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.
Sponsored bills
Requires Dominion Virginia Power and Appalachian Power to conduct a community solar pilot program for retail customers. A pilot program will authorize the participating utility to sell electric power to subscribing customers under a voluntary companion rate schedule, and the utility will generate or purchase the electric power from eligible generation facilities selected for inclusion in the pilot program. An eligible generation facility is an electrical generation facility that (i) exclusively uses energy derived from sunlight; (ii) is placed in service on or after July 1, 2017; (iii) is not constructed by an investor-owned utility but is acquired by an investor-owned utility through an asset purchase agreement or is subject to a power purchase agreement under which the utility purchases the facility's output from a third party; and (iv) has a generating capacity not exceeding two megawatts, subject to an exception. Pilot programs will have a three-year duration unless renewed or made permanent by appropriate legislation. The measure requires an investor-owned utility to select eligible generating facilities for dedication to its pilot program through a request for proposal (RFP) process. The minimum generating capacity of the eligible generating facilities in Appalachian Power's pilot program is 0.5 MW and in Dominion's pilot program is 10 MW. The maximum generating capacity of the eligible generating facilities in Appalachian Power's pilot program is 10 MW and in Dominion's pilot program is 40 MW. The measure establishes a procedure through which an investor-owned utility may increase the generating capacity of facilities in its pilot program above the amount most recently approved by the State Corporation Commission. The measure provides that an investor-owned utility may recover pilot program costs that are not recovered through the voluntary companion rate schedule through variable-output contracts with participating third parties. A subscribing customer's usage above the amount subscribed for the voluntary companion rate schedule shall be billed under the customer's applicable standard rate. The measure authorizes a utility consumer services cooperative to conduct a pilot program and gives the cooperative flexibility in designing its program and voluntary companion rate schedule. The measure declares that the participation of retail customers in a pilot program is in the public interest and that the voluntary companion rate schedules approved are necessary in order to acquire information that is in furtherance of the public interest. The measure requires the Commission to approve the recovery of pilot program costs that it deems to be reasonable and prudent, the pilot program design, the voluntary companion rate schedule, and the portfolio of participating generating facilities. Commission review or approval is not required for individual participating generating facilities, agreements, sites, or RFPs. The measure provides that an approved voluntary companion rate schedule shall not be considered a tariff for electric energy provided 100 percent from renewable energy. An enactment clause directs investor-owned utilities, prior to submitting a proposal for a pilot program, to examine, in cooperation with representatives of relevant governmental, nonprofit, and for-profit entities, options to facilitate the subscribing by low-income customers to the utility's pilot program. Another enactment clause requires participating utilities to disclose to subscribing customers the cost difference between the voluntary companion rate schedule and rate the customer would pay if it was not a subscriber.
Provides that it is the policy of the Commonwealth to promote and increase the employment of individuals with disabilities. To further this policy, the bill establishes a goal to increase by five percent the level of individuals with disabilities employed by state government by fiscal year 2023. The bill designates the Secretary of Administration to coordinate efforts to achieve the goal and requires the Secretary to establish a reporting system for tracking and reporting the progress of state agencies toward meeting the employment and contracting goals and to report annually on the number of individuals with disabilities employed by the state. The bill requires each state agency to submit a plan to increase employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities to the Secretary no later than December 31, 2017, and each July 1 thereafter. This bill is identical to
Prohibits any companion animal dealer who is not licensed or exempted from licensure by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from selling any dog to a pet shop. The bill prohibits a pet shop from procuring a dog from a person who has received citations for one critical violation or three or more noncritical violations from the USDA in the two years prior to receiving the dog. The bill prohibits a pet shop from selling a dog procured from someone who knowingly obtained the dog directly or indirectly from a person with such citations.
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 certain Virginia students who were in foster care or in the custody of the Department of Social Services or considered a special needs adoption and are enrolled in a noncredit workforce credential training program in a comprehensive community college may qualify for a grant for the payment of tuition and fees. This bill is identical to
Requires the Department of Education to develop and oversee a pilot program to administer across five geographically and demographically diverse school divisions the model exit questionnaire for teachers developed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, analyze the results of each such questionnaire, and include such results and analysis in the Superintendent's annual report beginning in 2018. The bill requires the Department to (i) administer such questionnaire to each teacher who ceases to be employed by the relevant school board for any reason and (ii) collect, maintain, and report on the results of each such questionnaire in a manner that ensures the confidentiality of each teacher's name and other personally identifying information. This bill is identical to