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SPONSORED LEGISLATION
HB894 - Virginia Freedom of Information Act; electronic meetings.
Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker, Adele Y. McClure, Joshua G. Cole
Last updated 7 months ago
12 Co-Sponsors
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; electronic meetings. Amends the number of all-virtual public meetings that public bodies, with certain exceptions, may convene in a calendar year to no more than two times per calendar year or 50 percent of the meetings held per calendar year rounded up to the next whole number, whichever is greater. Current law limits the number of all-virtual public meetings to no more than two times per calendar year or 25 percent of the meetings held per calendar year rounded up to the next whole number, whichever is greater. The bill also provides that with respect to all-virtual public meetings, when audio-visual technology is available, a member of a public body shall, for purposes of a quorum, be considered absent from any portion of the meeting during which visual communication with the member is voluntarily disconnected or otherwise fails or during which audio communication involuntarily fails.
STATUS
Passed
HJR27 - Coach Appreciation Week designating as week of October 6, 2024 and each succeeding year thereafter.
Marcia S. Price, Nadarius E. Clark, Joshua G. Cole
Last updated 7 months ago
16 Co-Sponsors
Coach Appreciation Week. Designates the week of October 6, in 2024 and in each succeeding year, as Coach Appreciation Week in Virginia.
STATUS
Passed
HB689 - SUDP; Office of Chief Medical Examiner to publish information on its website.
Holly M. Seibold, Nadarius E. Clark, Joshua G. Cole
Last updated 9 months ago
9 Co-Sponsors
Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy; protocol; information; training. Requires the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to take certain actions upon the finding that an individual died from Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP), defined in the bill. The bill directs the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to publish information on SUDEP and a SUDEP death investigation form on its website. Additionally, the bill requires the Chief Medical Examiner and local medical examiners to complete training in the investigation of SUDEP on a triennial basis. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025. Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy; protocol; information; training. Requires the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to take certain actions upon the finding that an individual died from Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP), defined in the bill. The bill directs the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to publish information on SUDEP and a SUDEP death investigation form on its website. Additionally, the bill requires the Chief Medical Examiner and local medical examiners to complete training in the investigation of SUDEP on a triennial basis. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025.
STATUS
Introduced
HB256 - Health care providers & grocery store workers; employers to provide paid sick leave, effective date.
Candi Mundon King, Irene Shin, Bonita Grace Anthony
Last updated 9 months ago
19 Co-Sponsors
Paid sick leave; health care providers and grocery store workers. Requires employers to provide paid sick leave to health care providers and grocery store workers. Under current law, employers are only required to provide paid sick leave to certain home health workers. The bill removes requirements that workers work on average at least 20 hours per week or 90 hours per month to be eligible for paid sick leave. The bill provides that certain health care providers may waive their right to accrue and use paid sick leave and provides an exemption for employers of certain other health care providers. The bill requires the Department of Labor and Industry to develop guidelines for retail employers that sell groceries to provide sick leave and to publish such guidelines by December 1, 2024. The provisions of the bill other than the requirement for the Department of Labor and Industry to develop guidelines have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025.
STATUS
Introduced
HB1318 - 1915(c) Home and Community-Based Services Medicaid Waivers; state plan amendments, program rule.
Joshua G. Cole, Irene Shin, Tony O. Wilt
Last updated 6 months ago
4 Co-Sponsors
Department of Medical Assistance Services; Department Department of Medical Assistance Services; Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; 1915(c) Home and Community-Based Services Medicaid Waivers; state plan amendments; program rule modifications. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to seek to modify the program rules for certain 1915(c) Home and Community-Based Services Medicaid Waivers to eliminate the requirement that in order for a legally responsible individual to receive reimbursement for personal care services, no one else be available to provide such services to the Medicaid member.
STATUS
Passed
HB1423 - Home care services; publication of information.
Joshua G. Cole
Last updated 6 months ago
1 Co-Sponsor
Department of Medical Assistance Services; publication of information related to home care services. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to annually publish on its website the average hourly payment rates for home care services for each type of service provided. The bill also requires the Department to publish the total number of Medicaid-paid home care claims and the number of Medicaid enrollees who received home care services in the prior year.
STATUS
Passed
HB1244 - Restorative housing and isolated confinement; restrictions on use.
Joshua G. Cole, Candi Mundon King, Patrick A. Hope
Last updated 6 months ago
6 Co-Sponsors
Restorative housing and isolated confinement; restrictions on use. Prohibits the use of isolated confinement, defined in the bill, in state correctional facilities, subject to certain exceptions. The bill requires that before placing an incarcerated person in restorative housing or isolated confinement for his own protection, the facility administrator shall place an incarcerated person in a less-restrictive setting, including by transferring such person to another institution or to a special-purpose housing unit for incarcerated persons who face similar threats. The bill requires that if an incarcerated person is placed in restorative housing or isolated confinement, such placement shall be reviewed every 48 hours and the facility administrator shall ensure that the incarcerated person receives a medical and mental health evaluation from certified medical and mental health professionals within one working day of placement in restorative housing or any form of isolated confinement. The bill also requires the facility administrator to notify the regional administrator in writing that an incarcerated person was placed in restorative housing or isolated confinement within 24 hours of such placement. Finally, the bill requires that formal reviews of an incarcerated person's placement in any form of isolated confinement shall be held in such person's presence, inform him of any reason or reasons administrative officials believe isolated confinement remains necessary, and give the incarcerated person an opportunity to respond to those reasons, and a formal ruling shall be provided to the incarcerated individual within 24 hours.
STATUS
Vetoed
HB1098 - Family bereavement leave; employee restoration of position, etc.
Sam Rasoul, Betsy B. Carr, Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker
Last updated 6 months ago
21 Co-Sponsors
Unpaid family bereavement leave; required; remedies. Requires that an employer that employs 50 or more employees provide eligible employees, defined in the bill, with up to 10 days of unpaid family bereavement leave in any 12-month period to (i) attend the funeral or funeral equivalent of a covered family member; (ii) make arrangements necessitated by the death of a covered family member; (iii) grieve the death of a covered family member; or (iv) be absent from work due to (a) a miscarriage, (b) an unsuccessful round of intrauterine insemination or of an assisted reproductive technology procedure, (c) a failed adoption match or an adoption that is not finalized because it is contested by another party, (d) a failed surrogacy agreement, (e) a diagnosis that negatively impacts pregnancy or fertility, or (f) a stillbirth. The bill requires the employee to provide notice of his intent to take the leave if reasonable and practicable and provides that an employer may require reasonable documentation of the death or event. The bill requires the employer to restore the employee's position following the leave, to continue to provide coverage for the employee under any health benefit plan, and to pay the employee any commission earned prior to the leave. The bill prohibits the employer from taking retaliatory action against the employee for taking family bereavement leave and provides that, if an employer fails to provide unpaid family bereavement leave or engages in such prohibited retaliatory action, an employee may bring an action against the employer in a court of competent jurisdiction. Unpaid family bereavement leave; required; remedies. Requires that an employer that employs 50 or more employees provide eligible employees, defined in the bill, with up to 10 days of unpaid family bereavement leave in any 12-month period to (i) attend the funeral or funeral equivalent of a covered family member; (ii) make arrangements necessitated by the death of a covered family member; (iii) grieve the death of a covered family member; or (iv) be absent from work due to (a) a miscarriage, (b) an unsuccessful round of intrauterine insemination or of an assisted reproductive technology procedure, (c) a failed adoption match or an adoption that is not finalized because it is contested by another party, (d) a failed surrogacy agreement, (e) a diagnosis that negatively impacts pregnancy or fertility, or (f) a stillbirth. The bill requires the employee to provide notice of his intent to take the leave if reasonable and practicable and provides that an employer may require reasonable documentation of the death or event. The bill requires the employer to restore the employee's position following the leave, to continue to provide coverage for the employee under any health benefit plan, and to pay the employee any commission earned prior to the leave. The bill prohibits the employer from taking retaliatory action against the employee for taking family bereavement leave and provides that, if an employer fails to provide unpaid family bereavement leave or engages in such prohibited retaliatory action, an employee may bring an action against the employer in a court of competent jurisdiction.
STATUS
Vetoed
HB1314 - Political campaign advertisements; advertisements sponsored by a person or nonparty committee.
Joshua G. Cole
Last updated 9 months ago
1 Co-Sponsor
Elections; political campaign advertisements; advertisements sponsored by a person or political committee that is not a party committee. Elections; political campaign advertisements; advertisements sponsored by a person or political committee that is not a party committee.
STATUS
Introduced
HB909 - 1915(c) Home and Community Based Services Medicaid Waivers; state plan amdmts., prog. modifications.
Irene Shin, Tony O. Wilt, Marcia S. Price
Last updated 6 months ago
9 Co-Sponsors
Department of Medical Assistance Services; Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; 1915(c) Home and Community Based Services Medicaid Waivers; state plan amendments; program rule modifications. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to seek federal authority through the necessary state plan amendments under Titles XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act to modify the program rules for certain 1915(c) Home and Community Based Services Medicaid Waivers to (i) modify the 40-hour-per-week work limit to allow legally responsible individuals with more than one waiver-receiving child to receive reimbursement for 40 hours of work per week per child receiving a waiver; (ii) eliminate the requirement that, in order for a legally responsible individual to receive reimbursement for personal care services, no one else be available to provide services to the member; and (iii) modify the program rules to allow a legally responsible individual or stepparent to be the employer of record. The bill directs DMAS to evaluate the possibility of allowing for respite services under certain 1915(c) Home and Community Based Services Medicaid Waivers and submit its recommendations, cost estimate, and methodology used for obtaining the cost estimate to the General Assembly no later than November 1, 2024.
STATUS
Passed
BIOGRAPHY
INCUMBENT
Representative from Virginia district HD-028
COMMITTEES
Virginia House
BIRTH
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ABOUT
Joshua G. Cole is a Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, representing District 29. He assumed office on December 1, 2018. Cole attended West Virginia University where he earned his B.S. in Business Administration in 2015. Cole serves on the Natural Resources, Small Business - Entrepreneurship - Economic Development, and Technology and Infrastructure committees. Prior to his election, Cole worked for U.S. Senator Joe Manchin.read less
OFFICES HELD
Virginia House from Virginia
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