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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
- Summaries: Since 1994
Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2017 SESSION
Co-Chair: Thomas K. Norment, Jr. - Co-Chair: Emmett W. Hanger, Jr.
Clerk: Patty Lung, Wesley Bland
Staff: Lisa Wallmeyerr
Date of Meeting: February 2, 2017
Time and Place: 4:30 p.m. - Senate Room A
Revised to add SBs 1044, 1222, 1233, 1240, 1283, 1442, 1523, 1561
Patron: Obenshain
Secure remote access to nonconfidential court records; date of birth verification. Provides that nonconfidential court records shall be made available to any third party for the purposes of confirming a person's complete date of birth by secure remote access.
Patron: Ruff
Veterans Services Foundation; powers and duties; appointment of Executive Director; report. Requires the Veterans Services Foundation to provide an annual report on its funding levels and services to the General Assembly. The bill also (i) authorizes the board of trustees of the Foundation to appoint an Executive Director, (ii) clarifies that the Foundation may make direct request for appropriations from the General Assembly, (iii) clarifies that only the unrestricted portion of the Veterans Services Fund may be used for Foundation expenses, and (iv) changes the authority for disbursements from the Fund from the State Treasurer to the Executive Director with the approval of the board of trustees. The bill requires that allocations and expenditures of donated restricted funds be in accordance with cited provisions of the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act relating to the standard of conduct in managing and investing institutional funds.
Patron: McPike
Virginia Veteran Entrepreneurship Grant Program and Fund. Establishes the Virginia Veteran Entrepreneurship Grant Program and Fund to provide grants to eligible providers of educational, training, or other services to veterans in the areas of starting their own business, purchasing a franchise, or other entrepreneurial endeavors and to assist such service providers in offering resources to veterans for the start-up of new veteran-owned business operations in the Commonwealth. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2019, and provides that if the Program and Fund are not reauthorized by the General Assembly, moneys in the Fund shall revert to the general fund.
Patron: McPike
Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for certain diseases. Substitutes colorectal cancer, which is cancer that starts in the colon or rectum, for rectal cancer on the list of cancers that are presumed to be an occupational disease covered by the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act when certain employees develop the cancer after contact with a known or suspected carcinogen that causes, or is suspected to cause, the specific type of cancer.
Patron: Ruff
Virginia Public Procurement Act; requirements for use of construction management contracts. Restricts the use of construction management procurements by public bodies unless (i) the total estimated contract value is $40 million or more, (ii) a written determination is provided stating that competitive sealed bidding is not practicable or fiscally advantageous, (iii) the contract is entered into prior to the schematic phase of design, (iv) prior alternative procurement method experience is not required as a prerequisite for an award, and (v) price is the primary determining factor for award of the contract. The bill provides that for projects where the total estimated contract value is not expected to exceed $40 million, a public body may use competitive negotiation to procure construction on a construction management basis if the above requirements are met and the project is of substantial historical value or significantly unique or complex in nature. In addition, public bodies seeking to use construction management for projects where the total estimated contract value is not expected to exceed $40 million must also obtain a written finding of compliance from the local governing body for local public bodies, from the Director of the Department of General Services for certain state public bodies, and from the respective contracting officer for public institutions of higher education designated with Tier 3 procurement authority. The bill also (i) establishes a procedure to appeal a public body's determination to procure construction on a construction management basis, (ii) prohibits combining multiple construction projects for the purpose of exceeding the $40 million threshold, (iii) requires public bodies to make available to the public, after award, all prequalification score sheets, award score sheets, and selection information for each project, (iv) establishes reporting requirements regarding the use of construction management by state public bodies, (v) directs the Auditor of Public Accounts to include, as part of his annual audit plan, a determination regarding whether a public institution of higher education designated with Tier 3 procurement authority is in compliance with the institution's internal review process in the selection of procurement method for construction, and (vi) requires all state public bodies to post on the central electronic procurement website of the Department of General Services approved projects and approved procurement methods for construction at least 30 days prior to soliciting for design services for such construction projects.
Patron: Mason
Voter referendum; independent redistricting commission. Provides for a statewide referendum on the question of whether the General Assembly should adopt a resolution to propose an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia that would establish an independent redistricting commission to create and propose redistricting plans for House of Delegates, Senate of Virginia, and congressional districts. The results would be advisory only and are intended only to demonstrate the preference of the citizens of the Commonwealth on the manner in which electoral districts are created. The referendum would be held at the November 2017 general election.
Patron: Reeves
Virginia Public Building Authority; Military Mission Improvement and Expansion projects. Authorizes the Virginia Public Building Authority to finance or assist in the financing of certain activities connected with Military Mission Improvement and Expansion projects (MMIE projects), defined by the bill as a project or projects recommended by the Commission on Military Installations and Defense Activities and approved by the Governor that are designed to improve, expand, develop, or redevelop a federal or state military installation to enhance such installation's military value.
Patron: Barker
Acute psychiatric patient registry. Directs the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to develop and administer a web-based acute psychiatric patient registry to collect, aggregate, and display de-identified information about individuals who meet the criteria for temporary detention to facilitate the timely identification of a facility for temporary detention and treatment of the individual. The bill requires each community services board and behavioral health authority in the Commonwealth to update information contained in the acute psychiatric patient registry to include information about a person found to meet the criteria for temporary detention and requires private providers to identify patients for whom they are able to provide temporary detention and treatment and to contact the state facility, community services board, or behavioral health agency having custody of the individual to facilitate the transfer of the patient to the provider for temporary detention and treatment.
Patron: Chafin
Temporary detention; certified evaluators. Allows emergency physicians, psychiatrists, and certain psychiatric nurse practitioners, psychiatric clinical nurse specialists, licensed clinical psychologists, licensed professional counselors, and licensed clinical social workers to perform evaluations to determine whether a person meets the criteria for temporary detention for mental health treatment in cases in which an employee or designee of the community services board is not available to perform an evaluation within two hours of receiving notification that an evaluation is required.
Patron: Dunnavant
Virginia Virtual School established. Establishes the Board of the Virginia Virtual School (the Board) as a policy agency in the executive branch of state government for the purpose of governing the full-time virtual school programs offered to students enrolled in the Virginia Virtual School (the School). The Secretary of Education is responsible for such agency. The 14-member Board is given operational control of the School and assigned powers and duties. Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, the bill requires the School to be open to any school-age person in the Commonwealth and to provide an educational program meeting the Standards of Quality for grades kindergarten through 12, with a maximum enrollment of 5,000 students statewide. The bill requires the average state share of Standards of Quality per pupil funding for each enrolled student to be transferred to the School.
Patron: Obenshain
Public schools; regional charter school divisions. Authorizes the Board of Education (Board) to establish regional charter school divisions consisting of two or more existing school divisions in regions in which one or more of the underlying school divisions have an enrollment of more than 3,000 students and one or more schools that have accreditation denied status for two out of the past three years. The bill requires such regional charter school divisions to be supervised by a school board that consists of eight members appointed by the Board and one member appointed by the localities of each of the underlying divisions.
The bill authorizes the school board, after a review by the Board, to review and approve public charter school applications in the regional charter school divisions and to contract with the applicant. The bill requires the state share of Standards of Quality per pupil funding of the underlying school district in which the public charter school is physically located transferred to such school.
Patron: Chafin
Well permit applications; disclosure of trade secrets. Authorizes the Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy (Department) to require disclosure of chemical ingredient names, chemical abstracts numbers, or the amount or concentration of chemicals or ingredients used to stimulate a well notwithstanding exclusion from mandatory disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act as a trade secret. The bill authorizes the Director of the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (Director) to disclose such information to additional Department staff or state or local officials to assist the Department in responding to an emergency. The bill prohibits such individuals from disseminating such information further. The bill requires the Director to notify the party that submitted the trade secret of disclosure as soon as practicable. The bill prohibits orders issued pursuant to § 45.1-361.27 from including trade secret information.
Patron: Chafin
Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); trade secrets submitted to the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy. Excludes from the mandatory disclosure provisions of FOIA trade secrets, as defined in the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (§ 59.1-336 et seq.), submitted to the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy that identify chemical ingredient names, the chemical abstracts number for a chemical ingredient, or the amount or concentration of chemicals or ingredients used to stimulate a well pursuant to § 45.1-361.29 or Department regulations concerning such ground-disturbing activities. The bill requires that for such records to be protected, the submitting party must (i) invoke this FOIA exclusion upon submission of the data or materials for which protection from disclosure is sought, (ii) identify the data or materials for which protection is sought, and (iii) state the reasons why protection is necessary. The bill requires the Department to determine whether the information claimed to be a trade secret is entitled to such protection.
Patron: McDougle
Department of Human Resources Management; criminal background checks; state agency positions designated as sensitive; agencies to report to the Department. Requires each state agency to create and annually update a list of the positions that it has designated as sensitive and submit the list to the Department of Human Resources Management by July 1 of each year. The bill clarifies who would be subject to a criminal background investigation in a sensitive position. The bill expands the definition of sensitive position to include those positions (i) responsible for the health, safety, and welfare of citizens or the protection of critical infrastructures; (ii) that have access to sensitive information, including information obtained from the Internal Revenue Service; and (iii) that are otherwise required by state or federal law to be designated as sensitive. The bill contains an emergency clause.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Ruff
Virginia Public Procurement Act; small business enhancement program; limitations. Provides that any enhancement or remedial measure authorized by the Governor for state public bodies may allow for small businesses certified by the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity or a subcategory of small businesses established as a part of the enhancement program to have a price preference over noncertified businesses competing for the same contract award, provided that the certified small business or the business in such subcategory of small businesses does not exceed the low bid by more than five percent.
Patron: Saslaw
Virginia Research Investment Committee. Expands the role of the Virginia Research Investment Committee (the Committee) to include, in addition to awarding grants and loans from the Virginia Research Investment Fund, providing guidance and coordination in the use of public funds to support research and commercialization efforts throughout the Commonwealth. The bill moves responsibility for the development of the Commonwealth Research and Technology Strategic Roadmap from the Center for Innovative Technology to the Committee.
The bill also clarifies that the exemption from mandatory disclosure of records under the Freedom of Information Act by applicants for grants and loans from the Committee applies to certain financial records, trade secrets, and research-related information. The bill requires an applicant seeking to invoke the protections of the exemption to submit a written request to the Committee identifying the records or data for which protection is sought and stating the reason why protection is necessary. The exemption would also apply to documents prepared exclusively for the application review by the Committee, its staff, or a reviewing entity conducting a scientific review at the request of the Committee. The closed meeting exemption would also be amended to include interviews of applicants by the Committee or a reviewing entity conducting a scientific review.
The bill contains technical amendments.
Patron: Deeds
Department of Criminal Justice Services; behavioral health screening in jails. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services, in consultation with the State Board of Corrections and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, (i) to identify an evidence-based, standardized instrument for screening all persons incarcerated in local, regional, and community correctional facilities and identifying persons in need of behavioral health services and (ii) to develop and deliver a training program for employees of such facilities in the administration of such instrument.
Patron: Chase
Department of Planning and Budget; establishment of the Division of Regulatory Management and the Red Tape Reduction Commission; review of regulatory requirements; report. Creates the Division of Regulatory Management (the Division) within the Department of Planning and Budget to develop and maintain a state regulatory baseline of all current state regulatory requirements. The bill defines a regulatory requirement as any action required to be taken or information required to be provided in accordance with a statute, regulation, or policy in order to access government services or operate and conduct business. The bill also provides that after the regulatory baseline has been established, any subsequent regulatory requirement proposed by an agency that is not included in the initial state regulatory baseline is considered a new regulatory requirement and requires the approval of the Division before it may be enacted. The bill also creates the Red Tape Reduction Commission to review current state regulatory requirements and provide recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly on measures to reduce the baseline regulatory requirements.
Patron: DeSteph
Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act; applying for and casting military-overseas ballots. Provides that any active duty member of a uniformed service who has been called to duty for deployment to a combat zone shall be permitted to use his digital signature associated with his Common Access Card issued by the U.S. Department of Defense to sign his application for a military-overseas ballot, the statement of voter accompanying his cast military-overseas ballot, and any other related documents. The bill also requires the system through which a covered voter may apply for and receive voter registration materials, military-overseas ballots, and other information to be capable of accepting the submission of voted military-overseas ballots cast by any active duty member of a uniformed service who has been called to duty for deployment to a combat zone.
Patron: McClellan
Establishment of Computer Science for All Virginia Students Advisory Committee and Computer Science for All Virginia Students public-private partnership. Declares CodeVA, Inc., to be the Computer Science for All Virginia Students public-private partnership (the public-private partnership) and requires the public-private partnership to establish and administer the Computer Science for All Virginia Students Initiative for the purpose of developing, marketing, and implementing high-quality and effective computer science training and professional development activities for public school teachers throughout the Commonwealth. The bill also requires the Secretary of Education to establish the Computer Science for All Virginia Students Advisory Committee for the purpose of advising and making recommendations to the public-private partnership on such training and professional development activities.
Patron: Mason
Teacher turnover; exit questionnaire.
Patron: Dunnavant
Emergency Department Care Coordination Program established. Establishes the Emergency Department Care Coordination Program in the Department of Health to provide a single, statewide technology solution that connects all hospital emergency departments in the Commonwealth to facilitate real-time communication and collaboration between physicians, other health care providers, and other clinical and care management personnel for patients receiving services in hospital emergency departments, for the purpose of improving the quality of patient care services.
Patron: Stuart
Constitutional amendment (first resolution); real property tax; exemption for surviving spouse of a soldier who died in a combat zone. Provides that the real property tax exemption for the principal residence of the surviving spouse of a member of the armed forces killed in action also applies if the member died in a combat zone but was not killed in action.