Veterans or military service members; deaths by suicide.
Summary
Deaths by suicide of veterans or military service members; inquiry by State Registrar of Vital Records; Department of Veterans Services annual report. Requires the State Registrar of Vital Records, when a death certificate is filed and lists suicide as the cause of death, to make an inquiry into whether the decedent was a veteran or military service member and to provide any information concerning the suicide of such veteran or military service member to the Department of Veterans Services. The bill also provides that the Commissioner of the Department of Veterans Services may request, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall deliver to the Commissioner, a copy of an autopsy report of a veteran or military service member whose cause and manner of death is determined to be a suicide. The bill also reestablishes the position of Suicide Prevention Coordinator as the Suicide Prevention Program and requires such Program to, in coordination with the State Police, compile and analyze data relating to such suicides to be included in the annual report submitted by the Department to the Governor and the General Assembly.
Bill status
passed
3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
House of Delegates Passage
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 4, 2025
Last action Feb 17, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
Introduced
→
Engrossed
·
1 edit
·
Feb 17, 2025
MINOR
The bill was amended to refine the language describing who is covered by suicide prevention data collection requirements. The changes remove the specific enumeration of 'naval, and air service members' and replace it with bracketed text indicating optional inclusion of those terms, suggesting a decision was made to simplify the language while maintaining the same protective intent for all military service members.
Scope change
The scope of the bill remains focused on suicide prevention for veterans and military service members, but the specific terminology used to define covered individuals was streamlined.
DEFINITION
The phrase 'active military, naval, and air service members' was changed to '[active] military [, naval, and air]' in the bill text, indicating a formatting or drafting adjustment to the definition of covered service members.
Floor votes · House of Delegates Feb 4, 2025
How they voted
99–0
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 100
Feb 4, 2025
D
Democratic51
100% Yea
R
Republican49
97% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
22
Key actions
8
Committee
8
Amendments
3
Feb 12, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported from General Laws and Technology with amendments and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 5, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology
upper
Feb 4, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed House (99-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 4, 2025
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (97-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 3, 2025
Introduced
Engrossed by House as amended
lower
Feb 3, 2025
Lower · Passed
Appropriations Amendments agreed to
lower
Feb 3, 2025
Lower · Passed
Public Safety Amendments agreed to
lower
Jan 29, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported from Appropriations with amendment(s) (21-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 29, 2025
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (8-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 25, 2025
Committee
Assigned Approps sub: Transportation & Public Safety
lower
Jan 24, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported from Public Safety with amendment(s) and referred to Appropriations (22-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 14, 2025
Committee
Referred from General Laws and referred to Public Safety (Voice Vote)
lower
Jan 4, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on General Laws
lower
1 primary · 13 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
David Reid
DDemocratic
Co
Atoosa Reaser
DDemocratic
Co
Cia Price
DDemocratic
Co
Destiny LeVere Bolling
DDemocratic
Co
Elizabeth Bennett-Parker
DDemocratic
Co
J.R. Henson
DDemocratic
Co
Jackie Glass
DDemocratic
Co
Josh Thomas
DDemocratic
Co
Karen Keys-Gamarra
DDemocratic
Co
Kathy Tran
DDemocratic
Co
Mike Cherry
RRepublican
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