Board of Education; health education Standards of Learning; severe allergic reaction awareness training. Requires the Board of Education to include in the Standards of Learning for health education for grade nine and grade 10 an in-person or online severe allergic reaction awareness training that includes certain topics enumerated in the bill. The bill requires each school board to incorporate such severe allergic reaction awareness training into any health education instruction provided at grades nine and 10 beginning with the school year following the Board of Education's adoption of the revised Standards of Learning for health education for grades nine and 10 incorporating such severe allergic reaction awareness training and directs the Board to, in the intermediary time, develop and post on its website guidance documents for the purpose of making such severe allergic reaction awareness training available to school boards.
Board of Health; hospital regulations; use of smoke evacuation systems during surgical procedures. Requires the Board of Health to amend its regulations to require that every hospital where surgical procedures are performed adopt a policy requiring the use of a smoke evacuation system for all planned surgical procedures. The bill defines "smoke evacuation system" as smoke evacuation equipment and technologies designed to capture, filter, and remove surgical smoke at the site of origin and to prevent surgical smoke from making ocular contact or contact with a person's respiratory tract. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025, and is identical to SB 537.
Board of Health; hospital regulations; use of smoke evacuation systems during surgical procedures. Requires the Board of Health to amend its regulations to require that every hospital where surgical procedures are performed adopt a policy requiring the use of a smoke evacuation system for all planned surgical procedures. The bill defines "smoke evacuation system" as smoke evacuation equipment and technologies designed to capture, filter, and remove surgical smoke at the site of origin and to prevent surgical smoke from making ocular contact or contact with a person's respiratory tract. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025, and is identical to HB 763.
Department of Medical Assistances Services; financial eligibility standards for certain waivers providing services to individuals with developmental disabilities. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services (the Department) to amend the financial eligibility standards for individuals receiving services under the Family and Individual Support Waiver, Community Living Waiver, and Building Independence Waiver (the DD Waivers). The bill requires the Department, when determining financial eligibility for the DD Waivers, to disregard any Social Security Disability Insurance income above the maximum monthly Supplemental Security Income as determined by the U.S. Social Security Administration; however, such Social Security Disability Insurance income shall not be disregarded for purposes of determining an individual's patient pay obligation. The bill provides that the aforementioned provisions shall not become effective unless reenacted by the 2025 session of the General Assembly. The bill also requires the Department to (i) analyze the implications of such amendments to the financial eligibility standards for individuals under the DD waivers, which shall include a determination of the costs and the number of individuals who would benefit from such amendments and (ii) report its findings to the Chairmen of the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance and Appropriations and the House Committees on Health and Human Services and Appropriations no later than November 1, 2024.
Unemployment compensation; employer failure to respond torequests for information; claim determination; notice requirements.Provides that an employer's failure to respond timely or adequately to a writtenrequest for information relating to an unemployment claim results in a waiverof all of such employer's rights in connection with the claim, includingparticipation and appeal rights, unless such employer demonstrates that goodcause exists for such failure. The bill requires the Virginia EmploymentCommission to provide written notice for each instance of untimely orinadequate employer response to such requests and specifies that such noticemay be delivered through the Employer Self-Service Tax System websitemaintained by the Commission. The bill also requires the Commission to provideeach employer with information regarding deadlines for timely and adequateresponses to such requests. Such provisions of the bill apply to erroneouspayments established on or after July 1, 2024. The bill also prohibits a deputydesignated by the Commissioner to adjudicate unemployment claims from examiningor considering facts contained within an employer's untimely or inadequateresponse and requires that information or evidence from an employer or thirdparty must be shared with the claimant, who must also be provided a reasonableopportunity to review and respond to such information or evidence. The billrequires such deputy to provide the reasoning behind the decision, as describedin the bill, and a short statement of case-specific facts material to thedetermination together with any notice of determination upon a claim. This billis a recommendation of the Commission on Unemployment Compensation.
Alcoholic beverage control; advertisements. Directs the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority to promulgate regulations that prescribe the terms and conditions under which manufacturers, brokers, importers, and wholesalers may advertise and promote alcoholic beverages via the Internet, social media, direct-to-consumer electronic communication, or other electronic means. This bill is identical to SB 182.
Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; early termination for military personnel; stop movement order; emergency. Allows certain military personnel to terminate a rental agreement upon receipt of a stop movement order issued in response to a local, national, or global emergency that is effective for either an indefinite period or for a period of not less than 30 days and that prevents the service member from occupying the leased dwelling unit for a residential purpose. The bill also allows such military personnel to terminate a rental agreement after receiving any permanent change of station order or temporary duty order in excess of three months' duration. Current law allows such termination only for orders requiring a departure of 35 miles or more from the dwelling unit. The bill contains an emergency clause and is identical to HB 352.
Recordation tax; value of interest conveyed.Provides that for purposes of recordation taxes, the value ofa property interest conveyed shall be the most recent property taxassessment for such property at the time the property is conveyed.
Dangerous dog; extending the time for adjudication. Requires the court, unless good cause is determined by the court,to hold the evidentiary hearing pursuant to the dangerous dog summonswithin 30 days or as soon as practicable from the issuance of thesummons. Under current law, the court is required to hold such hearingnot more than 30 days from the issuance of the summons.
State Board of Local and Regional Jails; powersand duties. Requires the State Board of Local and Regional Jailswhen promulgating regulations and adopting any policy or guidancedocument related to the enforcement of any minimum standards applicableto local, regional, and community correctional facilities, to expresslyand specifically include such items in its published agenda for meetingsof the Board or any of its subcommittees.. The bill also providesthat the Board when developing and implementing policies and proceduresfor the review of the death of any inmate or when establishing minimumstandards for health care services, including medical, dental, pharmaceutical,and behavioral health services, in local, regional, and communitycorrectional facilities and procedures for enforcing such minimumstandards, the Board shall adhere to procedures of the AdministrativeProcess Act. The bill also provides that the Board in enforcing anyadopted health care services standards, the Board shall not find thefacility or its non-health care staff in violation of any such standardsdue to the actions or inactions of licensed medical or mental healthprofessionals, as long as the facility has met the applicable standardsto have such care available and relied on the opinion of such licensedprofessionals in the provision of care.
Guardians and conservators; order of appointment and certificate of qualification; annual report. Requires a petitioner to file with a petition for the appointment of a guardian, a conservator, or both a cover sheet on a form prepared by the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia. The bill requires a guardian to file an initial annual report reflecting the first four months of guardianship since qualification within six months of the date of qualification and to file the second and each subsequent annual report for each succeeding 12-month period within four months from the last day of the last 12-month period covered by the previous annual report. The bill also specifies which documents the clerk shall forward to certain entities upon the qualification of a guardian or conservator. This bill is a recommendation of the Judicial Council of Virginia and is identical to HB 115.
Center for Rural Virginia; name change. Renames the Center for Rural Virginia as the Senator Frank M. Ruff, Jr. Center for Rural Virginia. This bill is identical to SB 704.
