Virginia Bills

Requires the Board of Health to adopt regulations to include neonatal abstinence syndrome on the list of diseases that shall be required to be reported. This bill is identical to

Requires that any arbitration proceeding regarding the exercise of an employer's right of subrogation to an employee's claim against a third party shall be limited solely to arbitrating the amount and validity of the employer's lien and shall not affect the employee's rights in any way. Such arbitration shall not be held unless (i) any contested expenses remaining have been submitted to the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission (the Commission) for a determination of their validity and the Commission has made such determination of validity prior to the commencement of the arbitration; (ii) prior to the commencement of such arbitration the employer has provided the injured employee and his attorney, if any, with an itemization of the expenses associated with the lien that is the subject of the arbitration; (iii) upon receipt of the itemization of the lien, the employee shall have 21 days to provide a written objection to any expenses included in the lien to the employer, and if the employee does not do so any objections to the lien to be arbitrated shall be deemed waived; and (iv) the employer shall have 14 days after receipt of the written objection to notify the employee of any contested expenses that the employer does not agree to remove from the lien, and if the employer does not do so any itemized expense objected to by the employee shall be deemed withdrawn and not included in the arbitration. This bill is identical to

Shifts responsibilities for transportation planning activities from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to the Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment of the Secretary of Transportation. The bill specifies VDOT's core functions and limits the agency's duties to those core functions. The bill requires transparency in the development of the Six-Year Improvement Program and the State of Good Repair Program by the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) and requires the CTB and VDOT to make public certain information related to the selection of projects. This bill is identical to

Requires the Department of Education to develop and oversee a pilot program to administer across five geographically and demographically diverse school divisions the model exit questionnaire for teachers developed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, analyze the results of each such questionnaire, and include such results and analysis in the Superintendent's annual report beginning in 2018. The bill requires the Department to (i) administer such questionnaire to each teacher who ceases to be employed by the relevant school board for any reason and (ii) collect, maintain, and report on the results of each such questionnaire in a manner that ensures the confidentiality of each teacher's name and other personally identifying information. This bill is identical to

Directs the Boards of Dentistry and Medicine to adopt regulations for the prescribing of opioids and products containing buprenorphine. The bill requires the Prescription Monitoring Program at the Department of Health Professions to provide an annual report to the Joint Commission on Health Care on the prescribing of opioids and benzodiazepines in the Commonwealth. The bill contains an emergency clause.

Broadens eligibility for the Two-Year College Transfer Grant Program by including students whose Expected Family Contribution, as calculated by the federal government using the family's financial information reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), is no more than $12,000. Currently the program is available only to students whose Expected Family Contribution is no more than $8,000. The bill does not affect additional eligibility requirements for the Two-Year College Transfer Grant Program. This bill is identical to

Authorizes and provides liability protection for employees of a public or private institution of higher education who are authorized by a prescriber and trained in the administration of epinephrine, insulin, or glucagon to possess and administer such epinephrine, insulin, or glucagon. This bill is identical to

Revises the composition of the Virginia Board of Workforce Development (Board) to conform to requirements of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). One member shall be a representative of a private career college. The measure also (i) specifies that funding for a full-time Executive Director position shall be provided by Title I of the WIOA and (ii) replaces a requirement that industry credentials that align with high-demand occupations shall include the Career Readiness Certificate with the requirement that such industry credentials include a credential that determines career readiness. The measure shall not become effective if prior to July 1, 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor grants a waiver of the State Board membership composition requirements under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act that permits the Board to continue with its current composition.