SB 740 Virginia Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Medicine, Board of; continuing education, unconscious bias and cultural competency.

Summary

Board of Medicine; continuing education; unconscious bias and cultural competency. Directs the Board of Medicine to require unconscious bias and cultural competency training as part of the continuing education requirements for renewal of licensure. The bill specifies requirements for the training and requires the Board of Medicine to report the number of licensees who have successfully completed such training to the Department of Health and the Virginia Neonatal Perinatal Collaborative. This bill is identical to HB 1649.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

Bill status vetoed 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Sep 2024

Committee Review

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Feb 2025

House of Delegates Passage

Feb 2025

Vetoed

May 2025

Introduced Sep 25, 2024 Vetoed May 2, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Governor Substitute Not Adopted → Enrolled · 5 edits · Feb 16, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was converted from a Governor's substitute proposal to an Enrolled Act, finalizing its passage into law. The primary change is a shift in focus from specific maternal health training to a broader requirement for unconscious bias and cultural competency training for all medical licensees. This new mandate applies to every license renewal period rather than being a one-time requirement for specific populations.

Scope change

The scope expanded from a targeted requirement for practitioners working with maternal populations to a universal requirement for all persons licensed by the Board of Medicine.

REQUIREMENT

The specific training topic changed from maternal health care during pregnancy and postpartum to unconscious bias and cultural competency.

A new section was added requiring the first training session to specifically cover how unconscious racial bias affects pregnancy and postpartum care.

ELIGIBILITY

The requirement now applies to all licensees of the Board of Medicine, removing the previous restriction to those working with maternal populations.

TIMELINE

The training is now required for every license renewal period instead of a one-time completion by a specific deadline.

ENFORCEMENT

The Board is now explicitly required to promulgate regulations to enforce these continuing education requirements.

Floor votes · Senate Jan 24, 2025 · House of Delegates Feb 11, 2025

How they voted

37–0

Passed · 3 other

Total votes 40

Jan 24, 2025

D Democratic21

20 Yea 1

95% Yea

R Republican19

17 Yea 2

89% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 2, 2025

Vetoed

Vetoed by Governor

executive

Apr 2, 2025

Vetoed

Senate rejected Governor's recommendation (17-Y 23-N)

upper

Mar 24, 2025

Vetoed

Governor's recommendation received by Senate

executive

Feb 16, 2025

Upper · Passed

Signed by President

upper

Feb 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

Signed by Speaker

lower

Feb 13, 2025

Upper · Passed

Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB740ER)

upper

Feb 11, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed House (50-Y 44-N)

lower

Feb 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported from Health and Human Services (14-Y 8-N)

lower

Feb 3, 2025

Committee

Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services

lower

Jan 28, 2025

Upper · Passed

Read third time and passed Senate (23-Y 14-N)

upper

Jan 24, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed by for the day

upper

Jan 23, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported from Education and Health (10-Y 4-N)

upper

Jan 17, 2025

Committee

Assigned Education sub: Health Professions

upper

Sep 25, 2024

Committee

Referred to Committee on Education and Health

upper

1 primary · 3 co-sponsors