Department of Education; School ConstructionFund and Program; Gaming Proceeds Fund revenues. Establishesthe School Construction Fund as a special nonreverting fund in thestate treasury and requires the Department of Education to establishthe School Construction Program for the purpose of providing grantsfrom the Fund, subject to certain conditions, to school boards thatleverage federal, state, and local programs and resources to financethe design and construction of new school buildings and facilitiesor the modernization and maintenance of existing school buildingsand facilities. The bill provides that three percent of any fiscalyear's budget surplus shall be appropriated to the School ConstructionFund and Program. The bill also provides that any remaining revenuesnot appropriated by the Gaming Proceeds Fund shall be appropriatedto the School Construction Fund and Program. Under current law, anyremaining revenues in the Gaming Proceeds Fund not appropriated remainin the Fund until appropriated by the General Assembly for programs established to address public school construction, renovations, orupgrades.
Sponsored bills
Nitrile Glove Manufacturing Training Program; established. Establishes the Nitrile Glove Manufacturing Training Program, a funding program of up to $4,601,000 for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, through the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program, to support the recruitment and training needs of nitrile glove manufacturing companies located in the Mount Rogers Planning District. The bill also requires companies eligible for such funding to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership that is subject to performance targets for jobs and capital investment on or before January 1, 2027, unless an extension of no more than two years is agreed upon. This bill is identical to HB 186.
Slaughter and meat-processing facilities. Establishes that it is the policy of the General Assembly to encourage, expand, and develop slaughter and meat-processing facilities through strategic planning and financial incentive programs. The bill directs the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to develop a five-year strategic plan to increase total combined throughput capacity of slaughter and meat-processing facilities. This bill is identical to HB 830.
Virginia Commission for the Arts; Virginia Commission for the Arts Fund. Eliminates the Virginia Arts Foundation and transfers its powers to the Virginia Commission for the Arts. The bill renames the existing Virginia Arts Foundation Fund (the Fund) as the Virginia Commission for the Arts Fund and transfers authority for expenditures and disbursements from the Fund to the Virginia Commission for the Arts.
School boards; student home broadband access; annual report. Requires, beginning in the 2022 school year and in each school year thereafter through the 2025 school year, each school board to submit an annual report to the Virginia Department of Education and the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development listing each student's 9-1-1 address that does not have broadband access, as defined by the broadband guidelines set out by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development for its Virginia Telecommunication Initiative.
Medicaid participants; treatment involving the prescription of opioids; payment. Prohibits licensed providers from requiring payment from Medicaid participants for the prescription of an opioid for the management of pain or the prescription of buprenorphine-containing products, methadone, or other opioid replacements approved for the treatment of opioid addiction by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for medication-assisted treatment of opioid addiction, regardless of whether the provider participates in the state plan for medical assistance.
Virginia Passenger Rail Authority; membership. Changes the membership of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority by (i) adding one nonlegislative member who resides within the boundaries of Planning District 3 or 4 and (ii) reducing from two to one the nonlegislative members who reside within the boundaries of Planning District 5, 9, 10, or 11.
License to teach dentistry; foreign dental program graduates. Allows the Board of Dentistry to grant, without examination,a faculty license to teach dentistry in an accredited dental programto a graduate of a dental school or college or the dental departmentof an institution of higher education in a foreign country that hasbeen granted a certification letter from the dean or program directorof an accredited dental program confirming that the applicant hasclinical competency and clinical experience that meet the credentialingstandards of the dental school with which the applicant is to beaffiliated. The provisions of the bill expire on July 1, 2025.
Department of Education; local school boards; policies on sexually explicit content in instructional material. Requires the Department of Education to develop no later than July 31, 2022, model policies and each local school board to adopt no later than January 1, 2023, policies for ensuring parental notification of any instructional material that includes sexually explicit content and include information, guidance, procedures, and standards relating to (i) ensuring parental notification; (ii) directly identifying the specific instructional material and sexually explicit subjects; and (iii) permitting the parent of any student to review instructional material that includes sexually explicit content and provide, as an alternative, nonexplicit instructional material and related academic activities to any student whose parent so requests. The bill provides that the local school board policies shall be consistent with but may be more comprehensive than the model policies developed by the Department. The bill states that the provisions of the bill shall not be construed as requiring or providing for the censoring of books in public elementary and secondary schools.