Del. Charles D. Poindexter

Provides that any person who tortures, willfully inflicts inhumane injury or pain not connected with bona fide scientific or medical experimentation, or cruelly and unnecessarily beats, maims, or mutilates any dog or cat that is a companion animal whether belonging to him or another and as a direct result causes serious bodily injury to such dog or cat is guilty of a Class 6 felony. Current law requires that the animal die for the person to be guilty of the felony. This bill is identical to

Permits any student whose service member parent is relocated to the Commonwealth pursuant to orders received to register for courses and other academic programs and participate in the lottery process for charter schools and college partnership laboratory schools in the school division in which such student will reside at the same time and in the same manner as students who reside in the local school division. This bill is identical to

Revises the definition of "small employer" for purposes of group health insurance policies to provide that an individual who performs any service for remuneration under a contract of hire for (i) a corporation in which he is a shareholder or an immediate family member of a shareholder or (ii) a limited liability company in which he is a member, regardless of the number of members of the limited liability company, shall be deemed to be an employee of the corporation or the limited liability company. The measure provides that a health insurance issuer shall not be required to issue more than one group health plan for each employer identification number issued by the Internal Revenue Service for a business entity, without regard to the number of shareholders or members of such business entity. This bill is identical to

Requires the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority and the Virginia Employment Commission to post notice of the existence of a human trafficking hotline in government stores, except for government stores established on a distiller's licensed premises, and in employment offices, respectively, to alert possible witnesses or victims of human trafficking to the availability of a means to report crimes or gain assistance.

Authorizes the Board of Medicine to issue a license by endorsement to an applicant for licensure as a physician assistant who (i) is the spouse of an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the Commonwealth, (ii) holds current certification from the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, and (iii) holds a license as a physician assistant that is in good standing, or that is eligible for reinstatement if lapsed, under the laws of another state.

Allows a parent or legal custodian of a minor to delegate to another person by a properly executed power of attorney any powers regarding care, custody, or property of the minor for a period not exceeding 180 days. The bill provides that a parent or legal custodian who is a service member, as defined in the bill, may delegate such powers for a period of longer than 180 days while on active duty service, but specifies that such a period is not to exceed such active duty service plus 30 days. The bill provides that any such power of attorney shall be signed by all persons with authority to make decisions concerning the child, the person to whom powers are delegated under the power of attorney, and a representative of a licensed child-placing agency that assists parents and legal guardians with the process of delegating parental and legal custodial powers of their children. The bill specifies that such licensed child-placing agency will be subject to background checks and must develop and implement written policies for certain services and provide staff and provider training. The bill further requires that any person to whom any such powers are delegated shall comply with background check requirements established by regulations of the Board of Social Services or otherwise provided by law.

Changes the special license plates for members of the International Association of Fire Fighters from nonrevenue sharing to revenue sharing and provides for the moneys to support the efforts of various charitable organizations supported by the firefighters throughout the Commonwealth. This bill is identical to

Establishes the Commission on Student Behavioral Health as a legislative branch commission. The purpose of the Commission shall be to (i) assess the efficacy of developing and implementing a statewide behavioral health and suicide prevention hotline that students may use to report threats of violence or receive real-time counseling services; (ii) review the current school counselor-to-student ratio, and whether the realignment of counseling responsibilities proposed by the House Select Committee on School Safety is improving schools' ability to provide counseling services to students; (iii) review the current roles and responsibilities of school nurses, psychologists, and social workers in schools and determine whether a realignment of responsibilities could improve or streamline behavioral health services offered to students; (iv) evaluate the efficacy and costs of providing enhanced behavioral health services in schools delivered through partnerships established between school divisions and local departments of social services and community services boards; (v) assess the effectiveness of de-escalation and other alternative disciplinary policies when interacting with students suffering from behavioral health challenges; (vi) examine the value of additional teacher training requirements on student behavioral health, such as mental health first aid; and (vii) examine other topics related to student behavioral health identified by the Commission. The Commission shall consist of 12 members as follows: seven members of the House of Delegates, of whom two shall be members of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, two shall be members of the House Committee on Education, two shall be members of the House Committee on Appropriations, and one shall be a member at-large, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates; and five members of the Senate, of whom two shall be members of the Senate Committee on Education and Health, two shall be members of the Senate Committee on Finance, and one shall be a member at-large, to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules. The Commission may appoint, employ, and remove an executive director and such other persons as it deems necessary and determine their duties and fix their salaries or compensation within the amounts appropriated therefor. The Commission may also employ experts who have special knowledge of the issues before it. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Commission, upon request. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2021.

Increases from a Class 3 felony to a Class 2 felony and imposes a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 25 years for the following crimes if minors under 15 years of age are involved: (i) pandering; (ii) receiving money for procuring a person for the purpose of prostitution, forced labor, or child pornography; (iii) receiving money from the earnings of a person engaged in prostitution; and (iv) commercial sex trafficking.