Board of Housing and Community Development; stakeholder advisory group; report. Directs the Board of Housing and Community Development (the Board) to convene a stakeholder advisory group including fire code officials to evaluate and recommend revisions to the Uniform Statewide Building Code to permit Group R-2 occupancies to be served by a single exit, provided that the building has not more than six stories above grade plane. The bill requires the stakeholder advisory group to submit its findings and recommendations to the Board and to the Chairmen of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology no later than December 1, 2024. This bill is identical to SB 195.
Local library boards; King and Queen County.Adds King and Queen County to the list of localities that arenot required to establish a library board.
Board of Medicine; executive director; qualifications.Allows attorneys to serve as the executive director for the Boardof Medicine. Under current law, the executive director for the Boardof Medicine must be a physician.
Board of Nursing; certain students in nursingeducation programs; out-of-state clinical sites. Directs theBoard of Nursing to amend its regulations to permit students in nursing education programs in the Commonwealth who live within 60 miles ofa bordering state or the District of Columbia to complete an unlimitednumber of required clinical hours at out-of-state clinical sites.The bill requires the regulations to specify that the Board mustaccept such hours for licensure.
Central fill pharmacies. Establishes requirementsfor central fill pharmacies, which are defined in the bill as permittedpharmacy facilities that, upon the request of an originating pharmacy,perform the product fulfillment of a drug order and return the filledprescription to the originating pharmacy for delivery to the patientor patient's agent or, for non-federally controlled substances,send the filled prescription directly to the patient. The bill directsthe Board of Pharmacy to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill.
Charter; City of Virginia Beach; board of equalization. Amends the charter for the City of Virginia Beach by expanding the board of equalization from four members to five members and an alternate. This bill is identical to SB 262.
Public schools; opioid antagonist procurement, possession, and administration; school board employee training and certification; opioid overdose prevention and reversal instruction; guidelines and requirements. Requires each local school board to develop, in accordance with the guidelines developed by the Department of Health in collaboration with the Department of Education, plans, policies, and procedures for (i) providing at each public secondary school that includes grades nine through 12 a program of instruction on opioid overdose prevention and reversal and for encouraging each student to complete such program of instruction prior to graduation; (ii) the procurement, placement, and maintenance in each public elementary and secondary school of a supply of opioid antagonists in an amount equivalent to at least two unexpired doses for the purposes of opioid overdose reversal; and (iii) the possession and administration of an opioid antagonist by any employee of the school board who is authorized by a prescriber and trained in the administration of an opioid antagonist, including policies (a) requiring each public elementary and secondary school to ensure that at least one employee is authorized by a prescriber and trained and certified in the administration of an opioid antagonist, (b) for partnering with a program administered or approved by the Department of Health to provide such training and certification, and (c) for maintaining records of each such trained and certified employee.The bill provides for the disciplinary, civil, and criminal immunity of any employee of a public school, school board, or local health department, regardless of whether such employee was trained or certified in opioid antagonist administration, for any act or omission made in connection with the good faith administration of an opioid antagonist for the purposes of opioid overdose reversal during regular school hours, on school premises, or during a school-sponsored activity, unless such act or omission was the result of gross neglect or willful misconduct. The bill requires each school board to adopt and each public elementary and secondary school to implement policies and procedures in accordance with the provisions of the bill and, in doing so, to utilize to the fullest extent possible programs offered by the Department of Health for the provision of opioid antagonist administration training and certification and opioid antagonist procurement.In addition, the bill modifies the school board employees who are authorized to administer opioid antagonists to include any school board employee who has completed training and is certified in the administration of an opioid antagonist by a program administered or authorized by the Department of Health.Finally, the bill directs the Department of Health and the Department of Education to collaborate to develop guidelines and policies for the implementation of the provisions of the bill and requires each school board to implement the provisions of the bill by the beginning of the 2025–2026 school year. This bill is identical to SB 726.
Board of Counseling; licensure by endorsementfor marriage and family therapists. Directs the Board of Counselingto amend its regulations related to the process for licensure byendorsement for marriage and family therapists. The bill removesrequirements that applicants for licensure by endorsement provideevidence that they meet certain educational and experience requirements.
Certain individuals in foster care, in the custody of the Department of Social Services, or considered a special needs adoption; parameters of higher education grants; point of contact for support and guidance. Expands to include each public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth the requirement to provide grants to certain individuals who were in foster care or in the custody of the Department of Social Services or were considered a special needs adoption; adds mandatory education and general fees and, in the case of baccalaureate public institutions of higher education, the cost of room and board to the amount of such grants; and makes eligible for such grants any individual who meets certain other eligibility criteria and was in foster care or in the custody of the Department of Social Services or was considered a special needs adoption at any time after he turned 14. Current law requires such an individual to have been in foster care or in the custody of the Department of Social Services or considered a special needs adoption at the time that his high school diploma or equivalency examination certificate was awarded. The bill also requires each public institution of higher education to identify at least one employee of the institution to serve as a point of contact for each enrolled student who was in foster care or in the custody of the Department of Social Services or was considered a special needs adoption in order to provide such student with support and guidance, including support and guidance relating to financial aid and any associated applications or other required paperwork.
Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority; eligible site for site development grant; minimum acreage requirement. Allows the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority to determine a site of at least 50 but less than 100 acres to be eligible to receive a site development grant from the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program Fund. The reduced acreage requirement shall apply only to sites which (i) are located in GO Virginia regions 1 or 2, (ii) are located in a locality or region in which topographic or environmental factors constrain the availability of viable sites for economic development, (iii) present a unique economic development opportunity based on infrastructure, logistics, or other distinguishable features of the site, or (iv) create an economic development opportunity not currently available in the regional inventory of economic development sites. by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority.
Department of Education; establishment of Farm to School Program Task Force. Requires the Department of Education to establish and appoint such members as it deems necessary or appropriate to the Farm to School Program Task Force for the purpose of increasing student access throughout the Commonwealth to high-quality farm to school programs, defined in the bill as programs (i) whereby public schools purchase and feature prominently in school meals locally produced food or (ii) that involve experiential student learning opportunities relating to local food and agriculture, including school and community garden programs and local farm visits. The bill requires the Task Force to collaborate with local school boards, community-based organizations, farmers, relevant state and local agencies, and other relevant stakeholders to (a) assess existing farm to school programs within the Commonwealth to identify and disseminate to each local school board best practices for implementing and sustaining such programs, (b) establish and distribute to each local school board a guidance document for the establishment and operation of school garden programs, (c) provide information and resources to each local school board to assist it in leveraging grant funds to support farm to school programs, and (d) collect such data and make such policy recommendations to local school boards, the Board of Education, and the General Assembly as it deems appropriate. This bill is identical to SB 314.
Hospitals; emergency departments; licensed physicians. Requires any hospital with an emergency department to have at least one licensed physician on duty and physically present at all times. Current law requires such hospitals to have a licensed physician on call, though not necessarily physically present on the premises, at all times. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025 and is identical to SB 392.
