Aligns the state review process of underperforming schools and school divisions with the new Standards for Accreditation adopted by the Board of Education (Board). The bill requires the Board to establish a review process to assist schools not meeting the standards established by the Board. The Board shall establish a corrective action plan process for any such school within its division, including a requirement that each school board submit a corrective action plan for any school in the local school division that does not meet the established standards. The bill requires a school board of a school division that does not demonstrate progress in developing or implementing such corrective action plan to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Board. The bill also requires the school board of an underperforming school division to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Board prior to developing a corrective action plan.
Requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, in awarding grants pursuant to the New Economy Workforce Credential Grant Program, to give priority to institutions that offer noncredit workforce training programs in high-demand fields in which employer demand is currently unmet by the available workforce.
Directs the Department of Rail and Public Transportation to evaluate the placement and maintenance of highway signs to (i) indicate the presence and direction of nearby Amtrak or intercity passenger rail stations and (ii) promote the use of such services. The bill further directs the Department to evaluate the cost and potential funding sources for such signs and to report its findings to the Secretary of Transportation and the Chairmen of the House and Senate Committees on Transportation by December 1, 2019.
Requires (i) the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety to develop a model memorandum of understanding and (ii) the school board in each school division in which the local law-enforcement agency employs school resource officers to enter into a memorandum of understanding with such local law-enforcement agency that is based on such model and sets forth the powers and duties of the school resource officers. The bill requires each such school board and local law-enforcement agency to review and amend or affirm the memorandum at least once every five years or at any time upon the request of either party. This bill is identical to
Establishes the Virginia African American Advisory Board to advise the Governor regarding the development of economic, professional, cultural, educational, and governmental links between the Commonwealth of Virginia and the African American community in Virginia. The Board shall be composed of 21 nonlegislative citizen members of whom at least 15 must be African American. In addition, Secretaries of the Commonwealth, Commerce and Trade, Education, Health and Human Resources, and Public Safety and Homeland Security, or their designees, shall serve as ex officio members.
Requires a rate filing by a health carrier that proposes area rate factors in the individual or small group market that exceed the weighted average of the proposed area rate factors among all rating areas by more than 15 percent to include, in publicly available and unredacted form, a comparison of the area rate factor for individual and small group plans that utilize the same provider network and provider reimbursement levels of the health benefit plans that are subject to the filing. In addition, to the extent that the health carrier is deriving any area rate factor from experience data, the measure requires the health carrier to provide additional information, including aggregated incurred claims for any provider exceeding 30 percent of total claims for the rating area in that market. The measure requires the State Corporation Commission to hold a public hearing before approving such proposed rates. The measure also bars the Commission from approving such a proposed rate filing if (i) a variance in area rate factors, indexed to the same rating region for both the individual and small group markets, of 15 percent or more exists between health benefit plans a carrier intends to offer in the individual market and health benefit plans intended to be offered in the small group market, when those plans utilize the same provider networks and reimbursement levels and (ii) the methodologies used to calculate the area rate factors are different between the two markets. The measure provides that beginning for plan year 2020, a health carrier with an approved rate filing that contains at least one area rate factor that exceeds by more than 25 percent the weighted average of the area rate factors among all rating areas in a market in which the health carrier offers individual or small group health insurance coverage shall file with the Commission for each calendar quarter during that plan year a report that provides, for each rating area within the market in which the health carrier operates, the plan's enrollment, total premiums, allowed claims, incurred claims excluding anticipated or, if available, actual risk adjustment payments or receipts, incurred claims including anticipated or, if available, actual risk adjustment payments or receipts, loss ratio, and aggregate claims, for each provider exceeding 25 percent of total claims for that rating area. The measure requires the health carrier to make each such quarterly report publicly available, without redaction, not later than 45 days after the end of the calendar quarter. This bill is identical to
Creates, within the Department of Criminal Justice Services, a Sex Trafficking Response Coordinator (the Coordinator) who shall (i) create a statewide plan for local and state agencies to identify and respond to victims of sex trafficking; (ii) coordinate the development of standards and guidelines for treatment programs for victims of sex trafficking; (iii) maintain a list of programs that provide treatment or specialized services to victims of sex trafficking and make such list available to law-enforcement agencies, attorneys for the Commonwealth, crime victim and witness assistance programs, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Social Services, the Department of Education, and school divisions; (iv) oversee the development of a curriculum to be completed by persons convicted of solicitation of prostitution; and (v) promote strategies for the awareness of sex trafficking, for education and training related to sex trafficking, and for the reduction of demand for commercial sex. The bill requires the Coordinator to report annually to the Governor and the General Assembly and include a summary of activities for the year and any recommendations to address sex trafficking within the Commonwealth. The bill as introduced was a recommendation of the Virginia State Crime Commission. This bill is identical to
Requires every laboratory reporting the results of a test for Lyme disease ordered by a health care provider in an office-based setting to include, together with the results of such test provided to the health care provider, a notice stating that the results of Lyme disease tests may vary and may produce results that are inaccurate and that a patient may not be able to rely on a positive or negative result from such test. Such notice shall also include a statement that health care providers are encouraged to discuss Lyme disease test results with the patient for whom the test was ordered. The bill also provides that a laboratory that complies with the provisions of the bill shall be immune from civil liability absent gross negligence or willful misconduct.
Approved by Governor-Chapter 419 (effective 7/1/19)
Requires a facility where a covered person receives scheduled elective services to post the required notice or inform the covered person of the required notice at the time of pre-admission or pre-registration. The bill also requires such a facility to inform the covered person or his legal representative of the names of all provider groups providing health care services at the facility, that consultation with the covered person's managed care plan is recommended to determine if the provider groups providing health care services at the facility are in-network providers, and that the covered person may be financially responsible for health care services performed by a provider that is not an in-network provider, in addition to any cost-sharing requirements.
Authorizes financial institution staff to refuse to execute a transaction, to delay a transaction, or to refuse to disburse funds, regardless of whether such staff has reported suspected financial exploitation, if the financial institution staff (i) believes in good faith that the transaction or disbursement may involve, facilitate, result in, or contribute to the financial exploitation of an aged or incapacitated adult or (ii) makes, or has actual knowledge that another person has made, a report to the local department of social services or adult protective services hotline stating a good faith belief that the transaction or disbursement may involve, facilitate, result in, or contribute to the financial exploitation of an aged or incapacitated adult. The measure authorizes financial institution staff to continue to refuse to execute a transaction, delay a transaction, or refuse to disburse funds for not more than 30 business days after the date such transaction or disbursement was initially requested on the basis of such a good faith belief, unless otherwise ordered by a court. The measure authorizes such staff, to the extent permitted by law, to report any information or records relevant to an investigation. A financial institution and its staff are immune from civil or criminal liability, absent gross negligence or willful misconduct, for refusing to execute a transaction, delaying a transaction, or refusing to disburse funds pursuant to this measure. This bill is identical to
Provides that, where the appointment of counsel is necessary pursuant to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, any attorney fees assessed shall not exceed $125, unless the court deems a higher amount appropriate.
