Persons other than ministers who may performrites of marriage; current Virginia members of Congress. Addscurrent Virginia members of the United States Senate or United StatesHouse of Representatives to the list of persons who may celebratethe rites of marriage anywhere in the Commonwealth without the necessityof bond or order of authorization.
Out-of-state health care practitioners; temporary authorization to practice; assisted living facilities. Adds assisted living facilities to the list of eligible health care employers for which a health care practitioner licensed, certified, or registered in another state or the District of Columbia may temporarily practice for one 90-day period, provided that the practitioner is contracted by or has received an offer of employment in the Commonwealth from the health care employer and certain other conditions are met.
Omitted taxes; installment agreements. Allows the governing body of a locality to allow its treasurer or other collecting official to enter into an installment agreement lasting up to 72 months for payment of taxes by a taxpayer who has been assessed with omitted taxes.
Financial institutions; certain payments required electronically. Requires any financial institution that initiates an electronic fund transfer as payment for the sale to a consumer of a security issued by such financial institution to make available to the consumer the option of completing any payment of principal, interest, dividend, or other distribution related to the security via an electronic fund transfer.
Department of Labor and Industry; asbestos andlead project permit; usage of licensing fees. Provides that feescollected by the Department of Labor and Industry paid by licensedasbestos and certified lead contractors for obtaining asbestos andlead project permits are to be used by the Department in carryingout its mission under the Virginia Asbestos NESHAP Act.
Child care; background checks. Allows applicants for employment and applicants to serve as volunteers to work in certain child day centers, family day homes, and family day systems pending the results of a full background check, provided that (i) the applicant has received qualifying results on a fingerprint-based background check through the Central Criminal Records Exchange or the Federal Bureau of Investigation and (ii) the applicant is supervised at all times by a person who received a qualifying result on a full background check within the past five years.
Sickle cell disease; statewide registry; collectionof sickle cell disease case information; penalties; notification;annual report. Creates a statewide registry of sickle cell diseasepatients to be maintained by the State Health Commissioner. The billestablishes: (i) standards and selection criteria for the collectionof sickle cell disease information; (ii) penalties for unauthorizeduse of data from such registry; and (iii) notice requirements forpatients whose personal identifying information has been submittedto such registry. The bill allows patients diagnosed with sicklecell disease to self-report information to the sickle cell diseaseregistry. Under the bill, a patient has the right to opt out of havinghis information reported to the statewide sickle cell disease registry.The bill also directs the Commissioner to submit an annual reportof the information obtained from the sickle cell disease registryto the Governor and the General Assembly by December 1 of each year.
Department of Education and Department of Health;school health entrance form; review. Requires the Department ofEducation and the Department of Health to (i) examine the Departmentof Health's COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA SCHOOL HEALTH ENTRANCE FORM:Health Information Form/Comprehensive Physical Examination Report/Certificationof Immunization to determine whether such form can be streamlinedand made more user-friendly for families, physicians, and other healthcare professionals while continuing to gather all of the informationthat is necessary to comply with relevant state laws relating to student health and immunization and school attendance and (ii) reporttheir findings and any associated recommendations to the GeneralAssembly no later than November 1, 2024.
Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority;eligible site for site development grant; minimum acreage requirement. Reduces from 100 acres to 50 acres the minimum number of contiguousacres required for a site that is not a brownfield to satisfy theacreage requirement to be considered eligible to receive a site developmentgrant from the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program Fund by theVirginia Economic Development Partnership Authority. The bill alsoexempts from the minimum acreage requirement any site that existsin a locality that has three or fewer eligible sites that are atleast 100 acres.
Cruelty to animals; possession and ownership of animals. Provides that any person convicted of felony cruelty to animals may be prohibited by the court from possession or ownership of companion or equine animals for life and any person convicted of misdemeanor cruelty to animals may be prohibited by the court from possession or ownership of such animals for a period of up to five years. Under current law, such prohibition is limited to companion animals and a period equal to the statutory maximum period of incarceration. The bill also specifies that a court may order that any animal possessed or owned by such person may be disposed of by a local governing body or delivered to another person with a right of property in the animal.The bill further provides that any person who has his rights to possession or ownership of companion or equine animals prohibited pursuant to a felony conviction may petition the court where such conviction occurred for a restoration of his rights after five years from the date of conviction. This bill is identical to HB 223.
Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; firefighters. Adds full-time firefighters employed by the Department of MilitaryAffairs to the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System for serviceearned on or after July 1, 2025. The bill has a delayed effectivedate of July 1, 2025.
Special education and related services; definitions; records retention; duties of Department of Education; parent engagement specialists; professional development; education preparation program coursework. Makes several changes relating to special education and related services for children with disabilities in public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth, including (i) establishing a definition for "individualized education program" or "IEP"; (ii) requiring, after a child with a disability graduates from, ages out of, or otherwise leaves any public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth, such school to retain the special education records of such child for at least 75 years; (iii) requiring each local school board to (a) provide high-quality professional development in instructional practices to support specially designed instruction in inclusive settings, as that term is defined in the bill, for certain teachers and administrators employed in the local school division and (b) employ at least one full-time equivalent special education parent engagement specialist to serve as a resource to parents to understand and engage in the referral, evaluation, and eligibility process if they suspect that their child has a disability and to understand and engage in the IEP process; (iv) requiring the Department of Education, among other things, to (a) establish eight regional special education parent support centers that are each staffed by a regional special education parent ombudsman and coordinate with such division special education parent engagement specialists employed by each local school board; (b) elevate the position of State Parent Ombudsman for Special Education to perform certain functions, including systematically tracking and reporting questions and concerns raised by parents to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and coordinating the activities of such regional special education parent support centers; and (c) develop, establish, review and update as necessary at least once every five years, make available to each local school board an IEP writing, facilitation, tracking, and transfer system to be referred to as the Virginia IEP; and (v) requiring each education preparation program offered by a public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education or alternative certification program that provides training for any student seeking initial licensure by the Board of Education with certain endorsements to include a program of coursework and require all such students to demonstrate mastery in instructional practices to support specially designed instruction in inclusive settings.
