Del. Liz Guzmán

Public school buses; seat belts. Requiresthe Board of Education to make regulations to require each new publicschool bus purchased for the transportation of students to be equippedwith a seat belt consisting of a lap belt and shoulder strap or harnessin every seat. The bill requires each school board to ensure thatno later than July 1, 2038, each school bus that it uses for thetransportation of students is equipped with a seat belt in every seat.

Constitutional amendment (second resolution);reapportionment; technical adjustments permitted. Gives the GeneralAssembly the authority to make technical adjustments to legislative electoral district boundaries following the enactment of any decennial reapportionment law. Such adjustments may be made solely for thepurpose of causing legislative electoral district boundaries to coincidewith the boundaries of voting precincts established in the countiesand cities and shall be permitted only to the extent necessary toaccomplish this purpose. Any change made shall be consistent withany criteria for legislative electoral districts adopted for thepreceding decennial redistricting.

Health care; decision making; end of life; penalties.Allows an adult diagnosed with a terminal condition to request and an attendinghealth care provider to prescribe a self-administered controlled substance forthe purpose of ending the patient's life in a humane and dignified manner. Thebill requires that a patient's request for a self-administered controlledsubstance to end his life must be given orally on two occasions and in writing,signed by the patient and one witness, and that the patient be given an expressopportunity to rescind his request at any time. The bill makes it a Class 2felony (i) to willfully and deliberately alter, forge, conceal, or destroy apatient's request, or rescission of request, for a self-administered controlledsubstance to end his life with the intent and effect of causing the patient'sdeath; (ii) to coerce, intimidate, or exert undue influence on a patient torequest a self-administered controlled substance for the purpose of ending hislife or to destroy the patient's rescission of such request with the intent andeffect of causing the patient's death; or (iii) to coerce, intimidate, or exertundue influence on a patient to forgo a self-administered controlled substancefor the purpose of ending the patient's life. The bill also grants immunityfrom civil or criminal liability and professional disciplinary action to anyperson who complies with the provisions of the bill and allows health careproviders to refuse to participate in the provision of a self-administeredcontrolled substance to a patient for the purpose of ending the patient's life.

Health insurance; payment to out-of-network providers. Provides that when a covered person receives covered emergency services from an out-of-network health care provider or receives out-of-network services at an in-network facility, the covered person is not required to pay the out-of-network provider any amount other than the applicable cost-sharing requirement. The measure also establishes a standard for calculating the health carrier's required payment to the out-of-network provider of the services, which standard is the lower of the market-based value for the service or 125 percent of the amount that would be paid under Medicare for the service. If such provider determines that the amount to be paid by the health carrier does not comply with the applicable requirements, the measure requires the provider and the health carrier to make a good faith effort to reach a resolution on the appropriate amount of the reimbursement and, if a resolution is not reached, authorizes either party to request the State Corporation Commission to review the disputed reimbursement amount and determine if the amount complies with applicable requirements. The measure provides that such provisions do not apply to an entity that provides or administers self-insured or self-funded plans; however, such entities may elect to be subject such provisions. The measure requires health carriers to make reports to the Bureau of Insurance and directs the Bureau to provide reports to certain committees of the General Assembly. This bill was incorporated into HB 1251.

Legal holidays; Indigenous Peoples Day. Removes official state observation of Columbus Day and replaces it with observationof Indigenous Peoples Day, honoring the historic, cultural, andcontemporary significance of indigenous peoples.

Official emblems and designations; state fruit.Designates the pawpaw fruit (Asimina triloba) as the state fruitof Virginia.

Marijuana; legalization of simple marijuanapossession; penalty. Eliminates criminal penalties for possessionof marijuana for persons who are 21 years of age or older. The bill also decriminalizes marijuana possession for persons under 21 yearsof age and provides a civil penalty of no more than $50 for a firstviolation, $100 for a second violation, and $250 for a third or subsequentviolation. Under current law, a first offense is punishable by amaximum fine of $500 and a maximum jail sentence of 30 days, and subsequent offenses are a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also modifies severalother criminal penalties related to marijuana. The bill establishesa regulatory scheme for the regulation of marijuana cultivation facilities,marijuana manufacturing facilities, marijuana testing facilities,and retail marijuana stores by the Board of Agriculture and ConsumerServices. The bill imposes a tax on retail marijuana and retail marijuanaproducts sold by a retail marijuana store at a rate of 9.7 percent(for a total sales tax of 15 percent) and provides that 67 percentof the revenues collected from the tax be deposited into the generalfund and 33 percent of the revenues be deposited into a "Retail MarijuanaEducation Support Fund" to be used solely for purposes of public education.

Green development zones; investments in greentechnologies. Provides that a locality may grant tax incentivesto businesses located in a green development zone that invest ingreen technologies. Under current law, such incentives may be grantedonly to green development businesses located in a green developmentzone or businesses operating in an energy-efficient building locatedin a green development zone.

Marijuana; decriminalization of simple marijuana possession; penalty. Decriminalizes marijuana possession and provides a civil penalty of no more than $25. Under current law, a first offense is punishable by a maximum fine of $500 and a maximum jail sentence of 30 days, and subsequent offenses are a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill creates a rebuttable presumption that a person who possesses no more than one-half ounce of marijuana possesses it for personal use and provides that the existing suspended sentence and substance abuse screening provisions apply only to criminal violations or to civil violations by a minor. The bill decreases from a Class 5 felony to a Class 6 felony the penalty for distribution or possession with intent to sell more than one-half ounce but not more than five pounds of marijuana. This bill was incorporated into HB 972.

Prescription Drug Affordability Board and Office of the Prescription Drug Affordability Board; established. Establishes the Prescription Drug Affordability Board to study, review, and regulate the cost of prescription drugs in the Commonwealth, in consultation with a stakeholder work group appointed by the Board. The bill also establishes the Office of the Prescription Drug Affordability Board to provide staffing and administrative support to the Board.