Hospitals; psychiatric emergency departments. Allows hospitals with psychiatric emergency departments located in the City of Hampton to operate without a physician on duty when certain conditions are met, including having written agreements in place with emergency medical service providers and being immediately adjacent to a non-psychiatric emergency department. The bill requires such psychiatric emergency departments to submit treatment data to the General Assembly on an annual basis by November 1. This bill is identical to SB 738.
Board of Pharmacy; regulation of psilocybin. Directs the Board of Pharmacy to reschedule psilocybin consistent with federal scheduling upon approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of a formulation of psilocybin designed to be administered by a health care professional in a health care setting. This bill is identical to SB 379.
Damage or trespass to public services or utilities or critical infrastructure; penalties. Adds the intentional destruction of or damage to any fixture, equipment, or information technology system that is used to provide, process, transmit, or maintain public services, public utilities, cable television, broadband, or other critical infrastructure, as defined in relevant law, to the existing offense of damage or trespass to public services or utilities. The bill contains technical amendments and is identical to HB 317.
Employees of state government; personal interest in certain contracts prohibited; certain exception for certain employees of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. Excludes from the prohibition against any officer or employee of any governmental agency of state government having a personal interest in a contract with the governmental agency of which he is an officer or employee, other than his own contract of employment, the personal interest of an employee of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind in a contract between the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind and a publisher or wholesaler of textbooks or other educational materials for students that accrues to him solely because he has authored or otherwise created such textbooks or materials. This bill is identical to HB 1311.
Display of obscene material to a minor unlawful; penalty. Makes it a Class 6 felony for any person 18 years of age or older to display obscene material, as defined in relevant law, to a minor younger than 13 years of age with lascivious intent. Current law only prohibits the display of child pornography or a grooming video or materials to a child younger than 13 years of age by a person 18 years of age or older.
Charter; City of Norfolk. Amends the charter for the City of Norfolk to require, on any property where there is a substantial negative impact on public health, safety, and welfare, conformity with the city's zoning ordinance within a reasonable time, to be specified by ordinance, but never less than two years. This bill is identical to HB 1477.
State Board of Health regulations; standards for levels of neonatal care. Directs the State Board of Health to establish standards for designation of care in neonatal services consistent with, but not necessarily identical to, standards published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The bill directs the Board of Health to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the bill by July 1, 2027, and prohibits enforcement of such regulations until July 1, 2029. This bill is identical to SB 291.
Health insurance; coverage for early refills of prescription eye drops. Prohibits a health carrier from denying coverage to a covered person of an early refill of prescription eye drops if (i) the prescription eye drops are a covered benefit, (ii) the amount of time that has elapsed from the previous dispensing of such prescription would result in at least 85 percent of such prescription eye drops being used if taken consistently with the prescriber's directions, and (iii) the prescriber has indicated that additional quantities are medically necessary and the refill requested does not exceed such additional quantity. The provisions of the bill are applicable to contracts, policies, or plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in the Commonwealth on and after January 1, 2027.
Menstrual supplies ingredient labeling; restriction of substances; civil penalty. Requires that each package or box containing menstrual supplies, as defined in the bill, contain a label of all ingredients that are included within such products when sold within the Commonwealth. Such label shall be displayed by the manufacturer in a manner that is visible and easy to understand for the consumer. The bill requires any manufacturer to make changes to the label reflecting any changes of ingredients within 18 months of any such changes. The bill also requires the manufacturer to post the required label information on its website. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.
Dental hygienist licensure; dentists eligible to practice in a foreign country or jurisdiction. Permits the Board of Dentistry to grant a license to practice dental hygiene to persons who are eligible to practice dentistry in a country or jurisdiction outside of the United States and who are graduates of a dental school or college, or the dental department of an institution of higher education, located outside of the United States that the Board determines is acceptable. This bill is identical to SB 282.
Use of unmanned aircraft systems by law-enforcement officers; search warrants; model policy. Expedites the issuance of a search warrant for unmanned aircraft systems by law-enforcement officers upon a finding of reasonable and probable cause by an authorized judicial official, as defined in the bill, and permits the use of unmanned aircraft systems without a search warrant when law enforcement is surveying the scene of a crime or to respond to a public safety call for service when such crime scene or call for service is located on public property, to locate a person when such person has fled the offense location during the initial response to an incident, or to provide real-time aerial observation to increase on-scene safety and security. Such provisions are subject to a reenactment clause. The bill also requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services, in consultation with the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission and the Virginia Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys, to establish a model policy for the use of unmanned aircraft systems by December 1, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 647.
Public utilities; water and sewerage companies; discounted rates for low-income customers. Provides that a public utility engaged in the business of furnishing water or sewerage facilities may propose and the State Corporation Commission may approve rates and tariff provisions that provide discounted service to customers with an annual household income equal to or less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The bill permits the utility to recover the costs of providing such discounted service through its rates for commercial and industrial customers. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027, and is identical to SB 650.
