Employer-mandated vaccinations for COVID-19;required exemptions; civil penalties. Prohibits an employer fromrequiring its employees to receive a vaccine for the prevention ofCOVID-19 unless such employer provides individual exemptions that allow an employee to opt out from such requirement on the basis of(i) medical reasons, including pregnancy or anticipated pregnancy; (ii) religious reasons; (iii) immunity from COVID-19; (iv) periodictesting; or (v) the use of employer-provided personal protectiveequipment. The bill provides requirements for an employee to claimsuch exemptions. The bill prohibits an employer from discriminationagainst an employee who claims such an exemption. The bill also providesfor civil penalties not to exceed $10,000 by an employer with fewerthan 100 employees or $50,000 by an employer with 100 or more employeesfor violations of the bill's requirements.
Sponsored bills
Home instruction and private school tax credit.Creates an individual, nonrefundable income tax credit for taxableyears 2022 through 2026, for amounts paid by the parent or legalguardian of a child for the child's home instruction expenses or tuitionfor attending an accredited private school in Virginia. The creditshall equal the lesser of the amount actually paid in the taxableyear for such costs or half of the average state standards of quality funding per student per year. The credit may be taken for instruction-relatedmaterials, courses, or programs used in home instruction or for privateschool tuition. The credit is available for two years per child andcan be carried forward for five taxable years.
COVID-19 immunization; prohibition on requirement; discrimination prohibited. Prohibits the State Health Commissionerand the Board of Health, the Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, the Department of Health Professions and any regulatoryboard therein, and the Department of Social Services from requiringany person to undergo vaccination for COVID-19 and prohibits discriminationbased on a person's COVID-19 vaccination status (i) with regard to education, employment, insurance, or issuance of a driver's licenseor other state identification or (ii) in numerous other contexts.
Agrippa Hull Day. Designates May 21, in2022 and in each succeeding year, as Agrippa Hull Day in Virginia.
Board of Education; policy on certain instructionalmaterial and related academic activities; annual parental notification;replacement or alternative material and activities; local compliance.Requires the Board of Education to establish, and each local schoolboard to comply with, a policy to require each public elementaryor secondary school to (i) annually notify the parent of any student enrolled in a class or course in which the instructional materialor related academic activities includes or may include sexually explicitcontent, as defined in the bill, or content that depicts sexual misconduct,as defined in the bill; (ii) permit the parent of any student toreview instructional material that includes sexually explicit contentor content that depicts sexual misconduct, upon request; and (iii)provide, as a replacement or an alternative to instructional materialand related academic activities that include sexually explicit contentor content that depicts sexual misconduct, instructional materialand related academic activities that do not include sexually explicit content or content that depicts sexual misconduct to any studentwhose parent so requests.
Absentee voting; permanent absentee voter listrepealed. Repeals the provisions of law by which any registered voter may apply to receive absentee ballots for all elections inwhich he is eligible to vote and remains on the list until the voterrequests in writing to be removed from the list, the voter's registrationis canceled or placed on inactive status pursuant to law, or thevoter moves to a different address not in the same county or cityof his registration.
Prescriptions; unapproved use. Providesthat a licensed health care provider with prescriptive authoritymay prescribe, administer, or dispense a drug that has been approved for a specific use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration foran unapproved use when the health care provider determines, in his professional judgement, that such unapproved use is appropriate forthe care and treatment of the patient and prohibits a pharmacistfrom refusing to dispense a drug for unapproved use if a valid prescriptionis presented.
Vaccines; adverse events; reporting. Requiresthe Department of Health (the Department) to establish a processfor receiving reports of adverse events, defined in the bill as adverse reactions to the administration of a vaccine, including any sideeffects and other reactions, provided by health care providers andmembers of the public and make information regarding reported adverseevents available to the public on a website maintained by the Department.The bill also requires every health care provider who reports anadverse event to the Vaccine Adverse Event Report System administeredby the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Foodand Drug Administration to report such adverse event to the Department.
United States Constitution; application fora convention of the states. Makes application to Congress tocall a convention of the states to propose amendments to the UnitedStates Constitution that impose fiscal restraints on the federalgovernment, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government,and limit the terms of office for its officials and for members of Congress.
Parental Choice Education Savings Accounts established. Permits the parents of qualified students, defined in the bill,to apply to the school division in which the qualified student residesfor a one-year, renewable Parental Choice Education Savings Accountthat consists of an amount that is equivalent to a certain percentageof all applicable annual Standards of Quality per pupil state fundsappropriated for public school purposes and apportioned to the residentschool division in which the qualified student resides, includingthe per pupil share of state sales tax funding in basic aid and anystate per pupil share of special education funding for which the qualified student is eligible. The bill permits the parent of the qualifiedstudent to use the moneys in such account for certain education-relatedexpenses of the qualified student, including tuition, deposits, fees,and required textbooks at a private elementary school or secondaryschool that is located in the Commonwealth. The bill also contains provisions relating to auditing, rescinding, and reviewing expensesmade from such accounts.