Students who receive home instruction; participationin interscholastic programs. Prohibits public schools from joiningan organization governing interscholastic programs that does notdeem eligible for participation a student who (i) receives home instruction;(ii) has demonstrated evidence of progress for two consecutive academicyears; (iii) is in compliance with immunization requirements; (iv)is a person of school age for whom public school is free; (v) hasnot reached the age of 19 by August 1 of the current academic year;(vi) is an amateur who receives no compensation but participatessolely for the educational, physical, mental, and social benefitsof the activity; (vii) complies with all disciplinary rules and issubject to all codes of conduct applicable to all public high schoolathletes; and (viii) complies with all other rules governing awards,all-star games, maximum consecutive semesters of high school enrollment,parental consents, physical examinations, and transfers applicable to all high school athletes. The bill provides that no local schoolboard is required to establish a policy to permit students who receivehome instruction to participate in interscholastic programs. Thebill permits reasonable fees to be charged to students who receivehome instruction to cover the costs of participation in such interscholasticprograms, including the costs of additional insurance, uniforms,and equipment. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2027.
Sponsored bills
Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act; penalty. Creates the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The Act prohibits an abortion after 20 weeks gestation unless, in reasonable medical judgment, the mother has a condition that so complicates her medical condition as to necessitate the abortion to avert her death or to avert serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function. When an abortion is not prohibited post-20 weeks' gestation, the physician or authorized nurse practitioner is required to terminate the pregnancy in a manner that would provide the unborn child the best opportunity to survive. The bill punishes performance of an abortion in violation of the Act as a Class 6 felony. The bill also provides for civil remedies against a physician or authorized nurse practitioner who performs an abortion in violation of the Act.
Public school buses; decals; "In God We Trust"and "One Nation Under God." Permits local school boards, notwithstandingany regulation to the contrary, to display on the sides and rearof public school buses decals containing the motto "In God We Trust"or the phrase "One Nation Under God", provided that no such decalobstructs the name of the school division or the number of the schoolbus.
Immunizations; authority of the Commissionerof Health; religious exception. Exempts a person, including aparent or guardian on behalf of a child, who objects to administrationof a vaccine on religious grounds from mandatory immunization requirementsduring an epidemic. Currently, exemption from mandatory immunizationrequirements during an epidemic is available only to those personsto whose health the administration of the vaccine would be detrimental,as certified in writing by a licensed physician.
Prohibition on mask mandates. Prohibitsthe Board of Health, Commissioner of Health, and Governor from issuingany rule, regulation, or order that requires (i) individuals to wearmasks or other face coverings or (ii) businesses to require customersto wear masks or other face coverings while on the premises of suchbusiness and prohibits any local school board from requiring anystudent enrolled at a public elementary or secondary school in thelocal school division to wear a mask, face covering, or other coveringof the student's nose and mouth at school, on a school bus, or ata school-sponsored activity.
Special lifetime hunting and fishing licenses;volunteer firefighters and emergency medical services personnel.Qualifies volunteer firefighters and emergency medical services personnelwho have completed three consecutive years of service to obtain basicresident lifetime hunting and fishing licenses without any fee. Theapplicant is required to provide proof of the three years of consecutiveservice when applying.
Family life education curriculum guidelines;human reproduction; viewing of ultrasound video recording. Requiresthe instruction on human reproduction contained in the Board of Education'sfamily life education curriculum guidelines to include the viewingof a video recording of an ultrasound of a live unborn human in theuterus.
Unemployment compensation and workers' compensation; testing for the use of nonprescribed controlled substances. Requires,for an applicant for unemployment benefits for whom the only suitablework available is in an occupation that regularly requires drug testing,the applicant, as a condition of eligibility, to provide the VirginiaEmployment Commission with the results of a drug test that is negativefor the use of a nonprescribed controlled substance. The bill alsorequires, under the Workers' Compensation Act, in order to determinethe cause of a workplace accident that harmed an employee, an employerto require post-accident drug testing for the use of a nonprescribedcontrolled substance of any employee whose conduct could have contributedto the accident. The bill also prohibits an insurer from providingpremium discounts for a drug-free workplace to an employer unlessthe employer has policies in place requiring such post-accident drugtesting.
Hospitals; regulations; visitation; individualsinfected with COVID-19. Directs the Board of Health to includein regulations governing hospitals a provision prohibiting hospitalsfrom restricting in any way the ability of a patient who has testedpositive for infection with COVID-19 to receive visits from membersof his family.
Education Savings Account Program established; Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits. Establishes the Education Savings Account Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, whereby the parent of any individual who is a resident of the Commonwealth and who is eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school may apply for an Education Savings Account for his child into which the Department of Education deposits certain state and local funds and from which the parent makes certain enumerated qualifying expenses to educate his child in a setting and a manner other than full-time education in a public school. The bill requires the Program to be fully implemented prior to the beginning of the 2022–2023 school year.The bill also increases the value of the Education Improvement Scholarships income tax credit for a donation to a scholarship foundation from 65 percent to 100 percent of the donation. The bill removes the aggregate limit on tax credits per year, which under current law is $25 million, and removes individual minimum and maximum required donation amounts.The bill raises the threshold for students to qualify for scholarships to 1,000 percent of free or reduced-price lunch standards or, for eligible students with a disability, 1,200 percent of such standards. The bill grants scholarship foundations the discretion to determine what expenses may be funded by tax-credit-subsidized scholarships. Under current law, such expenses are limited by statute. The bill expands eligibility for scholarships to any student who is a Virginia resident and eligible to enroll in a Virginia primary or secondary school. Current law restricts eligibility to certain categories of students.The bill removes the requirement that scholarship-funded schools report test results of scholarship-funded students. The provisions of the bill pertaining to the Education Improvement Scholarships income tax credits apply starting with taxable year 2022.