Rep. Josh Cole

Head Start State Collaboration Office; state of Head Start and Early Head Start in the Commonwealth; report. Requires the Head Start State Collaboration Office at the Department of Education, no later than December 1, 2026, to develop and recommend to the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education for endorsement a report summarizing the state of Head Start and Early Head Start in the Commonwealth that is required to address several topics enumerated in the bill.

Juvenile and domestic relations district courts; jurisdiction; definitions; petition by noncitizen aged 18 to 21 years for legal custody. Allows an unmarried noncitizen between the ages of 18 and 21 who has been abused, neglected, or abandoned to petition a juvenile and domestic relations district court to be placed in the physical custody of a proposed legal custodian. The bill also includes such unmarried noncitizen in the definitions of "child," "juvenile," and "minor," as such terms are related to juvenile and domestic relations district courts.

Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status; civil penalty. Prohibits an employer, including the Commonwealth and its agencies and political subdivisions, from using coercion or issuing a threat to an employee based on immigration status in furtherance of committing a violation of the Virginia Minimum Wage Act or provisions related to the payment of wages. An aggrieved employee is permitted to file a complaint with the Commissioner of Labor and Industry within 180 days of the alleged coercive action or threat. The bill authorizes the Commissioner to investigate such complaints and, if the allegation is substantiated, to impose a civil penalty in the following amounts: (i) up to $5,000 for the first violation, (ii) up to $9,000 for the second violation, and (iii) up to $12,000 for any subsequent violation. The bill provides that any such penalty assessed shall be paid to the Commissioner for deposit into the General Fund. The bill also authorizes the Commissioner to seek injunctive relief as may be necessary for enforcement.

Joint Commission on Health Care; comprehensive assessment of the quality of care, resident safety, and operational practices of nursing facilities in the Commonwealth; report. Directs the Joint Commission on Health Care to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the quality of care, resident safety, and operational practices of nursing facilities in the Commonwealth and report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Chairs of the House Committees on Appropriations and Health and Human Services and the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and Education and Health by December 1, 2027.

Sickle Cell Coordinated Access Network established. Directs the State Health Commissioner, in coordination with the Virginia Commonwealth University Health Systems Authority, to establish and maintain the Sickle Cell Coordinated Access Network to provide health care providers in the Commonwealth with real-time consultation and support from sickle cell specialists. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. This bill is identical to SB 813.

Department of Environmental Quality; industrial wastewater; publicly owned treatment works; PFAS monitoring. Directs every publicly owned treatment works (POTW) to require certain new or industrial users of such POTW to perform and report to such POTW no later than 30 days after receipt from a laboratory the results as received of quarterly discharge monitoring for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for an initial characterization period of one year, provided, however, that such POTW may discontinue remaining quarterly monitoring by an industrial user with proper monitoring results that are below the method detection level for the first two quarters. If an industrial user detects PFAS in any amount above the detection method limit in its initial year of quarterly monitoring, the bill requires such industrial user to continue to perform and report to the POTW no later than 30 days after receipt from the laboratory the results as received of quarterly discharge monitoring for PFAS. The bill requires a POTW that receives PFAS monitoring results to report such results to the Department of Environmental Quality on a quarterly basis. Finally, the bill directs any POTW to notify an owner or operator of an industrial user subject to the monitoring requirements of the bill of the requirement to submit the initial quarterly monitoring results for PFAS within 30 days of the effective date of the bill. This bill is identical to SB 138.

Licensed substance abuse treatment practitioners; licensure by endorsement; licensure without examination. Directs the Board of Counseling to establish a pathway to licensure by endorsement as a licensed substance abuse treatment practitioner for applicants who have held certification as a certified substance abuse counselor for at least 10 years without a history of disciplinary action, have completed at least five years of documented supervised experience, hold at least a master's degree in an appropriate field of counseling, and hold a Master Addiction Counselor credential issued by NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals. The bill provides that such pathway to licensure by endorsement does not require examination.

Paid family and medical leave insurance program; notice requirements; civil action. Requires the Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer a paid family and medical leave insurance program with benefits beginning April 1, 2028. Under the program, benefits are paid to covered individuals, as defined in the bill, for family and medical leave. Funding for the program is provided through premiums assessed to employers and employees beginning April 1, 2028. The bill provides that the amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee's average weekly net earnings, not to exceed 100 percent of the statewide average weekly net earnings, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the statewide average weekly wage. The bill caps the duration of paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year and provides self-employed individuals the option of participating in the program. This bill is identical to SB 2.

Department of Education; culturally responsive and language-appropriate mental health support and services; guidance and policies. Requires, no later than October 1, 2027, the Department of Education to develop, adopt, and provide to each local school board guidance on the adoption of policies governing the provision of culturally responsive and language-appropriate mental health support and services for students in the local school division and permits any school board to develop and adopt policies in the local school division that are consistent with the guidelines adopted and provided by the Department of Education.

Affordable housing; religious organizations and other nonprofit tax-exempt properties. Allows for the administrative approval of development and construction of housing on land owned by property tax-exempt religious organizations or certain property tax-exempt nonprofit organizations and provides that zoning ordinances shall allow the by-right development and construction of housing on real property owned by such organizations, subject to various conditions and limitations. The bill provides that the review of such developments be completed pursuant to general law and states that localities shall not require a special exception, special use permit, conditional use permit, rezoning, or any discretionary review or approval process. The bill requires that at least 60 percent of the housing development's total units be for affordable housing and that the housing development remain affordable for at least 30 years. The bill also provides that all such housing is subject to local real property taxation following completion, unless explicitly exempted by the locality. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027, and expires on January 1, 2031. This bill is identical to SB 388.