Information Charlottesville

There are now eight days until the General Assembly convenes for the 2023 session, which will be 45 days long. Another number to keep in mind is 308, which is how many days there are until the November election, in which all 40 seats in the Senate and all 100 seats in the House of Delegates are up for a vote. So let’s take some time now to see what’s been filed. 

• Delegate John McGuire has filed a bill that would eliminate an age requirement for veterans to be able to file an income tax subtraction. (HB1436)
• Delegate Bill Wiley has legislation that would require the Commonwealth Transportation Board to develop a policy to delete and purge collected data and video of users of highways after 30 days. (HB1437)
• Delegate Tim Anderson filed a bill to create a nonrefundable tax credit for the donation of oyster shells for restoration projects. (HB1438)

• Community colleges would be required to create a process for certain eligible students to have their loans for tuition, fees, and textbooks covered. That’s also from Anderson. (HB1439)
• Delegate Joseph McNamara has a bill that would require the Virginia Department of Taxation to publish a list of current transient occupancy rates across the Commonwealth as well as specifying filing requirements for “accommodations intermediaries.” (HB1442)
• Delegate Lee Ware has filed legislation that would require photo ID in order to vote, but would allow people who don’t bring one to the polls to cast a provisional ballot. (HB1444)
• Public schools would be required to teach mental health education to students if SB818 from Senator Lionell Spruill Sr. becomes law. (SB818)
• Another bill from Spruill would prohibit the State Corporation Commission from approving premiums for long-term care insurance to exceed six percent over the current rate. (SB828)
• Senator Barbara Favola has a bill that would allow school systems to use alternative methods of determining if students are in need of extra help with reading and mathematics. (SB819)
• Another bill from Favola would direct the Virginia Board of Health to require security guards in emergency rooms. (SB827)
• Senator Scott Surovell would require law enforcement officers to report the arrest of teachers to superintendents within 48 hours. Current law says the report has to be “as soon as practicable.” 
• HB1445 from Delegate Scott Wyatt would restore the ability of law enforcement officers to pull motorists over for detecting the odor of marijuana. 
• Delegate Robert Orrock Sr. has filed a bill that would impose administrative sanctions on certified nursing facilities that do not comply with staffing requirements. (HB1446)
• Orrock also filed HB1448 which would require the Department of Education to come up with a model policy for removing books and other items that some deem offensive from school libraries.
• Another bill from Orrock would charge a civil penalty of $1,000 for pet stores for not having all of the required documentation for dogs that are sold. (HB1451)
• Senator John Bell has two bills related to the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind in Staunton. One would require background checks for Board of Visitors’ members and the other would allow the school to create a police department. (SB825 and SB826)

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