Del. Karen Keys-Gamarra

Advisory Council on Sickle Cell Disease; established;report. Establishes the Advisory Council on Sickle Cell Diseaseto advise the State Health Commissioner on the efforts to improveawareness of sickle cell disease and the needs of individuals withsickle cell disease. The bill requires the Board of Health to reportannually by December 1 to the Governor and the General Assemblyregarding its activities and recommendations.

Protective order in case of family abuse; parents;minors. Prohibits the parent of a minor from filing a petitionfor a family abuse protective order against such minor, providedthat the minor has not otherwise been emancipated pursuant to law.

Study; JLARC; Department of Juvenile Justice;report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission,in conjunction with the Office of the Secretary of Public Safetyand Homeland Security and the Office of the Secretary of Health andHuman Resources, to conduct a study to determine the feasibilityand benefits of transferring responsibility for the Department ofJuvenile Justice from the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security to the Secretary of Health and Human Resources.

Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care Centers;licensure; regulation. Authorizes the Board of Health to license prescribed pediatric extended care centers. The bill establishesthe scope of services offered by such centers and requirements foroperation, management, staffing, facilities, and maintenance anddirects the Board to promulgate regulations to implement the provisionsof the bill.

Child abuse; mandatory reporters. Adds to the list of persons who are required to report suspected childabuse or neglect employees of the Department of Labor and Industrywhose duties include ensuring compliance with child labor laws.

Special grand juries. Directs a circuitcourt to impanel a special grand jury when an unarmed person is killedby a law-enforcement officer or a correctional officer, as thoseterms are defined in relevant law, to investigate and report on anycondition that involves or tends to promote criminal activity andconsider bills of indictment to determine whether there is sufficientprobable cause to return each such indictment as a "true bill." Thebill requires the court to appoint a special prosecutor for suchspecial grand jury who may be present during the investigatory stageonly when his presence is requested by the special grand jury andmay interrogate witnesses provided the special grand jury requestsor consents to such interrogation. The bill states that the attorneyfor the Commonwealth shall not be present during the investigatorystage or interrogate witnesses.

Income tax deduction; union dues. Providesan income tax deduction beginning in taxable year 2024 for the amount paid by an individual for union dues for participation in a labor organization.

Campaign finance; prohibited personal use of campaignfunds; complaints, hearings, civil penalty, and advisory opinions.Prohibits any person from converting contributions to a candidate or hiscampaign committee to personal use. Current law only prohibits such conversionof contributions with regard to disbursement of surplus funds at thedissolution of a campaign or political committee. The bill provides that acontribution is considered to have been converted to personal use if thecontribution, in whole or in part, is used to fulfill any commitment,obligation, or expense that would exist irrespective of the person's seeking,holding, or maintaining public office but allows a contribution to be used forthe ordinary and accepted expenses related to campaigning for or holdingelective office, including the use of campaign funds to pay for the candidate'schild care expenses that are incurred as a direct result of campaign activity.The bill provides that any person subject to the personal use ban may requestan advisory opinion from the State Board of Elections on such matters. The billdirects the State Board of Elections to adopt emergency regulations similar tothose promulgated by the Federal Election Commission to implement theprovisions of the bill and to publish an updated summary of Virginia campaignfinance law that reflects the State Board of Elections' and Attorney General'sguidance on the provisions of such law that prohibit the personal use ofcampaign funds and any new regulations promulgated by the State Board ofElections.

Commission to Study the History of the Uprootingof Black Communities by Public Institutions of Higher Education inthe Commonwealth established; report. Establishes the 19-memberlegislative Commission to Study the History of the Uprooting of BlackCommunities by Public Institutions of Higher Education for the purposeof studying and determining (i) whether any public institution ofhigher education in the Commonwealth has purchased, expropriated,or otherwise taken possession of property owned by any individualwithin the boundaries of a community in which a majority of the residentsare Black in order to establish or expand the institution's campusand (ii) whether and what form of compensation or relief would beappropriate for any such individual or any of his lineal descendants.The bill sunsets on July 1, 2027.

Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy; protocol; information; training. Requires the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to take certain actions upon the finding that an individual died from Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP), defined in the bill. The bill directs the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to publish information on SUDEP and a SUDEP death investigation form on its website. Additionally, the bill requires the Chief Medical Examiner and local medical examiners to complete training in the investigation of SUDEP on a triennial basis. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025.