Del. Katrina Callsen

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 4.1-305, 16.1-266, 16.1-267, 16.1-272, 16.1-273, 16.1-275, 16.1-278.7, 16.1-278.8, 16.1-278.9, 16.1-284, 16.1-284.1, 16.1-286, 16.1-290, 16.1-290.1, 16.1-292, 16.1-293.1, 16.1-298, 16.1-309.1, 16.1-330.1, 17.1-275.5, 18.2-246.13, 18.2-371.2, 19.2-159, 19.2-163, 19.2-163.4:1, 46.2-383, 46.2-808.2, 63.2-100, and 66-14 of the Code of Virginia, relating to abolition of juvenile fines and fees; criminal offenses.

Local anti-rent gouging authority; civil penalty. Provides that any locality may by ordinance adopt anti-rent gouging provisions. The bill provides for notice and a public hearing prior to the adoption of such ordinance and specifies that all landlords who are under the ordinance may be required to give at least two months' written notice of a rent increase and cannot increase the rent by more than the locality's calculated allowance, described in the bill as the maximum amount a landlord can increase a tenant's rent during any 12-month period, in effect at the time of the increase. The bill sets such allowance as equal to the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index or seven percent, whichever is less, states that such allowance is effective for a 12-month period beginning July 1 each year, and requires the locality to publish such allowance on its website by June 1 of each year. Certain facilities, as outlined in the bill, are exempt from such ordinance. The bill also allows a locality to establish an anti-rent gouging board that will develop and implement rules and procedures by which landlords may apply for and be granted exemptions from the rent increase limits set by the ordinance. Finally, the bill provides that a locality may establish a civil penalty for failure to comply with the requirements set out in the ordinance.

Health insurance; coverage for therapeutic day treatment services. Requires health insurers providing health care plans to provide coverage for therapeutic day treatment services for children with serious emotional disturbances, defined in the in bill as children who have a mental illness diagnosis and have experienced functional limitations due to emotional disturbance, including experiencing a school shooting or the loss of a loved one in a school setting, over the past 12 months on a continuous or intermittent basis. Under the bill, "therapeutic day treatment services" are treatment programs that combine psychotherapeutic interventions with education and mental health and may include evaluation; medication education and management; opportunities to learn and use daily living skills and to enhance social and interpersonal skills; and individual, group, and family counseling. The bill applies to plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on and after January 1, 2025.

Commission on Legislature Modernization; report. Establishes the Commission on Legislature Modernization in the legislative branch for the purpose of studying the operation and functionality of the General Assembly and identifying ways to make the legislature more effective, efficient, responsive, reflective, and transparent on behalf of all Virginians. The Commission will consist of 17 members, which shall include 9 legislators, 6 nonlegislative citizen members, and 2 ex officio members. The Commission shall be convened for a period of two years, every 10 years in the year ending in four, and shall terminate after the submission of its final report to the General Assembly at the end of its second year.

Study; procuring goods and services from employment service organizations; report. Requests the Department of General Services, in tandem with the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, to examine the current process for procurement, potential set-asides or percentage goals that could be utilized or bolstered by employment service organizations, and whether employment service organizations should be housed within the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity.

Public school staffing ratios; specialized student support positions. Increases the number of specialized student support positions required to be employed by each local school board from at least three to at least four such positions per 1,000 students in the local school division. Such specialized student support positions include school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, licensed behavior analysts, licensed assistant behavior analysts, and other licensed health and behavioral positions.

Social Work Advisory Board; established; report. Establishes the Social Work Advisory Board to advise the Governor on efforts to improve the social work profession in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Social Work Advisory Board to report annually by December 1 to the Governor and the General Assembly regarding its activities and recommendations. The bill contains an expiration date of June 30, 2027.

Virginia Consumer Protection Act; prohibited practices; mandatory fees disclosure. Prohibits a supplier in connection with a consumer transaction from advertising, displaying, or offering any pricing information for goods or services without prominently displaying the total price, which shall include all mandatory fees or charges other than taxes imposed.

Commissioner of Health; work group to study the occurrence of microplastics in the Commonwealth's public drinking water; report. Directs the Commissioner of Health to convene a work group to study the occurrence of microplastics in the Commonwealth's public drinking water and develop recommendations for the reduction of microplastics in the Commonwealth's public drinking water. The bill requires the work group to report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committees on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committees on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and Education and Health by December 1, 2024.

Divorce; cruelty, reasonable apprehension of bodily hurt, or willful desertion or abandonment; divorce from bed and board. Eliminates the one-year waiting period for being decreed a divorce on the grounds of cruelty, reasonable apprehension of bodily hurt, or willful desertion or abandonment by either party. The bill also repeals the provision allowing for a divorce from bed and board on the grounds of cruelty, reasonable apprehension of bodily hurt, or willful desertion or abandonment. The provisions of the bill apply to suits for divorce filed on or after July 1, 2024.