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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.
2020 SESSION
Chair: L. Louise Lucas
Clerk: Patty Lung, Catherine Dent
Staff: Julia Carlton, Anna Moir
Date of Meeting: January 23, 2020
Time and Place: 8:00 a.m. - Senate Room A, Pocahontas Bldg.
Patron: Saslaw
Provision of abortion; parental consent requirement; ultrasound requirement; hospital regulations. Removes the requirement that a pregnant minor seeking an abortion obtain either parental consent or judicial authorization. The bill removes the requirement that a pregnant woman seeking to obtain an abortion undergo a fetal transabdominal ultrasound prior to obtaining an abortion at least 24 hours prior to obtaining an abortion, or at least two hours prior to obtaining an abortion if the pregnant woman lives at least 100 miles from the facility where the abortion is to be performed. The bill also removes language classifying facilities that perform five or more first-trimester abortions per month as hospitals for the purpose of complying with regulations establishing minimum standards for hospitals.
Patron: Locke
Provision of abortion; ultrasound requirement. Eliminates the requirement that a pregnant woman seeking to obtain an abortion undergo a fetal transabdominal ultrasound at least 24 hours prior to obtaining an abortion, or at least two hours prior to obtaining an abortion if the pregnant woman lives at least 100 miles from the facility where the abortion is to be performed.
Patron: Marsden
Student journalists; freedom of speech and the press. Declares that, except in certain limited circumstances, a student journalist at a public middle school or high school or public institution of higher education has the right to exercise freedom of speech and the press in school-sponsored media, including determining the news, opinion, feature, and advertising content of school-sponsored media, regardless of whether the media is supported financially by the school board or governing board, supported through the use of school or campus facilities, or produced in conjunction with a class or course in which the student is enrolled. The bill defines "school-sponsored media" as any material that is prepared, substantially written, published, or broadcast by a student journalist at a public middle school or high school or public institution of higher education under the direction of a student media adviser and distributed or generally made available to members of the student body.
Patron: Locke
Public elementary and secondary school teachers; probationary term of service; performance evaluation. Removes (i) the option for local school boards to extend the three-year probationary term of service for teachers by up to two additional years and (ii) the prohibition against school boards reemploying any teacher whose performance evaluation during the probationary term of service is unsatisfactory.
Patron: Barker
Programs to address career fatigue and wellness in certain health care providers; civil immunity. Expands civil immunity for health care professionals serving as members of or consultants to entities that function primarily to review, evaluate, or make recommendations related to health care services to include health care professionals serving as members of or consultants to entities that function primarily to address issues related to career fatigue and wellness in health care professionals licensed to practice medicine or osteopathic medicine or licensed as a physician assistant. The bill also clarifies that, absent evidence indicating a reasonable probability that a health care professional who is a participant in a professional program to address issues related to career fatigue or wellness is not competent to continue in practice or is a danger to himself, his patients, or the public, participation in such a professional program does not trigger the requirement that the health care professional be reported to the Department of Health Professions. The bill contains an emergency clause.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Barker
Teledentistry. Defines "teledentistry," establishes requirements for the practice of teledentistry, establishes requirements for the taking of dental scans for use in teledentistry by dental scan technicians, and clarifies requirements related to the use of digital work orders for dental appliances in the practice of teledentistry. The bill also requires the Board of Dentistry to review all applications for renewal of a license to identify those applicants who are engaged in the practice of teledentistry and report such information annually, by October 1, to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, the Senate Committee on Education and Health, and the Joint Commission on Health Care.
Patron: Stuart
Children's Services Act; special education programs. Expands eligibility for services under the Children's Services Act to students who transfer from an approved private school special education program to a public school special education program established and funded jointly by a local governing body and school division located within Planning District 16 for the purpose of providing special education and related services when (i) the public school special education program is able to provide services comparable to those of an approved private school special education program and (ii) the student would require placement in an approved private school special education program but for the availability of the public school special education program.
Patron: Favola
Dismissal of teachers; grounds; incompetency. Removes receipt of one or more unsatisfactory performance evaluations from the list of factors that "incompetency" may be construed to include for the purpose of establishing grounds for the dismissal of public school teachers.
Patron: Locke
Teledentistry. Defines "teledentistry," establishes requirements for the practice of teledentistry, establishes requirements for the taking of dental scans for use in teledentistry by dental scan technicians, and clarifies requirements related to the use of digital work orders for dental appliances in the practice of teledentistry. The bill also requires the Board of Dentistry to review all applications for renewal of a license to identify those applicants who deliver dental services through teledentistry and report such information annually, by October 1, to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, the Senate Committee on Education and Health, and the Joint Commission on Health Care.
Patron: Locke
School boards and local law-enforcement agencies; memorandums of understanding; frequency of review and public input. Shortens from every five years to every two years the frequency of the review period for memorandums of understanding between school boards and local law-enforcement agencies. The bill also requires local school boards to conspicuously publish the current division memorandum of understanding on its division website and provide notice and opportunity for public input and discussion during each memorandum of understanding review period.
Patron: Stanley
Potable water; purified water bottle filling station. Requires each local school board to install at least one purified water bottle filling station in every public school in the local school division. The bill requires that each purified water bottle filling station (i) dispense filtered, clean drinking water; (ii) be regularly cleaned and maintained; and (iii) be accompanied by a cup dispenser if there is no drinking fountain on the same floor and wing as the water bottle filling station.
Patron: Stanley
Department of Medical Assistance Services; remote patient monitoring; rural and underserved populations. Amends the State Plan for Medical Assistance Services to require the payment of medical assistance for remote patient monitoring services for rural and underserved populations, with the home as an eligible telemedicine originating site. The bill requires the Department of Medical Assistance Services to prepare and submit to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services an application for such waiver or waivers as may be necessary to implement the provisions of the bill. The bill also requires the Department to report to the Governor and the General Assembly on the status of such application or applications by October 1, 2020.
Patron: Stanley
Medically underserved areas; emergency medical services; medical care facilities. Provides that emergency medical services vehicles may transport patients to 24-hour urgent care medical facilities or other appropriate medical facilities when deemed appropriate by emergency medical services personnel or a physician. The bill requires the Board of Health to develop regulations for when emergency medical services agencies in medically underserved areas as defined by the Board may transport patients to 24-hour urgent care facilities or appropriate medical care facilities other than hospitals. The regulations shall include provisions for what constitutes a medically underserved area, cases appropriate for transferring a patient to a medical facility other than a hospital, and other information deemed relevant by the Board.
Patron: Kiggans
Hospitals; emergency departments; screening patients for depression. Requires every hospital licensed by the Department of Health that operates an emergency department to develop a protocol for (i) screening each patient who receives services in the emergency department for depression and (ii) providing information about depression, symptoms of depression, services that may be available for individuals experiencing depression, and providers of such services to each patient for whom a screening indicates reason to believe the patient may be experiencing depression. The bill directs the Department to develop such information.
Patron: Kiggans
Hospitals; inpatient psychiatric services; in-home follow-up care upon discharge. Requires each hospital that provides inpatient psychiatric services to develop and implement a protocol for linking individuals who will be discharged from inpatient psychiatric care with in-home follow-up services, which may be provided by a licensed home health organization, community services board, or other appropriate service provider.
Patron: Deeds
School bus drivers; critical shortages. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the assistance of each school board or division superintendent, to survey each local school division to identify critical shortages of school bus drivers by geographic area and local school division and to report any such critical shortage to each local school division and to the Virginia Retirement System.
Patron: Stuart
Public schools; immunization rates. Requires each school board to publish on the official school division website for each school in the school division the number of students admitted to the school with documentary proof of immunization, the number of students who have been admitted with a medical or religious exemption, and the number of students who have been conditionally admitted.
Patron: Dunnavant
Provider credentialing. Requires the State Board of Health to promulgate regulations requiring a health carrier to establish reasonable protocols and procedures that deem a provider credentialed who has been approved for credentialing by a licensed hospital within 14 days of such approval if such licensed hospital has a contract with the health carrier to provide health care services to a covered person under a health benefit plan offered by the health carrier as a member of the health benefit plan's network.
Patron: Bell
Teacher grievance procedures; hearing; three-member fact-finding panel. Permits a school board to conduct a teacher grievance hearing before a three-member fact-finding panel consisting of one member selected by the teacher, one member selected by the division superintendent, and an impartial hearing officer selected by the other two panel members, to serve as the chairman of the panel. Under current law, the school board has the option of appointing a hearing officer or conducting such hearing itself. The bill also removes the requirement that a teacher grievance hearing be set within 15 days of the request for such hearing and extends from five days to 10 days the minimum period of advanced written notice to the teacher of the time and place of such hearing.
Patron: McPike
Emergency Medical Services Patient Care Information System; trauma data; confidentiality. Authorizes the State Health Commissioner to disclose certain confidential data in the Emergency Medical Services Patient Care Information System, including information, research, or medical data that identifies patients by name or address, with entities that seek to improve the delivery of prehospital and hospital emergency medical services, the quality of patient care, and access to medical services or to make other system improvements.
Patron: Surovell
Provision of mental health services to a minor; access to health records. Prohibits a health care provider from refusing to provide mental health services to a minor on the basis that the parents of such minor refuse to agree to limit their access to such minor's health care records or request that such health care provider testify in a court proceeding regarding the treatment of the minor.
Patron: Reeves
Department of Medical Assistance Services; contracts with managed care organizations; therapeutic day treatment. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to amend contracts with managed care organizations to ensure that eligible individuals are not denied coverage for therapeutic day treatment.
Patron: McDougle
Office of Medicaid Fiscal Oversight and Accountability. Creates as an independent state agency the Office of Medicaid Fiscal Oversight and Accountability and charges the agency with the preparation of the Official Medicaid Forecast for the state, monthly oversight of Medicaid expenditures, review of the fiscal impact of policy changes, and other oversight and accountability responsibilities. The bill creates the position of Director of the Office of Medicaid Fiscal Oversight and Accountability, to be appointed by the Governor subject to confirmation by the General Assembly.
Patron: Newman
Drug Control Act; Schedule I. Adds certain chemicals 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.
Patron: Surovell
Right to reproductive choice. Provides that every individual has a fundamental right to choose or refuse contraception and that a pregnant person has a fundamental right to choose to carry a pregnancy to term, give birth to a child, or terminate a pregnancy. The bill states that the Commonwealth shall not, in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information, deny or interfere with an individual's fundamental rights, including individuals under state control or supervision. The bill states that any state or local official who is charged with violating provisions of this section shall be subject to an action in federal or state court for injunctive relief and damages. Such action may be brought by any person or entity that may be aggrieved by such official's actions.
Patron: McClellan
Provision of abortion; informed consent; regulations. Eliminates the procedures and processes, including the performance of an ultrasound, the provision of specified information, and the offer to review certain printed materials, required under existing law to effect a pregnant person's informed written consent prior to the performance of an abortion; however, the bill retains the requirement that a physician obtain a pregnant person's informed written consent prior to performing any abortion. The bill expands who can perform first trimester abortions to any person licensed by the Board of Medicine as a physician's assistant and acting within such person's scope of practice or any person jointly licensed by the Board of Medicine and Nursing as a nurse practitioner acting within the nurse practitioner's such person's scope of practice. The bill removes a provision classifying facilities that perform five or more first trimester abortions per month as hospitals for the purpose of complying with regulations establishing minimum standards for hospitals.
Patron: Favola
Department of Health; Department of Health Professions Medical Excellence Zone Program; telemedicine; reciprocal agreements. Directs the Department of Health to determine the feasibility of the establishment of a Medical Excellence Zone Program and directs the Department of Health Professions to pursue reciprocal agreements with states contiguous with the Commonwealth for licensure for certain primary care practitioners under the Board of Medicine. The Medical Excellence Zone Program would allow citizens of the Commonwealth living in rural underserved areas to receive medical treatment via telemedicine services from providers licensed or registered in a state that is contiguous with the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Department of Health to set out the criteria that would be required for a locality or group of localities in the Commonwealth to be eligible for the designation as a medical excellence zone and report its findings to the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions by November 1, 2020.
The bill states that reciprocal agreements with states that are contiguous with the Commonwealth for the licensure of doctors of medicine, doctors of osteopathic medicine, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners shall only require that a person hold a current, unrestricted license in the other jurisdiction and that no grounds exist for denial based on § 54.1-2915. The Department of Health Professions shall report on its progress in establishing such agreements to the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions by November 1, 2020. The bill provides that applicants for licensure as a doctor of medicine or osteopathic medicine from such states shall receive priority in processing their applications for licensure by endorsement through a streamlined process with a final determination regarding qualification to be made within 20 days of the receipt of a completed application.
Patron: Boysko
Public schools; anti-hate instruction. Requires the Department of Education to develop a model curriculum and teacher training module for providing age-appropriate instruction on genocide, racism, harassment, discrimination, and historical injustice in grades kindergarten through 12. Each local school board is required to implement the model curriculum and teacher training module by the 2022-2023 school year.
Patron: DeSteph
Teledentistry. Defines "teledentistry," establishes requirements for the practice of teledentistry, establishes requirements for the taking of dental scans for use in teledentistry by dental scan technicians, and clarifies requirements related to the use of digital work orders for dental appliances in the practice of teledentistry. The bill also requires the Board of Dentistry to review all applications for renewal of a license to identify those applicants who deliver dental services through teledentistry and report such information annually, by October 1, to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, the Senate Committee on Education and Health, and the Joint Commission on Health Care.
Patron: Vogel
Hospitals; emergency treatment for substance use-related emergencies; services. Requires the Board of Health to amend regulations governing hospitals to require each hospital that provides emergency treatment to an individual experiencing a substance use-related emergency to (i) complete a comprehensive assessment to identify appropriate medical interventions necessary for the treatment of the individual; (ii) complete a comprehensive behavioral health assessment to determine whether additional treatment may be appropriate; (iii) initiate pharmacotherapy for treatment of drug or alcohol dependence, where appropriate; and (iv) provide the patient with naloxone or other opioid antagonist used for overdose reversal. Such regulations shall also require each hospital that provides emergency treatment to an individual experiencing a substance use-related emergency to establish and implement a protocol for connecting such patients receiving emergency treatment with appropriate community-based providers of behavioral health services upon discharge.
Patron: Vogel
Home hospice programs; disposal of drugs; opioids. Specifies that hospice policies and procedures for the disposal of drugs must include provisions for the safe disposal of opioids.
Patron: Chase
Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act; penalty. Creates the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The Act prohibits an abortion after 20 weeks gestation unless, in reasonable medical judgment, the mother has a condition that so complicates her medical condition as to necessitate the abortion to avert her death or to avert serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function. When an abortion is not prohibited post-20 weeks' gestation, the physician is required to terminate the pregnancy in a manner that would provide the unborn child the best opportunity to survive. The bill punishes performance of an abortion in violation of the Act as a Class 6 felony. The bill also provides for civil remedies against a physician who performs an abortion in violation of the Act.
Patron: Lewis
Special use permits; freestanding medical facilities. Provides that no ordinance of a city whose governing body appoints all of the members of a hospital authority shall require that a special exception, special use, or conditional use permit be obtained for the development and construction of a freestanding medical facility on property where such use is permitted by right under the local zoning ordinance.