Sen. Bill Stanley

Department of Veterans Services; Military Spouse Liaison; position created. Establishes the position of Military Spouse Liaison (the Liaison) in the Department of Veterans Services to conduct outreach and advocate on behalf of military spouses in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Liaison to report by December 1 of each year through the Commissioner of the Department of Veterans Services to the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, the Governor, and the General Assembly on the work of the Liaison and any legislative recommendations. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

Practice as a physician assistant. Eliminatesthe requirement that a physician assistant enter into a practiceagreement with a single patient care team physician or patient care team podiatrist and provides that a patient care team physicianor patient care team podiatrist shall not be liable for the actionsor inactions of a physician assistant for whom the patient care team physician or patient care team podiatrist provides collaborationand consultation. The bill also makes clear that a student physicianassistant shall not be required to be licensed to engage in actsthat otherwise constitute practice as a physician assistant, providedthat the student physician assistant is enrolled in an accreditedphysician assistant education program.

General district courts; jurisdictional limits. Increases from $25,000 to $50,000 the maximum civil jurisdictional limit of general district courts for civil actions for personal injury and wrongful death. The bill contains an emergency clause.

Clinical nurse specialist; licensure; practice. Changes from the requirement of registration as clinical nurse specialists to the licensure of nurse practitioners as clinical nurse specialists by the Boards of Medicine and Nursing and provides that a nurse practitioner licensed as a clinical nurse specialist shall practice pursuant to a practice agreement between the clinical nurse specialist and a licensed physician and in a manner consistent with the standards of care for the profession and applicable law and regulations. For the transition of registration to licensure, the bill requires the Boards of Medicine and Nursing to jointly issue a license to practice as a nurse practitioner in the category of a clinical nurse specialist to an applicant who is an advance practice registered nurse who has completed an advanced graduate-level education program in the specialty category of clinical nurse specialist and who is registered by the Board of Nursing as a clinical nurse specialist on July 1, 2021.

Henrietta Lacks Commission; sunset. Extendsthe expiration of the Henrietta Lacks Commission from July 1, 2021,to July 1, 2026.

Virginia Missing Person with Autism Alert Program.Renames the Virginia Missing Child with Autism Alert Program to theVirginia Missing Person with Autism Alert Program and expands itto apply to any missing person with autism, regardless of age. Thebill defines "a missing person with autism" as any person (i) whosewhereabouts are unknown; (ii) who has been diagnosed with autismspectrum disorder as defined by the Code of Virginia; and (iii) whosedisappearance poses a credible threat to the safety and health of the person.

Central Virginia Transportation Authority; membership. Adds the Executive Director of the Virginia Port Authority, or hisdesignee, as a nonvoting ex officio member of the Central Virginia Transportation Authority.

Humane Cosmetics Act; civil penalties. Prohibits a cosmetics manufacturer from: (i) conducting or contracting for cosmetic animal testing that occurs in the Commonwealth on or after January 1, 2022, (ii)manufacturing or importing for profit into the Commonwealth any cosmetic or ingredient thereof, if the cosmetics manufacturer knew or reasonably should have known that the cosmetic or any component thereof was developed or manufactured using cosmetic animal testing that was conducted on or after January 1, 2022; or (iii) beginning July 1, 2022, selling or offering for sale within the Commonwealth any cosmetic, if the cosmetics manufacturer knows or reasonably should know that the cosmetic or any component thereof was developed or manufactured using cosmetic animal testing that was conducted on or after January 1, 2022. Violations are subject to a civil penalty of up to $5,000 and an additional $1,000 for each day the violation continues. The bill preempts any local regulation on cosmetic animal testing.

Public School Assistance Fund and Program created. Creates the Public School Assistance Fund and Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, for the purpose of providing grants to school boards to be used for the purposes of repairing or replacing the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electrical, or plumbing systems or the roofs of public elementary and secondary school buildings in the local school division, including financing costs for such repairs and replacements. The bill permits any school board in the Commonwealth to apply for Program grants but requires the Department of Education to give priority in the award of grants to school boards that demonstrate the greatest need based on the condition of existing school building roofs and the ability to pay for the repair or replacement of such roofs.

Voter referendum; issuance of state generalobligation bonds for school facility modernization. Providesfor a statewide referendum on the question of whether the GeneralAssembly shall issue state general obligation bonds in the amountof $3 billion for the purpose of K-12 school building construction,repair, or other capital projects related to the modernization ofschool facilities. The results would be advisory only and are intendedonly to demonstrate the preference of the citizens of the Commonwealthon the issuance of such bonds. The bill provides that the referendumbe held at the November 2021 general election.