department and posted on its website and provides the applicant with a written copy of such policy. The bill directs the Department to convene a stakeholder group to provide input into the development of the criminal record screening model policy. This bill is identical to HB 1207.

Summary: Virginia Real Estate Time-Share Act; partial termination of certain time-shares. Allows for the partial termination of a time-share project by a developer or an association and provides the procedures for any such partial termination. The bill also sets a one-year statute of limitations on any legal challenge or action for damages or equitable relief arising out of any termination of a time-share project in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Real Estate Time-Share Act. The bill's provisions are declared to be effective retroactive in accordance with certain provisions of the Virginia Real Estate Time-Share Act. This bill is identical to HB 1241.