Del. Patrick Hope

Virginia Fair Housing Law; unlawful discriminatoryhousing practices; sexual orientation and gender identity. Addsdiscrimination on the basis of an individual's sexual orientationor gender identity as an unlawful housing practice. The bill defines"sexual orientation" and "gender identity." This bill was incorporatedinto HB 1663.

Reproductive health services. Requires healthbenefit plans to cover the costs of specified health care services,drugs, devices, products, and procedures related to reproductivehealth. The health benefit plan requirements become effective whena plan is delivered, issued for delivery, reissued, or extended inthe Commonwealth on and after January 1, 2021, or at any time thereafterwhen any term of the health benefit plan is changed or any premiumadjustment is made. The measure also requires the Board of MedicalAssistance Services to include in the state plan for medical assistanceservices a provision for the payment of the costs of a reproductive health care program providing reimbursement for medically necessary reproductive health care services, drugs, devices, products, andprocedures for eligible individuals.

Public schools; Mental Health First Aid training. Requires each school board to adopt and implement policies that require each teacher and other relevant personnel, as determined by the school board, who are employed on a full-time basis to complete a Mental Health First Aid training or similar program every three years. The bill requires each school board to provide such training and allows a school board to contract with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, a community services board, a behavioral health authority, a nonprofit organization, or a certified trainer of the Mental Health First Aid training program to provide such training. This bill was incorporated into HB 76.

Commending Mission BBQ.

Legal notices; online publications. Provides that where any ordinance, resolution, notice, or advertisement is required by law to be published in a newspaper, such ordinance, resolution, notice, or advertisement instead may be published in an online publication, subject to certain requirements specified in the bill.

Commending the Washington Nationals.

Constitution of the United States; Equal RightsAmendment. Ratifies the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitutionof the United States that was proposed by Congress in 1972. The jointresolution advocates the position that the 1972 Equal Rights Amendmentremains viable and may be ratified notwithstanding the expirationof the 10-year ratification period set out in the resolving clause,as amended, in the proposal adopted by Congress.

Workers' compensation; presumption of compensabilityfor certain diseases. Adds cancers of the colon, brain, or testesto the list of cancers that are presumed to be an occupational diseasecovered by the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act when firefightersand certain employees develop the cancer. The measure removes thecompensability requirement that the employee who develops cancer hadcontact with a toxic substance encountered in the line of duty.

Workers' compensation; presumption of compensabilityfor certain diseases. Adds cancers of the colon, brain, and testes to the list of cancers that are presumed to be an occupationaldisease covered by the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act when firefightersand certain employees develop the cancer.

Ultrasound prior to abortion; physician civil penalty exemption. Provides that no physician shall be subject to a civil penalty for failure to perform or supervise the performance of the ultrasound imaging required prior to an abortion if, in his medical judgment, such ultrasound imaging is not medically necessary. Currently, any physician who violates any provision of the abortion informed consent statute is subject to a $2,500 civil penalty. This bill was incorporated into HB 980.