Del. Ian Lovejoy

Maddy summaryThis is a ceremonial joint resolution honoring Matthew Robert Chiaverotti. It has no policy provisions or direct impact on legislation, citizens, or government operations. The resolution formally celebrates his life and legacy through a symbolic gesture by the legislature. As a commemorative measure, it does not create new laws or alter existing policies.

Public institutions of higher education; intercollegiate athletics program coaches; Mental Health First Aid or similar training required. Requires each coach of an intercollegiate athletics program at a public institution of higher education to participate in Mental Health First Aid training or a similar program within one year of the commencement of his duties.

School boards; transportation alternatives; two-year pilot in small school divisions. Permits certain school boards to pursue certain student transportation alternatives for the next two school years and requires such school boards to report certain data on the implementation of such initiatives. The bill sets forth certain parameters and requirements for any student transportation alternatives pursued by a school board pursuant to the bill, including a requirement that any entity with which a school board contracts or that any school board utilizes for the purpose of providing any transportation alternative or supplementing any traditional transportation services meet and comply with any state and federal laws and regulations applicable to traditional transportation services, including (i) school bus operator training, hiring, and employment requirements; (ii) minimum insurance coverage requirements for any vehicles provided or utilized for such purposes; and (iii) requirements relating to liability of the school board in the event of any accident, injury, or property damage resulting from the operation of any vehicles provided or utilized for such purposes. Finally, the bill requires the Department of Education to exclude from the re-benchmarking process any additional expenditures relating to school divisions that implement the pilot program pursuant to the bill. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2027.

Health insurance; coverage requirements for prostate cancer screenings. Updates existing mandated coverage requirements for prostate cancer screenings to reflect updated tests and guidelines from the American Cancer Society while also removing certain references to American Cancer Society Guidelines. Updated coverage requirements apply to health care coverage companies, the health care coverage plan for state employees, and the state plan for medical assistance services. The bill's provisions apply only to contracts, policies, or plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in the Commonwealth on or after January 1, 2026. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Health Insurance Reform Commission. This bill is identical to SB 1314.

Land application of sewage sludge; permit exemptions; sunset. Exempts from permitting requirements for land application, marketing, and distribution of sewage sludge any land application for a research project when such land is owned and operated by an institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the institution of higher education to notify the Department of Environmental Quality and the owner of every adjoining property of its intent to land apply such sewage sludge at least 30 days prior to commencing any land application of sewage sludge. The bill also requires the institution of higher education to comply with setback and recordkeeping requirements outlined in the Virginia Pollution Abatement Permit Regulation. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2030.

Public middle and high schools; establishment of career and technical student organizations; certain exclusions. Establishes an exception to the authority granted to each public middle school and high school to establish career and technical education student organizations, regardless of whether such school offers career and technical education courses, in the case of any such organization that is established as a federally chartered corporation pursuant to an act of Congress.

Public elementary and secondary schools; nutritional standards for school meals and other foods; nutrition requirements; certain color additives prohibited. Prohibits any public elementary or secondary school from offering or making available to any student any food served as a part of a school meal or any competitive food, as defined in applicable law, that contains any of the seven color additives listed in the bill. The bill directs the Board of Education to amend its nutritional guidelines for competitive foods promulgated pursuant to relevant law in accordance with the provisions of the bill. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027, and is identical to SB 1289.

Line of Duty Act; campus police officers; private police officers. Provides employees of contributing nonprofit private institutions of higher education and contributing private police departments, as those terms are defined in the bill, with the benefits granted to employees of participating employers under the Line of Duty Act. The bill clarifies that the Line of Duty Act shall not apply to any (i) private institution of higher education that is not a contributing nonprofit private institution of higher education or (ii) private police department that is not a contributing private police department. The bill requires each contributing nonprofit private institution of higher education and contributing private police department to pay its pro rata share of the initial costs to implement the bill, as determined by the Virginia Retirement System. This bill is identical to SB 1142.

Baccalaureate public institutions of higher education; livestreaming, recording, and archiving of boards of visitors meetings; closed sessions; guidelines. Establishes several requirements, subject to a reenactment clause, relating to public access to meetings of the governing boards of baccalaureate public institutions of higher education. The bill also requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, in consultation with the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council and a representative from the Library of Virginia, to work with the public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth and with technology experts to develop minimal uniform standards, to the extent practicable, for (i) providing the public with real-time access to the meetings of governing boards of public institutions of higher education and the meetings of committees of such boards, (ii) archiving the recordings of such meetings, and (iii) taking minutes at such meetings. The bill requires any such minimal uniform standards to be implemented by each public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth no later than July 1, 2026.

Use of communications system to expose sexual or genital parts to a child; penalty. Creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person 18 years of age or older who uses a communications system, including computers or computer networks or bulletin boards, or any other electronic means, with lascivious intent, to expose his sexual or genital parts to any person he knows or has reason to know is a child to whom he is not legally married and such child is 15 years of age or older. Under current law, it is a Class 5 felony for any person 18 years of age or older to use such communications system for the purposes of soliciting, with lascivious intent, any person he knows or has reason to believe is a child younger than 15 years of age to knowingly and intentionally commit certain sexual activities, including exposing his sexual or genital parts to any child to whom he is not legally married or proposing that any such child expose his sexual or genital parts to such person. It is also a Class 5 felony under current law for any person to commit such acts with any child he knows or has reason to believe is at least 15 years of age but younger than 18 years of age if such person is at least seven years older than the child. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Criminal Justice Conference.