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.
Del. Laura Jane Cohen
Sponsored bills
Kinship foster care; barrier crime waiver; report. Establishes a process by which a local department of social services may apply for a barrier crime waiver on behalf of an individual who has been convicted of a Virginia barrier crime that (i) is not (a) included on the list of federal barrier crimes; (b) a violent felony offense; or (c) an offense requiring registration under the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry Act and (ii) does not otherwise fall under a barrier crime exception for foster or adoptive homes for the purpose of approval of the individual's home as a kinship foster home. The bill creates a process by which such a local department of social services may apply to the Department of Social Services for a waiver and for the Department to conduct an assessment of such application. The bill also requires the Department of Social Services to file an annual report by December 1 of each year detailing the specifics of the waiver process to the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services and the House Committee on Health and Human Services. This bill is identical to SB 305.
Board of Education; review and revision of Health Education Standards of Learning and Curriculum Framework; development of health care literacy instruction; removal of duplicative or outdated health instruction. Directs the Board of Education, during its next regularly scheduled revision of the Health Education Standards of Learning and Curriculum Framework to, in consultation with the School Health Services Committee, (i) develop a health care literacy program of instruction to be required at grades nine and 10 for the purpose of helping students navigate the health care system efficiently and effectively and, in developing such program of instruction, to consider the inclusion of certain topics and content enumerated by the bill and (ii) identify and remove from such Standards of Learning and Curriculum Framework for grades nine and 10 any instructional subjects or topics the inclusion of which is duplicative or outdated.
Elections; absentee and provisional ballots; cure process. Requires that, if the electoral board determines that any person having submitted a provisional vote was not entitled to vote as a result of a material error or omission on the provisional ballot form, the registrar is required to promptly notify the voter by telephone or email of the error or omission and to provide information to the voter on how to correct the issue so his ballot may be counted. The voter is entitled to make such necessary corrections before noon on the Monday after the election. The bill moves the deadline for curing errors or omissions in absentee ballot applications from noon on the third day after the election to noon on the Monday after the election. The bill also requries the Department of Elections to issue guidance to local election officials on the uniform processing and counting of provisional ballots, including any provisional ballot cast by a person submitting a registration application on the same day as the election.
Department of Social Services; corrective action plans and assumption of temporary control of local boards and local departments. Grants the Commissioner of Social Services the authority to create and enforce a corrective action plan for any local board of social services or local department of social services that (i) fails to administer public assistance and social services programs in accordance with applicable laws and regulations or (ii) takes any action or fails to act in a manner that poses a substantial risk to the health, safety, or well-being of a child or adult. The bill permits similar authority for any local board of social services that (a) fails to provide child welfare services in accordance with applicable law or regulations or (b) takes any action or fails to act in a manner that poses a substantial risk to the health, safety, or well-being of a child. Under the bill, if a local board or department fails to comply with a corrective action plan, the Commissioner has the authority to temporarily assume control of all or part of the local board's operations. The bill also provides that, when a local board of social services or local department of social services requests assistance, the Commissioner has the authority to utilize staff of the Department of Social Services or contract with private entities to provide public assistance and social services programs in the locality served by the local board or department. The bill also adds adult services to the definition of "social services" for purposes of Title 63.2 (Welfare (Social Services)).
Advisory Board on Behavior Analysis; composition. Amends the composition of the Advisory Board on Behavior Analysis to require that three members shall be licensed behavior analysts or licensed assistant behavior analysts who have practiced for at least three years. Under current law, the composition of the Advisory Board requires two licensed behavior analysts who have practiced for at least three years and one licensed assistant behavior analyst who has practiced for at least three years.
Smart Solar Permitting Platform established; residential solar energy systems; work group; report. Creates the Smart Solar Permitting Platform (the Platform) to serve as a tool for (i) contractors to obtain permits for the construction of streamline-eligible residential solar energy systems and (ii) localities to process applications for such permits. The bill requires the Department of Energy to establish, launch, and administer the Platform by July 1, 2027, as an internet-based platform that automates plan review and instantly releases a permit or a permit revision to construct certain residential solar energy systems that comply with any applicable building codes and state laws. The bill requires localities to allow contractors to submit an application to construct a residential solar energy system through the Platform or through an alternative automated solar permitting platform by July 1, 2028. The bill requires any locality that chooses to use an alternative automated solar permitting platform to submit an annual report to the Department no later than March 1 of each year. The bill directs the Director of the Department to convene a work group to determine the appropriateness of adding a surcharge to local government permitting fees to defray state costs for the Platform and to report its findings to the General Assembly on or before November 1, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 382.
Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services; Department of Education; Postsecondary Education Rehabilitation Transition Program. Directs the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, in collaboration with the Department of Education, to develop a plan to expand the Postsecondary Education Rehabilitation Transition (PERT) Program to increase the number of students assisted in the transition from high school to postsecondary programs. The bill requires such plan to equip local community services boards with the resources to assist an increased number of students in such transition, publish online resources about the transition process, and develop an online dashboard to provide information about possible postsecondary education programs.
State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; guidelines for developing a transition IEP; report. Requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (the Council), in consultation with the Department of Education and representatives of public institutions of higher education and public secondary schools in the Commonwealth, to develop and submit to the Department of Education for public posting and access by the individualized education program (IEP) team of any student with a disability guidelines for developing a transition IEP to help facilitate the timely provision of transition services and accommodations for students with disabilities by public institutions of higher education across the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Council to encourage private institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth to make such guidelines available to help facilitate the timely provision of transition services and accommodations for such students at such institutions. The bill requires the Council to submit to the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Education by November 1, 2026, a report on its findings and recommendations that includes a copy of such guidelines.
Board of Veterinary Medicine; applications for licensure or renewal; indication of interest to serve as a veterinarian for a public or private animal shelter. Directs the Board of Veterinary Medicine to amend its applications for licensure and renewal of licensure to allow applicants to indicate interest in serving as a veterinarian for public or private animal shelters and to provide disclosure that, if the applicant indicates such interest, the Board shall provide the applicant's name and contact information to the State Veterinarian for inclusion on a list distributed to animal shelters quarterly.