SEARCH SITE
VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL
- Code of Virginia
- Virginia Administrative Code
- Constitution of Virginia
- Charters
- Authorities
- Compacts
- Uncodified Acts
- RIS Users (account required)
SEARCHABLE DATABASES
- Bills & Resolutions
session legislation - Bill Summaries
session summaries - Reports to the General Assembly
House and Senate documents - Legislative Liaisons
State agency contacts
ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
- Summaries: Since 1994
Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2020 SESSION
Chair: L. Louise Lucas
Clerk: Patty Lung, Catherine Dent
Staff: Julia Carlton, Anna Moir
Date of Meeting: February 20, 2020
Time and Place: 8:00 a.m. - Senate Room A, Pocahontas Bldg.
Revised to add HB 1025
Patron: Samirah
Health care providers; screening of patients for prenatal and postpartum depression; training. Directs the Board of Medicine to annually issue a communication to every practitioner licensed by the Board who provides primary, maternity, obstetrical, or gynecological health care services reiterating the standard of care pertaining to prenatal or postnatal depression or other depression and encouraging practitioners to screen every patient who is pregnant or who has been pregnant within the previous five years for prenatal or postnatal depression or other depression, as clinically appropriate. The bill requires the Board to include in such communication information about the factors that may increase susceptibility of certain patients to prenatal or postnatal depression or other depression, including racial and economic disparities, and to encourage providers to remain cognizant of the increased risk of depression for such patients.
Patron: Kory
Electric utilities; electric school bus pilot program. Authorizes Dominion Energy to implement a pilot program under which it will deploy electric school buses in participating school divisions in its service territory. The initial phase of the pilot program is limited to the deployment of 50 electric school buses at a cost of up to $13.5 million. In each of the five years thereafter, the pilot program may be expanded by up to 200 additional electric school buses at a cost of up to $54 million per year. The pilot program provides that (i) the utility may use vehicle-to-grid technology to access electricity in the storage batteries of the electric school buses when they are not in use and (ii) the primary purpose of electric school buses is student transportation and if the Phase II utility's use of the battery compromises the school boards' ability to transport the students either through bus unavailability or insufficient charge, then the Phase II utility will compensate the school board. The duration of the pilot program shall not exceed 10 years, though the utility may petition the State Corporation Commission to make it permanent. Program costs, including the incremental cost of the electric school buses, are recoverable through the utility's base rates.
Patron: Miyares
Newborn screening for Krabbe disease. Directs the Department of Health to review Krabbe disease and provide recommendations to the Board of Health regarding whether Krabbe disease should be included in newborn screening.
Patron: Lindsey
Certain institutions of higher education; transcript notations; expungement. Requires each institution of higher education that is required by law to include a prominent notation on the academic transcript of each student who has been suspended for, has been permanently dismissed for, or withdraws from the institution while under investigation for an offense involving sexual violence under the institution's code, rules, or set of standards governing student conduct to adopt a policy for the expungement of such notation for good cause shown and after a period of three years.
Patron: Lindsey
Public institutions of higher education; non-academic student codes of conduct. Requires each public institution of higher education, with the exception of the Virginia Military Institute, to adopt non-academic student codes of conduct. The bill mandates that students and student organizations that participate in the non-academic student codes of conduct process as a complainant or respondent shall have the responsibilities and rights afforded to them by the institution's codes of conduct and related policies and procedures. The bill states that the codes of conduct shall describe and define the responsibilities and rights of all enrolled students and student organizations and outline each step in the institution's procedures for responding to and resolving allegations of violations. The bill outlines procedures that the codes of conduct shall include when an accused student or student organization faces the potential sanctions of suspension or expulsion.
Patron: Levine
Records of marriages; identification of race. Eliminates the requirement that the race of married parties be included in marriage records, divorce reports, and annulment reports filed with the State Registrar. The bill also removes the requirement that the State Registrar include race data in the compilation and posting of marriage, divorce, and annulment data. This bill incorporates HB 141, HB 1158, and 1425.
Patron: VanValkenburg
Public schools; lock-down drills; notice to parents. Requires every public school to provide the parents of enrolled students with at least 24 hours' notice before the school conducts any lock-down drill. The bill specifies that no such notice is required to include the exact date and time of the lock-down drill.
Patron: Hope
Public elementary and secondary school students; excused absences; mental and behavioral health. Requires the Department of Education to establish and distribute to each school board no later than August 1, 2020, guidelines for the granting of excused absences to students who are absent from school due to mental or behavioral health and requires any student who is absent from school due to his mental or behavioral health to be granted an excused absence, subject to such guidelines.
Patron: Bell
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. The bill permits any school bus driver in any geographic area or school division in which a critical shortage of school bus drivers has been so identified to elect to continue to receive a service retirement allowance if the driver meets certain other conditions.
Patron: Carroll Foy
Public schools; enrollment; certain children placed in foster care. Specifies that several provisions of law relating to the public school enrollment of children placed in foster care apply to any pupil who was in foster care when he reached age 18 but who has not yet reached age 22.
Patron: Willett
Postsecondary schools; enrollment agreements; disputes; arbitration. Prohibits any postsecondary school that is required to be certified by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia from conditioning the enrollment of a student who receives state funds pursuant to this title on (i) entering into an agreement that requires the student to arbitrate any dispute between the student and the school, regardless of whether the agreement permits the student to opt out of the requirement to arbitrate any such dispute in the future; or (ii) entering into an agreement that requires the student to resolve a dispute on an individual basis and waive the right to class or group actions. The bill requires each postsecondary school that does not receive state funds pursuant to this title and requires any student to submit to arbitration to resolve disputes with the school pursuant to the student's enrollment agreement to (a) permit the student to report the dispute to any other individual or entity before the arbitration proceeding is initiated or completed; (b) report each student dispute to the Council before the arbitration proceeding is initiated; (c) report to the Council certain information about each arbitration proceeding that results from a student dispute, including the nature of the dispute, any defense or counterclaim by the school, and the disposition of the dispute; (d) report to the Council annual aggregated data on arbitration proceedings that result from student disputes, including the number, nature, and disposition of such proceedings; and (e) disclose to students, upon enrollment, data on the frequency and nature of arbitration proceedings at the postsecondary school as previously reported to the Council, in a format determined by the Council.
Patron: Sickles
Practice of chiropractic; definition. Clarifies the definition of "practice of chiropractic" to make clear that a doctor of chiropractic may (i) request, receive, and review a patient's medical and physical history, including information related to past surgical and nonsurgical treatment of the patient and controlled substances prescribed to patients, and (ii) document in a patient's record information related to the condition and symptoms of the patient, the examination and evaluation of the patient made by the doctor of chiropractic, and the treatment provided to the patient by the doctor of chiropractic.
Patron: Ward
School boards; applicants for employment; criminal history. Prohibits each school board from employing any individual who has been convicted of a violent felony set forth in the definition of barrier crime in subsection A of § 19.2-392.02 of the Code of Virginia or any offense involving the sexual molestation, physical or sexual abuse, or rape of a child. The bill permits each school board to employ any individual who has been convicted of any felony or crime of moral turpitude that is not set forth in the definition of barrier crime in subsection A of § 19.2-392.02 of the Code of Virginia and does not involve the sexual molestation, physical or sexual abuse, or rape of a child, provided that in the case of a felony conviction, such individual has had his civil rights restored by the Governor. The bill contains parallel provisions for contractors and their employees who have direct contact with students on school property during regular school hours or during school-sponsored activities. Current law provides that any felony conviction is a bar to employment and contract work in public schools.
Patron: Keam
Public schools; lock-down drills; frequency; exemptions. Requires every public school to hold at least one lock-down drill after the first 60 days of the school session, in addition to the two lock-down drills required to be held during the first 20 days of the school session at each such school. Current law requires each public school to hold at least two lock-down drills after the first 20 days of the school session. The bill requires kindergarten students to be exempt from mandatory participation in lock-down drills during the first 60 days of the school session and requires the principal at each relevant school to implement such exemption by either (i) conducting teacher-only drills or otherwise providing suitable training for kindergarten teachers or (ii) notifying each parent of a kindergarten student at least five school days in advance of each planned lock-down drill and permitting each such parent to opt his child out of participation in such lock-down drill.
Patron: Delaney
Parental notice; literacy and Response to Intervention screening and services; certain assessment results. Requires each local school board to enact a policy to require that timely written notification is provided to the parents of any student who (i) undergoes literacy and Response to Intervention screening and services or (ii) does not meet the benchmark on any assessment used to determine at-risk learners in preschool through grade 12, which notification shall include all such assessment scores and subscores and any intervention plan that results from such assessment scores or subscores.
Patron: Delaney
Discipline; suspension; access to graded work. Requires school boards to adopt policies and procedures to ensure suspended students are able to access and complete graded work during and after the suspension.
Patron: Murphy
Active duty military personnel or activated or temporarily mobilized reservists or guard members; dependents; eligibility for in-state tuition and other educational benefits. Requires the condition of continuous enrollment in a public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education currently imposed on dependents of active duty military personnel or activated or temporarily mobilized reservists or guard members in order to be eligible for in-state tuition and other educational benefits afforded to Virginia students to be waived if the dependent verifies that a break of no longer than one year was required in order to support a spouse or parent on orders for a change of duty assignment or location.
Patron: Murphy
Public institutions of higher education; veterans; withdrawal; tuition refund. Requires each public institution of higher education to provide a refund of the tuition and mandatory fees paid by any veteran student for any course from which he is forced to withdraw, for the first time, due to a service-connected medical condition during a semester, as certified in writing to the institution by a physician licensed to practice medicine who treated the veteran student for such medical condition.
Patron: Murphy
Degree-granting postsecondary schools; distance learning reciprocity agreements; consumer protection. Requires any degree-granting postsecondary school providing distance learning to residents of the Commonwealth from a location outside of the Commonwealth to be certified to operate in the Commonwealth or be a participant in any interstate reciprocity agreement to which the Commonwealth belongs, in accordance with the Council's authority under relevant law, for the purpose of consumer protection. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2022.
Patron: Kilgore
Death certificate; veterans; fees. Expands list of parties eligible to obtain a free certified copy of a veteran's death certificate for service-connected benefits to include any funeral director or funeral service licensee who provides funeral services for the veteran, if so requested by the surviving spouse of the veteran.
Patron: Krizek
School boards; written school crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response plans; annual review; delegation of duty. Permits each school board to designate another entity or individual to participate on its behalf in the annual review of its written school crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response plan.
Patron: Watts
Definition of birth control. Defines "birth control," for the purposes of the regulation of medicine, as contraceptive methods that are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and provides that birth control shall not be considered abortion for the purposes of Title 18.2 (Crimes and Offenses Generally).
Patron: Guzman
Commissioner of Health; study of the occurrence of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorobutyrate (PFBA), perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and other perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the Commonwealth's public drinking water; report. Directs the Commissioner of Health to convene a work group to study the occurrence of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorobutyrate (PFBA), perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and other perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), as deemed necessary, in the Commonwealth's public drinking water and to develop recommendations for specific maximum contaminant levels for PFOA, PFOS, PFBA, PFHpA, PFHxS, PFNA, and other PFAS, as deemed necessary, for inclusion in regulations of the Board of Health applicable to waterworks.
Patron: Bell
Secretaries of Health and Human Resources and Public Safety and Homeland Security; work group; improving response to exposure-prone incidents. Directs the Secretaries of Health and Human Resources and of Public Safety and Homeland Security to establish a work group to develop a plan to improve the Commonwealth's response to exposure-prone incidents involving employees of law-enforcement agencies, volunteers and employees of fire departments and companies, and volunteers and employees of emergency medical services agencies and other appropriate entities. The work group shall (i) develop a plan for an entity to assist with management of exposure-prone incidents involving employees of law-enforcement agencies, volunteers and employees of fire departments and companies, and volunteers and employees of emergency medical services agencies and other appropriate entities and (ii) study and develop recommendations related to developing the ability to perform postmortem testing for infection with human immunodeficiency (HIV) or hepatitis B or C viruses through the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services. The work group shall report its findings to the Governor and the General Assembly by December 1, 2020.
Patron: Aird
Doulas; certification; registry. Provides that no person shall use or assume the title "state certified doula," as defined in the bill, unless such person is a community-based doula who has received training and education as a doula from an entity approved by a body approved by the Board of Health for such purpose and been certified as a doula by a body approved by the Board of Health for such purpose and that no entity shall hold itself out as providing training and education necessary to meet the requirements for certification as a doula unless its curriculum and training program has been approved by a body approved by the Board of Health for such purpose. The bill also directs the Board of Health to adopt regulations setting forth the requirements for (i) use of the title "state certified doula" and (ii) training and education necessary to satisfy the requirements for certification by the Department of Health as a state-certified doula.
Patron: Aird
Community health workers; certification. Establishes requirements for use of the title "certified community health worker." This bill incorporates HB 474.
Patron: Reid
Governing boards of public institutions of higher education; increases in undergraduate tuition or mandatory fees; notice. Prohibits the governing board of any public institution of higher education from approving an increase in undergraduate tuition or mandatory fees without providing students and the public notice of the date, time, and location of the meeting at which public comment on such planned increase is permitted at least 10 days prior to such meeting.
Patron: Hope
Secretaries of Education and Health and Human Resources; work group; process for approval of residential psychiatric placement and services; report. Directs the Secretaries of Education and Health and Human Resources to establish a work group to study the current process for approval of residential psychiatric services for children and adolescents and requires the work group to report its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Finance, and the Joint Subcommittee to Study Mental Health Services in the Commonwealth in the 21st Century by December 1, 2020.
Patron: Bulova
Private student loan providers; certain disclosures. Requires any provider of private student loans to disclose to any student attending an institution of higher education in the Commonwealth, prior to issuing a qualified education loan to such student, the contact information for the Office of the Qualified Education Loan Ombudsman and a summary of the student loan information applicable to private student loans that may be found on the Council's website. The bill provides that any such disclosure may be made in conjunction with or incorporated into another disclosure to such student prior to issuing the qualified education loan. The bill requires the summary to be developed by the Office of the Qualified Education Loan Ombudsman in consultation with relevant stakeholders. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021.
Patron: Rasoul
Department of Education; social-emotional learning and development. Requires the Department of Education to (i) establish a uniform definition of social-emotional learning and develop guidance standards for social-emotional learning for all public students in grades kindergarten through 12 in the Commonwealth; (ii) make such standards available to each local school division no later than July 1, 2021; and (iii) issue a report no later than November 1, 2021, on the resources needed to successfully support local school divisions with the implementation of a statewide social-emotional learning program.
Patron: Orrock
Hospitals; notification; physical therapy. Requires the Board of Health to adopt regulations requiring hospitals to establish protocols to ensure that any patient scheduled to receive an elective surgical procedure for which the patient can reasonably be expected to require outpatient physical therapy as a follow-up treatment after discharge is informed that he (i) is expected to require outpatient physical therapy as a follow-up treatment and (ii) will be required to select a physical therapy provider prior to being discharged from the hospital.
Patron: Plum
Comprehensive harm reduction programs. Repeals the sunset on the authority of the Commissioner of Health to establish and operate local or regional comprehensive harm reduction programs that include the distribution of sterile hypodermic needles and syringes and the disposal of used hypodermic needles and syringes; allows a local health department or other organization that promotes scientifically proven methods of mitigating health risks associated with drug use and other high-risk behaviors to establish comprehensive harm reduction programs, if authorized by the Commissioner of Health; and eliminates the requirement that comprehensive harm reduction programs be located in communities for which data indicates an increase in or increased risk of transmission of HIV, viral hepatitis, or other blood-borne disease as a result of injection drug use.
Patron: Askew
Child day programs; potable water; lead testing. Requires licensed child day programs and certain other programs that serve preschool-age children to develop and implement a plan to test potable water from sources identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as high priority. The bill requires such plan and the results of each such test to be submitted to and reviewed by the Commissioner of Social Services and the Department of Health's Office of Drinking Water. The bill stipulates that if the result of any such test indicates a level of lead in the potable water that is at or above 15 parts per billion, the program shall remediate the level of lead in the potable water to below 15 parts per billion, confirm such remediation by retesting the water, and submit the results of the retests to the Commissioner of Social Services and the Department of Health's Office of Drinking Water for review. The bill also provides such programs the option of using bottled water in lieu of testing or remediation. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021.
Patron: Hope
Department of Education; Department of Health; guidelines for use of digital devices in public schools. Requires the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Health and medical professional societies, to develop and implement health and safety best practice guidelines for the use of digital devices in public schools no later than the 2021-2022 school year.
Patron: Carroll Foy
Department of Education; microcredentials; plan. Requires the Department of Education to develop a plan to adopt and implement standards for microcredentials used toward add-on endorsements and renewal of licenses earned by Virginia license holders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The bill requires such plan to include (i) a process for reviewing and administering educator microcredentials; (ii) assurances that educator microcredentials rely upon demonstrable evidence from the submission of artifacts, such as student projects and teacher lesson plans, that are then objectively scored against existing rubrics; and (iii) assurances that educator microcredentials focus on interrelated competencies leading to logical teacher professional development pathways and stacks of educator microcredentials and align with the Board of Education's ongoing work on educator professional development. Such plan shall also include the resources needed for statewide implementation. The bill requires the Department of Education to complete and submit the plan to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education, the House Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Education and Health, and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations no later than December 1, 2020.
Patron: Bell
Professional use by practitioners; administration of inhaled asthma medication. Provides that, pursuant to an order or standing protocol issued by the prescriber within the course of his professional practice, any school nurse, school board employee, employee of a local governing body, employee of a local health department, employee of a school for students with disabilities, or employee of an accredited private school who is authorized by a prescriber and trained in the administration of albuterol inhalers may possess or administer an albuterol inhaler to a student diagnosed with a condition requiring an albuterol inhaler when the student is believed to be experiencing or about to experience an asthmatic crisis. The bill also provides that a school nurse, employee of a school board, employee of a local governing body, or employee of a local health department who is authorized by a prescriber and trained in the administration of albuterol inhalers who provides, administers, or assists in the administration of an albuterol inhaler for a student believed in good faith to be in need of such medication, or is the prescriber of such medication, is not liable for civil damages for ordinary negligence in acts or omissions resulting from the rendering of such treatment.
Patron: Sickles
Certificate of public need. Revises the Medical Care Facilities Certificate of Public Need Program. The bill (i) removes from the list of reviewable medical care facilities specialized centers or clinics or that portion of a physician's office developed for the provision of lithotripsy, magnetic source imaging, or nuclear medicine imaging; (ii) removes from the definition of project introduction into an existing medical care facility of any new lithotripsy, magnetic source imaging, or obstetrical service that the facility has never provided or has not provided in the previous 12 months and addition by an existing medical care facility of any medical equipment for the provision of lithotripsy and magnetic source imaging; (iii) creates a new process for registration of projects exempted from the definition of project by the bill; (iv) renames the State Medical Facilities Plan as the State Health Services Plan and establishes a State Health Services Plan task force to provide recommendations related to the content of the State Health Services Plan; (v) clarifies the content of the application for a certificate; (vi) reduces the timeline for a person to be made party to the case for good cause from 80 calendar days to four days following completion of the review and submission of recommendations related to an application; (vii) requires the Commissioner of Health to condition issuance of a certificate upon the agreement of the applicant to provide care to individuals who are eligible for benefits under Title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 1395 et seq.), Title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 1396 et seq.), and 10 U.S.C. § 1071 et seq. and permits the Commissioner to condition the issuance of a certificate on the agreement of the applicant to provide specialty medical services in addition to existing options for conditioning certificates; (viii) requires every certificate holder to develop a financial assistance policy that includes specific eligibility criteria and procedures for applying for charity care, which shall be provided to a patient at the time of admission or discharge or at the time services are provided, included with any billing statements sent to uninsured patients, posted conspicuously in public areas of the medical care facility for which the certificate was issued and posted on a website maintained by the certificate holder; (ix) eliminates the requirement that a person willfully fail, refuse, or neglect to comply with a plan of correction to be subject to a civil penalty so that any failure, refusal, or neglecting to comply with a plan of correction may subject the person to a civil penalty; and (x) provides that the Commissioner may consider any changes in the circumstances of the certificate holder resulting from changes in the financing or delivery of health care services, including changes to the Commonwealth's program of medical assistance services, and any other specific circumstances of the certificate holder when determining whether conditions imposed on a certificate continue to be appropriate.
The bill also (a) directs the Department of Health to develop recommendations to reduce the duration of the average review cycle for applications for certificates of public need to not more than 120 days and to report on its recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly no later than December 1, 2020, and (b) directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to implement a system to ensure that data needed to evaluate whether an application for a certificate is consistent with the State Health Services Plan is timely and reliable; to make an inventory of capacity authorized by certificates of public need, both operational and not yet operational, available in a digital format online; and to establish a public education and outreach program designed to improve public awareness of the certificate of public need process and the public's role in such process by January 1, 2021.
Patron: Filler-Corn
ABLE savings trust agreement; Medicaid clawback prohibition. Provides that the beneficiary of an ABLE savings trust account may appoint a survivor. In the event of the beneficiary's death, the survivor becomes the new beneficiary of the account if he is eligible under federal law to be a beneficiary of an ABLE savings trust account. The bill provides that if the survivor is ineligible, then any proceeds remaining in the account are distributed to the survivor and the account is closed. Under current law, if the beneficiary of an ABLE savings trust account dies, his state of residence becomes a creditor of the account and may seek payment under federal law for Medicaid benefits provided to the beneficiary while he was alive. The bill prohibits the Commonwealth from seeking estate recovery or payment from the proceeds of the deceased beneficiary's account for benefits provided to him.
Patron: Sickles
Long-term care services and supports; preadmission screenings. Provides that every individual who applies for or requests community or institutional long-term services and supports, as defined in the state plan for medical assistance services, may choose to receive services in a community or institutional setting and may choose the setting and provider of long-term care services and supports from a list of approved providers. The bill also clarifies requirements related to the performance of such long-term care services and supports screenings. The bill removes the definition of and references to PRE-Pace. The bill directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to consider alternative assessment tools for long-term services and supports screenings completed on or after July 1, 2021, and to report its findings and conclusions to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by December 1, 2020. The provisions of the bill shall not become effective if they conflict with any provision of federal law or regulations or guidance issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Patron: Hayes
Department of Health; sickle cell anemia; adult and pediatric comprehensive sickle cell clinic network. Specifies that children be included in the voluntary program established by the Commissioner of Health, in cooperation with local health directors, for the screening of individuals for the disease of sickle cell anemia or the sickle cell trait and for other genetically related diseases and genetic traits and inborn errors of metabolism. The bill directs the Board of Health to adopt regulations to implement an adult and pediatric comprehensive sickle cell clinic network.
Patron: Helmer
Institutions of higher education; sexual violence policies; immunity from disciplinary action; certain students who make reports. Requires the governing board of each public institution of higher education and each nonprofit private institution of higher education to include as part of its policy, code, rules, or set of standards governing sexual violence a provision for immunity from disciplinary action based on personal consumption of drugs or alcohol where such disclosure is made in conjunction with a good faith report of an act of sexual violence.
Patron: Coyner
Chesterfield County School Board; recovery high school. Permits the Chesterfield County School Board to establish a recovery high school in the school division as a year-round high school (i) for which enrollment is open to any high school student who resides in Superintendent's Region 1 and is in the early stages of recovery from substance use disorder or dependency and (ii) for the purpose of providing such students with the academic, emotional, and social support necessary to make progress toward earning a high school diploma and reintegrating into a traditional high school setting.
Patron: Herring
Provision of abortion. The bill expands who can perform first trimester abortions to include, in addition to physicians, physician's assistants licensed by the Board of Medicine, and nurse practitioners or certified nurse midwives jointly licensed by the Board of Medicine and the Board of Nursing. The bill eliminates all the procedures and processes, including the performance of an ultrasound, required to effect a pregnant person's informed written consent to the performance of an abortion; however, the bill does not change the requirement that a pregnant person's informed written consent first be obtained. The bill 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: Adams, L.R.
A.L. Philpott Manufacturing Extension Partnership. Declares the A.L. Philpott Manufacturing Extension Partnership a political subdivision of the Commonwealth and requires its staff to be treated as state employees for purposes of participation in the Virginia Retirement System, health insurance, and all other employee benefits offered by the Commonwealth to its classified employees.
Patron: Bell
School board policies; epinephrine; accessibility. Requires each school board's policies on the possession and administration of epinephrine in every school in the local school division to require that at least one school nurse, employee of the school board, employee of a local governing body, or employee of a local health department who is authorized by a prescriber and trained in the administration of epinephrine has the means to access at all times during regular school hours any such epinephrine that is stored in a locked or otherwise generally inaccessible container or area.
Patron: Hope
Prescription drugs; expedited partner therapy; labels. Eliminates the requirement that there exist a bona fide practitioner-patient relationship with a contact patient for a practitioner to prescribe expedited partner therapy consistent with the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A pharmacist dispensing a Schedule III through VI drug to a contact whose name and address are unavailable shall affix "Expedited Partner Therapy" or "EPT" to the written prescription and the label. The bill repeals the July 1, 2020, sunset on the provision that allows practitioners employed by the Department of Health to prescribe antibiotic therapy to the sexual partner of a patient diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease without the physical examination normally required.
Patron: Herring
Prescription requirements; treatment of sexually transmitted diseases; sunset. Repeals the sunset of July 1, 2020, on the provision that allows practitioners employed by the Department of Health to prescribe antibiotic therapy to the sexual partner of a patient diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease without the physical examination normally required.
Patron: Adams, L.R.
Vocational rehabilitation and employment services for former law-enforcement officers with a disability. Requires the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services to make information regarding vocational rehabilitation programs and employment services available to assist former law-enforcement officers who have a disability as a result of their service with preparing for, obtaining, and maintaining suitable employment, including information on the types of programs available and the process by which former law-enforcement officers who have a disability as a result of their service can access such programs and services, available to law-enforcement agencies in the Commonwealth, and provides that every law-enforcement agency in the Commonwealth shall provide to every law-enforcement officer who separates from the agency due to a disability resulting from his service information regarding vocational rehabilitation programs and employment services available to assist former law-enforcement officers who have a disability as a result of their service with preparing for, obtaining, and maintaining suitable employment, including information on the types of programs available and the process by which such law-enforcement officers may access such programs and services.
Patron: Kory
Parental educational information; tobacco and nicotine vapor products. Requires each school board to annually provide parents of pupils in grades kindergarten through 12 information regarding the health dangers of tobacco and nicotine vapor products. The bill requires that the information provided be consistent with guidelines set forth by the Department of Education.
Patron: Hayes
Surgical assistants; licensure. Defines "surgical assistant" and "practice of surgical assisting" and directs the Board of Medicine to establish criteria for the licensure of surgical assistants. Currently, the Board may issue a registration as a surgical assistant to eligible individuals. The bill also establishes the Advisory Board on Surgical Assisting to assist the Board of Medicine regarding the establishment of qualifications for and regulation of licensed surgical assistants.
Patron: Hope
Required immunizations. Removes the specific list of minimum requirements for vaccines for school attendance and directs that the State Board of Health Regulations for the Immunization of School Children shall be consistent with the Recommended Immunization Schedule for Children and Adolescents Aged 18 Years or Younger developed and published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
Patron: Robinson
Massage therapists; qualifications; license. Provides that an applicant who completed a massage therapy educational program in a foreign country may apply for licensure as a massage therapist upon submission of evidence that the applicant (i) is at least 18 years old, (ii) has successfully completed a massage therapy educational program that is comparable to a massage therapy educational program required for licensure by the Board, and (iii) has passed a Board-approved English language proficiency examination, and (iv) has not committed any acts or omissions that would be grounds for disciplinary action or denial of licensure. The Board of Nursing shall issue a license to an applicant who completed his massage therapy educational program in a foreign country upon submission of evidence of completion of the English-language version of the Licensing Examination of the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards or a comparable examination.
Patron: Lopez
Professional use by practitioners; administration of inhaled asthma medication. Provides that a prescriber may authorize pursuant to a written order or standing protocol issued within the course of the prescriber's professional practice, and with the consent of the student's parents, an employee of (i) a school board, (ii) a school for students with disabilities, or (iii) an accredited private school who is trained in the administration or supervision of self-administered inhaled asthma medications to administer or supervise the self-administration of such medication to a student diagnosed with a condition requiring inhaled asthma medications when the student is believed to be experiencing or about to experience an asthmatic crisis. The bill provides that such authorization shall be effective only when a licensed nurse, nurse practitioner, physician, or physician assistant is not present to perform the administration of the medication.
Patron: Tran
Public institutions of higher education; in-state tuition; refugees and individuals with certain Special Immigrant Visas. Provides that an individual is eligible for in-state tuition charges regardless of domicile if he is admitted to the United States as a refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157 within the previous two calendar years or received a Special Immigrant Visa that has been granted a status under P.L. 110-181 § 1244, P.L. 109-163 § 1059, or P.L. 111-8 § 602 within the previous two calendar years, and upon entering the United States, the individual resided in the Commonwealth and continues to reside in the Commonwealth as a refugee or pursuant to such Special Immigrant Visa.
Patron: Tran
School boards; duties; student transportation in certain cases. Each school board that provides for the transportation of students and that has established a rule, regulation, or policy to exclude certain students who reside within a certain distance from the school at which they are enrolled from accessing such transportation to establish a process for waiving, on a case-by-case and space-available basis, such exclusion and providing transportation to any such student whose parent is unable to provide adequate transportation for his child to attend school because the parent is providing necessary medical care to another family member who resides in the same household, as evidenced by a written explanation submitted by a licensed health care provider who provides care to such family member.
Patron: Miyares
Public institutions of higher education; foundations; annual reporting requirements. Requires each public institution of higher education to release an annual report regarding foundations associated with the institution setting forth foundation expenses. The annual report shall include the total annual expenditures by each foundation; the percentage of expenditures used for scholarships or financial aid by each foundation; the percentage of expenditures used for faculty compensation by each foundation; the percentage of expenditures used for program costs by each foundation; the percentage of expenditures used for equipment and technology by each foundation; and the percentage of expenditures used for administrative support by each foundation.
Patron: Tran
Collection of debts by hospitals affiliated with public institutions of higher education. Prohibits the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System Authority and the University of Virginia Medical Center from participating in debt collection efforts pursuant to the Virginia Debt Collection Act or the Setoff Debt Collection Act unless all reasonable efforts have been made to determine if the individual with delinquent debt is eligible for financial assistance. The bill requires both hospitals to develop debt collection policies that adhere, at a minimum, to Internal Revenue Service policies regarding financial assistance by tax-exempt hospitals as they were in effect on January 1, 2020.
Patron: Hodges
Advisory Board on Athletic Training; membership. Provides that one member of the Advisory Board on Athletic Training shall be an athletic trainer who is currently licensed by the Board on Athletic Training who has practiced in the Commonwealth for not less than three years and is employed in the public or private sector. Currently, the law requires that the member be employed in the private sector.
Patron: Hodges
Athletic trainers; naloxone or other opioid antagonist. Authorizes licensed athletic trainers to possess and administer naloxone or other opioid antagonist for overdose reversal pursuant to an oral or written order or standing protocol issued by the prescriber within the course of his professional practice.
Patron: O'Quinn
State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; Veteran Student Transition Grant Fund and Program. Establishes the Veteran Student Transition Grant Fund as a special nonreverting fund in the state treasury and requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to establish the Veteran Student Transition Grant Program for the purpose of providing grants from the Fund on a competitive basis to a public institution of higher education, private institution of higher education, or group of such institutions that proposes a new and innovative program or research project relating to improving the transition of veteran students from military to higher education or from higher education to the civilian workforce.
Patron: Kory
Public institutions of higher education; students; determination of domicile. Prohibits any student at a public institution of higher education from being deemed ineligible to establish domicile and receive in-state tuition charges solely on the basis of the immigration status of his parent.
Patron: Kilgore
Telehealth services. Directs the Board of Health to develop and implement, by July 1, 2022, and thereafter maintain as a component of the State Health Plan a Statewide Telehealth Plan to promote an integrated approach to the introduction and use of telehealth services and telemedicine services,, as those terms are defined in the bill. The bill requires the Statewide Telehealth Plan to promote (i) the use of remote patient monitoring services and store-and-forward technologies, including in cases involving patients with chronic illness; (ii) the leveraging of telehealth and telemedicine technologies to streamline general practice and nonemergency triage services; (iii) rapid patient access to emergency medicine providers through telehealth services and telemedicine services; and (iv) such other telehealth services and telemedicine services and technologies as the Board of Health deems appropriate. The bill also requires the Board of Medical Assistance Services to amend the state plan for medical assistance to include a provision for payment of medical assistance for (a) emergency medical services delivered through telehealth services or telemedicine services provided pursuant to the Statewide Telehealth Plan, in the home of the person to whom services are provided, in any public or private primary or secondary school or postsecondary institution of higher education at which the person to whom services are provided is located, and at the location where the patient received prehospital, interhospital, or emergency medical services in conjunction with appropriate emergency medical, medical, or long-term care providers included as originating sites for such telehealth services or telemedicine services and (b) medically necessary health care services provided through remote patient monitoring services for priority populations as determined by the Director of Medical Assistance Services, with the home as an eligible originating site, as permitted by state law.
Patron: Keam
State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; student advisory committee; Director of the Council. Changes the appointing authority for the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia's student advisory committee from the State Council to the Director of the Council. It also directs the student advisory committee to report to the Director rather than to the Council.
Patron: Keam
Family life education; Standards of Learning and curriculum guidelines; contemporary community standards; review. Requires the Board of Education, in conducting its regular review and revision of the Standards of Learning and curriculum guidelines for family life education, to consult relevant stakeholders to ensure that revisions reflect contemporary community standards. The bill requires the next such review and revision to be completed no later than June 30, 2021. The bill requires each school board to conduct a review of its family life education curricula at least once every seven years.
Patron: Askew
Board of Education; teacher licensure; written reprimand; suspension. Provides that when adopting regulations regarding the issuance of written reprimands of teachers and other school personnel required to hold a license, the Board of Education shall establish in such regulations the grounds for such written reprimands and provides that for a teacher who breaches his contract, the local board of education or division superintendent, in addition to a written reprimand or revocation of the teacher's license as in current law, may issue a suspension of the teacher's license.
Patron: Leftwich
Family life education programs; materials; summaries. Requires each local school board that offers a family life education program to post for public viewing (i) on the local school division's official website a summary of such program and (ii) on the local school division's official website or a parental portal a complete copy of all printed family life education program materials not subject to copyright protection and a description of all family life education program audio-visual materials. The bill requires each local school board to implement the foregoing provisions no later than the start of the 2021-2022 school year.
Patron: Hope
Temporary detention for observation and treatment. Clarifies that a person can be subject to a temporary detention order for observation and treatment related to intoxication where the person is located, upon a finding that (i) probable cause exists to believe the person is incapable of making or communicating an informed decision regarding treatment due to intoxication and (ii) the medical standard of care calls for observation, testing, or treatment within the next 24 hours to prevent injury, disability, death, or other harm to the individual resulting from such intoxication. The duration of such a temporary detention shall not exceed 24 hours. The bill provides that a person subject to emergency custody due to a mental illness shall remain in custody until (a) a temporary detention order is issued in accordance with § 37.2-809; (b) an order for temporary detention for observation, testing, or treatment is entered in accordance with § 37.2-1104, ending law enforcement custody; (c) the person is released; or (d) the emergency custody order expires. The bill directs the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to convene a work group to develop standard policies and procedures regarding medical temporary detention orders. The work group shall complete its work no later than July 1, 2020.
Patron: Hope
Acute psychiatric bed registry; information required to be reported. Directs the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to establish a work group to evaluate the role of, and make recommendations related to improving the structure and effectiveness of the, psychiatric bed registry. The work group shall report its findings, conclusions, and recommendations to the Governor and the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education and Health, the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, and the Joint Subcommittee to Study Mental Health Services in the Commonwealth in the Twenty-First Century by November 1, 2020.
Patron: Gooditis
Teachers employed in certain private schools; provisional licenses; extension. Requires the Board of Education to extend for at least one additional year, but for no more than two additional years, the three-year provisional license of a teacher employed in an accredited private elementary or secondary school or a school for students with disabilities that is licensed by the Board upon receiving from the school administrator of such school (i) a recommendation for such extension and (ii) satisfactory performance evaluations for such teacher for each year of the original three-year provisional license. This bill incorporates HB 725.
Patron: Guy
Student voters; Virginia voter registration. Requires each public high school to provide to any enrolled student who is of voting age or otherwise eligible to register to vote access to Virginia voter registration information and applications and the opportunity to complete such application during the normal course of the school day.
Patron: Bulova
Governing boards of public institutions of higher education; acceptance of terms and conditions associated with donations, gifts, and other private philanthropic support. Requires the governing board of each public institution of higher education to establish a policy for the acceptance of terms and conditions associated with any donation, gift, or other private philanthropic support. The bill requires each such policy to include an administrative process for reviewing, accepting, and documenting terms and conditions associated with (i) gifts that direct academic decision-making and (ii) gifts of $1,000,000 or more that impose a new obligation on the institution of higher education, excluding gifts for scholarships or other financial aid. The bill requires each public institution of higher education to retain documentation of such terms and conditions in compliance with the Virginia Public Records Act and provides that such documentation shall be subject to the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
Patron: Jenkins
Prescription drug disposal program; hospitals and clinics. Directs the Board of Pharmacy to enhance public awareness of proper drug disposal methods by assembling a group of stakeholders to develop strategies to increase the number of permissible drug disposal sites and options for the legal disposal of drugs. The Board is directed to report its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than November 15, 2020.
Patron: Fowler
Appointed school boards; members; salaries. Eliminates the annual salary limits for appointed school board members and permits any appointed school board to pay each of its members an annual salary that is consistent with the salary procedures and no more than the salary limits provided for local governments in Article 1.1 (§ 15.2-1414.1 et seq.) of Chapter 14 of Title 15.2 (Counties, Cities and Towns) or as provided by charter. This bill incorporates HB 1578.
Patron: Brewer
Public school teachers; technical professional licenses; eligibility criteria. Requires the Board of Education, pursuant to regulation, to permit any individual who seeks a technical professional license to substitute the successful completion of an intensive, job-embedded, three-year program of professional development for the nine semester hours of professional studies required for such license.
Patron: Kilgore
Public schools; provisional teacher licensure; certain individuals. Permits any school board and division superintendent to extend from three months to six months the period within which the provisional license of an individual seeking initial teacher licensure who has not completed professional assessments will expire for the purpose of establishing such individual's eligibility for initial licensure, provided that such individual has received a satisfactory mid-year performance review in the current school year and meets all other eligibility criteria.
Patron: Carr
Online Virginia Network Authority; James Madison University. Adds the President of James Madison University or his designee and one nonlegislative citizen member appointed by James Madison University to the members of the board of trustees of the Online Virginia Network Authority. The bill also adds James Madison University to the institutions of higher education for which the Online Virginia Network, established by the Authority, will facilitate the completion of degrees.
Patron: Tran
Practice of medicine; license not required; person licensed in a contiguous state. 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.