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.
2018 SESSION
Chairman: Stephen D. Newman
Clerk: Patty Lung
Staff: Thomas Stevens
Date of Meeting: February 15, 2018
Time and Place: 8:30 AM - Senate Room A - Pocahontas Bldg.
Revised to remove HBs 611 & 1606
Patron: Wilt
Public schools; release of scholastic records; directory information. Clarifies that student directory information may be publicly released by school personnel if the school has given notice to the parent, legal guardian, or eligible student of (i) the types of information that the school has designated as directory information; (ii) the right of the parent, legal guardian, or eligible student to refuse the designation of any or all of the types of information about the student as directory information; and (iii) the period of time within which a parent, legal guardian, or eligible student must notify the school in writing that he does not want any or all of the types of information about the student designated as directory information. The bill also provides, however, that except as provided otherwise by federal law or regulation, a school shall not release the address, phone number, or email address of a student unless the parent, legal guardian, or eligible student has affirmatively consented in writing to the designation of any or all of such information as directory information.
Patron: Krizek
Division superintendents; vacancies; appointment. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, upon the request of a school board, to grant such school board up to an additional 180 days to appoint a new division superintendent.
Patron: McQuinn
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: Head
Prescription Monitoring Program; notification of top prescribers. Provides that the Director of the Department of Health Professions shall annually review, in consultation with an advisory panel that shall include 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, controlled substance prescribing and dispensing patterns and shall (i) make any necessary changes to the criteria for unusual patterns of prescribing and dispensing and (ii) report any findings and recommendations for best practices to the Joint Commission on Health Care by November 1 of each year.
Patron: Bourne
Possession and administration of naloxone. Adds employees of the Department of Corrections who are designated as probation and parole officers or correctional officers to the list of individuals who may possess and administer naloxone or other opioid antagonist, provided that they have completed a training program.
Patron: Yancey
High school graduation requirements; course load. Requires the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to permit students to exceed a full course load in order to participate in courses offered by an institution of higher education that lead to a degree, certificate, or credential at such institution.
Patron: Yancey
Public elementary and secondary school students; topical sunscreen. Permits any public elementary or secondary school student to possess and use unscented topical sunscreen in its original packaging on a school bus, on school property, or at a school-sponsored event without a note or prescription from a licensed health care professional if the topical sunscreen is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for nonprescription use for the purpose of limiting damage to skin caused by exposure to ultraviolet light. The bill contains an emergency clause.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Ware
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation; Yorktown Victory Center. Renames the Yorktown Victory Center, operated by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, as the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown.
Patron: Robinson
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: Keam
School boards; work-based learning experiences for students; notification. Requires each school board to implement a plan to notify students and their parents of the availability of internships, externships, apprenticeships, credentialing programs, certification programs, licensure programs, and other work-based learning experiences.
Patron: Carroll Foy
Career and technical education credentials; testing accommodations for English language learners. Requires the Department of Education to develop, maintain, and make available to each local school board a catalogue of the testing accommodations available to English language learners for each certification, examination, assessment, and battery that satisfies the career and technical education credential graduation requirement. The bill requires each local school board to develop and implement policies to require each high school principal or his designee to notify each English language learner of the availability of such testing accommodations prior to the student's participation in any such certification, examination, assessment, or battery. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2019.
Patron: Hodges
Home hospice programs; disposal of drugs. Requires every hospice to develop policies and procedures for the disposal of drugs dispensed as part of the hospice plan of care for a patient, which shall include requirements that such disposal be (i) performed in a manner that complies with all state and federal requirements for the safe disposal of drugs by a licensed nurse, physician assistant, or physician who is employed by or has entered into a contract with the hospice program; (ii) witnessed by a member of the patient's family or a second employee of the hospice program who is licensed by a health regulatory board within the Department of Health Professions; and (iii) documented in the patient's medical record.
Patron: Mullin
Standards of Quality; instructional programs and positions; dual language. Provides that (i) the instructional programs for students with limited English proficiency implemented by each local school board may include dual language programs whereby such students receive instruction in English and in a second language and (ii) the additional full-time equivalent instructional positions for students identified as having limited English proficiency that are funded pursuant to the general appropriation act may include dual language teachers who provide instruction in English and in a second language.
Patron: Hodges
Board of Pharmacy; nonresident warehousers and nonresident third-party logistics providers. Requires warehouser or third-party logistics providers that are located outside the Commonwealth and that ship prescription drugs or devices into the Commonwealth to register with the Board of Pharmacy. The bill requires such nonresident warehousers and nonresident third-party logistics providers to maintain a license, permit, or registration in the resident state and to retain records in a certain manner. The bill authorizes the Board of Pharmacy to promulgate regulations related to the storage, handling, and distribution of prescription drugs or devices by nonresident warehousers and nonresident third-party logistics providers.
Patron: Ransone
Health care providers; notices; health benefit plan networks; air ambulance providers. Requires each hospital to establish a protocol requiring that, before a health care provider arranges for air medical transportation services for a patient who does not have an emergency medical condition, the hospital provide the patient or his authorized representative with written or electronic notice that the patient (i) may have a choice of transportation by an air medical transportation provider or medically appropriate ground transportation by an emergency medical services provider and (ii) will be responsible for charges incurred for such transportation in the event that the provider is not a contracted network provider of the patient's health insurance carrier or such charges are not otherwise covered in full or in part by the patient's health insurance plan.
Patron: Heretick
School board of the City of Norfolk; salaries of appointed members. Eliminates the cap on the annual salary that the school board of the City of Norfolk may pay its appointed members. Beginning July 1, 2018, all members of such school board will be elected members.
Patron: O'Quinn
Local school boards; display of commercial advertising material on school buses. Permits local school boards to display commercial advertising material on the sides of school buses between the rear wheels and the rear of the bus, provided that no such material (i) obstructs the name of the school division or the number of the school bus, (ii) is sexually explicit, or (iii) pertains to alcohol; food or beverages that do not meet the nutrition standards developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture pursuant to the federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 or any additional state or local nutrition standards for food or beverages sold to students in school; gambling; politics; or tobacco.
Patron: LaRock
Possession or distribution of controlled paraphernalia; hypodermic needles and syringes; naloxone. Provides that a person who is authorized by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to train individuals on the administration of naloxone for use in opioid overdose reversal and who is acting on behalf of an organization that provides services to individuals at risk of experiencing an opioid overdose or training in the administration of naloxone for overdose reversal and that has obtained a controlled substances registration from the Board of Pharmacy may dispense or distribute hypodermic needles and syringes in conjunction with such dispensing of naloxone and that a person to whom naloxone has been distributed by such individual may possess hypodermic needles and syringes in conjunction with such possession of naloxone. The bill also allows the dispensing or distributing of hypodermic needles and syringes by persons authorized to dispense naloxone. This bill contains an emergency clause.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Peace
Practice of polysomnographic technology; licensure; students or trainees. Provides that a student enrolled in an educational program in polysomnographic technology or a person engaged in a traineeship does not require a license to practice polysomnographic technology, provided that such student or trainee is under the direct supervision of a licensed polysomnographic technologist or a licensed doctor of medicine or osteopathic medicine. The bill requires any such student or trainee to be identified to patients as a student or trainee in polysomnographic technology. The bill also provides that any such student or trainee is required to have a license to practice after18 months from the start of the educational program or traineeship or six months from the conclusion of such program or traineeship, whichever is earlier.
Patron: Orrock
Veterinarians; compounding of drugs. Increases the quantity, from a 72-hour supply to a seven-day supply, of a compounded drug that a veterinarian may dispense to the owner of a companion animal for which the veterinarian is providing treatment.
Patron: Orrock
Delivery of Schedule VI prescription devices. Provides that a permitted manufacturer, wholesale distributor, warehouser, nonresident warehouse, third-party logistics provider, or nonresident third-party logistics provider or registered nonresident manufacturer or nonresident wholesale distributor may distribute Schedule VI prescription devices directly to an ultimate user or consumer on behalf of a medical equipment supplier, provided that (i) such delivery occurs at the direction of a medical equipment supplier that has received a valid order from a prescriber authorizing the dispensing of such prescription device to the ultimate user or consumer and (ii) the manufacturer, nonresident manufacturer, wholesale distributor, nonresident wholesale distributor, warehouser, nonresident warehouse, third-party logistics provider, or nonresident third party logistics provider has entered into an agreement with the medical equipment supplier for such delivery. The bill directs the Board of Pharmacy to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the measure within 280 days.
Patron: Stolle
Military medical personnel program; supervision. Directs the Department of Veterans Services to establish a program in which military medical personnel may practice and perform certain delegated acts that constitute the practice of medicine or nursing under the supervision of a licensed physician or podiatrist or the chief medical officer of an organization participating in such program, or his designee who is licensed by the Board of Medicine and supervising within his scope of practice. The bill allows the chief medical officer of an organization participating in such program to, in consultation with the chief nursing officer of such organization, designate a registered nurse licensed by the Board of Nursing or practicing with a multistate licensure privilege to supervise military personnel participating in such program while engaged in the practice of nursing.
Patron: Adams, L.R.
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: Heretick
Health regulatory boards; license renewal; electronic notice. Provides that the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers, the Board of Medicine, and the Board of Nursing may send notices for license renewal electronically.
Patron: VanValkenburg
Professional and occupational regulation; authority to suspend or revoke licenses, certificates, registrations, or permits; default or delinquency of education loan or scholarship. Provides that the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, the Department of Health Professions, the Board of Accountancy, and the Board of Education shall not be authorized to suspend or revoke the license, certificate, registration, permit, or authority it has issued any person who is in default or delinquent in the payment of a federal-guaranteed or state-guaranteed educational loan or work-conditional scholarship solely on the basis of such default or delinquency.
Patron: Wilt
Death certificates; medical certification; electronic filing; hospice. Requires a licensed funeral director, funeral service licensee, or office of the state anatomical gift program who first assumes custody of a dead body to complete and file a certificate of death with the State Registrar of Vital Records using the Electronic Death Registration System and provides that when a death occurs under the care of a hospice provider, the medical certification shall be completed by the decedent's health care provider and filed electronically with the State Registrar of Vital Records using the Electronic Death Registration System for completion of the death certificate.
Patron: Pillion
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: Pillion
Newborn screening; lysosomal storage disorders. Directs the Board of Health to consider amending regulations governing newborn screening to include screening for Pompe disease and mucopolysaccharidosis type 1 (MPS-1).
Patron: Rush
Online Virginia Network Authority. Adds the Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System or his designee and one nonlegislative citizen member appointed by the State Board for Community Colleges to the members of the board of trustees of the Online Virginia Network Authority (Authority). The bill also provides that the Online Virginia Network, established by the Authority, will facilitate the completion of degrees at comprehensive community colleges as well as at George Mason University and Old Dominion University.
Patron: Garrett
Stroke care quality improvement. Provides that the Department of Health shall be responsible for stroke care quality improvement initiatives in the Commonwealth. Such initiatives shall include (i) establishing systems to collect data and information about stroke care in the Commonwealth, (ii) facilitating information and data sharing and collaboration among hospitals and health care providers to improve the quality of stroke care in the Commonwealth, (iii) requiring the application of evidence-based treatment guidelines for transitioning patients to community-based follow-up care following acute treatment for stroke, and (iv) establishing a process for continuous quality improvement for the delivery of stroke care by the statewide system for stroke response and treatment. The bill also directs the Department of Health to convene a group of stakeholders, which shall include representatives of (a) hospital systems, including at least one hospital system with at least six or more stroke centers in the Commonwealth, recommended by the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association; (b) the Virginia Stroke Systems Task Force; and (c) the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, to advise on the implementation of stroke care quality improvement initiatives. The bill contains a delayed effective date of January 1, 2019.
Patron: Garrett
Certified stroke centers; designation of hospitals. Expands the list of certified stroke center designations for hospitals included in regional stroke triage plans to include comprehensive stroke centers, primary stroke centers with supplementary levels of stroke care distinction, and acute stroke ready hospitals and adds the American Heart Association to the list of entities authorized to provide certification of such hospitals.
Patron: Cline
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 increases the supply of CBD oil or THC-A oil a pharmaceutical processor may dispense from a 30-day supply to a 90-day supply. The bill 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. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Health Care.
Patron: Cline
Education preparation programs; reading specialists; dyslexia. Requires each education preparation program offered by a public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education that leads to a degree, concentration, or certificate for reading specialists to include coursework or other training in the identification of and the appropriate interventions, accommodations, and teaching techniques for students with dyslexia or a related disorder.
Patron: Tyler
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: Torian
Possession and administration of epinephrine; outdoor educational programs. Provides that an employee of an organization that provides outdoor educational experiences or programs for youth who is authorized by a prescriber and trained in the administration of epinephrine may possess and administer epinephrine.
Patron: Bulova
Public institutions of higher education; crisis and emergency management plan; annual exercise. Requires each public institution of higher education to annually conduct a test or exercise in accordance with the protocols established by the institution's crisis and emergency management plan and certify in writing to the Department of Emergency Management that such a test or exercise was conducted. Under current law, each such institution is required to annually conduct a functional exercise in accordance with the protocols of such plan. The bill declares that the activation of its crisis and emergency management plan and completion of an after-action report by a public institution of higher education in response to an actual event or incident satisfies the requirement to conduct such a test or exercise.
Patron: Miyares
Public institutions of higher education; tuition and fee increases; notice and public comment. Prohibits the governing board of each public institution of higher education from approving an increase in undergraduate tuition or mandatory fees without providing students, certain parents, and the public notice of and an opportunity to provide public comment at a board meeting in advance of any vote on such an increase.
Patron: Pillion
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.