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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.
2019 SESSION
Chairman: Stephen D. Newman
Clerk: Patty Lung
Staff: Thomas Stevens
Date of Meeting: January 24, 2019
Time and Place: 8:00 a.m. - Senate Room A, Pocahontas Bldg.
Revised to add SB 1068
Patron: Chase
Health care services; payment estimates. Requires practitioners licensed by the Board of Medicine and hospitals to provide a patient or the representative of a patient scheduled to receive a nonemergency procedure, test, or service to be performed by the practitioner or hospital, at least three days in advance of the date of such procedure, test, or service, an estimate of the payment amount for which the participant will be responsible. Under current law, the requirement to provide such estimate applies only to hospitals for elective procedures, tests, or services and only upon request.
Patron: Obenshain
Members of boards of visitors; employment waiting period. Prohibits a baccalaureate public institution of higher education from employing an individual appointed by the Governor to the board of visitors of such institution within four years of the expiration of such member's term.
Patron: Peake
Licensure of physical therapists and physical therapist assistants; Physical Therapy Licensure Compact. Authorizes Virginia to become a signatory to the Physical Therapy Licensure Compact. The Compact permits eligible licensed physical therapists and physical therapist assistants to practice in Compact member states, provided they are licensed in at least one member state. In addition, the bill requires each applicant for licensure in the Commonwealth as a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant to submit fingerprints and provide personal descriptive information in order for the Board to receive a state and federal criminal history record report for each applicant. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2020, and directs the Board of Physical Therapy to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill.
Patron: Howell
Qualified education loan servicers. Prohibits any person from acting as a qualified education loan servicer except in accordance with provisions established by this bill. The bill requires a loan servicer to obtain a license from the State Corporation Commission (SCC) and establishes procedures pertaining to such licenses. Banks, savings institutions, credit unions, and nonprofit institutions of higher education are exempt from the licensing provisions. The servicing of a qualified education loan encompasses (i) receiving any scheduled periodic payments from a qualified education loan borrower pursuant to the terms of a qualified education loan; (ii) applying the payments of principal and interest and such other payments, with respect to the amounts received from a qualified education loan borrower, as may be required pursuant to the terms of a qualified education loan; and (iii) performing other administrative services with respect to a qualified education loan. Qualified education loan servicers are prohibited from, among other things, (a) misrepresenting the amount, nature, or terms of any fee or payment due or claimed to be due on a qualified education loan, the terms and conditions of the loan agreement, or the borrower's obligations under the loan; (b) knowingly misapplying or recklessly applying loan payments to the outstanding balance of a qualified education loan; and (c) failing to report both the favorable and unfavorable payment history of the borrower to a nationally recognized consumer credit bureau at least annually if the loan servicer regularly reports information to such a credit bureau. Violations are subject to a civil penalty not exceeding $2,500. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2020, but provides that applications shall be accepted, and investigations commenced, by the SCC beginning March 1, 2020.
Patron: Petersen
Public institutions of higher education; tuition and fee increases; public comment. Requires the governing board of each public institution of higher education, prior to a vote on an increase in undergraduate tuition or mandatory fees, to permit public comment on the proposed increase at a meeting of the governing board. The bill requires each such governing board to establish policies for such public comment, which may include reasonable time limitations.
Patron: Favola
Telemedicine; physicians licensed in contiguous jurisdictions. Authorizes a person licensed to practice medicine or osteopathy who is in good standing with the applicable regulatory agency of a jurisdiction that is contiguous to the Commonwealth to provide health care services to patients located in the Commonwealth through use of telemedicine services.
Patron: Favola
School Divisions of Innovation; performance-based assessments. Allows a local school board, when applying for its school division to be designated as a School Division of Innovation, to apply to the Board of Education (the Board) to replace certain Standards of Learning assessments with performance-based assessments. The bill requires the Board to determine if the local school board has the capacity to administer and score performance-based assessments and provides criteria for such determination. The bill requires any proposed performance-based assessment to be an adequate replacement of the relevant Standards of Learning assessment and requires students to demonstrate the knowledge and skills required by the relevant Standards of Learning and one or more of critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, or citizenship. The standards of learning assessments eligible for replacement are (i) Virginia Studies, (ii) Civics and Economics, (iii) elementary school science, and (iv) middle school science. The bill further requires the Board to promulgate any necessary regulations and to submit to the U.S. Department of Education any necessary amendments to its consolidated state plan.
Patron: Dance
School-based health centers joint task force; report. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources and the Secretary of Education to establish a school-based health centers joint task force that is tasked with (i) assessing the current landscape of school-based services and mental health screening, evaluation, and treatment in school settings; (ii) in coordination with ongoing behavioral health transformation efforts of the Department of Medical Assistance Services and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, developing best practice recommendations for trauma-informed school-based health centers as a vehicle for the provision of both medical and behavioral health delivered in school settings; and (iii) developing a plan for establishing a Virginia affiliate member organization, recognized by the national School-Based Health Alliance, for the purposes of providing technical assistance and guidance for localities interested in bolstering or implementing current and future school-based health centers. The bill requires that the task force report its findings by December 1, 2019.
Patron: Stuart
Public institutions of higher education; student approval of increase in tuition or mandatory fees. Provides that no increase in undergraduate tuition or mandatory fees approved by a governing board of a public institution of higher education will take effect unless such increase receives an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of undergraduate students enrolled in such institution.
Patron: Newman
All-Payer Claims Database. Provides that participation in the All-Payer Claims Database by (i) issuers of individual or group accident and sickness insurance policies providing hospital, medical and surgical, or major medical coverage on an expense-incurred basis; corporations providing individual or group accident and sickness subscription contracts; and health maintenance organizations providing a health care plan for health care services; (ii) third-party administrators and any other entities that receive or collect charges, contributions, or premiums for, or adjust or settle health care claims for, Virginia residents; (iii) the Department of Medical Assistance Services with respect to services provided under programs administered pursuant to Titles XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act; and (iv) federal health insurance plans, if available, including but not limited to Medicare, TRICARE, and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan, shall be mandatory, to the extent permitted by federal law. Currently, participation is optional.
Patron: Newman
Nursing homes; truth in advertising for inspections, surveys, and investigations. Requires that if inspection, survey, or investigation data is used in an advertisement regarding nursing homes, the advertisement also include the following information: (i) the date on which the survey, inspection, or investigation was conducted; (ii) a statement that the facility is required to submit a plan of correction in response to any and all statements of deficiencies; (iii) if a finding or deficiency cited in a statement of deficiencies has been corrected, a statement that the finding or deficiency has been corrected and the date on which the finding or deficiency was corrected; and (iv) a statement that the advertisement publication is not authorized or endorsed by the Virginia Department of Health, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Office of the Inspector General, or any other governmental agency. The bill provides that failure to include this required information constitutes a violation of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The bill also requires that such information be in the same font, color, and size as the other text in the advertisement.
Patron: Newman
Public high schools; Standards of Learning assessments. Requires the Standards of Learning assessments administered to students in grades nine through twelve to include reading, writing, mathematics, science, and Virginia and U.S. history. The bill requires each such Standards of Learning assessment to consist of a Board-developed end-of-course assessment and prohibits such from being performance-based. The bill requires each school board to annually certify that it has provided instruction and administered an alternative assessment, consistent with Board guidelines, to students taking other high school courses in reading, writing, mathematics, science, and history and social science. The bill requires such Board guidelines to ensure that such assessments produce quantifiable metrics and performance measures that are comparable across school divisions and years. The bill requires the Department of Education to perform reviews and performance audits on such locally administered alternative assessments for high school courses. The bill requires the Board, in its graduation requirements, to require students to earn a verified unit of credit in reading, writing, mathematics, science, and Virginia and U.S. History. The bill requires each such verified credit to be earned only by (i) the successful completion of a Board-developed end-of-course Standards of Learning assessment; (ii) achievement of a passing score on a Board-approved standardized test administered on a statewide, multistate, or international basis that measures content that incorporates or exceeds the Standards of Learning content in the course for which the verified credit is given; or (iii) achievement of criteria for the receipt of a locally awarded verified credit from the local school board in accordance with criteria established in Board guidelines when the student has not passed the corresponding Standards of Learning assessment.
Patron: Chafin
Telemedicine services; coverage and practice. Requires insurers, corporations, or health maintenance organizations to cover remote patient monitoring services as part of their coverage of telemedicine services to the full extent that these services are available. The bill defines remote patient monitoring services as the delivery of home health services using telecommunications technology to enhance the delivery of home health care, including monitoring of clinical patient data such as weight, blood pressure, pulse, pulse oximetry, blood glucose, and other condition-specific data; medication adherence monitoring; and interactive video conferencing with or without digital image upload.
The bill requires the Board of Medical Assistance Services to include in the state plan for medical assistance services a provision for the payment of medical assistance for health care services provided through telemedicine services, including remote monitoring services and the use of telemedicine technologies as it pertains to remote patient monitoring services, to the full extent that these services are available.
The bill provides that provisions of the Code of Virginia regulating health professions regulated by the Board of Medicine do not prevent or prohibit any practitioner of one of such professions who is located in another state and is in good standing with the applicable regulatory agency in such state from providing telemedicine services within the scope of his practice to a patient located in Virginia.
Finally, the bill provides that in cases in which a practitioner of the healing arts is providing telemedicine services, such practice is deemed to occur where the practitioner is located at the time of provision.
Patron: Chase
Community paramedics. Requires the State Board of Health to adopt regulations governing the practice of community paramedics. The bill requires an applicant for licensure as a community paramedic to submit evidence that the applicant (i) is currently certified as an emergency medical services provider and has been certified for at least three years, (ii) has successfully completed a community paramedic training program that is approved by the Board or accredited by a Board-approved national accreditation organization and that includes clinical experience provided under the supervision of a physician or EMS agency, and (iii) has obtained Community Paramedic Certification from the International Board of Specialty Certification. The bill requires a community paramedic to practice in accordance with protocols and supervisory standards established by an operational medical director and to provide services only as directed by a patient care plan developed by the patient's physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant and approved by the community paramedic's supervising operational medical director.
The bill exempts a community paramedic providing services in accordance with the provisions of the bill from licensure as a home health organization. The bill requires the State Board of Medical Assistance Services to include in the state plan for medical assistance services a provision for the payment of medical assistance for home health services provided by a certified community paramedic exempt from licensure as a home health organization.
Patron: DeSteph
Governing boards of public institutions of higher education; educational programs. Requires educational programs for the governing boards of public institutions of higher education to include presentations relating to student debt trends.
Patron: DeSteph
Higher education; members of governing boards; duties. Provides that the primary duty of any member of a governing board of a public institution of higher education is to the Commonwealth. The bill requires that the educational programs for the governing boards of public institutions of higher education, developed by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, shall include presentations on such primary duty.
Patron: Reeves
Funeral services; sale of caskets. Provides that no person other than a licensed funeral establishment or funeral service licensee shall offer for sale or sell a casket unless such offer or sale is made at-need. The bill provides that the requirement that a funeral service licensee accept a casket provided by a third party applies only in cases in which funeral arrangements are made at-need. When funeral arrangements are made preneed, a funeral service licensee is not required to accept caskets provided by third parties. The bill also clarifies the definition of "next of kin" as it relates to other relatives of blood relationship.
Patron: Sturtevant
Public institutions of higher education; tuition and fee increases; public comment. Requires the governing board of each public institution of higher education, prior to a vote on an increase in undergraduate tuition or mandatory fees, to permit public comment on the proposed increase at a meeting of the governing board. The bill requires each such governing board to establish policies for such public comment, which may include reasonable time limitations.
Patron: Cosgrove
Length of school term; waiver for evacuation. Requires the Board of Education to waive the requirement that school divisions provide additional teaching days or teaching hours to compensate for school closings resulting from an evacuation directed and compelled by the Governor. The bill provides that there shall be no proportionate reduction in the amount paid by the Commonwealth from the Basic School Aid Fund or the amount paid by a local governing body.
Patron: Barker
Community health workers; certification. Requires the Department of Health to approve one or more entities to certify community health workers in the Commonwealth and prohibits a person from using or assuming the title of certified community health worker unless he is certified by an entity approved by the Department.
Patron: Edwards
Prescription drug price gouging prohibited. Prohibits unconscionable price increases in the price of essential off-patent or generic drugs, authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to designate drugs as essential drugs, and establishes an enforcement mechanism.
Patron: Stanley
Modernization of public school buildings and facilities. Establishes standards for the design, construction, maintenance, and operation of public school buildings and facilities and allows for a local school division to enter into a lease agreement with a private entity to meet such standards. The bill would allow for net energy metering in public school buildings and facilities. The bill would also authorize the Virginia Resources Authority to provide partial funding for school modernization projects, effective January 1, 2020.
Patron: Newman
Department of Education; energy career cluster. Requires the Department of Education, in consultation with representatives from pertinent industries such as renewable energy, natural gas, nuclear energy, coal, and oil, to establish an energy career cluster. The bill requires the Department of Education to base the knowledge and skill sets contained in such energy career cluster on the energy industry competency and credential models developed by the Center for Energy Workforce Development in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor. The bill further requires the Department of Education to report to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than December 1, 2019, on its progress toward establishing such energy career cluster.
Patron: Wagner
Hospitals; price transparency. Requires every hospital to make information regarding the price of certain inpatient and outpatient medical procedures, tests, and services, as determined by the Board of Health, available to the public on a website maintained by the hospital and, upon request, in writing.
Patron: Cosgrove
Commissioner of Health; consolidation of inspections. Requires the Commissioner of Health to identify any inspection of a medical care facility required by Title 32.1 (Health), Board of Health regulations, the Commissioner of Health, the Department of Health, or any other state regulatory boards or agencies and, in collaboration with any such inspecting entity, work to consolidate, as much as practicable, all such inspections in order to minimize the interruption of the provision of care in such medical care facilities.
Patron: Wagner
Standards of Achievement Career and Technical Education Committee; established. Directs the Board of Education to establish the Standards of Achievement Career and Technical Education Committee (Committee) to make recommendations to the General Assembly and the Board of Education to facilitate the development of career and technical education Standards of Achievement, including accreditation standards, assessment testing, and course content and curriculum for participating schools, with a focus on (i) rigorous standards and course content and curriculum that align workforce skills with industry-recognized standards; (ii) robust business and industry engagement and responsiveness to labor market needs; (iii) strategies to remove the stigma from career and technical education, including early exposure to career options and life skills; (iv) work-based learning and apprenticeships; (v) innovative high school models; and (vi) leveraging existing resources and programs in the Commonwealth. The Committee shall identify any necessary changes to statutory and regulatory provisions, including existing requirements regarding (a) instructional programs; (b) instructional, administrative, and, support personnel; (c) accreditation; (d) assessments; (e) graduation requirements; (f) teacher licensure; and (g) dual enrollment. The bill requires the Committee to report its findings and recommendation to the General Assembly and the Board of Education by November 1, 2019.
Patron: Dance
School boards; staffing ratios; guidance counselors. Changes the name of guidance counselors to school counselors and requires school boards to employ school counselors in accordance with the following ratios: (i) effective with the 2019-2020 school year, in elementary schools, one hour per day per 75 students, one full-time at 375 students, one hour per day additional time per 75 students or major fraction thereof; in middle schools, one period per 65 students, one full-time at 325 students, one additional period per 65 students or major fraction thereof; in high schools, one period per 60 students, one full-time at 300 students, one additional period per 60 students or major fraction thereof; (ii) effective with the 2020-2021 school year, in elementary schools, one hour per day per 60 students, one full-time at 300 students, one hour per day additional time per 60 students or major fraction thereof; in middle and high schools, one period per 55 students, one full-time at 275 students, one additional period per 55 students or major fraction thereof; and (iii) effective with the 2021-2022 school year, in elementary, middle, and high schools, one hour per day per 50 students, one full-time at 250 students, one additional hour per day per 50 students or major fraction thereof.
Patron: Sturtevant
Department of Education; establishment of microcredential program. Permits the Department of Education to establish a microcredential program for the purpose of permitting any public elementary or secondary school teacher who holds a renewable or provisional license or any individual who participates in any alternate route to licensure program to complete additional in-person or blended coursework and earn microcredentials in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) endorsement areas, including computer science, for which there is a high need for additional qualified teachers. The bill requires the Department of Education to establish a microcredential committee to determine how any microcredential awarded pursuant to any such program will be used to award add-on endorsements and certifications for teachers in such STEM endorsement areas. The bill provides certain conditions in which in-person coursework in a microcredential program not contributing to an endorsement is eligible for professional development points towards the renewal of a teaching license.
Patron: McClellan
Dispensing of certain controlled substances and devices; limited license. Authorizes the Board of Pharmacy to issue a limited license at a reduced fee to a prescriber in a nonprofit facility to dispense controlled substances and devices for contraception or treatment of sexually transmitted disease. The bill requires such nonprofit facility to obtain a limited-use permit from the Board and comply with relevant Board regulations and exempts such facility from associated fees. The bill directs the Board of Pharmacy to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill.
Patron: McClellan
State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; certification of certain private schools; exemptions. Provides that certain courses or programs of instruction are exempt from certification requirements and regulation by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. The bill provides that any course or program of instruction designed to prepare students to achieve a passing score on an industry certification exam administered by a trade or occupational association or similar association is exempt provided that (i) regional or national certifications are commonplace in the employment marketplace in the relevant industry, (ii) any instructor of the course or program is approved or certified as an instructor by such trade or occupational association, and (iii) such course or program of instruction is offered by an instructor that does not offer any courses or programs of instruction for preparation for an exam administered by any additional trade or occupational association.
Patron: Deeds
Public schools; Mental Health First Aid training. Requires each school board to adopt and implement policies that require each teacher and other relevant personnel, as determined by the school board, employed on a full-time basis, to complete a Mental Health First Aid training or similar program. The bill requires each school board to provide such training and provides that a school board may contract with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, a community services board, a behavioral health authority, a nonprofit organization, or other certified trainer to provide such training.
Patron: Deeds
Disposition of the remains of a decedent; right to control. Establishes a priority order for the right to control the disposition of the remains of a decedent; the location, manner, and condition of disposition; and the arrangements for funeral goods and services to be provided, as well as circumstances that would forfeit this right. The bill establishes procedures for resolving disagreements among those who have the right to control and provides liability protections for licensed funeral establishments, funeral service licensees, registered crematories, or registered crematory operators that rely in good faith upon the instructions of an individual claiming the right of disposition.
Patron: Carrico
University of Virginia's College at Wise; reduced rate tuition. Permits the board of visitors of the University of Virginia to charge reduced rate tuition to any student enrolled at the University of Virginia's College at Wise who resides in the Appalachian Region as defined in relevant federal law, is domiciled in the Appalachian Region, and is entitled to in-state tuition charges at a public institution of higher education in the Appalachian Region. The bill contains an emergency clause.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Sturtevant
Public schools; Standards of Learning assessments. Reduces the total number and type of required Standards of Learning assessments to the minimum requirements established by the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, P.L. 89-10, as amended. The bill requires the Department of Education to calculate any potential or realized savings from the implementation of the bill and to report the amount of such savings to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and Senate Committee on Finance by November 1, 2020. Such amount shall be included in the total for Direct Aid to Public Education in any general appropriation act for fiscal years 2022 and 2023.
Patron: Sturtevant
Public schools; alternative accountability process. Allows a school board to adopt an alternative accountability process to provide a principal and parties involved in an incident involving assault or assault and battery without bodily injury that occurs on a school bus, on school property, or at a school-sponsored event an option to enter into a mutually agreed upon mediation process between the involved parties as an alternative to reporting such incident to law enforcement. The bill requires a principal in a school division with such a process to attempt to engage the parties involved in such an incident in the alternative accountability process prior to reporting such incident to the local law-enforcement agency. The bill prohibits a principal from reporting such an incident when the parties successfully complete the alternative accountability process.
Patron: Sturtevant
Higher education; in-state tuition. Prohibits, without the prior statutory approval of the General Assembly, any percentage increase in in-state tuition for undergraduate students at Virginia's public institutions of higher education that exceeds twice the annual percentage increase, as determined by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, 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: Dunnavant
Board of Pharmacy; cannabidiol oil and tetrahydrocannabinol oil; regulation of pharmaceutical processors. Alters the definitions of cannabidiol oil and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-A) oil to remove the five percent cap on the concentration of THC permitted to be contained in each oil. The bill allows licensed physician assistants and licensed nurse practitioners to issue a written certification for use of cannabidiol oil and THC-A oil. The bill requires the Board to promulgate regulations establishing dosage limitations, which shall require that each dispensed dose of cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil not exceed 10 milligrams and each dispensed package of cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil not exceed 100 milligrams. The bill removes the requirement that a licensed pharmacist provide on-premises supervision of pharmaceutical processors and clarifies who may be employed by pharmaceutical processors and the regulations governing such employees.
Patron: Suetterlein
Department of Education; pilot program; feasibility of educational placement transition of certain students with disabilities. Requires the Department of Education and relevant local school boards to develop and implement a pilot program for up to four years in two to eight local school divisions in the Commonwealth. In developing the pilot, the Department is required to partner with the appropriate school board employees in each such local school division to (i) identify the resources, services, and supports required by each student who resides in each such local school division and who is educated in a private school setting pursuant to his Individualized Education Program; (ii) study the feasibility of transitioning each such student from his private school setting to an appropriate public school setting in the local school division and providing the identified resources, services, and supports in such public school setting; and (iii) recommend a process for redirecting federal, state, and local funds, including funds provided pursuant to the Children's Services Act, provided for the education of each such student to the local school division for the purpose of providing the identified resources, services, and supports in the appropriate public school setting. The bill requires the Department of Education to make a report to the Governor, the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance, and the House Committees on Education and Appropriations on the findings of each pilot program after two and four years.
Patron: Suetterlein
Department of Education; division-level performance assessments; resource guide. Requires the Department of Education to develop and distribute to each local school division a resource guide on the local development and implementation of performance assessments that includes (i) detailed recommendations for methods of ensuring (a) the quality, validity, and reliability of such assessments, such as assurances, sampling, and auditing, and (b) the alignment of such assessments with the desired student outcomes of critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, communication, and citizenship and (ii) a collection of division-level performance assessment exemplars.
Patron: Suetterlein
Superintendent of Public Instruction; consolidation of surveys. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to identify any survey, questionnaire, inquiry, or other communication that requires a response from a school board or division superintendent and to, in collaboration with any identified requesting entity, work to consolidate, as much as practicable, all such surveys, questionnaires, inquiries, and other communications in order to reduce the administrative burden of such response.
Patron: Suetterlein
Public schools; average daily membership; early graduation. Provides that a student who graduates from a public high school in less than four school years will be counted in the average daily membership in the relevant school division until the graduation of his class cohort or he is no longer of school-age, whichever is earlier. The provisions of the bill do not apply to any student who completes a high school equivalency examination.
Patron: Dunnavant
Virtual Virginia. Requires that the Virtual Virginia program, the statewide electronic classroom established by the Department of Education, be made available to all public schools. Currently, the program is available only to high schools. The bill requires the Department to utilize a learning management system for the purposes of implementing Virtual Virginia. The bill also authorizes the Department to charge a per-student fee to school divisions for each student enrolled in a full-time Virtual Virginia program beyond an initial allotment of 15 such students per school division and prohibits the Department from limiting the total number of such students by school division.
Patron: Dunnavant
Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety; guidelines on information sharing. Directs the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety (the Center) to convene a work group to develop guidelines and best practices for the sharing of information between a local school board or public institution of higher education and law enforcement regarding a student whose behavior may pose a threat to the safety of a school or institution or the community. Such guidelines and best practices shall seek to balance the interests of safety and student privacy and shall be consistent with the provisions of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as applicable. The bill requires the Center to develop such guidelines and best practices, report to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health, and make such guidelines available to local school boards, public institutions of higher education, law enforcement, and the public by October 1, 2019.
Patron: Wagner
Public institutions of higher education; tuition and mandatory fees. Declares the governing board of any public institution of higher education for which the average increase in the amount of undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees over the most recent 10-academic-year period exceeds the average increase in the amount of undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees over such period across each public institution of higher education ineligible to increase undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees for the subsequent academic year. The bill permits each other public institution of higher education to increase undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees for the subsequent academic year by a certain percentage, but prohibits any such percentage increase from exceeding the following product: the annual percentage increase 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 relevant academic year, multiplied by a certain factor that is based on the size of the increase in the undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees over the most recent 10-academic-year period.
Patron: McPike
Local school boards; lead testing; report. Requires each local school board to submit its plan to test and remediate certain potable water sources and report the results of any such test to the Department of Health.
Patron: Sturtevant
Cannabidiol oil and THC-A oil; use at school. Requires local school boards to adopt and implement policies permitting a student who has been issued a valid written certification for the use of cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil to use such oils while at school. The bill prohibits a school board from suspending or expelling such a student for such use. The bill prohibits a school nurse employed by a local school board, person employed by a local health department who is assigned to the public school pursuant to an agreement between the local health department and the school board, or other person employed by or contracted with a local school board to deliver health-related services from being prosecuted for possession or distribution of cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil or for storing, dispensing, or administering cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil, in accordance with the policy adopted by the local school board, to a student who has been issued a valid written certification for its use. Finally, the bill requires the Department of Health Professions, in coordination with the Department of Education, to develop and make available to school boards, a standardized form to be completed by the certification issuing physician and the dispensing pharmaceutical processor.
Patron: Boysko
Birth certificates; change of sex.
Patron: Stanley
Baccalaureate public institutions of higher education; fixed four-year tuition rate. Requires the governing board of each baccalaureate public institution of higher education to prospectively fix the cost of tuition for incoming freshman Virginia students for four consecutive years, subject to eligibility conditions, beginning with the 2021-2022 academic year. The bill also provides that such institutions may additionally offer a variable in-state tuition rate as an option for such eligible students. The bill exempts the governing board of any such institution that maintains an undergraduate student population composed of at least 80 percent Virginia students from the requirement to establish a four-year fixed tuition rate.
Patron: Barker
Qualified mental health professionals. Requires the Board of Counseling to promulgate regulations for the registration of persons receiving supervised training in order to qualify as a qualified mental health professional. The bill defines the terms "qualified mental health professional-adult," "qualified mental health professional-child," and "qualified mental health professional-trainee."
Patron: Stanley
Public School Assistance Fund and Program created. Creates the Public School Assistance Fund and Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, for the purpose of providing grants to school boards to be used solely for the purpose of repairing or replacing the roofs of public elementary and secondary school buildings in the local school division. The bill permits any school board in the Commonwealth to apply for Program grants but requires the Department of Education to give priority in the award of grants to school boards that demonstrate the greatest need based on the condition of existing school building roofs and the ability to pay for the repair or replacement of such roofs.
Patron: Marsden
Cannabidiol oil and THC-A oil; registered agents and pharmaceutical processors. Authorizes a patient or, if such patient is a minor or an incapacitated adult, such patient's parent or legal guardian to designate an individual to act as his registered agent for the purposes of receiving cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil pursuant to a valid written certification. Such designated individual is required register with the Board of Pharmacy (Board). The bill authorizes the Board to set a limit on the number patients for whom any individual is authorized to act as a registered agent. The bill authorizes a pharmaceutical processor to dispense cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil to such registered agent and provides such registered agent an affirmative defense for possession of cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil.
The bill provides that a pharmacist in charge of a pharmaceutical processor may authorize certain employees access to secured areas designated for cultivation and extraction and other areas approved by the Board and no pharmacist is required to be on the premises during such authorized access. The bill authorizes a pharmaceutical processor, in addition to other employees authorized by the Board, to employ individuals (i) to perform cultivation-related duties under the supervision of an individual who has received a degree in horticulture or a certification or training approved by the Board or who has at least two years of experience cultivating plants and (ii) to perform extraction-related duties under the supervision of an individual who has a degree in chemistry or pharmacology or at least two years of experience extracting chemicals from plants.
The bill directs the Board to promulgate regulations regarding the wholesale sale of and transfer of cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil between pharmaceutical processors and removes a requirement that a pharmaceutical processor only dispense cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil cultivated and produced on-site. The bill provides that a pharmaceutical processor may begin cultivation upon being issued a permit by the Board, however, no production of cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil shall occur prior to sixty days of the opening date listed in its application. Finally, the bill provides that the concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol in any THC-A oil on site at a pharmaceutical processor may be up to 10 percent greater than or less than the level of tetrahydrocannabinol measured for labeling.
Patron: Deeds
All-Payer Claims Database. Provides that participation in the All-Payer Claims Database by (i) issuers of individual or group accident and sickness insurance policies providing hospital, medical and surgical, or major medical coverage on an expense-incurred basis; corporations providing individual or group accident and sickness subscription contracts; and health maintenance organizations providing a health care plan for health care services; (ii) third-party administrators and any other entities that receive or collect charges, contributions, or premiums for, or adjust or settle health care claims for, Virginia residents; (iii) the Department of Medical Assistance Services with respect to services provided under programs administered pursuant to Titles XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act; and (iv) federal health insurance plans, if available, including but not limited to Medicare, TRICARE, and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan, shall be mandatory, to the extent permitted by federal law. Currently, participation is optional.
Patron: Edwards
Language development for children who are deaf or hard of hearing; assessment resources for parents and educators; advisory committee; report. Requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, in coordination with the Department of Education and the Department for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing, to (i) select, with input from an advisory committee that the bill establishes, language development milestones and include such milestones in a resource for use by parents of a child from birth to age five who is identified as deaf or hard of hearing to monitor and track their child's expressive and receptive language acquisition and developmental stages toward English literacy; (ii) disseminate such resource to such parents; (iii) select existing tools or assessments for educators for use in assessing the language and literacy development of children from birth to age five who are deaf or hard of hearing; (iv) disseminate such tools or assessments to local educational agencies and provide materials and training on their use; and (v) annually produce a report that compares the language and literacy development of children from birth to age five who are deaf or hard of hearing with the language and literacy development of their peers who are not deaf or hard of hearing and make such report available to the public on its website.
Patron: Wagner
Department of Education; National Math and Science Initiative. Directs the Department of Education to encourage school boards of school divisions that have a significant number of enrolled military-connected students to partner with the National Math and Science Initiative to provide such students with the tools and resources necessary to advance science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning opportunities and career readiness. The bill requires the Department to provide technical assistance to any school board seeking to enter into such a partnership, upon request.
Patron: DeSteph
Diagnostic X-ray machines; operation. Provides that no person who has been trained and certified in the operation of a diagnostic X-ray machine by the manufacturer of such machine is required to obtain any other training, certification, or licensure or be under the supervision of a person who has obtained training, certification, or licensure to operate such a diagnostic X-ray machine, provided that (i) such diagnostic X-ray machine (a) is registered and certified by the Department of Health, (b) is being operated to conduct a body composition scan, and (c) is not operated to determine bone density or in the diagnosis or treatment of a patient and (ii) the subject of the body composition scan is notified of the risks associated with exposure to radiation emitted by the diagnostic X-ray machine.
Patron: Hanger
State share for basic aid; duration of certain agreements. Provides that certain cost-savings agreements between school divisions will remain in effect until terminated by the school divisions. Under current law, such agreements are valid for a period of 15 years.