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2005 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Education and Health

Chairman: H. Russell Potts, Jr.

Clerk: Jocelyn Lance
Date of Meeting: January 27, 2005
Time and Place: 8:00 a.m., Thursday, Senate Room B, General Assembly Building
Education bills will be heard first

S.B. 742 Medical assistance; employer information, report.

Patron: Miller

Medical assistance; employer information.  Requires the Department of Medical Assistance Services to require any applicant for health care benefits under public health programs, including the state plan for medical assistance services, the State/Local Hospitalization Plan, and the Family Access to Medical Insurance Security Plan, to identify the employer of the proposed beneficiary of the health care benefit and to report employers who employ 25 or more public health program beneficiaries to the Governor and General Assembly. The report shall include each employer's name, location, the total number of its employees and dependents who are enrolled in each health care program, and the total cost to the Commonwealth of providing health care benefits for the employees and enrolled dependents of each named employer.

S.B. 744 Nurse aides; nonprofit organization to provide on-site training to promote quality care.

Patron: Miller

Health; working conditions of certified nurse aides. Directs the nonprofit organization, established by the Department of Medical Assistance Services to provide on-site training, assistance, and other services to promote the quality of care in nursing facilities, to address the working conditions, salary and benefits, and available career pathways for certified nurse aids with emphasis on recruitment and retention. Further, the nonprofit organization must explore possible funding streams for state-certified nurse aide programs, including but not limited to, voluntary tax options.

S.B. 757 Student Financial Security Program and Fund; created.

Patron: Houck

Student Financial Security Program. Creates the Student Financial Security Program and Fund to provide supplemental funding for need-based, state-funded financial aid at two- and four-year public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth. The funding is designed to ensure that resources for student financial aid programs based in whole or in part on need are available to offset tuition increases at the various public institutions.

Among the Commonwealth's state-funded, need-based student aid initiatives are the Virginia Guaranteed Assistance Program (§ 23-38.53:4 et seq.), the College Scholarship Assistance program (§ 23-38.45 et seq.), and student loan programs (§ 23-38.10:2 et seq.).

S.B. 829 Optometrists; treatment of narrow angle glaucoma.

Patron: Mims

Health; treatment of narrow angle glaucoma.  Provides that treatment of narrow angle glaucoma by optometrists must include timely referral to an ophthalmologist for consideration of preventive invasive procedures. The bill also includes definitions of "narrow angle glaucoma" and "adnexa" and prohibits treatment by optometrists of the paranasal sinuses, eyebrows, the brain, the oropharyngeal cavity, and certain systemic disease processes including hypertension, diabetes, and collagen vascular diseases.

S.B. 853 Voluntary admission; juv. 14 yrs. of age shall be admitted to state hospital with parental consent.

Patron: Cuccinelli

Voluntary treatment.  Authorizes juveniles age 14 and older who have the consent of their parent to be admitted voluntarily to state hospitals (Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services) for treatment.

S.B. 861 Tuberculosis; establishing library of isolates from persons with disease.

Patron: Howell

Reporting of tuberculosis strains with antimicrobial drug susceptibilities.  Removes the option of submitting to the local health director a report of antimicrobial drug susceptibilities performed by a laboratory certified to perform such testing in lieu of submitting a representative and viable sample of initial cultures positive for tubercle bacilli to the Virginia Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services. The bill requires that the Virginia Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services establish a library of isolates from persons with active tuberculosis disease for the purpose of disease strain analysis as indicated by epidemiological investigations.

S.B. 892 Meningococcal meningitis; requires all schools to distribute information to parents.

Patron: Mims

Dissemination of information regarding meningococcal meningitis.  Requires school boards to ensure that all schools in the division include information regarding meningococcal meningitis and related vaccinations in those materials currently required to be distributed at the beginning of each school year to parents. This information is to address (i) the etiology, symptoms, transmission, and prevention of meningococcal meningitis; (ii) additional informational sources; and (iii) entities offering such vaccinations.

S.B. 1023 Persons with mental illness, mental retardation or substance abuse; recodification of Title 37.1.

Patron: Mims

Recodification of Title 37.1; persons with mental illness, mental retardation, or substance abuse.  Recodifies Title 37.1 as Title 37.2. In accordance with § 30-152, the Virginia Code Commission, in 2003, undertook the recodification of Title 37.1. Title 37.1 is the legal authority for the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services under the Secretariat of Health and Human Resources, as well as the Office of the Inspector General for Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services. Title 37.1 is also the legal authority for community services boards and behavioral health authorities. The title was last revised in 1968. During the past 37 years, much has happened to affect laws governing mental health, mental retardation, and substance abuse services. The Virginia Code Commission has rewritten and combined sections or parts of sections to clarify provisions and to eliminate archaic, obsolete, or redundant language. Additionally, certain substantive changes are made, many of which reflect current practices, delete eliminated programs, or conform provisions to other statutes and regulations.

The Virginia Code Commission has divided Title 37.2 into four subtitles. Subtitle I contains general provisions applicable to the entire title. The title-wide definitions are included as general provisions. Subtitle II deals with mental health, mental retardation, and substance abuse services. A newly created chapter within Subtitle II consolidates sections related to state facilities that were previously scattered throughout Title 37.1. Subtitle III contains chapters related to admissions and dispositions. Subtitle IV contains guardianship, conservatorship, and judicial authorization of treatment provisions.

Current §§ 37.1-207 and 37.1-207.1, relating to the Substance Abuse Services Council are relocated to Title 2.2 (Administration of Government) as part of the title revision. This executive branch advisory council coordinates the Commonwealth's public and private efforts to control substance abuse and it is more appropriately placed in this general government title.

Two current chapters are not carried forward as part of Title 37.2 and will be repealed: Chapter 3 (Persons Not Confined to State Hospitals) and Chapter 7 (Extradition of Persons of Unsound Minds). Both chapters are obsolete.

 

S.B. 1024 Hospitals and nursing homes; Bd. of Health must include minimum standards for design, etc.

Patron: Newman

Licensure of hospitals and nursing homes; Board of Health.  Requires the Board of Health's regulations setting forth design and construction standards for hospitals and nursing homes to be aligned with the then current edition of the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospital and Health Care Facilities issued by the American Institute of Architects Academy of Architecture for Health. The Board is required to promulgate emergency regulations to implement this provision.

S.B. 1050 Ombudsman; court to appoint to serve as intermediary to protect interest of incapacitated seniors.

Patron: Wagner

Health; appointment of ombudsman for incapacitated seniors.  Authorizes a court, following the appointment of a guardian for incapacitated persons aged 60 or over, to appoint an ombudsman to serve as an intermediary to protect the interests of persons subject to the guardianship order. The entity with whom the Department for the Aging contracts to provide long-term care ombudsmen must establish a system for voluntary ombudsman services acting as intermediary for such persons subject to guardianship orders.

S.B. 1064 Health records; emphasizes right of an individual to have access thereto, exceptions.

Patron: Martin

Health records privacy.  Emphasizes the right of an individual to have access to his health records with certain exceptions; defines the term "psychotherapy notes"; clarifies the list of persons to whom disclosure of protected health information may be made; underscores the confidentiality of psychotherapy notes and prohibits the disclosure of such psychotherapy notes, with exceptions for training programs, legal processes, protection of third parties, and various law-enforcement and regulatory investigations; and states specifically that state law controls the procedures for requesting health records.

S.B. 1109 Health records; revises certain provisions for privacy of minors.

Patron: Blevins

Health records privacy; minors' records.  Revises certain provisions relating to minors' health records to provide a measure of consistency with the federal regulations that were promulgated by the federal Secretary of Health and Human Services pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act concerning access to and authority to disclose protected health information.

S.B. 1110 Health care providers; elim. provisions governing disclosure of patient info. to third party payors.

Patron: Blevins

Disclosure of patient information by certain health care providers.  Repeals provisions governing disclosure of patient information to third party payors by mental health, mental retardation, and substance abuse professionals. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Health Care.

S.B. 1130 Elementary schools; physical education instruction requirement.

Patron: Lambert

Elementary schools.  Requires physical education instruction to include 30 minutes daily of cardio-vascular, muscle building, and stretching exercises utilizing existing school personnel.

S.B. 1132 Immunization Information System (VIIS); established.

Patron: Howell

Virginia Immunization Information System (VIIS).  Requires the Board of Health to establish the Virginia Immunization Information System, a statewide immunization registry that consolidates patient immunization histories from birth to death into a complete, accurate, and definitive record that may be made available to participating health care providers throughout Virginia. The Board must promulgate regulations addressing voluntary participation, a secure system for data entry or delivery, incorporation of the data already reported on children's immunizations, the nature of the data to be reported, data-sharing agreements with other state and regional immunization registries, use of vital statistic data, requests for records in compliance with existing requirements, release of aggregate data without personal identifiers, and the use of the data in an epidemic or outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease.

The bill also establishes the criteria for disclosure of protected health information to VIIS, i.e., ensuring the integrity of the health care system and prevention of disease. Immunity is provided to participants, the Board and Commissioner of Health, and employees of the Department of Health. Current responsibilities for record maintenance and obtaining immunization of children are retained as well as existing exemptions on religious or health grounds.

S.B. 1191 Indoor Clean Air Act; smoking restrictions, civil penalty.

Patron: Mims

Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act; civil penalties.  Moves the law restricting smoking in buildings and other enclosed areas from the title relating to local government (15.2) to the title relating to health (32.1) and prohibits smoking indoors in most buildings or enclosed areas frequented by the public. Exceptions to the smoking prohibition are provided for (i) private homes, private residences, and private automobiles, unless used as or in the operation of any establishment or facility in which smoking is prohibited; (ii) private functions; hotel, or motel rooms clearly designated as "smoking" rooms; (iii) hotel or motel rooms clearly designated as "smoking" rooms so long as such rooms do not exceed 25 percent of the total accommodations within the establishment that are offered for lease or rent to the public; (iv) bar or lounge areas separately enclosed from any establishment in which smoking is prohibited; (v) specialty tobacco stores; and (vi) private separately enclosed office or work areas that are not entered by the general public in the normal course of business or use of the premises unless a person who works in such private separately enclosed office or work area objects to smoking in such area. Signs stating "Warning: Smoking Permitted" must be posted by the proprietor of any exempt building or area when smoking is allowed. Any person who continues to smoke in an area in which smoking is prohibited after having been asked to refrain from smoking will be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $100. Civil penalties of $250 will be levied for subsequent offenses. Failure to comply with the building restrictions will subject proprietors to a $200 civil penalty for the first offense and $500 for subsequent offenses. Any law enforcement officer may issue a summons regarding a violation of this law. The Board of Health and the Commissioner of Labor and Industry will jointly promulgate regulations to enforce these requirements and must annually report on their enforcement efforts by January 15, beginning in 2006. The bill sets out relevant definitions and notes that any proprietor of a building or area excepted has the right to prohibit smoking and that any principal or other administrator of an educational facility may adopt smoking prohibitions that are more stringent, including restrictions on smoking in areas on the facility's campus that are not enclosed; that signs will not be required on private homes or residences or private vehicles; and that the new chapter must not be construed to permit smoking where it is otherwise prohibited by the proprietor of any establishment, building, or area or by other applicable law. Enactment clauses repeal the present title relating to counties, cities, and towns and postpone the effective date for prohibiting smoking in such bars and lounges that are not separately enclosed from other establishments until July 1, 2006, and authorize, until such time, smoking in bars and lounges to the same extent as allowed under present law or ordinances.

S.B. 1208 Patient safety; establishment of toll-free hotline for reports, & protection of health records.

Patron: Mims

Patient protections; safety.  Requires the Department of Health (i) to establish a confidential toll-free hotline for reports on patient safety and quality of patient care in hospitals, nursing homes, and certified nursing facilities that may be made anonymously or in the name of any health care provider or consumer; (ii) respond to complaints and provide a concise description of any action taken pursuant to the complaint; and (iii) prohibits retaliation against complainants.

The bill also requires facilities to develop, implement, and assure compliance with a patient safety plan and to submit the patient safety plan to the Department of Health prior to the date of license renewal. All facilities and all physicians are required to report serious medical errors to the patient who was the subject of the error and to the Board of Medicine.  The facilities must require medical error reports from physicians with practice privileges, contracts with or employed by the facilities, which must be, in turn, reported to the Board of Health.  The Board of Health must require that the reports of serious medical errors received by hospitals, nursing homes, and certified nursing facilities be submitted to the patient-level database.

The bill also prohibits alteration, destruction or discarding of an individual's health record in an effort to conceal any serious medical error. Any physician of medicine, osteopathy, or podiatry found liable in three or more medical malpractice suits in a three-year period will be investigated to determine whether he is violating the regulatory law and should be the subject of a license revocation proceeding. The Director of the Department of Health Professions is authorized to provide a summary of any action taken as a result of a complaint to the complainant.

S.B. 1214 Early childhood education; availability in all school divisions for four- and five-year olds.

Patron: Edwards

Early childhood education.  Requires, on and after July 1, 2010, all school divisions to provide early childhood education programs for four-year-olds and five-year-olds who are not eligible to attend kindergarten or at-risk early childhood education programs and whose parents voluntarily wish to enroll them in such programs. These mandated early childhood education programs must be coordinated with the current at-risk early childhood programs, consistent with the Department's guidelines for early childhood education, and meet the standards established by the Board of Education. The Board of Education is required to promulgate regulations to implement the orderly phase-in of the required programs with the current voluntary programs for at-risk four-year-olds and at-risk five-year-olds who are not eligible to attend kindergarten. An enactment clause provides that the implementation and funding of the required public school early childhood education programs will be as set forth in the appropriation act. The grants for the at-risk programs may continue to be funded in public schools or other local agencies; however, the Standards of Quality funding of early childhood education will only be provided to public schools.

S.B. 1237 Brain Injury Waiver; licensing authority.

Patron: Puller

Brain Injury Waiver; licensing authority. Authorizes the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services (DMHMRSAS) to license providers of services under the Medicaid Brain Injury Waiver and providers of residential services for persons with brain injury. The bill defines "brain injury" for waiver purposes and requires the Department of Rehabilitative Services to collaborate with DMHMRSAS in activities related to the licensing of Brain Injury Waiver service providers. The bill requires the State Board of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services to promulgate necessary regulations within 280 days of enactment.

S.B. 1246 Prescription drugs; Governor to establish mechanism for purchasing from Canada.

Patron: Reynolds

Health; prescription drug purchasing option.  Directs the Governor, immediately upon the issuance of a waiver template or process by the federal Secretary of Health and Human Services, to apply for a waiver to establish a mechanism for purchasing reduced-cost prescription drugs from Canada and other countries. The Governor must, in the exercise of his substantial powers under state law, take all steps necessary for the Commonwealth to join in participating with the states of Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, and Minnesota in the I-SaveRx program, a program for purchasing lower-cost drugs from Canada and other countries that has already developed numerous measures to ensure the quality and safety of the imported drugs. The Governor may, when appropriate, sign a memorandum of understanding for Virginia to participate in the I-SaveRx program.

S.B. 1247 Medical assistance services; recovery of overpayment.

Patron: Bolling

Health; recovery of overpayment for medical assistance services.  Provides that the Director of Medical Assistance Services must issue an informal fact-finding conference decision in appeals from agency determinations concerning provider reimbursement. Further, the timelines for notification to providers of Medicaid overpayment are revised to require issuance of the notice within the earlier of (i) four years after payment of the claim or other payment request, (ii) four years after filing by the provider of a complete cost report, or (iii) fifteen months after filing by the provider of the final complete cost report.

S.B. 1250 Special education in public schools; medically fragile students entitled to services.

Patron: O'Brien

Medically fragile students; special education.  Adds medically fragile students to those children with disabilities entitled to special education services in public schools.

The Board of Education shall promulgate regulations defining "medically fragile" students to include, at a minimum, those students with a medical condition  that  (i) has been diagnosed by a licensed physician; (ii) is unstable, pervasive, intermittent, chronic, progressive, or degenerative;  and (iii) affects the student's ability to access effectively the general curriculum.  The Board shall promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this act to be effective within 280 days of its enactment.

 

S.B. 1251 Higher education; hiring and admission of military personnel.

Patron: O'Brien

Higher education; hiring and admission of military personnel. Requires Virginia's public institutions of higher education to include veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces who were honorably discharged or who are currently members in good standing in the active or inactive Reserves or National Guard as a duly recognized group in any affirmative action plan for (i) hiring as faculty or nonfaculty or (ii) admission as students. The measure also requires institutions to file annual reports on hiring and admission of veterans and military personnel.

S.B. 1257 Tuition; restricted annual increase for resident students.

Patron: Houck

Tuition; restricted annual increase.  Provides that the governing body of each public institution of higher education shall set tuition and fee charges at levels they deem to be appropriate for all resident student groups based on, but not limited to, competitive market rates. 

However, annual tuition increases cannot exceed the rate of inflation except in limited circumstances.

 

S.B. 1259 Midwifery; licensure.

Patron: Quayle

Health professions; practice of midwifery.  Provides for the licensing by the Board of Medicine of those persons who have obtained the Certified Professional Midwife credential to practice midwifery pursuant to regulations adopted by the Board of Medicine. The Board of Medicine shall adopt regulations, with advice from the Advisory Board on Midwifery established in this bill. The regulations shall (i) address the requirements for licensure to practice midwifery, (ii) be consistent with the current job analysis for the profession except that prescriptive authority shall be prohibited, (iii) ensure independent practice, (iv) provide for an appropriate license fee, and (v) include requirements for licensure renewal and continuing education. The regulations shall not (a) require any agreement, written or otherwise, with another health care professional or (b) require the assessment of a woman who is seeking midwifery services by another health care professional. Licensed midwives must disclose to clients certain background information, including their training and experience, written protocol for medical emergencies, malpractice or liability insurance coverage, and procedures to file complaints with the Board of Medicine.

S.B. 1262 Learning Technology, Office of; created within Council of Higher Education.

Patron: Potts

Higher education; Office of Learning Technology. Creates the Office of Learning Technology within the State Council of Higher Education to facilitate and coordinate the voluntary participation of public and private institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth that are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in technology-enriched learning initiatives.

The Office is empowered to (i) establish and administer agreements with public and private institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth and other entities to conduct studies examining the need for technology-enriched learning initiatives, including distance and distributed learning initiatives, for currently served populations and underserved constituencies; (ii) enhance student access to technology-enriched educational programs and opportunities; (iii) reduce unnecessary duplication in technology-enriched learning initiatives; (iv) assist in the development of standards for improving access to, training for, and efficiency in such learning initiatives; and (v) enter into contracts for related program development.

S.B. 1278 Clinical drug trials; publication of certain data.

Patron: Reynolds

Health; publication of certain data on clinical drug trials. Requires any person conducting any clinical drug trial in the Commonwealth to (i) register with and submit information to the Clinical Trials Data Bank established by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and (ii) ensure the publication of aggregate data, with personal identifiers redacted, on the results of such human research.

S.B. 1285 Teachers; salary to equal or surpass nat'l. average for those in public schools, annual evaluation.

Patron: Whipple

Teacher quality; evaluation and compensation.  Establishes as a policy of the Commonwealth that the average salary for Virginia public school teachers equals or surpasses the national average salary for public school teachers, and directs the Board of Education and the General Assembly to implement this policy in prescribing and revising the Standards of Quality.

The measure also requires annual evaluations for all teachers.

Board of Education guidelines would address these annual evaluations of instructional personnel and the review by the division superintendent or his designee of an unsatisfactory evaluation. The guidelines may provide for formal and informal evaluations in alternating years.

Under current law, probationary teachers are to be evaluated annually (§ 22.1-303). The Code also directs the Board of Education to develop criteria for use by division superintendents and principals for the evaluation of instructional personnel; these criteria can be found in the Board's "Guidelines for Uniform Performance Standards and Evaluation Criteria for Teachers, Administrators, and Superintendents."

S.B. 1288 Tuition and fees; waiver to include children of National Guard.

Patron: Stolle

Education; waiver of tuition and fees for certain students.  Includes children of members of the Virginia National Guard among children of service members who are eligible to receive a waiver for tuition and required fees at any education or training institution of collegiate or secondary grade in Virginia when a parent is killed or missing in action or was a prisoner of war in an armed conflict.

S.B. 1290 Compulsory school attendance; children 5 yrs. of age on or before July 31 to be enrolled in school.

Patron: Hanger

Compulsory school attendance.  Provides that, unless a waiver applies, all children who will have reached their fifth birthday on or before July 31 of any school year and who have not passed their eighteenth birthday shall be enrolled in a public or private school or receive home instruction. Currently, compulsory school attendance is required for children who will have reached their fifth birthday on or before September 30 of any school year.

S.B. 1293 Southside Virginia Higher Education Center.

Patron: Ruff

Southside Virginia Higher Education Center. Continues the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center, previously established through a number of regional higher education institutions, as an educational institution charged to, among other things, encourage the expansion of higher education, including adult and continuing education, associate, undergraduate, and graduate degree programs in the Southside region of the Commonwealth and foster partnerships between the public and private sectors to enhance higher education in the region.

The Center is governed by a 17-member Board of Trustees, consisting of the Director of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia or his designee; the Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System or his designee; the presidents or chancellors, as appropriate, or their designees of Longwood University, Hampden-Sydney College, St. Paul's College, Danville Community College, and Southside Virginia Community College; six legislators; and four gubernatorially-appointed nonlegislative citizen members. The Board is authorized to establish agreements with public and private institutions of higher education, if represented on the Board, to provide associate, undergraduate, and graduate level instructional programs at the Center.

Currently, the Center is located in South Boston and is governed by the Southern Virginia Higher Education Consortium, which includes Longwood University, Southside Virginia Community College, and Danville Community College.

S.B. 1295 Reporting of nosocomial infection rates.

Patron: Reynolds

Reporting of nosocomial infection rates.  Requires the Board of Health to develop a procedure whereby aggregate information on each hospital's nosocomial infection rates, without patient identifiers, may be (i) collected and reported using the surveillance components and the methodology as then currently required for such reports by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pursuant to the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System, and (ii) filed in the hospital's licensure records within the Department. The Board's procedure must authorize release of such information to the public, upon request.

S.B. 1296 Shaken baby syndrome; requires nurse midwives and hospital to give information to maternity patient.

Patron: Wampler

Certain information on shaken baby syndrome required.  Requires information on shaken baby syndrome to be made available to maternity patients by nurse midwives and hospitals with maternity services.

S.B. 1304 Group homes or residential facilities for children; regulations to ensure education, etc.

Patron: Martin

Core licensure of residential facilities for children. Requires the Boards of Education; Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services; Social Services; and Juvenile Justice to promulgate regulations that address the services required to be provided in groups homes and other residential facilities for children as they may deem appropriate to ensure the education, health, welfare, and safety of the juveniles (as relevant to the Department). In addition, each board's regulations must include, but need not be limited to (i) specifications for the structure and accommodations of such facilities according to the needs of the juveniles to be placed in the home or facility; (ii) rules concerning allowable activities, local government- and group home- or residential care facility-imposed curfews, and study, recreational, and bedtime hours; and (iii) a requirement that each home or facility have a community liaison who shall be responsible for facilitating cooperative relationships with the neighbors, the school system, local law enforcement, local government officials, and the community at large.

S.B. 1310 William and Mary, College of; extending term of Rector, change in number of members of board.

Patron: Norment

College of William and Mary; rector.  Extends the term of the current rector of the College of William and Mary for one year, to June 30, 2006. The measure also authorizes the expansion of the 17-member board to 18 from July 1, 2005, to June 30, 2006.

Finally, the measure deletes obsolete language.

S.B. 1314 Higher educational institutions; governing boards to address plans & objectives, reports.

Patron: Chichester

Public institutions of higher education.  Directs governing boards of the public institutions of higher education to adopt biennially six-year plans addressing the academic, financial, and enrollment plans and various objectives for the relevant institution. The State Council of Higher Education (SCHEV) will annually review and assess the six-year plans, identify any disparities between the institutional plans and statewide needs and objectives, and make recommendations for the revision of such plans for consideration by the respective public institutions, the Governor, and the General Assembly.

The bill requires SCHEV to develop objective measures of institutional performance and institutional performance benchmarks for these measures for consideration by the Governor and the General Assembly. Based on the objective measures and benchmarks ultimately set forth in the budget, SCHEV is to annually assess the degree to which the individual public institutions have met the institutional performance benchmarks and is to provide, no later than June 1 of each year, a certified written report of the assessment results to the Governor and the respective chairmen of the House Committees on Education and Appropriations and the Senate Committees on Finance and Education and Health. Beginning with the 2006-2007 fiscal year, those institutions that have met the institutional performance benchmarks shall be entitled to various fiscal benefits.

Authorizes public institutions of higher education (institutions) to (i) contract for specific construction projects without the review and approval of the Bureau of Capital Outlay Management, subject to various procurement and building code requirements; (ii) convey and grant easements and enter into leases without the prior approval of the Department of General Services; (iii) use internal staff or the local building official for compliance with the Uniform Statewide Building Code; (iv) exempts an institution's sole source procurements using certain vendors from the transaction fee charged by the Department of General Services' web-based electronic procurement program; and (v) authorizes institutions to establish separate purchasing and travel credit card arrangements and to dispose of surplus property subject to certain restrictions.

S.B. 1327 Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act; created, report.

Patron: Norment

Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act. Create.

S.B. 1333 Summary suspension of licenses of certain children's group homes & residential facilities; penalty.

Patron: Martin

Summary suspension of licenses of certain children's group homes and residential facilities; penalty.  Authorizes the Commissioner of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services to issue an order of summary suspension of a license to operate a group home or residential facility for children, including homes or facilities licensed under core licensure regulations, in cases of immediate and substantial threat to the health, safety, and welfare of residents.

S.B. 1336 Health; determining the price of vaccines in high demand. 

Patron: Rerras

Health; determining the price of vaccines in high demand.  Provides that the price of certain vaccines that are in high demand shall not be determined or increased in response to a shortage of the supply and the public demand of such vaccines.