SEARCH SITE
VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL
- Code of Virginia
- Virginia Administrative Code
- Constitution of Virginia
- Charters
- Authorities
- Compacts
- Uncodified Acts
- RIS Users (account required)
SEARCHABLE DATABASES
- Bills & Resolutions
session legislation - Bill Summaries
session summaries - Reports to the General Assembly
House and Senate documents - Legislative Liaisons
State agency contacts
ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
- Summaries: Since 1994
Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2016 SESSION
Chairman: Stephen D. Newman
Clerk: Patty Lung
Staff: Thomas Stevens, Ryan Brimmer
Date of Meeting: January 28, 2016
Time and Place: 8:00 A.M. - Senate Room B
Revised to remove SB 340
Patron: Stanley
Patient-Centered Medical Home Advisory Council. Establishes the Patient-Centered Medical Home Advisory Council (Council) as an advisory council in the executive branch. The bill requires the Council to advise and make recommendations to the Department of Medical Assistance Services on reforms to the Commonwealth's program of medical assistance that would increase the quality of care while containing costs through a patient-centered medical home system. The bill defines a patient-centered medical home as a team approach to providing health care that (i) originates in a primary care setting; (ii) fosters a partnership among the patient, the personal provider and other health care professionals, and, where appropriate, the patient's family; (iii) utilizes the partnership to access all medical and nonmedical health-related services needed by the patient to achieve maximum health potential; and (iv) maintains a centralized, comprehensive record of all health-related services to promote continuity of care.
Patron: Howell
Virginia Student Loan Refinancing Authority established. Establishes the Virginia Student Loan Refinancing Authority, to be governed by a 10-member board, for the purpose of developing and implementing a program by which each individual who incurred qualified education loan debt as a Virginia student at an institution of higher education in the Commonwealth and who is eligible, on the basis of criteria established by the Authority that are substantially similar to criteria used by private lenders in the Commonwealth to evaluate student eligibility for an unsecured personal loan at market rates, may receive a loan from the Authority to refinance all or part of his qualified education loans, as that term is defined in relevant federal law.
Patron: Locke
Ultrasound prior to abortion. Removes the requirement that a woman undergo a fetal transabdominal ultrasound prior to an abortion.
Patron: Howell
Family violence fatality review teams; definition of fatal family violence incident. Specifies that "fatal family violence incident" means any fatality that occurred or that is suspected of having occurred in the context of abuse between family members or intimate partners.
Patron: Dunnavant
Division of fees among physicians. Clarifies rules prohibiting division of fees among physicians licensed to practice medicine or osteopathy in the Commonwealth and provides that rules prohibiting division of fees among physicians shall not prohibit (i) members of a group practice of physicians licensed to practice medicine or osteopathy from making any division of their total fees among themselves as they may determine; (ii) arrangements permitted under the Practitioner Self-Referral Act (§ 54.1-2410 et seq.); or (iii) certain payments, business arrangements, or payment practices that would be permitted in accordance with 42 U.S.C. §1320a-7b(b)(3).
Patron: Reeves
Recognition of EMS Personnel Licensure Interstate Compact. Creates the Recognition of Emergency Medical Services Personnel Licensure Interstate Compact to (i) protect the public through verification of competency and ensure accountability for patient-care-related activities of licensed emergency medical services (EMS) personnel, (ii) facilitate the day-to-day movement of EMS personnel across state boundaries in the performance of their EMS duties as assigned by an appropriate authority, and (iii) authorize state EMS offices to afford immediate legal recognition to EMS personnel licensed in a member state. The bill includes an enactment clause authorizing the State Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board to review decisions of the Interstate Commission for EMS Personnel Practice and, upon approval by the Interstate Commission of any action that will have the result of increasing the cost to the Commonwealth of membership in the compact, recommend to the General Assembly that the Commonwealth withdraw from the compact. The bill also provides that the compact shall expire on July 1, 2021, if it has not become effective as a result of enactment into law by at least 10 member states.
Patron: Stanley
Comprehensive community colleges; dual enrollment agreements. Requires each comprehensive community college to enter into agreements with the local school divisions it serves to facilitate dual enrollment of students into a program preparing students to pass a high school equivalency examination offered by the local school division and a postsecondary credential, certification, or license attainment program offered by the comprehensive community college.
Patron: Surovell
Conversion therapy prohibited. Prohibits any health care provider or person who performs counseling as part of his training for any profession licensed by a regulatory board of the Department of Health Professions from engaging in conversion therapy with any person under 18 years of age. The bill defines "conversion therapy" as any practice or treatment that seeks to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same gender. "Conversion therapy" does not include counseling that provides assistance to a person undergoing gender transition, or counseling that provides acceptance, support, and understanding of a person or facilitates a person's coping, social support, and identity exploration and development, including sexual-orientation-neutral interventions to prevent or address unlawful conduct or unsafe sexual practices, as long as such counseling does not seek to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity. The bill provides that no state funds shall be expended for the purpose of conducting conversion therapy, referring a person for conversion therapy, extending health benefits coverage for conversion therapy, or awarding a grant or contract to any entity that conducts conversion therapy or refers individuals for conversion therapy.
Patron: Dance
Health professions; Nurse Licensure Compact. Replaces the current Nurse Licensure Compact to which Virginia is a party with a revised version. The current Nurse Licensure Compact is a multistate nursing compact that provides the structure for the reciprocal recognition of other states' licenses to practice as a registered nurse or a licensed practical nurse. The revised compact, among other changes, adds recognition of other states' licenses to practice as a licensed vocational nurse. The bill becomes effective upon adoption of the Nurse Licensure Compact by 26 states or on December 31, 2018, whichever comes first. The bill repeals the current Nurse Licensure Compact (Article 6 of Chapter 30 of Title 54.1) effective on the date the new compact becomes effective. The bill also provides that the Virginia Nurses association may request that the General Assembly reconsider the Nurse Licensure Compact if its constituency becomes dissatisfied with the Compact's provisions.
Patrons: Dance, McEachin
Conversion therapy prohibited. Prohibits any health care provider or person who performs counseling as part of his training for any profession licensed by a regulatory board of the Department of Health Professions from engaging in conversion therapy with any person under 18 years of age. The bill defines "conversion therapy" as any practice or treatment that seeks to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same gender. "Conversion therapy" does not include counseling that provides assistance to a person undergoing gender transition, or counseling that provides acceptance, support, and understanding of a person or facilitates a person's coping, social support, and identity exploration and development, including sexual-orientation-neutral interventions to prevent or address unlawful conduct or unsafe sexual practices, as long as such counseling does not seek to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity.
Patron: Wexton
Prescription Monitoring Program. Provides that, beginning January 1, 2017, reports by dispensers to the Prescription Monitoring Program (the Program) shall be made within 24 hours or the dispenser's next business day, whichever comes later. The bill also allows the Director of the Department of Health Professions to disclose information about a specific recipient to a prescriber for the purpose of establishing the treatment history of the specific recipient when the prescriber is consulting on the treatment of such recipient; allows the Director to disclose information on a specific recipient to a dispenser for the purpose of establishing a prescription history to assist the dispenser in providing clinical consultation on the care and treatment of the recipient; removes the requirement that information disclosed to a dispenser for the purpose of determining the validity of a prescription be disclosed only when the recipient is seeking a covered substance from the dispenser or the facility in which the dispenser practices; and provides that a prescriber may include information obtained from the Program for the purpose of establishing the treatment history of a specific recipient in the recipient's medical record.
Patron: Lewis
In-state tuition; members of the Virginia National Guard. Provides that any member of the Virginia National Guard residing in Virginia shall be eligible for in-state tuition at a public institution of higher education.
Patron: Alexander
Higher education; study abroad programs. Requires each public or private institution of higher education to report to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia a list of all study abroad programs offered or approved for credit by the institution, any deaths of study abroad program participants, and any accidents involving or illnesses of such participants during such programs that resulted in hospitalization. The bill requires the Council to publish the reports on its website along with information regarding sexual assaults and criminal acts that affect study abroad program participants. The bill also provides that any person offering a study abroad program shall be considered, in any civil action involving a participant of such program who is a resident of the Commonwealth or attends an institution of higher education in the Commonwealth, to have transacted business in the Commonwealth for the purposes of personal jurisdiction.
Patron: McDougle
Public schools; standards of accreditation. Authorizes the Board of Education to review the accreditation status of a school or division once every two years or every three years. The bill requires any school that receives a multiyear accreditation status other than full accreditation to be covered by a Board approved multiyear corrective action plan for the duration of the period of accreditation. The bill also provides that when the Board of Education determines a corrective action plan submitted by a local school board is not sufficient to enable all schools within the division to achieve full accreditation, the Board may return the plan to the local school board with directions to submit an amended plan pursuant to Board guidance. Finally the bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to report to the Board on the accreditation status of all school divisions and schools. Currently the Superintendent is required to identify to the Board schools or divisions that do not meet certain criteria.
Patron: Alexander
Health care transparency. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to develop a plan to increase transparency in the administration and delivery of health care by agencies of the Commonwealth or health care providers who have entered into an agreement or contract with an agency of the Commonwealth.
Patron: Garrett
Virginia Higher Education Scholarship Act. Requires, beginning with the incoming freshman class of 2017, the board of visitors of a four-year public institution of higher education to maintain a ratio of the in-state and out-of-state student population in each incoming freshman class that is not less than 55 percent in-state students. The bill stablishes the Virginia Higher Education Scholarship Fund and Program. The program grants scholarships to the top two percent of graduates from Virginia public high schools. The scholarships pay for tuition, mandatory fees, room, and board for eight semesters over five years. Recipients may apply the scholarships to one of nine public institutions of higher education on the basis of the locality of the student's high school or to Norfolk State University, Virginia Military Institute, or Virginia State University.
Patron: Locke
Medical assistance; health insurance; prescription contraceptives. Requires the State Board of Medical Assistance Services to include in its state plan for medical assistance a provision for the payment of medical assistance for any prescribed drug or device approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for use as a contraceptive and requires such provision to provide payments to dispensers for dispensings of prescription contraceptives intended to last for a 12-month period.
The bill also requires health carriers with health benefit plans that cover prescription contraceptives to reimburse their dispenser for dispensings of prescription contraceptives intended to last for a 12-month period. The requirement on health carries applies to health benefit plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in the Commonwealth on and after July 1, 2016.
Patron: Barker
Admission of minors 14 years of age or older for inpatient mental health treatment; nonconsenting parents. Provides a process by which a minor 14 years of age or older may be admitted for inpatient treatment at a mental health facility without the consent of his parents. The bill allows the minor to obtain a preadmission screening report from the local community services board. If after the minor's parents have been given the opportunity to read and discuss the report with the preparer of the report, the parents still object to admission, the minor may be admitted to a willing mental health facility based on the findings in the report. The bill requires judicial review of the admission, and the nonconsenting parent shall be given the opportunity to be heard. The bill further provides that a minor 14 years of age or older shall be deemed an adult for the purposes of consenting to inpatient mental health treatment.
Patron: Barker
Military medical personnel; pilot program. Directs the Department of Veterans Services, in collaboration with the Department of Health Professions, to establish a pilot program in which military medical personnel may practice and perform certain delegated acts that constitute the practice of medicine under the supervision of a licensed physician or podiatrist. The bill requires the Department of Veterans Services to establish general requirements for participating in the program.
Patron: Saslaw
Virginia Guaranteed Assistance Program; eligibility; use of funds. Makes several changes to the student eligibility criteria for Virginia Guaranteed Assistance Program grants, including (i) removing the requirement that the recipient be a dependent, (ii) requiring the recipient to be enrolled full time, (iii) removing the restriction on the number of years for which the grant may be renewed annually, and (iv) permitting renewal of the grant only if the recipient successfully completes a minimum of 30 credit hours in the immediate preceding award year, unless granted an exception for cause pursuant to State Council of Higher Education for Virginia regulations. The bill permits public institutions of higher education to use Guaranteed Assistance Program funds to provide enhanced awards to students who are enrolled in at least 15 credit hours per term. The provisions of the bill become effective beginning with first-time entering freshman class of the fall 2017 academic year.
Patron: Stanley
Medical school; clinical rotations. Requires any public institution of higher education that awards medical degrees to require its medical students to participate in at least one clinical rotation in a hospital or clinic located in a medically underserved area of the state as determined by the Virginia Department of Health, in an area of the state that has an unemployment rate of one and one-half times the statewide average unemployment rate, or in a locality with a population of 50,000 or less in the Commonwealth.
Patron: Sturtevant
Higher education; in-state tuition. Prohibits, without the prior statutory approval of the General Assembly, any percent increase in in-state tuition or instructional fees for undergraduate students at Virginia's public institutions of higher education that exceeds twice the annual percent increase, as determined by the State Council for Higher Education, in the Average Consumer Price Index for all items, all urban consumers (CPI-U), as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, from January 1 through December 31 of the year immediately preceding the affected year.
Patron: Sturtevant
Public institutions of higher education; fixed four-year tuition rate. Requires the board of visitors of four-year public institutions of higher education to annually establish, for each of the following four years, an in-state tuition rate class cap that identifies the annual amount at which the cost of in-state tuition will not exceed. The bill prohibits the cost of in-state tuition from exceeding the class rate cap for an in-state student in the relevant class.
Patron: Dunnavant
Prescription Monitoring Program; requirements of prescribers of benzodiazepine or opiates. Changes the time at which a prescriber prescribing benzodiazepine or opiates must request information from the Prescription Monitoring Program from the time the course of treatment is initiated to prior to prescribing the benzodiazepine or opiate and requires a prescriber whose prescribing of benzodiazepine or an opiate continues for more than 90 days after the date of the initial prescription to request information about the recipient from the Director of the Department of Health Professions at least once every 90 days until the course of treatment has ended. The bill creates an exemption from these requirements if (i) benzodiazepine or opiate is prescribed to a patient currently receiving hospice or palliative care; (ii) benzodiazepine or opiate is prescribed to a patient as part of treatment for a surgical procedure, provided that such prescription is not refillable; or (iii) the Prescription Monitoring Program is not operational or available due to temporary technological or electrical failure or natural disaster. The bill eliminates an exception for cases in which the prescriber prescribes benzodiazepines or opiates that have been identified by the Secretary of Health and Human Resources as having a low potential for abuse by human patients. This bill includes a sunset of July 1, 2019.
Patron: Stuart
Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program; eligibility. Extends the benefits of the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program to the spouse or child of a veteran with at least a 90 percent permanent, service-related disability. Under current law, the spouse or child would be eligible for benefits only if the veteran's disability was incurred during military operations against terrorism, on a peacekeeping mission, as a result of a terrorist act, or in any armed conflict.
Patron: Cosgrove
Virginia Veterans Recovery Program. Creates the Virginia Veterans Recovery Program for the purpose of providing diagnostic services, hyperbaric oxygen treatment, and support services to eligible veterans who have post-traumatic stress disorder or a traumatic brain injury. The program reimburses eligible facilities that provide hyperbaric oxygen treatment to an eligible veteran at no cost to the veteran and reimburses the eligible veteran for any necessary travel and living expenses required to receive treatment.
Patron: Cosgrove
Physician assistants. Provides that it is unlawful for a person to use in connection with his name the words or letters "Physician Assistant" or "PA" unless he is a licensed physician assistant. The bill eliminates the successful completion of a physician assistant program or surgical physician assistant program accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant as a requirement for licensure as a physician assistant; passage of a national certifying examination and documentation of good standing are still required for licensure. The bill requires a physician assistant to enter into a written or electronic practice agreement with at least one supervising physician or podiatrist, to maintain evidence of such agreement, and to provide it to the Board upon request. The bill contains technical amendments.
Patron: Wexton
Opiate addiction treatment; nonmethadone opioid replacements. Removes certain restrictions for licensure of a provider who provides treatment for persons with opiate addiction using nonmethadone opioid replacements. Such restrictions include the proximity of the provider to a school and community notice requirements.
Patron: Sturtevant
Attorneys for the Commonwealth; prosecution of compulsory school attendance cases. Relieves attorneys for the Commonwealth from the duty to prosecute all cases arising under the provisions of law in Title 22.1 relating to compulsory school attendance and instead makes prosecution of such cases permissive in nature.
Patron: Alexander
Vital records; amending death certificates. Creates a process for amending certain information on a death certificate registered with the State Registrar. The bill requires a court order to change the name of the deceased, date of death, marital status of the deceased, or any portion of a certificate prepared by a physician or medical examiner. The bill requires an affidavit testifying to corrected information for other types of changes. The bill requires the Board of Health to promulgate regulations concerning the amendment process and creates an appeals process for rejected amendments.
Patron: Alexander
Electronic registration of certificates of death. Requires electronic filing of certificates of death, including the medical certification portion, using the electronic death registration system established by the Department of Health.
Patron: Alexander
Dead bodies; storage. Requires any person or institution that has initial custody of a dead human body to ensure that the dead body is maintained in refrigeration at no more than approximately 40 degrees Fahrenheit or to enter into an agreement with a local funeral service establishment to store the dead body.
Patron: Alexander
Death certificates; medical certification of death. Extends the time for filing a death certificate from three days to five business days from the date of the death. The bill also extends the time for completing the medical certification of death from 24 hours to three business days from the date of the death and provides that the medical certification of death be provided by the physician who last furnished medical care to the deceased rather than the physician in charge of the patient's care for the illness or condition which resulted in death. Alternative signers of the medical certification of death as provided in current law are not changed. The bill (i) requires that in cases in which a physician knowingly and willfully fails or refuses to complete the medical certification of death within 10 business days of the death, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner must provide the medical certification of death and report such instance to the Board of Medicine and (ii) requires such physician to reimburse the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for its services. In addition, the bill provides that failure or refusal to complete a medical certification of death in a timely manner may constitute unprofessional conduct for which the Board of Medicine may discipline a physician.
Patron: Alexander
Academic credit; industry credentials. Requires the State Board for Community Colleges to adopt a policy for the award of academic credit to any student enrolled in a comprehensive community college who has successfully completed a third-party industry credential identified as in demand and applicable to the student's certificate or degree program requirements. The bill also requires the State Board, in consultation with the Virginia Board of Workforce Development and local business and industry leaders, to identify in-demand third-party industry credentials for each community college region.
Patron: Garrett
Students who receive home instruction; participation in interscholastic programs. Prohibits public schools from joining an organization governing interscholastic programs that does not deem eligible for participation a student who (i) receives home instruction; (ii) has demonstrated evidence of progress for two consecutive academic years; (iii) is in compliance with immunization requirements; (iv) is entitled to free tuition in a public school; (v) has not reached the age of 19 by August 1 of the current academic year; (vi) is an amateur who receives no compensation but participates solely for the educational, physical, mental, and social benefits of the activity; (vii) complies with all disciplinary rules and is subject to all codes of conduct applicable to all public high school athletes; and (viii) complies with all other rules governing awards, all-star games, maximum consecutive semesters of high school enrollment, parental consents, physical examinations, and transfers applicable to all high school athletes. The bill provides that no local school board is required to establish a policy to permit students who receive home instruction to participate in interscholastic programs. The bill permits reasonable fees to be charged to students who receive home instruction to cover the costs of participation in such interscholastic programs, including the costs of additional insurance, uniforms, and equipment. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2021.
Patron: Dunnavant
Military medical personnel; pilot program. Directs the Department of Veterans Services, in collaboration with the Board of Medicine and the Department of Health Professions, to establish a pilot program in which military medical personnel may practice and perform certain delegated acts that constitute the practice of medicine under the supervision of a licensed physician or podiatrist. The bill requires the Department of Veterans Services to establish general requirements for participating in the program and directs the Board of Medicine to establish protocols to be used in the program.
Patron: Sturtevant
State Council of Higher Education; longitudinal data system; report. Requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, in collaboration with other state agencies, to develop and maintain a virtual, comprehensive longitudinal data system for the purposes of providing policy makers and authorized researchers access to educational, health, social service, and employment outcome data; improving the efficacy of state services; and aiding decision making. The bill also requires the Director of the State Council to establish an advisory committee and to provide an annual report to the Governor the General Assembly, and participating agencies.
Patron: Favola
Abortion; informed written consent. Provides that a woman seeking an abortion may decline to participate with any of the procedures or processes required to effect the informed written consent, including the performance of ultrasound imaging, that must be obtained by the physician performing the abortion prior to the performance of the abortion.
Patron: Marsden
Middle school athletics; pre-participation physical examination. Prohibits a middle school student from participating on or trying out for any school athletic team or squad unless such student has submitted to the school principal a signed report from a licensed physician, a licensed nurse practitioner practicing in accordance with his practice agreement, or a licensed physician assistant acting under the supervision of a licensed physician attesting that such student has been examined and found to be physically fit for athletic competition. The bill is a recommendation of the Youth Commission on Youth.
Patron: Miller
Training centers; communications with individuals. Provides that if an individual has submitted a letter to a training center director stating that he does not wish to leave the facility, community services board staff or Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services staff, employees, agents, or affiliates are prohibited from contacting such individual or his authorized representative, except by writing, regarding a community placement more than once every six months, unless the facility is scheduled to close within six months of the contact.
Patron: McDougle
Dental hygienists; remote supervision. Authorizes dental hygienists to practice, with certain requirements and restrictions, under the remote supervision of a licensed dentist. The bill directs the Board of Dentistry to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the act within 280 days of its enactment.
Patron: Deeds
Study; standards of quality; effective use of educational technology; report. Establishes a two-year joint committee consisting of seven members of the House Committee on Education and five members of the Senate Committee on Education and Health to study the need for revisions to or reorganization of the standards of quality set forth in Chapter 13.2 (§ 22.1-253.13:1 et seq.) of the Code of Virginia, with a particular emphasis on the role that the effective use of educational technology plays in ensuring that an educational program of high quality that meets the standards of quality is established and continually maintained.