Equity in public school funding and staffing; special education students; at-risk students; annual report. Establishes in Standard of Quality 2 the At-Risk Program and a state-supported add-on for special education students and requires corresponding formulas for the funding of such initiatives to be established in the general appropriation act. The bill also requires the Department of Education to report annually to the House Committees on Education and Appropriations and the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and on Education and Health the total and per pupil annual operating expenditures from local, state, and federal sources in each school division and the change in expenditures from each such source over the immediately preceding two-year, three-year, and five-year timeframes, expressed in both dollar amounts and percentages.
Department of Corrections; investigations of violent incidents. Designates the Department of State Police as the law-enforcement agency responsible for investigating (i) alleged serious violent incidents that result in the death of either an inmate or officer and (ii) alleged or suspected incidents of inmate suicide.
Malicious bodily injury to correctional officers; penalties. Provides that if any person maliciously causes bodily injury to another by any means, including the means set out in existing law, with intent to maim, disfigure, disable, or kill, and knowing or having reason to know that such other person is a correctional officer, as defined in relevant law, engaged in the performance of his public duties as a correctional officer, such person is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for a period of not less than five years nor more than 30 years and, subject to existing law, a fine of not more than $100,000; upon conviction, the sentence of such person shall include a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of two years. The bill also provides that if any person unlawfully, but not maliciously, with the intent aforesaid, causes bodily injury to another by any means, knowing or having reason to know such other person is a correctional officer engaged in the performance of his public duties as a correctional officer, he is guilty of a Class 6 felony, and upon conviction, the sentence of such person shall include a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of one year.
Newborn screening requirements; Gaucher disease. Directs the Department of Health to amend regulations to include Gaucher disease under the Commonwealth's newborn screening panel.
Procedure for use of prior conviction as element of offense charged. Establishes a procedure for using a defendant's prior conviction to prove an element of an offense charged or to enhance the punishment for the offense charged.
Department of Medical Assistance Services; Medicaid waivers; consumer-directed services; employer of record. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) to modify the program rules for consumer-directed services available through certain Medicaid waivers to allow an individual receiving services to serve as the employer of record (EOR) for his own service delivery and designate another individual to perform all or a portion of the duties of the EOR on the individual's behalf when the individual receiving services is unable to perform such duties or direct his own care. The bill specifies that when an individual (i) has not yet reached the age of majority, (ii) is ineligible to use his existing employer identification number (EIN) to facilitate the taxation of benefits, or (iii) is otherwise determined to be ineligible by DMAS by administrative rule, the EIN shall be assigned to the individual receiving services and shall not be transferred to another individual. Under the bill, DMAS has the authority to limit such amendments to specify that an individual receiving services may make such designation no more than twice per calendar year.
Department of Education; individualized education programs; social skills development. Directs the Department of Education to develop and make available to each school board (i) guidelines for including in individualized education programs strategies and supports to address and prevent bullying, harassment, and teasing, and (ii) model instructional programs or materials for students on awareness, understanding, and acceptance of neurodivergence.
Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for certain cancers. Expands the workers' compensation presumption of compensability for certain cancers causing the death or disability of certain employees who have completed five years of service in their position to include lung cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma for any individual diagnosed with such a condition on or after July 1, 2027.
Virginia Conservation Easement Act; definitions; federally recognized tribes. Provides that a federally recognized tribe, as defined in the bill, can be a conservation easement holder and that such a tribe is not bound by the same restrictions on the location of a principal office or the duration of existence that are placed on other types of easement holders. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on Updating Virginia Law to Reflect Federal Recognition of Virginia Tribes.
School board chairmen and vice-chairmen; additional annual salary; amount. Permits any school board to pay (i) the chairman of the school board an additional annual salary not exceeding 30 percent of the base annual salary or $3,500, whichever is greater, and (ii) the vice-chairman of the school board an additional annual salary not exceeding 15 percent of the base annual salary or $1,750, whichever is greater. Current law caps school board chairmen's additional annual salary at $2,000 and is silent on additional annual salary amounts for school board vice-chairmen.
Department of Medical Assistance Services; Medicaid estate recoveries. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services (the Department) to limit the operation of its estate recovery program to the recovery of only federally required costs. The bill directs the Department to make information on estate recovery available on its website in multiple languages. The bill directs the Department to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill.
Marine Products Board; blue catfish; Chesapeake Wild Harvest certification. Directs the Marine Products Board to establish and maintain a voluntary Chesapeake Wild Harvest certification and labeling program for any blue catfish that is taken or caught in the Chesapeake Bay or its tributaries and is processed in the Commonwealth. The bill prohibits any person from labeling any product as Chesapeake Wild Harvest unless such product conforms to the provisions of the bill.
