Absentee voting; early in person; availabilityon Sundays. Permits the electoral board or general registrarof a county or city to provide absentee voting in person in the officeof the general registrar or voter satellite office on Sundays.
Virginia Employment Commission; communications with parties; report. Authorizes the Virginia Employment Commission to send notices and other communications related to claims brought under the Virginia Unemployment Compensation Act through email or other electronic means in lieu of mail if a party to the claim so elects. The bill requires the Commission, if an electronic communication fails to be transmitted successfully, to send a new notice by first-class mail to the party's alternative address on record. The bill directs the Commission to report the number of unemployment insurance claimants who elect to receive communications electronically, and the effect of this change on Commission operations, by December 31, 2022.
Hospitals, nursing homes, and certified nursing facilities; regulations; patient access to intelligent personal assistant. Directs the Board of Health to amend regulations governing hospitals, nursing homes, and certified nursing facilities to require each hospital, nursing home, and certified nursing facility to establish and implement policies to ensure the permissible access to and use of an intelligent personal assistant provided by the patient while receiving inpatient services. "Intelligent personal assistant" is defined in the bill as a combination of an electronic device and a specialized software application designed to assist users with basic tasks using a combination of natural language processing and artificial intelligence, including such combinations known as "digital assistants" or "virtual assistants."
Department of General Services; removal of HarryF. Byrd, Sr., statue. Directs the Department of General Servicesto remove the statue of former Virginia Governor and U.S. SenatorHarry F. Byrd, Sr., from Capitol Square. The bill directs the Departmentto store the statue until such time as the General Assembly determinesits final disposition.
Department of Human Resource Management, alternative application for employment for persons with a disability. Directs the Department of Human Resource Management to create an alternative application process for the employment of persons with a disability. The process must be noncompetitive in nature and provide state agencies using the process an option for converting positions filled through the noncompetitive process into positions that are normally filled through a competitive process. The bill directs the Department of Human Resource Management to develop and disseminate a policy to implement the provisions of the bill.
DMAS; work group to study options for the permanentuse of virtual supports and increasing access to virtual supportsand services; individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to study anddevelop recommendations for the permanent use of virtual supportsand increasing access to virtual supports and services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities by promoting accessto assistive technology and environmental modifications and to reportits findings and recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly by November 1, 2021.
Supported decision-making agreements; report.Directs the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services(the Department) to develop and implement a program to educate individualswith intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families, and others regarding the availability of supported decision-makingagreements, the process by which an individual with an intellectualor developmental disability may enter into a supported decision-makingagreement with a supporter, and the rights and responsibilities ofprincipals and supporters who are parties to a supported decision-makingagreement, which shall include specific training opportunities, developmentof model supported decision-making agreements, and development ofinformation about and protocols for preventing, identifying, andaddressing abuse and exploitation of individuals with intellectualand developmental disabilities who enter into supported decision-makingagreements. The bill directs the Department to collect data regardingthe utilization of supported decision-making agreements in the Commonwealthand report such information, together with recommendations to enhancethe utilization of supported decision-making agreements, annuallyto the Governor and the General Assembly by November 1.
Virginia Initiative for Education and Work; Full Employment Program. Modifies the Full Employment Program (FEP) for Virginia Initiative for Education and Work participants by (i) allowing FEP participants to continue receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); (ii) disregarding wages received through FEP for purposes of calculating TANF; (iii) removing the requirement that a person be unable to find unsubsidized employment in order to participate in FEP; and (iv) allowing employers participating in FEP to receive a subsidy of up to $1,000 per month for each FEP employee for a period not to exceed six months.
Child Care Assistance Program; emergency. Provides that regulations governing the Child Care Subsidy Program (the Program) shall be amended to provide that (i) a family shall be eligible for assistance through the Program if the family's income does not exceed 85 percent of the state median income, the family includes at least one child who is five years of age or younger and has not yet started kindergarten, and the family meets all other income and eligibility requirements of the Program and (ii) job search activities shall be considered eligible activities for the purposes of the Program. The bill provides that a family determined to be eligible for assistance through the Program shall be eligible to receive assistance for a period of 12 months or until the family's household income exceeds 85 percent of the state median income, whichever occurs sooner. The Department of Social Services shall administer the program, as amended by the bill, in cooperation with the Department of Education. The bill contains an emergency clause and provides that the provisions of the bill shall be applicable to applications for assistance through the Program received prior to August 1, 2021.
Medical care facilities; persons with disabilities; designated support persons. Requires every medical care facility, as defined in the bill, to allow a person with a disability who requires assistance as a result of such disability to be accompanied by a designated support person who will provide support and assistance necessary due to the specifics of the person’s disability to the person with a disability during an admission to such medical care facility. The bill (i) defines "person with a disability" and "designated support person"; (ii) provides that a designated support person shall not be subject to restrictions on visitation adopted by the medical care facility but may be required to comply with reasonable requirements of the medical care facility adopted to protect the health and safety of the person with a disability, the designated support person, and staff and other patients of and visitors to the medical care facility; and (iii) authorizes a medical care facility to restrict a designated support person's access to specified areas and movement on the premises of the medical care facility when such restrictions are determined by the medical care facility to be reasonably necessary to protect the health and safety of the person with a disability, the designated support person, and staff and other patients of and visitors to the medical care facility. The bill requires every medical care facility to adopt protocols to inform patients of their right to be accompanied by a designated support person, and to develop and make available to persons with disabilities written information regarding the right of a person with a disability to be accompanied by a designated support person and policies related thereto. The bill contains an emergency clause and directs the Board of Health to adopt emergency regulations within 280 days of the bill's enactment.
