Del. Betsy Carr

Celebrating the life of the Honorable RobertS. Bloxom, Sr.

Environmental permits; community and environmentaljustice outreach. Requires the applicant for any (i) new or majormodified stationary air pollution source, (ii) new landfill or transferstation, (iii) certification of site approval for a hazardous wastefacility, (iv) new individual Virginia Pollutant Discharge EliminationSystem permit, (v) new individual Virginia Water Protection permit,(vi) new individual Virginia Stormwater Management Program permit,(vii) new individual Virginia Pollution Abatement permit, or (viii)individual ground water withdrawal permit for a new ground waterwithdrawal to complete certain public notice requirements, including(a) holding a public hearing; (b) publishing notices in English and Spanish in a newspaper, on social media, and on signage at thesite location at least 60 days prior to such public meeting; (c)mailing notices to interested parties; (d) accepting written comments; (e) transcribing meeting information; and (f) responding to communityconcerns to the satisfaction of the Department of Environmental Quality. The bill removes an exemption for applicantsfor a permit to operate a new captive industrial landfill or a new construction-demolition-debris landfill from certain provisions relatingto new landfills or transfer stations. The bill also removes an exemptionfrom certain public notice requirements granted to local governmentor public authority applicants for a permit to operate a landfillor transfer station.

Virginia Human Rights Act; nondiscriminationin employment; sexual harassment and workplace harassment. Clarifies,by defining sexual harassment and workplace harassment, what constitutesan unlawful employment practice if engaged in by an employer. Thebill also provides (i) a nonexhaustive list of factors to considerwhen determining whether certain conduct constitutes workplace harassment,(ii) that a person claiming to be aggrieved by an unlawful discriminatorypractice may file a written complaint with the Division of HumanRights within two years after the occurrence of the alleged unlawfuldiscriminatory practice, and (iii) that an aggrieved person who hasbeen provided a notice of his right to file a civil action for suchgrievance may do so within one year of receiving such notice andmay be awarded reasonable attorney fees, including costs and reasonablelitigation expenses if the court or jury finds in his favor. Thebill also amends the definition of "employer" to mean a person employingfive or more employees, instead of 15 or more employees under currentlaw, for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks inthe current or preceding calendar year, and any agent of such a person.

Study: joint subcommittee to study recurrentinland and urban flooding across the Commonwealth; report. Establishesa two-year joint subcommittee, consisting of eight legislative membersand five nonlegislative citizen members, to study the developmentof a comprehensive and coordinated planning effort to address recurrentflooding in inland and urban areas across the Commonwealth. The joint subcommittee shall complete its work by November 30, 2022, and submitits findings and recommendations by the first day of the 2023 Sessionof the General Assembly.

Creation of Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman. Creates the Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman (the Office). The bill enumerates the duties and powers of the Office, which include (i) providing information, as appropriate, to inmates, family members, representatives of inmates, Department of Corrections employees and contractors, and others regarding the rights of inmates; (ii) monitoring conditions of confinement and assessing compliance with applicable federal, state, and local rules, regulations, policies, and best practices as related to the health, safety, welfare, and rehabilitation of inmates; (iii) providing technical assistance to support inmate participation in self-advocacy; (iv) providing technical assistance to local governments in the creation of correctional facility oversight bodies, as requested; (v) establishing a statewide uniform reporting system to collect and analyze data related to complaints received by the Department and data related to (a) deaths, suicides, and suicide attempts in custody; (b) physical and sexual assaults in custody; (c) the number of inmates placed in solitary confinement; (d) the number of facility lockdowns lasting longer than 24 hours; (e) the number of staff vacancies at each facility; (f) the inmate-to-staff ratios at each facility; (g) staff tenure and turnover; and (h) the number of in-person visits to inmates that were made and denied at each facility; (vi) establishing procedures to gather stakeholder input into the Office's activities and priorities, which must include, at a minimum, an annual 30-day period for receipt of and Office response to public comment; (vii) inspecting each state correctional facility at least once every three years and at least once every year for any maximum security facility and any facility where the Office has found cause for more frequent inspection or monitoring; and (viii) issuing publicly periodic facility inspection reports and an annual report with recommendations on the state correctional facilities and a summary of data and recommendations arising from any complaints investigated and resolved. The bill also establishes a Corrections Oversight Committee, which is responsible for selecting the Department of Corrections Ombudsman. The bill additionally outlines the Office's authority to conduct inspections of each Department or Board facility and requires the submission of an annual report to the Governor, the Attorney General, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the House Committee for Courts of Justice, and the Director of the Department. The bill also provides for the authority of the Office to conduct investigations of complaints made by inmates, family members or friends, and advocates.

School Equity and Staffing Act; Standards of Quality; work-based learning; teacher leaders and mentors; principal mentors; certain personnel positions and initiatives. Makes several changes to the Standards of Quality, including requiring the establishment of units in the Department of Education to oversee work-based learning and principal mentorship statewide in Standard 1 and requiring the Board of Education to establish and oversee the local implementation of teacher leader and teacher mentor programs in Standard 5. The bill also makes several changes relating to school personnel in Standard 2, including (i) establishing schoolwide ratios of students to teachers in certain schools with high concentrations of poverty and granting flexibility to provide compensation adjustments to teachers in such schools; (ii) requiring each school board to assign licensed personnel in a manner that provides an equitable distribution of experienced, effective teachers and other personnel among all schools in the local school division; (iii) requiring each school board to employ teacher leaders and teacher mentors at specified student-to-position ratios; (iv) requiring state funding in addition to basic aid to support at-risk students and granting flexibility in the use of such funds by school boards; (v) lowering the ratio of English language learner students to teachers; (vi) requiring each school board to employ reading specialists and establishing a student-to-position ratio for such specialists; (vii) requiring school boards to employ one full-time principal in each elementary school; (viii) lowering the ratio of students to assistant principals and school counselors in elementary, middle, and high schools; and (ix) requiring each school board to provide at least four specialized student support positions, including school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, licensed behavior analysts, licensed assistant behavior analysts, and other licensed health and behavioral positions, per 1,000 students.

Virginia housing opportunity tax credit.Establishes, starting in taxable year 2021, a Virginia housing opportunitytax credit, which is equal to the amount of the federal low-incomehousing tax credit allocated or allowed by the Virginia Housing DevelopmentAuthority to a low-income building that is eligible for the federalcredit. The credit would be nonrefundable and could be carried forwardfor up to five years.

Study; joint subcommittee; oversight of Medicaid managed care organizations and provider networks in the Commonwealth; report. Establishes a joint subcommittee to study oversight of Medicaid managed care organizations and provider networks in the Commonwealth, including (i) the current process by which the Department of Medical Assistance Services enters into contracts with managed care organizations for the delivery of services to Medicaid enrollees and the requirements of such contracts; (ii) the process by which managed care organizations enter into and terminate contracts with providers in the Commonwealth, including any procedural requirements that must be met before a provider agreement is terminated and any opportunity for communication and correction by the provider; (iii) managed care organizations' provider networks, including demographic information about enrolled providers and recent changes in managed care organizations' provider networks, including demographic information about providers that have been added to or removed from provider networks in recent years; and (iv) whether changes should be made to contracts between the Department of Medical Assistance Services and managed care organizations to ensure providers are able to meet agreements set forth in provider agreements while ensuring the safety and well-being of Medicaid enrollees, and to develop recommendations for improving the process by which providers of Medicaid services are recruited, enrolled in, participate in, and are terminated from provider networks to ensure access to a diverse array of services and providers for all Medicaid enrollees in the Commonwealth. The joint subcommittee shall complete its meetings by November 30, 2021, and the chairman shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary of its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the 2022 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Paid family and medical leave program. Requires the Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administera paid family and medical leave program with benefits beginning January 1, 2024. Under the program, benefits are paid to eligible employees for family and medical leave. Funding for the program isprovided through premiums assessed to employers and employees beginningin 2023. The amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee'saverage weekly wage, not to exceed 80 percent of the state weeklywage, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflectchanges in the statewide average weekly wage. The measure caps theduration of paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year. The billprovides self-employed individuals the option of participating inthe program.

Medical assistance; coverage for reproductivehealth services. Directs the Board of Medical Assistance Servicesto include in the state plan for medical assistance services a provisionfor the payment of medical assistance for medically necessary reproductivehealth care service for eligible individuals, and provides that medical benefits required to be provided to individuals eligible for medicalassistance under the Family Access to Medical Insurance Security(FAMIS) Plan shall include reproductive health care services forwhich the payment of medical assistance is required under the stateplan for medical assistance. The bill directs the Board of MedicalAssistance Services to adopt emergency regulations to implement theprovisions of the bill. The bill also requires health benefit plansto cover the costs of specified health care services, drugs, devices,products, and procedures related to reproductive health. The healthbenefit plan requirements become effective when a plan is delivered, issued for delivery, reissued, or extended in the Commonwealth onand after January 1, 2022, or at any time thereafter when any termof the health benefit plan is changed or any premium adjustment ismade.