Teachers; employment and licensure; locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credentials. Establishes, enumerates criteria for, and permits a division superintendent or a comprehensive community college to issue a locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential, valid for a period not to exceed three years, to any individual who demonstrates expertise in content or subject matter area in order for such individual to provide instruction or coursework in a corresponding non-core subject or course, as that term is defined in the bill, in grades six through 12 at any public school in the Commonwealth or at a comprehensive community college in the Commonwealth, including dual enrollment or concurrent enrollment courses. The bill delineates the criteria for issuance of such locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential. The bill also contains several provisions relating to the employment of individuals under a locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential, including (i) permitting any school division or institution of higher education to hire any such individual on a full-time or part-time basis to teach a non-core subject or course; (ii) requiring any such individual to be subject to a background clearance check and the fingerprinting and criminal history records check requirements required as a condition of employment of any applicant who is offered or accepts employment at a school division pursuant to applicable law; (iii) requiring each employing school board to assign an individual employed by such school board as a mentor to supervise any individual issued a subject matter expert teaching credential; and (iv) permitting any division superintendent to renew an individual's locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential for a period not to exceed three additional years, provided that such individual receives satisfactory performance evaluations for each year of the original three-year locally awarded subject matter teaching credential. Finally, the bill requires each school division to annually report to the Department of Education the number of locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credentials issued for part-time and full-time teaching positions.
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 2.2-1837, 2.2-2801, 2.2-3108, 2.2-3711, 15.2-410, 15.2-512, 15.2-531, 15.2-533, 15.2-807, 15.2-824, 15.2-837, 15.2-855, 15.2-1211, 15.2-1400, 15.2-1522, 15.2-1524, 15.2-1544, 15.2-1545, 22.1-28, 22.1-29, 22.1-30, 22.1-31, 22.1-32, 22.1-57.1, 22.1-57.1:1, 22.1-57.3, 22.1-57.3:3, 22.1-71, 22.1-72, 22.1-75, 22.1-126.1, 24.2-129, 24.2-222.1, 24.2-223, 24.2-226, 24.2-227, 24.2-228, 24.2-502, 24.2-506, 58.1-605, and 58.1-3814 of the Code of Virginia and to repeal §§ 15.2-532, 15.2-628, and 22.1-29.1, Articles 2 through 6 (§§ 22.1-34 through 22.1-57) of Chapter 5 of Title 22.1, and §§ 22.1-57.2, 22.1-57.4, and 22.1-57.5 of the Code of Virginia, relating to school boards; method of selection; election required.
Zoning; data centers; water use. Authorizes a locality to include in its zoning ordinance provisions for (i) requiring proposed data center developments to submit water use estimates and (ii) considering water use when making rezoning and special use permit decisions related to data center development.
Gas pipeline safety; regulations. Requires that for pipeline facilities used in the interstate transport of gas, as defined in federal regulations, any gas transported in transmission lines in the Commonwealth shall be adequately odorized, with an exception for certain pipelines in operation before May 5, 1975. The bill directs the State Corporation Commission to promulgate regulations related to the provisions of the bill.
Health Care Regulatory Sandbox Program established. Requires the Department of Health to establish the Health Care Regulatory Sandbox Program to enable a person to obtain limited access to the market in the Commonwealth to temporarily test an innovative health care product or service on a limited basis without otherwise being licensed or authorized to act under the laws of the Commonwealth. Under the Program, an applicant requests the waiver of certain laws, regulations, or other requirements for a 24-month testing period, with an option to request an additional six-month testing period. The bill provides application requirements, consumer protections, procedures for exiting the Program or requesting an extension, and recordkeeping and reporting requirements. The bill requires the Department of Health to provide an annual report to the Chairs of the House Committee on Health and Human Services and the Senate Committee on Education and Health that provides information regarding each Program participant and recommendations regarding the effectiveness of the Program. The bill directs the Board of Health to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill and has an expiration date of July 1, 2030.
Students with individualized education programs or Section 504 Plans; emergency protocol and guide. Requires each individualized education program implemented for a public school student with a disability in accordance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and each Section 504 Plan implemented for a public school student in accordance with § 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to contain an addendum that has been reviewed and signed by the student's parent and that includes a protocol for individualized accommodations and supports for the student during emergency situations at school and a step-by-step guide on how to execute such protocol. The bill requires such addendum to be provided to all of such student's teachers for implementation.
Local anti-rent gouging authority; civil penalty. Provides that any locality may by ordinance adopt anti-rent gouging provisions. The bill provides for notice and a public hearing prior to the adoption of such ordinance and specifies that all landlords who are under the ordinance may be required to give at least two months' written notice of a rent increase and cannot increase the rent by more than the locality's calculated allowance, not to exceed three percent, and states that such allowance is effective for a 12-month period beginning July 1 each year. The bill requires the locality to publish such allowance on its website by June 1 of each year. Certain facilities, as outlined in the bill, are exempt from such ordinance. The bill also requires a locality to establish an anti-rent gouging board to establish rules and procedures by which landlords may apply for and be granted exemptions from the rent increase limits set by the ordinance or delegate such duties and functions to an existing local board, department, or agency. Finally, the bill provides that a locality shall establish a civil penalty for failure to comply with the requirements set out in its ordinance.
Elections; general provisions; prohibited area; within 40 feet of the curbside voting area. Adds the 40 feet beyond any area designated for voting outside the polling place to the prohibited area where campaigning and certain other activities are unlawful during elections.
Children's Services Act; state pool of funds. Makes a number of changes to the Children's Services Act state pool of funds for the provision of public or private nonresidential or residential services for troubled youth and families, including (i) removing the requirement that the Office of Children's Services consult with private special education services providers in developing the standard reporting template for tuition rates; (ii) removing from the purpose of the state pool of funds the consolidation of categorical agency funding and the institution of community responsibility for the provision of services; (iii) removing language specifying that references to funding sources and current placement authority for the target population served by the state pool of funds are for the purpose of accounting for the funds and should not be intended to categorize children and youth into funding streams in order to access services; (iv) modifying the target population served by the state pool of funds by (a) removing references to the Department of Education's private tuition assistance and the Interagency Assistance Fund for Noneducational Placement for Handicapped Children and (b) adding children and youth who are determined to be a child in need of services, as such term is defined in relevant law; (v) removing the requirement that the financial and legal responsibility for certain special education services remains with the placing jurisdiction, unless the placing jurisdiction has transitioned all appropriate services; (vi) requiring that the uniform assessment instrument used to determine eligibility for funding through the state pool of funds be approved by the State Executive Council for Children's Services; and (vii) modifying the eligibility criteria for funding through the state pool of funds by adding language that (a) specifies that the child or youth's emotional or behavioral problems have resulted in the child or youth, or place the child or youth at imminent risk of, entering purchased residential care and (b) includes the determination by a court that the child or youth is a child in need of services, as such term is defined in relevant law. The bill also includes technical changes. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Commission on Youth.
Data centers; noise abatement. Provides that any local government land use application required for the siting of a data center shall be approved only in accordance with certain notice and noise abatement requirements. The bill provides that residents within a half-mile radius of the parcel shall receive notice of the proposed data center and that the data center operator shall hold two neighborhood meetings. The bill requires a data center operator to design and build the data center to incorporate sound mitigation methods sufficient to prevent the sound levels emanating from the data center from exceeding the ambient noise levels that were observed in a baseline study, as determined by a third-party acoustic engineer. The bill also provides that upon issuance of a certificate of occupancy, and for five years thereafter, the data center operator shall conduct a noise study performed by a third-party acoustical engineer to document noise levels emanating from the data center measured at the property line of the nearest property to the data center property that is planned or zoned for residential land uses, or other noise-sensitive use as reasonably determined by the locality, during peak operation of the data center mechanical equipment. The bill also provides that if the data center operator intends to use backup power generators on the parcel, the operator shall maintain a public website announcing the times when the generators will be in operation. Finally, the bill provides that any noise ordinance adopted by a locality shall set maximum allowable sound levels for data centers, including by (i) using alternative low frequency noise metrics and (ii) setting noise rules and enforcement mechanisms in its zoning ordinance, separate from existing noise ordinances.
Prohibited conduct by health carriers and pharmacy benefits managers; civil penalty; enforcement. Prohibits any carrier, pharmacy benefits manager, or representative of a pharmacy benefits manager from (i) requiring that a covered individual purchase pharmacy services exclusively through a mail-order pharmacy or retail pharmacy affiliated with a pharmacy benefits manager or (ii) prohibiting or limiting a covered individual from selecting a pharmacy or pharmacist of his choice that has agreed to participate in the health benefit plan according to the terms of the plan. The bill adds a civil penalty of $5,000 for a violation of prohibited conduct by health carriers and pharmacy benefits managers and adds that the State Corporation Commission has authority to investigate any such violations.
Motor vehicle collisions; collection of certain mobile telephone data; collision reports. Requires that a law-enforcement officer include on any collision report the mobile telephone number, mobile telephone provider, and International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number for any driver involved in a motor vehicle collision. The bill allows an attorney who has certified that he represents a person injured in a motor vehicle collision to request in writing that the mobile telephone provider of the alleged tortfeasor preserve for a period of four years from the date of such collision certain information related to the mobile telephone of such alleged tortfeasor. The bill also allows such attorney to request in writing that the alleged tortfeasor preserve certain mobile telephone information for a period of three years from the date of such collision for the purpose of anticipated litigation. The bill also creates a rebuttable presumption of spoliation of evidence where an alleged tortfeasor fails to preserve mobile telephone records or provide the required information for a collision report. Finally, the bill requires, upon request from such attorney, the alleged tortfeasor's auto insurance company utilizing a telematics application to advise such attorney of the existence of such telematics application data and to preserve and provide such data upon such attorney's request.
