Sen. Monty Mason

Directs the Boards of Dentistry and Medicine to adopt regulations for the prescribing of opioids and products containing buprenorphine. The bill requires the Prescription Monitoring Program at the Department of Health Professions to annually provide a report to the Joint Commission on Health Care and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health on the prescribing of opioids and benzodiazepines in the Commonwealth that includes data on reporting of unusual patterns of prescribing or dispensing of a covered substance by an individual prescriber or dispenser or on potential misuse of a covered substance by a recipient. The bill contains an emergency clause.

Sets out the rights and responsibilities under the Virginia Fair Housing Law (§ 36-96.1 et seq.) with respect to maintaining an assistance animal in a dwelling. The bill establishes a process through which a person with a disability may submit a request for a reasonable accommodation to maintain an assistance animal in a dwelling, including any supporting documentation verifying the disability and disability-related need for an accommodation. Under the bill, a request for reasonable accommodation to maintain an assistance animal may be denied for any one of the following reasons: (i) the requester does not have a disability; (ii) the requester does not have a disability-related need for an assistance animal; (iii) the accommodation imposes an undue financial and administrative burden on the person receiving the request; or (iv) the accommodation would fundamentally alter the nature of the operations of the person receiving the request. The bill provides that whenever a request for a reasonable accommodation to maintain an assistance animal in a dwelling is denied for reasons other than that the requester does not have a disability or a disability-related need for an assistance animal, an interactive process shall be initiated to determine if there is an alternative accommodation that would effectively address the disability-related need. The bill also defines "assistance animal," "major life activities," "therapeutic relationship," and "physical or mental impairment." The bill provides that if any provision of its provisions is determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to be not substantially equivalent or otherwise inconsistent with the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968, 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq., as amended, such provision shall not be enforceable. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Housing Commission. This bill is identical to

Authorizes a pharmaceutical processor, after obtaining a permit from the Board of Pharmacy (the Board) and under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist, to manufacture and provide cannabidiol oil and THC-A oil to be used for the treatment of intractable epilepsy. The bill sets limits on the number of permits that the Board may issue and requires that the Board adopt regulations establishing health, safety, and security requirements for permitted processors. The bill provides that only a licensed practitioner of medicine or osteopathy who is a neurologist or who specializes in the treatment of epilepsy may issue a written certification to a patient for the use of cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil. The bill also requires that a practitioner who issues a written certification for cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil, the patient issued such certification, and, if the patient is a minor or incapacitated, the patient's parent or legal guardian register with the Board. The bill requires further that a pharmaceutical processor shall not provide cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil to a patient or a patient's parent or legal guardian without first verifying that the patient, the patient's parent or legal guardian if the patient is a minor or incapacitated, and the practitioner who issued the written certification have registered with the Board. Finally, the bill provides an affirmative defense for agents and employees of pharmaceutical processors in a prosecution for the manufacture, possession, or distribution of marijuana. The bill contains an emergency clause.

Provides that certain small renewable energy projects proposed, developed, constructed, or purchased by (i) a public utility if the project's costs are not recovered from Virginia jurisdictional customers under base rates, a fuel factor charge, or a rate adjustment clause or (ii) a utility aggregation cooperative, are eligible for a permit by rule and are exempt from environmental review and permitting by the State Corporation Commission. The measure specifies that a small renewable energy project shall be eligible for permit by rule if it is proposed, developed, constructed, or purchased by a person that is not a regulated utility. The measure exempts a small renewable energy project for which the Department of Environmental Quality has issued a permit by rule from the requirement that it obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the construction or operation of the project. Finally, the measure increases the maximum rated capacity of solar and wind facilities that qualify as small renewable energy projects from 100 megawatts to 150 megawatts.

Requires a prescription for any controlled substance containing an opiate to be issued as an electronic prescription and prohibits a pharmacist from dispensing a controlled substance that contains an opiate unless the prescription is issued as an electronic prescription, beginning July 1, 2020. The bill defines electronic prescription as a written prescription that is generated on an electronic application in accordance with federal regulations and is transmitted to a pharmacy as an electronic data file. The bill requires the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to convene a work group of interested stakeholders to review actions necessary for the implementation of the bill's provisions, to evaluate hardships on prescribers and the inability of prescribers to comply with the deadline for electronic prescribing, and to make recommendations for any extension or exemption processes relative to compliance or disruptions due to natural or manmade disasters or technology gaps, failures, or interruptions of services. The work group shall report on the work group's progress to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2017, and a final report to such Chairmen by November 1, 2018.

Provides that unless expressly authorized by the Condominium Act or the condominium instruments or as otherwise provided by law, no unit owners' association may require the use of any for sale sign that is a unit owners' association sign, or a real estate sign that does not comply with the requirements of the Real Estate Board. A unit owners' association may, however, prohibit the placement of signs in the common area and establish reasonable rules and regulations that regulate (i) the number of real estate signs to be located on real property upon which the owner has a separate ownership interest or a right of exclusive possession, so long as at least one real estate sign is permitted; (ii) the geographical location of real estate signs on real property in which the owner has a separate ownership interest or a right of exclusive possession, so long as the location of the real estate signs complies with the requirements of the Real Estate Board; (iii) the manner in which real estate signs are affixed to real property; and (iv) the period of time after settlement when the real estate signs on such real property shall be removed. The bill also prohibits a unit owners' association from requiring any unit owner to execute a formal power of attorney if the unit owner designates a person licensed by the Real Estate Board to serve as his authorized representative in the sale of a unit. In addition, the bill authorizes the Common Interest Community Board to assess a monetary penalty against a unit owners' association or common interest community manager for the failure to deliver the resale certificate within 14 days. This bill is identical to

Clarifies that all cases involving suspected financial exploitation of an adult shall be immediately referred to a local law-enforcement agency for investigation. The bill directs local law-enforcement agencies to provide a preferred point of contact for referrals. This bill is identical to

Provides that unless expressly authorized by the Property Owners' Association Act (§ 55-508 et seq.) or the declaration or as otherwise provided by law, no association may require the use of any for sale sign that is (i) an association sign or (ii) a real estate sign that does not comply with the requirements of the Real Estate Board. An association may, however, prohibit the placement of signs in the common area and establish reasonable rules and regulations that regulate (a) the number of real estate signs, (b) the geographical location of real estate signs, (c) the manner in which real estate signs are affixed to real property, and (d) the period of time after settlement when the real estate signs must be removed. In addition, no property owners' association may require any lot owner to execute a formal power of attorney if the lot owner designates a person licensed by the Real Estate Board to serve as his authorized representative in the sale of a lot. The bill provides that if a request has been made to an association or its common interest community manager to furnish the disclosure packet and such packet is not provided within 14 days of the request, it shall be deemed a waiver of any claim for delinquent assessments or of any violation of the declaration, bylaws, rules and regulations, or architectural guidelines existing as of the date of the request with respect to the subject lot. The bill also authorizes the Common Interest Community Board to assess a monetary penalty for failure to deliver the association disclosure packet within 14 days against the association or its common interest community manager. The bill also authorizes the Common Interest Community Board to receive a complaint directly from any person aggrieved by an association's failure to deliver a resale certificate or disclosure packet within the time period required under the Condominium Act, the Virginia Real Estate Cooperative Act, or the Property Owners' Association Act. This bill is identical to

Removes a provision that allows a tenant to remain in a dwelling unit that has been foreclosed upon pursuant to the federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act because the Act expired on December 31, 2014, and is no longer in effect. The bill provides that the foreclosure of a residential rental property shall act as a termination of the rental agreement by the owner of such property. In such case, the tenant may remain in possession of such dwelling unit as a month-to-month tenant on the terms of the terminated rental agreement until the successor owner gives a notice of termination of such month-to-month tenancy. The bill also provides how rental payments may be made during the period of the month-to-month tenancy. In addition, the bill requires a current owner of rental property who has entered into a written property management agreement with a managing agent and who has subsequently entered into a purchase agreement with a new owner to give written notice to the managing agent requesting payment of security deposits to the current owner prior to settlement with the new owner. The bill requires the managing agent to transfer the security deposits to the current owner and provide written notice to each tenant that his security deposit has been transferred. This bill is identical to