Vacant buildings; registration. Permits any county, city, or town to require, by ordinance, the owner of any building that has been vacant for at least 12 months and (i) that meets the definition of "derelict building" in relevant law, (ii) that meets the definition of "criminal blight" in relevant law, or (iii) in which a locality has determined a person is living without the authority of the owner to register such building annually. Under current law, any city and certain towns are permitted to require the owner of any building that has been vacant for at least 12 months and meets the definition of "derelict building" in relevant law to register such building annually. This bill incorporates SB 478, is identical to HB 1486, and is a recommendation of the Virginia Housing Commission.
Sponsored bills
Barrier crimes; adult substance abuse and mental health services; exception. Permits the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, providers of substance abuse or mental health services to adults, and community services boards and behavioral health authorities to hire applicants convicted of certain barrier crimes of misdemeanor assault and battery or involving controlled substances without additional screening or other requirements, provided that such conviction occurred more than five years prior to the application date for employment.
Department of Education and Virginia CommunityCollege System; College and Career Ready Virginia Program and Fundestablished. Establishes the College and Career Ready VirginiaFund and requires the Department of Education and the Virginia CommunityCollege System to establish the College and Career Ready VirginiaProgram whereby each school board is required to offer each qualifiedhigh school student in the local school division access at the highschool to the dual enrollment courses that are sufficient to completethe Passport Program and the former Uniform Certificate of GeneralStudies Program, renamed in the bill as the Passport Plus Program,at a public institution of higher education at no cost to such students.The bill establishes several enumerated duties for the Departmentand the System in the administration of the College and Career ReadyVirginia Program, including the establishment of a work group to make recommendations no later than November 1, 2024, on the incorporationof a career and technical education program of coursework into theCollege and Career Ready Virginia Program.
Emergency custody and temporary detention orders; evaluations; presence of others. Requires (i) the evaluator conducting the evaluation of an individual to determine whether such individual meets the criteria for temporary detention or (ii) the hospital emergency department and treating physician or other health care provider designated by the physician, when providing services to an individual who is being evaluated to determine whether the individual meets the criteria for temporary detention, to allow the individual's family member or legal guardian who is present and who may provide support and supportive decision making to be present with the individual unless the individual objects or the evaluator or treating physician determines that their presence would create a medical, clinical, or safety risk to the patient or health care provider or interferes with patient care. This bill is identical to HB 1242.
Department of Medical Assistance Services; Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; 1915(c) Home and Community Based Services Medicaid Waivers; state plan amendments; program rule modifications. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to seek federal authority through the necessary state plan amendments under Titles XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act to modify the program rules for certain 1915(c) Home and Community Based Services Medicaid Waivers to (i) modify the 40-hour-per-week work limit to allow legally responsible individuals with more than one waiver-receiving child to receive reimbursement for 40 hours of work per week per child receiving a waiver; (ii) eliminate the requirement that, in order for a legally responsible individual to receive reimbursement for personal care services, no one else be available to provide services to the member; and (iii) modify the program rules to allow a legally responsible individual or stepparent to be the employer of record. The bill directs DMAS to evaluate the possibility of allowing for respite services under certain 1915(c) Home and Community Based Services Medicaid Waivers and submit its recommendations, cost estimate, and methodology used for obtaining the cost estimate to the General Assembly no later than November 1, 2024. This bill incorporates SB 149 and is identical to HB 909.
Use of artificial intelligence by public bodies; prohibitions; Commission on Artificial Intelligence established; report; sunset. Prohibits any public body from implementing any system that employs artificial intelligence, defined in the bill, unless such public body (i) performs an initial impact assessment and ongoing impact assessments of such system to ensure its use will not result in any unlawful discrimination against any individual or group of individuals or have any disparate impact on any individual or group of individuals and (ii) does not implement or ceases to use such system if such effects occur. The bill requires all public bodies that implement such systems to submit an annual report on such assessments and provide an inventory of all such systems used to the appropriate entity designated in the bill. The bill directs the Chief Information Officer of the Commonwealth to develop, publish, and maintain policies and procedures concerning systems that employ artificial intelligence and are used by public bodies. The bill creates the Commission on Artificial Intelligence to advise the General Assembly on issues related to artificial intelligence and make advisory recommendations on its findings. The Commission sunsets on July 1, 2027. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025. This bill incorporates SB 621.
Search warrants, subpoenas, court orders, or other process; menstrual health data prohibited. Prohibits the issuance of a search warrant, subpoena, court order, or other process for the purpose of the search and seizure or production of menstrual health data, as defined in the bill, including data stored on a computer, computer network, or other device containing electronic or digital information. This bill is identical to HB 78.
Behavioral health technicians; behavioral health technician assistants; qualified mental health professionals; qualified mental health professional-trainees; scope of practice, supervision, and qualifications. Adds behavioral health technicians and behavioral health technician assistants to the professions governed by the Board of Counseling. The bill also establishes qualification, scope of practice, and supervision requirements for qualified mental health professionals and qualified mental health professional-trainees. The bill directs the Board of Counseling to adopt regulations governing the behavioral health technician, behavioral health technician assistant, qualified mental health professional, and qualified mental health professional-trainee professions by November 1, 2024, and for the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and the Department of Medical Assistance Services to promulgate regulations that align with the regulations adopted by the Board of Counseling in accordance with the bill.
Individual income tax subtraction; income earned in certain localities. Directs the Department of Taxation and the Commission on Local Government to assess the need for income tax relief in double distressed localities in the Commonwealth that have experienced significant loss of population since 2013. The Department and the Commission must report on their recommendations to the Governor and the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations and the House Committees on Finance and Appropriations by November 1, 2024.
Local fiscal distress; determination by Auditor of Public Accounts; state intervention. Sets out a procedure for determining when localities are in fiscal distress, as defined in the bill, and when state intervention may be necessary. The bill requires the Auditor of Public Accounts to develop criteria for a preliminary determination that a locality may be in fiscal distress. The bill also requires the Director of the Department of Planning and Budget to identify any amounts remaining unexpended from general fund appropriations in the state budget as of June 30 of each year, which constitute state aid to local governments. From such unexpended balances, the Governor may reappropriate up to $750,000 from amounts that would otherwise revert to the balance of the general fund and transfer such amounts as necessary to establish a component of fund balance that may be used for the purpose of providing technical assistance and intervention actions for localities deemed to be fiscally distressed and in need of intervention to address such distress. The bill provides that if a report to the Governor concludes that a locality is either unwilling or unable to comply with the conditions necessary to address its fiscal distress, the Governor shall use all powers available to him to intervene for the purpose of addressing such fiscal distress. The bill further grants authority to the Governor to appoint an emergency fiscal manager and grant the manager with all powers available and necessary to implement a plan to restore sustainable fiscal health to the locality. The emergency fiscal officer shall give timely notice of any proposed actions to be taken and an opportunity for public input prior to such action and shall establish benchmarks that will allow a locality to exit the state intervention plan upon meeting such benchmarks.