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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
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Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2012 SESSION
Chairman: Stephen H. Martin
Clerk: Patty Lung, Jocelyn Lance
Staff: Jessica Eades, Ellen Porter
Date of Meeting: February 2, 2012
Time and Place: 8:00 AM -- Senate Room B
Revised Docket - SB 568 added
Patron: Black
Disease prevention and control; Lyme disease. Adds both confirmed and suspected cases of Lyme disease to the list of diseases required to be reported to the Department of Health.
Patron: Edwards
Higher education; partial tuition waiver for dependent children of faculty. Requires public institutions of higher education to grant a 50 percent tuition waiver to dependent students of current full-time faculty members who have been employed full time by any one or more public Virginia colleges or universities for an aggregate period of at least seven years. The waiver would be valid at any public institution of higher education.
Patron: Edwards
Physician assistants; fluoroscopy. Allows a licensed physician assistant who (i) is working under the supervision of a licensed doctor of medicine or osteopathy specializing in the field of radiology and (ii) has been trained in the proper use of equipment for the purpose of performing radiologic technology procedures to use fluoroscopy for guidance of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The bill requires the Board of Medicine to promulgate emergency regulations to implement the provisions of this bill.
Patron: Marsh
Virginia Public School Improvement Program. Creates the Virginia Public School Improvement Program to offer more educational options and flexibility for parents, teachers, and students. The bill authorizes local school boards to designate or approve any public school within its school division to participate in the Program, if (i) it has not applied for, converted to, or received permission from the local school board to operate as a public charter school, or (ii) a majority of parents and teachers of students at the school have petitioned the school board to participate in the Program, or (iii) the school board has determined that, notwithstanding having satisfied the requirements of the Standards of Learning and Standards of Accreditation, less than 81 percent of the students enrolled in a public school within the school division have failed to demonstrate proficiency in reading and less than 79 percent of the students enrolled have failed to demonstrate proficiency in mathematics for three consecutive school years. Local school boards would continue to receive state basic school aid funding for such schools; participating schools would be exempt from certain school division policies and state regulations, but would have to meet SOQ, SOL, SOA, and certain federal requirements; participation can be rescinded by petition of a majority of parents and teachers, violation of the contract with the local school board, or failure of students to achieve satisfactory academic progress each year for two consecutive school years. The Board of Education must establish guidelines to assist school boards in implementing the Program in the school division and provide technical assistance to school boards upon request.
Patron: Puckett
Dental hygienists; scope of practice. Expands an earlier trial program to allow licensed dental hygienists employed by the Department of Health to provide educational and preventative dental care pursuant to a standing protocol. Also, the bill requires an annual report of services provided by such dental hygienists, including their impact upon the oral health of the citizens of the Commonwealth, to be prepared by the Department of Health and submitted to the Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources.
Patron: Miller, J.C.
Intellectual disability and developmental services; terminology. Replaces the terms "mental retardation" and "mental deficiency" with the term "intellectual disability" when referring to the diagnosis of, and with the term "developmental" when referring to services for, individuals with intellectual disabilities; replaces the terms "mentally retarded," "mentally deficient," and "mentally defective" with the term "individual with intellectual disability." This bill has technical amendments.
Patron: Marsden
Hospital discharge of certain minors; information on services available. Requires hospitals to provide information on available alcohol and substance abuse services to minors who present with alcohol poisoning or a drug overdose. The bill also requires hospitals in such cases to seek consent to have the local community services board or behavioral health authority follow up with the patient.
Patron: Barker
Notification of breach of medical information. Extends the requirement to notify individuals of a breach of their medical information to all individuals and public and private entities, rather than just governmental agencies. The bill also allows the Attorney General to impose a civil penalty not to exceed $150,000 per breach of the security system.
Patron: Barker
Public schools; residency of children in kinship care. Allows a child receiving kinship care from a close relative to enroll in the school division where the kinship care provider resides. The bill also allows local school divisions to require one legal parent and the kinship care provider to sign affidavits detailing the kinship care arrangement.
Patron: Obenshain
Charter schools; flexibility. Allows public charter schools to choose whether its employees will participate in the Virginia Retirement System. The bill also (i) requires only 75 percent of public charter elementary school teachers to be licensed and 50 percent of public charter middle and high school teachers to be licensed, (ii) specifies that all teachers otherwise be highly qualified, as defined by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, and (iii) exempt all purchases made by a public charter school from the Virginia Public Procurement Act.
Patron: Miller, J.C.
SCHEV; pilot program for high school seniors. Requires the State Council on Higher Education for Virginia to create a pilot program to allow certain high school seniors to enroll in Thomas Nelson Community College full-time. Tuition and fees would be paid as follows: one-third by the student, one-third by the local school division the student had attended immediately preceding the program, and one-third to be waived by the community college; however, tuition for any science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) course, as defined by the Council, would be waived. In order to be eligible for this program, a student would need to have earned all credits required for a standard or advanced high school diploma by the end of the first semester of his senior year of high school. The provisions of the act would expire July 1, 2014.
Patron: Norment
Physical education; JROTC participation fulfills requirement. Requires local school boards to accept participation in the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps as fulfillment of any high school physical education requirement.
Patron: Howell
Campus police; MAAs with local law-enforcement agencies. Requires campus police to enter into mutual aid agreements with a local law-enforcement agency or the State Police for cooperation in providing assistance with the investigation of deaths and alleged rapes occurring on college campuses.
Patron: Carrico
Prescribing Schedule II, Schedule III, or Schedule IV controlled substances. Requires any prescriber who prescribes to a patient a controlled substance included in Schedule II, III, or IV of the Drug Control Act to request and review information about that patient from the Prescription Monitoring Program, and to continue to do so at least annually for so long as the prescriber continues to prescribe the controlled substance to the patient.
Patron: Carrico
Prescription Monitoring Program; disclosures. Modifies the Prescription Monitoring Program to (i) require dispensers of covered substances to report the method of payment for the prescription, (ii) require the Director of the Department of Health Professions to report information relevant to an investigation of a prescription recipient, in addition to a prescriber or dispenser, to any federal law-enforcement agency with authority to conduct drug diversion investigations, (iii) allow the Director to disclose information indicating potential misuse of a prescription by a recipient to the State Police for the purpose of investigation into possible drug diversion, and (iv) allow prescribers to delegate authority to access the Program to an unlimited number, rather than the current limit of two, of regulated health care professionals under their direct supervision.
Patron: Newman
Practice of occupational therapy. Provides that the definition of "practice of occupational therapy" is amended to make clear that it includes the therapeutic use of occupations for habilitation and rehabilitation to enhance physical health, mental health, and cognitive functioning and that it includes the design of adaptive equipment and assistive technologies and consultation concerning the adaptation of sensory and social, as well as physical, environments. The bill requires the Board of Medicine to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this act to be effective within 280 days of its enactment.
Patron: Newman
Dental laboratories; register with the Board of Dentistry. Requires any individual or business entity engaged in the manufacture or repair of dental prosthetic appliances to register with the Board of Dentistry. The bill also requires the Board to develop regulations governing the operation of dental laboratories.
Patron: Barker
Higher education; violence prevention. Clarifies that the establishment of violence prevention committees and threat assessment teams by public colleges and universities, as required by current law, may occur as such resources and individuals may become available for those purposes.
Patron: Barker
Higher education; mental health and parental notification policies. Provides that any licensed health professional treating a student may determine to withhold parental notification of a dependent student's mental health treatment if such professional determines that the notification may result in substantial harm. Currently, only a physician or clinical psychologist could make such a determination.
Patron: McEachin
Dental and dental hygiene school faculty; licensure. Clarifies what patient care activities are allowed for a person enrolled in a Virginia dental education program who has a temporary license to practice dentistry while in the program, clarifies requirements for the Board to issue a faculty license to a qualified person from out of state to teach dentistry or dental hygiene in a Virginia dental school or program, and specifies that a restricted license for a foreign dentist to teach dentistry in Virginia is a temporary appointment and extends this restricted license expiration from one year to two years.
Patron: Martin
Mental health and developmental services; terminology. Replaces the terms "mental retardation" and "mental deficiency" with the term "intellectual disability" when referring to the diagnosis of, and with the term "developmental" when referring to services for, individuals with intellectual disabilities; replaces the terms "mentally retarded," "mentally deficient," and "mentally defective" with the term "individual with intellectual disability"; replaces the terms "consumer," "patient," and "resident" with the term "individual receiving services" when used in connection with mental health or developmental services; updates the Code to reflect proper terminology for state hospitals for individuals with mental illness and state training centers for individuals with intellectual disabilities; defines the terms "behavioral health services," "developmental services," "individual receiving services," intellectual disability," and "mental health services"; and revises the definition of "training center." This bill has technical amendments.
Patron: Hanger
Deaf and hearing-impaired children; special education. Requires local school divisions to ensure that Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams consider the specific communication needs of hearing-impaired children and address those needs as appropriate in the child's IEP.
Patron: Blevins
Nursing; licensure exemption. Exempts from licensure any nurse who holds a current unrestricted license in another state while such nurse is in the Commonwealth temporarily and is practicing nursing in a summer camp or in conjunction with clients who are participating in specified recreational or educational activities.
Patron: Obenshain
Public charter schools. Provides that: (i) at the discretion of the local school board, charter schools personnel may be either employees of the charter school or the school board; (ii) charter schools shall be allowed to lease or purchase vacant or unused properties or real estate owned by the school board; (iii) per pupil funding provided to the charter school by the local school board shall not be less than 90 percent of the school division's state and local share of the Standards of Quality per pupil funding; and (iv) the contract with the public charter school may include mandatory performance-based measures or audits.
Patron: Obenshain
Design and inspection of onsite sewage systems. Establishes minimum required inspection frequencies for alternative onsite systems.
Patron: Barker
Policies addressing suicidal students; two-year institutions of higher education. Provides that two-year public institutions of higher education shall develop and implement policies to advise students, faculty, and staff of the proper procedures for identifying and addressing the needs of students exhibiting suicidal tendencies or behavior as resources become available for such purpose. The bill also deletes repetitive language permitting universities to establish policies regarding students who are a danger to themselves or others; this section and another on violence prevention already permit such policies.
Patron: Northam
Physical education; regulations. Requires the Board of Education to promulgate regulations governing physical education requirements in public schools. The Board shall promulgate the regulations to be effective beginning with the 2015 - 2016 school year.
Patron: Newman
Certificate of public need program; annual report. Eliminates the requirement that the Commissioner of Health report annually to the Governor and the General Assembly on the status of Virginia's certificate of public need program.
Patron: Ruff
Secondary school graduation requirements; diplomas. Directs the Board of Education to modify the credits necessary for a student to earn a standard or an advanced studies diploma. The advanced studies diploma shall be the recommended diploma. The standard diploma shall include a concentration in career and technical education and a requirement to earn a career and technical education credential. Standard or advanced studies diploma will require the successful completion of one virtual course. The modified standard diploma is eliminated, but the Board shall make provisions in regulation for students with disabilities to earn a standard diploma. The Board shall promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this act to be effective within 280 days of its enactment.
Patron: Wagner
Career and technical education; substitution for required credits. Requires the Board of Education to expand the subject matter areas for which successful completion of certain career and technical education competency assessments may be substituted. Currently, they may, under limited circumstances, be substituted for the student-selected verified credit and either a science or a history and social science credit. This bill would also allow the assessments to be substituted for a math or English credit.
Patron: Wagner
Board of Education; high school accreditation; industry certifications. Requires the Board of Education to adopt regulations adjusting the formula for calculating the final high school accreditation to add points for each student obtaining a diploma and an industry certification. The additional points shall only improve the accreditation status of a school and cannot be used to obtain or deny accreditation.
Patron: Northam
Certificate of public need; requires the Commissioner of Health to accept applications and to authorize the Commissioner to issue certificates of public need to establish a psychiatric service and the addition of psychiatric inpatient beds.
Patron: Martin
Definition of surgery. Defines "surgery" and provides that no person other than a licensed doctor of medicine, osteopathy, or dentistry, a licensed nurse practitioner, or a person who is acting pursuant to the orders and under the appropriate supervision of a licensed doctor of medicine, osteopathy, or dentistry shall perform surgery.
Patron: Black
Home instruction requirements; curriculum. Limits the required description of the curriculum a home school student will follow to a list of subjects to be studied in the coming year.
Patron: Ebbin
Medical assistance; coverage for certain children and pregnant women. Provides that the Board of Medical Assistance Services shall include a provision in the state plan for medical assistance services for medical assistance for otherwise eligible pregnant women during the first five years of lawful residence in the United States. The bill also requires the Department of Medical Assistance Services to provide coverage under the Family Access to Medical Insurance Security (FAMIS) Plan for otherwise eligible children and pregnant women during the first five years of lawful residence in the United States.
Patron: Puckett
Tramadol added to list of Schedule IV controlled substances. Adds tramadol, an opiate painkiller, to the list of Schedule IV controlled substances.
Patron: McWaters
Eligibility for in-state tuition; military personnel. Provides that, for current and former military personnel and their dependents, the intent to attend a public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth is sufficient for the purpose of establishing domiciliary intent and determining eligibility for in-state tuition rates.
Patron: Puckett
Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center; King College. Adds King College to the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center Board of Trustees and allows graduate degree instructional programs in education to be provided with King College at the Center.
Patron: Petersen
Higher education; mental health treatment coordination. Requires the governing board of each public institution of higher education to establish a written memorandum of understanding with their local community services board or behavioral health authority, local hospitals, and other local mental health facilities in order to coordinate the care of current students. Each institution of higher education shall designate a contact person to be notified when a student is involuntarily committed, or when a student is discharged from a facility and he consents to such notification. Each memorandum shall include the institution of higher education in the post-discharge planning of a student who has been committed, to the extent allowable under state and federal privacy laws.
Patron: Vogel
Health Practitioners' Monitoring Program; impaired health care providers. Provides that the term "impairment" includes psychological and behavioral disabilities, including the mismanagement of countertransference, for the purposes of determining eligibility for the Health Practitioners' Monitoring Program.
Patron: Obenshain
Virginia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act; penalty. Creates the Virginia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The act, created in new Article 9.1 of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2, prohibits an abortion after 20 weeks gestation unless, in reasonable medical judgment, the mother has a condition that so complicates her medical condition as to necessitate the abortion to avert her death or to avert serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function. The prohibition is predicated on the assertion that a fetus is capable of feeling pain at 20 weeks. When an abortion is not prohibited post-20 weeks gestation, the physician is required to terminate the pregnancy in a manner that would provide the unborn child the best opportunity to survive. The bill punishes an abortion in violation of the article as a Class 6 felony. The bill also provides for civil remedies against a physician who performs an abortion in violation of the article.
Patron: McEachin
Public schools; administration of auto-injectable epinephrine. Provides that local school boards may develop policies to maintain a supply of auto-injectable epinephrine. The school nurse, or a trained and authorized school board employee if a nurse is unavailable, would be able to administer or provide auto-injectable epinephrine to a student with a prescription on file or a student believed to be having an anaphylactic reaction. Neither the school nurse nor the authorized and trained school board employee shall be liable for any civil damages for ordinary negligence when acting in good faith.
Patrons: Stanley, Garrett
Action for death by wrongful act; how and when to be brought. For the purpose of this section, death of a person includes a fetus.