Community revitalization fund; expanding use for all localities. Expands the current provisions of law allowing for the establishment of a community revitalization fund for the purpose of preventing neighborhood deterioration to apply to all localities. Currently, only the City of Richmond is authorized to establish such a fund. This bill is identical to HB 478 and is a recommendation of the Virginia Housing Commission.
Early childhood care and education system; need-based and demand-based funding. 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 appropriation act. The bill requires the Department of Education to report each year by November 15 on the projected general funds needed for the upcoming two fiscal years based on cost of quality rate per child 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, and (c) first expend all current-year state general funds in providing funding for slots. This bill is identical to SB 54.
Public school staffing ratios; teachers; Englishlanguage learner students. Requires state funding to be providedpursuant to the general appropriation act to support divisionwideratios of English language learner students in average daily membershipto full-time equivalent teaching positions as follows: (i) for eachEnglish language learner identified as proficiency level one, oneposition per 25 students; (ii) for each English language learner identified as proficiency level two, one position per 30 students;(iii) for each English language learner identified as proficiencylevel three, one position per 40 students; and (iv) for all otherEnglish language learners, one position per 50 students. Current law requires state funding to be provided pursuant to the general appropriationact to support one such teaching position per 50 English languagelearner students, regardless of the identified English proficiencylevel of such students.
Community revitalization fund; expanding use for all localities. Expands the current provisions of law allowing for the establishment of a community revitalization fund for the purpose of preventing neighborhood deterioration to apply to all localities. Currently, only the City of Richmond is authorized to establish such a fund. This bill is identical to SB 49 and is a recommendation of the Virginia Housing Commission.
Social Work Licensure Compact. Authorizes Virginia to become a signatory to the Social Work Licensure Compact. The Compact allows social workers who have or are eligible for an active, unencumbered license in the compact member state where they reside to apply for a multistate license. After verifying eligibility, the social worker is granted a multistate license that authorizes practice in all other compact member states. The Compact takes effect when it is enacted by a seventh member state. This bill is identical to HB 326.
Reporting of medical debt to consumer reportingagencies by certain health care providers; prohibited. Prohibitscertain medical care facilities, certain health care professionals,and emergency medical services agencies from reporting any portionof a medical debt, defined in the bill, to a consumer reporting agency.The bill requires such facilities, professionals, and agencies toinclude a provision in any contract entered into with a collectionentity, defined in the bill, for the purchase or collection of medicaldebt that prohibits the reporting of any portion of such medicaldebt to a consumer reporting agency. The bill provides that any portionof a medical debt reported to a consumer reporting agency in violationof such prohibition or requirement is void.
Animal testing facilities; public notification;report. Requires any animal testing facility, contract testingfacility, or manufacturer, as defined in relevant law, that uses an animal test method to make publicly available, on or before December1 for the preceding federal fiscal year, the total number of animalsused for research, education, testing, or experimental, scientific,or biomedical purposes. The bill requires the report to identifyand group such animals according to species (i) by displaying a linkto access such information on the homepage or landing page of theanimal testing facility's, contract facility's, or manufacturer'swebsite or (ii) if such animal testing facility does not have a website,by making such information available by means of a press releaseor other similar publication.
Virginia Public Procurement Act; competitive negotiation; exceptions to contractual terms and conditions of the Request for Proposal. Removes the prohibition on a public body from requiring an offeror to state in a proposal any exception to any liability provisions contained in a Request for Proposal for information technology. The bill also requires an offeror to state any exception to any contractual terms or conditions in writing at the time of responding to such Request for Proposal, if so requested by the public body, which exception shall be considered during negotiations, but prohibits the public body from basing the scoring or evaluation on such exceptions when selecting offerors for negotiations. Current law only prohibits a public body from requiring an offeror to state in a proposal any exception to the liability provisions of the Request for Proposal. As introduced, the bill was a recommendation of the Public Body Procurement Work Group. This bill is identical to HB 242.
Forest Sustainability Fund; fund allocation. Provides that moneys from the Forest Sustainability Fund must be allocated proportionally among localities that forgo tax revenues as a result of the use value assessment and taxation for real estate devoted for forest use. The bill specifies that no locality shall receive an allocation of more than four percent or less than one-half of one percent of available funds from the Fund. This bill is identical to SB 129.
Local animal cruelty registries. Allows any locality to establish an animal cruelty registry for public access on the website of such locality or its local police department. The bill provides that such registry may include the names and relevant information of persons convicted of certain felony offenses for animal cruelty and that a person on such registry may request removal of his name after 15 years, provided that he has no additional felony convictions of an animal cruelty offense. The bill directs that all costs relating to a locality's animal cruelty registry shall be borne by such locality. This bill is identical to HB 62.
Law-enforcement training; individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish compulsory minimum and in-service training standards for law-enforcement officers on communicating with individuals with an intellectual disability or a developmental disability, such as autism spectrum disorder, which shall include (i) an overview and behavioral recognition of autism spectrum disorder, (ii) best practices for crisis prevention and de-escalation techniques, (iii) an objective review of any relevant tools and technology available to assist in communication, and (iv) education on law-enforcement agency and community resources for the autism community on future crisis prevention. The bill requires that such training standards be established in consultation with at least one individual with autism spectrum disorder, one family member of an individual with autism spectrum disorder, one specialist who works with individuals with autism spectrum disorder, one representative from the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, and one representative from a state or local law-enforcement agency. The bill requires the Department to establish such training standards by January 1, 2027, and requires any person employed as a law-enforcement officer prior to July 1, 2024, to complete the compulsory in-service training by July 1, 2028. This bill is identical to SB 547.
Medical cannabis program; product expiration; confidentiality; penalty. Increases from six months to 12 months the maximum expiration date allowable for a cannabis product after registration absent stability testing. The bill allows pharmaceutical processors to employ as pharmacy technician trainees individuals who have less than one year of experience and allows pharmaceutical processors to employ persons with less than one year of experience to perform certain other supervised duties for which current law requires two years of experience. The bill also provides for the confidentiality of certain records and other information of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority, including the exemption of certain information from the mandatory disclosure provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
