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Legislate: All Bills

419 bills were returned.
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HB 1043 - Kathy K.L. Tran
Child abuse and neglect; background check & training requirements for youth sports coaches & staff.
01/29/2022 - House: Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #1
Child abuse and neglect; background check and training requirements for youth sports coaches and staff. Requires youth sports leagues to (i) require all coaches, staff members, employees, and other volunteers who will be alone with, in control of, or supervising children to complete a fingerprint-based background check; (ii) provide to all coaches, staff members, employees, and other volunteers who will be alone with, in control of, or supervising children and the parent of any child participating in the sports league written notice of the duty of all coaches, directors, and persons 18 years of age or older employed by or volunteering with the sports league to report suspected child abuse or neglect, information regarding how to report suspected child abuse or neglect, an explanation of the penalties that may be imposed for failure to file a required report, contact information for the local department of social services, and the telephone number for the Department of Social Services' toll-free child abuse and neglect hotline; and (iii) require all paid coaches, staff members, and employees who will be alone with, in control of, or supervising children to complete no less than four hours of training annually regarding child abuse prevention and response and require all volunteers who will be alone with, in control of, or supervising children to complete no less than two hours of training annually regarding child abuse prevention and response. The bill directs the Board of Education to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the bill and to develop and provide to sports leagues resources regarding child abuse prevention and response training opportunities.

HB 105 - Sam Rasoul
Catawba Hospital; DBHDS to study feasibility of transforming into subst. abuse/mental health trtmt.
02/04/2022 - House: Assigned App. sub: General Government and Capital Outlay
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; feasibility study; Catawba Hospital; substance abuse treatment and recovery services. Directs the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to study the feasibility of transforming Catawba Hospital into a facility at which a continuum of substance abuse treatment and recovery services, including long-term, short-term, acute, and outpatient services, is provided in addition to the array of behavioral health and other services currently provided to geriatric individuals in need of mental health care, and to identify state hospitals in other regions of the Commonwealth that may be appropriate for transformation into facilities at which a continuum of such services is provided in addition to the array of behavioral health and other services currently provided to individuals in need of mental health care. The Department shall report its findings, conclusions, and recommendations to the Governor and the Chairmen of the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance and Appropriations and the House Committees on Appropriations and Health, Welfare and Institutions by December 1, 2022.

HB 1053 - Irene Shin
Correctional facilities, local; fees associated with inmates.
03/12/2022 - House: Continued to 2022 Sp. Sess. 1 pursuant to HJR455
Local correctional facilities; fees. Directs the State Board of Local and Regional Jails (the Board) to convene a work group to study implementation of the reduction or elimination of certain fees associated with inmates in local correctional facilities. The bill provides that the work group shall consist of two members of the House Committee on Public Safety who are not members of the same political party and two members of the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services who are not members of the same political party. Such legislative members shall appoint as members of the work group one formerly incarcerated person, one family member of an incarcerated person, and at least one representative of certain organizations and companies. The bill directs the Board to report its findings to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services and the House Committee on Public Safety by October 1, 2022.

HB 1060 - Aijalon Cordoza
Critically missing adult; expands definition, receipt of reports.
03/01/2022 - House: House acceded to request
Receipt of critically missing adult reports; Virginia Critically Missing Adult Alert Program; definition. Expands the definition of "critically missing adult" to include any missing adult 18 years of age or older who has a developmental disability, intellectual disability, or mental illness for the purpose of receipt of critically missing adult reports by a police or sheriff's department and the Virginia Critically Missing Adult Alert Program administered by the Department of State Police.

HB 1147 - Robert B. Bell III
Temporary detention; alternative custody.
02/04/2022 - House: Read first time
Temporary detention; alternative custody. Provides that if the facility indicated on a temporary detention order is a state facility, no bed for the person detained or in custody pursuant to the temporary detention order is immediately available at such state facility, and an employee or designee of such state facility is available to take custody of such person, such employee or designee of the state facility may assume custody of such person wherever such person is located and maintain custody of such person and transport such person to such state facility or to an alternative facility of temporary detention. The bill also provides that a person who is an inmate who is subject to an order authorizing treatment shall remain in law-enforcement custody at all times prior to admission to the facility designated for treatment of the person pursuant to such order.

HB 118 - Nicholas J. Freitas
Electric utilities; regulation, development of renewable energy facilities.
01/07/2022 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Regulation of electric utilities; development of renewable energy facilities; powers of State Air Pollution Control Board; powers of State Corporation Commission. Repeals provisions (i) requiring the State Air Pollution Control Board to adopt regulations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from any electricity generating unit in the Commonwealth and authorizing the Board to establish an auction program for energy allowances; (ii) prohibiting the State Corporation Commission from approving any new utility-owned generation facilities that emit carbon dioxide as a by-product of energy generation, in certain circumstances; (iii) declaring that statutory allowances for energy derived from sunlight, onshore wind, offshore wind, and storage facilities are in the public interest; and (iv) relating to the development of solar and wind generation and energy storage capacity, development of offshore wind capacity, and generation of electricity from renewable and zero carbon sources. The bill provides that planning and development activities for new nuclear generation facilities are in the public interest.

HB 1180 - Nadarius Clark
Substance abuse services providers; assessment, tobacco use disorder.
01/25/2022 - House: Assigned HWI sub: Subcommittee #3
Substance abuse services providers; assessment; tobacco use. Requires every provider licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services who provides services to individuals with substance use disorder to assess each individual receiving services for use of all tobacco products at the time the provider begins providing services and provides that, in cases in which an individual receiving services is identified as having a tobacco use disorder, the provider shall (i) provide information to the individual about how continued use of tobacco products may affect the individual's long-term success in recovery from substance use disorder, (ii) recommend treatment for tobacco use disorder in the treatment plan, and (iii) offer either treatment for tobacco use disorder as part of the individual's treatment plan, if the provider is licensed to provide such treatment, or referral for treatment of tobacco use disorder.

HB 1186 - Emily M. Brewer
Mental Health Care Coordinator; position created in DVS, report.
01/17/2022 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Department of Veterans Services; Mental Health Care Coordinator; position created; report. Establishes the position of Mental Health Care Coordinator (the Coordinator) in the Department of Veterans Services to support and closely coordinate effective mental health care services for military service members and veterans and their families. The bill directs the Coordinator to report by December 1 of each year through the Commissioner of the Department of Veterans Services to the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, the Governor, and the General Assembly on the work of the Coordinator and any legislative recommendations.

HB 1191 - Margaret Bevans Ransone
Marcus alert system; optional participation.
01/17/2022 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Marcus alert system; optional participation. Provides that participation in the Marcus alert system is optional for localities and that no locality, community services board, or behavioral health authority is required to participate in the Marcus alert system. The bill also revises reporting requirements related to the Marcus alert system and comprehensive crisis system to include a requirement that the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services include in its annual report a statement of the barriers to establishment of local Marcus alert programs and community care or mobile crisis teams in areas of the Commonwealth that have opted to not establish such programs and teams and a plan for addressing such barriers to increase the number of such programs and teams in the Commonwealth.

HB 1193 - Patrick A. Hope
Medical Assistance Services, Department of; coordinated specialty care, work group established.
04/11/2022 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0621)
Department of Medical Assistance Services; coordinated specialty care; work group established. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to establish a work group, in coordination with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, to evaluate and make recommendations to improve approaches to early psychosis and mood disorder detection approaches, make program funding recommendations, recommend a core set of standardized clinical and outcome measures, and evaluate coordinated specialty care programs in the Commonwealth. The work group is required by the bill to submit a five-year strategic plan annually to the General Assembly beginning November 1, 2022.

HB 1203 - Anne Ferrell Tata
Suicide Prevention Coordinator; position created in DVS, report.
02/04/2022 - House: VOTE: Passage Block Vote (100-Y 0-N)
Department of Veterans Services; Mental Health Care Coordinator; position created; report. Establishes the position of Mental Health Care Coordinator (the Coordinator) in the Department of Veterans Services to support and closely coordinate effective mental health care services for military service members and veterans and their families. The bill directs the Coordinator to report by December 1 of each year through the Commissioner of the Department of Veterans Services to the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, the Governor, and the General Assembly on the work of the Coordinator and any legislative recommendations.

HB 1321 - Leslie R. Adams
Admission to bail; rebuttable presumptions.
01/29/2022 - House: Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #1
Admission to bail; rebuttable presumptions. Creates a rebuttable presumption against releasing a person on his own recognizance or an unsecured bond in certain circumstances detailed in the bill. The bill provides that such presumption may be rebutted if the judicial officer finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that such person is not a flight risk and his liberty will not constitute an unreasonable danger to himself, family or household members, or the public. The bill also provides for an appeal, upon notice by the Commonwealth, of a district court's decision to release a person on his own recognizance or an unsecured bond over the presumption.

HB 1339 - James A. Leftwich
Facial recognition technology; redefines, local law enforcement and campus police to utilize.
03/12/2022 - House: Continued to 2022 Sp. Sess. 1 pursuant to HJR455
Facial recognition technology; local law enforcement; campus police. Redefines facial recognition technology, for the purposes of providing criteria for the lawful use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement, as conducting an algorithmic comparison of images of an individual's facial features for the purposes of identification. The bill authorizes local law-enforcement agencies and campus police departments to utilize facial recognition technology for certain authorized uses as defined in the bill. The bill requires that local law-enforcement agencies and campus police departments publicly post and annually update policies regarding the use of facial recognition technology and maintain records regarding the use of facial recognition technology and report the data annually to their communities. The bill also makes it a Class 3 misdemeanor for any facial recognition technology operator employed by a local law-enforcement agency or campus police department to violate the agency or department's policy regarding the use of facial recognition technology or to conduct a search for any other reason than an authorized use. Additionally, the bill requires the Department of State Police to develop a model policy regarding the use of facial recognition technology by January 1, 2023. The bill directs the Virginia State Crime Commission to submit a report with an analysis and recommendations about the use of facial recognition technology to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the House Committee on Public Safety by November 1, 2025. The provisions of the bill expire on July 1, 2026.

HB 134 - Michael Cherry
Involuntary commitment; release of person before expiration of order.
01/22/2022 - House: Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #1
Involuntary commitment; release of person before expiration of order. Provides that no person who is the subject of an order for involuntary commitment shall be released from a state hospital or licensed hospital and that no community services board shall petition for rescission of a mandatory outpatient treatment order or order authorizing discharge to mandatory outpatient treatment following inpatient treatment during the 96-hour period immediately following entry of the order, unless in the opinion of (i) the psychiatrist or clinical psychologist treating the person, based on an evaluation conducted by the psychiatrist or clinical psychologist, and (ii) a second psychiatrist or clinical psychologist who has evaluated the person, the person will not meet the criteria for involuntary commitment if released.

HB 1341 - Emily M. Brewer
Local correctional facilities, etc.; transfer of individuals in need of behavioral health services.
02/04/2022 - House: Subcommittee recommends referring to Committee on Appropriations
Local correctional facilities and lock-ups; transfer of individuals in need of behavioral health or developmental services. Requires the State Board of Local and Regional Jails (the Board) to establish minimum standards for identification and care of individuals with developmental disabilities in local correctional facilities and procedures for enforcing such minimum standards, including requirements for (i) developmental disabilities screening of individuals committed to local correctional facilities, (ii) referral of individuals committed to local correctional facilities for whom a screening indicates reason to believe the individual may have a developmental disability to an appropriate provider for an assessment to determine whether the individual has a developmental disability and is in need of developmental services, and (iii) transfer of an individual determined to have a developmental disability and to be in need of developmental services from a local correctional facility to a facility at which appropriate developmental services are provided within 72 hours of completion of the assessment. The bill also requires the Board to amend standards governing the delivery of behavioral health services in local correctional facilities and lock-ups to provide that if an individual is assessed as being in need of behavioral health services for severe mental illness, such individual shall be transferred from the local correctional facility or lock-up to a behavioral health facility within 72 hours of the assessment. Currently, standards governing behavioral health services in local correctional facilities and lock-ups require that if a person is assessed as being in need of behavioral health services, the local correctional facility or lock-up shall provide such services.

HB 135 - Michael Cherry
Emergency custody and temporary detention; transportation of person when transfer of custody.
01/29/2022 - House: Assigned App. sub: Health & Human Resources
Emergency custody and temporary detention; transportation; transfer of custody. Provides that, in cases in which transportation of a person subject to an emergency custody order or temporary detention order is ordered to be provided by an alternative transportation provider, the primary law-enforcement agency that executes the order may transfer custody of the person to the alternative transportation provider immediately upon execution of the order, and that the alternative transportation provider shall maintain custody of the person from the time custody is transferred to the alternative transportation provider by the primary law-enforcement agency until such time as custody of the person is transferred to the community services board or its designee that is responsible for conducting the evaluation or the temporary detention facility, as is appropriate. The bill also adds employees of and persons providing services pursuant to a contract with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to the list of individuals who may serve as alternative transportation providers.

HB 147 - William D. Wiley
Local correctional facilities and lock-ups; minimum standards.
02/04/2022 - House: Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #4
Minimum standards for local correctional facilities and lock-ups; individuals in need of behavioral health or developmental services. Requires the State Board of Local and Regional Jails (the Board) to establish minimum standards for identification and care of individuals with developmental disabilities in local correctional facilities and procedures for enforcing such minimum standards, including requirements for (i) screening of individuals committed to local correctional facilities for developmental disabilities, (ii) referral of individuals committed to local correctional facilities for whom a screening indicates reason to believe the person may have a developmental disability to an appropriate provider for an assessment to determine whether the individual has a developmental disability and is in need of developmental services, and (iii) transfer of an individual determined to have a developmental disability and to be in need of developmental services from a local correctional facility to a facility at which appropriate developmental services are provided within 72 hours of completion of the assessment. The bill also requires the Board to amend standards governing the delivery of behavioral health services in local correctional facilities and lock-ups to provide that if an individual is assessed as being in need of behavioral health services, such individual shall be transferred from the local correctional facility or lock-up to a behavioral health facility within 72 hours of the assessment. Currently, standards governing behavioral health services in local correctional facilities and lock-ups require that if a person is assessed as being in need of behavioral health services, the local correctional facility or lock-up shall provide such services.

HB 163 - Margaret Bevans Ransone
Emergency custody and temporary detention; governing transportation & custody of minors and adults.
02/04/2022 - House: Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N)
Emergency custody and temporary detention; transportation and custody. Amends numerous sections governing emergency custody and temporary detention of minors and adults to clarify duties of law-enforcement agencies and mental health facilities with regard to custody. The bill requires facilities to take custody of a minor or person who is the subject of an emergency custody order or temporary detention order immediately upon completion of transportation and arrival of the minor or person at the facility; specifies that if a facility does not take custody of a minor or person immediately upon completion of transportation and arrival at the facility, the order is void and the minor or person shall be released; provides that emergency custody orders shall not be extended; and makes other changes to clarify the role and obligations of law enforcement in the emergency custody and temporary detention process.

HB 225 - Carrie E. Coyner
Health insurance; definition of autism spectrum disorder.
04/06/2022 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0101)
Health insurance; definition of autism spectrum disorder. Provides that for the purposes of required health insurance coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder, "autism spectrum disorder" means any pervasive developmental disorder or autism spectrum disorder, as defined in the most recent edition or the most recent edition at the time of diagnosis of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association and "medically necessary" means in accordance with the generally accepted standards of mental disorder or condition care and clinically appropriate in terms of type, frequency, site, and duration, based upon evidence and reasonably expected to do any of the following: (i) prevent the onset of an illness, condition, injury, or disability; (ii) reduce or ameliorate the physical, mental, or developmental effects of an illness, condition, injury, or disability; or (iii) assist to achieve or maintain maximum functional capacity in performing daily activities, taking into account both the functional capacity of the individual and the functional capacities that are appropriate for individuals of the same age. This bill is identical to SB 321.

HB 230 - Carrie E. Coyner
Teachers; licensure by reciprocity for military spouses, timeline for determination.
04/11/2022 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0546)
Applications for teacher licensure by reciprocity; military spouses; timeline for determination. Requires the Board of Education's licensure regulations to provide for licensure by reciprocity for any spouse of an active duty or reserve member of the Armed Forces of the United States or a member of the Virginia National Guard who has obtained a valid out-of-state license, with full credentials and without deficiencies, that is in force at the time the application for a Virginia license is received by the Department of Education. Current law requires such regulations to provide for licensure by reciprocity for any spouse of an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the Commonwealth. The bill requires such an individual to submit an official copy of the military permanent assignment orders of the individual's spouse as part of the complete application packet. The bill requires the Department to determine and communicate such individual's eligibility for licensure by reciprocity within 15 business days of receipt of the complete application packet. This bill is identical to SB 154.

HB 235 - Robert Dickson Orrock Sr.
Hospitals; protocols for patients receiving rehabilitation services.
02/04/2022 - House: Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB235H1
Rehabilitation hospitals; arrangements for follow-up care. Requires every hospital that provides rehabilitation services to make arrangements for all necessary follow-up care for a patient prior to discharging such patient, including scheduling initial appointments for any follow-up care and providing the patient with the names and contact information for each provider and information regarding each scheduled appointments.

HB 239 - Dawn M. Adams
Housing and Supportive Services ILT initiative; housing and services for older citizens.
02/04/2022 - House: Assigned App. sub: Health & Human Resources
Housing and Supportive Services Interagency Leadership Team initiative; housing and services for older Virginians. Directs the Department for Housing and Community Development to expand the existing Housing and Supportive Services Interagency Leadership Team (ILT) initiative to include older Virginians as a target subpopulation and seek input from appropriate stakeholders to facilitate the development of strategies for increasing the supply of permanent supportive housing for older Virginians. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Health Care.

HB 242 - Dawn M. Adams
Professional counselors, licensed; added to list of providers who can disclose or recommend records.
02/04/2022 - House: Read second time and engrossed
Practice of licensed professional counselors. Adds licensed professional counselors to the list of eligible providers who can disclose or recommend the withholding of patient records, face a malpractice review panel, and provide recommendations on involuntary temporary detention orders.

HB 277 - Carrie Emerson Coyner
Recovery residences; disclosure to potential residents that residence is certified.
02/04/2022 - House: Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with substitute (21-Y 1-N)
Certified recovery residences. Requires every person who operates a recovery residence to disclose to potential residents whether the recovery residence is a certified recovery residence and that no health care provider or behavioral health service provider who receives public funds or state agency shall refer a person with substance abuse disorder to a recovery residence unless the recovery residence has been certified by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Department) in accordance with regulations adopted by the Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Board). The bill also provides that credentialing agencies by which the Board may require accreditation or in which the Board may require membership shall administer credentialing and certification programs in accordance with standards of the National Alliance for Recovery Residences; requires the Board to adopt regulations requiring each certified recovery residence include one or more resident or nonresident staff persons who is employed by the provider for compensation and who is responsible for oversight or management of the recovery residence; and requires the Department to provide, for each certified recovery residence included on the list maintained on the Department?s website the level of support provided by the certified recovery residence. The bill also provides that certified recovery residences shall constitute residential occupancy by a single family for zoning purposes, regardless of the number of persons residing in the certified recovery residence, and exempts certified recovery residences from the provisions of the Virginia Landlord and Tenant Act.

HB 304 - Nicholas Jason Freitas
Abortion; born alive human infant, treatment and care, penalty.
02/04/2022 - House: Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (5-Y 3-N)
Abortion; born alive human infant; treatment and care; penalty. Requires every physician licensed by the Board of Medicine who attempts to terminate a pregnancy to (i) exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of a human infant who has been born alive following such attempt as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age and (ii) take all reasonable steps to ensure the immediate transfer of the human infant who has been born alive to a hospital for further medical care. A physician who fails to comply with the requirements of this act is guilty of a Class 4 felony and may be subject to disciplinary action by the Board of Medicine. The bill also requires every hospital licensed by the Department of Health to establish a protocol for the treatment and care of a human infant who has been born alive following performance of an abortion and for the immediate reporting to law enforcement of any failure to provide such required treatment and care.

HB 319 - Carrie Emerson Coyner
Virginia Literacy Act; early student literacy, evidence-based literacy instruction, etc.
03/01/2022 - Senate: Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)
Virginia Literacy Act; early student literacy; evidence-based literacy instruction; science-based reading research. Makes several changes relating to early student literacy, including requiring (i) each education preparation program offered by a public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education or alternative certification program that provides training for any individual seeking initial licensure with an endorsement in a certain area, including as a reading specialist, to demonstrate mastery of science-based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction, as such terms are defined in the bill; (ii) the literacy assessment required of individuals seeking initial teacher licensure with endorsements in certain areas to include a rigorous test of science-based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction; (iii) each local school board to establish a divisionwide literacy plan; (iv) each local school board to employ one reading specialist for each 550 students in kindergarten through grade three; and (v) each local school board to provide a program of literacy instruction whereby, among other things, (a) the program provides reading intervention services to students in kindergarten through grade three who demonstrate deficiencies based on their individual performance on the Standards of Learning reading assessment or an early literacy screener provided or approved by the Department of Education; (b) a reading specialist, in collaboration with the teacher of any student who receives such reading intervention services, develops, oversees implementation of, and monitors student progress on a student reading plan; and (c) each student who receives such reading intervention services is assessed utilizing either the early literacy screener provided or approved by the Department or the grade-level reading Standards of Learning assessment again at the end of that school year. The provisions of the bill become effective beginning with the 2024–2025 school year.

HB 366 - Vivian Edna Watts
Assault and battery; penalties when committed against certain persons.
01/29/2022 - House: Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #1
Assault and battery; penalties. Provides that a simple assault or an assault and battery committed against a judge, magistrate, law-enforcement officer, correctional officer, person directly involved in the care, treatment, or supervision of inmates, firefighter, or volunteer firefighter or emergency medical services personnel by a juvenile who has not been previously convicted of or proceeded against informally or adjudicated delinquent for an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult is punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. Currently, any such offense is a punishable as a Class 6 felony, with a mandatory minimum term of confinement of six months. The bill also provides that any person charged with such offense who has been diagnosed by a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist with a mental illness, developmental disability, or intellectual disability and the violation was caused by or had a direct and substantial relationship to the person's mental illness or disability, then such person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

HB 584 - Sally L. Hudson
Employee health insurance; pharmacy benefits, reverse auction process.
02/03/2022 - House: Subcommittee recommends striking from docket (5-Y 0-N)
Department of Human Resource Management; employee health insurance; pharmacy benefits; reverse auction process. Directs the Department of Human Resource Management to utilize a reverse auction process to award pharmacy benefit manager contracts for pharmacy benefits offered under the state employee health insurance plan.

HB 594 - Donald L. Scott Jr.
Magistrates; appointment and supervision.
02/04/2022 - House: Subcommittee failed to recommend reporting (3-Y 5-N)
Magistrates; appointment and supervision. Gives supervisory control over the magistrate system to the chief circuit court judge and the Committee on District Courts and abolishes magisterial regions. Under current law, the Executive Secretary of the Virginia Supreme Court exercises such authority with a provision for consultation with the chief judges of the circuit courts in the region where the appointment is made.

HB 604 - Mark David Sickles
Nursing, Board of; power and duty to prescribe minimum standards, etc., for educational programs.
02/04/2022 - House: Read second time and engrossed
Board of Nursing; education programs; oversight. Gives the Board of Nursing the power and duty to prescribe minimum standards and approval curricula for educational programs preparing persons for registration as a medication aide and to provide periodic surveys of training programs.

HB 684 - Patrick Alan Hope
Involuntary temporary detention; disclosure of health records.
01/29/2022 - House: Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #1
Involuntary temporary detention; disclosure of health records. Requires a local community services board to disclose medical records and ancillary information obtained during an evaluation to determine whether a person meets the criteria for involuntary temporary detention to a health care provider providing services to such person in a hospital emergency department.

HB 742 - Robert B. Bell III
Workers' compensation; anxiety disorder or depressive disorder incurred by law-enforcement, etc.
02/02/2022 - House: Assigned App. sub: Compensation and Retirement
Workers' compensation; anxiety disorder or depressive disorder incurred by law-enforcement officers and firefighters. Provides that an anxiety disorder or depressive disorder, as both are defined in the bill, incurred by a law-enforcement officer or firefighter is compensable under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act on the same basis as post-traumatic stress disorder. The bill provides that a mental health professional must diagnose the law-enforcement officer or firefighter as suffering from anxiety disorder or depressive disorder as a result of a qualifying event, as defined in the Code, and includes other conditions for compensability.

HB 773 - Myron Keith Hodges
Health insurance; provider credentialing, receipt of application.
02/04/2022 - House: Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB773H1
Health insurance; provider credentialing; receipt of application. Requires the protocols and procedures for the reimbursement of new provider applicants that are established by a carrier that credentials providers in its network to require that the carrier confirm receipt of such applicant's credentialing application with such applicant within 10 days of receiving the application.

HB 806 - Marcia S. Price
Health insurance; coverage for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
01/27/2022 - House: Tabled in Commerce and Energy (15-Y 7-N)
Health insurance; coverage for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Requires health insurers, health maintenance organizations, and corporations providing health care coverage subscription contracts to provide coverage for treatment of PCOS, if diagnosed by a gynecologist, endocrinologist, primary care physician, pediatrician, nurse practitioner, dermatologist, or infertility specialist. The bill specifies which types of treatment will be covered for PCOS. The bill applies to policies, contracts, and plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on and after January 1, 2023.

HB 807 - Marcia S. Price
Criminal history background checks; governing individuals providing certain services for adults.
01/25/2022 - House: Assigned HWI sub: Subcommittee #2
Criminal history background checks. Moves to separate sections of the Code of Virginia provisions governing background checks for individuals providing substance abuse and mental health services for adults. Currently, provisions governing background checks for individuals providing substance abuse and mental health services for adults are included together with provisions governing background checks for providers of substance abuse and mental health services for children and providers of developmental services for individuals of all ages.

HB 811 - Wren Williams
Admission to bail; rebuttable presumptions against bail.
01/29/2022 - House: Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #1
Admission to bail; rebuttable presumptions against bail. Creates a rebuttable presumption against bail for certain criminal offenses enumerated in the bill and for persons identified as being illegally present in the United States by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who are charged with certain offenses. The bill also provides that a magistrate, clerk, or deputy clerk of a district court or circuit court shall not admit to bail, that is not set by a judge, any person who is charged with an offense giving rise to a rebuttable presumption against bail without the concurrence of an attorney for the Commonwealth. The bill also requires the court to consider specified factors when determining whether the presumption against bail has been rebutted and whether there are appropriate conditions of release.

HB 812 - Wren Williams
Admission to bail; rebuttable presumptions against bail.
01/29/2022 - House: Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #1
Admission to bail; rebuttable presumptions against bail. Creates a rebuttable presumption against bail for certain criminal offenses enumerated in the bill and for persons identified as being illegally present in the United States by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who are charged with certain offenses. The bill also requires the court to consider specified factors when determining whether the presumption against bail has been rebutted and whether there are appropriate conditions of release.

HB 90 - Joseph P. McNamara
Sales tax; exemption for food purchased for human consumption & essential personal hygiene products.
03/12/2022 - House: Continued to 2022 Sp. Sess. 1 pursuant to HJR455
Sales tax; exemption for food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products. Exempts food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products (the grocery tax) from all state, regional, and local sales taxes. The bill dedicates an amount equal to a 0.182 percent sales and use tax to cities and counties as a supplemental school payment. Such payment shall, from July 1, 2022, until July 1, 2024, be distributed based on each city and county's estimated average share of monthly distributions attributable to the tax on such food and hygiene products between February 2020 and December 2021. Beginning July 1, 2024, such payment shall be based upon each city and county's pro rata share of total local sales and use taxes.

HB 900 - G. John Avoli
Public health emergency; hospital or nursing home, addition of beds.
03/01/2022 - Senate: Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N)
Public health emergency; hospital or nursing home; addition of beds. Creates an exemption from the requirement for a certificate of public need or a license for the temporary addition of beds located in a temporary structure or satellite location by a hospital or nursing home in cases in which the Board of Health or the Commissioner of Health (the Commissioner) has entered an emergency order for the purpose of suppressing a nuisance dangerous to public health or a communicable, contagious, or infectious disease or other danger to the public life and health and provides that such exemption shall apply for the duration of the emergency order plus 30 days. The bill also expands the duration of the existing exemption from the requirement for a certificate of public need or a license for the addition of temporary beds when the Commissioner has determined that a natural or man-made disaster has caused the evacuation of a hospital or nursing home and that a public health emergency exists due to a shortage of hospital or nursing home beds to the duration of such determination plus 30 days and makes clear that such exemption shall apply to the temporary addition of beds located in a temporary structure or satellite location by a hospital or nursing home.

HB 979 - Kathy K. L. Tran
Provisional teacher licensure; teachers licensed or certified outside of the United States.
04/11/2022 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0656)
Board of Education; provisional teacher licensure; teachers licensed or certified outside of the United States. Permits the Board of Education to provide for the issuance of a provisional license, valid for a period not to exceed three years, to any individual who has held within the last five years a valid and officially issued and recognized license or certification to teach issued by an entity outside of the United States but does not meet the requirements for a renewable license if the individual's license or certification to teach has been evaluated and verified by an entity approved by the Department of Education. This bill is identical to SB 68.

HJ 135 - Richard C. Sullivan Jr.
World Parkinson's Day; designating as April 11, 2022, and each succeeding year thereafter.
03/01/2022 - Senate: Agreed to by Senate by voice vote
World Parkinson's Day. Designates April 11, in 2022 and in each succeeding year, as World Parkinson's Day in Virginia.

HJ 255 - Betsy Brooks Carr
Celebrating the life of Ole Christian Bredrup, Jr.
03/01/2022 - Senate: Laid on Clerk's Desk
Celebrating the life of Ole Christian Bredrup, Jr.

HJ 322 - Jeffrey Lynn Campbell
Celebrating the life of James Ira Spurrier, Jr.
03/01/2022 - House: Presented and laid on Speaker's table 22106718D
Celebrating the life of James Ira Spurrier, Jr.

HJ 4 - Michael J. Webert
Student-Athlete Mental Health Awareness Day; designating as May 27, 2022 and each succeeding year.
03/01/2022 - Senate: Agreed to by Senate by voice vote
Student-Athlete Mental Health Awareness Day. Designates May 27, in 2022 and in each succeeding year, as Student-Athlete Mental Health Awareness Day.

SB 108 - Joseph Dee Morrissey
Correctional facilities; prohibits use of isolated confinement.
02/04/2022 - Senate: Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 18-N)
Correctional facilities; use of isolated confinement. Prohibits the use of isolated confinement in state correctional facilities and juvenile correctional centers, subject to certain exceptions. Isolated confinement is defined in the bill as confinement of an incarcerated person or juvenile to a cell, alone or with another incarcerated person or juvenile, for 20 hours or more per day, other than for the purpose of providing medical or mental health treatment. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2023.

SB 130 - Barbara Ann Favola
Certificate of public need; conditions and licensure of nursing homes and hospitals, etc.
03/01/2022 - House: VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
Certificate of public need; conditions and licensure of nursing homes and hospitals; public health emergency. Provides for an exemption from the requirement for a certificate of public need, for the duration of the State Health Commissioner's determination, emergency order of the State Board of Health, or Commissioner's exercising of authority on behalf of the Board, plus a period of 30 days, for projects involving a temporary increase in the total number of beds in an existing hospital or nursing home, which may include temporary structures or satellite locations that are operated by the hospital or nursing home in response to a public health emergency, when the Commissioner has determined that a natural or man-made disaster has caused the evacuation of a hospital or nursing home and that a public health emergency exists due to a shortage of hospital or nursing home beds, or when the Board has made an emergency order or the Commissioner is exercising authority on behalf of the Board for the purpose of suppressing nuisances dangerous to the public health and communicable, contagious, and infectious diseases and other dangers to the public life and health.

SB 154 - Mamie E. Locke
Teachers; licensure by reciprocity for military spouses, timeline for determination.
04/11/2022 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0545)
Applications for teacher licensure by reciprocity; military spouses; timeline for determination. Requires the Board of Education's licensure regulations to provide for licensure by reciprocity for any spouse of an active duty or reserve member of the Armed Forces of the United States or a member of the Virginia National Guard who has obtained a valid out-of-state license, with full credentials and without deficiencies, that is in force at the time the application for a Virginia license is received by the Department of Education. Current law requires such regulations to provide for licensure by reciprocity for any spouse of an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the Commonwealth. The bill requires such an individual to submit an official copy of the military permanent assignment orders of the individual's spouse as part of the complete application packet. The bill requires the Department to determine and communicate such individual's eligibility for licensure by reciprocity within 15 business days of receipt of the complete application packet. This bill is identical to HB 230.

SB 198 - Taylor Montgomery Mason
Disposition when defendant found incompetent; involuntary admission of the defendant.
03/01/2022 - House: Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #1
Disposition when defendant found incompetent; involuntary admission of the defendant. Provides that upon motion from the attorney for the Commonwealth or counsel for the defendant, the court may order a preadmission screening report to be completed pursuant and after the preadmission screening report has been completed, without objection by counsel for the defendant as to the defendant's competency to stand trial and upon motion of the attorney for the Commonwealth or its own motion, permit the community services board or behavioral health authority to petition for involuntary admission of the defendant and enter an order of nolle prosequi or dismissal without prejudice for the criminal charge. Under current law, the court is required to order that the defendant receive treatment to restore his competency. The bill also clarifies the process following the completion of the competency evaluation of a defendant.

SB 268 - Barbara Ann Favola
Emergency custody and temporary detention; transportation, transfer of custody, alternative custody.
03/01/2022 - House: Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (7-Y 1-N)
Emergency custody and temporary detention; transportation; transfer of custody. Requires a magistrate to consider all alternative transportation options when designating the person who will provide transportation for a person subject to an emergency custody order, and provides that the magistrate shall only designate the local law enforcement agency as the transportation provider if no alternative transportation provide is available. The bill provides that in cases in which transportation is provided by an alternative transportation provider designated in an emergency custody order or a temporary detention order, the law enforcement officer who executed the order may transfer custody of the person to the alternative transportation provider immediately upon execution of the order. The bill also provides that when a state hospital is designated as the facility of temporary detention, the state hospital may designate an available alternative transportation provider to assume custody of the person who is the subject of the temporary detention order and transport the person to the state hospital. The bill also requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to amend its existing contract for the provision of alternative transportation of a person who is subject to an emergency custody or temporary detention order to ensure sufficient availability of sufficient staff to take custody of and transport person subject to emergency custody and temporary detention orders in accordance with the provisions of the bill.

SB 289 - William Robert DeSteph Jr.
Workers' compensation; anxiety disorder or depressive disorder incurred by law-enforcement, etc.
02/04/2022 - Senate: Read second time and engrossed
Workers' compensation; anxiety disorder or depressive disorder incurred by law-enforcement officers and firefighters. Provides that an anxiety disorder or depressive disorder, as both are defined in the bill, incurred by a law-enforcement officer or firefighter is compensable under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act on the same basis as post-traumatic stress disorder. The bill provides that a mental health professional must diagnose the law-enforcement officer or firefighter as suffering from anxiety disorder or depressive disorder as a result of a qualifying event, as defined in the Code, and includes other conditions for compensability.

SB 321 - Jill Holtzman Vogel
Health insurance; definition of autism spectrum disorder.
04/06/2022 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0102)
Health insurance; definition of autism spectrum disorder. Provides that for the purposes of required health insurance coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder, "autism spectrum disorder" means any pervasive developmental disorder or autism spectrum disorder, as defined in the most recent edition or the most recent edition at the time of diagnosis of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association and "medically necessary" means in accordance with the generally accepted standards of mental disorder or condition care and clinically appropriate in terms of type, frequency, site, and duration, based upon evidence and reasonably expected to do any of the following: (i) prevent the onset of an illness, condition, injury, or disability; (ii) reduce or ameliorate the physical, mental, or developmental effects of an illness, condition, injury, or disability; or (iii) assist to achieve or maintain maximum functional capacity in performing daily activities, taking into account both the functional capacity of the individual and the functional capacities that are appropriate for individuals of the same age. This bill is identical to HB 225.

SB 350 - Scott Anthony Surovell
Health records; patient's right to disclosure.
02/04/2022 - Senate: Constitutional reading dispensed (35-Y 0-N)
Health records; patient's right to disclosure. Requires a health care entity to include in its disclosure of an individual's health records any changes made to the health records and an audit trail for such records if the individual requests that such information be included in the health records disclosure.

SB 361 - Richard Henry Stuart
Marcus alert system; optional participation, voluntary database.
02/04/2022 - Senate: Engrossed by Senate - floor substitute SB361S3
Marcus alert system; optional participation. Provides that participation in the Marcus alert system shall be optional for localities and that no locality, community services board, or behavioral health authority shall be required to participate in the Marcus alert system.

SB 391 - Adam P. Ebbin
Cannabis control; retail market.
03/01/2022 - House: Continued to 2023 in General Laws (12-Y 10-N)
Cannabis control; retail market; transitional sales by pharmaceutical and industrial hemp processors; penalties. Establishes a framework for the creation of a retail marijuana market in the Commonwealth. The bill creates a regulatory and licensing structure for such retail market and for the cultivation, manufacture, and wholesale of marijuana and marijuana products to be administered by the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. The bill allows certain pharmaceutical and industrial hemp processors, pending establishment of the retail market, to cultivate, manufacture, and sell to persons 21 years of age or older cannabis products. The bill also relocates and modifies numerous criminal provisions regarding marijuana offenses. The bill has staggered effective dates. The bill satisfies the reenactment requirement of Chapters 550 and 551 of the Acts of Assembly of 2021, Special Session I, but makes numerous modifications to the provisions of the 2021 legislation related to licensure, criminal penalties, expungement, regulation of certain hemp products, local regulation, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

SB 40 - Lionell Spruill Sr.
Assisted living facilities; involuntary discharge, safeguards for residents.
03/01/2022 - House: Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (7-Y 1-N)
Assisted living facilities; involuntary discharge. Requires that regulations of the Board of Social Services regarding involuntary discharges of residents from assisted living facilities provide certain safeguards for residents, including a description of the reasons for which a resident may be involuntarily discharged, certain notice requirements, a requirement that the facility make reasonable efforts to resolve any issues upon which the discharge is based, and the provision of information regarding the resident's right to appeal the facility's decision to discharge the resident.

SB 414 - Jennifer A. Kiggans
Nurse practitioners; patient care team physician supervision capacity increased.
03/01/2022 - House: VOTE: Passage (96-Y 3-N)
Nurse practitioners; patient care team physician supervision capacity increased. Increases from six to 10 the number of nurse practitioners a patient care team physician may supervise at any one time in accordance with a written or electronic practice agreement. The bill maintains the current limit of six nurse practitioners per supervising patient care team physician for patient care teams delivering care in an emergency department.

SB 425 - John Saul Edwards
Barrier crimes; eliminates certain crimes from the definition, etc.
03/01/2022 - House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (5-Y 1-N)
Barrier crimes. Eliminates certain crimes from the definition of "barrier crime" and requires the State Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, the Board of Education, the State Board of Health, and the State Board of Social Services to each adopt regulations that develop and implement a waiver process for individuals who have been convicted of a barrier crime and who serve in a position or seek to serve in a position with any qualified entity subject to the regulations of the board. The bill eliminates current exceptions and time limit mandates, as such information is required to be set out in each agency's waiver process. The bill sets out information to be included in the regulations of the individual boards. The bill also directs the Departments of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, Education, Health, and Social Services to each publish information about the agency's waiver process in an easily accessible format on a website maintained by the department. The bill includes additional requirements for each waiver process, such as if an individual's application for a waiver is denied, the department must state the basis for denial in writing and provide such explanation to the individual. The bill provides that although a waiver granted to an individual by one department shall not be transferrable to a position under another department, proof of receipt of a waiver from one department shall be considered positively by another department when reviewing an application for a waiver. Additionally, each department is required to notify the Department of State Police when a waiver has been granted within 10 days of issuing the decision in writing to the person who was subject to the waiver.

SB 428 - Siobhan Stolle Dunnavant
Health insurance; carrier contracts, carrier provision of certain prescription drug information.
03/01/2022 - House: VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
Health insurance; carrier disclosure of certain information. Requires each health insurance carrier, beginning July 1, 2025, to establish and maintain an online process that (i) links directly to e-prescribing systems and electronic health record systems that utilize the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs SCRIPT standard; (ii) can accept electronic prior authorization requests from a provider; (iii) can approve electronic prior authorization requests for which no additional information is needed by the carrier to process the prior authorization request, no clinical review is required, and that meet the carrier's criteria for approval; and (iv) otherwise meets the requirements of this section. The bill prohibits a carrier from (a) imposing a charge or fee on a participating health care provider for accessing the online process required by this subdivision or (b) accessing, absent provider consent, provider data via the online process other than for the enrollee. The bill requires participating health care providers, beginning July 1, 2025, to ensure that any e-prescribing system or electronic health record system owned by or contracted for the provider to maintain an enrollee's health record has the ability to access the electronic prior authorization process established by a carrier and real time cost information data for a covered prescription drug made available by a carrier. The bill provides that a provider may request a waiver of compliance for undue hardship for a period not to exceed 12 months. The bill requires any carrier or its pharmacy benefits manager to provide real-time cost information data to enrollees and contracted providers for a covered prescription drug, including any cost-sharing requirement or prior authorization requirements, and to ensure that the data is accurate. The bill requires that such cost information data is available to the provider in a format that a provider can access and understand such as through the provider's e-prescribing system or electronic health record system for which the carrier or pharmacy benefits manager or its designated subcontractor has adopted that utilizes the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs SCRIPT standard from which the provider makes the request. The bill requires the State Corporation Commission's Bureau of Insurance (the Bureau) to, in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, establish a work group to assess the current status of electronic prior authorization in the Commonwealth and make recommendations regarding the implementation of electronic prior authorization, which may include a single standardized process as required by this act, including any recommendations for necessary statutory or regulatory changes. The bill requires the work group to include relevant stakeholders, including representatives from the Virginia Association of Health Plans, the Medical Society of Virginia, the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs, and the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, and other parties with an interest in the underlying technology. The bill requires the work group to report its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor and the House Committee on Commerce and Energy by November 1, 2022. The provisions of the bill other than the requirement for the Bureau to establish the work group will not become effective unless reenacted by the 2023 Session of the General Assembly.

SB 434 - George Lincoln Barker
Health insurance; coverage for mental health and substance use disorders, report.
04/11/2022 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0544)
Health insurance; coverage for mental health and substance use disorders; report. Requires the State Corporation Commission's Bureau of Insurance, in its report regarding denied claims, complaints, appeals, and network adequacy involving mental health and substance abuse disorder coverage, to include a summary of certain comparative analyses from health carriers related to mental health parity and an explanation of whether the analyses were considered compliant and any corrective actions required of the health carrier by the Bureau. The bill also changes the annual deadline for such report from September 1 to November 1.

SB 448 - Jennifer Barton Boysko
Hospital regulations; policies and procedures related to victims of domestic violence.
03/01/2022 - House: Continued to 2023 in Health, Welfare and Institutions by voice vote
Task Force on Services for Survivors of Sexual Assault; hospital policies and procedures related to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault; work group; report. Directs the Task Force on Services for Survivors of Sexual Assault (the Task Force) to convene a work group to develop best practices for hospital policies and procedures related to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. The bill requires the Task Force to report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly by November 1, 2022.

SB 451 - Jennifer Barton Boysko
Retail Sales and Use tax; exemption for essential personal hygiene products.
03/12/2022 - Senate: Continued to 2022 Sp. Sess. 1 pursuant to HJR455
Sales tax; exemption for food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products. Provides a state sales and use tax exemption for food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products. The bill would also provide, beginning February 1, 2023, an allocation of state revenues to fund the distribution to localities for educational funding that would have been distributed to them absent the exemption created by the bill. Under current law, such products are taxed at a reduced state sales and use tax rate of 1.5 percent and the standard local rate of one percent. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2023.

SB 573 - Ryan T. McDougle
Defendants; evidence of mental condition, specific intent crimes.
01/26/2022 - Senate: Passed by indefinitely in Judiciary (9-Y 6-N)
Evidence of defendant's mental condition; specific intent crimes. Clarifies that a defendant may offer evidence concerning the defendant's mental condition at the time of the alleged offense in certain circumstances for specific intent offenses only.

SB 593 - Stephen D. Newman
Emergency custody or temporary detention order; custody and transportation of persons, etc.
03/01/2022 - House: Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
Custody and transportation of persons subject to emergency custody or temporary detention order; alternative custody; auxiliary police officers. Allows auxiliary police officers to execute emergency custody orders and provide transportation for a person subject to an emergency custody or temporary detention order; adds an employee or designee of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to the list of persons who may provide alternative transportation of a person who is subject to an emergency custody or temporary detention order; and provides that, in cases in which transportation of a person subject to an emergency custody order or temporary detention order is ordered to be provided by an alternative transportation provider, the primary law-enforcement agency that executes the order may transfer custody of the person to the alternative transportation provider immediately upon execution of the order, and that the alternative transportation provider shall maintain custody of the person from the time custody is transferred to the alternative transportation provider by the primary law-enforcement agency until such time as an evaluated is completed and custody of the person is transferred pursuant to a temporary detention order or the person is released upon a determination that the person does not meet the criteria for temporary detention. The bill also directs the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish compulsory minimum training standards for auxiliary police officers who are called into service solely for the purpose of executing emergency custody orders and providing transportation for such person subject to an emergency custody order or providing transportation for a person in the temporary detention process.

SB 598 - Todd E. Pillion
College partnership laboratory schools; application and establishment.
03/12/2022 - Senate: Continued to 2022 Sp. Sess. 1 pursuant to HJR455
College partnership laboratory schools; application and establishment. Permits any public institution of higher education and any nonprofit private institution of higher education that is eligible for the Tuition Assistance Grant Program to establish a college partnership laboratory school as a new school or through the conversion of all or part of an existing school. Under current law, only public and private institutions of higher education that operate approved teacher education programs are permitted to apply to the Board to establish such a school, and no explicit provision is made for the conversion of an existing school. The bill requires applications for formation of a college partnership laboratory school to describe how the applicant will cooperate with local school boards, including allowing the local school board to elect to name a board member to the governing board of the college partnership laboratory school, and to include assurances that the applicant will work with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to develop programs that may award college credits. The bill requires the Board, among other criteria for reviewing and ruling on such applications, to give substantial preference to any application from a historically black college or university; any application to establish a college partnership laboratory school in an underserved community, which the bill defines as a geographical area that is served by public schools in which a high percentage of students are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunch, as determined by the Board; and any joint application submitted by an institution of higher education in partnership with one or more local school boards. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

SB 622 - Barbara Ann Favola
Recovery residences; disclosure to potential residents that residence is certified.
02/04/2022 - Senate: Committee substitute printed 22105949D-S1
Certified recovery residences. Requires every person who operates a recovery residence to disclose to potential residents whether the recovery residence is a certified recovery residence and that no health care provider or behavioral health service provider who receives public funds or state agency shall refer a person with substance abuse disorder to a recovery residence unless the recovery residence has been certified by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Department) in accordance with regulations adopted by the Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Board). The bill also provides that credentialing agencies by which the Board may require accreditation or in which the Board may require membership shall administer credentialing and certification programs in accordance with standards of the National Alliance for Recovery Residences; requires the Board to adopt regulations requiring each certified recovery residence include one or more resident or nonresident staff persons who is employed by the provider for compensation and who is responsible for oversight or management of the recovery residence; and requires the Department to provide, for each certified recovery residence included on the list maintained on the Department?s website the level of support provided by the certified recovery residence. The bill also provides that certified recovery residences shall constitute residential occupancy by a single family for zoning purposes, regardless of the number of persons residing in the certified recovery residence, and exempts certified recovery residences from the provisions of the Virginia Landlord and Tenant Act.

SB 641 - Joseph Dee Morrissey
Early Psychosis Intervention and Coordinated Specialty Care Program Advisory Board; established.
03/01/2022 - House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (5-Y 3-N)
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; Early Psychosis Intervention and Coordinated Specialty Care Program Advisory Board established. Establishes the Early Psychosis Intervention and Coordinated Specialty Care Program Advisory Board for the purpose of assisting the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services in expanding the provision of high-quality, evidence-based early psychosis and mood disorder detection and intervention services.

SB 68 - Barbara A. Favola
Provisional teacher licensure; teachers licensed or certified outside of the United States.
04/11/2022 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0657)
Board of Education; provisional teacher licensure; teachers licensed or certified outside of the United States.Permits the Board of Education to provide for the issuance of a provisional license, valid for a period not to exceed three years, to any individual who has held within the last five years a valid and officially issued and recognized license or certification to teach issued by an entity outside of the United States but does not meet the requirements for a renewable license if the individual's license or certification to teach has been evaluated and verified by an entity approved by the Department of Education. This bill is identical to HB 979.

SB 682 - Robert Creigh Deeds
Temporary detention; alternative custody.
02/04/2022 - Senate: Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations
Temporary detention; alternative custody. Provides that if the facility indicated on a temporary detention order is a state facility, no bed for the person detained or in custody pursuant to the temporary detention order is immediately available at such state facility, and an employee or designee of such state facility is available to take custody of such person, such employee or designee of the state facility may assume custody of such person wherever such person is located and maintain custody of such person and transport such person to such state facility or to an alternative facility of temporary detention. The bill also provides that a person who is an inmate who is subject to an order authorizing treatment shall remain in law-enforcement custody at all times prior to admission to the facility designated for treatment of the person pursuant to such order.

SB 687 - Taylor Montgomery Mason
Abuse and neglect; financial exploitation, changes term incapacitated adults, definitions, penalties
03/01/2022 - House: Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #1
Abuse and neglect; financial exploitation; incapacitated adults; penalties. Changes the term "incapacitated adult" to "vulnerable adult" for the purposes of the crime of abuse and neglect of such adults and defines "vulnerable adult" as any person 18 years of age or older who is impaired by reason of mental illness, intellectual or developmental disability, physical illness or disability, or other causes, including age, to the extent the adult lacks sufficient understanding or capacity to make, communicate, or carry out reasonable decisions concerning his well-being or has one or more limitations that substantially impair the adult's ability to independently provide for his daily needs or safeguard his person, property, or legal interests. The bill also changes the term "person with mental incapacity" to the same meaning of "vulnerable adult" for the purposes of the crime of financial exploitation. As introduced, the bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Criminal Justice Conference. The bill incorporates SB 126.

SB 714 - Robert Creigh Deeds
Comprehensive crisis system; voluntary mental health check-in option as part of the system, report.
02/04/2022 - Senate: Constitutional reading dispensed (35-Y 0-N)
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; voluntary mental health check-in option as part of the comprehensive crisis system; report. Directs the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to implement a voluntary mental health check-in option as part of the comprehensive crisis system and to report by November 1, 2022, to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations and Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance and Appropriations regarding its progress in implementing such program.

SB 767 - Mamie E. Locke
Voter registration; restoration of political rights upon release from incarceration.
03/01/2022 - House: Subcommittee recommends passing by indefinitely (6-Y 4-N)
Voter registration; restoration of political rights upon release from incarceration; certain adjudications. Provides that any person who is convicted of a felony and sentenced to a period of incarceration for such felony conviction is not entitled to register to vote or to vote for the duration of the period of incarceration, but that he is to be invested with all political rights lost as a result of the felony conviction upon release from incarceration and is thereafter entitled to register to vote. The bill requires the Department of Corrections and the State Board of Local and Regional Jails to transmit to the Department of Elections certain information related to an incarcerated person with a scheduled date of release. The bill also requires the Director of the Department of Corrections to provide to any person being released from incarceration, on the date of his release, (i) an application to register to vote with instructions for returning the application by mail; (ii) information regarding how to register to vote by electronic means or in person, in the form prescribed by the State Board of Elections for this purpose; and (iii) an official release document for voter registration purposes. Enactment of the provisions of this bill are contingent upon the passage of an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November 2022 providing for the qualifications of voters and the right to vote by amending Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia related to persons convicted of a felony and persons adjudicated as lacking the capacity to understand the act of voting.

SJ 50 - Adam P. Ebbin
Chiropractic Health Month; designating as October, 2022 and in each succeeding year thereafter.
01/27/2022 - Senate: Read third time and agreed to by Senate by voice vote
Chiropractic Health Month. Designates October, in 2022 and in each succeeding year, as Chiropractic Health Month in Virginia.

SJ 8 - Emmett Wilson Hanger, Jr.
Celebrating the life of the Honorable Arthur R. Giesen, Jr.
01/17/2022 - House: Agreed to by House
Celebrating the life of the Honorable Arthur R. Giesen, Jr.

SJ 86 - William Robert DeSteph Jr.
Commending the Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service.
02/04/2022 - House: Laid on Speaker's table
Commending the Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service.

VA HB 1017 - Tony O. Wilt
Discharge plans; copies to public elementary and secondary schools.
02/12/2024 - House: Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1017H1
Discharge plans; copies to public elementary and secondary schools. Provides that prior to the discharge of any minor or individual who has been admitted to inpatient treatment and is a student at a public elementary or secondary school, a copy of such minor's or individual's discharge plan shall be provided to the division superintendent and the division safety official in the local school division in which such minor or individual attends such school.

VA HB 1019 - Tony O. Wilt
Health insurance; localities to allow local employees to participate in their group insurance pgms.
02/11/2024 - House: Read first time
Health insurance for local employees. Permits any locality to allow participation in its group health insurance program by any non-benefitted employee, including members of governing bodies, if such non-benefitted employee or governing body member is not otherwise entitled to participate, provided that such non-benefitted employees reimburse the locality for the full cost of their participation.

VA HB 103 - Patrick A. Hope
Local and Regional Jails, State Board of; powers and duties.
02/22/2024 - House: Senate amendment agreed to by House (99-Y 0-N)
State Board of Local and Regional Jails; powers and duties. Requires the State Board of Local and Regional Jails when promulgating regulations and adopting any policy or guidance document related to the enforcement of any minimum standards applicable to local, regional, and community correctional facilities, to expressly and specifically include such items in its published agenda for meetings of the Board or any of its subcommittees.. The bill also provides that the Board when developing and implementing policies and procedures for the review of the death of any inmate or when establishing minimum standards for health care services, including medical, dental, pharmaceutical, and behavioral health services, in local, regional, and community correctional facilities and procedures for enforcing such minimum standards, the Board shall adhere to procedures of the Administrative Process Act. The bill also provides that the Board in enforcing any adopted health care services standards, the Board shall not find the facility or its non-health care staff in violation of any such standards due to the actions or inactions of licensed medical or mental health professionals, as long as the facility has met the applicable standards to have such care available and relied on the opinion of such licensed professionals in the provision of care.

VA HB 1051 - Amanda E. Batten
Public education; dual enrollment and concurrent enrollment, high school graduation.
02/04/2024 - House: Assigned Education sub: Higher Education
Public education; dual enrollment and concurrent enrollment; high school graduation. Makes several changes relating to graduation from a public high school in the Commonwealth, including (i) eliminating the requirement for a student to complete one virtual course in order to graduate from high school and (ii) specifying that various options and requirements relating to earning career and technical education credentials for the purpose of satisfying high school graduation requirements are required to be high-demand career and technical education credentials. The bill also defines and thereby distinguishes the concepts of dual enrollment and concurrent enrollment in the context of high school students' participation in college-level coursework and requires the agreements for postsecondary attainment between school boards and comprehensive community colleges to specify the credit available for dual enrollment and concurrent enrollment courses.

VA HB 1065 - M. Keith Hodges
Community services boards; quarterly stakeholder meetings.
02/01/2024 - House: Subcommittee failed to recommend reporting (3-Y 5-N)
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; community services boards; quarterly stakeholder meetings. Provides that every community services board shall conduct stakeholder meetings at least four time per year to discuss challenges, identify opportunities for improvement, and collaboratively work towards effective solutions. The bill requires each community services board to submit an annual report of such meetings to the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and authorizes the Director of the Department to provide guidance and recommendations to such boards and to revise funding in response to such reports.

VA HB 1087 - Carrie E. Coyner
College and Career Ready Virginia Program and Fund; established, report.
01/21/2024 - House: Assigned App. sub: Elementary & Secondary Education
Department of Education and Virginia Community College System; College and Career Ready Virginia Program and Fund established. Establishes the College and Career Ready Virginia Fund and requires the Department of Education and the Virginia Community College System to establish the College and Career Ready Virginia Program whereby each school board is required to offer each qualified high school student in the local school division access at the high school to the dual enrollment courses that are sufficient to complete the Passport Program and the former Uniform Certificate of General Studies Program, renamed in the bill as the Passport Plus Program, at a public institution of higher education at no cost to such students. The bill establishes several enumerated duties for the Department and the System in the administration of the College and Career Ready Virginia Program, including the establishment of a work group to make recommendations no later than November 1, 2024, on the incorporation of a career and technical education program of coursework into the College and Career Ready Virginia Program.

VA HB 1090 - Delores R. Oates
Tobacco products, etc.; prohibiting purchase or possession by persons under 21 years of age.
01/22/2024 - House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (5-Y 3-N)
Prohibiting purchase or possession of tobacco products, etc.; persons under 21 years of age; civil penalties. Increases the civil penalty from $100 to $500 for a first violation, $200 to $1,000 for a second violation, and $500 to $2,500 for a third or subsequent violation by an individual or by a separate retail establishment that, for products other than a bidi, (i) sells to, distributes to, purchases for, or knowingly permits the purchase by any person less than 21 years of age, knowing or having reason to believe that such person is less than 21 years of age, any tobacco product, nicotine vapor product, alternative nicotine product, or hemp product intended for smoking or (ii) sells a tobacco product, nicotine vapor product, alternative nicotine product, or hemp product intended for smoking to any individual who does not demonstrate, by producing a driver's license or similar photo identification issued by a government agency, that the individual is at least 21 years of age.

VA HB 1125 - Timothy V. Anderson
School boards; parental notification of certain incidents, Alyssa's law-silent panic alarms.
11/22/2022 - House: Left in Education
School boards; parental notification of certain threats, behavior, and unlawful acts; panic alarms. Requires, within four hours of receiving notification of (i) a preliminary determination by the threat assessment team that a student poses a threat of violence or physical harm to self or others; (ii) threatening or aberrant behavior that may represent a threat to the school; or (iii) unlawful acts committed on school property, on a school bus, or at a school-sponsored activity that involve the unlawful use or possession of a weapon, homicide, criminal sexual assault, or trespassing, each division superintendent to notify the parent of each student enrolled in the relevant school of such threat, threatening or aberrant behavior, or unlawful act. The bill requires each school board to equip each public elementary and secondary school building in the local school division with at least one panic alarm that adheres to nationally recognized industry standards, including the standards of the National Fire Protection Association and Underwriters Laboratories, and is installed by a licensed and qualified professional. The bill defines "panic alarm" as a silent security system by which the user manually activates a device that sends a non-audible signal to the local law-enforcement agency that indicates a school security emergency, including a non-fire evacuation, lockdown, or active shooter situation, that requires immediate response and assistance from such agency.

VA HB 1128 - Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker
Children's advocacy centers; definitions, investigations by local departments of social services.
02/19/2024 - Senate: Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
Children's advocacy centers; definitions; investigations by local departments of social services. Replaces the term "child advocacy center" with "children's advocacy center" and defines such term. The bill provides that if it is determined during a human trafficking assessment that a forensic interview of the child is needed, such interview may be conducted by a children's advocacy center within the jurisdiction; however, if the interview cannot be completed within 14 days, the forensic interview may be conducted by a children's advocacy center located in another jurisdiction.

VA HB 1134 - Rodney T. Willett
Health insurance; if prior authorization request is approved for prescription drugs.
03/07/2024 - Senate: Signed by President
Health insurance; prior authorization. Requires that any provider contract between a carrier and a participating health care provider contain specific provisions that require that if a prior authorization request is approved for prescription drugs and such prescription drugs have been scheduled, provided, or delivered to the patient consistent with the authorization, the carrier shall not revoke, limit, condition, modify, or restrict that authorization unless (i) there is evidence that the authorization was obtained based on fraud or misrepresentation; (ii) final actions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, other regulatory agencies, or the manufacturer remove the drug from the market, limit its use in a manner that affects the authorization, or communicate a patient safety issue that would affect the authorization alone or in combination with other authorizations; (iii) a combination of drugs prescribed would cause a drug interaction; or (iv) a generic or biosimilar is added to the prescription drug formulary. The bill provides that such provisions do not require a carrier to cover any benefit not otherwise covered or cover a prescription drug if the enrollee is no longer covered by a health plan on the date the prescription drug was scheduled, provided, or delivered. This bill is identical to SB 98.

VA HB 1144 - Aijalon Carlton Cordoza
Children alleged to be abused or neglected; removal hearing.
01/29/2024 - House: Assigned Courts sub: Civil
Children alleged to be abused or neglected; preliminary removal hearing; appointment of counsel for parent of such child. Provides that at a preliminary removal hearing in cases in which a child is alleged to have been abused or neglected, the court shall appoint an attorney-at-law to represent such child's parent, guardian, or other adult standing in loco parentis if the court determines that such parent, guardian, or other adult standing in loco parentis is indigent, unless he has waived his right to representation or otherwise employed counsel. Under current law, any such appointment is made at an adjudicatory hearing on such removal after a preliminary removal order is issued.

VA HB 1163 - Mark D. Sickles
Driver's license; license reviewed/revoked for medical reasons.
02/26/2024 - House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1163ER)
Department of Motor Vehicles; medical review. Changes the standard for being denied a driver's license or having a driver's license reviewed or revoked for medical reasons by removing language regarding the presence of a disability or disease and requiring the existence of an impairment that will prevent the driver from exercising reasonable and ordinary control over a motor vehicle or drive a motor vehicle safely.

VA HB 1165 - Mark D. Sickles
Persons with disabilities; adds definitions related to rights.
03/04/2024 - Senate: Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
Rights of persons with disabilities; definitions. Adds definitions related to the rights of persons with disabilities to relevant law. The bill defines "path of travel," "place of public accommodation,"" "public entity," "private entity," and "readily achievable." The bill requires places of public accommodation to ensure that barriers to accessibility are removed when the removal is readily achievable.

VA HB 1221 - Holly M. Seibold
Health education; menstrual education instruction permitted.
03/01/2024 - Senate: Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
Health education; menstrual education instruction permitted. Permits health education instruction for students in grades four through eight to include menstrual education instruction.

VA HB 1226 - Sam Rasoul
Workers' compensation benefits; post-traumatic stress disorder incurred by firefighters, etc.
02/01/2024 - House: Subcommittee recommends referring to Committee on Appropriations
Workers' compensation benefits; post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder incurred by law-enforcement officers and firefighters. Removes the provision in the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act that benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder incurred by law-enforcement officers and firefighters acting in the line of duty shall provided for a maximum of 52 weeks from the date of diagnosis.

VA HB 1240 - Tony O. Wilt
Sale of nicotine vapor product, alternative nicotine product, etc.; increases civil penalties.
01/22/2024 - House: Subcommittee recommends incorporating (HB1090-Oates) by voice vote
Sale of nicotine vapor product, alternative nicotine product, hemp product intended for smoking, or tobacco product; civil penalties. Increases the civil penalties for the sale, distribution, purchase for, or permitting of the purchase by persons less than 21 years of age and the sale to an individual who does not demonstrate he is at least 21 years of age of any nicotine vapor product, alternative nicotine product, hemp product intended for smoking, or tobacco product other than a bidi from $100 to $500 for a first violation, from $200 to $1,000 for a second violation, and from $500 to $2,500 for a third or subsequent violation.

VA HB 1242 - Rodney T. Willett
Emergency custody and temporary detention orders; evaluations, presence of others.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Emergency custody and temporary detention orders; evaluations; presence of others. Requires (i) the evaluator conducting the evaluation of an individual to determine whether such individual meets the criteria for temporary detention or (ii) the hospital emergency department and treating physician or other health care provider designated by the physician, when providing services to an individual who is being evaluated to determine whether the individual meets the criteria for temporary detention, to allow the individual's family member or legal guardian who is present and who may provide support and supportive decision making to be present with the individual unless the individual objects or the evaluator or treating physician determines that their presence would create a medical, clinical, or safety risk to the patient or health care provider or interferes with patient care. This bill is identical to SB 546.

VA HB 1244 - Joshua G. Cole
Restorative housing and isolated confinement; restrictions on use.
03/27/2024 - Governor: Vetoed by Governor
Restorative housing and isolated confinement; restrictions on use. Prohibits the use of isolated confinement, defined in the bill, in state correctional facilities, subject to certain exceptions. The bill requires that before placing an incarcerated person in restorative housing or isolated confinement for his own protection, the facility administrator shall place an incarcerated person in a less-restrictive setting, including by transferring such person to another institution or to a special-purpose housing unit for incarcerated persons who face similar threats. The bill requires that if an incarcerated person is placed in restorative housing or isolated confinement, such placement shall be reviewed every 48 hours and the facility administrator shall ensure that the incarcerated person receives a medical and mental health evaluation from certified medical and mental health professionals within one working day of placement in restorative housing or any form of isolated confinement. The bill also requires the facility administrator to notify the regional administrator in writing that an incarcerated person was placed in restorative housing or isolated confinement within 24 hours of such placement. Finally, the bill requires that formal reviews of an incarcerated person's placement in any form of isolated confinement shall be held in such person's presence, inform him of any reason or reasons administrative officials believe isolated confinement remains necessary, and give the incarcerated person an opportunity to respond to those reasons, and a formal ruling shall be provided to the incarcerated individual within 24 hours. This bill is identical to SB 719.

VA HB 1246 - Rodney T. Willett
Law-enforcement training; communication with individuals with autism spectrum disorder.
03/04/2024 - House: VOTE: Adoption (97-Y 0-N)
Law-enforcement training; individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish compulsory minimum and in-service training standards for law-enforcement officers on communicating with an intellectual disability or a developmental disability, such as autism spectrum disorder, which shall include (i) an overview and behavioral recognition of autism spectrum disorder, (ii) best practices for crisis prevention and de-escalation techniques, (iii) an objective review of any relevant tools and technology available to assist in communication, and (iv) education on law-enforcement agency and community resources for the autism community on future crisis prevention. The bill requires that such training standards be established in consultation with at least one individual with autism spectrum disorder, one family member of an individual with autism spectrum disorder, one specialist who works with individuals with autism spectrum disorder, and one representative from a state or local law-enforcement agency. The bill requires the Department to establish such training standards by January 1, 2027, and requires any person employed as a law-enforcement officer prior to July 1, 2024, to complete the compulsory in-service training by July 1, 2028.

VA HB 125 - Vivian E. Watts
Special justices and independent evaluator fees; emergency custody and voluntary civil admissions.
03/09/2024 - House: VOTE: Adoption (96-Y 1-N)
Special justices and independent evaluator fees; emergency custody and voluntary and involuntary civil admissions. Increases the fee that a special justice receives for presiding over emergency custody and voluntary and involuntary civil admissions from $86.25 to $120 for each commitment hearing and from $43.25 to $70 for each certification hearing. The bill also increases the fee that an independent evaluator receives if required to serve as a witness or an interpreter from $75 to $120 for each commitment hearing and from $43.25 to $70 for each certification hearing.

VA HB 1252 - Adele Y. McClure
Limitation on sentence upon revocation of suspension of sentence; technical violations.
02/28/2024 - House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1252ER)
Limitation on sentence upon revocation of suspension of sentence; technical violations. Provides that when conducting a revocation hearing, the court shall consider at the same revocation hearing all alleged technical violations that occurred prior to such revocation hearing and have not been previously considered by the court. The bill also requires that when a defendant has been taken into custody for an alleged first or second technical violation for which the court may only impose up to 14 days of active incarceration, the court shall adjudicate such violation within 14 days of the defendant being taken into custody. The bill states that if such violation is not adjudicated within 14 days of the defendant being taken into custody, the defendant shall be admitted to bail, unless (i) such defendant consents to being further detained while awaiting adjudication or sentencing or (ii) the Commonwealth has established, by clear and convincing evidence, that the defendant presents a significant risk of harm to himself or the community based on substance use disorder or serious mental illness and has been referred for residential treatment. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the bill provides that no such defendant shall be held in custody awaiting adjudication of or sentencing on such alleged technical violation for longer than 30 days.

VA HB 1263 - Irene Shin
Abolition of juvenile fines and fees; criminal offenses.
02/19/2024 - Senate: Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations
Abolition of juvenile fines and fees; criminal offenses. Abolishes court costs, fines, and fees assessed to a juvenile or his parent or other persons responsible for his care in circuit court and juvenile and domestic relations court related to prosecutions of criminal offenses.

VA HB 1269 - Marcia S. Price
Barrier crimes; adult substance abuse and mental health services, exception.
03/27/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Barrier crimes; adult substance abuse and mental health services; exception. Permits the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, providers of substance abuse or mental health services to adults, and community services boards and behavioral health authorities to hire applicants convicted of certain barrier crimes of misdemeanor assault and battery or involving controlled substances provided that such conviction occurred more than four years prior to the application date for employment. This bill is identical to SB 626.

VA HB 129 - Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler
Hair styling; added as a profession that is regulated by the Board of Barbers and Cosmetology.
01/23/2024 - House: Stricken from docket by General Laws (21-Y 0-N)
Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; Board for Barbers and Cosmetology; hair styling license. Adds hair styling as a profession that is regulated by the Board for Barbers and Cosmetology. The bill defines "hair styling" as arranging, dressing, curling, waving, cutting, shaping, singeing, shaving, bleaching, coloring, relaxing, or straightening, or performing similar work upon, human hair, or a wig or hairpiece, by any means, including hands or mechanical or electrical apparatus or appliances.

VA HB 1291 - Rodney T. Willett
Virginia Health Workforce Innovation Fund; established.
01/21/2024 - House: Assigned App. sub: Health & Human Resources
Virginia Health Workforce Innovation Fund; established. Establishes the Virginia Health Workforce Innovation Fund to be administered by the Board of the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority. The Board shall use the Fund to provide grants to facilitate regional collaboration on health care innovation and workforce development and, in particular, the formation of regional, employer-led partnerships that prioritize workforce growth and training. The bill provides for the formation across the Commonwealth of regional councils, defined in the bill, consisting of representatives from the government, health care, and education sectors. Under the bill, regional councils may submit applications for collaborative projects in their regions that enhance private-sector growth, competitiveness, and workforce development. A portion of the grant funds will be awarded on a population basis and a portion on a competitive basis.

VA HB 1294 - Rodney T. Willett
Psychological practitioners; establishes a licensing procedure.
02/13/2024 - House: Left in Health and Human Services
Board of Psychology; psychological practitioners; licensure. Establishes a licensing procedure by the Board of Psychology for a psychological practitioner as defined in the bill. The bill directs the Board to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill.

VA HB 131 - Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler
Learning needs dashboard; Department of Education shall continue to maintain, sunset date.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Department of Education; learning needs dashboard. Requires the Department of Education to continue to maintain until July 1, 2029, a learning needs dashboard that includes an interactive bar chart feature to compare annual pass rates and an interactive scatterplot feature to compare changes in pass rates between select years on history and social sciences, mathematics, reading, science, and writing Standards of Learning assessments on a statewide basis and for specific local school divisions, public elementary and secondary schools, and student subgroups.

VA HB 1315 - Timothy V. Anderson
School boards; parental notification of certain threats, behavior, and unlawful acts.
11/22/2022 - House: Left in Education
School boards; parental notification of certain threats, behavior, and unlawful acts. Requires, within four hours of receiving notification of (i) a preliminary determination by the threat assessment team that a student poses a threat of violence or physical harm to self or others; (ii) threatening or aberrant behavior that may represent a threat to the school; or (iii) unlawful acts committed on school property, on a school bus, or at a school-sponsored activity that involve the unlawful use or possession of a weapon, homicide, criminal sexual assault, or trespassing, each division superintendent to notify the parent of each student enrolled in the relevant school of such threat, threatening or aberrant behavior, or unlawful act.

VA HB 1322 - Mark D. Sickles
Certified registered nurse anesthetist; elimination of supervision requirement.
02/11/2024 - House: Read first time
Certified registered nurse anesthetist; elimination of supervision requirement. Eliminates the requirement that certified registered nurse anesthetists practice under the supervision of a doctor of medicine, osteopathy, podiatry, or dentistry. The bill provides that certified registered nurse anesthetists shall practice in accordance with regulations jointly promulgated by the Board of Medicine and the Board of Nursing.

VA HB 1337 - Chris S. Runion
Accountancy, Board of; powers and duties, repeals requirement for an annual audit of the Board.
02/11/2024 - House: Read first time
Board of Accountancy; powers and duties. Repeals the requirement for an annual audit of the Board of Accountancy and amends several Code provisions relating to the Board. The bill changes the Secretariat of the Board from the Secretary of Commerce and Trade to the Secretary of Finance. The bill authorizes the Board to initiate complaints against (i) individuals or firms claiming to hold a Virginia license, as defined in the bill, and (ii) unlicensed individuals or firms using the certified public accountant title in Virginia, as defined in the bill. The bill also grants the Executive Director of the Board the power to request and receive reports from the Central Criminal Records Exchange in conjunction with the Executive Director's investigative and enforcement powers. Finally, the bill directs the Board to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill.

VA HB 1340 - Karrie K. Delaney
Court-appointed counsel, et al.; training standards for interacting w/ victims of sexual assaults.
11/22/2022 - House: Left in Courts of Justice
Department of Criminal Justice Services; Commonwealth's Attorneys' Services Council; court-appointed counsel; training standards for interacting with victims of criminal sexual assault. Directs the Department of Criminal Justice Services, in conjunction with the Commonwealth's Attorneys' Services Council, to establish compulsory training standards for law-enforcement officers, attorneys for the Commonwealth, and assistant attorneys for the Commonwealth for sensitivity to and awareness of cultural diversity when interviewing, questioning, or examining in any court proceeding a victim of a criminal sexual offense. The bill also provides that to initially qualify to serve as appointed counsel for an indigent defendant in a general district court, circuit court, or juvenile and domestic relations district court, such attorney shall have completed at least eight hours of MCLE-approved continuing legal education developed by the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission on the topic of diversity, racial bias, or cultural sensitivity when interviewing, cross-examining, or representing the victim of a criminal sexual offense.

VA HB 1347 - Kannan Srinivasan
Health insurance; coverage for autism spectrum disorder, cost-sharing requirements prohibited.
02/09/2024 - House: Continued to 2025 in Appropriations by voice vote
Health insurance; coverage for autism spectrum disorder; cost-sharing requirements prohibited for certain individuals. Prohibits a health carrier from imposing any copayment, coinsurance, or deductible for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and the treatment of autism spectrum disorder for individuals who are age 18 or younger.

VA HB 1360 - Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler
Campaign finance; prohibited personal use of campaign funds; complaints, hearings, civil penalty.
01/15/2024 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Campaign finance; prohibited personal use of campaign funds; complaints, hearings, civil penalty, and advisory opinions. Prohibits any person from converting contributions to a candidate or his campaign committee to personal use. Current law only prohibits such conversion of contributions with regard to disbursement of surplus funds at the dissolution of a campaign or political committee. The bill provides that a contribution is considered to have been converted to personal use if the contribution, in whole or in part, is used to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense that would exist irrespective of the person's seeking, holding, or maintaining public office but allows a contribution to be used for the ordinary and accepted expenses related to campaigning for or holding elective office, including the use of campaign funds to pay for the candidate's child care expenses that are incurred as a direct result of campaign activity. The bill provides that any person subject to the personal use ban may request an advisory opinion from the State Board of Elections on such matters. The bill directs the State Board of Elections to adopt emergency regulations similar to those promulgated by the Federal Election Commission to implement the provisions of the bill and to publish an updated summary of Virginia campaign finance law that reflects the State Board of Elections' and Attorney General's guidance on the provisions of such law that prohibit the personal use of campaign funds and any new regulations promulgated by the State Board of Elections.

VA HB 1362 - Michelle E. Lopes-Maldonado
School bus video-monitoring system; citations.
01/15/2024 - House: Committee Referral Pending
School bus video-monitoring system; citations. Prohibits a private vendor contracting with a school division for the operation of school bus video-monitoring systems to capture passing stopped school bus violations from receiving compensation or fees based on the number of citations issued.

VA HB 1364 - Tim Griffin
Abortion prohibited; exception; life of the mother; penalty.
01/15/2024 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Abortion prohibited; exception; life of the mother; penalty. Provides that if any person administer to, or cause to be taken by a woman, any drug or other thing, or use means, with intent to destroy her unborn child, or to produce abortion or miscarriage, and thereby destroy such child, or produce such abortion or miscarriage at any point after conception of such unborn child, he is guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor unless it is necessary for a licensed physician to terminate a human pregnancy or assist in the termination of a human pregnancy by performing an abortion or causing a miscarriage on any woman in order to save her life in the opinion of such physician so performing the abortion or causing the miscarriage.

VA HB 1365 - Wren M. Williams
Admission to bail; rebuttable presumptions against bail.
01/13/2023 - House: Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 3-N)
Admission to bail; rebuttable presumptions against bail. Creates a rebuttable presumption against bail for certain criminal offenses enumerated in the bill and for persons identified as being illegally present in the United States by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who are charged with certain offenses. The bill also requires the court to consider specified factors when determining whether the presumption against bail has been rebutted and whether there are appropriate conditions of release.

VA HB 1369 - Debra D. Gardner
Criminal justice training academies; curriculum.
02/29/2024 - House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1369ER)
Criminal justice training academies; curriculum. Provides that an approved criminal justice training academy may utilize an alternative curriculum and lesson plans that meet or exceed the compulsory minimum training standards without seeking a waiver from the Department of Criminal Justice Services. Under current law, the Department is required to develop a uniform curriculum to be used at all criminal justice training academies unless a waiver to the uniform curriculum is granted by the Department.

VA HB 1389 - Timothy V. Anderson
Mental illness or emotional disturbance; administration of any medication for treatment, etc.
02/13/2023 - Senate: Assigned Education sub: Health Professions
Administration of controlled substances for treatment of mental illness or emotional disturbance; parental consent required. Provides that a minor shall not be deemed an adult for the purpose of consenting to administration of medication for the treatment of mental illness or emotional disturbance. Currently, a minor is deemed an adult for the purpose of consenting to medical and health services needed in the case of outpatient care, treatment, or rehabilitation for mental illness or emotional disturbance.

VA HB 1392 - Michael J. Jones
Local government; employee insurance programs.
02/16/2024 - Senate: Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor
Local government employee insurance programs. Authorizes any locality to include in its group life, accident, and health insurance programs any person to whom coverage could be extended under the provision of current law that sets out who may be covered under a private group accident and sickness insurance policy.

VA HB 1426 - Anne Ferrell H. Tata
Department of Health Professions and Boards of Medicine and Nursing; continued competency.
12/14/2022 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Department of Health Professions and Boards of Medicine and Nursing; continued competency; human trafficking training required. Requires all practitioners regulated by the Department of Health Professions, practitioners licensed by the Board of Medicine, and practitioners licensed by the Board of Nursing to complete training on topics related to human trafficking, including strategies for identifying and assisting victims of human trafficking. The bill requires training standards to be approved by the Director of the Department of Health Professions; a list of approved training courses shall be posted on the Department of Health Professions website and shall include at least one course that is available without charge. The successful completion of this training shall be a condition of renewals of registration, certification, licensure, permit, and the issuance of a multistate licensure privilege.

VA HB 1433 - Phillip A. Scott
Licensure of professional counselors; Counseling Compact.
12/16/2022 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Licensure of professional counselors; Counseling Compact. Authorizes Virginia to become a signatory to the Counseling Compact. The Compact permits eligible licensed professional counselors to practice in Compact member states, provided that they are licensed in at least one member state. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2024, and directs the Board of Counseling to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. The Compact takes effect when it is enacted by a tenth member state.

VA HB 1446 - Robert D. Orrock
Minimum staffing standards for certified nursing facilities; administrative sanctions.
12/21/2022 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Minimum staffing standards for certified nursing facilities; administrative sanctions. Sets nursing staffing requirements for certified nursing facilities, imposes administrative sanctions on a certified nursing facility if it does not comply with the staffing requirements, and provides for exemptions to the administrative sanctions under certain circumstances. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

VA HB 1450 - Robert D. Orrock
Individuals with disabilities; terminology.
12/21/2022 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Individuals with disabilities; terminology. Replaces various instances of the terms "handicap," "handicapped," and similar variations throughout the Code of Virginia with alternative terms, as appropriate in the statutory context, such as "disability" and "impairment." The bill contains technical amendments. The bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Disability Commission.

VA HB 1459 - Tony O. Wilt
Law-enforcement officers, retired state; retention of badge.
01/27/2023 - Senate: Referred to Committee on the Judiciary
Retired state law-enforcement officers; retention of badge. Provides that on and after July 1, 2023, upon the retirement of a state law-enforcement officer who is not a State Police officer, the employing department or agency shall, upon request of the retiree, award the retiree his badge or other insignia of his office for permanent keeping, provided that the employing department or agency has the badge or insignia mounted in such a manner that it will be impossible for anyone to display such badge or insignia upon his person. Under current law, only a State Police officer may keep a mounted badge or insignia after his retirement.

VA HB 1465 - Paul E. Krizek
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; Problem Gambling Treatment.
12/27/2022 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Advisory Committee established. Directs the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to establish and maintain the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Advisory Committee to enable collaboration among prevention and treatment providers and operators of legal gaming in the Commonwealth on efforts to reduce the negative effects of problem gambling.

VA HB 1471 - Hyland F. Fowler
Health insurance; electronic prior authorization and disclosure of certain information.
02/20/2023 - House: VOTE: Adoption (99-Y 0-N)
Health insurance; electronic prior authorization and disclosure of certain prescription drug information. Requires each health insurance carrier, beginning July 1, 2025, to establish and maintain an online process that (i) links directly to all e-prescribing systems and electronic health record systems that utilize the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs SCRIPT standard; (ii) can accept electronic prior authorization requests from a provider; (iii) can approve electronic prior authorization requests (a) for which no additional information is needed by the carrier to process the prior authorization request, (b) for which no clinical review is required, and (c) that meet the carrier's criteria for approval; (iv) links directly to real-time patient out-of-pocket costs for the encounter; and (v) otherwise meets the requirements for contracts between carriers and participating health care providers. The bill prohibits a carrier from (a) imposing a fee or charge on any person for accessing the required online process who is required to do so or (b) accessing, absent provider consent, provider data via the online process other than for the enrollee. The bill also requires carriers, no later than July 1, 2024, to provide contact information of any third-party vendor or other entity the carrier will use to meet the requirements of the bill to any provider that requests such information. The carrier may post such information on its website to meet such requirement.

VA HB 1489 - Glenn R. Davis
Practice of naturopathic medicine.
01/03/2023 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Practice of naturopathic medicine. Establishes licensure requirements for the practice of naturopathic medicine, including educational requirements, examinations, and scope of practice for licensure as a naturopathic doctor, defined in the bill. The bill requires the Board of Medicine to promulgate regulations governing the profession and establishes the Advisory Board on Naturopathy to make recommendations to the Board of Medicine.

VA HB 1496 - Sam Rasoul
Surveillance technology; reporting by state & local law-enforcement agencies, etc.
03/27/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Surveillance technology reporting by state and local law-enforcement agencies and sheriff's departments. Requires all state and local law-enforcement agencies and sheriff's departments to provide to the Department of Criminal Justice Services (the Department) a list of surveillance technologies, defined in the bill, procured by such agencies and departments on an annual basis by November 1 of each year. The bill requires the Department to provide such information to the Virginia State Crime Commission and the Joint Commission on Technology and Science.

VA HB 1498 - Rodney T. Willett
Adult day care centers; name changes to adult day centers throughout the Code.
02/20/2024 - Senate: Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N)
Adult day care centers; name change. Renames "adult day care centers" as "adult day centers" throughout the Code of Virginia.

VA HB 1499 - Rodney T. Willett
Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority; increases ex officio members, etc., report.
03/27/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority; Virginia Health Care Career and Technical Training and Education Fund created; psychological practitioner defined; educational requirements for nursing faculty. Modifies the enabling legislation for the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority by adding four additional ex officio members to the Authority's Board of Directors, adding setting priorities for and managing graduate medical education programs to the duties of the Authority, specifying additional recipients of the Board's biennial report, and authorizing the Authority to partner with other agencies and institutions to obtain and manage health workforce data. The bill establishes the Virginia Health Care Career and Technical Training and Education Fund. The bill directs the Board of Nursing to add or remove certain educational requirements for members of the nursing faculty in specified nursing education programs and establishes a licensing procedure by the Board of Psychology for a psychological practitioner, as defined by the bill. The bill directs the Board of Nursing and the Board of Psychology to adopt regulations to implement relevant provisions of the bill to be effective no later than January 1, 2025. This bill is identical to SB 155.

VA HB 1500 - Rodney T. Willett
Behavioral health technicians and trainees; registration requirements for Board of Counseling.
02/13/2024 - House: Left in Health and Human Services
Board of Counseling; registration of behavioral health technicians and behavioral health technician trainees. Establishes requirements for the Board of Counseling to register individuals as behavioral health technicians or behavioral health technician trainees. The bill authorizes the Board to promulgate regulations for such registration, including necessary qualifications, education, and experience. The bill removes references to qualified mental health professionals with a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

VA HB 1516 - Mark L. Earley Jr.
Health education and family life education; certain videos and animations relating to human.
01/19/2024 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Health education and family life education; certain videos and animations relating to human development inside the uterus. Requires health education instruction to include an oral, written, or digital lesson, lecture, or presentation about human biology relating to pregnancy and human development inside the uterus, including (i) a high-definition ultrasound video, at least three minutes in duration, showing the development of the brain, heart, sex organs, and other vital organs in early fetal development and (ii) a high-quality, computer-generated rendering or animation showing the process of fertilization and every stage of human development inside the uterus, noting significant markers in cell growth and organ development for each significant marker of pregnancy until birth. The bill requires any family life education curriculum or similar curriculum offered by a local school division that includes any oral, written, or digital lesson, lecture, or presentation about sexual activity and pregnancy in the context of student health or healthy relationships to also include such a video and rendering or animation.

VA HB 1522 - Geary M. Higgins
Assisted living facilities and group homes; location in localities.
01/26/2024 - House: Stricken from docket by Counties, Cities and Towns (20-Y 0-N)
Location of assisted living facilities and group homes. Prohibits localities from allowing certain assisted living facilities and group homes with eight or fewer residents approved by the locality on or after July 1, 2024, to be located within one mile of a similar pre-existing assisted living facility or group home, provided such enforcement is in compliance with applicable state and federal fair housing laws.

VA HB 1525 - Carrie E. Coyner
Peer recovery specialists; background checks, barrier crime exceptions.
01/16/2023 - House: Assigned HWI sub: Subcommittee #2
Background checks; peer recovery specialists; barrier crime exceptions. Permits the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, direct care service providers, and community boards to hire peer recovery specialists who have been convicted of certain barrier crimes where a history of such offense does not pose a risk in the work of a peer recovery specialist.

VA HB 1534 - Nadarius E. Clark
Loan repayment programs; creates program for mental health professionals.
01/19/2023 - House: Subcommittee recommends referring to Committee on Appropriations
Loan repayment programs; mental health professionals. Creates a loan repayment program for persons who have worked as mental health professionals in the Commonwealth for at least five years.

VA HB 1541 - Wren M. Williams
Magistrates; appointment and supervision.
02/13/2024 - House: Left in Courts of Justice
Magistrates; appointment and supervision.

VA HB 1542 - Candi Mundon King
Child abuse and neglect; mandatory reporters, statute of limitations, penalties.
02/11/2024 - House: Read first time
Child abuse and neglect; mandatory reporters; statute of limitations; penalties.

VA HB 1550 - Jeffrey L. Campbell
Child abuse or neglect; findings of local department of social services, appeal.
02/22/2023 - House: VOTE: Adoption (97-Y 0-N)
Child abuse or neglect; findings of local department of social services; appeal. Provides that in cases in which a teacher licensed by the Board of Education or through an alternative pathway and employed by a local school board is found by a local department of social services to have committed child abuse or neglect, the teacher may, after exhausting all options for review by the local department and Commissioner of Social Services, petition the circuit court for a de novo review of such finding. Under current law, such persons may obtain review of the decision only in accordance with the Administrative Process Act.

VA HB 1556 - Emily M. Brewer
K-9 Detection Teams; employment in public schools.
02/01/2023 - House: Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1556H2
Employment of K-9 Detection Teams in public schools. Permits any local law-enforcement agency to employ in any public elementary or secondary school in the local school division, pursuant to an agreement with the local school board, a full-time or part-time K-9 Detection Team, defined in the bill as a law-enforcement team that consists of a local law-enforcement officer and a canine whose duty is to detect explosives, firearms, and narcotics. The bill requires each such school board and local law-enforcement agency to enter into a memorandum of understanding that sets forth the powers and duties of such teams. The bill requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish compulsory training standards for such teams, requires certain data collection relating to the activities of such teams, and sets up a K-9 Detection Team Grant Program and Fund to provide matching grants on a competitive basis to support the employment of such teams.

VA HB 1561 - Vivian E. Watts
Arrest/prosecution of individual experiencing mental health emerg.; assault against law enforcement.
01/06/2023 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Assault or assault and battery against a law-enforcement officer; arrest and prosecution of individual experiencing a mental health emergency. Provides that no individual shall be subject to arrest or prosecution for an assault or assault and battery against a law-enforcement officer if at the time of the assault or assault and battery (i) the individual (a) is experiencing a mental health emergency or (b) meets the criteria for issuance of an emergency custody order pursuant to ? 37.2-808 and (ii) the law-enforcement officer subject to the assault or assault and battery was responding to a call for service requesting assistance for such individual. The bill provides that no law-enforcement officer acting in good faith shall be found liable for false arrest if it is later determined that the person arrested was immune from prosecution.

VA HB 1564 - Vivian E. Watts
Nursing home standards of care; administrative sanctions; Long-Term Care Services Fund established.
01/06/2023 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Nursing home standards of care; administrative sanctions; Long-Term Care Services Fund established. Requires regulations establishing the staffing and care standards in nursing homes to require a minimum number of hours of direct care services to each resident per 24-hour period, which minimum increases in specified phases from 3.5 hours to 4.1 hours. The bill gives the Commissioner of Health the power to impose administrative sanctions on nursing homes and directs the Board of Health to promulgate regulations related to the criteria and procedures for the imposition of administrative sanctions or initiation of court proceedings for violations of the bill. The bill establishes the Long-Term Care Services Fund for the purpose of making grants to assist in the provision of activities that protect or improve the quality of care or quality of life for residents, patients, and consumers of long-term care services.

VA HB 1573 - Wendell S. Walker
Mental health conditions & impairment; health regulatory board w/in DHP to amend its applications.
02/16/2023 - House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1573ER)
Department of Health Professions; applications for licensure, certification, and registration; mental health conditions and impairment; emergency. Directs each health regulatory board within the Department of Health Professions to amend its licensure, certification, and registration applications to remove any existing questions pertaining to mental health conditions and impairment and to include the following questions: (i) Do you have any reason to believe that you would pose a risk to the safety or well-being of your patients or clients?; and (ii) Are you able to perform the essential functions of a practitioner in your area of practice with or without reasonable accommodation? The bill contains an emergency clause.

VA HB 1585 - Richard C. Sullivan
Wearing of hard body armor in public; exceptions; penalty.
01/06/2023 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Wearing of hard body armor in public; exceptions; penalty. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor, for any person to wear hard body armor, as defined in the bill, anywhere other than while on his own private property. The bill provides exceptions for (i) any law-enforcement officer, conservator of the peace, or member of the Armed Forces of the United States or of the National Guard of Virginia or of any other state while engaged in the performance of his official duties or (ii) any person engaged in such other profession as designated on a list published by the Department of Criminal Justice Services while engaged in the performance of his official duties. The bill also requires the Department to adopt regulations establishing criteria for eligible professions requiring the use of hard body armor during the performance of their official duties and to publish the list of such eligible professions on the Department's website.

VA HB 1594 - Gwendolyn W. Gooditis
Department of Human Resource Management; health insurance overage for employees.
01/06/2023 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Department of Human Resource Management; health insurance coverage for employees of multijurisdictional community services boards. Adds employees of community services boards that serve more than one locality to the definition of "state employee" for the purpose of allowing such employees to be eligible for the health insurance coverage provided to state employees by the Department of Human Resource Management.

VA HB 1596 - Karrie K. Delaney
Prescription Drug Affordability Board and Fund established; drug cost affordability review.
01/06/2023 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Prescription Drug Affordability Board and Fund established; drug cost affordability review. Establishes the Prescription Drug Affordability Board for the purpose of protecting the citizens of the Commonwealth, state and local governments, commercial health plans, health care providers, pharmacies licensed in the Commonwealth, and other stakeholders within the health care system from the high costs of prescription drug products.

VA HB 1597 - Roxann L. Robinson
Medical cannabis program; transition from Board of Pharmacy to Virginia Cannabis Control Authority.
01/06/2023 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Medical cannabis program; transition from Board of Pharmacy to Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. Transfers oversight and administration of the Commonwealth's medical cannabis program from the Board of Pharmacy to the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority.

VA HB 1598 - Roxann L. Robinson
Medical cannabis program; transition from Board of Pharmacy to Virginia Cannabis Control Authority.
02/15/2023 - Senate: Passed Senate (29-Y 11-N)
Medical cannabis program; transition from Board of Pharmacy to Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. Transfers oversight and administration of the Commonwealth's medical cannabis program from the Board of Pharmacy to the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority.

VA HB 160 - Holly M. Seibold
Veterans; workplace poster for benefits and services.
02/27/2024 - House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB160ER)
Department of Labor and Industry; workplace poster for veterans benefits and services. Directs the Department of Labor and Industry, in consultation with the Department of Veterans Services, to create a poster describing benefits and services available to veterans and allows employers to request and display such poster in the workplace. The bill enumerates a minimum group of resources the poster shall include, including (i) Department of Veterans Services' programs, contact information, and website address; (ii) substance abuse and mental health treatment resources; (iii) educational, workforce, and training resources; (iv) tax benefits; (v) eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits; (vi) legal services; and (vii) the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Crisis Line.

VA HB 1622 - Thomas C. Wright
Health regulatory boards; delegation of authority to conduct informal fact-finding proceedings.
02/20/2023 - Senate: Passed Senate (38-Y 2-N)
Health regulatory boards; delegation of authority to conduct informal fact-finding proceedings. Removes the requirement that a health regulatory board receive information that a practitioner may be subject to a disciplinary action in order for the board to delegate to an appropriately qualified agency subordinate the authority to conduct informal fact-finding proceedings.

VA HB 1624 - Jason S. Ballard
Mental health and rehabilitative services; military serv. members transitioning to civilian life.
02/23/2023 - House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1624ER)
Department of Veterans Services; mental health and rehabilitative services; Military Spouse Liaison. Adds military service members transitioning from military to civilian life to the list of persons supported by the program for mental health and rehabilitative services administered by the Department of Veterans Services. The bill requires the Commissioner of the Department of Veterans Services to include in the Department's annual report data related to such transitioning service members and an overview of the activities of the Military Spouse Liaison, including any legislative recommendations. This bill is identical to SB 1071.

VA HB 1631 - David L. Bulova
Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder incurred by dispatchers.
01/19/2023 - House: Assigned sub: Subcommittee #2
Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder incurred by dispatchers. Allows dispatchers, as defined in the bill, to claim workers' compensation benefits relating to post-traumatic stress disorder under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act. Currently, only law-enforcement officers and firefighters may claim such benefits.

VA HB 1689 - Karen S. Greenhalgh
Patient visitation; visitation from clergy members during declared public health emergency.
01/13/2023 - House: Assigned HWI sub: Subcommittee #3
Patient visitation; visitation from clergy members. Requires hospitals, nursing homes, and certified nursing facilities to allow patients to receive visits from clergy members during a declared public health emergency related to a communicable disease of public health threat. Under the bill, the hospital, nursing home, or certified nursing facility may require the clergy member to comply with all reasonable health and safety requirements and may restrict visits of a clergy member who fails a health screening measure or tests positive for a communicable disease of public health concern. If the health and safety requirement substantially burdens the clergy member's free exercise of religion, the hospital, nursing home, or certified nursing facility may require compliance only if the requirement furthers a compelling health and safety interest and imposes the least restrictive requirement. The bill provides immunity for hospitals, nursing homes, and certified nursing facilities and their employees and contractors from liability for injury or death due to exposure to a communicable disease of public health concern resulting from or related to such visitation, except in limited circumstances. The bill also allows a person or religious organization to bring a civil action against a hospital, nursing home, or certified nursing facility alleging a violation of such visitation provisions.

VA HB 169 - Karen Keys-Gamarra
Maternal Health Data and Quality Measures, Task Force on; State Health Commissioner to reestablish.
01/25/2024 - House: Incorporated by Health and Human Services (HB781-Herring) by voice vote
Task Force on Maternal Health Data and Quality Measures; report. Directs the State Health Commissioner to reestablish the Task Force on Maternal Health Data and Quality Measures for the purpose of evaluating maternal health data collection processes to guide policies in the Commonwealth to improve maternal care, quality, and outcomes for all birthing people in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Task Force to report its findings and conclusions to the Governor and General Assembly by December 1 of each year regarding its activities. This bill reestablishes the Task Force on Maternal Health Data and Quality Measures that concluded on December 1, 2023.

VA HB 1706 - Robert B. Bell
Dissemination of criminal history record information; National Center for Missing Children.
01/09/2023 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Dissemination of criminal history record information; National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Authorizes the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to obtain criminal history record information for the purpose of screening individuals who are offered or accept employment or will be providing volunteer or contractual services with the National Center.

VA HB 1707 - Tara A. Durant
Public school students; self-identification as gender other than biological sex, parental contact.
01/26/2023 - House: Assigned Education sub: Early Childhood/Innovation
Public school students; self-identification as gender other than biological sex; parental contact. Requires any person licensed as administrative or instructional personnel by the Board of Education and employed by a local school board who, in the scope of his employment, has reason to believe, as a result of direct communication from a student, that such student is self-identifying as a gender that is different than his biological sex to contact, as soon as practicable and in accordance with Board guidelines, at least one of such student's parents to ask whether such parent is aware of the student's mental state and whether the parent wishes to obtain or has already obtained counseling for such student.

VA HB 1711 - Robert B. Bell
Minor's medical records; prohibits denial of parental access to records.
01/24/2023 - House: Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 4-N)
Parental access to minor's medical records. Prohibits denial of parental access to the medical records of such parent's minor child, unless federal law requires the minor child's consent.

VA HB 1716 - Nadarius E. Clark
Mental health resources; inclusion on Job Safety and health Protection poster.
01/19/2023 - House: Assigned sub: Subcommittee #1
Safety and Health Codes Board; mental health resources. Directs the Safety and Health Codes Board within the Department of Labor and Industry to include mental health resources from the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services on the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Program's Job Safety and Health Protection poster that employers are required to keep posted in the workplace.

VA HB 1736 - David A. LaRock
Family life education curriculum guidelines; human reproduction; viewing of ultrasound video.
01/09/2023 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Family life education curriculum guidelines; human reproduction; viewing of ultrasound video recording. Requires the instruction on human reproduction contained in the Board of Education's family life education curriculum guidelines to include the viewing of a video recording of an ultrasound of a live unborn human in the uterus.

VA HB 1738 - Betsy B. Carr
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; state public bodies, meetings, virtual public access.
01/11/2023 - House: Assigned GL sub: Subcommittee #4
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; state public bodies; meetings; virtual public access. Requires all state public bodies to provide public access to meetings through electronic communication means and to provide the public with the opportunity to comment at such meetings through such the use of such electronic communication means when public comment is customarily received. The bill contains technical amendments.

VA HB 1774 - Betsy B. Carr
Law-enforcement officers; training standards, comprehensive harm reduction program.
02/02/2023 - House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (5-Y 3-N)
Training standards for law-enforcement officers; comprehensive harm reduction program; drug use. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish training standards and publish and periodically update model policies for law-enforcement personnel for a comprehensive harm reduction program that promotes scientifically proven methods of mitigating health risks associated with drug use and other high-risk behaviors, including the use of naloxone or other opioid antagonists to prevent opioid overdose deaths, in coordination with statewide naloxone training programs developed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and the Virginia Department of Health.

VA HB 1775 - Israel D. O'Quinn
Workers' compensation; anxiety disorder or depressive disorder incurred by law-enforcement officers.
03/22/2023 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0243)
Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder; law-enforcement officers and firefighters. Provides that an anxiety disorder or depressive disorder, as both are defined in the bill, incurred by a law-enforcement officer or firefighter is compensable under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act on the same basis as post-traumatic stress disorder, except in the case of responding to crime scenes for investigation. The bill provides that a mental health professional must diagnose the covered individual as suffering from anxiety disorder or depressive disorder as a result of a qualifying event, defined in the bill as an incident or exposure occurring in the line of duty on or after July 1, 2023, and includes other conditions for compensability. This bill is identical to SB 904.

VA HB 178 - Debra D. Gardner
Social Work Advisory Board; established, report, sunset date.
01/29/2024 - House: Subcommittee recommends continuing to 2025 with substitute by voice vote
Social Work Advisory Board; established; report. Establishes the Social Work Advisory Board to advise the Governor on efforts to improve the social work profession in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Social Work Advisory Board to report annually by December 1 to the Governor and the General Assembly regarding its activities and recommendations. The bill contains an expiration date of June 30, 2027.

VA HB 179 - Debra D. Gardner
Imprisonment; consecutive terms.
02/11/2024 - House: Read first time
Consecutive terms of imprisonment. Eliminates the required imposition of mandatory consecutive sentences of imprisonment.

VA HB 1800 - Nicholas J. Freitas
Higher educational institutions, public; transparecy.
02/02/2023 - House: Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1800H1
Public institutions of higher education; transparency. Imposes several requirements on governing boards of public institutions of higher education relating to transparency, including requirements to (i) report by September 1 of each year to the Chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations and Education and the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and on Education and Health the number of diversity officers and government relations officers employed by the institution and the salary of each such officer and the total value of any contract with any outside individual or entity to provide lobbying services for the institution; (ii) record video of each meeting of the full board and its committees and make publicly available on the institution's website in a position of prominence a link that permits any member of the public to livestream each meeting of the full board and its committees and, within 10 business days after the date of any meeting of the full board or any of its committees, view video recordings for each such meeting; and (iii) prior to any vote to enter into or renew a contract for the employment of the chief executive officer of the institution, hold a public meeting to provide an opportunity for written, virtual, and in-person public comment on such contract at least 120 days prior to any such meeting at which it will vote to enter into or renew such contract and provide notice of such public meeting in accordance with relevant law. The bill also requires each public institution of higher education to make publicly available on the institution's website in a position of prominence and present annually to the governing board of the institution an annual report regarding foundations associated with the institution setting forth foundation expenses that includes the percentage of expenditures used for diversity, equity, and opportunity compensation, government relations and lobbying activities, and compensation of the chief executive officer.

VA HB 1840 - Barry D. Knight
Eastern Virginia Health Sciences Center; establishing at Old Dominion University.
02/25/2023 - House: VOTE: Adoption (95-Y 0-N)
Eastern Virginia Medical School; establishment of Eastern Virginia Health Sciences Center at Old Dominion University. Repeals provisions establishing and relating to Eastern Virginia Medical School and designates the schools and divisions previously existing as Eastern Virginia Medical School and such other academic units of Old Dominion University related to the health sciences as may be identified by the Old Dominion University Board of Visitors as the Eastern Virginia Health Sciences Center at Old Dominion University (the Health Sciences Center). The bill permits Old Dominion University to provide medical and health sciences education and related research through the teaching hospitals and related health care and health maintenance facilities at the Health Sciences Center and contains provisions relating to the operations of the Health Sciences Center, including provisions relating to cooperative arrangements and joint ventures.

VA HB 1872 - Phillip A. Scott
Professional counselors; licensure without examination.
01/13/2023 - House: Assigned HWI sub: Subcommittee #1
Board of Counseling; licensure of professional counselors without examination. Allows the Board of Counseling to issue a license to practice as a professional counselor without examination to an applicant seeking initial licensure or renewal of such license and who satisfies all other education, experience, and fitness to practice requirements set forth in regulation and who is qualified to practice professional counseling.

VA HB 1891 - John J. McGuire
Transcranial magnetic stimulation; DBHDS to establish pilot program.
02/01/2023 - House: Assigned App. sub: Health & Human Resources
Transcranial magnetic stimulation; pilot program. Requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to establish a pilot program to make electroencephalogram combined transcranial magnetic stimulation available for veterans, first responders, and law-enforcement officers. The bill requires the State Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to establish regulations for the pilot program.

VA HB 1916 - Amanda E. Batten
Higher educational institutions, public; threat assessment teams, training, powers and duties.
01/23/2023 - House: Referred to Committee on Education
Public institutions of higher education; threat assessment teams; powers and duties. Requires each threat assessment team at each public institution of higher education, upon a preliminary determination that an individual poses an articulable and significant threat of violence to others, to (i) obtain criminal history record information and health records for such individual, if available; (ii) notify the campus police department, local law enforcement, and the local attorney for the Commonwealth in writing within 24 hours; and (iii) disclose any specific threat of violence posed by the individual as part of such notification. The bill permits each such threat assessment team to invite nonmember representatives from campus to participate in individual cases and specifies that no such representative shall be considered a member of the threat assessment team. The bill requires each threat assessment team member to complete basic threat assessment training upon appointment to the threat assessment team. The bill also provides that in the event that a public institution of higher education has knowledge that a student or employee who was determined pursuant to an investigation by the institution's threat assessment team to pose an articulable and significant threat of violence to others is transferring to another institution of higher education or place of employment, the public institution of higher education from which the individual is transferring shall notify the institution of higher education or place of employment to which the individual is transferring of such investigation and determination. Finally, the bill requires the Secretary of Education and Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security to convene a task force to determine best practices and develop model policies and procedures for all threat assessment teams at public institutions of higher education and to consider and make legislative recommendations on the appropriate qualifications of members of such threat assessment teams. The task force is required to submit its findings to the Governor and Chairmen of the House Committee for Courts of Justice, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the House Committee on Education, and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than December 1, 2023.

VA HB 1918 - Amanda E. Batten
Health insurance; coverage for audio-only telehealth services, definition.
02/13/2023 - Senate: Passed by indefinitely in Commerce and Labor with letter (15-Y 0-N)
Health insurance; coverage for audio-only telehealth services. Requires health insurers, health care subscription plans, and health maintenance organizations to provide coverage beginning January 1, 2024, for the cost of health care services provided through audio-only telehealth services, defined in the bill as counseling interventions designed to facilitate a patient's achievement of human development goals and remediate mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders and associated distresses that interfere with mental health and development by a mental health professional delivered to a patient via audio-only means when no other means of real-time two-way audio-visual or other telecommunications or electronic communications are available and operational to the patient or the patient does not have the capability to use such real-time two-way means of communication. The bill requires that prescribing of controlled substances via audio-only telehealth services comply with state requirements for prescribing controlled substances and all applicable federal law.

VA HB 1923 - Anne Ferrell H. Tata
Minors; admission to mental health facility for inpatient treatment.
01/23/2023 - House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (8-Y 0-N)
Admission of minors to mental health facility for inpatient treatment. Increases from 14 years of age to 16 years of age the minimum age requiring the consent of a minor prior to his admission to a mental health facility for inpatient treatment upon the joint application of such minor and the consent of such minor's parent. The bill also increases from younger than 14 years of age to younger than 16 years of age the maximum age for admission of a minor to a mental health facility for inpatient treatment upon application and with the consent of such minor's parent. The bill also increases from 14 years of age to 16 years of age the minimum age for a minor who objects to his admission to a mental health facility or is incapable of making an informed decision to be admitted to such mental health facility for up to 120 hours upon the application of such minor's parent. The bill also adds addiction as a reason for a minor to be admitted to a mental health facility for inpatient treatment.

VA HB 1931 - Tara A. Durant
Sexually violent predators; civil commitment, penalty.
02/22/2023 - House: VOTE: Adoption (97-Y 0-N)
Civil commitment of sexually violent predators; penalty. Creates a Class 6 felony for any civilly committed sexually violent predator who tampers with or in any way attempts to circumvent the operation of his GPS equipment while on conditional release. The bill also eliminates the requirement that an expert witness be designated by the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services prior to being permitted to testify at a probable cause hearing.

VA HB 1938 - Kenneth R. Plum
Public schools; school counselors with training or experience in mental health, staffing ratios.
02/01/2023 - House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (5-Y 3-N)
Public schools; staffing ratios; school counselors with training or experience in mental health. Requires each school board to employ, in addition to the school counselors that it employs as otherwise required by law, at least one full-time school counselor with specialized training or experience in mental health per 1,000 students in grades kindergarten through 12.

VA HB 1945 - Tara A. Durant
Children and adolescents; data reporting, reporting requirements.
02/25/2023 - Senate: Signed by President
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; data reporting on children and adolescents; reporting requirements. Removes the requirement that the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services collect certain data relating to children and adolescents from each community policy and management team and each community services board or behavioral health authority.

VA HB 1973 - James A. Leftwich
Industrial hemp; selling or offering or sale a topical hemp product, etc.
02/25/2023 - House: Failed to pass in House
Tetrahydrocannabinol; industrial hemp; regulated hemp products. Establishes provisions for the registration of a retail facility for regulated hemp products, as defined in the bill, establishes product packaging, labeling, and testing requirements for such products, and creates a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for certain violations relating to such products. The bill requires any person who manufactures an industrial hemp extract, as defined in the bill, or food containing an industrial hemp extract to obtain a permit from the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services and creates a Class 1 misdemeanor and a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for certain violations. The bill clarifies that any substances containing a concentration of total tetrahydrocannabinol, as defined in the bill, of more than 0.3 percent, including a hemp product or industrial hemp extract, are included in the definition of marijuana and also clarifies that the definition of marijuana does not include any substance containing tetrahydrocannabinol that has been placed by the Board of Pharmacy into one of the schedules set forth in the Drug Control Act. The bill increases the civil penalty for certain actions relating to sales of cigarettes and hemp products from $50 to $500. The bill also removes tetrahydrocannabinol from the Schedule I list of controlled substances and permits the Board of Pharmacy to schedule, deschedule, or reschedule a tetrahydrocannabinol isomer, except delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or salts of such isomer in accordance with the provisions of the bill.

VA HB 1976 - Robert B. Bell
Involuntary admission; temporary detention, release of detained individual.
02/23/2023 - Senate: Senate requested conference committee
Involuntary admission; temporary detention; release of detained individual. Allows the director of a facility where a person is awaiting transport to the facility of temporary detention pursuant to a temporary detention order to request a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist, in consultation with the treating physician and the community services board, to perform a new assessment to determine if such person no longer meets commitment criteria, or request the community services board, in consultation with the treating physician, to conduct an evaluation to determine if such person no longer meets commitment criteria. The community services board, after its evaluation, may release the person prior to a commitment hearing if the person no longer meets the commitment criteria.

VA HB 2 - Daniel I. Helmer
Assault firearms & certain ammunition, etc.; purchase, sales, transfers, etc., prohibited.
02/19/2024 - Senate: Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations
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.

VA HB 2017 - Leslie R. Adams
Juvenile 16 years of age or older; charges requiring preliminary hearing.
01/26/2023 - House: Read second time and engrossed
Charges requiring preliminary hearing for a juvenile 16 years of age or older. Adds to the list of charges for which the juvenile court is required to conduct a preliminary hearing for juveniles 16 years of age or older a charge of entering a dwelling house, etc., with intent to commit murder, rape, robbery, or arson.

VA HB 2029 - Danica A. Roem
Public Guardian and Conservator Advisory Board; member terms.
02/24/2023 - House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2029ER)
Public Guardian and Conservator Advisory Board member terms; local or regional public guardian and conservator programs; staff to client ratio. Extends to four years the terms of all members of the Public Guardian and Conservator Advisory Board currently appointed by the Governor to three-year terms. The bill also eliminates the requirement that each local or regional public guardian and conservator program develop a plan, in consultation with the local circuit court and sheriffs, where appropriate, to provide advance notice to the court when the program falls below or exceeds the ideal range of staff to client ratios in order to assure continuity of services.

VA HB 203 - Shelly A. Simonds
Private security services business; training requirements for human trafficking.
02/27/2024 - House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB203ER)
Private security services business; training requirements; human trafficking. Requires the compulsory minimum, entry-level, and in-service training standards for an unarmed security officer, armed security officer, courier, security canine handler, and alarm respondent to include a training requirement on recognizing and reporting instances of suspected human trafficking. The bill provides that the Department of Criminal Justice Services shall have the power and duty to develop an online course to meet such training requirement.

VA HB 2038 - Irene Shin
State employees; health insurance coverage, incapacitated adult children.
03/22/2023 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0182)
State employees; health insurance coverage; incapacitated adult children. Provides that the plan established by the Department of Human Resource Management for the provision of health insurance coverage for state employees shall allow for an incapacitated child, defined in the bill, to be enrolled under a participating state employee's coverage without regard to whether such child lives with the covered employee as a member of the employee's household so long as the child is dependent upon the employee for more than half of the child's financial support and the child is receiving residential support services.

VA HB 204 - Shelly A. Simonds
Maternal Mortality Review Team; membership.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Maternal Mortality Review Team; membership. Adds a representative of the Department of Corrections and a representative of the State Board of Local and Regional Jails, both appointed by the Governor, to the membership of the Maternal Mortality Review Team.

VA HB 2044 - Irene Shin
Criminal and traffic cases; fines and costs assessed against juveniles, report.
01/27/2023 - House: Subcommittee recommends passing by indefinitely (5-Y 3-N)
Fines and costs assessed against juveniles in criminal and traffic cases; report. Gives a court discretion in determining the appropriate amount, if any, of fines and fees imposed against a juvenile for a traffic infraction or other traffic offense and eliminates the court's authority to impose a fine as an order of disposition for a juvenile delinquency. The bill also provides that after a juvenile is adjudicated to be delinquent but prior to the imposition of any penalty, the court shall determine the applicable fees and costs, including attorney fees, to be assessed against the juvenile's parents and shall determine if such juvenile's parents are financially able to pay for the attorney in whole or in part and refuse to do so. The bill provides that while determining if any fees or costs should be imposed, the court shall give the juvenile, or the juvenile's attorney, and the parents an opportunity to be heard. Finally, the bill requires the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia to annually report to the Governor and General Assembly on the total fines and costs assessed in the preceding calendar year in all criminal and traffic cases for each circuit court participating in the Office of the Executive Secretary's case management system and for each general district court and juvenile and domestic relations district court. The bill requires that the report include the fines and costs assessed by race of the defendant. The bill contains technical amendments.

VA HB 2054 - Patrick A. Hope
Community services boards; information to certain defendants, services provided by boards.
02/20/2023 - House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2054ER)
Information to certain defendants; services of community services boards. Requires general district courts, juvenile and domestic relations district courts, and circuit courts, in cases in which a defendant is found not guilty of any offense after a trial at which evidence of the defendant's mental condition at the time of the alleged offense was introduced, to make available to the defendant information regarding services provided by the community services board and how such services may be accessed. The bill requires each community services board to develop, regularly update, and make available to such courts in the same locality information regarding the services provided by the community services board and information about how to access such services.

VA HB 210 - Fernando J. Martinez
Electronic execution of estate planning documents; codifies Uniform Electronic Wills Act.
02/27/2024 - Senate: Defeated by Senate (19-Y 20-N)
Electronic execution of estate planning documents; Uniform Electronic Wills Act. Permits trusts, advance medical directives, and refusals to make anatomical gifts to be signed and notarized, as appropriate, by electronic means. The bill also codifies the Uniform Electronic Wills Act, which permits a testator to execute a will by electronic means. The Act requires that the will be signed by two witnesses who are in the physical or electronic presence of the testator and acknowledged by the testator and attesting witnesses in the physical or electronic presence of a notary public.

VA HB 2117 - Sally L. Hudson
Substance abuse counselors; barrier crimes, exception.
02/01/2023 - House: Assigned HWI sub: Subcommittee #3
Substance abuse counselors; barrier crimes; exception. Allows persons with convictions for possession of a controlled substance to work at adult substance abuse or adult mental health treatment programs.

VA HB 2121 - Sally L. Hudson
Juvenile transfer hearing; factors to be considered.
01/20/2023 - House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (6-Y 2-N)
Juvenile transfer hearing; factors to be considered. Adds the nature and extent of any prior trauma to the list of factors a juvenile and domestic relations district court shall consider when determining whether a juvenile is a proper person to remain within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court or to transfer the juvenile to circuit court for prosecution.

VA HB 2172 - Mark D. Sickles
Rights of persons with disabilities; definitions, mobility-impaired person.
02/02/2023 - House: Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions (22-Y 0-N)
Rights of persons with disabilities; definitions; mobility-impaired person. Removes from the definition of "mobility-impaired person" the requirement that such person complete training to use a dog for service or support as a prerequisite to invoking the rights of persons with disabilities under Chapter 9 (? 51.5-40 et seq.) of Title 51.5.

VA HB 2183 - Roxann L. Robinson
Nurse practitioners; practice authority upon licensure.
01/19/2023 - House: Subcommittee failed to recommend reporting (3-Y 3-N)
Nurse practitioners; practice authority upon licensure. Removes the requirement that nurse practitioners, other than a nurse practitioner licensed by the Boards of Medicine and Nursing in the category of certified nurse midwife, certified registered nurse anesthetist, or clinical nurse specialist, who meet certain conditions may practice without a practice agreement only if they have completed the equivalent of at least five years of full-time clinical experience as a licensed nurse practitioner. The bill also removes patient care team requirements for nurse practitioners. The bill removes the existing provision allowing a physician to serve as a patient care team physician on a patient care team with up to 10 nurse practitioners licensed in the category of psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner, thus limiting any patient care team physician to a patient care team with no more than six nurse practitioners.

VA HB 2185 - Sam Rasoul
Community services boards and behavioral health authorities; provisions of performance contracts.
02/13/2023 - Senate: Passed Senate with substitute (40-Y 0-N)
Community services boards; behavioral health authorities; performance contracts. Modifies and reorganizes provisions related to the requirements of performance contracts entered into by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services with community services boards and behavioral health authorities. This bill is a recommendation of the Behavioral Health Commission and the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

VA HB 2187 - Sam Rasoul
School counselors; staff time.
01/24/2023 - House: Assigned Education sub: Early Childhood/Innovation
School counselors; staff time. Defines the terms "direct counseling" and "program planning and school support" for the purpose of the provision of law that requires each school counselor to spend at least 80 percent of his staff time during normal school hours in the direct counseling of individual students or groups of students and clarifies that each school counselor may also spend up to 20 percent of his staff time during normal school hours on program planning and support. This bill is a recommendation of the Behavioral Health Commission and the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

VA HB 2192 - Sam Rasoul
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; Catawba Hospital; substance abuse.
01/11/2023 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; Catawba Hospital; substance abuse treatment and recovery services. Directs the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to transform Catawba Hospital into a state-of-the-art facility at which a continuum of substance abuse treatment and recovery services is provided in addition to the array of behavioral health and other services currently provided to geriatric individuals in need of mental health care.

VA HB 2229 - Mark D. Sickles
Counseling Compact; licensure of professional counselors.
01/13/2023 - House: Assigned HWI sub: Subcommittee #1
Licensure of professional counselors; Counseling Compact. Authorizes Virginia to become a signatory to the Counseling Compact. The Compact permits eligible licensed professional counselors to practice in Compact member states, provided that they are licensed in at least one member state. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2024, and directs the Board of Counseling to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. The Compact takes effect when it is enacted by a tenth member state.

VA HB 2236 - C. E. Hayes
Secured Schools Program and Fund; established.
01/23/2023 - House: Assigned Education sub: Early Childhood/Innovation
Department of Criminal Justice Services; powers and duties; Secured Schools Program and Fund. Establishes the Secured Schools Program and Secured Schools Program Fund, established by and implemented by the Department of Criminal Justice Services (Department), as a comprehensive, prompt, and reliable first warning notification and emergency broadcast system for each PSAP in the Commonwealth to (i) allow elementary or secondary school faculty to alert the local PSAP of an imminent threat to public safety within the elementary or secondary school and (ii) alert administration at each elementary and secondary school located within such PSAP's service area in the case of an imminent threat to public safety within the proximity boundary of the elementary or secondary school, as established by school administrators and local law enforcement. The bill allows such alerts to be issued by means of (a) website announcements; (b) email notices; (c) phone, cellular phone, or text messages; (d) alert lines; (e) public address systems; (f) panic buttons; or (g) any other means of communication. The bill directs the Department to adopt regulations governing the implementation of the Secured Schools Program, in accordance with criteria provided in the bill, and establish criteria for funding the Program through disbursements from the Secured Schools Program Fund.

VA HB 224 - Rozia A. Henson
Public schools; mental health awareness training.
03/27/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Public schools; teachers and other relevant personnel; mental health awareness training. Requires each teacher and other relevant personnel, as determined by the applicable school board, employed on a full-time basis to complete mental health awareness training that addresses the needs of youth populations that are at a high risk of experiencing mental health challenges and disorders in accordance with evidence-based best practices developed by the American Psychological Association. Current law requires such teachers and personnel to complete mental health awareness training but does not contain any requirements relating to the specific topics such training must address. The bill prohibits any of its provisions or any policy adopted in accordance with its provisions from being construed to permit biased or discriminatory treatment of any youth population deemed to be at a high risk of experiencing mental health challenges and disorders.

VA HB 2250 - Aijalon Carlton Cordoza
Criminal Justice Services, Department of; powers and duties, training for law-enforcement personnel.
02/22/2023 - Senate: Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N)
Department of Criminal Justice Services; powers and duties; training for law-enforcement personnel. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services, under the direction of the Board, to establish training standards and publish a model policy for the identification of, communication with, and facilitation of the safe return of individuals diagnosed with dementia by law-enforcement personnel. Under current law, such training standards and model policies are focus solely on individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

VA HB 2252 - Wren M. Williams
Magistrates; appointment and supervision.
02/01/2023 - House: Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 2-N)
Magistrates; appointment and supervision. Gives supervisory control over the magistrate system to the chief circuit court judge and the Committee on District Courts and abolishes magisterial regions. Under current law, the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia exercises such authority with a provision for consultation with the chief judges of the circuit courts in the region where the appointment is made.

VA HB 2262 - M. Keith Hodges
Health insurance; online credentialing system, processing of new applications.
02/21/2023 - House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2262ER)
Health insurance; provider credentialing; processing of new applications. Requires a health insurance carrier that credentials the physicians, mental health professionals, or other providers in its network to establish reasonable protocols and procedures for processing of new provider credentialing applications. The bill requires that if the carrier accepts applications through an online credentialing system, the carrier must notify a new provider applicant through the online credentialing system that the application is received. If the carrier does not accept applications through an online credentialing system, the bill requires the carrier to provide, within 10 days of receiving an application, notification to the new provider applicant that the application was received. The bill provides that, beginning January 1, 2024, a new provider applicant's application will be deemed complete within 30 days of the carrier receiving the application, unless the carrier has provided notice that the application is not complete. Under the bill, a carrier must approve or deny new provider applicant credentialing applications within 60 days of receiving a completed application and claims submitted according to carrier claims submittal policies must be adjudicated and paid no later than 40 days after the new provider applicant is credentialed and contracted. The bill directs the Virginia Department of Health to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. This bill is identical to SB 1154.

VA HB 2264 - Margaret B. Ransone
Education, Dept. of; development of written guidance for comprehensive school counseling program.
02/01/2023 - House: VOTE: Passage (83-Y 16-N)
Department of Education; written guidance for comprehensive school counseling program. Requires the Department of Education to develop and implement by the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year written guidance for a comprehensive school counseling program for the purpose of providing counseling services and supports in the school setting that address the academic achievement, college and career readiness, and mental health and social and emotional needs of all students.

VA HB 2280 - David A. LaRock
Parental consent to surgical and medical treatment of certain minors.
01/11/2023 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Parental consent to surgical and medical treatment of certain minors; admission of minors to mental health facility for inpatient treatment. Requires written informed consent from the parent or guardian of any minor prior to any non-emergency surgical or medical treatment, mental health treatment, or immunization of a minor. The bill limits circumstances under existing law when a minor shall be deemed an adult for the purpose of consenting to certain medical or health services. The bill also allows a minor of any age to be admitted to a mental health facility for inpatient treatment without the consent of the minor.

VA HB 2287 - William C. Wampler
Practice of certified registered nurse anesthetists.
01/13/2023 - House: Assigned HWI sub: Subcommittee #3
Practice of certified registered nurse anesthetists. Allows certified registered nurse anesthetists to practice in consultation with a doctor of medicine, osteopathy, podiatry, or dentistry. Currently, certified registered nurse anesthetists are required to practice under the supervision of a doctor of medicine, osteopathy, podiatry, or dentistry.

VA HB 23 - Amy J. Laufer
Weapons; possession or transportation into facility that provides mental health services, etc.
02/02/2024 - House: Incorporated by Public Safety (HB861-Hernandez) by voice vote
Weapons; possession or transportation; facility that provides mental health services or developmental services; penalty. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person to possess in or transport into any facility that provides mental health services or developmental services in the Commonwealth, including a hospital or an emergency department or other facility rendering emergency medical care, any (i) firearm or other weapon designed or intended to propel a missile or projectile of any kind; (ii) knife, except a pocket knife having a folding metal blade of less than three inches; or (iii) other dangerous weapon, including explosives and stun weapons. The bill provides that any such firearm, knife, explosive, or weapon is subject to seizure by a law-enforcement officer and specifies exceptions to the prohibition.

VA HB 2313 - Christopher T. Head
Criminal history record information; dissemination.
02/25/2023 - Senate: Signed by President
Criminal history record information; dissemination. Allows criminal history record information to be disseminated to the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services or his designee for individuals who are being evaluated by the Commissioner to determine the individual's sanity at the time of a criminal offense or capacity to stand trial for the purpose of placement, evaluation, treatment, or discharge planning. This bill is identical to SB 1132.

VA HB 2322 - Ellen H. Campbell
Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder'.
01/12/2023 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder' law-enforcement officers, firefighters, and dispatchers. Provides that an anxiety disorder or depressive disorder, as both are defined in the bill, incurred by a law-enforcement officer, correctional officer, firefighter, or dispatcher is compensable under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act on the same basis as post-traumatic stress disorder. The bill adds dispatchers and correctional officers to the list of individuals for whom the workers' compensation presumption for post-traumatic stress disorder applies. The bill provides that a mental health professional must diagnose the covered individual as suffering from anxiety disorder or depressive disorder as a result of a qualifying event, defined in the bill as an incident or exposure occurring in the line of duty on or after July 1, 2020, for post-traumatic stress disorder and on or after July 1, 2023, for anxiety disorder or depressive disorder, and includes other conditions for compensability. The bill requires employers of law-enforcement officers and dispatchers to provide resilience and self-care technique training beginning July 1, 2023. The bill also adds mental health professionals to certain provisions that currently apply to physicians and surgeons.

VA HB 2339 - Robert B. Bell
Expedited diversion to court-ordered treatment in lieu of criminal adjudication.
01/12/2023 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Expedited diversion to court-ordered treatment in lieu of criminal adjudication. Establishes a process where a defendant who is charged with certain misdemeanor violations and appears to have a mental illness, and such charged conduct appears to be associated with that mental illness, may be considered for transfer from criminal court to civil process for court-ordered mental health treatment without any adjudication on such misdemeanor charges.

VA HB 2342 - Ellen Campbell
Background checks; employees of children and developmental services, adult substance abuse services.
02/23/2023 - House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2342ER)
Background checks; services for children and developmental services; adult substance abuse and mental health services. Separates background check requirements for direct care positions with service providers and community boards. The bill separates provisions regarding background checks of employees in direct care positions providing adult substance abuse and mental health services from those of background checks of employees in direct care positions providing services for children and developmental services.

VA HB 2346 - Elizabeth R. Guzman
School boards; anonymous reporting system; assessment of risk of violence.
01/12/2023 - House: Committee Referral Pending
School boards; anonymous reporting system; assessment of risk of violence and prevention of student harm to self or others. Encourages each school board to contract with a private nonprofit organization to procure and make available an anonymous reporting system for the assessment of risk or violence and the prevention of student harm to self or others that includes the following features and components: (i) a secure platform for students to submit messages and tips relating to violence or harm to self or others by telephone, website, and a multiplatform compatible mobile application; (ii) student access, 24 hours per day, seven days per week, and 365 days per year, to a national crisis center that is staffed by a team of highly skilled and trained crisis counselors whose sole duty is to respond to messages and tips from students relating to violence or harm to self or others; (iii) ongoing program support; and (iv) training for student and adult users.

VA HB 2358 - Tara A. Durant
School protection officers; employment in public schools.
02/16/2023 - Senate: Passed by indefinitely in Education and Health (9-Y 6-N)
Employment of school protection officers in public schools. Permits any local law-enforcement agency to employ in any public elementary or secondary school in the local school division, pursuant to an agreement with the local school board, a school protection officer, defined in the bill as a retired law-enforcement officer hired by the local law-enforcement agency on a part-time basis to provide limited law-enforcement and security services to public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth. The bill requires each such school board and local law-enforcement agency to enter into a memorandum of understanding that sets forth the powers and duties of school protection officers. The bill requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish compulsory training standards for school protection officers and requires the collection of certain data relating to the activities of such officers.

VA HB 2388 - Marcia S. Price
Public elementary and secondary schools; programs of instruction on mental health education.
01/27/2023 - House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (5-Y 3-N)
Public elementary and secondary schools; programs of instruction; mental health education; curriculum guidelines; instruction required. Requires each public elementary, middle, and high school to provide at each grade level, in addition to health instruction, an additional age-appropriate course of instruction on mental health. The bill directs the Board of Education to develop mental health curriculum guidelines for an age-appropriate, sequential mental health curriculum for each grade level and requires such curriculum guidelines to include instruction on (i) understanding general themes of social and emotional learning, including self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision making, relationship skills, and social awareness; (ii) recognizing symptoms of common mental health challenges, (iii) promoting mental health wellness and healthy strategies for coping with stress and negative feelings, including conflict resolution skills; (iv) seeking assistance for mental health concerns and challenges; (v) promoting awareness of the prevalence of mental health challenges and the importance of overcoming common mental health stigmas; (vi) understanding the importance of mental health to a student's physical, academic, and overall well-being; and (vii) understanding age-appropriate instruction at such grade levels as the Board deems appropriate on the connection between mental health and substance use disorders. The bill permits the Board to consult with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and other mental health experts in developing such curriculum guidelines and requires the Board to submit such guidelines to the State Board of Health for approval. The bill requires the Board to review and update by the beginning of the 2024?2025 school year the health Standards of Learning for each grade level to include such instruction on the mental health curriculum guidelines.

VA HB 2410 - Vivian E. Watts
Involuntary temporary detention; termination of a period of detention.
02/15/2023 - Senate: Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N)
Duration of involuntary temporary detention. Includes the termination of a period of involuntary temporary detention, if the minor or individual has been admitted to a facility of temporary detention, on any day or part of a day on which the clerk's office is lawfully closed as a reason to extend the duration of the period of involuntary temporary detention for adults and juveniles.

VA HB 2411 - Vivian E. Watts
Attorney fees; emergency custody and voluntary and involuntary civil admissions, increases fees.
02/25/2023 - House: VOTE: Adoption (95-Y 0-N 1-A)
Attorney fees; emergency custody and voluntary and involuntary civil admissions. Increases the fee that a court-appointed attorney receives for representation during emergency custody and voluntary and involuntary civil admissions from $75 to $120 for each hearing and from $43.25 to $70 for each certification hearing.

VA HB 2432 - David A. LaRock
Minor students experiencing gender incongruence; parental notification.
02/13/2023 - Senate: Assigned Education sub: Public Education
Sage's Law; Minors and students self-identifying as a gender different from biological sex; counseling; parental notification; parental care. Requires any person licensed as administrative or instructional personnel by the Board of Education and employed by a local school board who, in the scope of his employment, has reason to believe, as a result of direct communication from a student, that such student is self-identifying as a gender different from the student's biological sex to contact as soon as practicable at least one of such student's parents to ask whether such parent is aware of the student's mental state and whether the parent wishes to obtain or has already obtained counseling for such student. The bill requires the Board of Education to include in its guidelines for making such contact criteria to assess whether students have begun to self-identify as a gender different from their biological sex and criteria for notification of and discussions with parents of students self-identifying as a gender different from their biological sex. The bill also prohibits any licensed school counselor, professional counselor, clinical social worker, or psychologist or other counseling personnel in any school division from (i) encouraging or coercing a minor to withhold from the minor's parent the fact that the minor's perception of his or her gender or sex is inconsistent with the minor's biological sex or (ii) withholding from a minor's parent information relating to the minor's perception that his or her gender or sex is inconsistent with the minor's biological sex. Finally, the bill clarifies, in the definition of the term "abused or neglected child," that in no event shall referring to and raising the child in a manner consistent with the child's biological sex, including related mental health or medical decisions, be considered abuse or neglect.

VA HB 2434 - Robert B. Bell
Orders for involuntary outpatient evaluations and services;evidence of defendant's mental condition.
01/19/2023 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Orders for involuntary outpatient evaluations and services; evidence of defendant's mental condition. Allows the court, if a defendant is found not guilty of any offense after a trial at which evidence of his mental condition was admitted, to enter an order for an outpatient evaluation of the defendant if the court finds probable cause to believe the defendant meets the criteria for an outpatient evaluation set forth in the bill. The bill requires the court to subsequently enter an order for outpatient services if it finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that the defendant has a mental condition, defined in the bill; the defendant engaged in conduct that created a risk of harm to himself or others; the conduct was related to the defendant's mental condition; the defendant is in need of outpatient treatment to prevent a relapse or deterioration of his mental condition; and there is a reasonable likelihood that community-based services for the defendant's mental condition will reduce the risk of harm. The bill imposes a time limit of 180 days on orders for outpatient services and provides processes for rescinding and continuing the order. The bill requires that orders for outpatient services include an outpatient services plan prepared by the community services board or behavioral health authority. The bill also clarifies a defendant's ability to offer evidence regarding his mental condition at the time of the alleged offense in certain circumstances if such evidence tends to show that the defendant did not have the requisite intent required for the offense charged.

VA HB 2438 -
Local and Regional Jails, State Board of; increases membership.
02/02/2023 - House: Read first time
State Board of Local and Regional Jails; membership. Increases from nine members to 11 members the State Board of Local and Regional Jails by requiring (i) the appointment of both a former sheriff and a former superintendent of a regional jail facility where current law requires appointment of only one former sheriff or one former warden, superintendent, administrator, or operations manager of a state or local correctional facility and (ii) the appointment of an additional member who is employed by a public mental health services agency with training in or clinical, managerial, or other relevant experience working with individuals subject to the criminal justice system who have mental illness.

VA HB 2456 - Angelia Williams Graves
Weapons; possession or transportation, facility that provides mental health services.
01/28/2023 - House: Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #2
Weapons; possession or transportation; facility that provides mental health services or developmental services; penalty. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person to possess in or transport into any facility that provides mental health services or developmental services in the Commonwealth, including a hospital or an emergency room or other facility rendering emergency medical care, any (i) gun or other weapon designed or intended to propel a missile or projectile of any kind; (ii) knife, except a pocket knife having a folding metal blade of less than three inches; or (iii) other dangerous weapon, including explosives and stun weapons. The bill provides that any such firearm, knife, explosive, or weapon is subject to seizure by a law-enforcement officer and specifies exceptions to the prohibition.

VA HB 2473 - Holly M. Seibold
Department of Labor and Industry; workplace poster for veterans benefits and services.
01/20/2023 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Department of Labor and Industry; workplace poster for veterans benefits and services. Directs the Department of Labor and Industry, in consultation with the Department of Veterans Services, to create a poster describing benefits and services available to veterans and allows employers to request and display such poster in the workplace. The bill enumerates a minimum group of resources the poster shall include, including (i) Department of Veterans Services' programs, contact information, and website address; (ii) substance abuse and mental health treatment resources; (iii) educational, workforce, and training resources; (iv) tax benefits; (v) eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits; (vi) legal services; and (vii) the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Crisis Line.

VA HB 2487 - Glenn R. Davis
Correctional facilities; use of restrictive housing.
02/25/2023 - House: VOTE: Adoption (90-Y 1-N)
Correctional facilities; use of restorative housing. Prohibits the use of restorative housing, defined in the bill, in state correctional facilities, subject to certain exceptions. The bill requires that an incarcerated person who has been placed in restorative housing be offered a minimum of four hours of out-of-cell programmatic interventions or other congregate activities per day aimed at promoting personal development or addressing underlying causes of problematic behavior. The bill also requires the facility administrator to have a defined and publicly available policy and procedure for the process of transitioning an incarcerated person placed in restorative housing out of such housing and back to the general population of the facility.

VA HB 249 - Jackie Hope Glass
Law-enforcement agencies; use of generative artificial intelligence and machine learning systems.
01/26/2024 - House: Assigned CT & I sub: Technology and Innovation
Department of Criminal Justice Services; law-enforcement agencies; use of generative artificial intelligence and machine learning systems. Provides that the Department of Criminal Justice Services shall have the power and duty to establish a comprehensive framework for the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning systems, both defined in the bill, by law-enforcement agencies, which shall include (i) developing policies and procedures for the use of generative AI and machine learning systems in law-enforcement activities; (ii) establishing and publishing a model policy for the use of generative AI and machine learning systems to serve as a guideline for criminal justice agencies in the Commonwealth; and (iii) establishing compulsory minimum training standards for basic training and recertification of law-enforcement officers on the use of generative AI and machine learning systems. The bill provides that the Department shall establish and publish such model policy by January 1, 2025, and that all criminal justice agencies shall adopt a policy consistent with such model policy by July 1, 2025. The bill requires any person employed as a law-enforcement officer prior to July 1, 2024, to complete the training required by the bill by January 1, 2026.

VA HB 2492 - Holly Seibold
People with Disabilities, Virginia Board for; adds to membership, amends certain terminology.
02/21/2023 - Senate: Read third time
Virginia Board for People with Disabilities; membership; terminology. Adds to the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities a representative from Department of Health. The bill amends existing references to "mentally impairing developmental disabilities" to "cognitive developmental disabilities."

VA HB 250 - Jackie Hope Glass
Law-enforcement officers; interrogation practices.
03/07/2024 - House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB250ER)
Department of Criminal Justice Services; law-enforcement officers; interrogation practices. Provides that the Department of Criminal Justice Services shall have the power and duty to establish a comprehensive framework for the custodial and noncustodial interrogation of adults and juveniles by law-enforcement officers within the Commonwealth, which shall include (i) developing policies and procedures for interrogation practices, including guidance on when the use of the following is considered lawful: (a) false promises of leniency, (b) misleading statements regarding evidence or statements of witnesses or co-conspirators, and (c) inauthentic replica documents or computer-generated audiovisual evidence; (ii) establishing and publishing a model policy for conducting such interrogations to serve as a guideline for criminal justice agencies in the Commonwealth, with the provision that criminal justice agencies may adopt additional policies beyond such model policy but shall not adopt policies that contradict such model policy; and (iii) establishing compulsory minimum training standards for basic training and recertification of law-enforcement officers on conducting such interrogations. The bill provides that the Department shall establish and publish such model policy by January 1, 2025, and that all criminal justice agencies shall adopt a policy consistent with such model policy by July 1, 2025. The bill requires any person employed as a law-enforcement officer prior to July 1, 2024, to complete the training required by the bill by July 1, 2025.

VA HB 251 - Jackie Hope Glass
Criminal justice agencies; audiovisual surveillance technologies.
02/13/2024 - House: Left in Communications, Technology and Innovation
Department of Criminal Justice Services; criminal justice agencies; audiovisual surveillance technologies. Provides that the Department of Criminal Justice Services shall have the power and duty to establish a comprehensive framework for the use of audiovisual surveillance technologies as defined in the bill, including license plate reader systems, by criminal justice agencies within the Commonwealth. The comprehensive framework shall include (i) developing policies and procedures that ensure technology usage, data security, and data retention are in compliance with existing laws and regulations; (ii) establishing and publishing a model policy for the use of audiovisual surveillance technologies to serve as a guideline for criminal justice agencies in the Commonwealth; and (iii) establishing compulsory minimum training standards for basic training and recertification of law-enforcement officers operating or accessing audiovisual surveillance technologies, which shall include training on relevant state and federal laws, operational guidelines, privacy and civil liberties considerations, and proper data handling and retention. The bill provides that the Department shall establish and publish such model policy by January 1, 2025, and that all criminal justice agencies shall adopt a policy consistent with such model policy by July 1, 2025. The bill requires any law-enforcement officer who is authorized to operate or access audiovisual surveillance technologies to complete the training required by the bill by July 1, 2025.

VA HB 267 - Vivian E. Watts
Assault or assault and battery; affirmative defense, penalty.
03/27/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Assault and battery; affirmative defense; penalty. Provides an affirmative defense to prosecution of an individual for assault or assault and battery of certain specified individuals for which the enhanced Class 6 felony and six month mandatory minimum apply if such individual proves, by a preponderance of the evidence, that at the time of the assault or assault and battery (i) the individual's behaviors were a result of (a) mental illness or (b) a neurocognitive disorder, including dementia, or a neurodevelopmental disability, including a developmental disability or intellectual disability, such as autism spectrum disorder, as defined in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association or (ii) the individual met the criteria for issuance of an emergency custody order.

VA HB 268 - Vivian E. Watts
Juveniles; evidence of trafficking, sexual abuse, or rape by the alleged victim.
01/26/2024 - House: Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N)
Juveniles; evidence of trafficking, sexual abuse, or rape by the alleged victim prior to or during the commission of the alleged offense; clear and convincing evidence; treatment and rehabilitation. Directs a juvenile and domestic relations district court to retain jurisdiction of a juvenile defendant if, during a transfer hearing, the court receives evidence that such juvenile was trafficked, sexually abused, or raped by the alleged victim prior to or during the commission of the alleged offense, unless the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the alleged victim did not traffic, sexually abuse, or rape the juvenile prior to or during the commission of the alleged offense.

VA HB 270 - David A. Reid
Virginia Firearm Buy-Back Program and Fund; established, etc.
01/05/2024 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Sale, transfer, etc., of certain firearms and firearm magazines; Virginia Firearm Buy-Back Program and Fund established; penalties. Provides that, unless otherwise prohibited by law, any person may import, sell, transfer, manufacture, or purchase an authorized rifle, defined in the bill, in accordance with the relevant provisions of law. The bill makes it a Class 6 felony for any person to import, sell, transfer, manufacture, or purchase a restricted rifle or large-capacity firearm magazine, both defined in the bill, with certain exceptions. The bill also provides that a person is civilly liable for injuries to person or property or wrongful death of another caused by a third party if it can be shown that the civil defendant sold or transferred a restricted rifle or large-capacity firearm magazine in violation of the provisions of the bill to the person who committed the crime resulting in such injury or death.

VA HB 278 - Daniel I. Helmer
State plan for medical assistance services; fertility preservation treatments; genetic material.
01/05/2024 - House: Committee Referral Pending
State plan for medical assistance services; fertility preservation treatments; genetic material misuse; penalty. Directs the Board of Medical Assistance Services to amend the state plan for medical assistance services to include a provision for payment of medical assistance for coverage of fertility preservation for individuals diagnosed with cancer who need treatment for that cancer that may cause a substantial risk of sterility or iatrogenic infertility, as defined in the bill, including surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy. The bill also establishes that it is a Class 3 felony for a health care provider to provide assisted conception treatment to a patient and use the health care provider's own gamete without the written consent of the patient.

VA HB 284 - Joshua Thomas
Teachers; criteria for initial renewable licensure for certain individuals.
02/07/2024 - House: Incorporated by Education (HB731-Sewell) by voice vote
Board of Education; criteria for initial renewable teacher licensure for certain individuals. Requires the Board of Education to issue an initial renewable license as a teacher to any applicant who (i) is enrolled in an accredited education preparation program at an institution of higher education in the Commonwealth; (ii) is recommended for such licensure by the dean of such education preparation program; (iii) has attempted, unsuccessfully, to obtain a qualifying score on the communication and literacy assessment prescribed by the Board; (iv) meets all other requirements for such license; and (v) meets any other criteria for the issuance of such license in such circumstances as may be established by the Board of Education.

VA HB 286 - Delores L. McQuinn
Maternal Health Data and Quality Measures, Task Force on.
02/01/2024 - House: Continued to 2025 in Rules by voice vote
Task Force on Maternal Health Data and Quality Measures; report. Directs the State Health Commissioner to reestablish the Task Force on Maternal Health Data and Quality Measures for the purpose of evaluating maternal health data collection processes to guide policies in the Commonwealth to improve maternal care, quality, and outcomes for all birthing people in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Task Force to report its findings and conclusions to the Governor and General Assembly by December 1 of each year regarding its activities. This bill reestablishes the Task Force on Maternal Health Data and Quality Measures that concluded on December 1, 2023.

VA HB 29 - Luke E. Torian
Budget Bill.
03/09/2024 - Senate: Conference report agreed to by Senate (36-Y 4-N)
Budget Bill. 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,

VA HB 30 - Luke E. Torian
Budget Bill.
03/09/2024 - House: VOTE: Adoption (62-Y 37-N)
Budget Bill. 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.

VA HB 314 - Patrick A. Hope
State hospitals; discharge planning.
03/25/2024 - House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB314ER)
State hospitals; discharge planning; report. Provides that (i) when an individual is to be discharged from Central State Hospital, Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute, or Southern Virginia Mental Health Institute in 30 days or less after admission, the appropriate community services board shall implement the discharge plan developed by the state facility and (ii) when an individual is to be discharged from any other state facility in 30 days or less after admission, or from a state hospital more than 30 days after admission, the appropriate community services board or behavioral health authority shall be responsible for the individual's discharge planning. Under current law, community services boards and behavioral health authorities provide discharge planning for all individuals discharged from state hospitals, regardless of the duration of their stay. The bill requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to make certain annual reports by August 1 to the Governor and the General Assembly and to provide the General Assembly with a one-time evaluation of the impacts of the changes to discharge planning implemented by the bill by November 1, 2025. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025.

VA HB 326 - Jackie Hope Glass
Social Work Licensure Compact; authorizes Virginia to become a signatory to Compact.
02/11/2024 - House: Read first time
Social Work Licensure Compact. Authorizes Virginia to become a signatory to the Social Work Licensure Compact. The Compact allows social workers who have or are eligible for an active, unencumbered license in the compact member state where they reside to apply for a multistate license. After verifying eligibility, the social worker is granted a multistate license that authorizes practice in all other compact member states. The Compact takes effect when it is enacted by a seventh member state.

VA HB 329 - Mark D. Sickles
Marriage & family therapists; Bd. of Counseling to amend regulations related to licensure.
02/23/2024 - Senate: Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
Board of Counseling; licensure by endorsement for marriage and family therapists. Directs the Board of Counseling to amend its regulations related to the process for licensure by endorsement for marriage and family therapists. The bill removes requirements that applicants for licensure by endorsement provide evidence that they meet certain educational and experience requirements.

VA HB 330 - Vivian E. Watts
Nursing homes & certified nursing facilities; minimum staffing standards, administrative sanctions.
11/22/2022 - House: Left in Health, Welfare and Institutions
Minimum staffing standards for nursing homes and certified nursing facilities; administrative sanctions; Long-Term Care Services Fund. Requires nursing homes to meet a baseline staffing level based on resident acuity in alignment with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services staffing level recommendations. The bill requires nursing homes to collect and submit to the Department of Health certain data related to staffing. The bill gives the Commissioner of Health the power to impose administrative sanctions on nursing homes and directs the Board of Health to promulgate regulations related to the criteria and procedures for imposition of administrative sanctions or initiation of court proceedings for violations of the bill. The bill provides that nursing homes shall only be subject to administrative sanctions upon initial funding for the state share of the cost to implement the provisions of the bill. The bill establishes the Long-Term Care Services Fund for the purpose of making grants to assist in the provision of activities that protect or improve the quality of care or quality of life for residents, patients, and consumers of long-term care services.

VA HB 348 - Jeion A. Ward
Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.
02/09/2024 - House: Continued to 2025 in Appropriations by voice vote
Employment; paid sick leave; civil penalties. Expands provisions of the Code that currently require one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked for home health workers to cover all employees of private employers and state and local governments. The bill requires that employees who are employed and compensated on a fee-for-service basis accrue paid sick leave in accordance with regulations adopted by the Commissioner of Labor and Industry. The bill provides that employees transferred to a separate division or location remain entitled to previously accrued paid sick leave and that employees retain their accrued sick leave under any successor employer. The bill allows employers to provide a more generous paid sick leave policy than prescribed by its provisions. Employees, in addition to using paid sick leave for their physical or mental illness or to care for a family member, may use paid sick leave for their need for services or relocation due to domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking.

VA HB 353 - Patrick A. Hope
Hospitals; emergency departments to have at least one licensed physician on duty at all times.
03/05/2024 - Senate: Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N)
Hospitals; emergency departments; licensed physicians. Requires any hospital with an emergency department to have at least one licensed physician on duty and physically present at all times. Current law requires such hospitals to have a licensed physician on call, though not necessarily physically present on the premises, at all times. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.

VA HB 359 - Vivian E. Watts
Termination of parental rights of person who committed sexual assault; evidence standard.
11/22/2022 - House: Left in Courts of Justice
Termination of parental rights of person who committed sexual assault; clear and convincing evidence standard. Provides that the parental rights of a person who has been found by a clear and convincing evidence standard to have committed rape, carnal knowledge, or incest, which act resulted in the conception of a child, may be terminated without the need for the person to have been charged with or convicted of such offense. The bill further provides that the consent of a person found to have committed such an offense is not necessary for the validity of an adoption of such a child.

VA HB 360 - Hyland F. Fowler
Health insurance; carrier contracts, carrier provision of certain prescription drug information.
12/13/2022 - House: Assigned HWI sub: Subcommittee #1
Health insurance; carrier disclosure of certain information. Requires each health insurance carrier, beginning July 1, 2025, to establish and maintain an online process that (i) links directly to e-prescribing systems and electronic health record systems that utilize the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs SCRIPT standard; (ii) can accept electronic prior authorization requests from a provider; (iii) can approve electronic prior authorization requests for which no additional information is needed by the carrier to process the prior authorization request, no clinical review is required, and that meet the carrier's criteria for approval; and (iv) otherwise meets the requirements of the relevant Code of Virginia section. The bill prohibits a carrier from (a) imposing a charge or fee on a participating health care provider for accessing the required online process required or (b) accessing, absent provider consent, provider data via the online process other than for the enrollee. The bill requires participating health care providers, beginning July 1, 2025, to ensure that any e-prescribing system or electronic health record system owned by or contracted for the provider to maintain an enrollee's health record has the ability to access the electronic prior authorization process established by a carrier and real-time cost information data for a covered prescription drug made available by a carrier. The bill provides that a provider may request a waiver of compliance for undue hardship for a period not to exceed 12 months. The bill requires any carrier or its pharmacy benefits manager to provide real-time cost information data to enrollees and contracted providers for a covered prescription drug, including any cost-sharing requirement or prior authorization requirements, and to ensure that the data is accurate. The bill requires that such cost information data is available to the provider in a format that a provider can access and understand such as through the provider's e-prescribing system or electronic health record system for which the carrier or pharmacy benefits manager or its designated subcontractor has adopted that utilizes the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs SCRIPT standard from which the provider makes the request.

VA HB 361 - Shelly A. Simonds
Criminal history record information; dissemination of information to DSS.
02/19/2024 - Senate: Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
Dissemination of criminal history record information; Department of Social Services. Authorizes the Department of Social Services to obtain criminal history record information for the purpose of screening individuals as a condition of licensure, employment, volunteering, or providing services on a regular basis in a licensed child welfare agency or foster or adoptive home approved by a child-placing agency.

VA HB 37 - Nadarius E. Clark
Loan repayment programs; creates program for mental health professionals.
01/23/2024 - House: Assigned App. sub: Health & Human Resources
Loan repayment programs; mental health professionals. Creates a loan repayment program for persons who have worked as mental health professionals in the Commonwealth for at least five years.

VA HB 397 - Tim Griffin
Electric utilities; development of renewable energy facilities, etc.
02/13/2024 - House: Left in Labor and Commerce
Regulation of electric utilities; development of renewable energy facilities; powers of State Air Pollution Control Board; powers of State Corporation Commission. Repeals provisions (i) requiring the State Air Pollution Control Board to adopt regulations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from any electricity generating unit in the Commonwealth and authorizing the Board to establish an auction program for energy allowances; (ii) prohibiting the State Corporation Commission from approving any new utility-owned generation facilities that emit carbon dioxide as a by-product of energy generation, in certain circumstances; (iii) declaring that statutory allowances for energy derived from sunlight, onshore wind, offshore wind, and storage facilities are in the public interest; and (iv) relating to the development of solar and wind generation and energy storage capacity, development of offshore wind capacity, and generation of electricity from renewable and zero carbon sources. The bill provides that planning and development activities for new nuclear generation facilities are in the public interest.

VA HB 40 -
Campaign finance; prohibited personal use of campaign funds; complaints, hearings, civil penalty.
12/20/2023 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Campaign finance; prohibited personal use of campaign funds; complaints, hearings, civil penalty, and advisory opinions. Prohibits any person from converting contributions to a candidate or his campaign committee to personal use. Current law only prohibits such conversion of contributions with regard to disbursement of surplus funds at the dissolution of a campaign or political committee. The bill provides that a contribution is considered to have been converted to personal use if the contribution, in whole or in part, is used to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense that would exist irrespective of the person's seeking, holding, or maintaining public office but allows a contribution to be used for the ordinary and accepted expenses related to campaigning for or holding elective office, including the use of campaign funds to pay for the candidate's child care expenses that are incurred as a direct result of campaign activity. The bill provides that any person subject to the personal use ban may request an advisory opinion from the State Board of Elections on such matters. The bill directs the State Board of Elections to adopt emergency regulations similar to those promulgated by the Federal Election Commission to implement the provisions of the bill and to publish an updated summary of Virginia campaign finance law that reflects the State Board of Elections' and Attorney General's guidance on the provisions of such law that prohibit the personal use of campaign funds and any new regulations promulgated by the State Board of Elections.

VA HB 42 - Patrick A. Hope
Dentists and dental hygienists; added to list of providers who are immune from civil liability, etc.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Civil immunity; dentists and dental hygienists; mental health treatment for health care professionals; reporting requirements. Adds dentists and dental hygienists to the list of providers who are immune from civil liability for any act done or made in performance of his duties while serving as a member of or consultant to an entity that functions primarily to review, evaluate, or make recommendations on a professional program to address issues related to career fatigue and wellness in health care professionals. The bill also extends civil immunity to certain providers for any act done or made in performance of his duties while serving as a member of or consultant to an entity that functions primarily to arrange for or provide outpatient health care for health care professionals. The bill also revises the Board of Medicine reporting requirements when a health care professional is admitted for mental health treatment. Under the bill, if a health care professional is voluntarily admitted to a health care institution for treatment of a substance abuse or psychiatric illness and is no longer believed to be a danger within 30 days then no report will be made to the Board of Medicine. This bill is identical to SB 629.

VA HB 426 - Joshua G. Cole
Counseling, Board of; licensure of professional counselors without examination.
03/01/2024 - Senate: Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
Board of Counseling; licensure of professional counselors without examination. Directs the Board of Counseling to develop an examination alternative to licensure for professional counselors. The bill states that such alternative shall allow an applicant to be licensed as a professional counselor if the applicant meets the education, experience, and fitness to practice requirements determined by the Board.

VA HB 427 - Jonathan E. Arnold
Admission to bail; creates rebuttable presumptions against bail.
01/19/2024 - House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (5-Y 3-N)
Admission to bail; rebuttable presumptions against bail. Creates a rebuttable presumption against bail for certain criminal offenses enumerated in the bill. The bill also requires the court to consider specified factors when determining whether the presumption against bail has been rebutted and whether there are appropriate conditions of release.

VA HB 457 - Katrina Callsen
Decreasing probation period; establishes criteria for mandatory reduction.
03/08/2024 - House: VOTE: Adoption (53-Y 43-N)
Decreasing probation period; criteria for mandatory reduction. Establishes criteria for which a defendant's supervised probation period shall be reduced, including completing qualifying educational activities, maintaining verifiable employment, and complying with or completing any state-certified or state-approved state-certified or state-approved mental health or substance abuse treatment program. The bill also provides that a court may decrease a defendant's probation period if warranted by the defendant's conduct and in the interests of justice and may do so without a hearing.

VA HB 489 - Thomas Garrett
Fire Programs Fund; increases annual assessment used to fund.
02/29/2024 - Senate: Continued to 2025 in Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 4-N)
Insurance; Fire Programs Fund; purposes. Provides that the portion of the Fire Programs Fund allocated to localities may be used for the additional purposes of (i) constructing, improving, or expanding fire station facilities, (ii) providing mental health resources, or (iii) hiring additional fire personnel and funding recruitment and retention programs. The bill also prohibits such funds from being used, except as provided, for the purposes of investments, operating expenses, debt repayment, taxes, or fees.

VA HB 498 - Laura Jane Cohen
School bd. policy; parental notification of responsibility of safe storage of firearms in household.
03/09/2024 - House: Passed by until Reconvene, Wednesday, April 17, 2024
School board policies; parental notification; safe storage of firearms in the household. Requires each local school board to develop and implement a policy to require the annual notification of the parent of each student enrolled in the local school division, to be sent by email and, if applicable, SMS text message within 30 calendar days succeeding the first day of each school year, of the parent's legal responsibility to safely store any firearm present in the household, risks associated with improperly stored firearms, statistics relating to firearm-related accidents, injuries, and death among youth, and other tips and strategies. The bill requires each school board to make such parental notification available in multiple languages on its website. This bill is identical to SB 225.

VA HB 50 - Charles Matthew Fariss
Infant relinquishment laws; DSS to establish hotline to make information available to public.
12/13/2022 - House: Assigned HWI sub: Subcommittee #1
Safe haven protections; hotline to provide information about infant relinquishment laws and options. Directs the Department of Social Services to establish a toll-free, 24-hour hotline to make information about the Commonwealth's safe haven laws that provide for relinquishment of an infant, infant relinquishment locations, and support and resources available for parents available to the public and to make information about the hotline, including the toll-free number that may be used to contact the hotline, available on its website. The bill also directs the Department to undertake a campaign to increase public awareness of the Commonwealth's laws providing for relinquishment of an infant and the hotline established pursuant to the bill.

VA HB 513 - Patrick A. Hope
Medical assistance services and health insurance; state plan for payment for PANDAS and PANS.
02/13/2024 - House: Left in Labor and Commerce
State plan for medical assistance services and health insurance; pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections and pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome. Directs the Board of Medical Assistance Services to amend the state plan for medical assistance services to include a provision for payment of medical assistance for the prophylaxis, diagnosis, and treatment of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS) and pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS) that includes payment for treatment using antimicrobials, medication and behavioral therapies to manage neuropsychiatric symptoms, immunomodulating medicines, plasma exchange, and intravenous immunoglobulin therapy.

VA HB 515 - Patrick A. Hope
State hospitals; discharge of individuals.
02/26/2024 - Senate: Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N)
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; discharge pilot program; report. Directs the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to develop and implement a pilot program relating to the discharge of individuals at one state hospital. The bill requires the Department to submit a report to the General Assembly on its findings and recommendations no later than November 1, 2025.

VA HB 52 - Kimberly A. Taylor
Alkaline hydrolysis; establishes registration requirement, regulations.
02/19/2024 - Senate: Defeated by Senate (6-Y 32-N)
Alkaline hydrolysis; registration; regulations. Establishes a registration requirement for alkaline hydrolysis providers. The bill defines alkaline hydrolysis and adds alkaline hydrolysis and hydrolyzed remains to statutes dealing with cremation and cremains. The bill grants the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers the power to regulate and inspect alkaline hydrolysis providers and their operations. The bill requires the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers to consult with the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Health, and representatives of wastewater treatment facilities and funeral service associations to promulgate regulations related to alkaline hydrolysis.

VA HB 555 - Patrick A. Hope
Corrections Ombudsman, Office of the Department of; created, annual report.
03/27/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman; created. Creates, within the Office of the State Inspector General, the Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman (the Office) headed by an Ombudsman who is selected by the State Inspector General. The bill creates the Corrections Oversight Committee (the Committee) made up of four members of the General Assembly, nine nonlegislative citizen members appointed by the Governor, subject to criteria described in the bill, and two nonvoting members, appointed as described in the bill, who monitor the activities of the Ombudsman and the Department of Corrections (the Department). The bill provides the Office with authority to conduct inspections at least once every three years and more often when warranted of Department facilities and requires the Office to establish a statewide toll-free telephone number, website, mailing address, and paper and electronic forms for inmates, family members, friends, and advocates to submit complaints and inquiries. In addition, the bill requires the Committee to hold at least two public hearings per year and requires the Office to submit an annual report to be made available online and to be delivered to the Governor, the Attorney General, the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services, the House Committee on Public Safety, the Committee, and the Director of the Department. The bill directs the Office to develop a short-term and long-term strategic plan and to provide a report on its initial activities and strategic plan to the Governor and the General Assembly on or before November 15, 2025. This bill is identical to SB 456.

VA HB 562 - Ellen H. Campbell
Commercial entity offering social media accounts; restricted hours for minors, civil liability.
02/13/2024 - House: Left in Communications, Technology and Innovation
Commercial entity offering social media accounts; restricted hours for minors; civil liability. Provides that no commercial entity that offers social media accounts, as defined in the bill, shall knowingly or intentionally allow a minor to access his social media account during the hours of 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. unless the minor's parent, guardian, or legal custodian has provided permission for the minor to use such social media account during these hours. The bill provides that any commercial entity that violates these provisions shall be subject to civil liability for damages resulting from the interference with a minor's sleep cycle or mental health by allowing such minor to access to his social media account during the hours of 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. and reasonable attorney fees and costs.

VA HB 570 - Karrie K. Delaney
Prescription Drug Affordability Board; established, drug cost affordability review, report.
02/11/2024 - House: Read first time
Prescription Drug Affordability Board established; drug cost affordability review. Establishes the Prescription Drug Affordability Board for the purpose of protecting the citizens of the Commonwealth and other stakeholders within the health care system from the high costs of prescription drug products. The bill directs the Governor to appoint the members and alternate members of the Board and requires the Board to meet in open session at least four times annually, with certain exceptions and requirements enumerated in the bill. Members of the Board are required to disclose any conflicts of interest, as described in the bill. The bill also creates a stakeholder council for the purpose of assisting the Board in making decisions related to drug cost affordability. The bill tasks the Board with identifying prescription, generic, and other drugs, as defined in the bill, that are offered for sale in the Commonwealth and, at the Board's discretion, conducting an affordability review of any prescription drug product. The bill lists factors for the Board to consider that indicate an affordability challenge for the health care system in the Commonwealth or high out-of-pocket costs for patients. The bill also provides that any person aggrieved by a decision of the Board may request an appeal of the Board's decision and that the Attorney General shall have authority to enforce the provisions of the bill.

VA HB 575 - Jackie Hope Glass
Persons employed to perform forensic science duties; training and certification.
02/13/2024 - House: Left in Appropriations
Persons employed to perform forensic science duties; training and certification; policies for reporting wrongdoing or misconduct. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish a comprehensive framework, in coordination with the Department of Forensic Science and with the approval of the Forensic Science Board, for the employment, job entry training, and certification requirements for any person employed by any state or local law-enforcement agency to perform forensic laboratory services or forensic science duties, including a forensic specialist or forensic analyst, which training and certification shall be administered by the Department of Forensic Science. The bill provides that the comprehensive framework shall include (i) developing policies and procedures for such employees to report instances of wrongdoing or misconduct committed by another such employee, a law-enforcement officer, or an attorney for the Commonwealth; (ii) establishing and publishing a model policy for the employment, job entry training, and certification for such employees; and (iii) establishing compulsory minimum training standards for basic training and recertification of such employees.

VA HB 581 - Shelly A. Simonds
Human trafficking; attorneys for the Commonwealth to establish multidisciplinary response teams.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Human trafficking response teams. Requires attorneys for the Commonwealth to establish multidisciplinary human trafficking response teams. The bill provides that each team shall hold a meeting, at least annually, to (i) discuss implementation of protocols and policies; (ii) establish and review guidelines for the community's response to various forms of human trafficking, including sex trafficking and labor trafficking; and (iii) review protocols for the trauma-informed, victim-centered collection, preservation, and secure storage of evidence from physical evidence recovery kit examinations. The bill also provides that the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) shall not apply to human trafficking response teams, with certain exceptions.

VA HB 586 - Adele Y. McClure
Law-enforcement officers; training standards.
03/01/2024 - Senate: Signed by President
Training standards for law-enforcement officers; drug use. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish training standards and publish and periodically update model policies for law-enforcement personnel on the use of naloxone or other opioid antagonists to prevent opioid overdose deaths, in coordination with statewide naloxone training programs developed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and the Virginia Department of Health.

VA HB 590 - Clifton Eugene Hayes
Electronic gaming devices; regulation, penalties.
02/28/2024 - Senate: Senators: Rouse, Aird, Craig
Regulation of electronic gaming devices; penalties. Authorizes and specifies the licensing requirements for the manufacture, distribution, operation, hosting, and playing of electronic gaming devices, as defined in the bill, under the regulatory authority of the Virginia Lottery Board. The bill imposes a 30 percent tax on all gross profits from the play of such electronic gaming devices and provides for the use of such tax proceeds. The bill also imposes criminal and civil penalties for violations of the law and regulations related to electronic gaming devices.

VA HB 601 - Terry G. Kilgore
Health insurance; patient access to emergency services, mobile crisis response services.
03/04/2024 - House: VOTE: Adoption (94-Y 4-N)
Health insurance; emergency services; mobile crisis response services. Provides that emergency services, with respect to an emergency medical condition, include, as it relates to any mental health services or substance abuse services rendered at a behavioral health crisis service provider, (i) a behavioral health assessment that is within the capability of a behavioral health crisis service provider, including ancillary services routinely available to evaluate such emergency medical condition, and (ii) such further examination and treatment, to the extent that they are within the capabilities of the staff and facilities available at the behavioral health crisis service provider, as are required so that the patient's condition does not deteriorate. This bill is identical to SB 543.

VA HB 603 - Marcia S. Price
Public elementary and secondary schools; programs of instruction on mental health education.
02/29/2024 - House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB603ER)
Public elementary and secondary schools; health instruction, certain topics relating to mental health. Requires health instruction provided to elementary and secondary school students to include certain topics relating to mental health that are enumerated in the bill, including (i) general themes of social and emotional learning, including self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision making, relationship skills, and social awareness; (ii) signs and symptoms of common mental health challenges; and (iii) mental health wellness and healthy strategies for coping with stress and negative feelings, including conflict resolution skills.

VA HB 604 - Marcia S. Price
Health insurance; coverage for polycystic ovary syndrome.
01/25/2024 - House: Tabled in Labor and Commerce (18-Y 3-N)
Health insurance; coverage for polycystic ovary syndrome. Requires health insurers, health maintenance organizations, and corporations providing health care coverage subscription contracts to provide coverage for the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome, as defined in the bill, diagnosed by a licensed physician or health care provider, including diagnosis by a gynecologist, endocrinologist, primary care physician, pediatrician, nurse practitioner, dermatologist, or infertility specialist. The bill specifies the types of treatment covered for polycystic ovary syndrome and applies to policies, contracts, and plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on or after January 1, 2025.

VA HB 608 - Marcia S. Price
Temporary detention; certified evaluators, report.
02/06/2024 - House: Committee substitute printed 24106410D-H1
Temporary detention; certified evaluators; report. Authorizes hospitals with a psychiatric emergency department to employ certain trained individuals to perform evaluations to determine whether a person meets the criteria for temporary detention for behavioral health treatment. The bill defines psychiatric emergency department as an emergency department of a hospital licensed by the Department of Health that is physically attached to a hospital with adult and adolescent inpatient psychiatric beds and adult detoxification beds licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. The bill requires participating hospitals with psychiatric emergency departments to annually report the number of temporary detention order evaluations completed, the number of temporary detention orders petitioned, the number of individuals evaluated for temporary detention who were determined to not meet the criteria for temporary detention, and the number of individuals under a temporary detention order admitted to a state facility to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education and Health, the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, and the Behavioral Health Commission. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2026.

VA HB 632 - Sam Rasoul
Teachers; changes to provisions relating to licensure and certification, reciprocity.
03/27/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Teacher licensure; universal licensure by reciprocity. Establishes universal licensure by reciprocity as a category of teacher licensure in the Commonwealth for teachers who hold a valid out-of-state teaching license with full credentials and without deficiencies that has been in force and in use by the individual as an employed teacher in a non-virtual classroom setting at a public or private elementary or secondary school for at least three years prior to and is in force at the time of application and meet other provisions set forth in the bill. The bill also permits the division superintendent rather than the Board of Education, as in current law, to issue a career and technical education teacher a provisional license to allow time for the teacher to attain the industry certification credential required by law. Finally, the bill directs the Department of Education to compile, publicly post on its website, and update as necessary, data on teacher licensure standards and requirements for each state for the purposes of facilitating the determination of the compatibility of out-of-state teacher licenses with requirements for teacher licensure and licensure by reciprocity in the Commonwealth and increasing transparency of such licensure requirements. This bill is identical to SB 352.

VA HB 635 - Joseph C. Obenshain
Juveniles; confidentiality of Department records, law-enforcement access, victim notification.
01/26/2024 - House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (5-Y 3-N)
Juveniles; confidentiality of Department records; law-enforcement access; victim notification. Provides access to confidential Department of Juvenile Justice records to (i) any full-time or part-time employee of the Department of State Police or of a police department or sheriff's office that is a part of or administered by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof and who is responsible for the enforcement of the penal, traffic, or motor vehicle laws of the Commonwealth having a need for juvenile offense history or identifying information of a juvenile and his family members, including juvenile names, parent or guardian names, addresses, dates of birth, photographs, and phone numbers, and (ii) with the exception of medical, psychiatric, and psychological records and reports, any victim, as defined in existing law, when release of the confidential information is only to notify such victim of a juvenile's release from the custody of a local or regional juvenile detention center, community group home, residential care facility, mental health facility, secure alternative placement, or commitment to the Department of Juvenile Justice for any offense such juvenile committed against such victim. This bill contains technical amendments.

VA HB 637 - Richard C. Sullivan
Substantial Risk Order Training Program; Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish.
01/16/2024 - House: Assigned PS sub: Public Safety
Substantial risk orders; training program. Directs the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish a Substantial Risk Order Training Program for the purposes of training law-enforcement agencies, judiciary staff, and other public institutions throughout the Commonwealth to use and implement the substantial risk order law. The bill states that the programming shall provide training regarding proper procedures to follow, the circumstances under which the law can be used, the benefits to public safety from proper use of the law, and the harm that may ensue from the law not being used when lawfully available. The Program shall also include efforts to educate the public on and increase awareness of the substantial risk order law. Under the bill, $2 million of funds allocated to the Commonwealth pursuant to the federal Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program shall be used for Program purposes.

VA HB 646 - Carrie E. Coyner
Zoning; certified recovery residence.
02/09/2024 - House: Continued to 2025 in Counties, Cities and Towns by voice vote
Zoning; certified recovery residence. Requires that a locality's zoning ordinances for all purposes shall consider a certified recovery residence in which individuals with substance use disorder reside as residential occupancy by a single family. The bill specifies that no conditions more restrictive than those imposed on residences occupied by persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption shall be imposed on such certified recovery residence.

VA HB 664 - Nicholas J. Freitas
Abortion; born alive infant, treatment and care, penalty.
02/13/2024 - House: Left in Health and Human Services
Abortion; born alive infant; treatment and care; penalty. Requires every health care provider licensed by the Board of Medicine who attempts to terminate a pregnancy to (i) exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of a human infant who has been born alive following such attempt as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age and (ii) take all reasonable steps to ensure the immediate transfer of the human infant who has been born alive to a hospital for further medical care. A health care provider who fails to comply with the requirements of the bill is guilty of a Class 4 felony and may be subject to disciplinary action by the Board. The bill also requires every hospital licensed by the Department of Health to establish a protocol for the treatment and care of a human infant who has been born alive following an attempt to terminate a pregnancy and for the immediate reporting to law enforcement of any failure to provide such required treatment and care.

VA HB 670 - Nicholas J. Freitas
Sage's Law; minor students experiencing gender incongruence, parental notification.
01/19/2024 - House: Assigned Education sub: K-12 Subcommittee
Sage's Law; minor students experiencing gender incongruence; parental notification of certain expressions and requests and parental permission for certain plans required; parental care. Requires each public elementary or secondary school principal or his designee to (i) as soon as practicable, inform at least one parent of a minor student enrolled in such school if such minor (a) expresses to any individual who is employed in such school that such minor is experiencing gender incongruence, as defined in the bill, or (b) requests that any such employee participate in social affirmation of such minor's gender incongruence or the transition of such minor to a sex or gender different from the minor's biological sex while at school and (ii) request and receive permission from at least one parent of a minor student enrolled at such school prior to the implementation at such school of any plan concerning any gender incongruence experienced by such minor, including any counseling of such minor at school. Any such plan shall include provision for parental participation to the extent requested by the parent. The bill also clarifies, in the definition of the term "abused or neglected child," that in no event shall referring to and raising the child in a manner consistent with the child's biological sex, including related mental health or medical decisions, be considered abuse or neglect.

VA HB 676 - Chris S. Runion
School resource officers; establishment of minimum employment qualifications prohibited.
02/06/2024 - House: Subcommittee recommends continuing to 2025 by voice vote
Department of Criminal Justice Services; school resource officers; establishment of minimum employment qualifications prohibited. Prohibits the Department of Criminal Justice Services from establishing minimum qualifications for the employment of school resource officers, including any minimum age or experience requirement, or providing guidance or standards or adopting regulations relating to such minimum qualifications unless expressly authorized by law.

VA HB 68 - David L. Bulova
Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder incurred by dispatchers.
02/06/2024 - House: Continued to 2025 in Labor and Commerce by voice vote
Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder incurred by dispatchers. Allows dispatchers, as defined in the bill, to claim workers' compensation benefits relating to post-traumatic stress disorder under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act. Currently, only law-enforcement officers and firefighters may claim such benefits.

VA HB 691 - Michael Feggans
Transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment; DVS to establish pilot program, report.
02/13/2024 - House: Left in Appropriations
Transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment; pilot program. Directs the Department of Veterans Services (the Department) to establish a pilot program to make electroencephalogram (EEG) combined transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment available for military members, veterans, first responders, law-enforcement officers, and certain agents of federal agencies, and family members of the aforementioned individuals. The bill requires the Department to establish regulations for administration of the pilot program.

VA HB 699 - Michelle Lopes Maldonado
Treatment with opioids; Board of Medicine, et al., to amend their regulations.
02/26/2024 - Senate: Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N)
Board of Medicine; Board of Dentistry; Board of Optometry; Boards of Medicine and Nursing; patient counseling; treatment with opioids. Directs the Board of Medicine, the Board of Dentistry, the Board of Optometry, and the Boards of Medicine and Nursing to amend their regulations to require the provision of certain information to patients being prescribed an opioid for the treatment of acute or chronic pain. The bill requires that the regulations include an exception to the required provision of such information for patients who are (i) in active treatment for cancer, (ii) receiving hospice care from a licensed hospice or palliative care, (iii) residents of a long-term care facility, (iv) being prescribed an opioid in the course of treatment for substance abuse or opioid dependence, or (v) receiving treatment for sickle cell disease. The bill directs the Boards to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill.

VA HB 713 - Mark L. Keam
Family abuse; coercive control, penalty.
11/22/2022 - House: Left in Courts of Justice
Family abuse; coercive control; penalty. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for a person to engage in coercive control, defined in the bill, of a family or household member. The bill also includes coercive control in the definition of "family abuse" used for the basis of the issuance of family abuse protective orders.

VA HB 731 - Briana D. Sewell
Teachers; renewable licenses, requirements, assessments.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Teachers; renewable licenses; requirements; assessments. Requires the Board of Education to eliminate the requirement for any individual to take and receive a passing score on the Virginia Communication and Literacy Assessment as a condition of the initial award or renewal of a renewable license as a teacher in the Commonwealth.

VA HB 754 - Wendell S. Walker
Service Member Sentencing Act; created.
02/13/2024 - House: Left in Courts of Justice
Service Member Sentencing Act. Creates the Service Member Sentencing Act to provide service members, defined in the bill, a service member sentencing option, defined in the bill, if such service member satisfies the eligibility criteria. The bill explains the process and procedures associated with a service member sentencing option. The bill also provides sentencing mitigation for service members that are not eligible for the service member sentencing option, including criteria for a judge to consider prior to sentencing a service member for a criminal offense. The bill requires the Department of Veterans Services to assist in facilitating the provision of the Act.

VA HB 763 - Karrie K. Delaney
Hospital regulations; use of smoke evacuation systems during surgical procedures.
02/29/2024 - House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB763ER)
Board of Health; hospital regulations; use of smoke evacuation systems during surgical procedures. Requires the Board of Health to amend its regulations to require that every hospital where surgical procedures are performed adopt a policy requiring the use of a smoke evacuation system for all planned surgical procedures. The bill defines "smoke evacuation system" as smoke evacuation equipment and technologies designed to capture, filter, and remove surgical smoke at the site of origin and to prevent surgical smoke from making ocular contact or contact with a person's respiratory tract. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025 and is identical to SB 537.

VA HB 764 - Karrie K. Delaney
Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; early termination of rental agreement.
02/07/2024 - House: Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB764H1
Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; early termination of rental agreement; victims of sexual abuse or criminal sexual assault. Provides that a tenant who is a victim of family abuse, sexual abuse, or other criminal sexual assault may terminate such tenant's obligations under a rental agreement if the tenant (i) has obtained a protective order and has given proper written notice of termination during the period of the protective order or any extension thereof or (ii) as evidence of such abuse or criminal sexual assault, has obtained (a) records or files from a federal or state agency, law-enforcement agency, or court; (b) documentation from a domestic violence or sexual assault program; (c) documentation from a duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister of any religious denomination who provides proper proof of his credentials as outlined in the bill; or (d) documentation from a medical professional licensed by the Board of Medicine or Board of Nursing or a mental health service provider and has given written notice of termination. Under current law, there must be a family abuse protective order or a conviction before the tenant may terminate such obligations under a rental agreement.

VA HB 772 - Karrie K. Delaney
Minors; parental admission for inpatient treatment.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Parental admission of minors for inpatient treatment. Clarifies that for the purposes of admission of a minor to a willing mental health facility for inpatient treatment, the finding required to be made by a qualified evaluator that the minor appears to have a mental illness serious enough to warrant inpatient treatment may include a finding of substance abuse and such inpatient treatment may be related to such mental illness, which may include substance abuse. The bill also specifies that a temporary detention order shall not be required for a minor 14 years of age or older who objects to admission to be admitted to a willing facility upon the application of a parent. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Commission on Youth. This bill is identical to SB 460.

VA HB 781 - Charniele L. Herring
Maternal Health Data and Quality Measures, Task Force on; State Health Commissioner to reestablish.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Task Force on Maternal Health Data and Quality Measures; report. Directs the State Health Commissioner to reestablish the Task Force on Maternal Health Data and Quality Measures for the purpose of evaluating maternal health data collection processes to guide policies in the Commonwealth to improve maternal care, quality, and outcomes for all birthing people in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Task Force to report its findings and conclusions to the Governor and General Assembly by December 1 of each year regarding its activities. The bill directs the Task Force to conclude its work by December 1, 2025. This bill reestablishes the Task Force on Maternal Health Data and Quality Measures that concluded on December 1, 2023. The bill incorporates HB 169.

VA HB 783 - Charniele L. Herring
Adoption; parental placement and agency adoption.
02/19/2024 - Senate: Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N)
Adoption; parental placement and agency adoption; discharge of newborn infant. Authorizes a hospital to release a child to his adoptive parents when the birth parent has executed a health care power of attorney. The bill contains technical amendments. The bill incorporates HB 112.

VA HB 790 - Patrick A. Hope
Tobacco products retailers; purchase, possession, and sale of retail tobacco products.
02/11/2024 - House: Read first time
Registration of tobacco products retailers; purchase, possession, and sale of retail tobacco products; retail tobacco products and liquid nicotine tax; penalties. Prohibits any person from selling any retail tobacco product, as defined in the bill, at retail without first obtaining a permit from the Department of Taxation and prohibits such sale at a location within 1,000 feet of a youth-oriented facility, as defined in the bill. The bill prohibits Internet sales of retail tobacco products, except to a permit-holding retailer, and prohibits the sale of retail tobacco products from vending machines. Under the bill, permits are subject to annual renewal and subject to revocation for violations of federal, state, or local laws related to tobacco products. The bill imposes recordkeeping requirements and makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to engage in fraud or misrepresentation in connection with an application for a permit.

VA HB 8 - Robert Lee Ware
Medical Ethics Defense Act; established.
01/15/2024 - House: Assigned sub: Health Professions
Medical Ethics Defense Act established. Establishes the right of a medical practitioner, health care institution, or health care payer not to participate in or pay for any medical procedure or service that violates such medical practitioner's, health care institution's, or health care payer's conscience, as those terms and conditions are defined in the bill. The bill provides protections for medical practitioners who disclose violations of the bill or report violations of laws or ethical guidelines for the safe provision of any medical procedure or service. The bill also provides a private right of action for any party harmed by violations of the bill.

VA HB 80 -
Advisory Council on Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention; established; report.
12/27/2023 - House: Committee Referral Pending
Advisory Council on Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention; established; report. Establishes the Advisory Council on Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention to advise the State Health Commissioner on the regulations and infrastructure necessary to support clinical access to and training for medication-assisted U.S. Food and Drug Administration breakthrough therapies for veteran suicide prevention. The bill requires the Commissioner of Health to report annually by December 1 to the Governor and the General Assembly regarding its activities and recommendations. The Council has a sunset date of July 1, 2027.

VA HB 813 - Candi Mundon King
Parental access to minor's medical records; consent by certain minors to treatment.
01/19/2024 - House: Assigned sub: Behavioral Health
Parental access to minor's medical records; consent by certain minors to treatment of mental or emotional disorder. Adds an exception to the right of parental access to a minor child's health records if the furnishing to or review by the requesting parent of such health records would be reasonably likely to deter the minor from seeking care. Under the bill, a minor 16 years of age or older who is determined by a health care provider to be mature and capable of giving informed consent shall be deemed an adult for the purpose of giving consent to treatment of a mental or emotional disorder. The bill provides that the capacity of a minor to consent to treatment of a mental or emotional disorder does not include the capacity to refuse treatment for a mental or emotional disorder for which a parent, guardian, or custodian of the minor has given consent and that a parent, legal guardian, or custodian of a minor shall be notified by a health care provider of the minor's drug abuse, substance abuse, or potential of self-harm.

VA HB 815 - Mike A. Cherry
Medical cannabis program; product expiration, confidentiality, penalty.
02/11/2024 - House: Read first time
Medical cannabis program; product expiration; confidentiality; penalty. Increases from six months to 12 months the maximum expiration date allowable for a cannabis product after registration absent stability testing. The bill allows pharmaceutical processors to employ as pharmacy technician trainees individuals who have less than one year of experience and allows pharmaceutical processors to employ persons with less than one year of experience to perform certain other supervised duties for which current law requires two years of experience. The bill also provides for the confidentiality of certain records and other information of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority, including the exemption of certain information from the mandatory disclosure provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

VA HB 822 - Mike A. Cherry
Emergency custody; transportation for transfer of custody.
02/13/2024 - House: Left in Rules
Emergency custody; transportation; transfer of custody. Provides that, in cases in which transportation of a person subject to an emergency custody order is ordered to be provided by an alternative transportation provider, the primary law-enforcement agency that executes the order may transfer custody of the person to the alternative transportation provider immediately upon execution of the order, and that the alternative transportation provider shall maintain custody of the person from the time custody is transferred to the alternative transportation provider by the primary law-enforcement agency until such time as custody of the person is transferred to the community services board or its designee that is responsible for conducting the evaluation or the temporary detention facility, as is appropriate. The bill adds employees of and persons providing services pursuant to a contract with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to the list of individuals who may serve as alternative transportation providers for emergency custody orders. Additionally, the bill allows for the transfer of custody to the temporary detention facility if the magistrate issuing the emergency custody order determines that the person subject to the order is not at risk to seriously harm others in the near future without any additional conditions being met.

VA HB 829 - Wren M. Williams
Emergency custody and voluntary and involuntary civil admissions hearings; special justice fees.
01/18/2024 - House: Assigned Courts sub: Criminal
Special justice fees; emergency custody and voluntary and involuntary civil admissions. Increases the fee that a special justice receives for presiding over emergency custody and voluntary and involuntary civil admissions hearings from $86.25 to $143.75 for each commitment hearing and from $43.25 to $70 for each certification hearing.

VA HB 833 - Rae C. Cousins
Child abuse and neglect; custody and visitation, possession or consumption of authorized substances.
03/09/2024 - House: Passed by until Reconvene, Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Child abuse and neglect; custody and visitation; possession or consumption of authorized substances. Provides that a child shall not be considered an abused or neglected child, and no person shall be denied custody or visitation of a child, based only on the fact that the child's parent or other person responsible for his care, or the person petitioning for custody or visitation of the child, possessed or consumed legally authorized substances. The bill directs the Board of Social Services to amend its regulations, guidance documents, and other instructional materials to ensure that such regulations, documents, and materials comply with, and that investigations and family assessments are conducted by local departments of social services in accordance with, the provisions of the bill. This bill is identical to SB 115.

VA HB 858 - Patrick A. Hope
Health care; decision-making, end of life, penalties.
02/11/2024 - House: Read first time
Health care; decision-making; end of life; penalties. Allows an adult diagnosed with a terminal condition to request and an attending health care provider to prescribe a self-administered controlled substance for the purpose of ending the patient's life. The bill requires that a patient's request for a self-administered controlled substance to end his life must be given orally on two occasions and in writing, signed by the patient and one witness, and that the patient be given an express opportunity to rescind his request at any time. The bill makes it a Class 2 felony (i) to willfully and deliberately alter, forge, conceal, or destroy a patient's request, or rescission of request, for a self-administered controlled substance to end his life with the intent and effect of causing the patient's death; (ii) to coerce, intimidate, or exert undue influence on a patient to request a self-administered controlled substance for the purpose of ending his life or to destroy the patient's rescission of such request with the intent and effect of causing the patient's death; or (iii) to coerce, intimidate, or exert undue influence on a patient to forgo a self-administered controlled substance for the purpose of ending the patient's life. The bill also grants immunity from civil or criminal liability and professional disciplinary action to any person who complies with the provisions of the bill and allows health care providers to refuse to participate in the provision of a self-administered controlled substance to a patient for the purpose of ending the patient's life.

VA HB 861 - Phil M. Hernandez
Weapons; carrying into hospital that provides mental health services.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Weapons; possession or transportation; facility that provides mental health services or developmental services; penalty. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person to knowingly possess in or transport into the building of any hospital that provides mental health services or developmental services in the Commonwealth, including an emergency department or other facility rendering emergency medical care, any (i) firearm or other weapon designed or intended to propel a missile or projectile of any kind; (ii) knife, except a pocket knife having a folding metal blade of less than three inches; or (iii) other dangerous weapon, including explosives and stun weapons. The bill also provides that notice of such prohibitions shall be posted conspicuously at the public entrance of any hospital and no person shall be convicted of the offense if such notice is not posted, unless such person had actual notice of the prohibitions. The bill provides that any such firearm, knife, explosive, or weapon shall be subject to seizure by a law-enforcement officer and forfeited to the Commonwealth and specifies exceptions to the prohibition.

VA HB 864 - Nadarius E. Clark
Health insurance; coverage for therapeutic day treatment services.
02/01/2024 - House: Continued to 2025 in Labor and Commerce by voice vote
Health insurance; coverage for therapeutic day treatment services. Requires health insurers providing health care plans to provide coverage for therapeutic day treatment services for children with serious emotional disturbances, defined in the in bill as children who have a mental illness diagnosis and have experienced functional limitations due to emotional disturbance, including experiencing a school shooting or the loss of a loved one in a school setting, over the past 12 months on a continuous or intermittent basis. Under the bill, "therapeutic day treatment services" are treatment programs that combine psychotherapeutic interventions with education and mental health and may include evaluation; medication education and management; opportunities to learn and use daily living skills and to enhance social and interpersonal skills; and individual, group, and family counseling. The bill applies to plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on and after January 1, 2025.

VA HB 87 - William C. Green
Hospital regulations; patient drug testing.
02/13/2024 - House: Left in Health and Human Services
Board of Health; hospital regulations; patient drug testing. Requires the Board of Health to amend its regulations to require hospitals to test patients who are presenting with overdose symptoms for fentanyl and to test for fentanyl, marijuana, amphetamines, opioids, and phencyclidine as a part of any routine drug screening administered to a patient.

VA HB 885 - Vivian E. Watts
Community services boards; core of services.
02/02/2024 - House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (8-Y 0-N)
Community services boards; core of services. Adds to the list of core services to be provided by community services boards (i) crisis services for individuals with a mental illness or substance use disorder, (ii) outpatient mental health and substance abuse services, (iii) psychiatric rehabilitation services, (iv) peer support and family support services, (v) mental health services for members of the armed forces located 50 miles or more from a military treatment facility and veterans located 40 miles or more from a Veterans Health Administration medical facility, and (vi) care coordination services. The bill removes language that conditions the duty of community services boards to provide case management services on the availability of funding. The bill further requires community services boards to provide core services (i) to every adult who has a serious mental illness, child who has or is at risk of serious emotional disturbance, and individual who has a substance use disorder and (ii) in a timely manner and at a location that is near the individual. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026, for most provisions.

VA HB 888 - Vivian E. Watts
Civil commitments & temporary detention orders; def. of mental illness neurocognitive disorders.
03/07/2024 - Senate: Signed by President
Civil commitments and temporary detention orders; definition of mental illness; neurocognitive disorders and neurodevelopmental disabilities; Secretary of Health and Human Resources to evaluate placements for certain individuals; report. Specifies that for the purpose of civil commitments and temporary detention orders, behaviors and symptoms that manifest from a neurocognitive disorder or neurodevelopmental disability are excluded from the definition of mental illness and are, therefore, not a basis for placing an individual under a temporary detention order or committing an individual involuntarily to an inpatient psychiatric hospital. The bill provides that if a state facility has reason to believe that an individual's behaviors or symptoms are solely a manifestation of a neurocognitive disorder or neurodevelopmental disability, the state facility may require that a licensed psychiatrist or other licensed mental health professional reevaluate the individual's eligibility for a temporary detention order before the individual is admitted and shall promptly authorize the release of an individual held under a temporary detention order if the licensed psychiatrist or other licensed mental health professional determines the individual's behaviors or symptoms are solely a manifestation of a neurocognitive disorder or neurodevelopmental disability. The foregoing provisions of the bill do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2025 Session of the General Assembly. The bill also directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to convene a work group to evaluate, identify, and develop placements for individuals with neurocognitive disorders and neurodevelopmental disabilities, as well as any statutory or funding changes needed to prevent inappropriate placements for such individuals, and to report his findings and recommendations by November 1, 2024. As introduced, this bill is a recommendation of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission and the Behavioral Health Commission. This bill is identical to SB 176.

VA HB 904 - Marcia S. Price
Voter registration; list maintenance activities, cancellation procedures, required record matches.
02/11/2024 - House: Read first time
Voter registration; list maintenance activities; cancellation procedures; required record matches; required identification information; data standards. Requires certain, specified identification information to be included on the lists received by the Department of Elections for list maintenance purposes and requires the Department, upon receiving any such list, to do an initial comparison of the information included on such list with the list of registered voters to identify record matches. Depending on which identification information matches, the Department either transmits the information to the appropriate general registrar to initiate the cancellation process or notifies the appropriate general registrar who may then initiate the confirmation notification process. The bill prohibits the use of voter data received from another state or jurisdiction or through a list comparison for list maintenance purposes when the data file does not include a unique identifier for each individual whose information is contained in the data file. The bill requires the Department of Elections to annually audit all sources of data utilized for list maintenance activities for the purpose of determining the validity, completeness, accuracy, and reliability of the data received from each source, and to include the results of such audit in its annual report to the Committees on Privileges and Elections regarding its list maintenance activities. The bill requires the general registrars to send notice prior to cancelling a voter's record regardless of the reason for cancellation. Lastly, the bill clarifies that when a voter's registration is cancelled, a cancellation record must be created, and that such records are public in accordance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and the National Voter Registration Act. The bill includes numerous technical amendments for organizational purposes.

VA HB 919 - Kannan Srinivasan
School boards; model memorandum of understanding, partnerships with certain mental health services.
02/29/2024 - House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB919ER)
School boards; model memorandum of understanding; partnerships with certain mental health service providers; provision and expansion of virtual mental health services. Directs the Department, in consultation with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and the Department of Medical Assistance Services, to develop, adopt, and distribute to each school board a model memorandum of understanding between a school board and a nationally recognized school-based telehealth provider that sets forth the parameters for the provision of mental health teletherapy to public school students enrolled in the local school division by such provider. Current law only requires the development, adoption, and distribution of a model memorandum of understanding between a school board and a public or private community mental health services provider. The bill also permits each school board to adopt policies and procedures to increase the accessibility of school-based mental health services for students enrolled in each school division that may not have access to mental health services otherwise by providing or expanding virtual mental health resources and establishing or expanding a partnership with a community mental health service provider or a nationally recognized school-based telehealth provider that provides mental health teletherapy to students.

VA HB 933 - Destiny LeVere Bolling
Alzheimer's disease and dementia; training for dispatchers, firefighters, etc.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Alzheimer's disease and dementia training for dispatchers, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel. Requires certain agencies in the Commonwealth to develop curricula and provide training related to Alzheimer's disease and dementia to dispatchers employed by or in any local or state government agency, firefighters, and emergency medical services personnel. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Commission and the Commonwealth Council on Aging.

VA HB 971 - Kathy K. L. Tran
Nurse practitioners; patient care team provider, autonomous practice.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Nurse practitioners; autonomous practice. Lowers from five years to three years the amount of full-time clinical experience required before an advanced practice registered nurse may practice without a practice agreement and permits qualified nurse practitioners to attest that a nurse practitioner may be qualified to practice without a practice agreement. The bill permits advanced practice registered nurses to practice without a practice agreement when a patient care team physician is no longer able to serve if such advanced practice registered nurse provides evidence that he meets the requirements to practice without a practice agreement as established by the bill. Finally, the bill requires the Department of Health Professions to collect data on the implementation of the bill and make it publicly available on its website.

VA HB 98 - Christopher T. Head
Adult protective services; central registry.
11/22/2022 - House: Left in Health, Welfare and Institutions
Adult protective services; central registry. Creates a central registry of substantiated complaints of adult abuse, neglect, and exploitation to be maintained by the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services. The bill establishes (i) investigation requirements for local departments of social services related to reports of adult abuse, neglect, and exploitation; (ii) record retention and disclosure requirements for the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services and local departments of social services; (iii) notice requirements related to findings by local departments and central registry entries; and (iv) an appeals process to contest the findings of a local department related to substantiated reports of adult abuse, neglect, or exploitation.

VA HB 980 - Kathy K. L. Tran
Higher ed. institutions; students who report acts of hazing or bullying, referral for support.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Institutions of higher education; students who report act of hazing or bullying experienced as result of report of act of hazing; on-campus mental and behavioral health support. Requires each public institution of higher education and nonprofit private institution of higher education to provide information about on-campus individuals or entities that are qualified to provide the appropriate ongoing mental and behavioral health support to any student who reports to the institution an act of hazing or an act of bullying experienced as the result of a report of an act of hazing.

VA HB 983 - Wendell S. Walker
Nurse practitioners; patient care team provider, autonomous practice.
01/19/2024 - House: Assigned sub: Health Professions
Nurse practitioners; patient care team provider; autonomous practice. Allows certain nurse practitioners to oversee patient care teams by changing "patient care team physician" to "patient care team provider." The bill defines "patient care team provider" as a patient care team physician, as defined in relevant law, or a nurse practitioner who meets certain requirements. The bill also lowers from five years to two years the amount of full-time clinical experience required before an advanced practice registered nurse may practice without a practice agreement.

VA HB 988 - Holly M. Seibold
Correctional facilities, behavioral health services in facilities, report.
02/01/2024 - House: Continued to 2025 in Rules by voice vote
Behavioral health services in correctional facilities; report. Requires the Department of Corrections to report to the General Assembly and the Governor on or before October 1 of each year certain population statistics regarding the provision of behavioral health services to persons incarcerated in state correctional facilities. The bill also requires local correctional facilities to report to the State Board of Local and Regional Jails on or before October 1 of each year certain population statistics regarding the provision of behavioral health services to persons incarcerated in local correctional facilities and for the Board to report such statistics to the General Assembly and the Governor on or before December 1 of each year.

VA HB 994 - Karen Keys-Gamarra
Marriage; establishes legal age to be 18 years.
02/11/2024 - House: Read first time
Legal age for marriage. Establishes the legal age of marriage to be 18 years of age and eliminates the ability for a minor to be declared emancipated on the basis of the intent to marry.

VA SB 102 - Glen H. Sturtevant Jr.
Wills and trusts; tangible personal property, nonexoneration.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Wills and trusts; tangible personal property; nonexoneration. Provides that if a trust instrument that was revocable, as defined in relevant law, immediately before the settlor's death refers to a written statement or list of items of tangible personal property and their intended recipients with reasonable certainty and is signed by the settlor, such written statement or list shall be given the effect of a specific bequest although it does not satisfy the requirements for a trust instrument. The bill also provides that real or personal property that is the subject of a specific devise or bequest in a trust instrument that was revocable immediately before the settlor's death shall be passed without the right of exoneration. Under current law, the provisions that govern separate writing identifying recipients of tangible personal property apply only to wills, and the provisions that govern the nonexoneration of a specific devise or bequest of real or personal property apply only to wills and transfer on death deeds.

VA SB 1030 - Thomas Kent Norment
Higher educational institutions, public; duties of governing board, student tuition and fees.
02/02/2023 - Senate: Failed to report (defeated) in Finance and Appropriations (5-Y 10-N 1-A)
Public institutions of higher education; duties of governing board; student tuition and fees; requests for certain information. Requires the governing board of each public institution of higher education to adopt policies and procedures requiring the release to each student or, if such student is a dependent, the parent of each student enrolled at such institution of an itemized list of how such student's individual annual tuition and other mandatory fees are allocated, including the exact amount of such student's tuition and mandatory fees that are used to subsidize financial aid grants and scholarships for other students at such institution. The bill requires such policies and procedures to include a provision allowing any student or the parent of any student to opt out of receiving such itemized list.

VA SB 1043 - Jeremy Scott McPike
Public education; student mental health and counseling, definitions, licensure requirements.
02/22/2023 - House: VOTE: Passage (98-Y 0-N)
Public education; student mental health and counseling; definitions; licensure requirements. Requires the Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, to develop, adopt, and distribute to each school board a model memorandum of understanding between a school board and a public or private community mental health services provider that sets forth parameters for the provision of mental health services to public school students enrolled in the local school division by such provider. The bill requires the memorandum of understanding to be available to each school board no later than the beginning of the 2023 - 2024 school year. The bill also permits, in order to fill vacant school psychologist positions, any local school board to employ, under a provisional license issued by the Department of Education for three school years with an allowance for an additional two-year extension, clinical psychologists licensed by the Board of Psychology, provided that any such individual makes progress toward completing the requirements for full licensure as a school psychologist during such period of employment. Finally, the bill defines the terms "direct counseling" and "program planning and school support" for the purpose of the provision of law that requires each school counselor to spend at least 80 percent of his staff time during normal school hours in the direct counseling of individual students or groups of students. This bill incorporates SB 1257 and SB 1268.

VA SB 1071 - John Joseph Bell
Mental health and rehabilitative services; military serv. members transitioning to civilian life.
03/02/2023 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 27, 2023
Department of Veterans Services; mental health and rehabilitative services; Military Spouse Liaison. Adds military service members transitioning from military to civilian life to the list of persons supported by the program for mental health and rehabilitative services administered by the Department of Veterans Services. The bill requires the Commissioner of the Department of Veterans Services to include in the Department's annual report data related to such transitioning service members and an overview of the activities of the Military Spouse Liaison, including any legislative recommendations. This bill is identical to HB 1624.

VA SB 1080 - John Saul Edwards
Juvenile and domestic relations district courts; adjudication of delinquency.
02/02/2023 - Senate: Passed by indefinitely in Finance and Appropriations (11-Y 5-N)
Juvenile and domestic relations district courts; Department of Juvenile Justice; adjudication of delinquency. Raises the maximum age for delinquency matters in juvenile and domestic relations district courts from persons under 18 years of age to persons under 21 years of age. The bill defines "underage person" as an individual who is 18 years of age or older but younger than 21 years of age. The bill adds underage persons to all provisions regarding delinquency proceedings in juvenile and domestic relations district courts, the transfer of delinquency matters to circuit courts, and criminal procedure as currently applies to juveniles only. The bill differentiates between juveniles and underage persons in specific circumstances, including consent for medical or mental health records or procedures, mental health screenings in secure detention facilities, and provisions regarding release on bail or recognizance.

VA SB 1147 - Jennifer Barton Boysko
Human trafficking; DHP shall make available on its website information and resources, etc.
02/13/2023 - House: Read second time
Department of Health Professions; publication and dissemination of human trafficking information and resources. Directs the Department of Health Professions to make available on its website information and resources on human trafficking detection, prevention, and response. The bill requires each health regulatory board to include reference to the availability of such information and resources in letters or other communications to health care providers.

VA SB 1154 - Taylor Montgomery Mason
Health insurance; online credentialing system, processing of new applications.
02/13/2023 - House: Read second time
Health insurance; provider credentialing; processing of new applications. Requires a health insurance carrier that credentials the physicians, mental health professionals, or other providers in its network to establish reasonable protocols and procedures for processing of new provider credentialing applications. The bill requires that if the carrier accepts applications through an online credentialing system, the carrier is required to notify a new provider applicant through the online credentialing system that the application is received. The bill provides that if the carrier does not accept applications through an online credentialing system, the carrier is required to within 10 days of receiving an application provide notification to the new provider applicant that the application was received. The bill requires that, beginning January 1, 2024, a new provider applicant's application will be deemed complete within 30 days of the carrier receiving the application, unless the carrier has provided notice that the application is not complete. The bill requires a carrier to approve or deny new provider applicant credentialing applications within 60 days of receiving a completed application and provides that claims submitted according to carrier claims submittal policies are adjudicated and paid no later than 40 days after the new provider applicant is credentialed and contracted.

VA SB 1197 - Bryce E. Reeves
Higher educational institutions, public; transparecy.
01/19/2023 - Senate: Passed by indefinitely in Education and Health (12-Y 3-N)
Public institutions of higher education; transparency. Imposes several requirements on governing boards of public institutions of higher education relating to transparency, including requirements to (i) report by September 1 of each year to the Chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations and Education and the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and on Education and Health the number of diversity officers and government relations officers employed by the institution and the salary of each such officer and the total value of any contract with any outside individual or entity to provide lobbying services for the institution; (ii) record video of each meeting of the full board and its committees and make publicly available on the institution's website in a position of prominence a link that permits any member of the public to livestream each meeting of the full board and its committees and, within 10 business days after the date of any meeting of the full board or any of its committees, view video recordings for each such meeting; and (iii) prior to any vote to enter into or renew a contract for the employment of the chief executive officer of the institution, hold a public meeting to provide an opportunity for written, virtual, and in-person public comment on such contract at least 120 days prior to any such meeting at which it will vote to enter into or renew such contract and provide notice of such public meeting in accordance with relevant law. The bill also requires each public institution of higher education to make publicly available on the institution's website in a position of prominence and present annually to the governing board of the institution an annual report regarding foundations associated with the institution setting forth foundation expenses that includes the percentage of expenditures used for diversity, equity, and opportunity compensation, government relations and lobbying activities, and compensation of the chief executive officer.

VA SB 12 - Barbara A. Favola
Children's advocacy centers; definitions, investigations by local departments of social services.
03/09/2024 - Senate: Passed by for the day
Children's advocacy centers; definitions; investigations by local departments of social services. Replaces the term "child advocacy center" with "children's advocacy center" and defines such term. The bill provides that if it is determined during a human trafficking assessment that a forensic interview of the child is needed, such interview may be conducted by a children's advocacy center within the jurisdiction; however, if the interview cannot be completed within 14 days, the forensic interview may be conducted by a children's advocacy center located in another jurisdiction. This bill is identical to HB 1128.

VA SB 1211 - L. Louise Lucas
Eastern Va. Medical School; merger with ODU, directs institutions to provide deliverables.
02/25/2023 - House: Conference report agreed to by House (92-Y 0-N)
Eastern Virginia Medical School; establishment of Eastern Virginia Health Sciences Center at Old Dominion University. Affirms that the General Assembly is committed in concept to the merger between Eastern Virginia Medical School and Old Dominion University by designating the schools and divisions previously existing as Eastern Virginia Medical School and such other academic units of Old Dominion University related to the health sciences as may be identified by the Old Dominion University Board of Visitors. The bill directs Eastern Virginia Medical School and Old Dominion University to provide to the Governor and the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Education and Health, the House Committee on Appropriations, and the House Committee on Health, Welfare, and Institutions by August 1, 2023 several deliverables enumerated in the bill relating to strategic and financial plans for funding, matrices for measuring improved health care and community outcomes in the surrounding areas resulting from the merger and for distributing positions and costs by appropriate fund sources, and a governing model that aligns all parties necessary to ensure a successful outcome. The bill provides that upon written approval of such deliverables by the Governor and the Chairmen of the relevant Committees, Old Dominion University and Eastern Virginia Medical School shall initiate the necessary next steps to move forward with the merger and establish the Eastern Virginia Health Sciences Center at Old Dominion University.

VA SB 1221 - Mark D. Obenshain
Assisted living facilities; minimum liability insurance.
02/22/2023 - Senate: Senators: Obenshain, Spruill, McPike
Assisted living facilities; minimum liability insurance. Requires the Board of Social Services to adopt regulations requiring each assisted living facility to maintain a minimum amount of liability insurance, as determined by the Board, and provide notice of such insurance, upon request, to any resident or prospective resident. Under current law, assisted living facilities must provide a statement disclosing whether the facility maintains liability insurance but can only state that it does if it meets a minimum amount of coverage established by the Board. The bill provides that no assisted living facility shall be immune from civil liability on the grounds that it is a charitable institution for damages equal to or less than the greater of (i) the limits of the liability insurance coverage maintained by the assisted living facility or (ii) the minimum amount of liability insurance coverage that the assisted living facility is required to maintain by regulation.

VA SB 1234 - John A. Cosgrove
Transcranial magnetic stimulation; DBHDS to establish pilot program.
01/27/2023 - Senate: Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N)
Transcranial magnetic stimulation; pilot program. Requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to establish a pilot program to make electroencephalogram combined transcranial magnetic stimulation available for veterans, first responders, and law-enforcement officers. The bill requires the State Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to establish regulations for the pilot program.

VA SB 1254 - Siobhan Stolle Dunnavant
Maternal Mortality Review Team; annual compilation and release of statistical data.
01/16/2023 - Senate: Read second time and engrossed
Maternal Mortality Review Team; annual compilation and release of statistical data. Requires the Maternal Mortality Review Team to annually compile statistical data and make such data available to the Governor, General Assembly, and the public. Currently, the Maternal Mortality Review Team is required to compile and release such data on a triennial basis.

VA SB 1261 - Siobhan Stolle Dunnavant
Health insurance; electronic prior authorization and disclosure of certain information.
02/23/2023 - Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1261ER)
Health insurance; electronic prior authorization and disclosure of certain prescription drug information. Requires each health insurance carrier, beginning July 1, 2025, to establish and maintain an online process that (i) links directly to all e-prescribing systems and electronic health record systems that utilize the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs SCRIPT standard; (ii) can accept electronic prior authorization requests from a provider; (iii) can approve electronic prior authorization requests (a) for which no additional information is needed by the carrier to process the prior authorization request, (b) for which no clinical review is required, and (c) that meet the carrier's criteria for approval; (iv) links directly to real-time patient out-of-pocket costs for the encounter; and (v) otherwise meets the requirements for contracts between carriers and participating health care providers. The bill prohibits a carrier from (a) imposing a fee or charge on any person for accessing the required online process who is required to do so or (b) accessing, absent provider consent, provider data via the online process other than for the enrollee. The bill also requires carriers, no later than July 1, 2024, to provide contact information of any third-party vendor or other entity the carrier will use to meet the requirements of the bill to any provider that requests such information. The carrier may post such information on its website to meet such requirement. The bill requires participating health care providers, beginning July 1, 2025, to ensure that any e-prescribing system or electronic health record system owned by or contracted for the provider to maintain an enrollee's health record has the ability to access the electronic prior authorization process established by a carrier and real-time cost information data for a covered prescription drug made available by a carrier. The bill provides that a provider may request a waiver of compliance for undue hardship for a period not to exceed 12 months. The bill requires any carrier or its pharmacy benefits manager to provide real-time cost information data to enrollees and contracted providers for a covered prescription drug, including any cost-sharing requirement or prior authorization requirements, and to ensure that the data is accurate. The bill requires that such cost information data be available to the provider in an accessible and understandable format, such as through the provider's e-prescribing system or electronic health record system that the carrier or pharmacy benefits manager or its designated subcontractor has adopted that utilizes the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs SCRIPT standard from which the provider makes the request. The bill requires the State Corporation Commission's Bureau of Insurance to, in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human Resources and subject to the availability of nongeneral funds appropriated to the Commission, establish a work group to assess implementation and develop recommendations for electronic prior authorization and real-time cost benefit information for prescription drugs. The work group shall report its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the Senate Committees on Commerce and Labor and Education and Health and the House Committees on Commerce and Energy and Health, Welfare and Institutions annually by November 1 and shall make its final report by November 1, 2025.

VA SB 1272 - Jennifer Barton Boysko
Assault and battery; persons diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability.
02/22/2023 - House: Left in Courts of Justice
Assault and battery; persons diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, or mental illness; penalties. Provides that any person charged with a simple assault and battery offense who has been diagnosed by a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist with an autism spectrum disorder, an intellectual disability or developmental disability, or serious mental illness shall not be subject to a mandatory minimum punishment if the court finds that the violation was caused by or had a direct and substantial relationship to the person's disorder or disability. Under current law, certain simple assault and battery offenses carry a mandatory minimum punishment when such offenses are committed against certain groups of people, including judges, law-enforcement officers, first responders, school employees, and health care providers.

VA SB 1286 - Siobhan Stolle Dunnavant
Virginia Community College System; duties of State Board for Community Colleges.
02/02/2023 - Senate: Committee substitute printed 23105758D-S1
Virginia Community College System; duties of State Board for Community Colleges; standardization of health care-related programs. Directs the State Board for Community Colleges to develop and implement a plan to standardize across all comprehensive community colleges the courses offered for health care-related degree, credential, or licensure programs. The bill requires such plan to include procedures and criteria for (i) standardizing the curriculum, quality, academic rigor, and standard of evaluation of such courses, (ii) awarding credit toward the completion of any such health care-related program for any student enrolled in a comprehensive community college who was previously employed in a field aligned with such program, and (iii) standardizing the manner in which academic credit is awarded for such health care-related courses and the manner in which clinical hour credits are awarded to ensure all academic credits and clinical hour credits are stackable and transferrable across all comprehensive community colleges.

VA SB 1299 - Robert Creigh Deeds
Involuntary admission; release of individual.
02/22/2023 - Senate: Senators: Deeds, Mason, McDougle
Temporary detention; release of detained individual. Permits the director of a facility where a person is awaiting transport to the facility of temporary detention pursuant to a temporary detention order to release the person if an employee or a designee of the local community services board, in consultation with the person's treating physician, (i) conducts an evaluation of the person, (ii) determines that the person no longer meets the commitment criteria, (iii) authorizes the release of the person, and (iv) provides a discharge plan.

VA SB 1300 - Robert Creigh Deeds
Elementary & secondary school teachers, public; requirements, trauma-informed care training.
02/25/2023 - House: VOTE: Adoption (90-Y 0-N)
Requirements for public primary and secondary school teachers; annual trauma-informed care training program. Directs the Board of Education to work in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to develop a comprehensive trauma-informed care training program for elementary and secondary school teachers for the purpose of ensuring that all teachers are equipped with the skills, knowledge, and resources to recognize and address signs of childhood trauma, as defined in the bill, in students, to foster a trauma-sensitive learning environment, and to ensure that students who have experienced childhood trauma receive the support they need, both inside and outside of the classroom. The bill requires the trauma-informed care training program to be provided once every three years at each school division by a representative from the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and to be administered by the Department of Education and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. Finally, the bill requires each local school board to adopt and implement policies requiring annual completion of the trauma-informed care training program by each primary and secondary school teacher in the school division.

VA SB 1339 - George Lincoln Barker
Certified nursing facilities; minimum staffing standards, administrative sanctions.
02/17/2023 - House: Passed House (99-Y 0-N)
Minimum staffing standards for certified nursing facilities; administrative sanctions. Sets nursing staffing requirements for certified nursing facilities, imposes administrative sanctions on a certified nursing facility if it does not comply with the staffing requirements, provides for exemptions to the administrative sanctions under certain circumstances, and directs the promulgation of regulations consistent with the bill. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.

VA SB 1347 - John A. Cosgrove
Health insurance; coverage for mobile crisis response services and residential crisis units.
02/24/2023 - Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1347ER)
Health insurance; mental health benefits; coverage for mobile crisis response services and residential crisis stabilization units. Requires health insurance carriers to provide coverage for mobile crisis response services, defined in the bill, and support and stabilization services provided in a residential crisis stabilization unit, defined in the bill, to the extent that such services are covered in other settings or modalities, regardless of any difference in billing codes. The bill requires the State Corporation Commission, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, to convene a stakeholder work group to examine network standards for mobile crisis response services and the current availability of mobile crisis response services in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the work group to make recommendations regarding (i) the definition and standards of care for mobile crisis response services and short-term residential crisis stabilization services as they apply to the commercial insurance market, including balance billing protections; (ii) the licensure or accreditation required for such services in the Commonwealth; and (iii) how cost-sharing and deductibles will be addressed as part of accessing such services for commercially insured individuals. The bill requires the Commission to report the findings of the work group to the Health Insurance Reform Commission and the Governor no later than September 1, 2023.

VA SB 1348 - Taylor Montgomery Mason
Administrative Process Act; Department of Wildlife Resources; exemptions not to extend to agency.
01/11/2023 - Senate: Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology
Administrative Process Act; Department of Wildlife Resources; exemptions not to extend to agency actions regarding certain wildlife. Excludes from the exemptions from the Administrative Process Act granted to the Department of Wildlife Resources (the Department) certain regulations and case decisions of the Department. The bill provides that certain guidance documents in use by the Department of Wildlife Resources as of July 1, 2023, shall expire on December 31, 2023, unless such documents are filed for publication with the Virginia Registrar of Regulations by August 1, 2023, and made available for public comment as prescribed in the Administrative Process Act by December 31, 2023.

VA SB 1358 - Thomas Kent Norment
Higher educational institutions; duties of governing boards, student enrollment growth.
02/02/2023 - Senate: Passed by indefinitely in Education and Health (12-Y 2-N 1-A)
Public institutions of higher education; duties of governing boards; student enrollment growth. Directs the governing board of each public institution of higher education to adopt policies providing that the percentage of students enrolled at such public institution of higher education must be capped at a two percent increase over a biennium.

VA SB 1359 - Thomas Kent Norment
Public elementary and secondary schools; threat assessment team members, training requirement.
02/25/2023 - Senate: Signed by President
Public elementary and secondary schools; threat assessment team members; training requirement. Requires new threat assessment team members at each public elementary and secondary school to complete initial threat assessment training and all threat assessment team members to complete refresher training every three years.

VA SB 1368 - Jill Holtzman Vogel
Department of Human Resource Management; health insurance coverage for employees.
01/11/2023 - Senate: Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology
Department of Human Resource Management; health insurance coverage for employees of multijurisdictional community services boards. Adds employees of community services boards that serve more than one locality to the definition of "state employee" for the purpose of allowing such employees to be eligible for the health insurance coverage provided to state employees by the Department of Human Resource Management.

VA SB 1383 - Richard Henry Stuart
Virginia Fusion Intelligence Center; Mental Health Crisis Intervention Hotline; creation.
01/11/2023 - Senate: Referred to Committee on the Judiciary
Virginia Fusion Intelligence Center; Mental Health Crisis Intervention Hotline; creation. Directs the Virginia Fusion Intelligence Center to (i) establish a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week toll-free Mental Health Crisis Intervention Hotline to receive anonymous tips regarding individuals suspected to be in need of mental health treatment in order to facilitate mental health treatment, crisis intervention, and the prevention of tragedies and (ii) develop and implement policies and procedures for referring tips received through the Hotline to state or local law enforcement, as may be appropriate, in a timely manner for follow-up and investigation.

VA SB 1385 - Stephen D. Newman
Abortion; when lawful; 15-week gestational age; exceptions; penalty.
01/11/2023 - Senate: Referred to Committee on Education and Health
Abortion; when lawful; 15-week gestational age; exceptions; penalty. Makes it a Class 4 felony for any physician licensed by the Board of Medicine to practice medicine and surgery to terminate or attempt to terminate a human pregnancy or aid or assist in the termination of a human pregnancy by performing an abortion or causing a miscarriage on any woman if the physician determines using best clinical judgment that the gestational age of the unborn child is more than 15 weeks, unless (i) the physician determines, based upon best clinical judgment, that the continuation of the pregnancy will result in the death of the woman or substantially and irreversibly impair one or more of such woman's major bodily functions, not including psychological or emotional conditions, or (ii) the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. The bill further requires that any abortion procedure performed after it is determined that the unborn child's gestational age is more than 15 weeks is required to be performed in a hospital licensed by the State Department of Health or operated by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. The bill provides that its provisions shall be known as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.

VA SB 140 - Jennifer Caroll Coy
Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Team; created, penalty, report.
01/15/2024 - Senate: Assigned Education and Health Sub: Health
Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Team established; penalty; report. Establishes the Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Team to develop and implement procedures to ensure that fetal and infant deaths occurring in the Commonwealth are analyzed in a systematic way. The bill requires the Team to compile triennial statistical data regarding fetal and infant deaths and to make such data available to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Department of Health. The bill provides that information and records obtained or created by the Team and portions of meetings of the Team at which individual fetal and infant deaths are discussed shall be confidential.

VA SB 1410 - Ghazala F. Hashmi
Public institutions of higher education; duties of governing boards; development of policies expand.
01/11/2023 - Senate: Referred to Committee on Education and Health
Public institutions of higher education; duties of governing boards; development of policies expanding protection of academic freedom. Directs the governing board of each public institution of higher education to develop policies and institutional regulations increasing protections of academic freedom and freedom of expression in higher education.

VA SB 142 - Frank Miller Ruff Jr.
Public school teachers; licensure requirements, issuance of a one-year local eligibility license.
03/05/2024 - Senate: House amendments agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N)
Public school teachers; licensure requirements; one-year local eligibility license; alternate routes and flexibility; report. Requires the Board of Education to include in its teacher licensure regulations provisions authorizing each school board to, upon recommendation of the division superintendent or the school board and in accordance with the criteria set forth in the bill, issue a one-year, nonrenewable local eligibility license that is only valid within the issuing school division to any individual who (i) received a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education, (ii) has experience or training in a subject or content area as the school board and division superintendent may deem appropriate for the applicable teaching position or endorsement area, and (iii) is not seeking to provide instruction in special education or eligible for collegiate professional or postgraduate professional licensure. The bill establishes several requirements, criteria, and conditions relating to a local eligibility license. Finally, the bill requires the Board of Education to convene a work group to make recommendations on revising teacher licensure requirements to ensure the Commonwealth has the highest standards in the country for training and qualifications of its teaching workforce and rigorous alternative routes to licensure to improve recruitment and retention of highly trained teaching candidates. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2030.

VA SB 1421 - Todd E. Pillion
Adult protective services; referrals to local law enforcement.
01/11/2023 - Senate: Referred to Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services
Adult protective services; referrals to local law enforcement. Removes the requirement that the adult protective services hotline immediately refer certain reports of alleged adult abuse, neglect, or exploitation to the appropriate local law-enforcement agency and removes the duty of local law-enforcement agencies to provide the adult protective services hotline with a preferred point of contact for such referrals. The bill retains the requirement for the local department of social services to immediately refer such reports to the appropriate local law-enforcement agency and the duty of local law-enforcement agencies to provide local departments of social services with a preferred point of contact for such referrals.

VA SB 1465 - Emmett Wilson Hanger, Jr.
Community services boards; behavioral health authorities, purpose, performance contracts.
02/24/2023 - Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1465ER)
Community services boards; behavioral health authorities; purpose; performance contracts. Provides that the purpose of behavioral health services provided by community services boards and behavioral health authorities is to enable individuals who have a mental illness, developmental disabilities, or substance use disorder that significantly impairs their functioning to access effective, timely, and cost-efficient services that help them (i) overcome or manage functional impairments caused by the mental illness, developmental disability, or substance use disorder and (ii) remain in the community to the greatest extent possible, consistent with the individual's well-being and public safety. The bill also requires that performance contracts entered into by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services with community services boards and behavioral health authorities include certain information, as specified in the bill. The bill reorganizes certain other provisions related to community services boards and behavioral health authorities. Certain provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.

VA SB 1489 - William Robert DeSteph Jr.
Weapons; possession or transportation; facility that provides mental health services.
01/19/2023 - Senate: Referred to Committee on the Judiciary
Weapons; possession or transportation; facility that provides mental health services or developmental services; penalty. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person to possess in or transport into any facility that provides mental health services or developmental services in the Commonwealth, including a hospital or an emergency room or other facility rendering emergency medical care, any (i) gun or other weapon designed or intended to propel a missile or projectile of any kind; (ii) knife, except a pocket knife having a folding metal blade of less than three inches; or (iii) other dangerous weapon, including explosives and stun weapons. The bill provides that any such firearm, knife, explosive, or weapon is subject to seizure by a law-enforcement officer and specifies exceptions to the prohibition.

VA SB 1510 - Taylor Montgomery Mason
Orders for involuntary outpatient evaluations and services; evidence of defendant's.
01/20/2023 - Senate: Referred to Committee on the Judiciary
Orders for involuntary outpatient evaluations and services; evidence of defendant's mental condition. Allows the court, if a defendant is found not guilty of any offense after a trial at which evidence of his mental condition was admitted, to enter an order for an outpatient evaluation of the defendant if the court finds probable cause to believe the defendant meets the criteria for an outpatient evaluation set forth in the bill. The bill requires the court to subsequently enter an order for outpatient services if it finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that the defendant has a mental condition, defined in the bill; the defendant engaged in conduct that created a risk of harm to himself or others; the conduct was related to the defendant's mental condition; the defendant is in need of outpatient treatment to prevent a relapse or deterioration of his mental condition; and there is a reasonable likelihood that community-based services for the defendant's mental condition will reduce the risk of harm. The bill imposes a time limit of 180 days on orders for outpatient services and provides processes for rescinding and continuing the order. The bill requires that orders for outpatient services include an outpatient services plan prepared by the community services board or behavioral health authority. The bill also clarifies a defendant's ability to offer evidence regarding his mental condition at the time of the alleged offense in certain circumstances if such evidence tends to show that the defendant did not have the requisite intent required for the offense charged.

VA SB 1512 - Taylor Montgomery Mason
Temporary detention; certified evaluators; report.
01/23/2023 - Senate: Assigned Education sub: Health
Temporary detention; certified evaluators; report. Authorizes hospitals with a psychiatric emergency department located in Planning District 21 to employ certain trained individuals to perform evaluations to determine whether a person meets the criteria for temporary detention for behavioral health treatment. The bill requires participating hospitals with psychiatric emergency departments in Planning District 21 to annually report the number of temporary detention order evaluations completed, the number of temporary detention orders petitioned, the number of individuals evaluated for temporary detention who were determined to not meet the criteria for temporary detention, and the number of individuals under a temporary detention order admitted to a state facility to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education and Health, the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, and the Behavioral Health Commission. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2025.

VA SB 1513 - Taylor Montgomery Mason
Children's Services, State Executive Council for; increases membership.
02/22/2023 - Senate: House amendments agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N)
State Executive Council for Children's Services; membership. Adds the Director of the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services and the Children's Ombudsman to the State Executive Council for Children's Services. The bill also adds a representative from the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services to the state and local advisory team tasked with advising the Council, managing cooperative efforts at the state level, and supporting local community efforts.

VA SB 1531 - Siobhan Stolle Dunnavant
Virginia Neonatal Perinatal Collaborative; hospital regulations, report.
02/22/2023 - House: Read second time
Secretary of Health and Human Resources; Department of Health; Virginia Neonatal Perinatal Collaborative; hospital regulations; report. Directs the Department of Health and all other agencies of the Commonwealth to support the efforts of the Virginia Neonatal Perinatal Collaborative (the Collaborative) upon request to the fullest extent practicable and pursue opportunities for public-private partnerships with the Collaborative. The bill requires the Board of Health to amend its regulations to require that every hospital participate in any Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health patient safety bundle and any other maternal or newborn quality improvement initiative advanced by the Collaborative. The bill directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources (the Secretary) to facilitate the negotiation of state contracts that best position the Collaborative to address maternal child health issues in the Commonwealth using clinical expertise to develop evidence based best practices and recommendations to universally implement such best practices in the Commonwealth. The bill requires that by November 1 of each year that the Collaborative receives state funds, the Collaborative provide an annual report with recommendations for elevating the standard of care and improving outcomes for women and children in the Commonwealth to the Secretary and the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education and Health, the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, and the House Committee on Appropriations.

VA SB 155 - Christopher T. Head
Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority; powers and duties, definition.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority; Virginia Health Care Career and Technical Training and Education Fund; established. Modifies the enabling legislation for the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority by adding four additional ex officio members to the Authority, directing changes to regulations regarding qualifications for nursing faculty and qualified mental health professionals, establishing a work group to address health workforce shortages, and creating a program for health workforce development. The bill establishes the Virginia Health Care Career and Technical Training and Education Fund. The bill directs the Board of Nursing and the Board of Counseling to adopt emergency regulations to implement relevant provisions of the bill and for the work group to submit its report to the Governor and the relevant committees of the General Assembly by October 1, 2025.

VA SB 173 - Christie New Craig
Adult day care centers; name changes to adult day centers throughout the Code.
03/01/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 8, 2024
Adult day care centers; name change. Renames "adult day care centers" as "adult day centers" throughout the Code of Virginia. This bill is identical to HB 1498.

VA SB 176 - Barbara A. Favola
Civil commitments & temporary detention orders; def. of mental illness neurocognitive disorders.
03/04/2024 - Senate: Passed by for the day
Civil commitments and temporary detention orders; definition of mental illness neurocognitive disorders and neurodevelopmental disabilities; Secretary of Health and Human Resources to evaluate placements for certain individuals; workgroup; report. Specifies that for the purpose of civil commitments and temporary detention orders, behaviors and symptoms that manifest from a neurocognitive disorder or neurodevelopmental disability are excluded from the definition of mental illness and are, therefore, not a basis for placing an individual under a temporary detention order or committing an individual involuntarily to an inpatient psychiatric hospital. The bill provides that if a state facility has reason to believe that an individual's behaviors or symptoms are solely a manifestation of a neurocognitive disorder or neurodevelopmental disability, the state facility may require that a licensed psychiatrist or other licensed mental health professional reevaluate the individual's eligibility for a temporary detention order before the individual is admitted. Under the bill, if the licensed psychiatrist or other licensed mental health professional determines the individual's behaviors or symptoms are solely a manifestation of a neurocognitive disorder or neurodevelopmental disorder, the state facility shall promptly authorize the release of the person held under a temporary detention order and the local community services board shall provide a discharge plan. The foregoing provisions of the bill do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2025 Session of the General Assembly. The bill also directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to convene a workgroup to evaluate, identify, and develop placements for individuals with neurocognitive disorders and neurodevelopmental disabilities, specify any statutory or funding changes needed to prevent inappropriate placements for such individuals, as well as provide recommendations for training of magistrates and community services boards related to the implementation of the bill, and to report the findings and recommendations by November 1, 2024. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission and the Behavioral Health Commission.

VA SB 179 - Barbara A. Favola
State hospitals; discharge planning.
02/28/2024 - Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB179ER)
State hospitals; discharge planning; report. Provides that (i) when an individual is to be discharged from Central State Hospital, Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute, or Southern Virginia Mental Health Institute in 30 days or less after admission, the appropriate community services board shall implement the discharge plan developed by the state facility and (ii) when an individual is to be discharged from any other state facility in 30 days or less after admission, or from a state hospital more than 30 days after admission, the appropriate community services board or behavioral health authority shall be responsible for the individual's discharge planning. Under current law, community services boards and behavioral health authorities provide discharge planning for all individuals discharged from state hospitals, regardless of the duration of their stay. The bill requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to make certain annual reports by August 1 to the Governor and the General Assembly and to provide the General Assembly with a one-time evaluation of the impacts of the changes to discharge planning implemented by the bill by November 1, 2025. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025.

VA SB 19 - Barbara A. Favola
Recovery residences; death and serious injury reports.
03/08/2024 - Governor: Approved by Governor-Chapter 30 (effective 7/1/24)
Recovery residences; death and serious injury reports. Requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to promulgate regulations that require recovery residences to report to the Department any death or serious injury that occurs in the recovery residence. This bill incorporates SB 190.

VA SB 190 - Suhas Subramanyam
Recovery residences; certification requirements, death and serious injury reports, report.
01/12/2024 - Senate: Incorporated by Rehabilitation and Social Services (13-Y 0-N)
Recovery residences; certification requirements; death and serious injury reports; work group; report. Requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to promulgate regulations that require recovery residences to (i) comply with uniform health and safety requirements established by the Department and published on its website and (ii) report to the Department, in the same manner as licensed facilities and programs, any death or serious injury that occurs in the recovery residence. The bill requires the Department to maintain on its website the certification standards of the credentialing entity for each recovery residence. The bill also requires the Department to convene a work group to (a) analyze and make recommendations regarding the creation of a process through which the Department can provide oversight of all recovery residences in the Commonwealth, (b) make recommendations to ensure transparency with the public and residents or potential residents of recovery residences regarding the certification of each recovery residence, and (c) report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by November 1, 2024.

VA SB 212 - Aaron R. Rouse
Virginia Small Business Economic Development Act; established.
03/04/2024 - House: Conference report agreed to by House (51-Y 44-N)
Virginia Small Business Economic Development Act established; regulation of skill game machines; penalties. Establishes 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 authorizes and specifies the registration requirements for the distribution, operation, hosting, and play of skill game machines, as defined in the bill. The bill imposes a 22 percent tax on the gross revenue 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 directs the Virginia Lottery Board to promulgate regulations no later than January 1, 2026, to implement the provisions of the bill and authorizes the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority to grant a provisional registration to any entity that is duly licensed or registered to engage in the distribution, operation, or hosting of any skill game machine in another state on July 1, 2024.

VA SB 229 - Ghazala F. Hashmi
Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention, Advisory Council on; placement of Council.
02/23/2024 - House: Continued to 2025 in Rules by voice vote
Health Commissioner; workgroup; recommendations on Advisory Council on Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention. Directs the State Health Commissioner to establish a work group to examine the feasibility of and make recommendations for the placement and infrastructure of an Advisory Council on Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention.

VA SB 278 - Ghazala F. Hashmi
Virginia Abortion Care & Gender-Affirming Health Care Protection Act; established, civil penalties.
01/25/2024 - Senate: Rereferred to Courts of Justice
Virginia Abortion Care and Gender-Affirming Health Care Protection Act; reproductive and gender-affirming health care services; prohibitions on extradition for certain crimes; civil penalties. Establishes the Virginia Abortion Care and Gender-Affirming Health Care Protection Act. The bill provides that it is the policy of the Commonwealth that all persons are entitled to provide, receive, and help others provide or receive abortion care and gender-affirming health care services not prohibited under the laws of the Commonwealth, and that such provision, receipt, and assistance is not diminished, chilled, or infringed by public or private actors.

VA SB 299 -
Board of Conservation and Recreation; Cave Board; repeal.
01/09/2024 - Senate: Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources
Board of Conservation and Recreation; Cave Board; repeal. Repeals provisions relating to the establishment of the Cave Board and transfers the duties of the Cave Board to the Board of Conservation and Recreation. The bill also changes from 12 members to 13 members the membership of the Board of Conservation and Recreation and requires at least one appointment made by the Governor to the Board of Conservation and Recreation to be based on a person's knowledge of and activity in the conservation, exploration, study, and management of caves.

VA SB 307 - Jeremy Scott McPike
Electronic gaming devices; regulation, penalties.
02/14/2024 - Senate: Left in General Laws and Technology
Regulation of electronic gaming devices; penalties. Authorizes and specifies the licensing requirements for the manufacture, distribution, operation, servicing, hosting, and play of electronic gaming devices, as defined in the bill. The bill provides that electronic gaming devices are regulated by the Virginia Lottery Board and requires employees of such licensees to be registered with the Virginia Lottery. The bill imposes criminal and civil penalties for violations of the law and regulations related to electronic gaming devices. The bill imposes a 34 percent tax on all gross profits from the play of such gaming devices and provides for the use of such tax proceeds, with most being deposited into the general fund.

VA SB 34 - Mamie E. Locke
Temporary detention; certified evaluators, report.
03/25/2024 - Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB34ER)
Temporary detention; certified evaluators; report. Authorizes hospitals with a psychiatric emergency department located in Senate District 23 to employ certain trained individuals to perform evaluations to determine whether a person meets the criteria for temporary detention for behavioral health treatment. The bill requires participating hospitals with psychiatric emergency departments in Senate District 23 to annually report the length of time between when a person who is the subject of an emergency custody order arrives at the psychiatric emergency department of a participating hospital and when the temporary detention order evaluation is completed and (ii) the number of (a) admissions, (b) psychiatric emergency department visits, (c) temporary detention order evaluations completed, (d) temporary detention orders executed, (e) individuals under temporary detention admitted to the participating hospital, and (f) individuals transferred from the psychiatric emergency department of the participating hospital to a state facility to the Senate Committee on Education and Health, the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, and the Behavioral Health Commission. The bill requires participating hospitals with psychiatric emergency departments in Senate District 23 to report monthly to the Commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services the number of (i) crisis evaluations conducted each month; (ii) temporary detention orders executed as a result of such evaluations and the percentage of evaluations such temporary detention orders represent; (iii) reportable events associated with such temporary detention orders and the percentage of temporary detention orders that such reportable events represent; (iv) certain reportable events; and (v) other events. The bill requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to submit by October 1, 2026, to the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Health and Human Services an evaluation of the overall effectiveness of certified evaluators conducting temporary detention order pursuant to the bill. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2026.

VA SB 340 - Saddam Azlan Salim
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; exclusions from mandatory disclosure, purchase card statement.
02/19/2024 - House: Assigned GL sub: Procurement/Open Government
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; exclusions from mandatory disclosure; purchase card statement. Clarifies that the name of a public employee, officer, or official as it appears on a purchase card statement or other payment record and the description of individual purchases are not exempt from disclosure by the State Comptroller.

VA SB 351 - Jennifer Barton Boysko
Board of Medicine; Board of Nursing; joint licensing of advanced practice registered nurses.
01/12/2024 - Senate: Assigned Education and Health Sub: Health Professions
Board of Medicine; Board of Nursing; joint licensing of advanced practice registered nurses and licensed certified midwives. Moves the professions of advanced practice registered nurses and licensed certified midwives from being licensed jointly by the Board of Medicine and the Board of Nursing to being licensed by the Board of Nursing only.

VA SB 352 - Mark J. Peake
Teachers; changes to provisions relating to licensure and certification, reciprocity.
03/27/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Teacher licensure; universal licensure by reciprocity. Establishes universal licensure by reciprocity as a category of teacher licensure in the Commonwealth for teachers who hold a valid out-of-state teaching license with full credentials and without deficiencies that has been in force and in use by the individual as an employed teacher in a non-virtual classroom setting at a public or private elementary or secondary school for at least three years prior to and is in force at the time of application and meet other provisions set forth in the bill. The bill also permits the division superintendent rather than the Board of Education, as in current law, to issue a career and technical education teacher a provisional license to allow time for the teacher to attain the industry certification credential required by law. Finally, the bill directs the Department of Education to compile, publicly post on its website, and update as necessary, data on teacher licensure standards and requirements for each state for the purposes of facilitating the determination of the compatibility of out-of-state teacher licenses with requirements for teacher licensure and licensure by reciprocity in the Commonwealth and increasing transparency of such licensure requirements. This bill is identical to HB 632.

VA SB 357 - Jennifer Barton Boysko
Assault or assault and battery; affirmative defense, penalty.
03/27/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Assault and battery; affirmative defense; penalty. Provides an affirmative defense to prosecution of an individual for assault or assault and battery of certain specified individuals for which the enhanced Class 6 felony and six month mandatory minimum apply if such individual proves, by a preponderance of the evidence, that at the time of the assault or assault and battery (i) the individual's behaviors were a result of (a) mental illness or (b) a neurocognitive disorder, including dementia, or a neurodevelopmental disability, including a developmental disability or intellectual disability, such as autism spectrum disorder, as defined in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association or (ii) the individual met the criteria for issuance of an emergency custody order.

VA SB 359 - Schuyler T. VanValkenburg
Consumer Data Protection Act; social media platforms, addictive feed.
02/19/2024 - House: Continued to 2025 with amendment(s) in Communications, Technology and Innovation by voice vote
Consumer Data Protection Act; social media platforms; addictive feed. Prohibits a person that operates a social media platform that has knowledge that a user of the social media platform is a child under the age of 18 from using an addictive feed, defined in the bill, unless such social media platform obtains verifiable parental consent.

VA SB 37 - John J. McGuire
Sage's Law; minor students experiencing gender incongruence, parental notification.
01/16/2024 - Senate: Assigned Education and Health Sub: Public Education
Sage's Law; minor students experiencing gender incongruence; parental notification of certain expressions and requests and parental permission for certain plans required; parental care. Requires each public elementary or secondary school principal or his designee to (i) as soon as practicable, inform at least one parent of a minor student enrolled in such school if such minor (a) expresses to any individual who is employed in such school that such minor is experiencing gender incongruence, as defined in the bill, or (b) requests that any such employee participate in social affirmation of such minor's gender incongruence or the transition of such minor to a sex or gender different from the minor's biological sex while at school and (ii) request and receive permission from at least one parent of a minor student enrolled at such school prior to the implementation at such school of any plan concerning any gender incongruence experienced by such minor, including any counseling of such minor at school. Any such plan shall include provision for parental participation to the extent requested by the parent. The bill also clarifies, in the definition of the term "abused or neglected child," that in no event shall referring to and raising the child in a manner consistent with the child's biological sex, including related mental health or medical decisions, be considered abuse or neglect.

VA SB 373 - Robert Creigh Deeds
Emergency custody; magistrate may extend custody order, medical testing, observation, or treatment.
11/21/2022 - Senate: Left in Education and Health
Emergency custody; extension; medical testing, observation, or treatment. Provides that a magistrate may, upon the sworn petition of the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services or his designee, issue an order extending an emergency custody order for a period of up to 48 hours upon finding that probable cause exists to believe that the behaviors upon which a finding that the person meets the criteria for emergency custody are the result of a medical or physical condition, including substance intoxication or withdrawal, and that the medical standard of care for such medical or physical condition calls for testing, observation, or treatment to prevent harm to the person resulting from such medical or physical condition. Upon issuance of an order extending the period of emergency custody, the person shall be transported to and detained in an appropriate medical care facility for testing, observation, and treatment.

VA SB 379 - Jennifer Barton Boysko
Public high schools; SOL curriculum guidelines for research-based hazing prevention instruction.
02/19/2024 - House: VOTE: Passage (56-Y 44-N)
Public high schools; research-based hazing prevention instruction. Requires the Board of Education to develop Standards of Learning and curriculum guidelines for research-based hazing prevention instruction to be provided to as a part of physical or health education provided to students in grade nine or 10. The bill requires such hazing prevention instruction to include age-appropriate, extensive, and current education about hazing, including (i) examples of hazing; (ii) the dangers of hazing, including the consequences of alcohol intoxication; and (iii) school policies and laws related to hazing, including criminal penalties and bystander intervention. The bill requires such research-based hazing prevention instruction to be offered in-person but requires each school board to provide options for virtual participation for any student who is enrolled in an online or virtual physical or health education program. Finally, the bill requires each school board to provide such research-based hazing prevention instruction beginning with the school year following the Board's adoption of revised Standards of Learning for physical and health education for grades nine and 10 incorporating such research-based hazing prevention instruction and directs the Board to, in the intermediary time, develop and post on its website guidance documents for the purpose of making such research-based hazing prevention instruction available to local school boards.

VA SB 38 - Mark J. Peake
Admission to bail; creates rebuttable presumptions against bail.
01/15/2024 - Senate: Passed by indefinitley in Courts of Justice (8-Y 7-N)
Admission to bail; rebuttable presumptions against bail. Creates a rebuttable presumption against bail for certain criminal offenses enumerated in the bill. The bill also requires the court to consider specified factors when determining whether the presumption against bail has been rebutted and whether there are appropriate conditions of release.

VA SB 389 - Stella G.Pekarsky
Autism Advisory Council; reestablished, report.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Autism Advisory Council; reestablished. Reestablishes the Autism Advisory Council, which expired July 1, 2022. The bill also increases from eight to 25 the number of Council members, establishes eligibility criteria for nonlegislative citizen members, and provides that no recommendation of the Council shall be adopted if a majority of the legislative members appointed to the Council vote against the recommendation and for the recommendation to fail notwithstanding the majority vote of the Council. The law prior to expiration of the Council provided that no Council recommendation could be adopted if a majority of the House members or Senate members voted against the recommendation and for the recommendation to fail notwithstanding the majority vote of the Council.

VA SB 392 - Stella G.Pekarsky
Hospitals; emergency departments to have at least one licensed physician on duty at all times.
02/27/2024 - Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB392ER)
Hospitals; emergency departments; licensed physicians. Requires any hospital with an emergency department to have at least one licensed physician on duty and physically present at all times. Current law requires such hospitals to have a licensed physician on call, though not necessarily physically present on the premises, at all times. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.

VA SB 395 - Stella G.Pekarsky
Public elementary & secondary schools; student athletes, pre-participation mental health assessment.
02/08/2024 - Senate: Continued to 2025 in Education and Health (14-Y 1-N)
Public elementary and secondary schools; student athletes; pre-participation mental health assessment required. Provides that no public elementary or secondary school student is permitted to be a participant on or try out for any school athletic team or squad with a predetermined roster, regular practices, and scheduled competitions with other elementary or secondary schools unless such student has submitted to the school principal a signed report from a licensed physician, licensed advanced practice registered nurse, or licensed physician assistant acting under the supervision of a licensed physician attesting that such student has, within the preceding 365 days, received both a physical examination and a mental health assessment. Current law only requires that the signed report attest that any such student has received a physical examination within the preceding 12 months. The bill prohibits any public elementary or secondary school from becoming a member of any organization or entity that regulates or governs interscholastic programs that does not deem eligible for participation any student who has satisfied the requirements for eligibility in accordance with the provisions of the bill. The provisions of the bill other than the requirement for the Board of Education to convene a work group have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.

VA SB 403 - Tara A. Durant
Behavioral health technicians, etc.; scope of practice, supervision, and qualifications.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Behavioral health technicians; behavioral health technician assistants; qualified mental health professionals; qualified mental health professional-trainees; scope of practice, supervision, and qualifications. Adds behavioral health technicians and behavioral health technician assistants to the professions governed by the Board of Counseling. The bill also establishes qualification, scope of practice, and supervision requirements for qualified mental health professionals and qualified mental health professional trainees. The bill directs the Board of Counseling to adopt regulations governing the behavioral health technician, behavioral health technician assistant, qualified mental health professional, and qualified mental health professional-trainee professions.

VA SB 424 - Ryan T. McDougle
Admission to bail; act of violence.
03/01/2024 - Senate: House amendment agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N)
Admission to bail; act of violence. Provides that a judicial officer who admits a person to bail who is charged with an act of violence shall notify the attorney for the Commonwealth for the jurisdiction in which such person's case is filed either before or simultaneous with such person's grant of bail or release. The bill provides such notice may be made by facsimile or other electronic means.

VA SB 427 - Robert Creigh Deeds
Petition for modification of a sentence; eligibility, procedures.
02/16/2024 - House: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
Petition for modification of a sentence; eligibility; procedures. Provides a process for a person serving a sentence for any conviction or a combination of any convictions who remains incarcerated in a state or local correctional facility or secure facility and meets certain criteria to petition the circuit court that entered the original judgment or order to (i) suspend the unserved portion of such sentence or run the unserved portion of such sentence concurrently with another sentence, (ii) place such person on probation for such time as the court shall determine, or (iii) otherwise modify the sentence imposed.

VA SB 440 - Tara A. Durant
School protection officers; employment in public schools.
01/30/2024 - Senate: Assigned Education and Health Sub: Public Education
Employment of school protection officers in public schools. Permits any local law-enforcement agency to employ in any public elementary or secondary school in the local school division, pursuant to an agreement with the local school board, a school protection officer, defined in the bill as a retired law-enforcement officer hired by the local law-enforcement agency on a part-time basis to provide limited law-enforcement and security services to public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth. The bill requires each such school board and local law-enforcement agency to enter into a memorandum of understanding that sets forth the powers and duties of school protection officers. The bill requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish compulsory training standards for school protection officers and requires the collection of certain data relating to the activities of such officers.

VA SB 448 - Aaron R. Rouse
Cannabis control; establishes a framework for creation of a retail marijuana market, penalties.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Cannabis control; retail market; penalties. Establishes a framework for the creation of a retail marijuana market in the Commonwealth, to be administered by the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. The bill allows the Authority to begin issuing all marijuana licenses on September 1, 2024, but provides that no retail sales may occur prior to May 1, 2025. This bill is identical to HB 698.

VA SB 456 - David W. Marsden
Corrections Ombudsman, Office of the Department of; created, annual report.
03/09/2024 - Senate: Signed by President
Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman; created. Creates, within the Office of the State Inspector General, the Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman (the Office) headed by an Ombudsman who is selected by a Corrections Oversight Committee (the Committee), also created by the bill. The bill provides that the Committee is made up of eight members of the General Assembly and 11 nonlegislative citizen members who monitor the activities of the Ombudsman and the Department of Corrections (the Department). The bill provides the Office with authority to conduct inspections at least once every three years and more often when warranted of Department or Board of Local and Regional Jails facilities and requires the Office to establish a confidential telephone hotline and paper and electronic forms for the submission of concerns, complaints, and inquiries by inmates, their family members and friends, and advocates. In addition, the bill requires the Committee to hold at least one public hearing per year and requires the Office to submit an annual report to the Governor, the Attorney General, the Senate Committee for Courts of Justice, the House Committee on Public Safety, the Committee, and the Director of the Department.

VA SB 460 - David W. Marsden
Minors; parental admission for inpatient treatment.
02/21/2024 - House: Passed House (99-Y 0-N)
Parental admission of minors for inpatient treatment. Clarifies that for the purposes of admission of a minor to a willing mental health facility for inpatient treatment, the finding required to be made by a qualified evaluator that the minor appears to have a mental illness serious enough to warrant inpatient treatment may include a finding of substance abuse and such inpatient treatment may be related to such mental illness, which may include substance abuse. The bill also specifies that a temporary detention order shall not be required for a minor 14 years of age or older who objects to admission to be admitted to a willing facility upon the application of a parent. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Commission on Youth.

VA SB 463 - T. Travis Hackworth
Accountancy, Board of; powers and duties, repeals requirement for an annual audit of the Board.
02/19/2024 - House: Read second time
Board of Accountancy; powers and duties. Repeals the requirement for an annual audit of the Board of Accountancy and amends several Code provisions relating to the Board. The bill changes the Secretariat of the Board from the Secretary of Commerce and Trade to the Secretary of Finance. The bill authorizes the Board to initiate complaints against (i) individuals or firms claiming to hold a Virginia license, as defined in the bill, and (ii) unlicensed individuals or firms using the certified public accountant title in Virginia, as defined in the bill. The bill also grants the Executive Director of the Board the power to request and receive reports from the Central Criminal Records Exchange in conjunction with the Executive Director's investigative and enforcement powers. Finally, the bill directs the Board to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill.

VA SB 499 - Jennifer D. Carroll Foy
Health insurance; coverage for donor human milk.
02/23/2024 - House: Assigned App. sub: Compensation and Retirement
Donor human milk banks, health insurance; coverage for donor human milk; penalty; emergency. Prohibits any person from establishing or operating a donor human milk bank, as defined in the bill, without first obtaining a license from the State Health Commissioner and makes it a Class 6 felony for any person to establish or operate a donor human milk bank in the Commonwealth without obtaining such license. The bill directs the State Board of Health to establish a regulatory and statutory scheme for the licensure and regulation of donor human milk banks operating or doing business in the Commonwealth. The bill also directs the Commissioner to implement and enforce numerous regulations relating to the issuance, renewal, denial, suspension, and revocation of such licenses. The bill specifies procedures relating to disciplinary actions, application fees, and inspections and interviews related to such donor human milk banks.

VA SB 505 - Suhas Subramanyam
Limitation on sentence upon revocation of suspension of sentence; technical violations.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Limitation on sentence upon revocation of suspension of sentence; technical violations. Provides that when conducting a revocation hearing, the court shall consider at the same revocation hearing all alleged technical violations that occurred prior to such revocation hearing and have not been previously considered by the court. The bill also requires that when a defendant has been taken into custody for an alleged violation for which the court may impose not more than 14 days of active incarceration, the court shall adjudicate such violation within 14 days of the defendant being taken into custody. The bill states that if such violation is not adjudicated within 14 days of the defendant being taken into custody, the defendant shall be admitted to bail, unless (i) such defendant consents to being further detained while awaiting adjudication or sentencing or (ii) the Commonwealth has established, by clear and convincing evidence, that the defendant presents a significant risk of harm to himself or the community based on substance use disorder or serious mental illness and has been referred for residential treatment. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the bill provides that no such defendant shall be held in custody awaiting adjudication of or sentencing on such alleged technical violation for longer than 30 days without his consent.

VA SB 506 - Scott Anthony Surovell
Higher educational institutions, public; duties and powers of governing board.
01/26/2024 - Senate: Assigned Education and Health Sub: Higher Education
Public institutions of higher education; legal counsel; scope of employment; duties and powers of governing board. Provides that the governing board of each public institution of higher education shall have authority over the employment of all legal counsel for the institution, including decision-making authority in the commencement or termination of any legal counsel, the employment of outside legal counsel, the oversight and management of any legal counsel, and the appointment of a general counsel to serve as the chief legal officer of the institution. The bill provides that the chief legal officer and the vice president or similarly situated executive officer of such institution shall, under the direction of the governing board of such institution, conduct the legal affairs of and provide legal advice and representation for such institution on any matter that the governing board determines to be in the interest of the institution. The bill clarifies the scope of the involvement of the Attorney General in the legal affairs of public institutions of higher education, providing that the Attorney General may only provide legal service to a public institution of higher education upon request of the governing board of such institution or upon the governing board's decision to delegate all authority in accordance with the provisions of the bill. The bill also provides that the approval of the Attorney General shall be required for any legal settlement involving consideration in excess of $5 million. The bill permits the governing board of any public institution of higher education with less than 7,500 full-time students to delegate all authority over legal counsel conferred pursuant to the provisions of the bill but requires any such governing board (i) intending to make such delegation to submit notice of such intention by January 1, 2025 and (ii) intending thereafter to delegate such authority or to rescind a prior delegation of such authority to submit notice of such intention by January 1 of the immediately succeeding odd-numbered year. Finally, the bill clarifies the duties of the governing board of each public institution of higher education in its collective capacity and of the members of such governing board in their individual capacities.

VA SB 515 - Angelia Williams Graves
Weapons; carrying into hospital that provides mental health services.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Weapons; possession or transportation; hospital that provides mental health services or developmental services; penalty. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person to knowingly possess in or transport into the building of any hospital that provides mental health services or developmental services in the Commonwealth, including an emergency department or other facility rendering emergency medical care, any (i) firearm or other weapon designed or intended to propel a missile or projectile of any kind; (ii) knife, except a pocket knife having a folding metal blade of less than three inches; or (iii) other dangerous weapon, including explosives and stun weapons. The bill also provides that notice of such prohibitions shall be posted conspicuously at the public entrance of any hospital and no person shall be convicted of the offense if such notice is not posted, unless such person had actual notice of the prohibitions. The bill provides that any such firearm, knife, explosive, or weapon shall be subject to seizure by a law-enforcement officer and forfeited to the Commonwealth and specifies exceptions to the prohibition.

VA SB 522 - Angelia Williams Graves
Purchase of firearms; demonstrated competence with a firearm or completion of training course.
02/19/2024 - House: Assigned PS sub: Firearms
Purchase of firearms; demonstrated competence with a firearm or completion of a firearms safety or training course; penalty. Requires that a prospective purchaser of a firearm present proof that such prospective purchaser has demonstrated competence with a firearm or completed a firearms safety or training course, as specified in the bill, within the past five years.

VA SB 537 - Lamont Bagby
Hospital regulations; use of smoke evacuation systems during surgical procedures.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Board of Health; hospital regulations; use of smoke evacuation systems during surgical procedures. Requires the Board of Health to amend its regulations to require that every hospital where surgical procedures are performed adopt a policy requiring the use of a smoke evacuation system for all planned surgical procedures. The bill defines "smoke evacuation system" as smoke evacuation equipment and technologies designed to capture, filter, and remove surgical smoke at the site of origin and to prevent surgical smoke from making ocular contact or contact with a person's respiratory tract. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025 and is identical to HB 763.

VA SB 543 - Lamont Bagby
Health insurance; patient access to emergency services, mobile crisis response services.
03/04/2024 - Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB543ER)
Health insurance; emergency services; mobile crisis response services. Provides that emergency services, with respect to an emergency medical condition, include, as it relates to any mental health services or substance abuse services rendered at a behavioral health crisis service provider, (i) a behavioral health assessment that is within the capability of a behavioral health crisis service provider, including ancillary services routinely available to evaluate such emergency medical condition, and (ii) such further examination and treatment, to the extent that they are within the capabilities of the staff and facilities available at the behavioral health crisis service provider, as are required so that the patient's condition does not deteriorate. This bill is identical to HB 601.

VA SB 546 - Lamont Bagby
Emergency custody and temporary detention orders; evaluations, presence of others.
02/21/2024 - House: VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
Emergency custody and temporary detention orders; evaluations; presence of others. Requires (i) the evaluator conducting the evaluation of an individual to determine whether such individual meets the criteria for temporary detention or (ii) the hospital emergency department and treating physician or other health care provider designated by the physician, when providing services to an individual who is being evaluated to determine whether the individual meets the criteria for temporary detention, to allow the individual's family member or legal guardian who is present and who may provide support and supportive decision making to be present with the individual unless the individual objects or the evaluator or treating physician determines that their presence would create a medical, clinical, or safety risk to the patient or health care provider or interferes with patient care.

VA SB 547 - Lamont Bagby
Law-enforcement training; communication with individuals with autism spectrum disorder.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Law-enforcement training; individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish compulsory minimum and in-service training standards for law-enforcement officers on communicating with individuals with an intellectual disability or a developmental disability, such as autism spectrum disorder, which shall include (i) an overview and behavioral recognition of autism spectrum disorder, (ii) best practices for crisis prevention and de-escalation techniques, (iii) an objective review of any relevant tools and technology available to assist in communication, and (iv) education on law-enforcement agency and community resources for the autism community on future crisis prevention. The bill requires that such training standards be established in consultation with at least one individual with autism spectrum disorder, one family member of an individual with autism spectrum disorder, one specialist who works with individuals with autism spectrum disorder, one representative from the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, and one representative from a state or local law-enforcement agency. The bill requires the Department to establish such training standards by January 1, 2027, and requires any person employed as a law-enforcement officer prior to July 1, 2024, to complete the compulsory in-service training by July 1, 2028.

VA SB 569 - Robert Creigh Deeds
Crisis receiving centers and crisis stabilization units; use of seclusion, report.
03/07/2024 - Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB569ER)
State Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; regulations; crisis receiving centers; appropriate and safe use of seclusion; work group; report. Directs the State Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to amend its regulations to ensure that its licensing and human rights regulations support high-quality crisis services, including by authorizing the appropriate and safe use of seclusion in crisis receiving centers and crisis stabilization units. The bill exempts the Board's initial adoption of such regulations from the provisions of the Administrative Process Act. The bill also directs the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to convene a work group to propose additional regulations to allow for the use of (i) evidence-based and recovery-oriented seclusion and restraint practices and (ii) alternative behavior management practices that may limit or replace the use of seclusion and restraint in hospitals, residential programs, and licensed facilities. The bill requires the Department to submit a report of its findings, recommendations, and proposed regulations to the General Assembly by November 1, 2025.

VA SB 574 - Robert Creigh Deeds
Behavioral Health Commission; Commission to study processes related to civil admissions.
03/01/2024 - House: Read second time
Behavioral Health Commission; behavioral health and crisis response services; civil admissions laws and processes; work group; report. Directs the Behavioral Health Commission to convene a work group to study how to effectively align current civil admissions laws and processes with new behavioral health and crisis response services and resources in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Behavioral Health Commission to make recommendations for any statutory, regulatory, licensing, training, and reimbursement changes related to Virginia's current civil admissions process and to report such recommendations by July 1, 2025.

VA SB 575 - Mark D. Obenshain
Discharge plans; copies to public elementary and secondary schools.
02/27/2024 - House: Subcommittee recommends continuing to 2025 by voice vote
Discharge plans; copies to public elementary and secondary schools. Provides that, prior to the discharge of any minor admitted to inpatient treatment (i) who is a student at a public elementary or secondary school and (ii) for whom the facility deems (a) such discharge poses a threat of violence or physical harm to self and others or (b) additional educational services are needed, such facility is required to provide to the school's mental health professional or school counselor the portions of such discharge plan relevant to the threat of violence or harm or the necessary additional educational services. The bill requires such facility to, prior to providing any such portions of any minor's discharge plan, provide to the parent of such minor student reasonable notice of the types of information that would be included in any portions of the discharge plan being provided and of the parent's right to, upon written request, refuse the provision of any such information.

VA SB 579 - Mark D. Obenshain
Nursing homes and certified nursing facilities; professional liability insurance.
02/01/2024 - Senate: Continued to 2025 in Education and Health (15-Y 0-N)
Nursing homes and certified nursing facilities; professional liability insurance. Specifies that the required minimum amount of professional liability coverage for nursing homes and certified nursing facilities is the amount per occurrence. The bill also requires such coverage to be noneroding, i.e., the coverage limits are not reduced by legal costs.

VA SB 590 - Robert Creigh Deeds
Community services boards; emergency services and core of services.
02/26/2024 - House: Continued to 2025 in Appropriations by voice vote
Community services boards; core of services. Adds to the list of core services to be provided by community services boards (i) crisis services for individuals with a mental illness or substance use disorder, (ii) outpatient mental health and substance abuse services, (iii) psychiatric rehabilitation services, (iv) peer support and family support services, (v) mental health services for members of the armed forces located 50 miles or more from a military treatment facility and veterans located 40 miles or more from a Veterans Health Administration medical facility, and (vi) care coordination services. The bill requires that, subject to the availability of funds, core services provided by community services boards be (i) available to every adult who has a serious mental illness, child who has or is at risk of serious emotional disturbance, and individual who has a substance use disorder, provided that the adult, child, or individual qualifies for services provided by community services boards and behavioral health authorities, and (ii) provided in a timely manner and within a reasonable distance of the individual's residence in the Commonwealth.

VA SB 593 - Jeremy Scott McPike
Workers' compensation benefits; post-traumatic stress disorder incurred by firefighters, etc.
02/26/2024 - House: Continued to 2025 in Appropriations by voice vote
Workers' compensation benefits; post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder incurred by law-enforcement officers and firefighters. Increases from 52 weeks to 104 weeks the maximum duration after the date of diagnosis that workers' compensation benefits are payable for post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder incurred by law-enforcement officers and firefighters acting in the line of duty.

VA SB 626 - Todd E. Pillion
Barrier crimes; adult substance abuse and mental health services, exception.
03/25/2024 - Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB626ER)
Barrier crimes; adult substance abuse and mental health services; exception. Permits the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, providers of substance abuse or mental health services to adults, and community service boards and behavioral health authorities to hire applicants convicted of certain barrier crimes of misdemeanor assault and battery or involving controlled substances provided that such conviction occurred more than four years prior to the application date for employment. This bill is identical to HB 1269.

VA SB 627 - L. Louise Lucas
Qualified high school students; opportunities to enroll in postsecondary coursework, etc.
03/09/2024 - Senate: Conference report agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N)
Department of Education and Virginia Community College System; College and Career Ready Virginia Program and Fund established. Establishes the College and Career Ready Virginia Fund and requires the Department of Education and the Virginia Community College System to establish the College and Career Ready Virginia Program whereby each school board is required to offer each qualified high school student in the local school division access at the high school to the dual enrollment courses that are sufficient to complete the Passport Program and the former Uniform Certificate of General Studies Program, renamed in the bill as the Passport Plus Program, at a public institution of higher education at no cost to such students. The bill establishes several enumerated duties for the Department and the System in the administration of the College and Career Ready Virginia Program, including the establishment of a work group to make recommendations no later than November 1, 2024, on the incorporation of a career and technical education program of coursework into the College and Career Ready Virginia Program.

VA SB 629 - Todd E. Pillion
Dentists and dental hygienists; added to list of providers who are immune from civil liability, etc.
02/29/2024 - Senate: Signed by President
Civil immunity; dentists and dental hygienists; mental health treatment for health care professionals; reporting requirements. Adds dentists and dental hygienists to the list of providers who are immune from civil liability for any act done or made in performance of his duties while serving as a member of or consultant to an entity that functions primarily to review, evaluate, or make recommendations on a professional program to address issues related to career fatigue and wellness in health care professionals. The bill also extends civil immunity to certain providers for any act done or made in performance of his duties while serving as a member of or consultant to an entity that functions primarily to arrange for or provide outpatient health care for health care professionals. The bill also revises the Board of Medicine reporting requirements when a health care professional is admitted for mental health treatment. Under the bill, if a health care professional is voluntarily admitted to a health care institution for treatment of a substance abuse or psychiatric illness and is no longer believed to be a danger within 30 days then no report will be made to the Board of Medicine. This bill is identical to HB 42.

VA SB 636 - Mamie E. Locke
Transcranial magnetic stimulation; DBHDS to establish pilot program for veterans.
02/23/2024 - House: Assigned App. sub: Health & Human Resources
Transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment; pilot program. Directs the Department of Veterans Services (the Department) to establish a pilot program with two locations to make electroencephalogram (EEG) combined transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment available for certain military members, veterans, first responders, law-enforcement officers, and certain agents of federal agencies, and family members of the aforementioned individuals. The bill requires the Department to establish regulations for administration of the pilot program.

VA SB 67 - Mark J. Peake
Limitation on sentence upon revocation of suspension of sentence; technical violations.
01/15/2024 - Senate: Passed by indefinitley in Courts of Justice (11-Y 4-N)
Limitation on sentence upon revocation of suspension of sentence; technical violations. Provides that a court may impose a sentence of a term of active incarceration upon a first or second technical violation of the terms and conditions of a suspended sentence or probation, and may impose a term of not more than 14 days of active incarceration for a first technical violation and a term of not more than 30 days of active incarceration for a second technical violation. Under current law, a court shall not impose a term of any active incarceration upon a first technical violation and may impose a term of not more than 14 days of active incarceration for a second technical violation.

VA SB 671 - Mark J. Peake
Youth Health Protection Act; established, civil penalty.
02/05/2024 - Senate: Assigned Education and Health Sub: Health
Youth Health Protection Act established; civil penalty. Creates the Youth Health Protection Act, which makes it unlawful for any individual to provide gender transition procedures, defined in the bill, for minors and prohibits the use of public funds for gender transition procedures. The bill allows parents, guardians, or custodians to withhold consent for any treatment, activity, or mental health care services that are designed and intended to form their child's conceptions of sex and gender or to treat gender dysphoria or gender nonconformity. The bill prohibits government agents, other than law-enforcement personnel, from encouraging or coercing a minor to withhold information from the minor's parent. The bill establishes a duty for a government agent with knowledge that a minor has exhibited symptoms of gender dysphoria or gender nonconformity or otherwise demonstrates a desire to be treated in a manner incongruent with the minor's sex to immediately notify each of the minor's parents, guardians, or custodians in writing, with descriptions of relevant circumstances. The bill prohibits discrimination against persons (i) providing information regarding violations of the Act to their employer or specified public entities or (ii) who make disclosures under the Act of information that evinces any violation of law, rule, or regulation; any violation of any standard of care or other ethical guidelines for the provision of health care service; or gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety. The bill establishes a civil action for any violation of the Act by a clinic, health care system, medical professional, or other responsible person with a two-year statute of limitations. The bill prohibits political subdivisions of the Commonwealth from enacting, adopting, maintaining, or enforcing any measure that interferes with the professional conduct and judgment of a mental health care professional or counselor undertaken within the course of treatment and communication with clients, patients, other persons, or the public. The bill provides for enforcement by the Attorney General or a mental health care professional or counselor through an action for injunctive relief and allows a mental health care professional to recover reasonable attorney fees and reasonable costs incurred in obtaining an injunction. The bill waives sovereign immunity to suit and immunity from liability under this statute.

VA SB 713 - Robert Creigh Deeds
Emergency custody order; duration.
11/21/2022 - Senate: Left in Judiciary
Emergency custody order; duration. Provides that a law-enforcement officer may transfer custody of a person who is the subject of an emergency custody order to a facility or location that has been authorized by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to accept custody of a person who is the subject of an emergency custody order upon a finding by the Department that the facility or location is capable of providing the level of security necessary to protect such person and others from harm and that in cases in which custody of a person who is the subject of an emergency custody order has been transferred to a facility licensed to provide up to 23 hours of crisis stabilization services, the emergency custody order shall be valid for a period not to exceed 23 hours from the time of execution. Currently, all emergency custody orders are valid for a period of up to 8 hours.

VA SB 719 - Lamont Bagby
Restorative housing and isolated confinement; restrictions on use.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Restorative housing and isolated confinement; restrictions on use. Prohibits the use of isolated confinement, defined in the bill, in state correctional facilities, subject to certain exceptions. The bill requires that before placing an incarcerated person in restorative housing or isolated confinement for his own protection, the facility administrator shall place an incarcerated person in a less-restrictive setting, including by transferring such person to another institution or to a special-purpose housing unit for incarcerated persons who face similar threats. The bill requires that if an incarcerated person is placed in restorative housing or isolated confinement, such placement shall be reviewed every 48 hours and the facility administrator shall ensure that the incarcerated person receives a medical and mental health evaluation from certified medical and mental health professionals within one working day of placement in restorative housing or any form of isolated confinement. The bill also requires the facility administrator to notify the regional administrator in writing that an incarcerated person was placed in restorative housing or isolated confinement within 24 hours of such placement. Finally, the bill requires that formal reviews of an incarcerated person's placement in any form of isolated confinement shall be held in such person's presence, inform him of any reason or reasons administrative officials believe isolated confinement remains necessary, and give the incarcerated person an opportunity to respond to those reasons, and a formal ruling shall be provided to the incarcerated individual within 24 hours.

VA SB 788 - Barbara A. Favola
Medical cannabis program; transition from Board of Pharmacy to Virginia Cannabis Control Authority.
02/15/2023 - Senate: House substitute agreed to by Senate (29-Y 10-N)
Medical cannabis program; transition from Board of Pharmacy to Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. Transfers oversight and administration of the Commonwealth's medical cannabis program from the Board of Pharmacy to the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority.

VA SB 791 - Amanda Freeman Chase
Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act; established, health benefit plans, etc.
11/29/2022 - Senate: Referred to Committee on Education and Health
Establishment of the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act; health benefit plans; coverage for gender transition procedures. Creates the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, which prohibits gender transition procedures, defined in the bill, for individuals under 18 years of age and prohibits the use of public funds for gender transition procedures for individuals under 18 years of age. The bill establishes enforcement procedures for violation of the SAFE Act. The bill provides that a health benefit plan providing health care coverage in the Commonwealth is prohibited from providing coverage for gender transition procedures for individuals younger than 18 years of age and is not required to provide coverage for gender transition procedures for individuals 18 years of age or older.

VA SB 797 - Barbara A. Favola
Local and Regional Jails, State Board of; increases membership.
03/02/2023 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 27, 2023
State Board of Local and Regional Jails; membership. Increases from nine members to 11 members the State Board of Local and Regional Jails by requiring (i) the appointment of both a former sheriff and a former superintendent of a regional jail facility where current law requires appointment of only one former sheriff or one former warden, superintendent, administrator, or operations manager of a state or local correctional facility and (ii) the appointment of an additional member who is employed by a public mental health services agency with training in or clinical, managerial, or other relevant experience working with individuals subject to the criminal justice system who have mental illness. This bill is identical to HB 2438.

VA SB 798 - Ghazala F. Hashmi
Individuals with disabilities; terminology.
02/20/2023 - House: VOTE: Passage (96-Y 2-N)
Individuals with disabilities; terminology. Replaces various instances of the terms "handicap," "handicapped," and similar variations throughout the Code of Virginia with alternative terms, as appropriate in the statutory context, such as "disability" and "impairment." The bill contains technical amendments. The bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Disability Commission.

VA SB 80 - Barbara A. Favola
Decreasing probation period; establishes criteria for mandatory reduction.
03/25/2024 - Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB80ER)
Department of Corrections; probation modification; report. Directs the Department of Corrections to meet with the Virginia Probation and Parole Association, criminal justice reform organizations, and other relevant stakeholders and provide a report to the General Assembly, no later than November 1, 2024, that describes (i) current probation practices regarding the monitoring of participation in education, employment, treatment, and other programs and the submission of requests for probation modification based on such participation and (iii) how such practices compare to the processes and practices that would have been established pursuant to SB 80, as reported by the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services.

VA SB 818 - Lionell Spruill Sr.
Public elementary and secondary schools; programs of instruction on mental health education.
02/02/2023 - Senate: Committee substitute printed 23105605D-S1
Public elementary and secondary schools; programs of instruction; mental health education; curriculum guidelines; instruction required. Requires each public elementary, middle, and high school to provide at each grade level, in addition to health instruction, an additional age-appropriate course of instruction on mental health. The bill directs the Board of Education to develop mental health curriculum guidelines for an age-appropriate, sequential mental health curriculum for each grade level and requires such curriculum guidelines to include instruction on (i) understanding general themes of mental health and wellness, (ii) recognizing symptoms of common mental health challenges, (iii) promoting mental health wellness, (iv) seeking assistance for mental health concerns and challenges, (v) promoting awareness of the prevalence of mental health challenges and the importance of overcoming common mental health stigmas, (vi) understanding the importance of mental health to a student's physical, academic, and overall well-being, and (vii) understanding age-appropriate instruction at such grade levels as the Board deems appropriate on the connection between mental health and substance use disorders. The bill permits the Board to consult with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and other mental health experts in developing such curriculum guidelines and requires the Board to submit such guidelines to the State Board of Health for approval. The bill requires the Board to review and update by the beginning of the 2024?2025 school year the health Standards of Learning for each grade level to include such instruction on the mental health curriculum guidelines.

VA SB 824 - John Joseph Bell
Substance Abuse Services Council; name change, membership.
01/16/2023 - Senate: Printed as engrossed 23102262D-E
Substance Abuse Services Council; name change; membership. Renames the Substance Abuse Services Council as the Virginia Addiction Recovery Council and increases from 29 to 32 the membership of the Council by adding two members representing the problem gambling recovery community and one member representing the Opioid Task Force.

VA SB 826 - John Joseph Bell
Deaf and the Blind, Virginia School for the; authority to establish campus security department.
03/02/2023 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 27, 2023
Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind; authority to establish campus security department. Authorizes the Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind to establish and maintain a campus security department and to employ campus security personnel therein.

VA SB 827 - Barbara A. Favola
Hospital emergency departments; required security and training, regulations.
01/27/2023 - Senate: Assigned Education sub: Higher Education
Hospital emergency departments; required security and training; regulations. Directs the Board of Health to amend its regulations to require every hospital with an emergency department to have at least one off-duty law-enforcement officer or a trained security officer present at all times. Hospital protocols shall ensure such officers providing security receive training in the use of weapons, defensive tactics, de-escalation techniques, appropriate physical restraint techniques, crisis intervention, and trauma-informed approaches in identifying and safely addressing situations involving patients, family members, or other persons who pose a risk of harm to themselves or others due to mental illness or substance abuse or who are experiencing a mental health crisis.

VA SB 846 - Barbara A. Favola
Peer recovery specialists; barrier crime exceptions.
02/17/2023 - House: VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N)
Background checks; peer recovery specialists; barrier crime exceptions. Permits the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, direct care service providers, and community boards to hire peer recovery specialists who have been convicted of certain barrier crimes where a history of such offense does not pose a risk in the work of a peer recovery specialist.

VA SB 856 - Lionell Spruill Sr.
Public elementary and secondary schools; comprehensive school counseling program.
01/26/2023 - Senate: Passed by indefinitely in Education and Health with letter (15-Y 0-N)
Public elementary and secondary schools; comprehensive school counseling program; development and implementation. Requires each local school board to develop and implement a written plan for a comprehensive school counseling program for the purpose of providing support that meets the mental and emotional health needs of all students and guiding students in academic progress, postsecondary planning, and social-emotional learning. The bill requires each local school board to develop and implement such written plan by the beginning of the 2024 - 2025 school year.

VA SB 858 - John A. Cosgrove
Evidence of defendant's mental condition admissible; mental illness.
12/30/2022 - Senate: Referred to Committee on the Judiciary
Evidence of defendant's mental condition admissible; mental illness. Eliminates "mental illness" from the list of mental conditions for which a defendant may offer evidence to show his mental condition at the time of an alleged offense.

VA SB 87 - Barbara A. Favola
Health insurance provider panels; incentives for mental health services.
03/04/2024 - Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB87ER)
Health insurance provider panels; incentives for mental health services. Allows a provider panel contract between a carrier and a primary care provider to include provisions that promote comprehensive screening using evidence-based tools for mental health needs and appropriate referrals by primary care providers to mental health services that may be provided on-site, via telehealth on site, or through an off-site referral.

VA SB 872 - Stephen D. Newman
Emergency custody; temporary detention, alternative transportation.
02/22/2023 - House: Read second time
Emergency custody; temporary detention; alternative transportation; use of restraint. Requires magistrates to authorize alternative transportation of a person subject to an emergency custody order or temporary detention order if appropriate alternative transportation is available. The bill allows alternative transportation providers providing alternative transportation services pursuant to a contract with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services who has completed training approved by the Department in the proper and safe use of restraint to use restraint (i) if restraint is necessary to ensure the safety of the person or others or prevent escape and (ii) less restrictive techniques have been determined to be ineffective to protect the person or others from harm or to prevent escape.

VA SB 88 - Mamie E. Locke
Law-enforcement and jail officers; various changes to provisions related to decertification.
03/07/2024 - Senate: Signed by President
Decertification of law-enforcement officers and jail officers. Makes various changes to the provisions related to decertification of law-enforcement officers and jail officers. The bill provides that the Department of Criminal Justice Services may conduct decertification review hearings in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Process Act. The bill provides that the findings and decision of the Department may be appealed to the Board and that the final administrative decision of the Board may be then appealed and reviewed by a court. The bill also provides that such decertification review hearings and any records submitted during the decertification review process may be closed and withheld from the public in accordance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. The bill also allows the Department to grant a continuance of any informal fact-finding conference or formal hearing upon motion by the decertified officer or his counsel or the Attorney General for good cause shown. The bill requires an officer to remain decertified during a period of continuance of any informal fact-finding conference or formal hearing for a pending criminal charge unless the Department finds the officer's continued decertification may cause circumstances that constitute a manifest injustice to the officer, in which case the officer's certification may be reinstated during the period of continuance until the conviction becomes final. Current law allows the Board, when an officer's conviction has not become final, to decline to decertify such officer after considering the likelihood of irreparable damage to the officer if such officer is decertified during the pendency of an ultimately successful appeal, the likelihood of injury or damage to the public if the officer is not decertified, and the seriousness of the offense. Additionally, the bill allows for the decertification of an officer who is terminated or resigns for an act committed while in the performance of his duties that compromises an officer's credibility, integrity, or honesty or that constitutes exculpatory or impeachment evidence in a criminal case. The bill also provides that persons who are currently in a recruit or field training status and have committed an act that would be any basis for decertification are ineligible for certification. The bill also specifies that the required notification to the Department related to an officer being terminated or resigning (i) for engaging in serious misconduct; (ii) while such officer is the subject of a pending internal investigation involving serious misconduct; or (iii) for an act committed while in the performance of his duties that compromises an officer's credibility, integrity, or honesty or constitutes exculpatory or impeachment evidence in a criminal case shall be within 48 hours of completion of an internal investigation. Under current law, such notification is required to be within 48 hours of the termination or resignation. The bill also requires the Department to establish standards and procedures for when the Department may grant a petition for reinstatement of certification of a decertified officer. The bill directs the Department to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill.

VA SB 887 - Joseph D. Morrissey
Correctional facilities, state; use of isolated confinement.
02/25/2023 - House: VOTE: Adoption (91-Y 1-N)
State correctional facilities; use of isolated confinement. Prohibits the use of isolated confinement, as defined in the bill, in state correctional facilities, subject to certain exceptions. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

VA SB 888 - Joseph D. Morrissey
Imprisonment; consecutive terms.
01/16/2023 - Senate: Reported from Judiciary (9-Y 6-N)
Consecutive terms of imprisonment. Eliminates the required imposition of mandatory consecutive sentences of imprisonment.

VA SB 904 - William Robert DeSteph Jr.
Workers' compensation; anxiety disorder or depressive disorder incurred by law-enforcement officers.
03/22/2023 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0244)
Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder; law-enforcement officers and firefighters. Provides that an anxiety disorder or depressive disorder, as both are defined in the bill, incurred by a law-enforcement officer or firefighter is compensable under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act on the same basis as post-traumatic stress disorder, except in the case of responding to crime scenes for investigation. The bill provides that a mental health professional must diagnose the covered individual as suffering from anxiety disorder or depressive disorder as a result of a qualifying event, defined in the bill as an incident or exposure occurring in the line of duty on or after July 1, 2023, and includes other conditions for compensability. This bill is identical to HB 1775.

VA SB 910 - Stephen D. Newman
Higher educational institutions, public; threat assessment teams, powers and duties.
01/26/2023 - Senate: Committee substitute printed 23105052D-S1
Public institutions of higher education; threat assessment teams; powers and duties. Requires each threat assessment team at each public institution of higher education, upon a preliminary determination that an individual poses an articulable and significant threat of violence to others, to (i) obtain criminal history record information and health records for such individual, (ii) notify the campus police department, local law enforcement, and the local attorney for the Commonwealth in writing within 24 hours of obtaining such criminal history record information and health records, and (iii) disclose any specific threat of violence posed by the individual as part of such notification. The bill permits each such threat assessment team to invite non-member representatives from campus to participate in individual cases and specifies that no such representative shall be considered a member of the threat assessment team. The bill requires each threat assessment team member to complete an annual threat assessment training conducted by the Department of Criminal Justice Services or an independent entity approved by the Department. The bill also provides that in the event that a public institution of higher education has knowledge that a student who was determined pursuant to an investigation by the institution's threat assessment team to pose an articulable and significant threat of violence to others is transferring to another institution of higher education, the public institution of higher education from which the student is transferring shall notify the institution of higher education to which the student is transferring of such investigation and determination. Finally, the bill requires the Secretary of Education and Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security to convene a task force to determine best practices and develop model policies and procedures for all threat assessment teams at public institutions of higher education and consider and make legislative recommendations on the appropriate qualifications of members of such threat assessment. The task force is required to submit its findings to the Governor and Chairmen of the House Committee for Courts of Justice, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the House Committee on Education, and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than December 1, 2023.

VA SB 918 - Joseph D. Morrissey
Carrying, sale, transfer, etc., of assault firearms and certain ammunition feeding devices.
01/06/2023 - Senate: Referred to Committee on the Judiciary
Carrying, sale, transfer, etc., of assault firearms and certain ammunition feeding devices prohibited; penalties. Prohibits the sale of an assault firearm and a large capacity ammunition feeding device, as those terms are defined in the bill. 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, 2023. 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 prohibits the carrying of certain shotguns and semi-automatic center-fire rifles and pistols on any public street, road, alley, sidewalk, or public right-of-way or in any public park or any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public. Under current law, the current prohibition on carrying certain shotguns and semi-automatic center-fire rifles and pistols applies to a narrower range of firearms, only in certain localities, and only when such firearms are loaded. The bill prohibits a firearms dealer from selling, renting, trading, or transferring from his inventory any assault firearm to any person.

VA SB 920 - Richard Henry Stuart
Employment of school protection officers in public schools.
01/06/2023 - Senate: Referred to Committee on the Judiciary
Employment of school protection officers in public schools. Permits any local law-enforcement agency to employ in any public elementary or secondary school in the local school division, pursuant to an agreement with the local school board, a school protection officer, defined in the bill as a retired law-enforcement officer hired by the local law-enforcement agency on a part-time basis to provide limited law-enforcement and security services to public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth. The bill requires each such school board and local law-enforcement agency to enter into a memorandum of understanding that sets forth the powers and duties of school protection officers. The bill requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish compulsory training standards for school protection officers and requires the collection of certain data relating to the activities of such officers.

VA SB 925 - John A. Cosgrove
Patient visitation; visitation from clergy members during declared public health emergency.
01/19/2023 - Senate: Passed by indefinitely in Education and Health (13-Y 2-N)
Patient visitation; visitation from clergy members. Requires hospitals, nursing homes, and certified nursing facilities to allow patients to receive visits from clergy members during a declared public health emergency related to a communicable disease of public health threat. Under the bill, the hospital, nursing home, or certified nursing facility may require the clergy member to comply with all reasonable health and safety requirements and may restrict visits of a clergy member who fails a health screening measure or tests positive for a communicable disease of public health concern. If the health and safety requirement substantially burdens the clergy member's free exercise of religion, the hospital, nursing home, or certified nursing facility may require compliance only if the requirement furthers a compelling health and safety interest and imposes the least restrictive requirement. The bill provides immunity for hospitals, nursing homes, and certified nursing facilities and their employees and contractors from liability for injury or death due to exposure to a communicable disease of public health concern resulting from or related to such visitation, except in limited circumstances. The bill also allows a person or religious organization to bring a civil action against a hospital, nursing home, or certified nursing facility alleging a violation of such visitation provisions.

VA SB 930 - Ghazala F. Hashmi
Health care; decision making; end of life; penalties.
01/06/2023 - Senate: Referred to Committee on Education and Health
Health care; decision making; end of life; penalties. Allows an adult diagnosed with a terminal condition to request and an attending health care provider to prescribe a self-administered controlled substance for the purpose of ending the patient's life in a humane and dignified manner. The bill requires that a patient's request for a self-administered controlled substance to end his life must be given orally on two occasions and in writing, signed by the patient and one witness, and that the patient be given an express opportunity to rescind his request at any time. The bill makes it a Class 2 felony (i) to willfully and deliberately alter, forge, conceal, or destroy a patient's request, or rescission of request, for a self-administered controlled substance to end his life with the intent and effect of causing the patient's death; (ii) to coerce, intimidate, or exert undue influence on a patient to request a self-administered controlled substance for the purpose of ending his life or to destroy the patient's rescission of such request with the intent and effect of causing the patient's death; or (iii) to coerce, intimidate, or exert undue influence on a patient to forgo a self-administered controlled substance for the purpose of ending the patient's life. The bill also grants immunity from civil or criminal liability and professional disciplinary action to any person who complies with the provisions of the bill and allows health care providers to refuse to participate in the provision of a self-administered controlled substance to a patient for the purpose of ending the patient's life.

VA SB 932 - Ghazala F. Hashmi
Virginia Psilocybin Advisory Board established; report; Drug Control Act reclassification.
01/06/2023 - Senate: Referred to Committee on Education and Health
Virginia Psilocybin Advisory Board established; report; Drug Control Act reclassification of psilocybin. Establishes the Virginia Psilocybin Advisory Board to develop a long-term strategic plan for establishing therapeutic access to psilocybin services and monitor and study federal laws, regulations, and policies regarding psilocybin. The bill requires the Board to report annually by December 1 to the Governor and the General Assembly regarding its activities and recommendations. The bill reclassifies psilocybin under the Drug Control Act from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance.

VA SB 957 - John Chapman Petersen
Prescription Drug Affordability Board and Fund established; drug cost affordability review.
01/06/2023 - Senate: Referred to Committee on Rules
Prescription Drug Affordability Board and Fund established; drug cost affordability review. Establishes the Prescription Drug Affordability Board for the purpose of protecting the citizens of the Commonwealth and other stakeholders within the health care system from the high costs of prescription drug products.

VA SB 960 - Mark J. Peake
Youth Health Protection Act; established, civil penalty.
02/02/2023 - Senate: Passed by indefinitely in Education and Health (10-Y 5-N)
Youth Health Protection Act established; civil penalty. Creates the Youth Health Protection Act (the Act), which makes it unlawful for any individual to provide gender transition procedures for minors and prohibits the use of public funds for gender transition procedures. The bill allows parents, guardians, or custodians to withhold consent for any treatment, activity, or mental health care services that are designed and intended to form their child's conceptions of sex and gender or to treat gender dysphoria or gender nonconformity. The bill prohibits government agents, other than law-enforcement personnel, from encouraging or coercing a minor to withhold information from the minor's parent. The bill establishes a duty for a government agent with knowledge that a minor has exhibited symptoms of gender dysphoria or gender nonconformity or otherwise demonstrates a desire to be treated in a manner incongruent with the minor's sex to immediately notify each of the minor's parents, guardians, or custodians in writing, with descriptions of relevant circumstances. The bill prohibits discrimination against persons (i) providing information regarding violations of the Act to their employer or specified public entities or (ii) who make disclosures under the Act believed to be a violation of law, rule, or regulation; any violation of any standard of care or other ethical guidelines for the provision of health care service; or gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety. The bill establishes a civil action for any violation of the Act by a clinic, health care system, medical professional, or other responsible person with a two-year statute of limitations. The bill prohibits political subdivisions of the Commonwealth from enacting, adopting, maintaining, or enforcing any measure that interferes with the professional conduct and judgment of a mental health care professional or counselor undertaken within the course of treatment and communication with clients, patients, other persons, or the public. The bill provides for enforcement by the Attorney General or a mental health care professional or counsel through an action for injunctive relief and allows a mental health care professional to recover reasonable attorney fees and reasonable costs incurred in obtaining an injunction. The bill waives sovereign immunity to suit and immunity from liability under this statute.

VA SB 970 - Taylor Montgomery Mason
Mental health conditions & impairment; health regulatory board w/in DHP to amend its applications.
03/02/2023 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 27, 2023
Department of Health Professions; applications for licensure, certification, and registration; mental health conditions and impairment; emergency. Directs each health regulatory board within the Department of Health Professions to amend its licensure, certification, and registration applications to remove any existing questions pertaining to mental health conditions and impairment and to include the following questions: (i) Do you have any reason to believe that you would pose a risk to the safety or well-being of your patients or clients? and (ii) Are you able to perform the essential functions of a practitioner in your area of practice with or without reasonable accommodation? The bill contains an emergency clause. This bill is identical to HB 1573.

VA SB 973 - Mark J. Peake
Sexually violent predators; civil commitment, penalty.
02/24/2023 - House: VOTE: Adoption (95-Y 0-N)
Civil commitment of sexually violent predators; penalty. Creates a Class 6 felony for any civilly committed sexually violent predator who tampers with or in any way attempts to circumvent the operation of his GPS equipment while on conditional release.

VA SB 975 - Mark J. Peake
Certified nurse midwives, etc.; designation as advanced practice registered nurses.
02/14/2023 - House: Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions (21-Y 0-N)
Certified nurse midwives, certified registered nurse anesthetists, clinical nurse specialists, and nurse practitioners; designation as advanced practice registered nurses. Changes references to certain practitioners in the Code to advanced practice registered nurse in order to align the Code with the professional designations established by the Consensus Model for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses Regulation established by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.

VA SB 98 - Barbara A. Favola
Health insurance; if prior authorization request is approved for prescription drugs.
03/11/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
Health insurance; prior authorization. Requires that any provider contract between a carrier and a participating health care provider contain specific provisions that require that if a prior authorization request is approved for prescription drugs and such prescription drugs have been scheduled, provided, or delivered to the patient consistent with the authorization, the carrier shall not revoke, limit, condition, modify, or restrict that authorization unless (i) there is evidence that the authorization was obtained based on fraud or misrepresentation; (ii) final actions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, other regulatory agencies, or the manufacturer remove the drug from the market, limit its use in a manner that affects the authorization, or communicate a patient safety issue that would affect the authorization alone or in combination with other authorizations; (iii) a combination of drugs prescribed would cause a drug interaction; or (iv) a generic or biosimilar is added to the prescription drug formulary. The bill provides that such provisions do not require a carrier to cover any benefit not otherwise covered or cover a prescription drug if the enrollee is no longer covered by a health plan on the date the prescription drug was scheduled, provided, or delivered. This bill is identical to HB 1134.

VA SB 987 - Taylor Montgomery Mason
Guardianship and conservatorship; periodic review hearings.
01/06/2023 - Senate: Referred to Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services
Guardianship and conservatorship; periodic review hearings. Requires the court to set up a schedule for periodic review hearings in the order of appointment of a guardian or conservator, unless the court makes a determination that such hearings are unnecessary or impracticable. The bill further provides that any periodic review hearing shall include the following assessments by the court: (i) the likelihood that the respondent's condition will improve or the respondent will regain capacity, (ii) whether concerns or questions were raised about the suitability of the person appointed as a guardian or conservator at the time of the initial appointment, and (iii) whether the appointment of a guardian or conservator or the appointment of the specifically appointed guardian or conservator was contested by the respondent or another party.

VA SB 994 - David W. Marsden
Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman; created.
01/06/2023 - Senate: Referred to Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services
Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman; created. Creates the Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman headed by an Ombudsman who is selected by a Corrections Oversight Committee, also created by the bill. The Committee is made up of four members of the General Assembly and 11 nonlegislative citizen members who monitor the activities of the Ombudsman and the Department of Corrections. The bill provides the Office's authority to conduct inspections at least once every three years and more often when warranted of Department or Board of Local and Regional Jails facilities and requires the Office to establish confidential telephone hotlines and online forms for concerns, complaints, and inquiries by inmates, their family members and advocates, and Department employees and contractors. In addition, the bill requires the Committee to conduct quarterly public hearings and submit an annual report to the Governor, the Attorney General, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the House Committee on Public Safety, and the Director of the Department.

Recent Activity Bills updated in the last 24 hours

14 updates

  • VA HB 1244 - Joshua G. Cole
    Restorative housing and isolated confinement; restrictions on use.
    03/27/2024 - Governor: Vetoed by Governor
  • VA HB 1269 - Marcia S. Price
    Barrier crimes; adult substance abuse and mental health services, exception.
    03/27/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
  • VA HB 1496 - Sam Rasoul
    Surveillance technology; reporting by state & local law-enforcement agencies, etc.
    03/27/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
  • VA HB 1499 - Rodney T. Willett
    Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority; increases ex officio members, etc., report.
    03/27/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
  • VA HB 224 - Rozia A. Henson
    Public schools; mental health awareness training.
    03/27/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
  • VA HB 267 - Vivian E. Watts
    Assault or assault and battery; affirmative defense, penalty.
    03/27/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
  • VA HB 314 - Patrick A. Hope
    State hospitals; discharge planning.
    03/25/2024 - House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB314ER)
  • VA HB 555 - Patrick A. Hope
    Corrections Ombudsman, Office of the Department of; created, annual report.
    03/27/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
  • VA HB 632 - Sam Rasoul
    Teachers; changes to provisions relating to licensure and certification, reciprocity.
    03/27/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
  • VA SB 34 - Mamie E. Locke
    Temporary detention; certified evaluators, report.
    03/25/2024 - Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB34ER)
  • VA SB 352 - Mark J. Peake
    Teachers; changes to provisions relating to licensure and certification, reciprocity.
    03/27/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
  • VA SB 357 - Jennifer Barton Boysko
    Assault or assault and battery; affirmative defense, penalty.
    03/27/2024 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024
  • VA SB 626 - Todd E. Pillion
    Barrier crimes; adult substance abuse and mental health services, exception.
    03/25/2024 - Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB626ER)
  • VA SB 80 - Barbara A. Favola
    Decreasing probation period; establishes criteria for mandatory reduction.
    03/25/2024 - Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB80ER)
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