Legislation Update
Crossover, the date by which all legislation must pass out of its Chamber of origin, is Tuesday, February 4. Here are some updates on my bills:
Bills That Have Passed the Senate:
SB1064 - This bill expedites the process for the Certificate of Public Need (COPN) for the addition of psychiatric beds in facilities and clinics to meet the increasing need for mental health services. It passed the Senate with unanimous support (39-0) and now heads to the House of Delegates for consideration.
SB1081 - This bill dissolves the TPA-Formulary and the TPA-Formulary Committee which has now become obsolete. The Board of Optometry makes decisions on essential concerns for professionals of optometry, and the Board is bound by the standards and scope of practice for optometrists. This bill passed the Senate unanimously (39-0) and has been sent to the House of Delegates.
SB1100 - This bill enables Dominion Energy to seek the approval of the State Corporation Commission (SCC) and establish a pilot program for virtual power plants. Virtual power plants enable us to meet growing energy demands by combining a network of small-scale, distributed energy resources (DER) like rooftop solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicles. The Virtual Power Plant connects and manages these DERs in a system that enables them to act as a single large power plant, allowing them to collectively respond to grid demands and provide stability to the electricity supply. Although the bill received strong bipartisan support in the Commerce and Labor Committee, the legislation passed the full Senate with limited GOP support because of misinformation delivered by one of my Republican colleagues. He thought that the bill would allow Dominion Energy to control his refrigerator. As we move forward with the legislation, I encourage all of my colleagues to review and understand the role that Virtual Power Plants can play in addressing our energy needs. Regardless, the bill passed the Senate, and it now heads to the House.
SB1104 - This bill establishes key guidelines and protections for student-athletes engaged in outdoor training and sports under conditions of extreme heat. Ensuring our students are safe while participating in extracurriculars should be commonsense policy; the bill updates requirements for schools to include appropriate evaluation of humidity and heat, and to have cooling tubs or tarps for emergency situations. Tragically, a young athlete in Central Virginia died from heat stroke this past summer; for this reason I introduced the bill to protect and save the lives of students. While the bill offers commonsense recommendations, my Republican colleagues still voted against it, and thus the legislation passed the Senate on a partyline vote (21-18).
SB1105 - This bill establishes the right to contraception and codifies it within Virginia Code. After the fall of Roe v. Wade, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas openly called for the Court to “re-consider” the constitutional right to contraception. Protecting access to contraception is overwhelmingly popular, with 81% of Americans supporting such legislation. Despite this, the legislation passed without a single Senate Republican member voting in support.
Bills on Final Read in the Senate:
SB1098 - The Reproductive Health Care and Gender Affirming Care Protection Act safeguards medical professionals who are providing reproductive health care and gender-affirming care that is legal in Virginia, shielding them from subpoena or extradition efforts of other states’ authorities.
SB979 - This legislation calls for a one year delayed enactment of the revised public school accountability system. It also calls for a comprehensive review of the accountability model recently established by the Virginia Department of Education to ensure that the new system is transparent and better measures both student growth as well as proficiency so that parents and educators can more effectively support student learning outcomes.
Bills That Were Incorporated into the Senate Budget:
The following bills were heard in the Senate and Finance Committee and were passed by, but still incorporated into the budget:
SB977 - This bill focuses on restoring school funding for our Standards of Quality (SOQ) and also proposes a more fair and equitable funding formula (as recommended by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission) for our K-12 schools. This legislation has been placed into the Senate budget to support JLARC recommendations for fully funding support positions.
SB978 - This bill addresses the need to improve student learning outcomes in mathematics by establishing the Office of Mathematics Improvement to help encourage opportunities for improving mathematics instruction for educators and mathematics learning outcomes for students. A significant portion of this legislation has been incorporated into the Senate budget.
SB1063 - This legislation addresses concerns raised by the passage last year of the College and Career Ready Program. The issues raised are addressed in the Senate budget.
SB1065 - This legislation establishes the Virginia Access Fund within the Commonwealth Savers Plan (formerly known as VA529), to support education accessibility, affordability, and attainability. This legislation was passed by in Finance and Appropriations, but it will be addressed in next year’s legislative discussions.
SB1099 - This legislation would establish a Solar Workforce Development Incentive Grant Program Fund by our Virginia Community College System, supporting development of a power purchase agreement (PPA) and increasing internship opportunities. Due to budget constraints, the bill was passed by in Finance and Appropriations.
SB1103 - This legislation would create regulations that would establish standards designed to protect employees during extreme heat conditions from heat illness. Over 200 heat-related deaths in high-hazard industries occurred just last year. Although this legislation was passed by due to budgetary constraints with the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI), the House passed its cognate of my bill, and I hope to continue to address concerns as we move forward this session.
SB1179 - This bill increases the Virginia Motion Picture Tax Credit Fund by $5M, for a total of $11.5 million beginning in fiscal year 2025. Virginia’s film industry generates $862 million annually and supports more than 5,000 workers, but the industry requires stable investments from the state in order to be competitive with neighboring states. Although funding for a film tax credit was not included in the Senate budget, my amendment to the budget allotting an additional $2.5 million to the Governor's Motion Picture Opportunity Fund was included to support Virginia’s film industry.
SB1414 - This legislation creates the Employee Child Care Assistance Pilot Program to provide the framework for Virginia to build its own model to incentivize employers to contribute to the childcare costs of their employees. Although the legislation did not continue this session, the program is outlined in the Senate budget.
Bills That Will Not Continue This Session
SB1062 - After passing the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee, my legislation establishing a statewide internship coordinator and intern professional development program was passed by indefinitely in the Finance and Appropriations Committee. Access to internships is vital for students to advance their careers and professional experience, while simultaneously creating a pipeline of talent for our state agencies. However, the House passed its cognate of my bill, and I hope to continue to address concerns as we move forward this session.
SB1178 - The legislation grants authority to localities to adopt strategies intended to facilitate the development of affordable housing on property owned by religious organizations or tax-exempt nonprofit organizations. I continue to work with advocates on the critical issues of housing scarcity and housing affordability.
