SB78 - Campaign advertisements; definitions, independent expenditures, electioneering communications.

3 Co-Sponsors

Campaign advertisements; independent expenditures; electioneering communications; disclaimer requirements. Broadens the scope of disclaimer requirements for campaign advertisements to include electioneering communications, as defined in the bill, and messages advocating for the passage or defeat of a referendum. The bill also requires an advertisement that is an independent expenditure or that expressly advocates for the passage or defeat of a referendum to contain a disclaimer providing the names of the advertisement sponsor's three largest contributors. The bill also requires independent expenditure reports to be filed electronically. Current law allows such reports to be filed either electronically or in writing.

SB19 - Recovery residences; death and serious injury reports.

2 Co-Sponsors

Recovery residences; death and serious injury reports. Requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to promulgate regulations that require recovery residences to report to the Department any death or serious injury that occurs in the recovery residence.

SB425 - Health insurance; ethics and fairness in carrier business practices.

1 Co-Sponsor

Health insurance; ethics and fairness in carrier business practices. Makes various changes to requirements governing the business practices of health carriers in the processing and payment of claims. The bill prescribes criteria for what constitutes a "clean claim." The bill prohibits a carrier from imposing any retroactive denial of a previously paid claim or in any other way seeking recovery or refund of a previously paid claim unless the carrier specifies in writing the specific claim or claims for which the retroactive denial is to be imposed or the recovery or refund is sought and the carrier has provided a written explanation of why the claim is being retroactively adjusted. The bill provides that the time limit for a retroactive denial is 12 months; however, a provider and a carrier may agree in writing that recoupment of overpayments by withholding or offsetting against future payments may occur after such 12-month limit. The bill requires carriers, beginning no later than July 1, 2025, to make available an electronic means for providers to determine whether an enrollee is covered by a health plan that is subject to the State Corporation Commission's jurisdiction. The bill provides that the ethics and fairness requirements apply to the carrier and provider, regardless of any vendors, subcontractors, or other entities that have been contracted by the carrier or the provider to perform their duties. The bill provides that if a carrier's claim denial is overturned following completion of a dispute review, the carrier is required to consider the claims impacted by such decision as clean claims and all applicable laws related to the payment of a clean claim apply. The bill prohibits a provider from filing a complaint with the State Corporation Commission for failure to pay claims unless such provider has made a reasonable effort to confer with the carrier in order to resolve the issues related to all claims that are under dispute. Finally, the bill requires all provider contracts, amendments, and notices and certain other communications to be delivered electronically.

SB174 - Financial institutions; reporting financial exploitation of elderly or vulnerable adults.

4 Co-Sponsors

Financial institutions; reporting financial exploitation of elderly or vulnerable adults. Permits a financial institution to allow an elderly or vulnerable adult, as defined in the bill, to submit and periodically update a list of trusted persons whom such financial institution or financial institution staff, as defined in the bill, may contact in the case of the suspected financial exploitation of such adult. The bill also permits a financial institution to conduct a training to instruct its staff on how to identify and report the suspected financial exploitation of an elderly or vulnerable adult internally at such financial institution, to a designated trusted contact, and to various other authorities. The bill directs the Bureau of Financial Institutions of the State Corporation Commission to develop and publish guidelines for such training by January 1, 2026. The bill provides that no financial institution staff that have received such training shall be liable in any civil or administrative proceeding for disclosing the suspected financial exploitation of an elderly or vulnerable adult pursuant to the bill's provisions if such disclosure was made in good faith and with reasonable care. The bill provides that no financial institution that has provided such training shall be liable for any such disclosure by financial institution staff.

SB656 - Terrorism hoax incident, etc.; reimbursement of expenses incurred to localities.

3 Co-Sponsors

Reimbursement of expenses incurred in responding to terrorism hoax incident, bomb threat, malicious activation of fire alarm, or false emergency communication to emergency personnel. Allows a locality that has an ordinance requiring any person over 18 years of age convicted of false emergency communication to emergency personnel to reimburse such locality at the time of sentencing or in a separate civil action to bill a flat fee of $2,500 or a minute-by-minute accounting of actual costs incurred. The bill also allows a locality that has an ordinance requiring any person under 18 years of age convicted of false emergency communication to emergency personnel to reimburse such locality at the time of sentencing or in a separate civil action to bill a flat fee of $2,500 or a minute-by-minute accounting of actual costs incurred, not to exceed $2,500. Current law allows a flat fee of $250 or a minute-by-minute accounting of actual costs incurred, in an amount not to exceed $2,500. Reimbursement of expenses incurred in responding to terrorism hoax incident, bomb threat, malicious activation of fire alarm, or false emergency communication to emergency personnel. Allows a locality that has an ordinance requiring any person over 18 years of age convicted of false emergency communication to emergency personnel to reimburse such locality at the time of sentencing or in a separate civil action to bill a flat fee of $2,500 or a minute-by-minute accounting of actual costs incurred. The bill also allows a locality that has an ordinance requiring any person under 18 years of age convicted of false emergency communication to emergency personnel to reimburse such locality at the time of sentencing or in a separate civil action to bill a flat fee of $2,500 or a minute-by-minute accounting of actual costs incurred, not to exceed $2,500. Current law allows a flat fee of $250 or a minute-by-minute accounting of actual costs incurred, in an amount not to exceed $2,500.

SJR66 - Celebrating the life of Charles Cragg Hines.

17 Co-Sponsors

SB80 - Decreasing probation period; establishes criteria for mandatory reduction.

3 Co-Sponsors

Decreasing probation period; criteria for mandatory reduction; report. Establishes criteria for which a defendant's supervised probation period shall be reduced, including completing qualifying educational activities, maintaining verifiable employment, and complying with or completing any state-certified or state-approved mental health or substance abuse treatment program. The bill provides that a court may decrease a defendant's probation period if warranted by the defendant's conduct and in the interests of justice and may do so without a hearing. The bill also directs the Department of Corrections to meet with relevant stakeholders and provide to the General Assembly by November 1, 2024, a report regarding certain probation practices. The provisions of the bill, other than the requirement that the Department submit a report to the General Assembly, are subject to reenactment by the 2025 Session of the General Assembly.

SB187 - Special education; revised staffing requirements, report.

3 Co-Sponsors

Department of Education; plan to revise special education staffing requirements; report. Directs the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and any other individuals with expertise in special education as the Department of Education deems appropriate, to develop a plan for revised special education staffing requirements that addresses staffing needs of individual school divisions and the needs of students who receive special education and aims to improve special education teacher recruitment and retention. The bill requires the Department of Education to submit a report on such plan to the Governor, the Senate Committee on Education and Health, and the House Committee on Education by November 1, 2024.

SB191 - Electric utilities; data center demand, allocation of costs among customer classes.

4 Co-Sponsors

Electric utilities; data center demand; allocation of costs among customer classes. Directs the State Corporation Commission to ensure that any plan, petition, or proposal from a utility to meet demand associated with data centers considers generation, transmission, and distribution system costs so as to meet such demand at the lowest aggregate reasonable cost. The bill also directs the Commission to initiate a proceeding, on or before December 31, 2024, (i) to determine if the current allocation of costs among customers and the different classifications of customers of electric utilities results in customers that are data centers receiving unreasonable subsidies from other customers or classifications of customers and (ii) if it determines unreasonable subsidies exist, to amend such allocation of costs.

SB220 - Special education and related services; definitions, utilization of Virginia IEP.

3 Co-Sponsors

Special education and related services. Makes several changes relating to special education and related services for children with disabilities in public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth, including requiring (i) the Department of Education to (a) develop, establish, review and update as necessary at least once every five years, and make available to each local school board an IEP writing, facilitation, tracking, and transfer system to be referred to as the Virginia IEP that includes, at a minimum, an IEP template component and a data system component and (b) develop and publish a data dashboard for the annual public reporting of state-level, division-level, and school-level special education data; (ii) each local school board to designate a faculty member to serve as a special education parent/family liaison to be a resource to parents and families to understand and engage in the referral, evaluation, reevaluation, and eligibility process if they suspect that their child has a disability and in the IEP process; and (iii) the Parent Training and Information Center in the Commonwealth designated pursuant to relevant federal law to establish special education family support centers in eight distinct regions of the Commonwealth that shall each be staffed by a regional special education family liaison employed by such center, coordinate with the designated special education parent/family liaisons in the local school divisions in the region, develop and implement outreach and support to parents of children with disabilities in its region, and track and report to the State Parent Ombudsman for Special Education data on questions and concerns raised by parents.