Del. Sam Rasoul

Statute of limitations; medical debt; judgmententered for medical debt. Provides that the statute of limitationsfor an action on any contract, written or unwritten, to collect medicaldebt, including actions brought by the Commonwealth, is three years.The bill further provides that no execution shall be issued and noaction brought on a judgment, including a judgment in favor of theCommonwealth, rendered on medical debt after seven years from thedate of such judgment; where the medical debt incurred was for life-sustainingtreatment, no execution shall be issued and no action brought onsuch judgment more than three years from the date of such judgment.Under current law, the period within which such execution or actionshall be brought is 20 years in circuit court and 10 years in generaldistrict court.

Correctional facilities; use of restorative housing; report. Directs the Department of Corrections to convene a work group to study the use of restorative housing within state correctional facilities and juvenile correctional centers. The bill directs the Department to facilitate confidential interviews between work group members and at least 25 persons currently incarcerated in a state correctional facility who are currently or who have within the past 12 months been placed in restorative housing, provided that such persons are not the subject of or involved in pending litigation with the Department, and confidential interviews with existing staff and facility officials as requested by the work group. The bill requires the work group to submit its findings and recommendations, including how to safely reduce or end the use of restorative housing that lasts longer than 14 days, to the General Assembly by December 1, 2022.

Board of Education; membership; qualifications. Requires the nine-member Board of Education, all of whom are appointedby the Governor, to include at least one member with experience orexpertise in local government leadership or policymaking, at leastone member with experience or expertise in career and technical education,and at least one member with experience or expertise in early childhoodeducation.

SNAP benefits program; inmates of state or local correctional facilities. Requires the Department of Social Services(the Department) to establish a process that (i) allows inmatesof state or local correctional facilities to submit within 45 daysof the inmate's expected release date an application to participatein the SNAP benefits program and (ii) enables eligible inmates toreceive SNAP benefits immediately upon release. The bill requiresthe Department to distribute to the Department of Corrections andthe Board of Local and Regional Jails information regarding suchprocess and certain other information described in the bill. Thebill has a delayed effective date of October 1, 2023.

Delinquent tax lands; disposition. Authorizes localities to petition the circuit court to appoint a special commissioner to, in lieu of a sale at public auction, convey certain real estate having delinquent taxes or liens to the locality's land bank entity or an existing nonprofit entity designated by the locality to carry out the functions of a land bank entity. Currently, such real estate may be conveyed only to the locality itself. The bill also allows real estate that contains a derelict building and has delinquent taxes and liens exceeding 10 percent of its assessed value to be conveyed via special commissioner, in lieu of a sale at public auction, to the locality, the locality's land bank entity, or such existing nonprofit entity. The bill requires a land bank entity or existing nonprofit entity that receives such parcels to pay any surplusage above the amount of unpaid taxes or liens to the former owners or other parties with an interest in the property.

Broadband service; new residential and commercial development; stakeholder advisory group. Provides that the Department of Housing and Community Development shall convene a stakeholder advisory group for the purpose of evaluating local and state policies, procedures, or ordinances to facilitate the expansion of high-speed broadband service and associated infrastructure in new residential and commercial development. The stakeholder advisory group shall be composed of representatives from the commercial and residential land development and construction industry, local government, high-speed broadband providers, and other stakeholders as determined by the Department and shall report its findings and recommendations to the Broadband Advisory Council no later than September 30, 2022. This bill is identical to SB 446.

Local government hiring; people with disabilities. Requires any locality to take into consideration or give preferenceto an individual's status as a person with a disability in its employmenthiring policies and practices, provided that such person with a disabilitymeets all of the knowledge, skills, and eligibility requirementsfor the available position.

Public institutions of higher education; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; notice to students; SNAP benefits.Requires each public institution of higher education to ensure thatall students have access to accurate information about the SupplementalNutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), including eligibility and howto apply. The bill also directs each institution to advertise theapplication and process for applying for SNAP prominently on the institution's website, in orientation materials that are distributedto each new student, in at least one campus-wide email per academicyear to all students at such institution, and through other means.

Historical African American cemeteries. Changes the date of establishment that qualifies historical African American cemeteries for appropriated funds to care for such cemeteries from prior to January 1, 1900, to prior to January 1, 1948, and provides that the total number of graves in a qualifying cemetery shall be the number of markers of African Americans who were interred in such cemetery prior to January 1, 1948. Under current law, the total number of graves is the number of markers of African Americans who lived at any time between January 1, 1800, and January 1, 1900. This bill is identical to SB 477.