Virginia Retirement System; return to work; break in service. Reduces from six months to one month the length of the required break in service after retirement for a teacher before such person may return to work full time and continue to receive his pension under the Virginia Retirement System.
Virginia Health Care Fund; additional funding and uses; emergency. Expands allowable funding sources of the Virginia Health Care Fund to include appropriated state general fund moneys and moneys from public and private sources. The bill allows moneys from the Fund to be used for financial assistance to organizations and service providers that provide health care services, or expand the provision of health care services, to populations protected by the Virginia Human Rights Act. The bill contains an emergency clause.
Elections; districts, precincts, and polling places; super precincts; pilot program. Authorizes the State Board of Elections to conduct a pilot program under which one or more counties or cities with a population of more than 350,000 and less than 400,000 in the most recent United States census whose proposal for participation in such pilot program is unanimously approved by the State Board would be permitted to use super precincts in elections. The bill requires the governing body of a county or city applying to participate in the pilot program to submit a plan for participation that includes (i) the number of super precincts to be established in the county or city and the boundaries of each such super precinct, (ii) the number of vote centers to be established in each super precinct and the location of each such vote center, (iii) the elections during which such super precincts and vote centers are to be used, and (iv) a description of the process for operating such vote centers on election day, including how voters will be checked in, how ballots will be provided, how votes will be counted, and any additional voting systems that will be used to ensure the integrity of the election. The bill defines "super precinct" as the territory established by a county or city and approved by the State Board pursuant to the pilot program, to be served by one or more vote centers, and "vote center" as the structure that contains a place provided for a super precinct at which the qualified voters who are residents of the super precinct may vote in an election. The bill contains minimum criteria for any proposal for participation in the pilot program. The bill requires the State Board report on the implementation and effectiveness of the pilot program by December 1 of any year in which one or more localities participate in the pilot program. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2030.
Expenses of localities and constitutional offices related to presidential visits; publishing unreimbursed expenses; budget. Requires each locality and constitutional officer to determine all expenses of the locality or office of the constitutional officer, respectively, related to the provision of security for visits to the locality by the President of the United States. The bill specifies that a locality or office of a constitutional officer that incurs such expenses shall seek reimbursement from the appropriate agency of the federal government within 30 days of incurring the expenses and shall concurrently publish such expenses on its official website, if one exists. The bill also requires each locality and constitutional officer that anticipates incurring expenses in the upcoming fiscal year related to the provision of security for visits to the locality by the President of the United States to include the total anticipated expenses in the locality's budget or the constitutional officer's budget request for such fiscal year.
Elections; primary dates; presidential year primaries. Provides that all primaries for offices to be filled at the November election in presidential election years shall be held on the date of the presidential primary. With respect to candidates for election in November of a presidential election year, the bill also lifts the requirement that petition signatures must be collected after January 1 of the presidential election year. The bill adjusts campaign finance filing deadlines for candidates in presidential year elections to account for the March primary date.
Absentee voting in person; voter satellite offices; days and hours of operation. Authorizes the governing body of any county or city establishing voter satellite offices for absentee voting in person to prescribe, by ordinance, the dates and hours of operation for such offices. The bill requires the governing body to provide notice to the general registrar of the county or city at least two weeks prior to the enactment of any such ordinance.
Maternal Health Monitoring Pilot Program established; report. Directs the Department of Health to implement the Maternal Health Monitoring Pilot Program that provides for remote patient monitoring for maternal hypertension and maternal diabetes. The bill requires the Department to select a managed care organization and technology vendor to administer the Pilot Program and to submit a report to the Governor and General Assembly no later than 18 months after the first eligible participant is enrolled in the Pilot Program.
Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention Act; fund and council established; report. Establishes the Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention Fund (the Fund) to provide funding to support clinical research and implementation of FDA Breakthrough Therapies, defined in the bill, for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, treatment-resistant depression, major depressive disorder, and traumatic brain injury. Under the bill, the Fund shall be used to (i) establish public-private partnerships to jointly fund Phase III clinical trials of FDA Breakthrough Therapies; (ii) conduct investigator-initiated clinical trials; (iii) establish a compassionate use program; (iv) create education and training opportunities for mental health professionals; (v) begin patient access pilot programs; and (vi) conduct implementation studies for best practices, cost-effectiveness, and methods to reduce treatment costs. The bill also establishes the Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention Advisory Council to advise the Department of Health on administration of grant funding or contracting to carry out the purposes of the Fund. Finally, the bill requires the Board of Pharmacy to amend its regulations to designate, reschedule, or deschedule a controlled substance in accordance with federal law after the expiration of 30 days from the publication in the Federal Register of a final or interim final order or rule.
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 54.1-2971.2, relating to physicians; informed consent; disclosure of certain information prior to hysterectomy or oophorectomy.
Public institutions of higher education; governing boards; appointment and composition of members; powers and duties; legal counsel. Amends several provisions relating to the employment, oversight, and management of the legal counsel for each public institution of higher education. The bill also amends the requirements relating to the appointment of members to and the composition of the governing board of each public institution of higher education, including (i) changing the required number of members to 18; (ii) expanding the term of each member of a governing board from four years to six years; (iii) requiring each governing board to appoint one member of the faculty, one member of the staff, and one student to the respective board as voting members; (iv) modifying procedural requirements for gubernatorial appointments and the confirmation of gubernatorial requirements by the General Assembly; and (v) amending and clarifying several procedural requirements specific to the appointment of members of governing boards, including appointments to fill vacancies and nomination and confirmation procedures and timelines. The bill also changes the procedures and requirements for the appointment of members to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and amends the requirements relating to meetings of and exercise of authority by each governing board and any executive committee appointed by a governing board pursuant to applicable law. Finally, the bill clarifies and expands the duties of each governing board in its collective capacity, and of the members of each governing board in their individual capacities, regarding (a) the primary duties of governing boards to advance the interests of the institution and the people of the Commonwealth, (b) duties relating to ideological and partisan neutrality and the protection of academic freedom and freedom of speech, and (c) duties relating to the relationship of the governing board and the institution's administration, faculty, and students.
Local health directors; evaluation criteria; reports. Requires the State Health Commissioner to establish evaluation criteria for each local health director heading a local health department no later than October 1, 2026. The bill further requires the Commissioner to evaluate each local health director on an annual basis using such criteria and issue a written report that includes findings of such evaluation to each director and, in certain cases, to the General Assembly.
Gift certificates; international transactions; fraud reports. Amends the definition of "gift certificate" and prohibits merchants from selling a gift certificate as part of an international transaction without first implementing a 24-hour hold on the activation of such gift certificate. The bill also requires local law enforcement to communicate reports of gift certificate fraud to the Internet Crime Complaint Center of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
