Sen. Chris Head

Directs the Virginia Fire Services Board to develop a modular training program for volunteer firefighters for adoption by local volunteer fire departments that shall include (i) Firefighter I and Firefighter II certification pursuant to standards developed by the National Fire Protection Association and (ii) an online training program. The bill has a delayed effective day of January 1, 2019.

Requires health insurers and other carriers that credential the physicians in their provider networks to establish reasonable protocols and procedures for reimbursing a physician who has submitted a completed credentialing application to a carrier, after being credentialed by the carrier, for health care services provided to covered persons during the period in which the applicant's completed credentialing application is pending. The measure establishes minimum requirements for such protocols and procedures. The measure also (i) provides that a carrier is not required to pay reimbursement at the contracted in-network rate for any covered medical services provided by the new provider applicant if the new provider applicant's credentialing application is not approved or the carrier is otherwise not willing to contract with the new provider applicant; (ii) specifies that if a payment is made by the carrier to a physician or any entity that employs or engages the physician for a covered service, the patient is only responsible for any coinsurance, copayments, or deductibles permitted under the insurance contract with the carrier or participating provider agreement with the physician; and (iii) requires new provider applicants to provide notice to covered persons in advance of treatment. Finally, the measure requires the Virginia Department of Health to revise and reenact the regulations regarding managed care health insurance plans.

Provides that licenses for tradesmen shall expire three years from the date of issuance by the Board for Contractors. The bill requires the Board to sync the expiration date of a tradesman license, which is currently on a two-year cycle, to updates to the Uniform Statewide Building Code, which are typically on a three-year cycle.

Directs the Department of Planning and Budget (the Department), under the supervision of the Secretary of Finance (the Secretary), to administer a three-year regulatory reduction pilot program aimed at reducing by 25 percent the regulations and regulatory requirements, as defined in the bill, of the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation and the Department of Criminal Justice Services by July 1, 2021. The bill requires the Secretary to report annually to the Speaker of the House and the Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee no later than October 1, 2019, and October 1, 2020, on the progress of the regulatory reduction pilot program. The bill also requires the Secretary to report by August 15, 2021, to the Speaker of the House and the Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee (i) the progress toward identifying the 25 percent reduction goal, (ii) recommendations for expanding the program to other agencies, and (iii) any additional information the Secretary determines may be helpful to support the General Assembly's regulatory reduction and reform efforts. The bill provides that if, by October 1, 2021, the program has achieved less than a 25 percent total reduction in regulations and regulatory requirements across both pilot agencies, the Secretary shall report on the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing a 2-for-1 regulatory budget providing that for every one new regulatory requirement, two existing regulatory requirements of equivalent or greater burden must be streamlined, repealed, or replaced for a period not to exceed three years. Lastly, the bill directs all executive branch agencies subject to the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.) to develop a baseline regulatory catalog and report such catalog data to the Department, which shall then track and report on the extent to which agencies comply with existing requirements to periodically review all regulations every four years. This bill is identical to