1. A. There is hereby established the Virginia Prison Education Task Force (the Task Force) for the purpose of implementing a consistent education program across all state correctional facilities operated by the Department.
2. B. The Task Force shall be administered by the Secretary of Finance and shall consist of the following members: (i) two members of the Senate who are not members of the same political party, to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules; (ii) two members of the House of Delegates who are not members of the same political party, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates; (iii) the Secretary of Finance or his designee; (iv) the Secretary of Education or his designee; (v) the Secretary of Labor or his designee; (vi) the Secretary of Commerce and Trade or his designee; (vii) the Director of the Department of Corrections or his designee; (viii) the Commissioner of the Department of Workforce Development and Advancement or his designee; (ix) the Chief Information Officer of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency or his designee; (x) the Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System or his designee; (xi) the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development or his designee; (xii) the Research Director of the Virginia Office of Education Economics or his designee; (xiii) the President of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce or his designee; (xiv) the Executive Director of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia or his designee; (xv) the Superintendent of Public Instruction or his designee; (xvi) three formerly incarcerated individuals to be appointed by the Secretary of Finance, including one individual who was enrolled in the Department of Corrections' Adult Basic Education program while incarcerated, one individual who was enrolled in postsecondary coursework while incarcerated, and one individual who was not able to access education services while incarcerated; (xvii) a member of a faith-based organization with expertise in prison higher education to be appointed by the Secretary of Finance; (xviii) a member of a criminal justice advocacy organization to be appointed by the Secretary of Finance; (xix) a representative with expertise in management of state education and workforce data to be appointed by the Secretary of Finance; and (xx) any other stakeholders as may be appropriate to be appointed by the Secretary of Finance.
3. C. The Secretary of Finance shall serve as the chair of the Task Force.
4. D. A majority of the members of the Task Force shall constitute a quorum. The Task Force shall meet at least four times a year and upon the call of the chair or at the request of a majority of the members.
5. E. The Task Force shall propose recommendations on the development and implementation of a consistent education program across all state correctional facilities operated by the Department of Corrections. In proposing such recommendations, the Task Force shall (i) analyze existing and potential state and federal funding programs and develop a strategy to maximize securement and use of available funds; (ii) assess additional budget requests to meet the goals of implementation of the education programs; (iii) review and support development of the interagency agreements between the Department of Corrections, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System, and the Chief Information Officer of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency; (iv) propose ways to advise and support the Department of Corrections in developing a strategy to reduce waitlists for participation in the literacy and education programs proposed for implementation; (v) study and recommend the most effective ways to facilitate data collection, sharing, and analysis relating to prison education; (vi) study and recommend the most effective ways to increase technological infrastructure in all state correctional facilities operated by the Department of Corrections to support education; (vii) study and recommend the most effective ways to establish reentry supports to facilitate positive employment outcomes post-release; (viii) propose best practices to conduct regular evaluations of program effectiveness, outcomes, and conditions to inform education program improvement; and (ix) study and make recommendations for setting and meeting average mandatory program hours provided in subsection C of § 53.1-32.1 with available resources.

6. F.

   1. 1. The Task Force shall establish a Higher Education Advisory Group (the Advisory Group), which shall, at a minimum, consist of the following members of the Task Force: the Commissioner of the Department of Workforce Development and Advancement, the Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System, the Director of the Department of Corrections, and the Chief Information Officer of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, or their designees, a member of a faith-based organization with expertise in prison higher education, and an active circuit court judge.
   2. 2. The Advisory Group shall propose recommendations on a potential interagency agreement between the Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System and the Department of Corrections; necessary technology infrastructure to meet the needs of higher education staff in state correctional facilities operated by the Department of Corrections; and necessary technology tools to provide incarcerated students coursework commensurate with that provided to nonincarcerated students, including a learning management system, research library access, advising, synchronous teleconference instruction, application suites, and long-term storage for students' academic resource materials and work products.

2026, c. 725.