Fairfax County Public Schools, Office of Government Relations

Final Report - Finance/Purchasing/Taxation

This report describes all Finance/Purchasing/Taxation-related legislation considered during the 2024 General Assembly Regular and Special Sessions. Bills are listed as “Passed”, “Failed” or “Continued to 2025”.

Passed legislation will go into effect on July 1, 2024, unless otherwise specified in the legislation itself.

Bills identified as Continued to 2025 are no longer active for the 2024 Session but can be picked back up by the continuing committee where they were left off in the legislative process during the 2025 Session.  While possible, it is rare for a continued bill to be picked back up. Typically, such legislation is simply reintroduced in the next Session.

UPDATED: 05/29/2024

Finance/Purchasing/Taxation – Passed

Budget Bill  HB6001 (Torian)provides for all appropriations of the Budget submitted by the Governor of Virginia in accordance with the provisions of § 2.2-1509 of the Code of Virginia, and provides a portion of revenues for the two years ending respectively on the thirtieth day of June 2025 and the thirtieth day of June 2026.

Joint Subcommittee on Tax Policy

Language included in the budget directs the Joint Subcommittee on Tax Policy to explore efforts to modernize the Commonwealth’s income and sales and use taxes during the 2024 interim. The goals and objectives shall include: (i) evaluating existing sales and use tax exemptions; (ii) applying sales and use tax to digital goods and services, including transactions involving businesses; (iii) evaluating efforts to increase the progressivity of the income tax; (iv) and long-term revenue growth to maintain core government services.

Joint Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education Funding

Language included in the budget directs the Joint Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education Funding to review the recommendations and policy options offered in the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission's July 2023 report, “Virginia's K-12 Funding Formula"; determine the appropriateness of implementing each recommendation or policy option, propose appropriate amendments to each recommendation or policy option, and develop a long-range plan for the phased implementation of its recommendations. In its deliberations, the Joint Subcommittee shall consider the long-term fiscal implications of each recommendation. The Joint Subcommittee shall submit initial recommendations and an implementation plan to the Governor and the Chairs of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees no later than November 1, 2024.

Item 117 #1c DOE - Redirect Funding for Student Mental Health Services

(This amendment redirects $7.2 million from the general fund each year for mental health and telehealth services in the introduced budget to other education initiatives and provides language for a statewide contract.)

117 #2c DOE - School-Based Mental Health Funding Plan (Language Only)

The Department of Education shall work collaboratively with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and the Department of Medical Assistance Services on a plan for creating a new program to deliver flexible mental health funds to divisions. The program should provide flexible funding to participating divisions for maintaining school-based mental health services and supports as well as technical assistance and evaluation capabilities to build out their mental health programs within a multi-tiered system of supports and consider maximizing existing funding and positions funded through the Standards of Quality such as specialized student support positions.  The Department of Education shall provide such plan to the Chairs of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee and the House Appropriations Committee and the Behavioral Health Commission no later than December 1, 2024.

Item 117 #3c DOE - Asian American History Education

Out of this appropriation, $100,000 the first year from the general fund is provided to identify and create model curriculum, tools, and resources to support local school divisions in teaching Asian American history, including the history of Virginians of Asian descent, as part of the History and Social Science Standards of Learning and supporting programming for Asian American and Pacific Islander History Month

117 #6c Virginia Language and Literacy Screening System for Grades PK-8

This amendment (i) provides $6.9 million the first year and $4.9 million the second year to develop and maintain the Virginia Language and Literacy Screening System (VALLS), (ii) provides $3.4 million each year to continue support for literacy coaching, technical assistance and professional development as required by the Virginia Literacy Act (VLA), (iii) authorizes the Virginia Literacy Partnership to collect fees from publishers to offset costs to review reading curriculum materials for alignment with the VLA, (iv) redirects existing funding related to the implementation of the VLA to the University of Virginia's Literacy Partnership, and (v) delays the implementation of literacy screener for grades 4-8 and associated literacy plans for one year. The amendment also directs remaining federal pandemic relief balances from Learning Acceleration Grants be used to supplant general funds in the first year. This represents a net increase of $5.7 million in fiscal year 2025 and $3.7 million in fiscal year 2026 from the amounts proposed in the introduced budget for implementation of the VLA.)

Item 117 #7c DOE - Statewide Contract for Attendance Recovery Services (language only)

This amendment directs the Superintendent of Public Instruction to enter a statewide contract with a provider experienced in attendance recovery services for at-risk students to assist public school divisions with outreach and support for disengaged, chronically absent, or struggling students. The provider should be able to scale up the number of students served if necessary based on demand from school divisions. School divisions may opt to purchase services through this contract."

Item 118 #1c Special Education: Parent Supports, Professional Development and Staff Coaching

This amendment provides $2.2 million each year from the general fund to implement provisions of House Bill 1089 and Senate Bill 220 related to establishing eight regional special education family support centers, provision of professional development, and ongoing special education coaching. The amendment also directs remaining federal pandemic relief balances from Learning Acceleration Grants be used to supplant general funds in the first year.

Item 119 #1c DOE - Defer New Assessment System

This amendment directs the Department to include in its annual report a plan to implement a new state assessment system, including a revised timeframe; estimated short- and long-term costs, including the costs to transition to the new system; staffing and training needs; key milestones; and project deliverables. The Department shall request the funding needed to implement the new contract for inclusion in the Governor's introduced budget bill for the 2025 Regular Session. The Department may consider issuing a request for information (RFI) as part of the process to better determine the costs and requirements of the new system. The Department shall submit the annual report no later than November 1, 2024.  Notwithstanding any contrary provisions of law, the Department of Education is authorized to extend current assessment contracts for one additional year to provide sufficient time for the Department to initiate procurement processes as necessary to select an assessment vendor." 

Item 120 #1c DOE - Restore Funding for the Office of School Quality

"S. 1. Out of this appropriation, $1,922,461 the first year and $1,922,461 the second year from the general fund is provided to the Office of School Quality to assist low performing schools.

2. The Department of Education shall submit an initial report that contains: (i) the level of staffing, amount of funding, and opportunities and challenges of the Office for FY 2023 and FY 2024; (ii) the planned organizational structure, staffing, and resource needs of the Office over the next five years; (iii) the goals and expected outcomes of the Office and how the Office will collaborate with staff and units within the Department of Education to support schools based on their specific needs; and (iv) a plan to evaluate the effectiveness of the Office, including feedback from school divisions and stakeholders to determine both the impact and quality of the assistance received.  The Superintendent shall submit the initial report by July 1, 2024, to the Chairs of the Senate Education and Health and Finance and Appropriations Committees, and the Chairs of the House Education and Appropriations Committees. The Superintendent shall submit a report on the progress of implementing the goals of the Office by June 1, 2025. 

Item 123 #1c DOE - Redirect Funding for Chief School Mental Health Officer

This amendment redirects $200,000 from the general fund each year and one position from the Chief School Mental Health Officer position in the introduced budget.

Item 123 #2c Office of Community Schools

This amendment provides $140,000 from the general fund each year for one position in the proposed Office of Community Schools. The Office of Community Schools shall provide an annual report and make it publicly available on its website that includes: the number of schools that have adopted the Community School framework; the status of these schools in implementing and evaluating the framework; an update and outcome of state grants awarded; and an assessment of the services provided by the Office to support schools. ( HB 625 / SB 608 )

Item 123 #3c Fiscal Support for Joint Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education Funding

This amendment provides $300,000 from the general fund each year and up to two positions to support the Joint Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education Funding through increased staffing and contracted services. This is the subcommittee tasked with further review of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission’s 2023 Virginia’s K-12 Funding Formula report. 

Item 124 #16c 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program

Out of this appropriation, $3,000,000 the first year and $2,000,000 the second year from the general fund is provided to supplement the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program in Item 126. These funds shall be awarded to community-based organizations partnering with school divisions for afterschool, before-school, and summer learning programs to provide additional instructional opportunities to combat learning loss for school-age children attending high-poverty, low-performing schools. The Department may contract with the Virginia Partnership for Out-of-School Time to assist applicants with obtaining the required licensure and to provide best practices and support to grantees.

Item 124 #19c National Teacher Certification Title I and CEP Schools

This amendment adds $500,000 from the general fund each year for incentive grants for teachers who are pursuing or have obtained a national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and work in a Title 1 school or a school eligible for participation in the Community Eligibility Provision pursuant to § 22.1-207.4:1.  It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Department of Education provide bonuses from state funds to classroom teachers in Virginia's public schools who have obtained national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and grants for candidates working in a Title I school or a school eligible for participation in the Community Eligibility Provision pursuant to § 22.1-207.4:1 who are candidates for initial national certification or maintenance of national certification (MOC) from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Any public school staff member who has obtained national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards shall be eligible to receive an initial grant award of $5,000 and a subsequent award of $2,500 each year for the life of the certificate.  Any candidate (i) working in a Title 1 school or a school eligible for participation in the Community Eligibility Provision pursuant to § 22.1-207.4:1 and (ii) who is pursuing initial national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is eligible to apply to the Department for a grant to cover (a) half of the total initial national certification fee, equal to the sum of the cost of the four components and the registration fee for initial national certification, to be disbursed upon initial registration for such certification and (b) the remaining half of such total initial national certification fee to be disbursed upon successful achievement of initial national certification as verified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Any candidate (i) working in a Title 1 school or a school eligible for participation in the Community Eligibility Provision pursuant to § 22.1-207.4:1 and (ii) who is pursuing MOC from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is eligible to apply to the Department for an incentive grant to cover the total MOC fee, equal to the sum of the cost of MOC and the registration fee for MOC, to be disbursed upon successful completion of the MOC process as verified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. By October 15 of each year, school divisions shall notify the Department of Education of the number of eligible candidates under contract for that school year that hold or are pursuing such certification.

Item 124 #21c Community Schools Development and Implementation Planning Grant

This amendment provides $2.5 million each year from the general fund for the Community Schools Development and Implementation Planning Grant program.

Item 124 #24c AP, IB, and Cambridge Exam Fee Reduction Program

Out of this appropriation, $750,000 the first year and $750,000 the second year from the general fund is provided for the Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and Cambridge Assessment International Education Exam Fee Reduction Program (the Program) for the purpose of covering all but $20 of the last dollar cost of applicable fees associated with taking an AP, IB or Cambridge examination for any public high school student who is eligible to receive free or reduced price lunch after all other applicable discounts and financial assistance are taken into account. For students attending a school participating in the Community Eligibility Provision, eligibility shall be based on an individual student's family income. The Program shall be administered by the Department. Pursuant to the Program, the Department shall annually transfer to each local school board a grant in a sum sufficient to cover such portion of such fees for each such student in the local school division. The Department shall establish such rules, policies, and procedures as it deems necessary or appropriate for the administration of the Program, including an annual process whereby each local school board demonstrates its grant funding needs. Each local school board shall provide notification to eligible students and parents of the availability of this assistance at the time of enrollment in a course associated with such examination and at the time of test registration of the opportunity for the student to take an AP, IB or Cambridge examination at such reduced fee.

Item 124 #26c Restore Critical National Security Language Grant Program

Out of this appropriation, $250,000 the first year and $250,000 the second year from the general fund is provided for the Critical National Security Language Grant program. The department shall create and publish an application and process for local school divisions to apply for the existing funding by October 1, 2024.

Item 125 #2c Direct Aid - At Risk Add On Program Revisions

This amendment provides $186.7 million the first year and $184.6 million the second year from the general fund to (i) consolidate SOQ Prevention, Intervention, and Remediation and At-Risk Add-On incentive funding into a single At-Risk Add-On funding program, (ii) transition the proxy used to estimate the number of at-risk students from federal free lunch rates to federal Identified Student Percentage rates, using a multiplier of 1.25 plus one-quarter of English learner students, (iii) distributes an 11.0 percent add on to basic aid funding per at-risk student, and (iv) distributes a variable add on between 0 percent and 37 percent to basic aid funding per At-Risk student based on the concentration of At-Risk students in the school division relative to all other school divisions. This amendment addresses in part recommendations 8, 9, and 10 from JLARC's 2023 report, "Virginia's K-12 Funding Formula.”

Item 125 #3c Direct Aid - ELL Staffing Ratios Based on Student Proficiency Level

This amendment provides $37.9 million the first year and $43.7 million the second year to implement staffing standards for English Learner students based on student proficiency level, in lieu of the current standard that provides one position per 50 identified EL students. Flexibility is provided during the first year to implement this new standard to only require one-half of the additional positions. The number of such English Learner teacher positions required pursuant to the Standards of Quality are as established below:                         

• EL Student Proficiency Level One: 1 position per 20 EL students
• EL Student Proficiency Level Two: 1 position per 30 EL students
• EL Student Proficiency Level Three: 1 position per 40 EL students
• EL Student Proficiency Level Four: 1 position per 50 EL students
• All Other Identified EL Students: 1 position per 100 EL students

Item 125 #4c Direct Aid - School Breakfast

This amendment provides $2.4 million from the general fund the first year and $2.7 million from the general fund the second year to increase the per meal reimbursement amount from $0.22 to $0.28 for the state funded incentive program to maximize federal school nutrition revenues and increase participation in the school breakfast program.

Item 125 #5c Direct Aid - Literary Fund School Construction Loans (language only)

This amendment authorizes the Department of Education to offer $250.0 million in school construction loans from the Literary Fund over the biennium and directs the Board of Education to revise its schedule of interest rates to be fully responsive to market rates while providing reasonably discounted interest rates.

Item 125 #10c Direct Aid - Restore General Fund Payment in Lieu of Sales Tax

This amendment provides $121.3 million the first year and $121.8 million the second year from the general fund to restore and reforecast the general fund payments provided in lieu of the K-12 dedicated sales tax on grocery and personal hygiene products that would have been collected had the tax not been eliminated effective January 1, 2023. The amount of these general fund payments is updated to $272.5 million the first year and $273.6 million in the second year. These payments reduce the state's share of basic aid by $151.1 million the first year and $151.7 million the second year.

Item 125 #14c Direct Aid - Adjust Group Life Insurance

This amendment adjusts the group life insurance rate from 1.34% to the 1.18% actuarial rate approved by the VRS Board, resulting in general fund savings of $3.0 million the first year and $3.1 million the second year.

Item 125 #15c Direct Aid - Three Percent Compensation Supplement Each Year

This amendment provides $178.1 million the first year and $361.0 million the second year from the general fund to provide the state's share of two 3.0 percent salary increases provided on July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025.

Item 125.10 #1c Early Childhood Care and Education

This amendment establishes a new item for Early Childhood Care and Education, consolidating appropriations for the Child Care Subsidy Program, Mixed Delivery Program, and Virginia Preschool Initiative, and provides support for these programs, including an additional $8.9 million the first year and $40.9 million the second year from the general fund and $25.0 the first year in nongeneral funds beyond the amounts proposed in the introduced budget.  The amendment also restores the VPI composite index funding cap at .5000.

Item 471 #1c Paid Family and Medical Leave Study (language only)

The Virginia Employment Commission (the Commission), in collaboration with the Department of Human Resource Management, the Compensation Board, the Virginia Department of Education, and the Department of Planning and Budget, shall update its November 2021 Virginia Paid Family and Medical Leave study, as authorized by Item 111 of Chapter 1289 of the Acts of Assembly of 2020, to include an assessment of the budgetary impacts of extending application of paid family and medical leave benefits as contemplated in Senate Bill 373 of the 2024 General Assembly to exempt individuals, while maintaining the benefits provided in § 2.2-1210 of the Code of Virginia for state employees. Such assessment shall also examine (i) the number of exempt individuals that would receive expanded family and medical leave benefits; (ii) the budgetary impact and salary impact associated with providing each type of benefit to each class of employee described in clause (i); and (iii) the budgetary impact on state direct aid to public education. The Commission shall submit the updated study to the Chairs of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations on or before December 1, 2024. "Exempt individuals" for the purpose of this study means a state employee, the treasurer, commissioner of the revenue, attorney for the Commonwealth, clerk of a circuit court, sheriff of any county or city, regional jail superintendent or regional jail officer, or local director of finance, or deputy or employee of any such officer, or an employee of a local school division.

Item 472 #1c Remaining ARPA Balances (language only)

This amendment provides instructions for any returned funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. In addition, this amendment advances the deadline for school divisions to obligate ARPA-SLRF ventilation grants issued in January 2022 from December 31, 2024 to July 1, 2024 to ensure these federal pandemic relief funds can be expended prior to their expiration on December 31, 2024. Item 125.10 assumes $25.0 million in ARPA-SLRF funds will be reverted to support the Child Care Subsidy Program as a result of this action.

The adopted budget retains items from the Governor’s Introduced Budget, including the biennial re-benchmark, updates in sales tax and lottery revenues, and updates to the Local Composite Index.  The budget also retains expanded state funding for reading specialists through eighth grade.  The adopted budget reverses actions proposed in the Governor’s Introduced Budget related to sales tax base expansion to digital goods sales, the Diploma Plus Program ( Item 125 #16c ), to a proposed one-time deposit in FY2025 to the VRS teacher retirement fund ( Item 125 #17c ), and to propose additional funding for College Partnership Laboratory Schools ( Item 125 #18c ).

Budget Bill  HB6002 (Torian)amends Chapter 2 of the Acts of Assembly of 2022, Special Session I, as amended by Chapter 769 of the Acts of Assembly of 2023, as further amended by Chapter 1 of the Acts of Assembly of 2023, Special Session I (the “caboose” budget, finalizing FY2024)

College Laboratory Partnership Laboratory Schools

Language included in the budget allows institutions not otherwise eligible to operate a college partnership laboratory school (two year institutions and non-public institutions) to operate lab school in partnership with an eligible institution. The budget also requires college partnership laboratory schools to reach financial sustainability by the end of their initial approval period additional state funding other than state funds received by a school division in support of Direct Aid for Public Education is required to support ongoing operations after the first contract renewal, and submit supporting information to the Board of Education demonstrating progress toward financial sustainability.  The Board of Education shall report annually by November 1 on progress of college laboratory schools in meeting this financial sustainability requirement.

Annual retail sales and use tax holiday  HB 25 (Reid) and  SB 116 (Lucas) establish an annual retail sales and use tax holiday that takes place on the first full weekend in August beginning on July 1, 2025, through July 1, 2030. During such weekend, state retail sales and use tax will not apply to certain (i) school supplies, (ii) clothing and footwear, (iii) qualified products designated as Energy Star or WaterSense, (iv) portable generators, or (v) hurricane preparedness equipment.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; competitive negotiation; exceptions to contractual terms and conditions of the Request for Proposal  HB 242 (Bulova) and  SB 242 (McPike) remove 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 bills also require 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. 

Virginia Public Procurement Act; local public bodies; electronic submissions of bids or proposals  HB 311 (Hope) mandates that all local public bodies provide an option to submit bids or proposals for procurement contracts through the Commonwealth's statewide electronic procurement system, known as eVA, or other electronic means. Current law only encourages local public bodies to use eVA for such submissions. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025. 

School boards; unexpended local funds; capital reserve fund permitted  HB 599 (Simonds) permits any school board, with the concurrence of the local governing body, to establish a capital reserve fund as a savings account into which it exclusively deposits the local operating funds that remain unexpended at the end of the year for future school division capital expenditures at no additional cost to local taxpayers, subject to certain conditions enumerated in the bill.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; construction management and design-build contracting  HB 1108 (Carr) and  SB 18 (Locke) requires state public bodies, covered institutions, and local public bodies to provide documentation of the processes used for the final selection of a construction contract to all the unsuccessful applicants upon request. The bills add certain requirements for covered institutions, including posting all documents that are open to public inspection exchanged between the Department of General Services and the covered institution on the central electronic procurement website eVA. The bills require approval by a majority vote of the covered institution's board of visitors or governing board if the covered institution chooses to proceed with construction management or design-build against the recommendation of the Department for (i) projects funded by funds other than those provided from the state general fund or (ii) projects of $65 million or more funded in whole or in part from state general funds. For projects under $65 million funded in whole or in part by state general funds, the bills provide that the covered institution shall obtain approval from the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, or their designees, and a representative of the Department.  The bills require a local public body to adopt a resolution or motion to use construction management or design-build, if required by its local governing body, prior to issuing a Request for Qualifications and to publish notice of such resolution or motion on its website or eVA. The bills provide that the Department shall report annually, for any construction management or design-build project, on the qualifications that made such project complex. Finally, the bills require the Department, with the assistance of staff of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, to assess the implementation and administration of construction management and design-build projects and report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by November 1, 2029. Note that HB 1108incorporated  HB 965 (Lopez)and SB 18incorporated  SB 249 (McPike). 

Virginia Public Procurement Act; job order contracting; limitations  HB 1113  (Carr) increases from $6 million to $10 million the maximum threshold above which the sum of all jobs performed in a one-year job order contract term shall not exceed. The bill also increases the maximum threshold amount for any individual job order from $500,000 to $1 million. Finally, the bill increases from two to three the number of additional one-year terms for which job order contracts may be renewable, and the bill only applies to contracts entered into on or after the bill's effective date.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; methods of procurement; certain construction projects  HB 1116 (Carr) allows a public body to establish purchase procedures, if adopted in writing, not requiring competitive sealed bids or competitive negotiation for single or term contracts for non-transportation-related construction projects if the aggregate or the sum of all phases is not expected to exceed $300,000. Current law places the limit at $200,000.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Virginia resident preference  HB 1361 (Feggans) and  SB 260 (DeSteph) provide preference as it relates to procurement for a bidder who is a resident of Virginia and then a bidder whose goods are produced in the United States. For the procurement of goods by manufacturers, when the lowest responsive and responsible bidder is not a resident of Virginia and the bid of any Virginia resident is within 10 percent of such bid, the bills give the lowest responsive and responsible bidder that is a Virginia resident the option to match the price of the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. Furthermore, if the lowest responsive and responsible bidder is a resident of another state and such state allows a resident a percentage preference or price-matching preference for the procurement of goods, the bill grants a like preference to responsive and responsible bidders who are residents of Virginia. Under the bills, an eligible bidder that is a Virginia resident shall be granted the greater of either preference. The bills exempt a public body from the provisions of the bill if such public body is rendered ineligible to receive federal funding due to the provisions of the bill. The bills have an expiration date of July 1, 2027. Finally, the bills direct the Department of General Services to report to the General Assembly regarding the bill's efficacy, including any retaliatory action taken by other states, no later than the first day of the 2025 Regular Session. Note that HB 1361incorporates  HB 164 (Keys-Gamarra),  HB 341 (Thomas)and  HB 1154 (Sickles).

Finance/Purchasing/Taxation – Continued to 2025 and Failed

Study; Department of Housing and Community Development; tax implications of implementing a land value tax; report  HJ 40 (Shin) would have directed the Department of Housing and Community Development to study tax implications of local governing bodies implementing a land value tax.

Minimum wage  HB 1 (Ward) and  SB 1 (Lucas) would have increased the minimum wage from the current rate of $12.00 per hour to $13.50 per hour effective January 1, 2025, and to $15.00 per hour effective January 1, 2026. The bill satisfied a reenactment clause included in Chapters 1204 and 1242 of the Acts of Assembly of 2020.  Note that both HB 1and SB 1passed the General Assembly but were vetoed by the Governor.

Annual retail sales and use tax holiday  HB 138 (Green) would have established an annual retail sales and use tax holiday to take place on the first full weekend in August beginning on August 1, 2025. During such weekend, state retail sales and use tax would not apply to certain (i) school supplies, (ii) clothing and footwear, (iii) qualified products designated as Energy Star or WaterSense, (iv) portable generators, or (v) hurricane preparedness equipment.

Average teacher salary in the Commonwealth; national average  HB 187 (Clark) and  SB 104 (Lucas) would have required 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.  Note that both HB 187and SB 104were passed by the General Assembly but were vetoed by the Governor.

Virginia Small Business Economic Development Act established; regulation of skill game machines; penalties.  SB 212 (Rouse) would have established 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 would have authorized and specified the registration requirements for the distribution, operation, hosting, and play of skill game machines, as defined in the bill. The bill would have imposed 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 would have directed 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.  Note that SB 212passed the General Assembly but was vetoed by the Governor.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; participation by veteran-owned small businesses  HB 381 (Feggans) would have required all public bodies to include in their goals for participation by small businesses a minimum of five percent participation by veteran-owned businesses and service disabled veteran-owned businesses. Current law only requires a goal of three percent participation by service disabled veteran-owned businesses and does not impose such goal upon local public bodies. The bill would have also required the Department of General Services to update the eVA portal to include a category for veteran-owned and service disabled veteran-owned small businesses that is conspicuous to the general public to easily display and search set-aside opportunities for such businesses.

Sales tax; exemption for food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products  HB 540 (McNamara) would have provided an exemption from local sales and use tax beginning July 1, 2024, for food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products. The bill would have also provided an allocation of state revenues to fund the distribution to localities for funding that would have been distributed to them absent the exemption created by the bill. Under current law, such products are exempt from state sales and use tax but are subject to the standard local rate of one percent. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House Finance .

Public school funds; state share for basic aid; basic aid and supplemental basic aid payment limit  HB 702 (Webert)would have removed the cap on an adjustment of the state share of aid provided to a school division, which limited such adjustment to the sum of the basic aid payment and any supplemental basic aid payment appropriated to such locality by the 2007 Session of the General Assembly.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; prohibition on boycotting Israel  HB 758 (Walker) and  SB 604 (McGuire) would have required all public bodies to include in every contract in excess of $100,000 with a business that employs more than 10 employees and in every subcontract or purchase order in excess of $10,000 a provision that states that during the performance of the contract, neither the contracting business nor any of its affiliates shall engage in a boycott of Israel.

Additional local sales and use tax to support schools; referendum  HB 805 (Rasoul) and  SB 14 (McPike) would have authorized all counties and cities to impose an additional local sales and use tax at a rate not to exceed one percent with the revenue used only for capital projects for the construction or renovation of schools if such levy is approved in a voter referendum. The bill would have removed the requirement that such a tax must have an expiration date on either (i) the date of the repayment of any bonds or loans used for such capital projects or (ii) a date chosen by the governing body. Under current law, only Charlotte, Gloucester, Halifax, Henry, Mecklenburg, Northampton, Patrick, and Pittsylvania Counties and the City of Danville are authorized to impose such a tax. Note that this legislation incorporated  HB 60 (Wright),  HB 193 (Cole),  HB 458 (Callsen),  HB 600 (Kilgore),  HB 616 (Price),  HB 1159 (Sickles)and  HB 1437 (Hayes). Note that both HB 805and SB 14passed the General Assembly but were vetoed by the Governor.

Certain school divisions; cost-savings agreements; requirements  HB 1029 (Runion) and  SB 468 (Obenshain) would have removed the limitation on any school board that enters into certain cost-savings agreements with a school board that governs a contiguous school division for the consolidation or sharing of educational, administrative, or support services and thus qualifies for adjustment of state share of basic aid computed annually on the basis of the composite index of local ability-to-pay of such contiguous school division that caps such adjusted basic aid payment at an amount equal to the basic aid payment appropriated to such locality by the 2007 Session of the General Assembly. The bill would have also permitted, notwithstanding the requirement set forth in relevant law that a school division has 65 percent or more of its local taxes coming from real estate taxes in order for the school board that governs such school division to be eligible to enter into such cost-savings agreements with a contiguous school division, the Bath County School Board to enter into such cost-savings agreements with the Augusta County School Board, provided that all other conditions and limitations set forth in relevant law apply to any such agreement. HB 1029 and SB 468 were Continued to 2025 in House Education and Senate Education and Health, respectively.

Cost of competing adjustment; eligibility; certain school boards  HB 1033 (Bloxom) would have provided that the Accomack County School Board and the Northampton County School Board are eligible to receive the cost of competing adjustment to salaries for instructional and support positions as part of the state share of basic aid pursuant to the general appropriation act. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House Appropriations .

Virginia Public Procurement Act; professional services; definition  HB 1101 (Wiley)would have added to the definition of "professional services," for use throughout the Virginia Public Procurement Act, services of an investment and financial advisor procured by the Department of the Treasury. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in Senate Finance and Appropriations.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; construction management and design-build contracting; applicability  HB 1191 (Sickles) would have stated that design-bid-build, defined in the bill, utilizing competitive sealed bidding is the preferred method of procurement for construction services in the Commonwealth. Complex projects, defined in the bill, may request an exemption from the provisions of the bill and relevant law from the Division of Engineering and Buildings of the Department of General Services. The bill would have required all documents related to the proposed use of construction management or design-build by state public bodies and institutions of higher education and any available subcontractor opportunities to be posted on eVA. The bill would have transferred from the Department of General Services to the Division of Engineering and Buildings the authority to evaluate the proposed use of construction management or design-build by state public bodies and institutions of higher education and specifies that a local governing body must approve at a public meeting the use of construction management or design-build by a local public body. Finally, the bill would have prohibited state public bodies, institutions of higher education, and local governing bodies from considering prior construction management or design-build experience of contractors on comparable projects.

Eligible educator income tax deduction; home school instruction income tax credit  HB 1234 (Earley)would have increased from $500 to $1,500 for tax years 2024 through 2026 the amount of income tax deduction certain eligible educators may deduct for qualifying expenses. The bill would have also created a nonrefundable tax credit for taxable years 2024 through 2028 for amounts paid by an individual or married couple filing jointly for their child receiving home instruction for (i) instruction-related materials, including textbooks, workbooks, and supplies, or (ii) courses or programs used in home instruction. The bill would have provided that the credit equals the lesser of the amount actually paid during the year for such costs or $3,000.

Home instruction and private school tax credit  HB 1275 (Higgins) would have created an individual, nonrefundable income tax credit for taxable years 2024 through 2028 for amounts paid by the parent or legal guardian of a child for the child's home instruction expenses or tuition for attending an accredited private school in Virginia. The bill would have provided that a taxpayer shall be allowed a credit up to $2,500 that is equal to the lesser of the amount actually paid in the taxable year for such costs or half of the average state standards of quality funding per student per year. The bill would have provided that the credit may be taken for instruction-related materials, courses, or programs used in home instruction or for private school tuition. The bill would have provided that the credit is available for two years per child and can be carried forward for five taxable years.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; local arbitration agreements HB 1371 (Simon)­ would have allowed a participating locality, for any procurement solicitation or contract exceeding $10,000 for goods and services, to require the bidder or offeror to disclose certain information regarding pre-dispute arbitration clauses, defined in the bill, in employment, civil rights, and certain consumer disputes, and provides that a locality may consider the policies and practices related to arbitration of each bidder and offeror. The bill also would have provided that a participating locality shall require the bidder or offeror to provide written or electronic submissions to allow the locality to ascertain (i) whether the bidder or offeror requires persons with whom it is in a work relationship or prospective work relationship to sign or otherwise enter into a contract containing a pre-dispute arbitration clause that would cover an employment or civil rights dispute and (ii) whether the bidder or offeror requires consumers to sign or otherwise enter into a contract containing a pre-dispute arbitration clause as a condition of downloading mobile applications or using websites to pay a school district for goods, services, or fees. The bill would have authorized a participating locality to cancel, terminate, or suspend, in whole or in part, the contract of any contractor that has violated a provision of the bill and to declare the contractor ineligible for further contracts with such locality for up to five years. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House General Laws .

Virginia Public Procurement Act; public works contracts; project labor agreements  HB 1440 (Wiley) would have removed the statutory authority for any public body, including any state or local government, when engaged in procuring products or services or letting contracts for construction, manufacture, maintenance, or operation of public works, to require bidders to enter into or adhere to project labor agreements on the public works projects.

Sales tax; exemption for food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products  SB 110 (Sutterlein) would have provided an exemption from local sales and use tax beginning July 1, 2024, for food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products. The bill would have also provided an allocation of state revenues to fund the distribution to localities for funding that would have been distributed to them absent the exemption created by the bill. Under current law, such products are exempt from state sales and use tax but are subject to the standard local rate of one percent.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; procurement of electric vehicles; forced and child labor prohibition  SB 492 (Stanley) would have prohibited public bodies from awarding contracts to acquire an electric vehicle or electric vehicle component from a business unless such business provides a sworn declaration from the manufacturer of such electric vehicle or electric vehicle component certifying that every person involved in the production of such electric vehicle or electric vehicle component and every person involved in the sourcing, manufacturing, or mining of the material used in such electric vehicle or electric vehicle component did not use forced labor or oppressive child labor, both terms defined in the bill, in the sourcing, manufacturing, or mining of such electric vehicle or electric vehicle component. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in Senate General Laws and Technology.

Taxation  SB 632 (Stuart)would have decreased, beginning in taxable year 2025, the income tax imposed (i) on income less than $3,000, from two percent to 1.75 percent; (ii) on income in excess of $3,000 but less than $5,000, from three percent to 2.65 percent; (iii) on income in excess of $5,000 but less than $17,000, from five percent to 4.4 percent; and (iv) on income in excess of $17,000, from 5.75 percent to 5.1 percent.  The bill would have increased from 20 to 25 percent, beginning in taxable year 2025, the amount of credit eligible taxpayers may claim pursuant to the income tax credit for low-income taxpayers. The bill would have also increased the annual aggregate amount of Education Improvement Scholarships tax credits that are available from $25 million to $30 million beginning fiscal year 2025 and each fiscal year thereafter. The bill would have defined "digital personal property," "streaming," and "taxable service" for the purposes of the retail sales and use tax. The bill would have increased the sales and use tax from 4.3 percent to 5.2 percent. Amendments were made throughout the bill to impose the sales and use tax on taxable services in addition to tangible personal property. The bill would have required that one half of the additional sales and use tax revenues generated by taxable services and digital personal property that is deposited in the Commonwealth Transportation Fund be distributed to the Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund, and the additional one half of such revenues be distributed to the Interstate 81 Corridor Improvement Fund until June 30, 2031, or until $400 million has been deposited in the Interstate 81 Corridor Improvement Fund. Certain provisions of the bill had a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in Senate Finance and Appropriations .

Virginia Public Procurement Act; competitive sealed bidding; required criteria in invitations to bid  SB 647 (Carrol Foy)would have required all public bodies to include in any Invitation to Bid criteria that will be used in determining whether a bidder who is not prequalified by the Virginia Department of Transportation is a responsible bidder. Current law authorizes, but does not require, localities to include such criteria in Invitations to Bid.