Charter; City of Lynchburg. Provides thatsalaries of members of the Lynchburg City Council shall be determinedin accordance with general law.
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.
Charter; Town of Appomattox. Shifts localelections for the Town of Appomattox from May to November and staggersthe election of members of the town council. The bill makes organizationalchanges to provisions related to the election and appointment oftown officers.
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.
Fees for management and disposal of solid waste; Buckingham County. Adds Buckingham County to the list of counties authorized, by ordinance, and after a public hearing, to levy a fee for the management of solid waste not to exceed the actual cost incurred by the county in removing and disposing of solid waste, and the list of counties authorized by ordinance, and after a public hearing, to levy a fee for the disposal of solid waste not to exceed the actual cost incurred by the county in procuring, developing, maintaining, and improving the landfill and for such reserves as may be necessary for capping and closing such landfill in the future.
Children's Services Act; special education programs. Requires that funds expended for private special education services under the Children's Services Act only be expended on educational programs that are licensed by the Board of Education or an equivalent out-of-state licensing agency. The bill also provides that as of July 1, 2022, such funds may only be expended for programs that the Office of Children's Services certify as having reported their tuition rates.The bill adds children and youth previously placed in approved private school educational programs for at least six months who will receive transitional services in a public school setting to the target population for eligibility for the state pool of funds. The bill provides that state funds shall be allocated for no longer than 12 months for transitional services.The bill requires the Secretaries of Education and Health and Human Resources, in conjunction with the Office of Children's Services and the Department of Education, to establish a work group (the Work Group) with appropriate stakeholders to develop a detailed plan to direct the transfer of Children's Services Act funds currently reserved for children requiring an educational placement in a private special education day school or residential facility to the Department of Education, as well as several other topics. The bill requires that the Work Group submit its plan and recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations by November 1, 2021, as well as a final plan and recommendations by November 1, 2022.
Industrial hemp; federal hemp producer license; emergency. Updates Virginia's industrial hemp laws to address the new hemp producer license issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The bill changes drug laws to exclude the industrial hemp possessed by a federally licensed hemp producer from the definition of "marijuana" and to exclude certain amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in such industrial hemp from the prohibition on THC. The bill exempts federally licensed hemp producers from state industrial hemp registration requirements and adds such producers to the list of those eligible to receive funds from the Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Fund.The bill makes other changes to industrial hemp laws, including (i) excluding from the definition of "dealer" any retail establishment that sells a completed product containing industrial hemp; (ii) making optional the monitoring and random testing of industrial hemp by the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services and authorizing the random sampling of such hemp; (iii) removing the requirement that the Attorney General of the United States be notified when a Virginia grower, dealer, or processor exceeds the federal THC limit; and (iv) directing the Commissioner to adopt regulations establishing a fee structure for registration.Finally, the bill exempts employees of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services from prosecution for possession or distribution of industrial hemp when possession is necessary in the performance of their duties. The bill contains an emergency clause.
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; VirginiaParole Board member votes. Provides that individual votes ofthe members of the Virginia Parole Board shall be public recordsand subject to the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of InformationAct.
Nurse practitioners; practice without a practice agreement. Reduces from five to two the number of years of full-time clinical experience a nurse practitioner must have to be eligible to practice without a written or electronic practice agreement. The provisions of the bill expire on July 1, 2022.
Virginia Redistricting Commission; removal of commissioners; emergency. Provides for the removal of a commissioner from the Virginia Redistricting Commission for neglect of duty or gross misconduct. Removal would require affirmative votes of at least six of the eight legislative commissioners and at least six of the eight citizen commissioners. Such a vote is required to be recorded and taken in a public meeting. The bill contains an emergency clause.
