Del. Michael Feggans

Department of Health; Department of Social Services; publicly accessible nursing home information portal; publicly accessible assisted living facility information portal; reporting of incidents involving emergency medical services. Directs the Department of Health to establish a nursing home information portal and the Department of Social Services to establish an assisted living facility information portal to consolidate publicly available information on nursing homes and assisted living facilities, respectively. The bill requires operators of nursing homes and assisted living facilities to submit a quarterly report to the Department of Health or the Department of Social Services, respectively, with information on incidents involving emergency medical services.

Fatherhood Initiative; fatherhood needs assessment; Fatherhood Initiative Grants Program and Fund established. Requires the Virginia Department of Social Services to develop and implement the Fatherhood Initiative for the purpose of focusing on the recognition of fathers as essential partners in child and family well-being, addressing a critical gap in family support services, and promoting positive father involvement linked to improved maternal, child, and family outcomes. Under the bill, each local board of social services shall undertake a needs assessment to ensure that the local department of social services is addressing the unique needs of the fathers of children served by the local department. The bill also establishes the Fatherhood Initiative Grants Program and Fund, which awards grants to community-based organizations to address the needs of fathers.

Establishing a resilience hub pilot program to assist vulnerable communities during emergency situations. Directs the Department of Emergency Management to establish a two-year resilience hub pilot program to assist vulnerable communities during emergency situations. The bill defines a "resilience hub" as a simple combination of solar panels and batteries that ensures continuous power to a publicly accessible building when severe weather events or other grid disruptions cause an electrical outage.

Public school teachers; teacher compensation; Professionally Licensed Teacher Supplemental Pay Program established. Establishes the Professionally Licensed Teacher Supplemental Pay Program for the purpose of addressing shortages of professionally licensed teachers and reducing reliance on provisionally licensed teachers in public schools in the Commonwealth by providing, with such funds as are appropriated for such purpose, an annual supplemental payment to each professionally licensed teacher, as that term is defined by the bill, employed in any high-vacancy public school in the Commonwealth, defined by the bill as any public school that, based on the most recent data in the positions and exits collection, also defined by the bill, has a teacher vacancy rate that places it in the top 10 percent of public schools with the highest teacher vacancy rates in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Department of Education to administer and oversee the Program and, in doing so, requires it to (i) identify and develop a list, and update such list every four years, of each high-vacancy public school in the Commonwealth; (ii) ensure that, each year, funds are disbursed in a timely manner and in an amount sufficient to provide the supplemental payment to each professionally licensed teacher employed in a high-vacancy public school in each school division; and (iii) annually submit to the Governor and publish on its website a report detailing the effect of the Program on recruitment and retention of professionally licensed teachers and the overall success of the Program in addressing teacher vacancy rates.

Health insurance; coverage for speech therapy as a treatment for stuttering. Requires health insurance carriers whose health care plans include coverage for habilitative services and rehabilitative services, as such terms are defined in the bill, to provide coverage for habilitative speech therapy and rehabilitative speech therapy, as such terms are defined in the bill, as a treatment for stuttering. The bill provides that such coverage is not (i) subject to any maximum annual benefit limit, including any limits on the number of visits an insured may make to a speech-language pathologist; (ii) limited based on the type of disease, injury, disorder, or other medical condition that resulted in the stuttering; or (iii) subject to utilization review or utilization management requirements, including prior authorization or a determination that the habilitative or rehabilitative speech therapy services are medically necessary. The bill applies to health care plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on and after January 1, 2027.

Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program; tuition and fee waivers; eligibility. Expands eligibility for a waiver of tuition and fees at public institutions of higher education pursuant to the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program to the spouse or a child between the ages of 16 and 29 (i) of a military service member who, while serving as an active duty member in the Armed Forces of the United States, Reserves of the Armed Forces of the United States, or Virginia National Guard, died in the line of duty, including from a training accident, a service-connected illness, or toxic exposure or as a result of a mental health condition such as post-traumatic stress disorder or suicide, or (ii) of a veteran who served in the Armed Forces of the United States, Reserves of the Armed Forces of the United States, or Virginia National Guard and who died as a result of a service-connected condition, including a service-connected illness, an injury, toxic exposure, or suicide.

Elections; Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act; restrictions on ballot eligibility; repeal. Repeals provisions of the Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act that require the application of an overseas voter who has given up his place of abode in Virginia to show that the applicant is employed overseas or the spouse or dependent of a person employed overseas in order to vote in state and local elections. Such repeal obviates the need for an official paper ballot for voting only in federal elections.

Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); fundamental right to reproductive freedom. Provides for a referendum at the November 3, 2026, election to approve or reject an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia relating to the right to make one's own decisions related to reproductive health care, including access to abortion. The amendment protects patients and their doctors and nurses from being punished for making such decisions. The amendment allows the state to place restrictions on access to abortion during the third trimester of pregnancy except when the patient's life or physical or mental health is at risk or the pregnancy cannot survive. This bill is identical to SB 449.

Elections; polling places; prohibited activities; acts in furtherance of federal immigration laws. Prohibits any person from performing any act for the purpose or in furtherance of enforcement of federal immigration laws within 40 feet of any building, or part thereof, used as (i) a polling place, (ii) a meeting place for the local electoral board while the electoral board meets to ascertain the results of an election, or (iii) the place for a recount.

School breakfast; availability at no cost to students. Requires each school board to require each public elementary and secondary school in the local school division to participate in the federal National School Lunch Program and the federal School Breakfast Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and to make breakfast available to any student who requests such a meal at no cost to the student, unless the student's parent has provided written permission to the school board to withhold such a meal from the student. The bill clarifies that the provision of a breakfast by a school to a student at no cost to the student shall not be construed as creating a disincentive for the school or local school division to participate in the federal Community Eligibility Provision program. Additionally, the bill provides that schools shall maximize the number of students who participate in the school breakfast program by implementing one or more suggested service models to increase access to such program. The bill requires the Department of Education to reimburse each public elementary and secondary school for each eligible school breakfast served to a student, with a maximum of one reimbursable breakfast per student per school day, and provides the formula for determining the state reimbursement rate for such meals. Finally, the bill repeals a provision of law relating to the federal School Breakfast Program that is rendered obsolete by the provisions of the bill. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Commission to End Hunger.