Del. J.R. Henson

State plan for medical assistance services;certified community health workers; work group. Directs the Departmentof Medical Assistance Services to amend the state plan for medicalassistance services to include a provision for payment for services provided by certified community health workers. The bill directsthe Department to convene a work group of stakeholders to designthe certified community health worker services benefit and to seekfederal approval through a state plan amendment to implement thebenefit.

Campaign finance; prohibited personal use of campaignfunds; complaints, hearings, civil penalty, and advisory opinions.Prohibits any person from converting contributions to a candidate or hiscampaign committee to personal use. Current law only prohibits such conversionof contributions with regard to disbursement of surplus funds at thedissolution of a campaign or political committee. The bill provides that acontribution is considered to have been converted to personal use if thecontribution, in whole or in part, is used to fulfill any commitment,obligation, or expense that would exist irrespective of the person's seeking,holding, or maintaining public office but allows a contribution to be used forthe ordinary and accepted expenses related to campaigning for or holdingelective office, including the use of campaign funds to pay for the candidate'schild care expenses that are incurred as a direct result of campaign activity.The bill provides that any person subject to the personal use ban may requestan advisory opinion from the State Board of Elections on such matters. The billdirects the State Board of Elections to adopt emergency regulations similar tothose promulgated by the Federal Election Commission to implement theprovisions of the bill and to publish an updated summary of Virginia campaignfinance law that reflects the State Board of Elections' and Attorney General'sguidance on the provisions of such law that prohibit the personal use ofcampaign funds and any new regulations promulgated by the State Board ofElections.

Home Visiting Program established; report. Establishes the Home Visiting Program within the Department of Social Services to support pregnant people and parents with young children who face greater risks and barriers to achieving positive maternal and child health outcomes. The bill directs the Department to operate in accordance with the Virginia Plan for Home Visiting established by Early Impact Virginia, a consortium of government and private entities. The purpose of the Program is to (i) promote the health and well-being of pregnant people and parents, (ii) improve infant and child health and development, (iii) strengthen family functioning, (iv) promote school readiness, (v) reduce child maltreatment, (vi) promote economic mobility, and (vii) cultivate strong communities. The bill requires the Department to report biennially to the Governor and the General Assembly on outcomes for Program participants.

Commission to Study the History of the Uprootingof Black Communities by Public Institutions of Higher Education inthe Commonwealth established; report. Establishes the 19-memberlegislative Commission to Study the History of the Uprooting of BlackCommunities by Public Institutions of Higher Education for the purposeof studying and determining (i) whether any public institution ofhigher education in the Commonwealth has purchased, expropriated,or otherwise taken possession of property owned by any individualwithin the boundaries of a community in which a majority of the residentsare Black in order to establish or expand the institution's campusand (ii) whether and what form of compensation or relief would beappropriate for any such individual or any of his lineal descendants.The bill sunsets on July 1, 2027.

Elections; conduct of election; ranked choice voting; locally elected offices; report. Allows elections for any local or constitutional office to be conducted by ranked choice voting. Under current law, only elections of members of a county board of supervisors or a city council are allowed to be conducted by ranked choice voting. The bill also clarifies requirements for conducting elections using ranked choice voting and requires results for elections conducted by ranked choice voting to be reported along with other results reported on election night, except that such results must clearly be identified as preliminary and based on the first rankings in a ranked choice voting election. The bill provides that final tabulation for an election for a local or constitutional office that is not shared by more than one county or city is required to be conducted on the same day as other results are canvassed by the local electoral board and that final tabulation for and election for a local or constitutional office that is shared by more than one county or city is required to be conducted at a centralized facility under the supervision of the Department of Elections. The bill specifies that ranking data is required to be made publicly available by the Department and requires the State Board of Elections to provide standards and to approve vote tabulating software for use with existing voting systems in elections conducted by ranked choice voting. The bill also limits a risk-limiting audit of an election conducted using ranked choice voting to the first choice rankings reported on voting systems. Finally, the bill directs the Department to review the testing and approval framework for voting equipment in the Commonwealth and submit a report of such review no later than the first day of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy; protocol; information; training. Requires the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to take certain actions upon the finding that an individual died from Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP), defined in the bill. The bill directs the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to publish information on SUDEP and a SUDEP death investigation form on its website. Additionally, the bill requires the Chief Medical Examiner and local medical examiners to complete training in the investigation of SUDEP on a triennial basis. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025.

State plan for medical assistance services and health insurance; pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections and pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome. Directs the Board of Medical Assistance Services to amend the state plan for medical assistance services to include a provision for payment of medical assistance for the prophylaxis, diagnosis, and treatment of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS) and pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS) that includes payment for treatment using antimicrobials, medication and behavioral therapies to manage neuropsychiatric symptoms, immunomodulating medicines, plasma exchange, and intravenous immunoglobulin therapy.The bill also requires each insurer proposing to issue individual or group accident and sickness insurance policies providing hospital, medical and surgical, or major medical coverage on an expense-incurred basis; each corporation providing individual or group accident and sickness subscription contracts; and each health maintenance organization providing a health care plan for health care services to provide coverage for the prophylaxis, diagnosis, and treatment of PANDAS and PANS. The bill requires such coverage to include coverage for treatment using antibiotics, medication, and behavioral therapies to manage neuropsychiatric symptoms, immunomodulating medicines, plasma exchange, and intravenous immunoglobulin therapy.The bill prohibits an insurer, corporation, or organization from (i) denying or delaying the coverage of PANDAS or PANS because the enrollee previously received treatment or because the enrollee was diagnosed with or received treatment for his condition under a different diagnostic name, including autoimmune encephalopathy; (ii) limiting coverage of immunomodulating therapies for the treatment of PANDAS or PANS in a manner that is inconsistent with the treatment guidelines developed by a consortium convened for the purposes of researching, identifying, and publishing best practice standards for diagnosis and treatment of PANDAS or PANS that are accessible for medical professionals and are based on evidence of positive patient outcomes; (iii) requiring a trial of therapies that treat only neuropsychiatric symptoms before authorizing coverage of immunomodulating therapies for the treatment of PANDAS or PANS; or (iv) denying coverage for out-of-state treatment if the service is not available within the Commonwealth.

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 January 1, 2027. 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 January 1, 2026. The bill provides that the amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee's average weekly wage, not to exceed 80 percent of the state weekly wage, 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.

Celebrating the life of Karen Harrison Jones.

Commending the Suffolk Alumnae Chapter of DeltaSigma Theta Sorority, Inc.