Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority. Modifies the enabling legislation for the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority by adding four additional ex officio members to the Authority's Board of Directors, adding managing primary care graduate medical education programs and managing the Health Workforce Innovation Fund to the duties of the Authority, specifying additional recipients of the Board's biennial report, and authorizing the Authority to partner with other agencies and institutions to obtain and manage health workforce data. The bill establishes the Virginia Health Workforce Innovation Fund to be administered by the Board of the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority. The Board shall use the Fund to provide grants to facilitate regional collaboration on health care innovation and workforce development and, in particular, the formation of regional, employer-led partnerships that prioritize workforce growth and training. The bill provides for the formation across the Commonwealth of regional councils, defined in the bill, consisting of representatives from the government, health care, and education sectors. Under the bill, regional councils may submit applications for collaborative projects in their regions that enhance private-sector growth, competitiveness, and workforce development. A portion of the grant funds will be awarded on a population basis and a portion on a competitive basis. The bill creates a work group to study the pharmacy technician profession, creates a work group to address health workforce shortages, establishes a program for health workforce development, directs the Board of Nursing to add or remove certain educational requirements for members of the nursing faculty in specified nursing education programs, and establishes a licensing procedure by the Board of Psychology for a psychological practitioner, as defined by the bill. The bill directs the Board of Nursing to adopt emergency regulations to implement relevant provisions of the bill, directs the work group to study the pharmacy technician profession to submit its report to the Governor and the relevant committees of the General Assembly by November 1, 2024, and directs the work group to address health workforce shortages to submit its report to the Governor and the relevant committees of the General Assembly by October 1, 2025. The bill removes references to qualified mental health professionals with a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.
Alert for missing or endangered children; Virginia Critical Operation for a Disappeared Child Initiative (Codi) Alert Program. Creates a program for local, regional, or statewide notification of a missing or endangered child. The bill defines a missing or endangered child as a child (i) who is 17 years of age or younger or is currently enrolled in a secondary school in the Commonwealth, regardless of age; (ii) whose whereabouts are unknown; and (iii) whose disappearance is under suspicious circumstances or poses a credible threat as determined by law enforcement to the safety and health of the child and under such other circumstances as deemed appropriate by the Virginia State Police. The bill requires the Virginia State Police to develop, in consultation with representatives of local law-enforcement agencies, including representatives from the Virginia Sheriffs' Association and the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, policies for the establishment of uniform standards for the creation of Codi Alert Programs throughout the Commonwealth. This bill is identical to HB 1388.
Establishment by localities of certain real estate contract disclosures prohibited. Prohibits localities from establishing or enforcing a mandatory disclosure requirement for a real estate licensee, any party to a contract for the sale or listing of residential real property, or any authorized agent of such party. The bill provides that prohibited mandatory disclosures include mandatory notifications in contracts, contract amendments or addenda, advertising, other promotional materials, and subsequent deeds after the initial deed is recorded, related to the sale of residential real estate. This bill is identical to HB 467.
Photo speed monitoring devices; high-risk intersectionsegments. Permits a state or local law-enforcement agency toplace and operate a photo speed monitoring device at a high-risk intersection segment, defined in the bill, located within the localityfor the purpose of recording violations resulting from the operationof a vehicle in excess of the speed limit, provided that such law-enforcementagency certifies that a traffic fatality has occurred since January1, 2014, in such segment. The bill provides the same requirements for such devices, information collected from such devices, and anyenforcement actions resulting from information collected from suchdevices as current law applies to the use of such devices in schoolcrossing zones and highway work zones.
Unemployment compensation; continuation of benefits; repayment of overpayments. Makes permanent provisions of the Code that expired on July 1, 2022, relating to unemployment compensation. The bill provides that when a claimant has had a determination of initial eligibility for unemployment benefits, as determined by the issuance of compensation or waiting-week credit, payments shall continue, subject to a presumption of continued eligibility, until a determination is made that provides the claimant notice and an opportunity to be heard. The bill requires the Virginia Employment Commission to waive the obligation to repay any overpayment if (i) the overpayment was made without fault on the part of the individual receiving benefits and (ii) requiring repayment would be contrary to equity and good conscience. Conditions for when overpayments are considered "without fault on the part of the individual" are outlined in the bill. The bill further provides that the Commission shall notify each person with an unpaid overpayment of benefits that he may be entitled to a waiver of repayment and provide 30 days to request such a waiver. This applies to outstanding overpayments established for claim weeks commencing on or after March 15, 2020. The bill allows the Commission to suspend or forgo referring any unpaid overpayment of benefits established since March 15, 2020, to the collections process indefinitely. The bill specifies that all costs that result from implementing provisions of the bill shall be incurred by federal administrative grants and the general fund. Finally, the bill adds overpayments that the Commission has waived the requirement to repay to the list of situations where specific employers are not responsible for benefit charges.
Joint Commission on Technology and Science; staff; authority to appoint, employ, and remove. Authorizes the Joint Commission on Technology and Science (JCOTS) to appoint, employ, and remove an executive director and such other persons as it deems necessary and determine their duties and fix their salaries or compensation within the amounts appropriated therefor. The bill removes the provision that directs the Division of Legislative Services to provide staff support to JCOTS.
Early childhood care and education system;publicly funded providers; funding; Early Childhood Care and Education Fund established.Requires, for the purpose of addressing family demand and preferences for affordable, high-quality early childhood care and education services, state general funds to be provided to support the provision of services to families for early childhood care and education, as specified in the general appropriations act. The bill requires the Department of Education to report each year by November 1 on the projected general funds needed for the upcoming two fiscal years in order to (i) maintain the current number of slots at early childhood care and education programs, (ii) increase the number of slots using a projected growth report, and (iii) increase the number of slots to fully accommodate parent demand and eliminate waitlists. The bill requires such projected general funds to be based on the annual per-child cost, determined as set forth in the bill, for the Virginia Preschool Initiative, the Mixed Delivery Program, and the Child Care Subsidy Program, the current eligibility criteria for such programs, and maximization of certain regularly recurring federal funds. The bill requires each regional entity established by the Board of Education pursuant to applicable law, each local school division, and each locality to annually indicate the number of slots needed, respectively, in the region for the Mixed Delivery Program, the local school division for the Virginia Preschool Initiative, and the locality for the Child Care Subsidy Program. The bill requires the Department of Education to (a) reallocate by July 1 any slots with available funding from the Child Care Subsidy Program and the Mixed Delivery Program, (b) make adjustments based on family preferences following the fall enrollment periods, (c) first expend all current-year state general funds in providing funding for slots, and (c) if waitlists for slots at early childhood care remain, use available funds from the Early Childhood Care and Education Fund established by the bill to address family demand and preferences.
Student-athletes; use of name, image, or likeness;high school students; Office of the Student-Athlete Name, Image, and Likeness Contract Ombudsman established. Establishes rights, duties, and prohibitions relating to the use of the name, image,or likeness of high school student-athletes that are equivalent tothose established in law for college student-athletes. The bill alsorequires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to establishand employ such individuals as it deems appropriate in the Officeof the Student-Athlete Name, Image, and Likeness Contract Ombudsman,the purpose of which is to provide information, resources, and disputeresolution services to high school and college student-athletes relatingto name, image, and likeness contracts and the rights, duties, andprohibitions relating to the use of the name, image, or likenessof such student-athletes that are set forth in relevant law.
Prescription drugs; labels; blind and disabledusers. Requires pharmacies to notify any person receiving a prescription drug that an accessible prescription label is availableupon request at no cost and to provide to individuals who are blind,visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled accessible prescriptionlabels that meet specified accessibility requirements. The bill requiresthe Board of Pharmacy to promulgate regulations implementing theprovisions of the bill no later than April 1, 2025.
Veterans' Services Protection Act; prohibited practices; penalty. Creates the Veterans' Services Protection Act to prohibit any person from receiving compensation for preparing, presenting, prosecuting, advising, consulting, or assisting any individual regarding any veterans' benefits matter, as defined in the bill, except as permitted under federal law. The bill provides that a violation of its provisions constitutes a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.
Deferred or installment payment agreements; certain benefits. Provides that in any case in which a defendant owes fines and costs and where such defendant's sole financial resource is a Social Security benefit or Supplemental Security Income, such defendant shall be exempt from making payments until he has another source of income and, if such defendant notifies the court that his sole financial resource is a Social Security benefit or Supplemental Security Income, the case shall not be referred to collections. The bill also prohibits a Social Security benefit or Supplemental Security Income from being considered an available resource in determining the length of time to pay under a deferred, modified deferred, or installment payment agreement and the amount of payments, if any. This bill is identical to SB 625.
Department of Medical Assistance Services; Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; 1915(c) Home and Community Based Services Medicaid Waivers; state plan amendments; program rule modifications. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to seek federal authority through the necessary state plan amendments under Titles XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act to modify the program rules for certain 1915(c) Home and Community Based Services Medicaid Waivers to (i) modify the 40-hour-per-week work limit to allow legally responsible individuals with more than one waiver-receiving child to receive reimbursement for 40 hours of work per week per child receiving a waiver; (ii) eliminate the requirement that, in order for a legally responsible individual to receive reimbursement for personal care services, no one else be available to provide services to the member; and (iii) modify the program rules to allow a legally responsible individual or stepparent to be the employer of record. The bill directs DMAS to evaluate the possibility of allowing for respite services under certain 1915(c) Home and Community Based Services Medicaid Waivers and submit its recommendations, cost estimate, and methodology used for obtaining the cost estimate to the General Assembly no later than November 1, 2024. This bill incorporates SB 149 and is identical to HB 909.
