Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That § 53.1-202.3 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 53.1-202.3. Rate at which sentence credits may be earned; prerequisites.

A maximum of fourseven and one-half sentence credits may be earned for each thirty 30 days served. The earning of sentence credits shall be conditioned, in part, upon full participation in and cooperation with programs to which a person is assigned pursuant to § 53.1-32.1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no portion of any sentence credits earned shall be applied to reduce the period of time a person must serve before becoming eligible for parole upon any sentence.