Public employees; repeals existing prohibition on collective bargaining, etc.

The entity created in the bill was changed from the 'Virginia Home Care Council' to the 'Virginia Home Care Authority'.

The oversight authority for the new entity was changed from the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to the Department of Medical Assistance Services.

The duties of the new entity were modified to include acting as a 'joint employer' for individual providers, ensuring timely payments and tax withholdings, and maintaining personnel records.

The requirement for individual provider training was changed from an orientation to a mandatory 'paid training program'.

The method for matching participants with providers was changed from creating a 'system for participants to identify' providers to the Authority actively creating a 'system to match' them.

The creation of a new 'Public Employee Relations Board' to oversee collective bargaining was entirely removed from the bill.

The name of the oversight body was changed from 'Virginia Home Care Authority' to 'Virginia Home Care Council' throughout the text.

The definition of 'covered program' was expanded to include services funded by the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, whereas the draft only listed the Department of Medical Assistance Services.

The appointment authority for the Council's members was changed from the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to the Governor.

The requirement for providing contact information to employee organizations was changed from '10 days' to '10 business days'.

The duty to provide contact information to unions was modified to exclude 'work address' and 'work telephone number,' retaining only home and personal contact details.

The orientation requirement for individual providers was changed from a 'mandatory orientation program' to simply 'arrange for the provision of an orientation,' removing the mandatory attendance requirement.

The list of duties for the Council was shortened; specific duties regarding matching participants with providers, paid training programs, and serving as a communications hub were removed or significantly altered in the final version.

Added a new chapter creating the Virginia Home Care Authority within the Department of Medical Assistance Services to oversee home care programs.

Added a mandate for the Public Employee Relations Board to review and evaluate the appropriateness of existing collective bargaining units and report recommendations by September 1, 2027.

Added a requirement for governing boards of public institutions of higher education to assess the potential impact of the act on tuition as part of their six-year planning.

Added a requirement for the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to evaluate options for providing collective bargaining rights to consumer-directed individual providers in Medicaid programs and report findings by November 15, 2026.

Changed the bill title from 'Senate Substitute' to 'House Substitute' and updated the committee attribution to the House Committee on Labor and Commerce.

Added new definitions for 'Authority', 'Covered program', 'Direct support services', 'Individual provider', 'Participant', and 'Participant representative' related to home care.

The House version extends the section numbers for the new public employee articles to 40.1-57.25 and adds new sections regarding the Virginia Home Care Authority (32.1-331.18 through 32.1-331.21).

All text creating the Virginia Home Care Authority, including its composition, powers, duties, and the requirement to act as a joint employer for individual home care providers, was deleted.

Provisions requiring the Authority to establish a central registry for providers, create a matching system, provide paid training, and collect workforce data were removed.

Definitions related to the Authority, covered programs, and individual providers were removed from the definitions section.

The bill's effective date for new appointments was changed from staggered terms starting in 2026 to a general effective date of July 1, 2026, for existing representatives.

The bill number was updated from 26106841D to 26107922D, and the committee proposing the bill was changed from Commerce and Labor to Finance and Appropriations.