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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
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2016 SESSION
Chairman: Stephen D. Newman
Clerk: Patty Lung
Staff: Thomas Stevens, Ryan Brimmer
Date of Meeting: February 18, 2016
Time and Place: 8:00 A.M. - Senate Room B
Patron: Bell, Robert B.
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: Lingamfelter
Public elementary and secondary schools and local school divisions; information and forms. Requires the Board of Education (the Board) to adopt policies to ensure that the Department of Education (the Department) does not require public elementary or secondary schools or local school divisions to provide certain duplicate information or certain information that is not necessary or required pursuant to state or federal law. The bill requires the Board to permit public elementary and secondary schools and local school divisions to submit all information and forms to the Department electronically. The bill requires the Department to annually evaluate and determine the continued need for the information that it collects from public elementary and secondary schools and local school divisions and requires the Board to annually report to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health the results of such annual evaluation and determination, among other things.
Patron: Knight
Anatomical gifts for the purpose of search and rescue dog training. Requires the Department of Health to convene a work group of stakeholders, which shall include representatives of the Department of Health, the Department of Emergency Management, the State Anatomical Program, procurement organizations, and local search and rescue teams and organizations, to (i) identify and evaluate options for using human remains donated to search and rescue teams and organizations as anatomical gifts for the purpose of training dogs to find human remains during search and rescue operations and (ii) establish policies and procedures to govern the process of using anatomical gifts for such purpose. The work group shall report its activities, findings, and recommendations to the General Assembly by December 1, 2016.
Patron: Stolle
Active duty health care providers at public or private health care facilities; provision of health care services in accordance with duties. Changes requirement that active duty health care providers in active service in the army, navy, coast guard, marine corps, air force, or public health service of the United States providing health care services at any public or private health care facility provide services in accordance with official military orders to a requirement that they provide services in accordance with official military duties.
Patron: Stolle
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: O'Bannon
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: Lingamfelter
Students who are English language learners; alternative assessments. Requires the Board of Education to consider assessments aligned to the Standards of Learning that are structured and formatted in a way that measures the content knowledge of students who are English language learners and that may be administered to such students as Board of Education-approved alternatives to Standards of Learning end-of-course English reading assessments.
Patron: Kory
Assistant speech-language pathologists; duties. Allows a person who has met the qualifications prescribed by the Board of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (the Board) to practice as an assistant speech-language pathologist in accordance with regulations of the Board and to perform limited duties that are otherwise restricted to the practice of a speech-language pathologist under the supervision and direction of a licensed speech-language pathologist. The bill also requires the Board to review the need for and impact of licensure or certification of assistant speech-language pathologists and report its findings to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2016.
Patron: LaRock
Board of Education; Common Core State Standards. Prohibits the Board of Education from replacing the educational objectives known as the Standards of Learning with Common Core State Standards without the prior statutory approval of the General Assembly but permits the Board to continue or create an educational standard or assessment that coincidentally is included in the standards referred to as the Common Core State Standards.
Patron: Poindexter
Western Virginia Public Education Consortium; membership. Decreases from 34 to 33 the membership of the governing board of the Western Virginia Public Education Consortium by removing the legislative member representing the Tenth House District.
Patron: Byron
Teacher licensure; Virginia career and technical education adjunct faculty licenses. Directs the Board of Education to establish a Virginia career and technical education adjunct faculty provisional license and a Virginia career and technical education adjunct faculty renewable license for qualified individuals to teach high career and technical education courses on a part-time basis and prescribes requirements for such licenses.
Patron: Orrock
Mobile dental clinics; exemption from registration requirements. Adds to the list of mobile dental clinics exempt from the requirement to register with the Board of Dentistry mobile dental clinics operated by federally qualified health centers with a dental component that provides dental services via mobile model to adults and children within 30 miles of the federally qualified health center; mobile dental clinics operated by free health clinics or health safety net clinics that have been granted tax-exempt status pursuant to § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code that provide dental services via mobile model to adults and children within 30 miles of the free health clinic or health safety net clinic; and mobile dental clinics that provide dental services via mobile model to individuals who are not ambulatory and who reside in long-term care facilities, assisted living facilities, adult care homes, or private homes.
Patron: Orrock
Emergency medical services providers; interstate agreements. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to undertake efforts to establish collaborative agreements with other states to allow emergency medical services providers to provide emergency medical services across state lines and to report back to the General Assembly regarding the status of such efforts no later than November 1, 2016. The bill contains an emergency clause.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Orrock
Secretary of Health and Human Resources; increase sharing of electronic health records; report. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to work with stakeholders, which shall include representatives of hospitals and other health care providers in the Commonwealth, to (i) evaluate interoperability of electronic health records systems among health systems and health care providers and the ability of health systems and health care providers to share patient records in electronic format and (ii) develop recommendations for improving the ability of health systems and health care providers to share electronic health records with the goal of ensuring that all health care providers in the Commonwealth are able to share electronic health information to reduce the cost of health care and improve the efficiency of health care services. The Secretary shall report his findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by December 1, 2016. The bill contains an emergency clause.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Orrock
Administration of immunizations. Adds physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and licensed practical nurses and pharmacists who administer pursuant to a valid prescription to the types of health professionals who may administer vaccinations to children and who may provide to the person who presents the child for immunizations a certificate stating that such immunizations have been administered. Under current law, physicians and registered nurses are authorized to administer vaccinations and provide such certificates.
Patron: Orrock
Administration of drugs by certain school employees. Provides that a prescriber may authorize an employee of a school for students with disabilities as defined in § 22.1-319 licensed by the Board of Education, or a private school accredited in accordance with standards prescribed by the Board of Education pursuant to § 22.1-19 by a state-recognized accrediting member approved by the Virginia Council for Private Education who is trained in the administration of insulin and glucagon to assist with the administration of insulin or administer glucagon to a student diagnosed as having diabetes and who requires insulin injections during the school day or for whom glucagon has been prescribed for the emergency treatment of hypoglycemia pursuant to a written order or standing protocol and provides immunity from civil damages for ordinary negligence in acts or omissions resulting from the rendering of such treatment to such employees, provided that the insulin is administered in accordance with the child's medication schedule or such employee has reason to believe the individual receiving the glucagon is suffering or about to suffer life-threatening hypoglycemia. The bill also allows nurse practitioners and physician assistants to provide training programs on the administration of drugs to students of private schools accredited in accordance with standards prescribed by the Board of Education by state-recognized accrediting members approved by the Virginia Council for Private Education.
Patron: Rasoul
Volunteer health care providers. Requires health regulatory boards to promulgate regulations providing for the satisfaction of board-required continuing education for individuals registered, certified, licensed, or issued a multistate licensure privilege by a health regulatory board through delivery of health care services, without compensation, to low-income individuals receiving health services through a local health department or a free clinic organized in whole or primarily for the delivery of those health services. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2017.
Patron: Pogge
Registration of clinical nurse specialists. Provides that the Board of Nursing may register an applicant as a clinical nurse specialist if such applicant is an advanced practice registered nurse who (i) holds a valid license to practice professional nursing and (ii) has successfully completed a graduate-level clinical nurse specialist program within a regionally accredited college or university that meets all educational qualifications and standards established by national certification guidelines and holds a national clinical nurse specialist certification that prepares the professional nurse to deliver advanced nursing services. The bill eliminates the duty of the Board of Nursing to approve programs that entitle professional nurses to be registered as clinical nurse specialists and to prescribe minimum standards for such programs.
Patron: Pogge
Informed consent to experimental treatment; neurodegenerative diseases. Provides that in the case of persons suffering from neurodegenerative diseases causing progressive deterioration of cognition for which there is no known cure, the implementation of experimental courses of therapeutic treatment, including non-pharmacological treatment, to which a legally authorized representative has given informed consent shall not constitute the use of force. This provision replaces a current provision that informed consent to experimental courses of treatment, without reference to non-pharmacological treatment, given by a legally authorized representative shall not constitute the use of force in cases of organic brain diseases causing progressive deterioration in which there is either no known cure or medically accepted treatment to the disorder.
Patron: Pogge
Nursing homes; reimbursement of unexpended patient funds. Requires the Board of Health to include in its regulations a provision requiring nursing homes to provide a full refund of any unexpended patient funds on deposit with the facility following the discharge or death of a patient other than entrance-related fees paid to a continuing care provider within 30 days of a written request for such funds by the discharged patient or, in the case of the death of a patient, the person administering the patient's estate in accordance with the Virginia Small Estates Act (§ 64.2-600 et seq.).
Patron: Greason
Local school boards; transportation agreements with nonpublic schools. Authorizes local school boards to enter into agreements with nonpublic schools to provide student transportation to and from school field trips. Current law authorizes such agreements for transportation to and from school.
Patron: Loupassi
Public schools; physical activity requirement. Requires at least 20 minutes of physical activity per day or an average of 100 minutes per week during the regular school year for students in grades kindergarten through five. This requirement becomes effective beginning with the 2018-2019 school year. The current requirement for a program of physical activity available to all students in grades six through 12 with a goal of at least 150 minutes per week on average during the regular school year is not changed.
Patron: Minchew
Certified nurse aides; training in observational and reporting techniques. Adds training in observational and reporting techniques to the list of training and education requirements for nurse aide training programs.
Patron: Pogge
Virginia Board for People with Disabilities; powers and duties. Requires the Board for People with Disabilities to submit an annual report, beginning July 1, 2017, to the Governor that provides an in-depth assessment of at least two major service areas for people with disabilities. Under current law, the Board assesses the entire system on a triennial basis. The bill provides that the Board shall ensure that each of the eight major service areas is reviewed at least one time every four years.
Patron: Hodges
Northern Neck-Middle Peninsula Public Education Consortium; regional boundaries and governing board. Adds King George County and King William County as member counties of the Northern Neck-Middle Peninsula Public Education Consortium and updates the list of senatorial and house districts represented by the legislative advisory members of the Consortium's governing board.
Patron: Filler-Corn
Students who have been treated for pediatric cancer; return to learn protocol. Requires the Department of Education to review relevant federal regulations and suggest revisions to Department guidance documents on such federal regulations relating to a return to learn protocol for students who have been treated for pediatric cancer.
Patron: Hodges
TPA-certified optometrists; prescription of certain Schedule II controlled substances. Provides that a TPA-certified optometrist who is authorized to prescribe controlled substances may issue prescriptions for or provide manufacturer's samples of analgesics included on Schedule II consisting of hydrocodone in combination with acetaminophen to his patients.
Patron: Garrett
Renewal of certification as nurse aide. Changes the frequency with which certification as a nurse aide must be renewed from biennially to annually.
Patron: Landes
Institutional six-year plans; report on economic development. Requires each public institution of higher education to include in its institutional six-year plan a report of the institution's active contributions to efforts to stimulate the economic development of the Commonwealth, the area in which the institution is located, and, for those institutions subject to a management agreement, the areas that lag the Commonwealth in terms of income, employment, and other factors.
Patron: Hodges
Registration of nonresident medical equipment suppliers. Requires any person located outside the Commonwealth other than a registered nonresident pharmacy that ships, mails, or delivers to a consumer in the Commonwealth any hypodermic syringes or needles, medicinal oxygen, Schedule VI controlled devise, those Schedule VI controlled substances with no medicinal properties that are used for the operation and cleaning of medical equipment, sterile water and saline for irrigation, or solutions for peritoneal dialysis pursuant to a lawful order of a prescriber to be registered with the Board of Pharmacy. The bill requires registrants to renew registration by March 1 of each year and to notify the Board of Pharmacy of any substantive change in information previously submitted to the Board within 30 days. The bill also requires nonresident medical equipment suppliers to maintain a valid, unexpired license, permit, or registration in the state in which it is located, if required by the resident state, or to furnish proof that he meets the minimum statutory and regulatory requirements for medical equipment suppliers in the Commonwealth if the state in which the nonresident medical equipment supplier is located does not require a license, permit, or registration. The bill also requires nonresident medical equipment suppliers to maintain records of distribution of medical equipment into the Commonwealth in such a manner that they are readily retrievable from records of distribution into other jurisdictions and to provide the records to the Board, its authorized agent, or any agent designated by the Superintendent of State Police upon request within seven days of receipt of such request.
Patron: Hodges
Manufacture and distribution of prescription drugs in the Commonwealth. Eliminates the requirement that the Board of Pharmacy establish and implement a pedigree system for recording each distribution of a controlled substance from sale by a pharmaceutical manufacturer to a dispenser or person who will administer the controlled substance; defines "co-licensed partner" as a person who, with at least one other person, has the right to engage in the manufacturing or marketing of a prescription drug, consistent with state and federal law, and specifies that a co-licensed partner may be a manufacturer of a controlled substance; and defines "third-party logistics provider" as a person who provides or coordinates warehousing of or other logistics services for a drug or device in interstate commerce on behalf of a manufacturer, wholesale distributor, or dispenser of the drug or device but does not take ownership of the product or have responsibility for directing the sale or disposition of the product. The bill specifies that bulk drug substances used for compounding drugs distributed by a supplier other than a licensed wholesale distributor or registered nonresident wholesale distributor must be provided by a supplier who is approved by the Board of Pharmacy as well as the federal Food and Drug Administration and requires every pharmacy, nonresident pharmacy, wholesale distributor, and nonresident wholesale distributor to comply with federal requirements for an electronic, interoperable system to identify, trace, and verify prescription drugs as they are distributed. The bill authorizes the Board of Pharmacy to deny, revoke, suspend, or take other disciplinary actions against holders of a third-party logistics provider permit, manufacturer permit, or nonresident manufacturer permit; applies the inspection and audit requirements that apply to wholesale distributors to nonresident wholesale drug distributors, third-party logistics providers, manufacturers, and nonresident manufacturers; creates a permitting process for third-party logistics providers; allows holders of a manufacturer permit to distribute the drug manufactured, made, produced, packed, packaged, repackaged, relabeled, or prepared to anyone other than the end user without the need to obtain a wholesale distributor permit; and creates a process for registration of nonresident manufacturers of prescription drugs.
Patron: Orrock
School efficiency reviews; scope and costs. Eliminates the 25 percent match required of local school divisions that request an efficiency review from the Department of Planning and Budget. This provision was in conflict with the current appropriation act, which requires the school division to pay the entire cost of the review. The bill also revises the operational areas examined by the efficiency review and provides that an efficiency review does not constitute an academic review that may be required by the Standards of Quality.
Patron: Robinson
Licensure of massage therapists. Requires that massage therapists be licensed, rather than certified, to practice in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Board of Nursing to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the act within 280 days, provides that any person holding a certificate to practice massage therapy prior to July 1, 2017, shall be deemed to be licensed thereafter and the Board of Nursing shall at the time of renewal provide such person a license, and provides that the provisions of the act other than those directing the Board of Nursing to promulgate regulations shall become effective on July 1, 2017.
Patron: Robinson
Optometrists; continuing education requirements. Increases the total number of hours of continuing education required for optometrists from 16 to 20, requires that at least 10 of such hours be obtained through real-time interactive activities, and provides that no more than two of such hours may consist of courses related to recordkeeping or the management of an optometry practice, provided such courses are not primarily for the purpose of augmenting the licensee's income or promoting the sale of specific instruments or products. For TPA-certified optometrists, the bill requires at least 10 of the 20 hours be in the areas of ocular and general pharmacology, diagnosis and treatment of the human eye and its adnexa, including treatment with new pharmaceutical agents, or new or advanced clinical devices, techniques, modalities, or procedures. The bill allows optometrists who complete more than 20 hours of continuing education in a year to carry forward up to 10 hours to the next year and provides that the Board of Optometry is not prevented or limited from requiring additional hours or types of continuing education as part or in lieu of disciplinary action.
Patron: Knight
Licensed onsite soil evaluators; terminology. Changes references to authorized onsite soil evaluators to the more accurate term "licensed onsite soil evaluators"
Patron: Robinson
School calendar. Makes local school boards responsible for setting the school calendar and determining the opening date of the school year and eliminates the post-Labor Day opening requirement and "good cause" scenarios for which the Board of Education may grant waivers of this requirement. The bill requires local school boards that set the school calendar with a pre-Labor Day opening date, except those schools that were granted a "good cause" waiver for the 2015-2016 school year, to close all schools in the division (i) from the Thursday immediately preceding Labor Day through Labor Day or (ii) from the Friday immediately preceding Labor Day through the Tuesday immediately succeeding Labor Day.
Patron: Robinson
Dietitians and nutritionists. Clarifies the situations under which a dietitian or nutritionist may practice, defines "nutritional genomics," and provides that a dietician or nutritionist who receives nutritional genomics testing information shall maintain such information in accordance with applicable federal and state law.
Patron: Robinson
License to practice optometry; issuance without examination. Repeals a provision allowing a person who has successfully passed an examination in optometry in another state and is the holder of a license to that effect issued by the licensing board of that state and who has conducted an ethical professional practice for at least one year to be issued a license to practice optometry in the Commonwealth without an examination.
Patron: Robinson
Nurses; definitions. Adds definitions of "advanced practice registered nurse," "certified nurse midwife," and "certified registered nurse anesthetist" as they apply to the licensing chapters for the Boards of Medicine and Nursing.
Patron: Yost
Certification of peer providers. Authorizes the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to certify individuals as peer providers in accordance with regulations adopted by the Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.
Patron: Yost
Confidentiality of certain information obtained by health regulatory boards in disciplinary proceedings. Provides that in disciplinary actions involving allegations that a practitioner is or may be unable to practice with reasonable skill and safety to patients because of a mental or physical disability, a health regulatory board shall consider whether to disclose and may decide not to disclose in its notice or order the practitioner's health records or his health services, though such information may be considered by the board in a closed hearing and included in a confidential exhibit to a notice or order. The bill provides that the public notice or order shall identify, if known, the practitioners' mental or physical disability that is the basis of its determination.
Patron: Hodges
Prescription drug disposal. Provides that pharmacies may participate in voluntary drug disposal programs, provided that such programs are operated in accordance with state and federal law, and requires the Board of Pharmacy to maintain a list of such pharmacies on a website maintained by the Board. The bill also provides that no person that participates in a drug disposal program shall not be liable for any theft, robbery, or other criminal act related to its participation in the pharmacy drug disposal program or any acts of simple negligence in the collection, storage, or destruction of prescription drugs collected through such pharmacy drug disposal program, provided that the pharmacy practice site is acting in good faith and in accordance with applicable state and federal law and regulations.
Patron: Aird
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services duties related to substance abuse; report on state plan for substance abuse services. Eliminates the requirement that the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Department) report biennially to the General Assembly on the comprehensive state interagency state plan for substance abuse services and the Department's activities in administering, planning, and regulating substance abuse services and specifically on the extent to which the Department's duties have been performed.
Patron: Knight
State Health Commissioner; State Board of Health; approved sewage system or nonconforming system. Provides for the State Health Commissioner to develop a procedure for processing requests to approve an installed treatment works. The bill authorizes the Commissioner or his agent to approve a nonconforming treatment works under certain conditions and for an owner of real property to accept a voluntary upgrade as a condition for the approval of a nonconforming treatment works. In addition, the bill designates persons who may certify that the sewage treatment available for a building is safe, adequate, and proper.
Patron: O'Bannon
Declaration of neurological death. Updates terminology related to declarations of neurological death.
Patron: O'Bannon
Prescription Monitoring Program; indicators of misuse; disclosure of information. Directs the Director of the Department of Health Professions to develop, in consultation with an advisory panel that shall include representatives of the Board of Medicine and Pharmacy, criteria for indicators of unusual patterns of prescribing or dispensing of covered substances by prescribers or dispensers and authorizes the Director to disclose information about the unusual prescribing or dispensing of a covered substance by an individual prescriber or dispenser to the Enforcement Division of the Department of Health Professions.
Patron: Garrett
Registered surgical technologists; registered surgical assistants; registration deadline. Extends the deadline, from July 1, 2015, to December 31, 2016, by which individuals who practiced either as a surgical technologist or a surgical assistant prior to July 1, 2014, may register with the Board of Medicine to become a registered surgical technologist or registered surgical assistant.
Patron: Greason
School calendar. Makes local school boards responsible for setting the school calendar and determining the opening day of the school year and eliminates the post-Labor Day opening requirement and "good cause" scenarios for which the Board of Education may grant waivers of this requirement. The bill contains technical amendments.
Patron: James
Veterinary technicians; supervision; reporting of animal cruelty. Clarifies the licensing requirements for a veterinarian in charge of a licensed veterinary technician by specifying that the supervising veterinarian shall be licensed in the Commonwealth or shall be employed by the Commonwealth or the United States while engaged in the performance of his official duties. The bill also removes the current prohibition on non-salary compensation of the veterinary technician for the performance of supervised acts relating to the treatment of an animal and expands, from a veterinarian to any person regulated by the Board of Veterinary Medicine, the category of persons granted immunity from civil or criminal liability or administrative sanction for reporting suspected animal cruelty.
Patron: Stolle
Licensure and practice of associate physicians. Authorizes the Board of Medicine to issue a two-year license to practice as an associate physician to an applicant who is 18 years of age or older, is of good moral character, has successfully graduated from an accredited medical school, has successfully completed Step 1 and Step 2 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination, and has not been engaged in a postgraduate medical internship or residency program. The bill requires all associate physicians to practice in accordance with a practice agreement entered into between the associate physician and a physician licensed by the Board and provides for prescriptive authority of associate physicians in accordance with regulations of the Board.
Patron: Wilt
School property; reasonable access by youth groups federally listed as patriotic and national organizations. Requires school boards to provide reasonable access to school property to any youth group listed as a patriotic and national organization in 36 U.S.C. Subtitle II, Part B, such as the Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, and their affiliated groups, councils, staffs, and volunteers in the Commonwealth, to provide written materials and speak to students at times other than instructional time during the school day to encourage such students to participate in the activities and programs provided by such organization.
Patron: Keam
Local school divisions; "Return to Learn Protocol" for students who have suffered concussions or other head injuries. Requires each local school division's policies and procedures regarding the identification and handling of suspected concussions in student-athletes to include a "Return to Learn Protocol" that requires school personnel to be alert to cognitive and academic issues that may be experienced by a student who has suffered a concussion or other head injury, including (i) difficulty with concentration, organization, and long-term and short-term memory, (ii) sensitivity to bright lights and sounds, and (iii) short-term problems with speech and language, reasoning, planning, and problem solving, and to accommodate the gradual return to full participation in academic activities of a student who has suffered a concussion or other head injury as appropriate, based on the recommendation of the student's licensed health care provider as to the appropriate amount of time that such student needs to be away from the classroom. The bill also broadens the scope of the "Return to Learn Protocol" in the Board of Education's guidelines for school division policies and procedures on concussions in student-athletes to require school personnel to (i) be alert to cognitive and academic issues that may be experienced by a student who has suffered a concussion or other head injury and (ii) accommodate the gradual return to full participation in academic activities of a student who has suffered a concussion or other head injury. Under current law, the "Return to Learn Protocol" only imposes such requirements on school personnel with respect to student-athletes.
Patron: Rush
Practice of veterinary medicine. Provides that, effective July 1, 2018, the exemption from the requirements for licensure for veterinarians employed by the United States or the Commonwealth shall not apply to veterinarians engaged in the practice of veterinary medicine as part of a veterinary medical education program accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education and located in the Commonwealth and provides that the Board of Veterinary Medicine shall have the authority to establish requirements for the licensure of persons engaged in the practice of veterinary medicine as part of such programs.
Patron: Jones
Management agreements. Corrects incorrect Code references relating to management agreements entered into by public institutions of higher education.
Patron: Garrett
Drug Control Act; Schedule I. Adds certain chemical substances to Schedule I of the Drug Control Act. The Board of Pharmacy has added these substances to Schedule I in an expedited regulatory process. A substance added via this process is removed from the schedule after 18 months unless a general law is enacted adding the substance to the schedule.