Del. Cia Price

Voluntarily registered family day homes; safesleep guidance; compliance; training. Requires each voluntarilyregistered family day home to comply with all safe sleep guidelinesrecommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and to ensure thateach provider employed in such family day home completes basic trainingon such guidelines.

Military centered community zones; local designation. Allows localities to establish, by ordinance, one or more military centered community zones, defined in the bill as a community that has a significant presence of military personnel living or working in the designated area and where such presence drives, or has the potential to drive, significant economic activity. The bill provides that a locality, or another political subdivision acting on behalf of the locality, may offer unique benefits to businesses looking to locate within a zone for the purpose of serving the needs of the military personnel, including reduction of certain fees and taxes. In addition, the bill provides that local governing bodies are authorized to enter into agreements for the payment of economic development incentive grants to such businesses. The bill also allows a governing body to provide for certain regulatory flexibility and incentives and provides that the establishment of a military centered community zone shall not preclude the area from also being designated as an enterprise zone or from receiving support under the Virginia Military Community Infrastructure Grant Program. This bill is identical to SB 343.

Department of Education; background checks for child day program employees and volunteers; dissemination of information in certain circumstances. Requires the Department of Education, upon receiving a written request for a written certification from an individual, to provide written certification to an entity designated by the Department that provides staffing for child day programs that such individual satisfies all requirements set forth in relevant law and is eligible to serve as an employee, temporary employee, or volunteer in a child day program. The bill further provides that (i) each such written certification shall also state the date by which the individual is required to complete a new background check in accordance with the periodic requirement for such background checks, (ii) no such written certification shall reveal the nature of any disqualifying barrier crime committed by or founded complaint of child abuse or neglect against the individual, and (iii) any such written certification may be shared among child day programs for the purpose of facilitating the creation and maintenance of a child day program substitute staff pool system.

Department of Medical Assistance Services; annual review of medication and treatment for sickle cell disease; report. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to conduct an annual review of all medications and forms of treatment for sickle cell disease, and services for enrollees with a diagnosis of sickle cell disease, that are eligible for coverage under the state plan for medical assistance services. The bill requires the Department to report its findings and recommendations by November 15 each year to the Chairmen of the House Committee of Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health and to the Joint Commission on Health Care.

Cruelty to elephants; pain-inflicting training tools prohibited; actions for attachment; civil penalty. Prohibits using devices such as a bullhook, axe handle, or block and tackle or engaging in certain practices in order to discipline, train, or control the behavior of an elephant. The bill provides that any person who uses such devices or engages in certain practices that inflict fear or pain on or cause physical injury to an elephant is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $2,500 for the first offense and not to exceed $5,000 for subsequent violations. Finally, the bill provides that an action in equity may be brought to request an attachment for any devices prohibited by the bill against a person violating the provisions of the bill.

Department of Environmental Quality; Department of Health; PFAS; identification; monitoring; PFAS Expert Advisory Council established; report. Requires, for every public water system, as defined in the bill, the Department of Health (VDH) to assist the Department of Environmental Quality (the Department) by transferring to the Department quarterly all validated monitoring results available to VDH that indicate PFAS maximum containment level, as defined in the bill, exceedances. In such circumstances, the bill provides that the Department is required to develop and implement a plan to prioritize and conduct PFAS assessments for identifying significant sources of PFAS in such public water system's raw water source or sources. The bill requires any facility, if deemed by the Department to be a potentially significant source of PFAS in the public water system's raw water source, (i) to perform and promptly report the results of quarterly discharge monitoring for one year and (ii) to report to the Department, within 90 days after being directed by the Department, its manufacture or use of PFAS. The bill establishes a PFAS Expert Advisory Committee to assist the Department and VDH in its PFAS-related efforts and requires the Committee to meet at least two times per year through June 30, 2027. The bill requires the Department to annually report certain information to the Governor and the General Assembly by October 1. This bill incorporates HB 245 and is identical to SB 243.

Adult wellness screening; sickle cell disease or sickle cell trait. Provides that every adult resident of the Commonwealth may be offered screening tests for sickle cell disease or the sickle cell trait and requires that the health care professional in charge of an adult's annual health examination provide education and appropriate counseling regarding the results of any such test that is performed.

Superintendent of Public Instruction; pandemicrecovery task force; report. Requires the Superintendent ofPublic Instruction to establish and appoint such members as he deems necessary or appropriate to a pandemic recovery task force (the taskforce) within the Department of Education, the purpose of which isto examine the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on publiceducation in the Commonwealth and to provide recommendations, guidance,and resources to each local school division in order to enable allenrolled students to thrive academically, socially, and emotionallyand to meet or exceed pre-pandemic levels on all relevant metricsof student achievement and well-being. The bill requires the taskforce to focus particularly on student learning loss, attendance,and mental health and on vulnerable populations of students and toannually submit a report of its findings and recommendations to theBoard, the Governor, the General Assembly, and each school boardno later than November 1.

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.

Assistance for certain voters outside of the polling place; definition of "person with a disability"; training. Amends the definition of "person with a disability" for purposes of the Elections title to mean any person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of his major life activities or who has a record of such impairment. The bill provides that any qualified voter who is a person with a disability shall be eligible for assistance outside of the polling place and makes technical amendments for consistency. The bill requires the training required for all officers of election to include specific training on voting outside of a polling place and directs the Department of Elections to incorporate into guidance documents for election officials the processes and procedures for voting outside of the polling place, including best practices for providing assistance for voters with disabilities. This bill is identical to SB 605.