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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
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2015 SESSION
Chairman: Frank W. Wagner
Clerk: Eric Bingham
Staff: Sarah Stanton, David May
Date of Meeting: January 30, 2015
Time and Place: Friday 8:00 AM, Senate Room B
Please note time change. Meeting now at 8:00
Patron: Edwards
Criminal history record checks; barrier crimes. Sets out the list of barrier crimes for (i) individuals seeking employment at nursing homes, home care organizations, hospices, state facilities, and private providers licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, community services boards, behavioral health authorities, assisted living facilities, adult day care centers, children's welfare agencies, family day homes approved by family day systems, and children's residential facilities; (ii) applicants for licensure, registration, or approval as assisted living facilities, child welfare agencies, or family day homes approved by family day systems; (iii) individuals with whom a local board of social services or child-placing agency is considering placing a child on an emergency, temporary, or permanent basis; (iv) foster and adoptive homes seeking approval from child-placing agencies; and (v) providers of adult services and adult foster care seeking approval by the Department of Social Services by setting out each of the crimes included in the definition of "barrier crime." The bill also makes technical changes and updates obsolete language.
Patron: Locke
Child day programs; exemptions from licensure. Removes the requirement that certain child day programs exempt from licensure require parents or guardians to sign a written policy that explains that the child day program allows school-age children to freely enter and leave the premises without permission or supervision.
Patron: Ruff
Child support; notice of administrative support order. Allows the Department of Social Services to serve notice of an administrative support order, or a review of such order, by electronic means. Under current law, absent a formal waiver, notice must be served in accordance with the provisions of § 8.01-296, 8.01-327, or 8.01-329 or by certified mail, return receipt requested.
Patrons: McDougle, Puller
Alcoholic beverage control. Eliminates the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (ABC) and replaces it with the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, created by the bill. The bill provides for the appointment of the Board of Directors of the Authority by the General Assembly, with the concurrence of the Governor, and the appointment by the Board of Directors of a Chief Executive Officer of the Authority and sets eligibility requirements for appointment, including background checks. Among other things, the bill also (i) provides for the transfer of current ABC employees to the Authority, (ii) continues such employees' participation in the state health plan and VRS, and (iii) sets out the powers and duties of the Authority and the Chief Executive Officer. The bill contains numerous technical amendments. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2018.
Patron: Puller
Alcoholic beverage control; powdered or crystalline alcohol; penalty. Adds powdered or crystalline alcohol to the definition of alcoholic beverages, prohibits containers sold in or shipped into the Commonwealth from including powdered or crystalline alcohol, and creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for anyone who purchases, offers for sale or use, or sells or uses a powdered or crystalline alcoholic product.
Patron: McDougle
Regional jail construction and contracts; state reimbursement. Reduces from one-half to one-fourth the maximum state reimbursement for capital costs for construction, enlargement, or renovation of regional jails and jails where there is a regional contract for cooperative jailing.
Patron: Hanger
State Executive Council for Comprehensive Services for At-Risk Youth and Families; regulations. Provides that the State Executive Council for Comprehensive Services for At-Risk Youth and Families shall promulgate regulations necessary to carry out its powers and duties. The bill contains technical amendments.
Patron: Barker
Virginia Board for People with Disabilities; membership; powers and duties. Modifies membership eligibility and the duties of the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities and changes the name of the State Planning Council to the State Council on Developmental Disabilities to align the Code of Virginia with the federal Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000.
Patron: Norment
Reports of suspected child abuse or neglect; time period for investigation and report; school division employees. Clarifies that, in cases of alleged child abuse or neglect where the subject of the report is an employee of a school division who is suspected of abusing or neglecting a child in the course of his educational employment, the time period for investigating reports of alleged child abuse or neglect, making a determination of whether the report is founded or unfounded, and transmitting the required report to the Department of Social Services and the person who is the subject of the investigation shall be mandatory and every local department shall make the required determination and report within the specified time period without delay.
Patron: Wexton
Criminal gang files. Allows the Department of Corrections to enter information into state and federal gang files on an offender who is incarcerated for more than one year at any time before the offender is released from incarceration. Current law requires such entry to be made "as soon as practicable" after determining that the person is a member of an organized criminal gang.
Patron: Reeves
Regulation of the distribution and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board; penalty. Transfers the regulation of the distribution of cigarettes and other tobacco products from the Department of Taxation to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. The bill also creates a new retail dealer's license for the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to be granted and otherwise regulated by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. The bill sets out the licensing requirements for distributors and retail dealers, sets out recordkeeping requirements, and provides penalties for violation. The bill contains technical amendments and is a recommendation of the State Crime Commission.
Patron: Deeds
Adoption; child in custody of prospective adoptive parent(s) for five years or more. Allows the juvenile and domestic relations district court to waive the home study and counseling requirements in an adoption proceeding if the child has been in the continuous legal and physical custody of the prospective adoptive parent(s) for five or more years.
Patron: Barker
Alcoholic beverage control; regulations of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board relating to certain brewery personnel. Requires the ABC Board to adopt regulations that prescribe the terms and conditions under which tour guides employed by a licensed brewery that manufactures no more than 10,000 barrels of beer during the license year may consume samples of the beer manufactured on the licensed premises while conducting tours of the premises. The bill provides that the samples of beer shall not exceed four ounces, that no more than three product samples may be consumed by the tour guide, and that the purpose of the consumption is to feature and educate the consuming public visiting the licensed premises about the beer being tasted.
Patron: Barker
Community policy and management teams; powers and duties; referral to family assessment and planning teams. Requires community policy and management teams to establish a process for parents and caregivers to directly refer children in their care to family assessment and planning teams.
Patron: Newman
Training centers; prohibition of closure. Provides that the Northern Virginia Training Center shall not be closed prior to December 31, 2016, and shall not be declared surplus on any land use plan developed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. The bill directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to identify by November 30, 2015, at least three training centers that shall not be subject to closure and requires such training centers to remain open and to continue to accept new admissions of individuals with intellectual disability for whom treatment in a training center is appropriate.
Patron: Deeds
Notice required upon transfer of prisoner. Requires the sheriff, superintendent, or Department of Corrections to give notice to any victim as soon as practicable following the transfer of such prisoner. Under current law, such notice must be given at least 15 days prior to the transfer.
Patron: Norment
Alcoholic beverage control; prohibited trade practices. Allows a winery, brewery, or distillery licensee to pay royalties to a historical preservation entity for the use of its trademarked authentic historical recipes in the manufacture of wine, beer, or spirits. The bill defines "historic preservation entity."
Patron: Colgan
TANF; Back-to-School Supplies and Clothing Allowance Program. Directs the Department of Social Services to establish and administer the Back-to-School Supplies and Clothing Allowance Program (the Program). Under the Program, families receiving benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program shall be eligible to receive an annual $100 voucher for each eligible school-age child in the home to be used for supplies and clothing essential for returning to school. The Program shall be funded by the TANF block grant.
Patron: Barker
Placement of children entering foster care; Putative Father Registry. Requires local departments of social services to conduct a search of the Putative Father Registry for each child placed in the custody of the local board, to determine whether any man has registered as a putative father of the child and, if a man has registered, whether placement of the child with the putative father is in the best interests of the child.
Patron: Deeds
Commission on all sales of spirits in closed containers.