Rep. Vivian Watts

School nurses; sickle cell disease training. Directs local school divisions to require school nurses to complete, within six months of employment and at least every three years thereafter, an online or in-person course of instruction approved by the Board in collaboration with the Department of Health regarding recognition and management of sickle cell disease. This bill is identical to SB 822.

Presidential electors; National Popular Vote Compact. Enters Virginia into an interstate compact known as the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote. Article II of the Constitution of the United States gives the states exclusive and plenary authority to decide the manner of awarding their electoral votes. Under the compact, Virginia agrees to award its electoral votes to the presidential ticket that receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact goes into effect when states cumulatively possessing a majority of the electoral votes have joined the compact. A state may withdraw from the compact; however, a withdrawal occurring within six months of the end of a President's term shall not become effective until a President or Vice President has qualified to serve the next term. The bill also provides for the manner of appointing electors when such agreement does and does not govern the appointment of electors. This bill is identical to SB 322.

Collective bargaining by public employees; individual home care providers; Virginia Home Care Council established; Public Employee Relations Board established; exclusive bargaining representatives. Repeals the existing prohibition on collective bargaining by public employees. The bill creates the Public Employee Relations Board, which shall determine appropriate bargaining units and provide for certification and decertification elections for exclusive bargaining representatives of state employees and local government employees. The bill requires public employers and employee organizations that are exclusive bargaining representatives to meet at reasonable times to negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. The bill establishes the Virginia Home Care Council within the Department of Medical Assistance Services to promote the stability of the individual provider workforce in the Commonwealth and tasks the Council with serving as the public employer of individual providers, as defined in the bill, for purposes of collective bargaining pursuant to the bill's provisions. The bill repeals a provision that declares that in any procedure providing for the designation, selection, or authorization of a labor organization to represent employees the right of an individual employee to vote by secret ballot is a fundamental right that shall be guaranteed from infringement. The bill directs the Department of Labor and Industry to promulgate any regulations necessary to effectuate the bill's provisions by July 1, 2028, and provides that upon the establishment of the Public Employee Relations Board, such regulations shall be transferred to the Board. The bill provides that until such regulations are adopted, no petitions or elections shall take place pursuant to the bill's provisions except pursuant to an ordinance or resolution adopted under current law. This bill is identical to SB 378.

Nonemergency medical transportation providers; fee disclosure. Requires a nonemergency medical transportation provider or the medical care facility prearranging transport through such a provider, prior to providing such transportation services to a patient, to provide the patient or the patient's representative with a standardized disclosure form of all associated fees or other charges for which the patient will be responsible for such transportation services. The bill also requires that nonemergency medical transportation providers provide the medical care facility with the required form. Such provisions have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027. Finally, effective July 1, 2026, the bill directs the Department of Health to develop and publish a standardized disclosure form on its website by October 1, 2026.

Pilot program for underground transmission lines; qualifying projects; levy; report. Authorizes the State Corporation Commission, in reviewing any application submitted by a public utility for a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the construction of an electrical transmission line of 500 kilovolts filed between January 1, 2025, and July 1, 2033, to approve up to four applications for qualifying projects to be constructed in whole or in part underground as part of the pilot program for underground transmission lines and to provide an expedited review of any such application. The bill removes certain provisions related to the existing pilot program. Under the bill, a project shall be qualified if (i) the Commission finds that an engineering analysis demonstrates that it is technically feasible to place the proposed line in whole or in part underground, (ii) the application contains certain information regarding projections of project costs, (iii) the application contains evidence that the governing body of each locality in which at least a portion of the proposed line will be placed underground supports the project's inclusion in the program and agrees to meet its related funding obligations, and (iv) the Commission finds the overall cost of the project reasonable and consistent with the public interest. The bill permits the Commission to deny an application for a project that otherwise meets the criteria to qualify, provided that the Commission publicly shares its rationale for doing so.The bill requires at least 50 percent of the marginal costs, as defined in the bill, of the portion of a qualifying project chosen to be placed underground within a locality pursuant to its provisions to be paid by such locality. The bill permits such a locality to meet such requirement through imposing a levy on electric utility customers within the locality, issuing a general obligation bond subject to a referendum, or allocating its own funds. The bill extends the Commission's final report deadline for the pilot program from December 1, 2024, to December 1, 2034.

Presidential electors; National Popular Vote Compact. Enters Virginia into an interstate compact known as the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote. Article II of the Constitution of the United States gives the states exclusive and plenary authority to decide the manner of awarding their electoral votes. Under the compact, Virginia agrees to award its electoral votes to the presidential ticket that receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact goes into effect when states cumulatively possessing a majority of the electoral votes have joined the compact. A state may withdraw from the compact; however, a withdrawal occurring within six months of the end of a President's term shall not become effective until a President or Vice President has qualified to serve the next term. The bill also provides for the manner of appointing electors when such agreement does and does not govern the appointment of electors. This bill is identical to HB 965.

Joint Commission on Health Care; comprehensive assessment of the quality of care, resident safety, and operational practices of nursing facilities in the Commonwealth; report. Directs the Joint Commission on Health Care to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the quality of care, resident safety, and operational practices of nursing facilities in the Commonwealth and report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Chairs of the House Committees on Appropriations and Health and Human Services and the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and Education and Health by December 1, 2027.

Relocation or modification of easement by owner of servient estate. Establishes that any easement may be relocated or modified either (i) by filing with each clerk of the circuit court of the city or county in which the easement or any part of the easement is located a written agreement evidencing the consent of the easement holder, as defined in the bill, and the consent of any other affected persons or (ii) in the absence of such agreement, upon petition to the circuit court and notice to all interested parties. The bill also provides that certain easements enumerated in the bill shall not be subject to a relocation or modification upon petition to the circuit court. This bill is a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.

Jurisdiction of district courts in felony cases; specialty dockets; Behavioral Health Docket Act. Authorizes a general district court and a juvenile and domestic relations district court to retain jurisdiction over a felony offense for the purpose of allowing the accused to complete a specialty docket or behavioral health docket established pursuant to relevant law. Current law only explicitly provides such courts with the ability to certify felony charges to the circuit court or dismiss such charges after a preliminary hearing to determine if probable cause exists for such charges.

Paid family and medical leave insurance program; notice requirements; civil action. Requires the Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer a paid family and medical leave insurance program with benefits beginning April 1, 2028. Under the program, benefits are paid to covered individuals, as defined in the bill, for family and medical leave. Funding for the program is provided through premiums assessed to employers and employees beginning April 1, 2028. The bill provides that the amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee's average weekly net earnings, not to exceed 100 percent of the statewide average weekly net earnings, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the statewide average weekly wage. The bill caps the duration of paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year and provides self-employed individuals the option of participating in the program. This bill is identical to SB 2.