Del. Rod Willett

Resilient Virginia Revolving Fund; projects; low-income geographic areas; nature-based solutions. Provides that the Department of Conservation and Recreation shall give additional weight to projects located in low-income geographic areas and projects that incorporate nature-based solutions when distributing loans or grants from the Resilient Virginia Revolving Fund to particular local governments.

Public elementary and secondary schools; programs of instruction; mental health education; curriculum guidelines; instruction required. Requires each public elementary, middle, and high school to provide at each grade level, in addition to health instruction, an additional age-appropriate course of instruction on mental health. The bill directs the Board of Education to develop mental health curriculum guidelines for an age-appropriate, sequential mental health curriculum for each grade level and requires such curriculum guidelines to include instruction on (i) general themes of social and emotional learning, including self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision making, relationship skills, and social awareness; (ii) the signs and symptoms of common mental health challenges; (iii) mental health wellness and healthy strategies for coping with stress and negative feelings, including conflict resolution skills; (iv) the importance of and guidance on seeking assistance from an adult or mental health professional, including information on services offered within the school or the local school division; (v) the prevalence of mental health challenges and the importance of overcoming common stigmas surrounding such mental health challenges; (vi) the importance of mental health to a student's overall well-being, including physical health and academic success; and (vii) at such grade levels as the Board deems appropriate, the connection between mental health and substance use disorders and the safe use of and risks of abuse of prescription drugs. The bill permits the Board to consult with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and other mental health experts in developing such curriculum guidelines and requires the Board to submit such guidelines to the State Board of Health for approval. The bill requires the Board to review and update by the beginning of the 2025–2026 school year the health Standards of Learning for each grade level to include such instruction on the mental health curriculum guidelines.

Contract actions; medical debt. Provides that in any action, including those brought by the Commonwealth, upon any contract to collect medical debt, as defined in the bill, such an action is barred if not commenced within three years from the due date applicable to the first invoice for a health care service unless the contract with a hospital or health care provider is for a payment plan that allows for a longer period of time for the collection of debt by the hospital or health care provider. The bill specifies that such limitation shall not apply to medical debt arising from services provided by programs administered by the Department of Medical Assistance Services.

Liquid nicotine and nicotine vapor products; certification and directory; penalties. Requires every manufacturer of liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor products that are sold for retail sale in the Commonwealth to certify to the Attorney General that (i) the manufacturer has received a marketing authorization or similar order for the liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor product from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or (ii) (a) the liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor product was marketed in the United States as of August 8, 2016, or (b) the manufacturer submitted a premarket tobacco product application for the liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor product to the FDA on or before September 9, 2020, and such application either remains under review by the FDA or a final decision on the application has not otherwise taken effect. The bill requires a manufacturer to submit such a form for each liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor product that such manufacturer sells for retail sale in the Commonwealth. Under the bill, any manufacturer that falsely represents any of the information required by the certification requirement is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor for each false representation.The bill requires the Attorney General to establish and maintain a directory that lists all liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor product manufacturers and liquid nicotine and nicotine vapor products for which current and accurate certification forms have been submitted. The bill requires the Attorney General to remove or exclude from such directory any such product that is not in compliance and to notify the manufacturer of such noncompliance. The bill allows a 10-business-day period for a manufacturer to establish compliance. The bill requires that any such products that are removed from the list be sold or removed from retail sale within 30 days or become subject to seizure and requires a manufacturer, wholesaler, or retail dealer to notify each purchaser of a removed product that it has been removed from the directory at the time of delivery of such product. The bill entitles such a purchaser to a refund of the purchase price and creates a cause of action to recover such refund.The bill prohibits the sale, distribution, importation, or offer for sale of any liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor product that is not listed in the directory. The bill provides for a civil penalty of $1,000 per day for each product offered for sale in violation of the bill's provisions until the offending product is removed from the market or until the offending product is properly listed on the directory.The bill requires any person that receives, stores, sells, handles, or transports liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor products to preserve all records relating to the purchase, sale, exchange, receipt, or transportation of all liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor products for a period of three years. The bill provides that all such records are subject to audit or inspection at any time by any duly authorized representative of the Attorney General. Any person who violates the recordkeeping provisions of the bill is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.Additionally, the bill provides that the Department of Taxation, the Attorney General, any other law-enforcement agency of the Commonwealth, or any federal law-enforcement agency conducting a criminal investigation involving the trafficking of liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor products may access at any time such records. The bill requires the Department of Taxation to impose a penalty of $1,000 for each day that a person fails or refuses to allow or cooperate with an audit, inspection, or investigation of such records.The bill authorizes the Attorney General and, with the concurrence of the Attorney General, any attorney for the Commonwealth, or the attorney for any city, county, or town to cause an action to enjoin any violation of the provisions of the bill. The circuit courts are authorized by the bill to (a) issue temporary or permanent injunctions to restrain and prevent violations of the provisions of the bill and (b) order forfeiture on any property seized for such a violation. The bill authorizes the Attorney General to issue a civil investigative demand.Under the bill, any retailer and wholesaler that sells or distributes any liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor product in the Commonwealth is subject to scheduled or unscheduled compliance checks carried out by the Attorney General, or an agent thereof, for enforcement purposes.The bill requires the Attorney General to provide an annual report to the General Assembly regarding the status of the directory, manufacturers and products included in the directory, and revenues and expenditures related to and enforcement activities undertaken pursuant to the requirements of the bill.Finally, the bill makes a violation of its provisions a prohibited practice under the Consumer Protection Act. The provisions of the bill do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2025 Session of the General Assembly.

Public institutions of higher education; release of student transcripts. Requires each public institution of higher education to release an academic transcript directly to the employer or prospective employer of a student currently or formerly enrolled at such institution upon the request of the student. The bill also prohibits any public institution of higher education from conditioning the release of an academic transcript to a student currently or formerly enrolled at such institution on the payment of an outstanding debt if (i) such outstanding debt is less than $500, (ii) such outstanding debt is less than $1,000 and such currently or formerly enrolled student received a Federal Pell Grant at any time during his enrollment, or (iii) such currently or formerly enrolled student has enrolled in a repayment plan and has made at least three consecutive monthly payments on such outstanding debt.

Emergency custody and temporary detention orders; evaluations; presence of others. Requires (i) the evaluator conducting the evaluation of an individual to determine whether such individual meets the criteria for temporary detention or (ii) the hospital emergency department and treating physician or other health care provider designated by the physician, when providing services to an individual who is being evaluated to determine whether the individual meets the criteria for temporary detention, to allow the individual's family member or legal guardian who is present and who may provide support and supportive decision making to be present with the individual unless the individual objects or the evaluator or treating physician determines that their presence would create a medical, clinical, or safety risk to the patient or health care provider or interferes with patient care. This bill is identical to SB 546.

Compensation of court-appointed counsel. Raises the limitation of fees that court-appointed counsel can receive for representation on various offenses in district and circuit courts. The bill also limits the fees charged for the cost of court-appointed counsel or public defender representation to persons determined to be indigent to an amount no greater than the amount such person would have owed if such fees had been assessed on or before June 30, 2024. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025. This bill is identical to SB 356.

Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority. Modifies the enabling legislation for the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority by adding four additional ex officio members to the Authority's Board of Directors, adding managing primary care graduate medical education programs and managing the Health Workforce Innovation Fund to the duties of the Authority, specifying additional recipients of the Board's biennial report, and authorizing the Authority to partner with other agencies and institutions to obtain and manage health workforce data. The bill establishes the Virginia Health Workforce Innovation Fund to be administered by the Board of the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority. The Board shall use the Fund to provide grants to facilitate regional collaboration on health care innovation and workforce development and, in particular, the formation of regional, employer-led partnerships that prioritize workforce growth and training. The bill provides for the formation across the Commonwealth of regional councils, defined in the bill, consisting of representatives from the government, health care, and education sectors. Under the bill, regional councils may submit applications for collaborative projects in their regions that enhance private-sector growth, competitiveness, and workforce development. A portion of the grant funds will be awarded on a population basis and a portion on a competitive basis. The bill creates a work group to study the pharmacy technician profession, creates a work group to address health workforce shortages, establishes a program for health workforce development, directs the Board of Nursing to add or remove certain educational requirements for members of the nursing faculty in specified nursing education programs, and establishes a licensing procedure by the Board of Psychology for a psychological practitioner, as defined by the bill. The bill directs the Board of Nursing to adopt emergency regulations to implement relevant provisions of the bill, directs the work group to study the pharmacy technician profession to submit its report to the Governor and the relevant committees of the General Assembly by November 1, 2024, and directs the work group to address health workforce shortages to submit its report to the Governor and the relevant committees of the General Assembly by October 1, 2025. The bill removes references to qualified mental health professionals with a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

Tangible personal property tax; classification; certain vehicles. Removes the sunset on authorization for localities to assign a rate of tax or assessment different from the general tangible personal property rate on certain automobiles, trucks, motor vehicles for use by the handicapped, motorcycles, mopeds, all-terrain vehicles, off-road motorcycles, campers, and other recreational vehicles. Under current law, such authorization is limited to taxable years 2022 through 2024. This bill incorporates HB 422 and is identical to SB 194.

Reporting of medical debt to consumer reportingagencies by certain health care providers; prohibited. Prohibitscertain medical care facilities, certain health care professionals,and emergency medical services agencies from reporting any portionof a medical debt, defined in the bill, to a consumer reporting agency.The bill requires such facilities, professionals, and agencies toinclude a provision in any contract entered into with a collectionentity, defined in the bill, for the purchase or collection of medicaldebt that prohibits the reporting of any portion of such medicaldebt to a consumer reporting agency. The bill provides that any portionof a medical debt reported to a consumer reporting agency in violationof such prohibition or requirement is void.