Del. Nadarius Clark

Health insurance; emergency services; mobile crisis response services. Provides that emergency services, with respect to an emergency medical condition, include, as it relates to any mental health services or substance abuse services rendered at a behavioral health crisis service provider, (i) a behavioral health assessment that is within the capability of a behavioral health crisis service provider, including ancillary services routinely available to evaluate such emergency medical condition, and (ii) such further examination and treatment, to the extent that they are within the capabilities of the staff and facilities available at the behavioral health crisis service provider, as are required so that the patient's condition does not deteriorate. This bill is identical to SB 543.

Public school teachers; daily lunch breaks; data collection; report. Requires the Department of Education to annually collect and present in the Virginia School Survey of Climate and Working Conditions school-level and division-level data on the share of teachers that are provided each working day a lunch break of at least 30 minutes in length and unencumbered by any teaching or supervisory duties.

Early childhood care and education; child day programs; use of office buildings; waiver of zoning requirements. Permits any locality to by ordinance provide for the waiver of any requirements for zoning permits for the operation of a child day program in an office building, as defined by the bill, provided that such facility satisfies the requirements for state licensure as a child day program. This bill is identical to SB 13.

Center for Rural Virginia; name change. Renames the Center for Rural Virginia as the Senator Frank M. Ruff, Jr. Center for Rural Virginia. This bill is identical to SB 704.

Public high schools; research-based hazing prevention instruction. Requires the Board of Education to develop Standards of Learning and curriculum guidelines for research-based hazing prevention instruction to be provided as a part of physical or health education instruction provided to students in grade nine or 10. The bill requires such hazing prevention instruction to include age-appropriate, extensive, and current education about hazing, including (i) examples of hazing; (ii) the dangers of hazing, including the consequences of alcohol intoxication; and (iii) school policies and laws related to hazing, including criminal penalties and bystander intervention. The bill requires such research-based hazing prevention instruction to be offered in-person but requires each school board to provide options for virtual participation for any student who is enrolled in an online or virtual physical or health education program. Finally, the bill requires each school board to provide such research-based hazing prevention instruction beginning with the school year following the Board's adoption of revised Standards of Learning for physical and health education for grades nine and 10 incorporating such research-based hazing prevention instruction and directs the Board to, in the intermediary time, develop and post on its website guidance documents for the purpose of making such research-based hazing prevention instruction available to local school boards. This bill is identical to SB 379.

Training standards for law-enforcement officers; comprehensive harm reduction program; drug use. Requires theDepartment of Criminal Justice Services to establish training standardsand publish and periodically update model policies for law-enforcementpersonnel for a comprehensive harm reduction program that promotesscientifically proven methods of mitigating health risks associatedwith drug use and other high-risk behaviors, including the use ofnaloxone or other opioid antagonists to prevent opioid overdose deaths,in coordination with statewide naloxone training programs developedby the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Servicesand the Virginia Department of Health.

Mineral mining and processing; use of cyanideor a cyanide compound prohibited. Prohibits any miner or otherperson from using cyanide or a cyanide compound in any mineral miningor processing operation.

Manufacture, importation, sale, etc., of auto sears; prohibition; penalty. Prohibits the manufacture, importation, sale or offer to sell, possession, transfer, or transportation of an auto sear, defined in the bill as a device, other than a trigger activator, for use in converting a semi-automatic firearm to shoot automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. A violation is punishable as a Class 6 felony. The bill also provides for the forfeiture of any auto sear concealed, possessed, transported, or carried in violation of the prohibition. This bill is identical to SB 210.

Assessment of omitted taxes; erroneous payments. Provides that any retail sales tax payment erroneously remitted by a taxpayer to the Department of Taxation shall be applied to the taxpayer's delinquent use tax accounts. The taxpayer must provide evidence of the erroneous sales tax collected and remitted in each transaction. The provisions of this bill do not apply in the case of (i) the taxpayer already applying for and receiving the relief described in this bill or (ii) a false or fraudulent action by the taxpayer with the intention of evading the payment of the tax. Further, the taxpayer must show that the erroneous retail sales tax has been refunded to the purchaser or credited to the purchaser's account prior to receiving a refund from Department of Taxation. This bill is identical to SB 709.

Penalties for failure to appear; contempt. Provides that any person (i) charged with any offense or (ii) convicted of any offense and execution of sentence is suspended who willfully fails to appear before any court or judicial officer as required is guilty of contempt punishable by a fine of no more than $100 or imprisonment of no more than two days, either or both. Under current law, such person is guilty of a Class 6 felony, if charged with a felony, or a Class 1 misdemeanor, if charged with a misdemeanor, for such a violation. The bill excludes from such penalty persons who are incarcerated, in the custody of a law-enforcement officer at the time such person is required to appear, or has a matter scheduled to appear before another court and appears before such court on the same date. The bill provides that if a person does not appear in court as required, the court shall first issue a rule to show cause summons returnable at a future date for such person's appearance, and if such person fails to appear at the show cause hearing, the court may issue a capias.