Del. Amy Laufer

Board of Education; accreditation requirements for professional education programs; exemption for professional education programs leading to certain endorsements. Directs the Board of Education to amend its regulations relating to accreditation requirements for professional education programs in the Commonwealth to require the Department of Education to provide an alternative to the requirement to obtain and maintain national accreditation from the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation for any professional education program that leads to an endorsement as a school counselor or a school psychologist and has a secured specialty area accreditation from a specialized accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

Health insurance; carrier business practices; method of payment for transactions. Requires a health insurance carrier to notify the provider in a provider contract if the carrier, or entity completing a transaction on behalf of the carrier, uses a payment method that imposes a transaction or processing fee or similar charge on the provider and to offer the provider an alternative payment method that does not impose such a fee or similar charge. If the provider elects to accept the alternative payment method and has provided all required information to the carrier to enroll in such alternative method, the bill specifies that the carrier is required to pay the claim using such alternative payment method. This bill is identical to SB 925.

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.

Dam Safety, Flood Prevention and Protection Assistance; Dam Safety Act; powers and duties of the Department of Conservation and Recreation; rights and requirements of dam owners; civil penalty. Amends various provisions of the Dam Safety Act to streamline the Department of Conservation and Recreation's enforcement powers for impounding structures under the Act and clarifies the Department's powers and duties during an active dam failure. The bill also makes changes to a dam owner's responsibilities under the Act, including adding requirements to obtain a general permit for a low hazard impounding structure, making a dam owner responsible for ensuring that his impounding structure that presents an imminent danger has a safety inspection performed as provided in the bill, and allowing a dam owner to identify the dam break inundation zone of his impounding structure by providing the limits of the dam break inundation zone in lieu of filing a map. The bill also changes certain criteria for applicants to receive funds from the Dam Safety, Flood Prevention and Protection Assistance Fund, including the project match requirements for grants or loans. Finally, the bill repeals the provisions providing civil penalties for violating the provisions of the Act and makes technical amendments related to such repeal. This bill is identical to SB 857.

Virginia Values Veterans Program; military spouse eligibility. Provides that the comprehensive program developed by the Department of Veterans Services to reduce unemployment among veterans extends to military spouses.

Virginia Student Training Employment Pipeline for U.S. Procurement (STEP UP) Program established. Directs the Department of Education to establish the Virginia Student Training Employment Pipeline for U.S. Procurement (STEP UP) Program for the purpose of facilitating opportunities for any student enrolled in the eleventh or twelfth grade at a public high school in the Commonwealth or enrolled at a comprehensive community college or historically black college or university in the Commonwealth who enters into an agreement with an entity located in the relevant local school division or region that has a procurement contract with the federal government whereby such entity agrees to provide assistance to the student to obtain, prior to graduation, any federal security clearance at the public trust or national security level and any other education, training, or credential that is necessary for the student to be prepared for employment with such entity upon graduation in exchange for a commitment from the student to accept and remain in such an employment position for an agreed-upon period of time after graduation.

Street address requirement on certain school admission documents; limitations on further use for certain students. Provides that if a pupil or his parent participates in the Address Confidentiality Program established in law, the street address or route number shall be provided to establish residency as required by law but shall not otherwise be made part of the student's educational records.

Department of Veterans Services; provision of copies of veteran vital records. Requires the Board of Health to provide a copy of a veteran's vital records to the Department of Veterans Services upon the Department's request when a veteran or his surviving spouse requires a certified copy of a vital record to obtain service-connected benefits. This bill incorporates HB 2016.

Certain advanced or accelerated mathematics opportunities; policies and criteria for enrollment; data reporting. Requires each school board to develop and adopt a policy that sets forth the criteria for students in grades five through eight to be eligible to enroll in advanced or accelerated mathematics and requires each such policy to provide for (i) the automatic enrollment of certain students in advanced or accelerated mathematics based on Standards of Learning assessment scores, subject to course offerings and availability and the opportunity for parental opt-out; (ii) multiple additional pathways to student enrollment in advanced or accelerated mathematics; and (iii) an annual parental notification relating to mathematics coursework. The bill also requires each school board to report and the Department of Education to post on its website certain data relating to advanced or accelerated mathematics participation and performance.

Maddy summaryHJ 564 is a non-binding resolution honoring the late Honorable Henry Levander Marsh, III, recognizing his contributions to the state. It does not create new laws or affect any specific group, as it is purely commemorative. The resolution passed unanimously in both the House and Senate and was formally adopted by the legislature. This type of resolution serves to acknowledge an individual's legacy without implementing policy changes.