Massage therapists; qualifications; license. Provides that an applicant who completed a massage therapy educational program in a foreign country may apply for licensure as a massage therapist upon submission of evidence that the applicant (i) is at least 18 years old, (ii) has successfully completed a massage therapy educational program that is comparable to a massage therapy educational program required for licensure by the Board, (iii) has passed a Board-approved English language proficiency examination, and (iv) has not committed any acts or omissions that would be grounds for disciplinary action or denial of licensure. The Board of Nursing shall issue a license to an applicant who completed his massage therapy educational program in a foreign country upon submission of evidence of completion of the English-language version of the Licensing Examination of the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards or a comparable examination.
Sponsored bills
Public school accreditation; triennial review. Eliminates the ability of a school that only maintains a passingrate on Virginia assessment program tests or additional tests approvedby the Board of Education of 95 percent or above in each of the fourcore academic areas for two consecutive years to apply for and receivea waiver of accreditation from the Department of Education, whichwaiver confers full accreditation for a three-year period. Current law provides high-performing schools a separate pathway to obtainthree-year accreditation.
Protected information; newspersons engaged in journalism. Provides that no newsperson engaged in journalism shall be compelled by the Commonwealth or a locality in any criminal proceeding to testify about, disclose, or produce protected information, as defined in the bill, except when the court finds that (i) the protected information is necessary to the proof of an issue material to an administrative or criminal proceeding; (ii) the protected information is not obtainable from any alternative source; (iii) the Commonwealth or locality exhausted all reasonable methods for obtaining the protected information from all relevant alternative sources, if applicable; and (iv) there is an overriding public interest in the disclosure of the protected information, including preventing harm to or death of a person. The bill further provides that any information obtained in violation of the provisions of the bill shall be inadmissible for any purpose in an administrative or criminal proceeding.
Doulas; certification; registry. Provides that no person shall use or assume the title "state-certified doula," as defined in the bill, unless such person is a community-based doula who has received training and education as a doula from an entity approved by a body approved by the Board of Health for such purpose and been certified as a doula by a body approved by the Board of Health for such purpose and that no entity shall hold itself out as providing training and education necessary to meet the requirements for certification as a doula unless its curriculum and training program has been approved by a body approved by the Board of Health for such purpose. The bill also directs the Board of Health to adopt regulations setting forth the requirements for (i) use of the title "state-certified doula" and (ii) training and education necessary to satisfy the requirements for certification by the Department of Health as a state-certified doula.
Elections; political campaign advertisements;definition of campaign telephone calls and telephone call; text messages.Adds text messages to the definition of campaign telephone calls.The bill also defines "telephone call" as any single telephone callor text message, electronic or otherwise, that when combined withother telephone calls constitutes campaign telephone calls.
TANF; family cap. Repeals the prohibitionon increasing the amount of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families(TANF) that a family receives upon the birth of a child during theperiod of TANF eligibility or during the period in which the familyor adult recipient is ineligible for TANF benefits pursuant to apenalty imposed by the Commissioner of Social Services for failureto comply with benefit eligibility or child support requirements.
Department of Health; sickle cell anemia; adult and pediatric comprehensive sickle cell clinic network. Specifies that children be included in the voluntary program established by the Commissioner of Health, in cooperation with local health directors, for the screening of individuals for the disease of sickle cell anemia or the sickle cell trait and for other genetically related diseases and genetic traits and inborn errors of metabolism. The bill directs the Board of Health to adopt regulations to implement an adult and pediatric comprehensive sickle cell clinic network.
Landlord and tenant; victims of family abuse; evidence to mitigate low credit score; damages. Allows an applicant for a lease to recover actual damages, including all amounts paid to the landlord as an application fee, application deposit, or reimbursement for any of the landlord's out-of-pocket expenses that were charged to the applicant, along with attorney fees, if the landlord does not consider evidence of the applicant's status as a victim of family abuse to mitigate any adverse effect of the otherwise qualified applicant's low credit score.
Green Job Creation Tax Credit; sunset date.Extends the sunset date of the green job creation tax credit from January 1, 2021, to January 1, 2026. The bill contains technicalamendments.
Income tax subtraction; crime stopper rewards. Increases from $1,000 to $5,000, beginning in taxable year 2020, the maximum amount that may be subtracted from taxable income for amounts received as a reward for providing information to a law-enforcement official or agency, or to a nonprofit corporation created exclusively to assist such law-enforcement official or agency, that is used in the apprehension and conviction of perpetrators of crimes. This bill is identical to SB 931.