Standards of Quality; state funding; ratiosof teachers to English language learners. Requires state funding, pursuant to the general appropriation act, to be provided pursuantto Standard 2 of the Standards of Quality to support divisionwideratios of English language learner students in average daily membershipto full-time equivalent teaching positions as follows: (i) for eachEnglish language learner identified as proficiency level one, oneposition per 25 students; (ii) for each English language learneridentified as proficiency level two, one position per 30 students;(iii) for each English language learner identified as proficiencylevel three, one position per 40 students; and (iv) for all other English language learners, one position per 58 students. Currentlaw requires 17 full-time equivalent instructional positions for each1,000 students identified as having limited English proficiency.
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Institutions of higher education; sexual violencepolicies; immunity from disciplinary action; certain students whomake reports. Requires the Virginia Community College System,Richard Bland College, each baccalaureate public institution of highereducation, and each nonprofit private institution of higher educationto include in its sexual violence policy a requirement that any enrolledstudent who (i) reports to any individual employed by the institutionthat an act of sexual violence occurred on campus, in or on a noncampusbuilding or property, or on public property, as such terms are definedin relevant law, and (ii) the institution determines, as a resultof any investigation relating to such alleged act of sexual violence,committed a separate, unrelated, nonviolent act that violates theinstitution's code, rules, or set of standards governing student conduct is immune from disciplinary action for such violation.
Office of the Children's Ombudsman established. Establishes the Office of the Children's Ombudsman as a means of effecting changes in policy, procedure, and legislation; educating the public; investigating and reviewing actions of the State Department of Social Services, local departments of social services, child-placing agencies, or child-caring institutions; and monitoring and ensuring compliance with relevant statutes, rules, and policies pertaining to children's protective services and the placement, supervision, treatment, and improvement of delivery of care to children in foster care and adoptive homes. The Office of the Children's Ombudsman is headed by the Children's Ombudsman, who is appointed for a term of four years by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the General Assembly. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
DBHDS; work group to study expanding the category of individuals who may conduct evaluations for temporary detention; report. Directs the Commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to establish a work group to (i) review the current process for conducting evaluations of persons who are subject to emergency custody orders to determine whether they meet the criteria for temporary detention, including any challenges or barriers to timely completion of such evaluations and factors giving rise to delays in completion of such evaluations, and (ii) develop a comprehensive plan to expand the categories of individuals who may conduct evaluations of persons who are subject to emergency custody orders to determine whether they meet the criteria for temporary detention in order to expedite the evaluation process. The work group shall report its findings and conclusions and the comprehensive plan to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, Senate Committee on Education and Health, and Joint Subcommittee to Study Mental Health Services in the Commonwealth in the 21st Century by December 1, 2020.
Virginia Health Benefit Exchange. Creates the Virginia Health Benefit Exchange, which will be established and operated by a new division within the State Corporation Commission (SCC). The Exchange shall facilitate the purchase and sale of qualified health plans and qualified dental plans to qualified individuals and qualified employers. The Exchange shall make qualified plans available to qualified individuals and qualified employers by July 1, 2023, unless the SCC postpones this date. The measure authorizes the SCC to review and approve accident and sickness insurance premium rates applicable to health benefit plans in the individual and small group markets and health benefit plans providing health insurance coverage in the individual market through certain non-employer group plans. The Exchange will be funded by an assessment on health insurers, which is limited to three percent of total monthly premiums, except the SCC may, after a public hearing, adjust the rate as necessary to ensure the Exchange is fully funded. A health plan will not be required to cover any state-mandated health benefit if federal law does not require it to be covered as part of the essential benefits package. The essential health benefits are items and services included in the benchmark health insurance plan, which is the largest plan in the largest product in the Commonwealth's small group market as supplemented in order to provide coverage for the items and services within the statutory essential health benefits categories. The SCC may contract with other eligible entities and enter into memoranda of understanding with other agencies of the Commonwealth to carry out any of the functions of the Exchange, including agreements with other states or federal agencies to perform joint administrative functions. Such contracts are not subject to the Virginia Public Procurement Act (§ 2.2-4300 et seq.). The measure repeals a provision enacted in 2013 that prohibits an agent, employee, officer, or agency of the Commonwealth from taking any action to establish a health benefit exchange.The measure requires the Department of Taxation to include on the appropriate individual tax return forms a checkoff box or similar mechanism for indicating whether the individual, or spouse in the case of a married taxpayer filing jointly, or any dependent of the individual (i) is an uninsured individual at the time the return is filed and (ii) voluntarily consents to the Department of Taxation providing the individual's tax information to the Department of Medical Assistance Services for purposes of affirming that the individual, the individual's spouse, or any dependent of the individual meets the income eligibility for medical assistance. Finally, the measure requires the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to convene a work group that includes representatives from the SCC, the Department of Medical Assistance Services, the Department of Social Services, and the Department of Taxation and a consumer advocate to develop systems, policies, and practices to leverage state income tax returns to facilitate the enrollment of eligible individuals in insurance affordability programs through the Virginia Health Benefit Exchange established in this measure. The Secretary shall report the work group's recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly by September 15, 2020. This measure is identical to SB 732.
Motion picture production tax credit; media related exemptions. Extends from January 1, 2022, to January 1, 2027, the sunset of the motion picture production tax credit and transfers the certifying authority for the credit from the Virginia Film Office to the Virginia Tourism Authority. The bill also extends from July 1, 2022, to July 1, 2027, the sunset for certain sales tax exemptions related to film production and distribution. This bill is identical to SB 923.
Forfeiture of property used in connection with the commission of crimes; finding of guilt required. Requires that any action for the forfeiture of property used in connection with the commission of a crime be stayed until the person whose property is the subject of the forfeiture action has been found guilty of the crime authorizing the forfeiture, regardless of whether he has been sentenced. The bill provides that property may be forfeited even though no finding of guilt is made if (i) the forfeiture is ordered by the court pursuant to a plea agreement or (ii) the owner has not submitted a written demand for the return of the property within 21 days from the date the stay terminates. This bill incorporates HB 225.
Landlord and tenant; statement of tenant rights and responsibilities. Requires that the Director of Housing and Community Development develop a statement of tenant rights and responsibilities explaining in plain language the rights and responsibilities of tenants under the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act and maintain such statement on the Department's website. The bill requires the Director to develop and maintain on the Department's website a printable form to be signed by the parties to a written rental agreement acknowledging that the tenant has received from the landlord the statement of tenant rights and responsibilities and requires a landlord to furnish to a prospective tenant, at the time of furnishing an unsigned copy of the proposed written rental agreement, the statement of tenant rights and responsibilities for signature by the parties to the rental agreement. The landlord may not file or maintain an action against the tenant in a court of law for any alleged lease violation until he has provided the tenant with such statement.
Landlord and tenant; damage insurance in lieu of security deposit. Provides that a landlord may permit a tenant to provide damage insurance coverage meeting certain criteria in lieu of the payment of a security deposit. The bill also caps the total amount of any combination of security deposit and rental insurance coverage required by the landlord to twice the amount of the periodic rent payment and provides that a tenant who initially opts to provide damage insurance in lieu of a security deposit may, at any time without consent of the landlord, opt to pay the full security deposit to the landlord in lieu of maintaining a damage insurance policy.
Community Services Efficiency Act; Departmentof Education; community schools. Requires the Department of Educationto establish an interagency task force composed of state and local agencies and entities in the areas of early childhood development, health, social services, community engagement, family engagement,higher education, communities in schools, and workforce developmentfor the purpose of developing a program for the establishment of community schools whereby public elementary and secondary schoolsserve as centers for the provision of such community programs andservices to students and their families as may be necessary on thebasis of the unique needs of the student population to be served. The bill requires such program to include a process by which schoolboards and community partnerships may apply to the Department ofEducation to designate an elementary or secondary school in the localschool division as a community school. The bill also establishesa special nonreverting fund in the state treasury for the purposeof providing planning grants for school boards and community partnershipsthat seek to apply to the Department of Education through such programfor community school designation.