Del. Jackie Glass

Hospitals; price transparency. Requires every hospital to make information about standard charges for items and services provided by the hospital available on the hospital's website by July 1, 2023. The bill directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to develop recommendations for implementation of the bill and to report those recommendations to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2022.

Virginia Military Community Infrastructure Grant Program and Fund. Establishes the Virginia Military Community Infrastructure Grant Fund (the Fund) to support military communities in the Commonwealth by awarding grants to aid the planning and design, construction, or completion of infrastructure projects that enhance military readiness, installation resiliency, or quality of life for military communities. The bill directs the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs to develop guidance and criteria to be used in awarding grants from the Fund and an annual grant application that sets out certain requirements for a grantee. This bill is identical to HB 354.

Virginia Initiative for Education and Work; exemption for postsecondary students. Exempts from mandatory participation in the Virginia Initiative for Education and Work recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families who are enrolled full time in an accredited public institution of higher education or other postsecondary school licensed or certified by the Board of Education or the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and are taking courses as part of a curriculum that leads to a postsecondary credential, such as a degree or an industry-recognized credential, certification, or license.

Food donations; labeling; liability. Exemptsindividuals and entities that donate food and charitable organizations that accept food donations from criminal and civil liability fordonating or receiving food past its best-by date or other non-safety labels so long as all parties are informed. The bill provides thatimmunity from liability shall not apply in instances of gross negligenceor intentional misconduct.

Receipt of critically missing adult reports; Virginia Critically Missing Adult Alert Program; definition. Expands the definition of "critically missing adult" to include any missing adult, including an adult who has a developmental disability, intellectual disability, or mental illness, 18 years of age or older for the purpose of receipt of critically missing adult reports by a police or sheriff's department and the Virginia Critically Missing Adult Alert Program administered by the Department of State Police and removes from the Program the eligibility requirement that the adult is believed to have been abducted. This bill is identical to SB 49.

Compensation for wrongful incarceration.Removes the following requirements for a wrongfully incarceratedperson to receive compensation for such wrongful incarceration: (i)that the person shall have entered a final plea of not guilty, or,regardless of the plea, the person incarcerated was convicted ofa Class 1 felony, a Class 2 felony, or any felony for which the maximumpenalty is imprisonment for life and (ii) that the person incarcerateddid not by any act or omission on his part intentionally contributeto his conviction for the felony for which he was incarcerated. The bill also requires the person to be compensated in an amount equalto the product of the total number of days that the person was wrongfullyincarcerated following a wrongful conviction multiplied by the dailyrate of the Commonwealth's most recent annual median household incomeas published in the American Community Survey of the United States Census Bureau in the year the court finds the claimant eligible anddivided by 365 days to the nearest whole cent, in addition to otherpossible compensation.

Automatic renewal or continuous service offerto consumer; cancellation and online opt-out. Requires that the supplier of automatic renewals or continuous service offers thatinclude a free trial notify the consumer of the automatic renewalseven days prior to expiration of the free trial and obtain the consumer'saffirmative consent to the automatic renewal beyond the trial period.The bill also requires that suppliers of automatic renewals or continuousservice offers through an online website must make available a conspicuousonline option to cancel a recurring purchase of a good or servicewithin the website by which such purchase was made.

Historical African American cemeteries; disbursement of funds; qualified organization. Expands the definition of a qualified organization that may receive funds for maintenance of a historical African American cemetery to include any locality whose purpose for applying for funding from the Department of Historic Resources is to maintain a neglected historical African American cemetery, or a portion thereof, that is located within its jurisdictional bounds. The bill also creates an exemption by allowing localities that are eligible for funding for the maintenance and care of historical African American cemeteries to apply to the Director of the Department for a grant to perform extraordinary maintenance, renovation, repair, or reconstruction on any such cemeteries and graves without first having received initial funding for the maintenance and care of those cemeteries and graves. Current law requires a qualified organization to apply for any such grant only after it has received initial funding for the maintenance and care of a historical African American cemetery. This bill is identical to SB 23.

Virginia Literacy Act; early student literacy; evidence-based literacy instruction; science-based reading research. Makes several changes relating to early student literacy, including requiring (i) each education preparation program offered by a public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education or alternative certification program that provides training for any individual seeking initial licensure with an endorsement in a certain area, including as a reading specialist, to demonstrate mastery of science-based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction, as such terms are defined in the bill; (ii) the literacy assessment required of individuals seeking initial teacher licensure with endorsements in certain areas to include a rigorous test of science-based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction; (iii) each local school board to establish a divisionwide literacy plan; (iv) each local school board to employ one reading specialist for each 550 students in kindergarten through grade three; and (v) each local school board to provide a program of literacy instruction whereby, among other things, (a) the program provides reading intervention services to students in kindergarten through grade three who demonstrate deficiencies based on their individual performance on the Standards of Learning reading assessment or an early literacy screener provided or approved by the Department of Education; (b) a reading specialist, in collaboration with the teacher of any student who receives such reading intervention services, develops, oversees implementation of, and monitors student progress on a student reading plan; and (c) each student who receives such reading intervention services is assessed utilizing either the early literacy screener provided or approved by the Department or the grade-level reading Standards of Learning assessment again at the end of that school year. The provisions of the bill become effective beginning with the 2024–2025 school year. This bill is identical to SB 616.

Sharing of forfeited assets; promoting law enforcement; community investment and revitalization. Specifies that the forfeited property and assets paid to the state treasury into a special fundof the Department of Criminal Justice Services that shall be madeavailable to federal, state, and local agencies to promote law enforcementmay include expenditures for community investment or revitalizationthat may strengthen the relationships between the community and lawenforcement, encourage goodwill between the community and law enforcement,or promote cooperation with law enforcement.