Del. J.R. Henson

Minimum energy and water conservation standards; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning facilities and home appliances; Department of Energy; prohibited practices; penalty. Provides that if any product or product categories under the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (the EPCA) are removed by the U.S. Secretary of Energy or the federal government, the Department of Energy shall adopt energy or water conservation standards that shall be equivalent to the last applicable federal standards with a product compliance date of on or before December 31, 2025. The bill prohibits any such new products from being sold, offered for sale, leased, or rented in the Commonwealth unless such products meet or exceed such standards. The bill excludes any energy or water conservation standards set aside by a court or any product if federal law preempts the application of the minimum energy and water conservation standards to such a product, including any product or product categories where there is a requirement to develop a standard under the EPCA.

Child abuse or neglect; prenatal use of a controlled substance or drug as prescribed. Clarifies that a pregnant woman's prenatal use of a controlled substance or drug as prescribed by such woman's health care provider for opioid addiction recovery shall not solely be a reason to suspect that a child is abused or neglected.

Secretary of Public Safety; firearm violence. Directs the Secretary of Public Safety to convene a work group to develop policy and legislative recommendations to establish the Virginia Gun Violence Prevention Center. The bill allows the work group to (i) meet both in-person and virtually, (ii) have small group breakouts for the purpose of advancing work in a timely and efficient manner, and (iii) collaborate with experts and other representatives as needed. The bill requires the work group to report its findings and any legislative and policy recommendations to the General Assembly by December 15, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 364.

Requirement that certain injuries to children be reported by physicians, nurses, teachers, etc.; penalties for failure to report. Creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person required to file a report, pursuant to relevant law, who fails to do so as soon as possible, but not longer than 24 hours after having reason to suspect a reportable offense of child abuse or neglect where such reportable offense is alleged to have occurred at a private or state-operated hospital, institution, or facility to which children have been committed or where children have been placed for care and treatment. The bill also provides that a second or subsequent conviction is a Class 6 felony. The bill further expands the mandatory reporting requirements for certain enumerated persons in their professional or official capacities to include certain offenses related to children and certain obscenity and related offenses and applies all such mandatory reporting requirements to all public and private school athletics program coaches, directors, and adult volunteers, including those associated with interscholastic teams and clubs. Under current law, the mandatory reporting requirements apply to such enumerated persons who suspect that a child is an abused or neglected child and to public or private sports organization or team athletic coaches, directors, or adult volunteers.

Sickle Cell Trait Awareness and Education Program established. Directs the Department of Health to establish the Sickle Cell Trait Awareness and Education Program to raise public awareness of and provide education on sickle cell trait.

State Board of Local and Regional Jails; administrative and supervisory authority. Directs the Office of the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security to convene a work group to evaluate the feasibility of transferring the administrative and supervisory authority of the State Board of Local and Regional Jails (the State Board) from the Department of Corrections to another state agency or an independent oversight body. The bill requires the work group to submit its plan, recommended timeline, and any legislative proposals to the General Assembly by November 1, 2026.

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.

Head Start State Collaboration Office; state of Head Start and Early Head Start in the Commonwealth; report. Requires the Head Start State Collaboration Office at the Department of Education, no later than December 1, 2026, to develop and recommend to the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education for endorsement a report summarizing the state of Head Start and Early Head Start in the Commonwealth that is required to address several topics enumerated in the bill.

State officers and employees; state agencies to establish alternative work schedules; reporting requirement. Adds to the annual reporting requirements of each state agency the requirement to include what percentage of changes to the number of employees participating in telecommuting and alternative work is a result of changes in workforce size, a reclassification of positions, or an expansion of telecommuting and alternative work opportunities and the number of employees approved and denied telecommuting and alternative work eligibility. The bill also requires the Department of Human Resource Management to review and publish on its website the statewide telecommuting and alternative work schedule policy every two years.

Health insurance; prohibited restrictions on in-network referrals. Prohibits a health insurance carrier from prohibiting an in-network provider, as defined in the bill, from referring any enrollee or specimen to any in-network clinical laboratory or in-network pathology service provider under the terms of such insurance unless such referral would constitute a violation of certain laws. This bill is identical to SB 745.