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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
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Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2018 SESSION
Chairman: Stephen D. Newman
Staff: Thomas Stevens
Date of Meeting: January 25, 2018
Time and Place: 8:00 AM - Senate Room A - Pocahontas Bldg.
Revised to remove SB 160
Patron: Spruill
Dispensing drugs without a prescription. Authorizes a pharmacist to dispense up to a five-day supply of a Schedule VI drug to an individual who has been displaced from his residence by a natural or man-made disaster; has had his supply of the drug lost, destroyed, or otherwise rendered unusable as a consequence of the disaster; and is unable to tell the pharmacist the identity of the prescriber or his regular pharmacist or pharmacy. The bill also requires the individual to present evidence sufficient to establish, among other things, that the individual had been in lawful possession of the drug pursuant to a prescription provided to another pharmacist and that his health would be in danger without the benefits of the drug. Before prescribing the drug, the pharmacist is required to determine with a reasonable degree of certainty that the requested drug and dosage level are consistent with the drug and its dosage level that had been prescribed to the individual at the time of his displacement from his residence. During the period for which the drug has been dispensed, the pharmacist is required to diligently attempt to ascertain the identity of the prescriber and the identity of the pharmacist or pharmacy in possession of the prescriber's prescription. Upon obtaining such information, the pharmacist is required to take such additional reasonable action as will permit the individual to obtain a new or renewal prescription and resume obtaining the drug pursuant to his prescription.
Patron: Cosgrove
Driver education programs; parent/student driver education component. Requires all school divisions to administer a minimum 90-minute parent/student driver education component as part of the driver education curriculum. Currently, such component is required only in Planning District 8 (Northern Virginia). The bill allows for school divisions to administer such component in-person or online, except for schools in Planning District 8 (Northern Virginia), where the component must still be administered in-person.
Patron: Spruill
Mortuary science education; practical experience required. Requires every public institution of higher education that offers a degree in mortuary science to require students to complete practical experience in the areas of funeral service and embalming during the first year of such program. The bill also provides that a person who is duly enrolled in a mortuary education program may assist in embalming while under the supervision of a funeral service licensee or embalmer with an active, unrestricted license issued by the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers, provided that such embalming occurs in a funeral service establishment licensed by the Board and in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Board.
Patron: Edwards
State plan for medical assistance; eligibility. Requires the Board of Medical Assistance Services to include in the state plan for medical assistance provision for the payment of medical assistance on behalf of individuals described in 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i)(VIII) who are under 65 years of age and not otherwise eligible for medical assistance and whose household income does not exceed 133 percent of the federal poverty level for a family of that size. The bill provides that such provision shall expire on December 31 of any year in which the federal medical assistance percentage for such individuals falls below the percentages set forth in 42 C.F.R. § 433.10(c)(6).
Patron: Stanley
Public schools; robotics team competition program. Prohibits a public school from becoming a member of any organization or entity whose purpose is to regulate or govern interscholastic programs unless such organization or entity has, by July 1, 2020, established a varsity level robotics team competition program that includes regional, super-regional, and state championships.
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: Stanley
Patient-Centered Medical Home Advisory Council; opioid addiction treatment pilot. Establishes the Patient-Centered Medical Home Advisory Council (Council) as an advisory council in the executive branch. The bill requires the Council to advise and make recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the agencies within his secretariat on health care reforms designed to increase access to and improve outcomes of treatment and recovery services for opioid addiction and opioid-related disorders through the use of a patient-centered medical home system.
The bill also requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, in partnership with community services boards, a hospital licensed in the Commonwealth, and telemedicine networks, to establish a two-year pilot program in Planning District 12 designed to provide comprehensive treatment and recovery services to uninsured or underinsured individuals suffering from opioid addiction or opioid-related disorders. The bill requires the Department and its partners to collaborate with the Patient-Centered Medical Home Advisory Council to develop the pilot program.
Patron: Stanley
Prescription Monitoring Program; veterinarians. Requires veterinarians who dispense controlled substances to report certain information about the animal and the owner of the animal to the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP). The bill requires veterinarians to register with the PMP and, when issuing a prescription to an animal for opiates that will last more than seven days, to request certain information from the Director of the Department of Health Professions regarding both the animal and the owner of the animal.
Patron: Hanger
School bus personnel; training program; autism spectrum disorders. Requires the Board of Education to establish a training program for school board employees who assist in the transportation of students on school buses, including individuals employed to operate school buses and school bus aides, on autism spectrum disorders, including the characteristics of autism spectrum disorders, strategies for interacting with students with autism spectrum disorders, the use of positive behavior supports, the use of restraint and seclusion, appropriate responses to bullying and unexpected changes, and collaboration with other employees who assist in the transportation of students on school buses. The bill requires each school board employee who assists in the transportation of students on school buses, including each individual employed to operate school buses and school bus aide, to participate in such training program.
Patron: DeSteph
Collection of student demographic data; prohibition. Prohibits, except for the purposes of school accountability or as required by state or federal law, local school boards from requiring a student or his parent to report information related to the student's race, ethnicity, or religion. The bill requires that any request for such information include an option for the student or parent to decline to answer. Additionally, local school boards shall prohibit third-party collection of such information.
Patron: Stuart
Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program; eligibility. Extends the benefits of the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program to the spouse or child of a veteran with at least a 90 percent permanent, service-related disability. Under current law, the spouse or child would be eligible for benefits only if the veteran's disability was incurred during military operations against terrorism, on a peacekeeping mission, as a result of a terrorist act, or in any armed conflict.
Patron: Suetterlein
Standards of Quality; staffing requirements. Provides that a local school board that is required to employ two full-time librarians for any middle school or high school may meet such requirement by employing two full-time librarians, or one full-time librarian and one full-time media specialist, instructional coach, personalized learning lab facilitator, content coordinator, or instructional resource teacher. The bill also provides that a local school board that is required to employ a full-time school-based clerical person for the library for any middle school or high school may meet such requirement by employing one full-time school-based clerical person for the library, for instruction, or for assessment or career planning, or by employing one full-time classroom instructional assistant.
Patron: Black
School property; unrecorded encumbrances. Provides that whenever a school board or governing body acquires real property for the purpose of constructing a school facility, the real property shall not be subjected to or restricted by any unrecorded covenants, equitable servitudes, or other encumbrances unless such school board or governing body had actual notice of such.
Patron: Petersen
Public schools; instructional time; recreational time. Authorizes local school boards to include and requires the Board of Education to accept, for grades one through six, unstructured recreational time that is designed to develop teamwork, social skills, and overall physical fitness in any calculation of total instructional time or teaching hours.
Patron: Barker
Public schools; kindergarten instructional time. Increases from 540 hours to 990 hours the minimum instructional hours in a school year for students in kindergarten. The bill directs the Board of Education to promulgate regulations by July 1, 2020, establishing standards for accreditation that include a requirement that the standard school day for students in kindergarten average at least 5.5 instructional hours in order to qualify for full accreditation. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2020.
Patron: Barker
State plan for medical assistance; eligibility. Requires the Board of Medical Assistance Services to include in the state plan for medical assistance provision for the payment of medical assistance on behalf of individuals described in 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i)(VIII) who are under 65 years of age and not otherwise eligible for medical assistance and whose household income does not exceed 133 percent of the federal poverty level for a family of that size. The bill provides that such provision shall expire on December 31 of any year in which the federal medical assistance percentage for such individuals falls below the percentages set forth in 42 C.F.R. § 433.10(c)(6). This bill also repeals provisions of the Code of Virginia establishing the Medicaid Innovation and Reform Commission.
Patron: Favola
School calendar; opening day of the school year. Makes local school boards responsible for setting the school calendar and determining the opening day of the school year and eliminates the post-Labor Day opening requirement and "good cause" scenarios for which the Board of Education may grant waivers of this requirement.
Patron: Marsden
Public schools; tobacco products and nicotine vapor products. Requires each school board to (i) develop and implement a policy to prohibit the use of tobacco products and nicotine vapor products on a school bus, on school property, or at a school-sponsored activity and (ii) include in its code of student conduct a prohibition against possessing tobacco products or nicotine vapor products on a school bus, on school property, or at a school-sponsored activity.
Patron: DeSteph
Department of Medical Assistance Services; eligibility for services under waiver. Prohibits the Department of Medical Assistance Services from reducing, terminating, suspending, or denying services for an individual enrolled in a waiver who is otherwise eligible for such services on the basis of such individual's informed choice of place of residence in the Commonwealth.
Patron: Dunnavant
Clinics for the treatment of opioid addiction; location. Provides that the prohibition on locating clinics for the treatment of persons with opiate addiction through the use of methadone or opioid replacements other than opioid replacements approved for the treatment of opioid addiction by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration within one-half mile of a public or private licensed day care center or a public or private K-12 school shall not apply to an applicant for a license to operate in its current location or to relocate an existing facility when the facility is currently located within one-half mile of a public or private licensed day care center or a public or private K-12 school in the City of Richmond, has been licensed and operated as a facility to provide treatment for persons with opiate addiction through the use of methadone or other opioid replacements by another provider immediately prior to submission of the application for a license, and, upon issuance of the license, will be operated by a behavioral health authority.
Patron: Peake
School boards; employment of certain individuals. Prohibits any school board from employing (i) any individual who has been convicted of any felony offense against a child; a certain act of violence or violent felony; or any offense involving the sexual molestation, physical or sexual abuse, or rape of a child or (ii) any other individual who has been convicted of any other felony offense unless such individual has had his civil rights restored by the Governor and at least 5 years have passed since such conviction.
Patron: Peake
Statewide cancer registry; information on firefighters. Requires that the information physicians report on a patient diagnosed with cancer to the statewide cancer registry include information, with the patient's consent, regarding the patient's work history as a firefighter, if any, including (i) his status as a volunteer, paid on-call, or career firefighter; (ii) the number of years on the job; and (iii) a measure or estimate of the number and type of fire incidents attended. The bill also provides that one purpose of the statewide cancer registry is to collect data to evaluate potential links between exposure to fire incidents and cancer incidence.
Patron: Stuart
School personnel; staffing ratios; school nurses. Excludes school nurse positions from requirements for student support positions and instead requires each local school board to employ at least one full-time equivalent school nurse position in each elementary school, middle school, and high school in the local school division or at least one full-time equivalent school nurse position per 550 students in grades kindergarten through 12.
Patron: DeSteph
Higher education; in-state tuition. Prohibits any percentage increase in in-state tuition or instructional fees for undergraduate students at Virginia's public institutions of higher education that exceeds 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: DeSteph
Higher education; in-state tuition. Prohibits any percentage increase in in-state tuition or instructional fees for undergraduate students at Virginia's public institutions of higher education that exceeds the annual percentage increase, as determined by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, of the median household income in the Commonwealth, established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, of the calendar year immediately preceding the affected year.
Patron: Chafin
Substance-exposed infants; plan for services. Provides that the Department of Health shall serve as the lead agency with responsibility for the development, coordination, and implementation of a plan for services for substance-exposed infants in the Commonwealth. Such plan shall (i) support a trauma-informed approach to identification and treatment of substance-exposed infants and their caregivers and (ii) include (a) options for improving screening and identification of substance-using pregnant women, (b) use of multidisciplinary approaches to intervention and service delivery during the prenatal period and following the birth of the substance-exposed child, and (c) referral among providers serving substance-exposed infants and their families and caregivers.
Patron: Lewis
Local or regional drug overdose fatality review teams. Authorizes any county or city, or any combination of counties, cities, or counties and cities, to establish a local or regional drug overdose fatality review team for the purpose of (i) conducting contemporaneous reviews of local drug overdose deaths, (ii) promoting cooperation and coordination among agencies involved in investigations of drug overdose deaths or in providing services to surviving family members, (iii) developing an understanding of the causes and incidence of drug overdose deaths in the locality, (iv) developing plans for and recommending changes within the agencies represented on the local team to prevent drug overdose deaths, and (v) advising the Department of Health and other relevant state agencies on changes to law, policy, or practice to prevent overdose deaths. The bill authorizes a local or regional team to review the death of any person who resides in the Commonwealth and whose death was or is suspected to be due to drug overdose. A violation of the confidentiality of the review process is punishable as a Class 3 misdemeanor.
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 community health worker unless he is certified by an entity approved by the Department.
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: Wexton
Schedule I drugs; classification for fentanyl derivatives. Adds to Schedule I of the Drug Control Act a classification for fentanyl derivatives.
Patron: Wexton
Local school boards; prior authorization for legal action. Narrows the restriction, to appointed school boards, that a local school board receive prior authorization from the local governing body prior to instituting any legal action or proceeding against any other governmental agency in Virginia. Under current law, the restriction applies to all school boards regardless of selection method.
Patron: McClellan
Clinics for the treatment of opioid addiction; location. Provides that the prohibition on locating clinics for the treatment of persons with opiate addiction through the use of methadone or opioid replacements other than opioid replacements approved for the treatment of opioid addiction by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration within one-half mile of a public or private licensed day care center or a public or private K-12 school shall not apply to an applicant for a license to operate in its current location an existing facility when the facility is currently located within one-half mile of a public or private licensed day care center or a public or private K-12 school in the City of Richmond, has been licensed and operated as a facility to provide treatment for persons with opiate addiction through the use of methadone or other opioid replacements by another provider immediately prior to submission of the application for a license, and, upon issuance of the license, will be operated by a behavioral health authority.
Patron: McClellan
Superintendent of Public Instruction; school climate survey. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop and make available annually to each public elementary and secondary school teacher in the Commonwealth a voluntary and anonymous school climate survey to evaluate school-level teaching conditions and the impact such conditions have on teacher retention and student achievement. The bill requires such survey to include questions regarding school leadership, teacher leadership, teacher autonomy, demands on teachers' time, student conduct management, professional development, instructional practices and support, new teacher support, community engagement and support, and facilities and other resources.
Patron: Reeves
Licensed providers of treatment for persons with opioid addiction; Prescription Monitoring Program. Requires licensed providers of treatment for persons with opioid addiction through the use of methadone or other opioid replacements to comply with the reporting requirements of the Prescription Monitoring Program.
Patron: Reeves
School principals; incident reports. Provides that school principals are not required to report criminal misdemeanors or status offenses to law enforcement if in the principal's discretion, based on a totality of the circumstances and consistent with Board of Education guidelines, such report is not warranted. The bill requires the Board of Education, in consultation with the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Office of the Attorney General, and any interested stakeholders, to update its Student Conduct Policy Guidelines to provide guidance for principals in exercising such discretion.
Patron: Suetterlein
Optometry; scope of practice. Provides that the practice of optometry includes the evaluation, examination, diagnosis, and treatment of abnormal or diseased conditions of the human eye and its adnexa by the use of medically recognized and appropriate devices, procedures, or technologies but that it does not include treatment by laser surgery; treatment by surgery except for treatment of styes, chalazia, or anterior segment lesions that does not require the use of general anesthesia or sutures; or the use of injections, including venipuncture and intravenous injections, except for certain injections by TPA-certified optometrists and for the treatment of emergency cases of anaphylactic shock with intramuscular epinephrine.
Patron: Obenshain
Public schools; regional charter school divisions. Authorizes the Board of Education (the Board) to establish regional charter school divisions consisting of at least two but not more than three existing school divisions in regions in which each underlying school division has (i) an enrollment of more than 3,000 students and (ii) one or more schools that have accreditation denied status for two out of the past three years. The bill requires such regional charter school divisions to be supervised by a school board that consists of eight members appointed by the Board and one member appointed by the localities of each of the underlying divisions. The bill authorizes the school board, after a review by the Board, to review and approve public charter school applications in the regional charter school divisions and to contract with the applicant. The bill requires that the state share of Standards of Quality per pupil funding of the underlying school district in which the student resides be transferred to such school.
Patron: Obenshain
Involuntary manslaughter; death of a fetus; penalty. Provides that any person who, as a result of driving under the influence, causes the death of the fetus of another is guilty of involuntary manslaughter. The bill provides that if such person's conduct was so gross, wanton, and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life, he is guilty of aggravated involuntary manslaughter.
Patron: Obenshain
Prescription drug donation program. Requires that the existing prescription drug donation program regulated by the Board of Pharmacy accept eligible unused drugs from individuals, manufacturers, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, intermediate care facilities established for individuals with intellectual disability (ICF/IID), licensed hospitals, or any facility operated by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. The bill also provides that pharmacies may re-dispense such drugs to the indigent. Under the current program, only hospitals and indigent care clinics may re-dispense such drugs to the indigent. The bill also provides liability protection for those who donate, accept, and dispense such unused drugs.
Patron: Hanger
School bus operators; training. Codifies hourly requirements that (i) decrease from 24 to six the number of hours currently required in regulation for behind-the-wheel training for school bus operator applicants who do not possess a commercial driver's license; (ii) decrease from 24 to four the number of hours currently required in regulation for classroom training and from 24 to three the number of hours currently required in regulation for behind-the-wheel training for applicants currently possessing a commercial driver's license; and (iii) decrease from 24 to four the number of hours currently required in regulation for classroom training and from 24 to three the number of hours currently required in regulation for behind-the-wheel training for applicants previously trained and approved to operate a school bus who were not removed for cause from a prior position operating a school bus. Current law leaves the setting of such hourly requirements to the Department of Education. The bill contains technical amendments.
Patron: Hanger
Delivery of medical assistance services. Directs the State Board of Medical Assistance Services to include in the state plan for medical assistance services pursuant to Title XIX of the Social Security Act a provision for the payment of medical assistance on behalf of individuals described in 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i)(VIII) and directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to prepare and submit an application for a waiver to allow the Commonwealth to (i) institute a work requirement for all able-bodied adult recipients of medical assistance services, (ii) provide for periodic verification of household income of an individual subject to the work requirement and for redetermination of the individual's eligibility for medical assistance eservices, and (iii) impose certain requirements related to cost sharing for recipients of medical assistance services, including requirements for premiums, copayments, and coinsurance. Provisions of the bill providing for the payment of medical assistance on behalf of individuals described in 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i)(VIII) shall expire on July 1, 2020, unless the waiver has been approved and implemented.
Patron: DeSteph
Higher education; in-state tuition. Prohibits any percentage increase in in-state tuition or instructional fees for undergraduate students at Virginia's public institutions of higher education that exceeds the annual percentage increase, as determined by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, in the national average wage index as defined in § 209(k)(1) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 409(k)(1), of the calendar year immediately preceding the affected year.
Patron: Ebbin
Elementary and secondary schools; sexual misconduct. Prohibits any person who is an employee, contractor, or agent of a public school or accredited private school from assisting an employee, contractor, or agent in obtaining a new job if such person knows or has probable cause to believe that such employee, contractor, or agent engaged in sexual misconduct regarding a minor or student.
Patron: Dunnavant
Limits on prescription of controlled substances containing opioids. Eliminates the surgical or invasive procedure treatment exception to the requirement that a prescriber request certain information from the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) when initiating a new course of treatment that includes prescribing opioids for a human patient to last more than seven days. Under current law, a prescriber is not required to request certain information from the PMP for opioid prescriptions of up to 14 days to a patient as part of treatment for a surgical or invasive procedure. The provisions of the bill will expire on July 1, 2022.
Patron: Dunnavant
Prescribers; notice of administration of naloxone. Requires every hospital that operates an emergency department to develop and implement a protocol for (i) identifying every prescriber who has prescribed opioids to a patient to whom naloxone is administered for the purpose of reversing an opioid overdose in the emergency department or by emergency medical services personnel or a law-enforcement officer prior to admission to the emergency department and (ii) notifying each such prescriber that the patient has been treated with naloxone for the purpose of reversing an opioid overdose. Such notification shall be made in each case in which naloxone is administered for the purpose of reversing an opioid overdose by a health care provider in a hospital emergency department, emergency medical services personnel, or a law-enforcement officer to a patient to whom opioids have been prescribed by a prescriber.
Patron: Dunnavant
Virginia Longitudinal Data System; workforce data. Requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), through the Virginia Longitudinal Data System, to report additional information regarding the alignment of postsecondary education and workforce in the Commonwealth. The bill also directs the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Virginia Employment Commission, and the Department of Taxation to cooperate with SCHEV to further assist in the collection and sharing of data regarding workforce analysis.
Patron: Hanger
Virginia College Savings Plan. Makes several changes to the provisions that establish the Virginia College Savings Plan (the Plan), including (i) clarifying that members of the Plan's governing board (the board) are required to disclose personal interests pursuant to the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act, (ii) permitting the Plan to maintain an independent disbursement system for the disbursement of prepaid tuition contract benefits, and (iii) requiring each prepaid tuition contract entered into on or after July 1, 2018, to include provisions for the application of tuition prepayments, at a rate equal to the percentage of enrollment-weighted average tuition at public institutions of higher education to be determined by the board, at (a) public institutions of higher education, (b) accredited nonprofit independent or private institutions of higher education, and (c) non-Virginia public and accredited nonprofit independent or private institutions of higher education, provided that no such payment is less than the sum of tuition prepayments made, less any fees as determined by the board.
Patron: Wagner
Literary Fund; application for loans by regional and joint schools. Clarifies that school boards of school divisions participating in a regional or joint school may jointly apply to the Board of Education for a loan from the Literary Fund to benefit the regional or joint school.
Patron: Deeds
Mental health awareness training; firefighters and emergency medical services personnel. Requires fire departments and emergency medical services agencies to develop curricula for mental health awareness training for their personnel. The bill provides that such personnel who receive the training shall receive appropriate continuing education credits.
Patron: Ruff
Out-of-state emergency medical services providers. Authorizes an emergency medical services provider who holds a valid license or certification in a state that borders the Commonwealth to provide emergency medical services in the Commonwealth if such services are provided at a widely attended event open to the public and, due to the expected number of attendees, the anticipated need for emergency medical services at the event is beyond the capacity of local emergency medical services providers. The bill requires that notice and certain information be provided to the Commissioner of Health. The bill provides that any out-of-state emergency medical services provider who holds a license or certification in a state that has entered into an interstate compact of which the Commonwealth is a member or any other interstate agreement with the Commonwealth regarding emergency medical services providers will be governed by the provisions of such compact or agreement.
Patron: Dunnavant
Standards of Quality; mathematics intervention services. Requires local school divisions to identify students in grades 10, 11, and 12 who are at risk of graduating without the necessary skills to take college-level mathematics coursework, as demonstrated by their individual performance on a Standards of Learning assessment, the PreACT, PSAT/NMSQT, ACT, or SAT, the Virginia Placement Test, or any diagnostic test that has been approved by the Department and to provide mathematics intervention services to such students. The bill requires such intervention services to be aligned with the developmental math curriculum offered by the Virginia Community College System and provides that local school divisions may partner with a local comprehensive community college to provide such intervention services.
Patron: Dunnavant
CBD oil and THC-A oil; certification for use; dispensing. Provides that a practitioner may issue a written certification for the use of cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil for the treatment or to alleviate the symptoms of any diagnosed condition or disease determined by the practitioner to benefit from such use. Under current law, a practitioner may only issue such certification for the treatment or to alleviate the symptoms of intractable epilepsy. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Health Care.
Patron: Dunnavant
Prescription Monitoring Program; prescriber and dispenser patterns. Requires the Director of the Department of Health Professions to annually review controlled substance prescribing and dispensing patterns. The bill requires the Director to conduct such review in consultation with an advisory panel consisting of representatives from the relevant health regulatory boards, the Department of Health, the Department of Medical Assistance Services, and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. The bill requires the Director to make any necessary changes to the criteria for unusual patterns of prescribing and dispensing and report any findings and recommendations for best practices to the Joint Commission on Health Care by November 1 of each year.
Patron: Dunnavant
Prescription Monitoring Program; disclosure of information; Department of Medical Assistance Services. Allows the Director of the Department of Health Professions to disclose information about a specific recipient of covered substances who is a recipient of medical assistance services to a physician or pharmacist licensed in the Commonwealth or his designee who holds a multistate licensure privilege to practice nursing or a license issued by a health regulatory board within the Department of Health Professions and is employed by the Department of Medical Assistance Services, for the purpose of determining eligibility for and managing the care of the recipient in a Patient Utilization Management Safety or similar program.
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: Barker
Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; definition of "licensed mental health professional." Directs the State Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (State Board) to amend regulations governing licensure of providers of behavioral health services to include (i) behavior analysts and (ii) assistant behavior analysts in the definition of "licensed mental health professional." The bill directs the State Board to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the act to be effective within 280 days of its enactment.
Patron: Surovell
Governor's Schools; enrollment. Requires any academic school Governor's School that has a focus on math, science, and technology and that has an overall enrollment of over 1,000 students to accept for enrollment (i) a sufficient number of students eligible to receive free or reduced price meals such that the total of such students is at least 50 percent of the weighted average of the participating divisions' percentage of such students in the previous school year and (ii) at least five students but no more than 15 students from each middle school in each school division eligible to matriculate students to such Governor's school who have completed at least two full years at such middle school.
Patron: Dunnavant
CBD oil and THC-A oil; certification for use; dispensing. Provides that a practitioner may issue a written certification for the use of cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil for the treatment or to alleviate the symptoms of any diagnosed condition or disease determined by the practitioner to benefit from such use. Under current law, a practitioner may only issue such certification for the treatment or to alleviate the symptoms of intractable epilepsy. The bill also reduces the minimum amount of cannabidiol or tetrahydrocannabinol acid per milliliter for a dilution of the Cannabis plant to fall under the definition of CBD oil or THC-A oil, respectively.
Patron: Barker
Definition of qualified mental health professional. Broadens the definition of "qualified mental health professional" to include employees and independent contractors of the Department of Corrections who by education and experience are professionally qualified and registered by the Board of Counseling to provide collaborative mental health services.
Patron: Barker
Military medical personnel program; supervision. Provides that military medical personnel in a program, established by the Department of Veterans Services, who may perform certain delegated acts that constitute the practice of medicine while under the supervision of a physician or podiatrist may also perform such acts under the supervision of the chief medical officer, or his designee, of an organization participating in the program. In addition, the bill removes the designation of this program as a pilot program.
Patron: Carrico
Prescription Monitoring Program; covered substances. Adds controlled substances included in Schedule V for which a prescription is required and naloxone to the list of covered substances the dispensing of which must be reported to the Prescription Monitoring Program.
Patron: Peake
Closure of the Central Virginia Training Center prohibited. Provides that the Central Virginia Training Center shall not be closed and shall instead remain open.
Patron: DeSteph
Public institutions of higher education; tuition and room and board; enrollment. Requires, for the next two academic years, the tuition charged to Virginia students at each public institution of higher education to be capped at the rate charged to such students for the first academic term of the 2017-2018 academic year. The bill permits, during such two-year period, the room and board charged to such students to be increased on an annual basis in advance of the first academic term of the academic year, but requires the percentage of such increase to be capped at 90 percent of the annual percentage increase in the Average Consumer Price Index for all items, all urban consumers (CPI-U) for the preceding calendar year.
Patron: Wagner
Assisted living facility administrator. Exempts from licensure by the Board of Long-Term Care Administrators any assisted living facility administrator who is a licensed practical nurse and serves as the administrator of an assisted living facility that provides care for not more than 20 residents. The bill allows such assisted living facility administrators to serve as the administrator of record for more than one assisted living facility, provided that the combined total of residents at such assisted living facilities does not exceed 20 residents.
Patron: McClellan
Right to abortion; provision of abortion. Provides that a pregnant person has a fundamental right to obtain a lawful abortion and that no statute or regulation shall be construed to prohibit the performance of an abortion prior to viability or if necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant person. The bill also provides that any statute that places a burden on a pregnant person's access to abortion without conferring any legitimate health benefit is unenforceable. The bill expands who can perform first trimester abortions to include, in addition to physicians, physician's assistants and midwives licensed by the Board of Medicine, nurse practitioners or certified nurse midwives jointly licensed by the Board of Medicine and the Board of Nursing, and persons acting pursuant to orders and under the appropriate supervision of a physician. The bill also expands who can perform second trimester abortions to include persons acting pursuant to orders and under the appropriate supervision of a physician. The bill eliminates the requirement that second trimester abortions be performed in a licensed hospital. The bill eliminates the requirement that two other physicians certify that a third trimester abortion is necessary to prevent the pregnant person's death or impairment of her mental or physical health as well as the need to find that the pregnant person's health would be substantially and irremediably impaired. The bill permits a third trimester abortion if the pregnancy is not viable. 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. The bill also removes the prohibition on the sale of health insurance policies that provide coverage for abortions through an exchange established or operating in the Commonwealth pursuant to the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The bill eliminates the crime, punishable as a Class 4 felony, of administering a drug or other thing to a pregnant person or using other means with the intent to destroy such person's unborn child or to produce an abortion or miscarriage.
Patron: Chase
School calendar; opening day of the school year. Makes local school boards responsible for setting the school calendar and determining the opening day of the school year and eliminates the post-Labor Day opening requirement and "good cause" scenarios for which the Board of Education may grant waivers of this requirement. The bill requires local school boards that set the school calendar with a pre-Labor Day opening date, except those schools that were granted a "good cause" waiver for the 2017-2018 school year, to close all schools in the division from (i) the Thursday immediately preceding Labor Day through Labor Day or (ii) the Friday immediately preceding Labor Day through the Tuesday immediately succeeding Labor Day.
Patron: Ebbin
Department of Health Professions; suspension of license; nonpayment of student loans. Repeals provisions authorizing an obligee to petition for and a circuit court to order the suspension of any state-issued license to engage in a health care profession or occupation when an obligor is delinquent or in default in the payment of a federally guaranteed or state-guaranteed educational loan or work-conditional scholarship.
Patron: Obenshain
School boards; employment of certain individuals; certain contracts. Prohibits any school board from employing any individual who has been convicted of any felony or crime of moral turpitude, unless such individual (i) was previously employed in good standing by any school board, has been granted a simple pardon by the Governor, and, in the case of a felon, has had his civil rights restored by the Governor or (ii) is employed in good standing by the school board on July 1, 2018. The bill provides that, notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, in no case shall any school board employ any individual who has been convicted of a certain felony involving the manufacture, sale, distribution, or possession with intent to sell, give, or distribute any controlled substance, imitation controlled substance, or marijuana on certain school property; any felony offense against a child; a certain act of violence or violent felony; or any offense for which registration on the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry is required. The bill contains similar provisions for each contractor who seeks to be awarded a contract for the provision of services that require the contractor or his employees to have direct contact with students on school property during regular school hours or during school-sponsored activities.
Patron: Lewis
Old Dominion University; board of visitors. Provides that the rector, vice-rector, and secretary of the board of visitors of Old Dominion University shall assume their duties on July 1 of the year they are elected.
Patron: McPike
Medical assistance services; renewal information. Requires the Department of Medical Assistance Services to provide a quarterly report to each managed care organization that is contracted with the State Department of Health to provide services through the Medicaid managed care program that specifies the medical assistance application renewal date for each recipient of medical assistance services who has been attributed to the managed care organization. The bill provides certain disclosure protections for such provided information.
Patron: Barker
Virginia Health Care Access Program. Establishes the Virginia Health Care Access Program (the Program) to (i) develop and fund programs to improve access to health care services for recipients of medical assistance and other medically needy, low-income underinsured and uninsured residents of the Commonwealth; (ii) support the financial stability of rural hospitals and access to health care in rural areas of the Commonwealth; and (iii) fund programmatic and financial support for health professional education provided by public and private teaching hospitals within the Commonwealth. The bill establishes the Virginia Health Care Access Authority to oversee implementation of the Program, including imposition of an assessment on covered hospitals, as that term is defined in the bill.
Patron: McDougle
Disposition of unclaimed dead body; final orders of transportation and disposition. Requires that a court enter a final order of transportation and disposition of an unclaimed dead body within one business day of receiving a request for such order by the attorney for the county or city in which the person having custody of the unclaimed dead body is located or, if there is no county or city attorney, the attorney for the Commonwealth in such county or city, and requires such request to include transportation and disposition instructions for the unclaimed dead body. The bill allows a court to authorize the clerk to issue a final order for disposition of an unclaimed dead body, without judicial review, to the attorney for the Commonwealth who has submitted a completed request for a final order.
Patron: Mason
Public schools; homeless children. Aligns provisions regarding when a homeless child or youth is deemed to reside in a school division with Subtitle VII-B of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. § 11431 et seq.) and updates references to such act.