Del. Michael Feggans

Certified nurse midwives; licensed certified midwives; independent practice; organized medical staff. Permits licensed certified midwives who have completed 1,000 hours of practice under a practice agreement to practice without a practice agreement upon receipt of an attestation from the licensed physician or midwife with whom they entered into a practice agreement. The bill also permits certified nurse midwives and licensed certified midwives to enter into practice agreements with certified nurse midwives or licensed certified midwives who are authorized to practice independently. The bill directs the Department of Health to amend its regulations to clarify that an organized medical staff may include other practitioners, including independent practice midwives, in addition to physicians and dentists. This bill is identical to SB 1352.

Real property tax exemption; surviving spouses of members of the armed forces who died in the line of duty; clarification for deaths resulting from suicide. Clarifies that the real property tax exemption currently available to the surviving spouse of any member of the armed forces of the United States who died in the line of duty with a Line of Duty determination from the U.S. Department of Defense includes the death of any such member that was the result of suicide.

Commission on Women's Health established; report. Establishes the Commission on Women's Health as a permanent commission in the legislative branch of state government for the purpose of studying and making recommendations on issues related to women's and maternal health. The Commission consists of 15 members, 10 of whom are legislative members and five of whom are nonlegislative citizen members with significant experience or expertise in women's or maternal health policy.

Captain Matthew "Chevy" Chiaverotti Memorial Bridge. Designates the bridge on Interstate 264 over South Rosemont Road in Virginia Beach the "Captain Matthew "Chevy" Chiaverotti Memorial Bridge."

School boards; threat assessment teams and procedures; parental notification of student determined to pose a threat of violence or physical harm to self or others; provision of certain recognition and response materials required. Requires each division superintendent or his designee to provide materials on recognition of and strategies for responding to behavior indicating that a student poses a threat of violence or physical harm to himself or others to the parent or legal guardian of any student who, according to a preliminary determination from a threat assessment team, poses such a threat. The bill specifies that the provision of such materials shall occur either in the initial attempt to immediately notify such student's parent or legal guardian pursuant to applicable law or through a separate communication to such student's parent or legal guardian made as soon as practicable thereafter. The bill (i) requires such materials to be selected in accordance with the criteria and guidelines developed by the Board of Education pursuant to the provisions of the bill; (ii) requires such materials to include information on the requirements set forth in applicable law relating to the safe storage of firearms in the presence of minors; and (iii) permits such materials to include guidance on best practices and strategies for limiting a student's access to lethal means, including firearms and medications.

Department of Education; development of guidelines and information relating to virtual or online learning; public health emergencies. Provides for the Department of Education to develop and post on its official website guidelines and information relating to virtual or online learning. Such guidelines and information shall include (i) statewide policies relating to virtual learning, (ii) the availability of online or virtual learning options and pertinent information on such options, and (iii) guidelines for educators and schools relating to online or virtual learning policies and best practices. In addition, the bill requires each K-12 school in the Commonwealth to include as a component of its annual safety audit a review of the school's plan for school closures during public health emergencies. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee to Study Pandemic Response and Preparedness in the Commonwealth and is identical to SB 1380.

Maternal health; protocols and resources for hospitals and outpatient providers; report. Requires all hospitals with an emergency department or labor and delivery, freestanding emergency departments, and birthing centers to implement standardized protocols for identifying and responding to obstetric emergencies, including obstetric hemorrhage, preeclampsia, and eclampsia. Such standardized protocols shall be based on protocols established by the Virginia Neonatal Perinatal Collaborative for inpatient and outpatient providers regarding the treatment of obstetric emergencies, the recognition of urgent maternal warning signs, and the transfer of pregnant and postpartum patients. The bill requires the Virginia Neonatal Perinatal Collaborative to collect data and submit an annual report to the Secretary of Health and Human Resources and the General Assembly with data relating to the implementation of standardized protocols and maternal health outcomes. This bill incorporates HB 2518 and is identical to SB 1279.

Constitutional amendment (first reference); marriage between two individuals; repeal of same-sex marriage prohibition; affirmative right to marry. Repeals the constitutional provision defining marriage as only a union between one man and one woman as well as the related provisions that are no longer valid as a result of the United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015). The amendment provides that the right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of persons and prohibits the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions from denying the issuance of a marriage license to two parties contemplating a lawful marriage on the basis of the sex, gender, or race of such parties. The Commonwealth and its political subdivisions are required to recognize any lawful marriage between two parties and to treat such marriages equally under the law, regardless of the sex, gender, or race of such parties. The amendment provides that religious organizations and clergy acting in their religious capacity have the right to refuse to perform any marriage.

Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Act; report. Directs the Department of Health, in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and the Department of Education, to convene a work group to develop a plan to (i) create a mental health screening and assessment tool for children in early childhood care and (ii) provide mental health consultation resources and training to early childhood education providers, pediatric health providers, and families. The work group shall report its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations by November 1, 2025.

Trespass with an unmanned aircraft system; contracted defense facility; penalty. Creates a Class 4 felony for any person who knowingly, intentionally, and without authorization causes an unmanned aircraft system to enter the property of and obtains or attempts to obtain any videographic or still image that contains or reveals any controlled technical information located within a contracted defense facility, as those terms are defined in the bill. The bill also provides that the owner or operator of a contracted defense facility and its employees shall be immune from criminal prosecution and civil liability as a result of preventing, stopping, deterring, interrupting, or repelling, or attempting to prevent, stop, deter, interrupt, or repel, an unmanned aircraft system from entering the property of such contracted defense facility or from stopping, interrupting, or repelling, or attempting to stop, interrupt, or repel, an unmanned aircraft system that has entered such property, provided that such action does not result in injury to any person. This bill is identical to SB 757.