Summary: Purchase, sale, transfer, etc., of assault firearms and certain ammunition feeding devices prohibited; penalty. Creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person who imports, sells, manufactures, purchases, or transfers an assault firearm, as that term is defined in the bill, and prohibits a person who has been convicted of such violation from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm for a period of three years from the date of conviction. The bill provides that an assault firearm does not include any firearm that is an antique firearm, has been rendered permanently inoperable, is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action, or was manufactured before July 1, 2024. The bill also prohibits the sale of a large capacity ammunition feeding device, as that term is defined in the bill. The bill provides that any person who willfully and intentionally (i) sells an assault firearm to another person or (ii) purchases an assault firearm from another person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and that any person who imports, sells, barters, or transfers a large capacity ammunition feeding device is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person younger than 21 years of age to import, sell, manufacture, purchase, possess, transport, or transfer an assault firearm regardless of the date of manufacture of such assault firearm. This bill is identical to HB 2.

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 HB 944.

Summary: Xylazine; manufacturing; selling; giving; distributing; possessing; veterinary use exemption; penalties. Provides that any person who knowingly manufactures, sells, gives, distributes, or possesses with the intent to manufacture, sell, give, or distribute the substance xylazine, when intended for human consumption, is guilty of a Class 5 felony. Under the bill, any person who knowingly possesses xylazine, when intended for human consumption, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Under the bill, it is not an offense to (i) manufacture xylazine for legitimate veterinary use; (ii) distribute or sell xylazine for authorized veterinary use; (iii) possess, administer, prescribe, or dispense xylazine in good faith for use by animals within the course of legitimate veterinary practice; or (iv) possess or administer xylazine pursuant to a valid prescription from a licensed veterinarian. This bill is identical to HB 1187.

Summary: Average teacher salary in the Commonwealth; national average. Requires the Governor's introduced budget bills for the 2025, 2026, and 2027 Regular Sessions of the General Assembly to propose funding for, and state funding to be provided pursuant to the general appropriation act enacted during any regular or special session of the General Assembly during 2025, 2026, or 2027 to fund, the Commonwealth's share of compensation supplement incentives for Standards of Quality-funded instructional and support positions sufficient to increase the average teacher salary in the Commonwealth to at least the national average teacher salary by the end of the 2026–2028 biennium and establishes a detailed timeline and process for satisfying such requirement. This bill is identical to HB 187.

Summary: Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority; eligible site for site development grant; minimum acreage requirement. Provides that the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority may determine a site of at least 50 contiguous acres to be an eligible site if such site meets certain criteria provided in the bill to receive a site development grant from the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program Fund. This bill is identical to HB 233.

Summary: Financial Services Expansion Grant Fund. Creates the Financial Services Expansion Grant Fund to make grant payments to an eligible financial services company that makes a capital investment of at least $87 million at a facility in Roanoke County and creates at least 1,100 new full-time jobs at the facility. The eligible financial services company would be eligible for an aggregate of $15 million in grants paid out over a 10-year period if it meets such performance parameters. This bill is identical to HB 468.

Summary: Paid family and medical leave insurance program; notice requirements; civil action. Requires the Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer a paid family and medical leave insurance program with benefits beginning January 1, 2027. Under the program, benefits are paid to covered individuals, as defined in the bill, for family and medical leave. The bill specifies that covered individuals shall not include state employees, constitutional and other local officers, and employees of local school divisions and that funding for the program is provided through premiums assessed to employers and employees beginning January 1, 2026. The bill provides that the amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee's average weekly wage, not to exceed 80 percent of the state weekly wage, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the statewide average weekly wage. The bill caps the duration of paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year and provides self-employed individuals the option of participating in the program. Finally, the bill requires the Commission to update its 2021 Paid Family and Medical Leave study to include an assessment of the budgetary impacts of extending the benefits of the program to exempt individuals.

Summary: Unemployment compensation; employer failure to respond to requests for information; claim determination; notice requirements. Provides that an employer's account shall not be relieved of charges relating to an erroneous payment if the Virginia Employment Commission determines that (i) the employer has failed to respond timely or adequately to a written request for information related to the claim and (ii) the employer has established a pattern of failing to respond timely or adequately to such requests, as described in the bill. The bill requires the Commission to provide written notice for each instance of untimely or inadequate employer response to such requests. The bill provides that upon the Commission's third determination, and for each subsequent determination, within the applicable review period that an employer failed to respond timely or adequately to such a request, the employer shall be considered to have waived all rights in connection with the claim, including participation and appeal rights. The bill requires a deputy examining a claim to provide the reasoning behind the decision, as described in the bill, and a short statement of case-specific facts material to the determination together with any notice of determination upon a claim. The provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Commission on Unemployment Compensation. This bill is identical to HB 14.

Summary: Unemployment compensation; collection of overpayments; limitations. Provides that collection activities for an overpayment, provided that such overpayment was not caused by fraud on the part of the claimant, shall be suspended and that the Virginia Employment Commission shall determine as uncollectable and discharge the overpayment if it remains unpaid after the earliest of the following: (i) after the expiration of five years from the last day of the benefit year in which the overpayment was made, (ii) immediately upon the death of the claimant, (iii) upon the claimant's discharge in bankruptcy occurring subsequently to the determination of payment, or (iv) at any time where the Commission finds such overpayment to be uncollectible or the recovery of such overpayment to be administratively impracticable. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Commission on Unemployment Compensation.

Summary: Commonwealth information security requirements. Exempts cybersecurity information, defined in the bill, from the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and the Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act while in possession of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA). The bill requires VITA to keep such cybersecurity information confidential unless the Chief Information Officer or his designee authorizes publication or disclosure of reports or aggregate cybersecurity information.

Summary: Civil actions filed on behalf of multiple persons; class actions. Provides that one or more members of a class may, as representative parties on behalf of all members, bring a civil action or may be proceeded against in a civil action, provided that (i) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members or proceeding with such actions on an individual basis is impracticable or contrary to judicial economy; (ii) there are questions of law or fact common to the class; (iii) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class; and (iv) the representative parties shall fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class. The bill further sets out the procedure to certify a class action, the duties of counsel appointed in a class action, the various orders a court may issue during the course of a class action, and the process by which a settlement, voluntary dismissal, or compromise may occur. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025, and is identical to HB 418.

Summary: Compensation of court-appointed counsel. Raises the limitation of fees that court-appointed counsel can receive for representation on various offenses in district and circuit courts. The bill also limits the fees charged for the cost of court-appointed counsel or public defender representation to persons determined to be indigent to an amount no greater than the amount such person would have owed if such fees had been assessed on or before June 30, 2024. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025. This bill is identical to HB 102.

Summary: Fines, costs, forfeitures, penalties, and restitution; collection fees; assessment against incarcerated defendant; deferred payment agreement. Extends from 90 days without payment to 180 days without payment the period of delinquency necessary for an account to be included on the required monthly report of delinquent accounts made by the clerk of the circuit court and district court. The bill also provides that for any defendant sentenced to an active term of incarceration and ordered to pay any fine, cost, forfeiture, or penalty related to the charge that such defendant is incarcerated for, or any other charge for which such defendant was sentenced on the same day, the court shall enter such defendant into a deferred payment agreement for such fines, costs, forfeitures, or penalties. The bill requires the due date for such deferred payment agreement to be set no earlier than the defendant's scheduled release from incarceration on the charge for which such defendant received the longest period of active incarceration. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025. This bill is identical to HB 612.

Summary: Maximum number of judges in each judicial district and circuit. Increases by one the maximum number of authorized juvenile and domestic relations district court judges in the Twentieth and Thirty-first Judicial Districts. The bill also increases by one the maximum number of authorized circuit court judges in the First, Ninth, Fifteenth, and Twenty-fifth Judicial Circuits. This bill is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts and the Judicial Council of Virginia. This bill incorporates SB 686 and is identical to HB 310.

Summary: Virginia retirement system; enhanced retirement benefits; animal control officers. Adds full-time animal control officers to the list of local employees eligible to receive enhanced retirement benefits for hazardous duty service for service earned in such positions on or after July 1, 2025, and in certain circumstances service earned prior to that date. Under current law, localities may provide such benefits to first responders, including firefighters and emergency medical technicians, and certain other hazardous duty positions. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.

Summary: Virginia Retirement System; increased retirement allowance for certain judges. Provides that judges appointed or elected to an initial term on or after July 1, 2024, and who are at least age 55 at the time of appointment will be placed in Plan 1 with service weighted at 3.5.

Summary: Revenue reserves and budgetary amendments. Provides that if the Governor in the Budget Bill recommends a transfer of funds in the Revenue Reserve Fund in excess of the statutory 15 percent combined balance limit, then the corresponding purpose and proposed use of such transferred funds shall be included within the corresponding budget items. The bill also directs that if the Revenue Stabilization Fund and Revenue Reserve Fund are in excess of the statutory 15 percent combined balance limit, the State Comptroller shall transfer such excess amounts to the general fund and present such amounts as an assigned fund balance for nonrecurring expenditures on the Comptroller's preliminary annual report and if such a transfer is required, but the Revenue Stabilization Fund is not in excess of its Constitutional 15 percent balance limit, the amounts required to be transferred shall first be deposited into the Revenue Stabilization Fund instead of the general fund.