Del. Kelly Fowler

Commending Peter A. Blake.

Commending Scott McGeary.

Civilian deaths in custody; report. Requires every law-enforcement agency and correctional facility to report to the Department of Criminal Justice Services certain information regarding the death of any person who is detained, under arrest or in the process of being arrested, en route to be incarcerated, incarcerated, or otherwise in the custody of such law-enforcement agency or correctional facility. The bill provides that any law-enforcement agency or correctional facility that fails to comply may, at the discretion of the Department, be declared ineligible for state grants or funds. The bill also requires the Department to analyze the submitted data to (i) determine the means by which such information can be used to reduce the number of such deaths and (ii) examine the relationship, if any, between the number of such deaths and the actions of management of such law-enforcement agencies and correctional facilities. Finally, the bill requires the Director of the Department to annually report the findings and recommendations resulting from the analysis and interpretation of the data to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Attorney General beginning on or before July 1, 2025, and each July 1 thereafter. This bill was incorporated into HB 611.

JLARC; Department of Human Resource Management;Grievance Procedure Manual; report. Directs the Joint LegislativeAudit and Review Commission (JLARC) to conduct a review of the Departmentof Human Resource Management's Grievance Procedure Manual as it relatesto the Department of Corrections and Department of Juvenile Justice. The bill requires that JLARC evaluate the effectiveness of such proceduresand report its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of theSenate Committee on General Laws and Technology and the House Committeeon General Laws by November 1, 2024.

Constitutional officers; dual office holding;prohibited for deputies and other persons. Provides that thecurrent prohibition on dual office holding that is applicable toconstitutional officers also applies to deputies of such officersand any persons serving in such officer's absence until a specialelection to fill the vacancy is held.

Virginia Minority Business Commission; report;sunset. Establishes the 13-member Virginia Minority Business Commission in the legislative branch of government for the purposeof promoting the growth and competitiveness of Virginia minority-ownedbusinesses. The bill provides that the Commission sunsets on July1, 2026.

Health insurance; coverage for therapeutic daytreatment services. Requires health insurers providing healthcare plans to provide coverage for therapeutic day treatment servicesfor children with serious emotional disturbances, defined in thein bill as children who have a mental illness diagnosis and haveexperienced functional limitations due to emotional disturbance,including experiencing a school shooting or the loss of a loved onein a school setting, over the past 12 months on a continuous or intermittentbasis. Under the bill, "therapeutic day treatment services" are treatmentprograms that combine psychotherapeutic interventions with education and mental health and may include evaluation; medication educationand management; opportunities to learn and use daily living skillsand to enhance social and interpersonal skills; and individual, group,and family counseling. The bill applies to plans delivered, issuedfor delivery, or renewed on and after January 1, 2025.

Paid sick leave; health care providers and grocerystore workers. Requires employers to provide paid sick leaveto health care providers and grocery store workers. Under currentlaw, employers are only required to provide paid sick leave to certainhome health workers. The bill removes requirements that workers workon average at least 20 hours per week or 90 hours per month to beeligible for paid sick leave. The bill provides that certain healthcare providers may waive their right to accrue and use paid sick leave and provides an exemption for employers of certain other healthcare providers. The bill requires the Department of Labor and Industryto develop guidelines for retail employers that sell groceries toprovide sick leave and to publish such guidelines by December 1,2024. The provisions of the bill other than the requirement for theDepartment of Labor and Industry to develop guidelines have a delayedeffective date of January 1, 2025.

Commissioner of Health; work group to studythe occurrence of microplastics in the Commonwealth's public drinkingwater; report. Directs the Commissioner of Health to convene awork group to study the occurrence of microplastics in the Commonwealth'spublic drinking water and develop recommendations for the reduction of microplastics in the Commonwealth's public drinking water. Thebill requires the work group to report its findings and recommendationsto the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committees on Agriculture,Chesapeake and Natural Resources and Health, Welfare and Institutionsand the Senate Committees on Agriculture, Conservation and NaturalResources and Education and Health by December 1, 2024.

Office of the Executive Secretary of the SupremeCourt of Virginia; work group to study trauma-informed training andeducation; report. Directs the Office of the Executive Secretaryto convene a work group to make recommendations on the development,adoption, and implementation of trauma-informed training and educationfor judges, magistrates, and court personnel. The bill requires thework group to submit its recommendations by December 1, 2024, tothe Chairmen of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice.