Department of Criminal Justice Services; prioritytreatment for incarcerated women who are pregnant and in need ofsubstance abuse treatment; work group; report. Directs the Departmentof Criminal Justice Services, in collaboration with the Departmentof Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and the Departmentof Health, to convene a work group of relevant stakeholders to studyand make recommendations related to prioritizing treatment for incarceratedwomen who are pregnant and in need of substance abuse treatment.The bill requires the work group to report its findings and recommendationsto the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutionsand the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2024.
Board of Education; develop and adopt policiesrelating to supporting Students with Limited and/or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE). Directs the Board of Education to developand adopt policies relating to supporting Students with Limitedand/or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE students) in staying inand graduating from, or otherwise completing, high school in the Commonwealth and to develop formulas for calculating high school drop-outrates and graduation rates in the Commonwealth that do not includeany SLIFE student who dropped out if such student had not yet been enrolled in a public high school in the Commonwealth for at leastfour semesters.
Surveillance Technology Registry; created.Directs the Department of Criminal Justice Services (the Department)to create and maintain a registry of surveillance technologies, definedin the bill, and related information provided by localities and toprovide notice to localities that fail to properly register. Thebill requires localities, prior to implementing the use of any surveillancetechnology, to register such surveillance technology with the SurveillanceTechnology Registry and provide information including (i) the type of surveillance technology used, (ii) the cost and vendor of thesurveillance technology, (iii) the approximate location of the surveillancetechnology, and (iv) any storage and use requirements for the surveillancetechnology. The bill requires the Department, for any type of surveillancetechnology that has not previously been registered, to request theJoint Commission on Technology and Science to study and issue a reporton such surveillance technology.
Emissions inspections; fees; agreement for services and service charge fees. Increases from $3,500 to $5,000 the amount the emissions inspection program coordinator may be paid per year from each motor vehicle emissions inspection station for the provision and maintenance of each set of required equipment. The bill also increases from $28 to $30 the maximum charge for an emissions inspection and allows emissions inspection stations and on-road emissions inspectors to charge a credit card service charge that does not exceed three percent of the emissions inspection fee and that is not included in the maximum amount that may be charged for the emissions inspection fee.
Employee protections; medicinal use of cannabisproduct. Amends the provision that prohibits an employer from discriminatingagainst an employee for such employee's lawful use of cannabis productpursuant to a valid written certification issued by a practitionerfor the treatment or to eliminate the symptoms of the employee'sdiagnosed condition or disease, with certain exceptions, by specifyingthat such use must conform to the laws of the Commonwealth and thatsuch protections extend to the employees of the Commonwealth andother public bodies.
Alcoholic beverage control; annual mixed beverage performing arts facility licenses; on-and-off premises wine and beer licenses. Defines performing arts facility and sports facility and standardizes the eligibility criteria for annual mixed beverage performing arts facility licenses and on-and-off-premises wine and beer licenses for performing arts food concessionaires. Under current law, the eligibility criteria for such licenses varies by location and includes inconsistent ownership, lease, capacity, and seating requirements. The bill also removes provisions that allow the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority to grant annual mixed beverage motor sports facility licenses and motor car sporting event facility licenses and creates an annual mixed beverage sports facility license, which may be granted to persons operating a sports facility or food concessions at a sports facility and would authorize the licensee to sell mixed beverages during any event and immediately subsequent thereto to patrons within all seating areas, concourses, walkways, concession areas, and additional locations designated by the Board (i) in closed containers for off-premises consumption or (ii) in paper, plastic, or similar disposable containers or in single original metal cans for on-premises consumption. This bill is identical to HB 1349, SB 180, SB 400, and SB 657.
Charter; City of Falls Church; qualificationsof members of boards and commissions. Removes the requirementin the City of Falls Church charter that board and commission membersbe qualified voters, replacing it with an age requirement of at least18 years of age while leaving the city residence requirement.
Standards of Learning assessments; expedited retakes; eligibility. Directs the Board of Education to revise its regulations relating to student eligibility for an expedited retake of any Standards of Learning assessment, with the exception of the writing Standards of Learning assessments, to (i) provide that any student in grades three through 12 who scores in the 375 to 399 range, or an equivalent range on an alternative scoring scale, on a Standards of Learning assessment shall be eligible to retake such assessment on an expedited basis at least once prior to the next scheduled assessment administration and (ii) establish guidelines for and require each eligible student to complete prior to retaking any such assessment on an expedited basis a comprehensive remediation program based on such student's particular educational needs as identified by such student's assessment results. The bill requires the Board to implement such revised regulations by January 1, 2025. The bill clarifies that the provisions of the bill shall not be construed to affect any of the Board's regulations or policies relating to student eligibility for an expedited retake of any Standards of Learning assessment prior to January 1, 2025.
Public institutions of higher education; Hunger-FreeCampus Grant Program established; report. Establishes the Hunger-FreeCampus Grant Program (the Program) to address student food insecurityat public institutions of higher education. The bill provides thatthe Program shall be managed by the State Council of Higher Educationfor Virginia and available for participation by public institutions of higher education; however, participation in the Program shallbe optional for such institutions. Under the bill, if a public institutionof higher education satisfies certain criteria set out in the bill,including creating initiatives on campus to address student foodinsecurity, it shall be designated as a "Hunger-Free Campus" andthe Council shall award a grant to such institution. A public institutionof higher education that receives a grant under the bill shall utilizethe funds to support on-campus efforts and initiatives to eliminatestudent food insecurity at such institution. The bill requires theCouncil to submit a report to the Chairmen of the Senate Committeeon Education and Health and the House Committee on Education no laterthan two years after the establishment of the Program.
Uniform Statewide Building Code; violations; fines. Increases from $2,500 to $5,000 the minimum amount and from $5,000 to $10,000 the maximum amount that any person, firm, or corporation shall be fined when convicted of a third or subsequent offense of violating the provisions of the Uniform Statewide Building Code committed within 10 years of another such offense after having been at least twice previously convicted of such an offense. The bill also adds penalties for similar violations committed by owners of a blighted multifamily property. This bill is identical to SB 538.
Secretary of Health and Human Resources; wholesale prescription drug importation program. Directs the Secretaryof Health and Human Resources to establish a wholesale prescriptiondrug importation program that complies with the requirements of federallaw and to report annually by October 1 to the Governor and the Chairmenof the House Committees on Appropriations and Health, Welfare andInstitutions and the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriationsand Education and Health on the wholesale prescription drug importationprogram. The bill also requires the Secretary to (i) convene a workgroup composed of relevant stakeholders to develop a plan for implementationof the wholesale prescription drug importation program and reportthe plan to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committeeson Appropriations and Health, Welfare and Institutions and the SenateCommittees on Finance and Appropriations and Education and Healthby December 1, 2024, and (ii) seek such federal approvals, waivers, exemptions, or agreements as may be necessary to enable all coveredentities enrolled in or eligible for the federal 340B Drug PricingProgram to participate in the wholesale prescription drug importationprogram to the greatest extent possible without jeopardizing theireligibility for the 340B Drug Pricing Program by July 1, 2025.
Alcoholic beverage control; annual mixed beverage performing arts facility licenses; on-and-off premises wine and beer licenses. Defines performing arts facility and sports facility and standardizes the eligibility criteria for annual mixed beverage performing arts facility licenses and on-and-off-premises wine and beer licenses for performing arts food concessionaires. Under current law, the eligibility criteria for such licenses varies by location and includes inconsistent ownership, lease, capacity, and seating requirements. The bill also removes provisions that allow the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority to grant annual mixed beverage motor sports facility licenses and motor car sporting event facility licenses and creates an annual mixed beverage sports facility license, which may be granted to persons operating a sports facility or food concessions at a sports facility and would authorize the licensee to sell mixed beverages during any event and immediately subsequent thereto to patrons within all seating areas, concourses, walkways, concession areas, and additional locations designated by the Board (i) in closed containers for off-premises consumption or (ii) in paper, plastic, or similar disposable containers or in single original metal cans for on-premises consumption. This bill is identical to HB 1349, SB 180, SB 657, and SB 724.
