2017 General Assembly Comprehensive Report

Updated May 8, 2017

This report describes all education-related legislation as considered during the 2017 General Assembly Session. Legislation is reported as Passed or Failed and is linked to the Division of Legislative Services’ web pages for text, up to date summary information, fiscal impact statements, and final bill status. If a bill of interest is not found in one category, please check another as legislation often can fit under multiple labels.

Adopted legislation went into effect as of July 1, 2017, unless it was otherwise noted in the legislation itself.

BUSES/BUILDINGS/SAFETY – PASSED

Activation of Fire Alarms HB 1404 (Cole) and SB 1054 (Stuart) remove the condition that a building must be for public use in order for the Class 1 misdemeanor for maliciously activating a building's fire alarm to apply. The bill authorizes any locality to provide by ordinance that a person convicted of maliciously activating a fire alarm is liable for the reasonable expense in responding to such a fire alarm.

Confidentiality of Department of Juvenile Justice Records; Gang Task Forces. HB 2287 (Collins) and SB 1288 (McDougle) permit the Department of Juvenile Justice to disclose, at its discretion, the social reports and records of children who are committed to the Department to a gang task force, provided that its membership consists of only representatives of state or local government or includes a law-enforcement officer who are present at the time of the disclosure.

Lead Testing in School Buildings SB 1359 (McPike) requires each local school board to develop and implement a plan to test and, if necessary, remediate potable water from sources identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as high priority, giving priority in such testing plan to schools whose school building was constructed, in whole or in part, before 1986. NOTE that a related bill, HB 2089 (Kory), did not pass.

Procurement; Energy Performance-Based Contracting HB 1712 (Minchew) authorizes a public body, defined as a contracting entity, to purchase energy conservation or operational efficiency measures from an energy performance-based contract entered into by another contracting entity pursuant to the Energy and Operational Efficiency Performance-Based Contracting Act even if the entity did not participate in the request for proposals if the request for proposals specified that the procurement was being conducted on behalf of other contracting entities. The measure permits the use of cooperative procurement for energy conservation or operational efficiency measures in such instances. The bill provides however, that energy conservation or operational efficiency measures does not include roof replacement project.

School Security Officers Carrying a Firearm in Performance of Duties HB 1392 (Lingamfelter) gives local school boards authority to allow school security officers to carry a firearm in the performance of their duties if they have served as an active law-enforcement officer not less than 10 years prior to being hired as a school security officer; retired or resigned from a law-enforcement position in good standing; provided proof to the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) of completion of training that includes active shooter emergency response, emergency evacuation procedure, and threat assessment; provided that if he received the training from a local law-enforcement agency, it must have been the law-enforcement agency of the locality in which he would be employed; the local school board must have solicited input from the chief law-enforcement officer of the locality where he will be employed regarding the qualifications of the school security officer and received verification that the applicant is not prohibited from possessing, purchasing, or transporting a firearm. NOTE that a similar bill, HB 1907 (Heretick), did not pass.

Sex Offenses Prohibiting Proximity to Children HB 1485 (Bell, R.P.) includes in the list of certain sex offenses that prohibit a person convicted of such offenses from being or residing in proximity to schools and certain other property where children congregate or from working on school property any offense similar to such offenses under the laws of any foreign country or political subdivision thereof or the United States or any political subdivision thereof. The prohibition only applies to residences established on or after July 1, 2017. NOTE that similar legislation, SB 1072 (Deeds), did not pass.

Training on the Prevention of Trafficking of Children HB 2282 (Leftwich) requires the Virginia Board of Education to develop guidelines for training school counselors, school nurses, and other relevant school staff on the prevention of trafficking of children.

Transmission of Court-Ordered Custody and Visitation Arrangements to a Child’s School HB 1586 (Campbell) provides that, in any custody or visitation case in which an order prohibiting a party from picking a child up from school is entered, the court will order a party to provide a copy of such order to the child's school within three business days of the receipt of the order. The bill also requires that, where a custody determination affects a child's school enrollment, the court order a party to provide a copy of the custody order to the child's new school within three business days of the child's enrollment. The bill further provides that if the court determines that a party is unable to deliver the order to the school, such party will provide the court with the name of the principal and address of the school, and the court will cause the order to be mailed to such principal.

Use of Wireless telecommunications Devices by Persons Driving School Buses HB 1888 (Hugo) allows school bus drivers to use, in addition to two-way radio devices, wireless telecommunications devices that are used hands free to communicate with school or public safety officials.

Vehicle Charging Stations on School Property HB 2431 (Bulova) permits any school board to locate and operate retail fee-based electric vehicle charging stations on school property, provided that the use of each such station during the school day is restricted to school board employees, students, and authorized visitors and each such station is accompanied by appropriate signage that provides reasonable notice of such restriction.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; Public Procurement Act; Proprietary Records and Trade Secrets; Solar Energy Agreements SB 1226 (Edwards) excludes from the mandatory disclosure provisions of FOIA proprietary information, voluntarily provided by a private business under a promise of confidentiality from a public body, used by the public body for a solar services agreement. The bill requires the private business to specify the records for which protection is sought before submitting them to the public body and to state the reasons why protection is necessary. The bill also authorizes a city to withhold from disclosure such information provided by a private entity in connection with a franchise, lease or use under a solar services agreement.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Bid, Performance, and Payment Bonds; Waiver by Localities HB 2017 (Villanueva) authorizes a locality, where bid, performance, and payment bond requirements are waived, to waive the requirement for prequalification for a bidder or contractor with a current Class A contractor license for nontransportation-related construction contracts in excess of $100,000 but less than $300,000 upon a written determination made in advance by the local governing body that waiving the requirement is in the best interests of the locality. The bill prohibits localities from entering into more than 10 such contracts per year in which the bidder or contractor's prequalification requirement has been waived.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Contracts for Architectural and Engineering Services Relating to Multiple Construction Projects; Maximum Fee For Any Single Project HB 1693 (Collins) increases the maximum permissible fee for any single project encompassed in a contract for architectural or professional engineering services relating to multiple construction projects from $100,000 to $150,000. SB 1508 (Cosgrove) includes a school division in a locality with a population in excess of 78,000 under the exception from the $100,000 single-project fee limit for architectural and professional engineering term contracts and the $ 1 million annual aggregate total of all such projects. Under the bill, such school divisions will pay a single-project fee of up to $2.5 million and an annual aggregate of $6 million.

Virginia Public Procurement Act: Requirements for Use of Construction Management Contracts HB 2366 (Albo) and SB 1129 (Ruff) establish requirements for the procurement of construction using the construction management and design-build procurement methods by state and local public bodies and covered institutions of higher education, as defined in the bill, and the conditions under which such methods may be used. Public bodies must comply with procedures adopted by the Secretary of Administration for construction management or design-build projects. State public bodies and covered institutions must adopt procedures that include, among other things, a requirement that the state public body or covered institution make a written determination in advance that competitive sealed bidding is not practicable or fiscally advantageous and document the basis for the determination to use the construction management or design-build procurement method. The bill requires the Department of General Services (DGS) to evaluate the proposed procurement method of state public bodies and covered institutions and provide a recommendation regarding the procurement method within five days of receipt of the written determination. If a state public body or covered institution elects to proceed with the project using a construction management or design-build contract despite a DGS recommendation to the contrary, the state public body or covered institution must provide to DGS in writing its reasons for doing so. For local public bodies, construction management contracts may be used for projects whose cost is expected to be less than $10 million, provided that the project is a complex project and the project procurement method is approved by the local governing body. The bill also requires DGS to report to the Governor and certain General Assembly committees annually by December 1 information pertaining to the agency's evaluation of projects submitted by state public bodies and covered institutions and all completed capital projects in excess of $2 million.

Wireless Communications Infrastructure SB 1282 (McDougle) provides a uniform procedure for the way in which small cell facilities on existing structures are approved by localities and approved and installed in public rights-of-way. The measure includes provisions that will establish requirements applicable to the location of micro-wireless facilities. The measure also addresses restrictions by localities and the Department of Transportation regarding the use of public rights-of-way or easements. NOTE that a similar bill, HB 2196 (Kilgore), failed. NOTE also that a joint subcommittee, made up of members of the House Commerce and Labor Committee, Senate Commerce and Labor Committee, and the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee was created to further consider issues surrounding wireless communications infrastructure, particularly pertaining to zoning and the zoning approval process.

BUSES/BUILDINGS/SAFETY - FAILED

Authorization and Training for Persons Designated to Carry Concealed Handguns on School Property HB 1469 (Marshall) would have permitted a school board or an administrator of a private school to designate one or more employees of the school who may carry a concealed handgun on school property.

Central Electronic Procurement Website HB 2081 (Webert) would have directed the Department of General Services, in an effort to facilitate prompt payment by contractors to subcontractors, to post on its central electronic procurement website certain information pertaining to payments made by public bodies to contractors.

Conditional Rezoning Proffers HB 1735 (Bulova) would have provided that for purposes of determining what constitutes the requesting of an unreasonable proffer, the term "locality" would not include a person participating at a meeting sponsored by a locality for the purpose of facilitating communication among interested parties and the applicant, provided that the person did not have a statutory role in the approval of a rezoning or a proffer condition amendment. HB 1674 (Dudenhefer) would have expanded the definition of public facilities to include libraries, court facilities, and certain other public buildings. The bill also would have provided that when considering the offsite impact of a development on public facilities for purposes of determining the reasonableness of an offsite proffer, the time period of consideration is extended through the anticipated completion of the development.

Escrowed Proceeds from Gas or Oil Drilling Units HB 2389 (Pillion) would have provided that proceeds of certain gas or oil wells, escrowed because the owner's identity and location remain unknown, shall be presumed abandoned and made available to the school board nearest the drilling unit.

Firearms on school property SB 1453 (Lucas) would have added public, private, or religious preschools and child day centers that are not operated at the residence of the provider or of any of the children to the list of schools where possessing a firearm on school property or on a school bus is prohibited.

Group Homes SB 1373 (Norment) would have provided that, among other provisions, no license to operate a public or private detention home, group home, or other residential care facility would be granted if such facility were to be located within one-half mile of a public or private licensed day care center or a public or private K-12 school and, based on prior criminal record charges, the residents of such facility were to include persons who may constitute a clear and present threat to the health or safety of other individuals.

Polling Places, Memorandum of Understanding HB 1698 (Marshall, D.W.) would have directed the Attorney General to develop and make available a template memorandum of understanding to be used by the general registrars when establishing polling places.

Public Contracts and Civil Liability, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation HB 1667 (Marshall, R.G.) would have prohibited agencies of the Commonwealth and other public bodies from requiring any contractor entering into a public contract to agree to additional nondiscrimination provisions with respect to gender identity or sexual orientation. The bill would have also provided civil immunity for any business or nonprofit organization that did not provide any benefit or accommodation with respect to gender identity or sexual orientation.

Requirements of Drivers Approaching or Immediately Preceding a School Bus HB 1417 (Ware) would have required drivers both approaching and immediately preceding a school bus stopped for the purpose of taking on or discharging children, the elderly, or mentally or physically handicapped persons to stop and turn on hazard lights.

Seatbelts on School Buses HB 1561 (Krizek) would have required the Board of Education to make regulations to require each new public school bus purchased for the transportation of students to be equipped with a seat belt in every seat. The bill would have also required each school board to ensure that no later than July 1, 2027; each school bus that it uses for the transportation of students is equipped with a seat belt in every seat. HJ 570 (Lingamfelter) would have directed the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study the effectiveness of requiring seat belts on every school bus in the Commonwealth.

School Transportation Fees SB 1517 (Black) would have authorized a school board to charge a reasonable fee, when it provides transportation to pupils who live outside the school division, to each pupil utilizing such transportation. The bill would have required that the school board waive such fee for any pupil whose parent is financially unable to pay it, including any pupil who is eligible for free and reduced lunch.

Smoking in Outdoor Public Place SB 938 (Edwards) would have authorized a locality, by ordinance, to designate nonsmoking areas in an outdoor amphitheater or concert venue owned by a locality.

Statewide Fire Prevention Code SB 1365 (Edwards) would have removed the prohibition against the State Fire Marshal's charging fees for school inspections as well as transferring primary authority for the adoption of the Statewide Fire Prevention Code from the Board of Housing and Community Development to the Virginia Fire Services Board.

Total Resource Test for Energy Efficiency Programs HB 1636 (Sullivan) would have defined the "total resource cost test" as a test to determine if the benefit-cost ratio of a proposed energy efficiency program or measure is greater than one.

Use of Handheld Personal Communications Devices While Driving SB 860 (Surovell) would have expanded the prohibition of using a handheld personal communications device while operating a motor vehicle to all communications unless the device is specifically designed to allow voice and hands-free operation and the device is being used in that manner.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Competitive Negotiation for Professional Services HB 1880 (Bell) would have provided that for competitive negotiation for professional services, a public body could conduct negotiations simultaneously with the top two ranked firms if the public body does not request or discuss nonbinding estimates of total project costs at the discussion stage and as long as such process is set forth in the Request for Proposal.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Cooperative Procurement; Construction HB 2170 (Simon) would have allowed public bodies to utilize cooperative procurement for construction not exceeding $500,000. HB 2122 (Keam) would have allowed public bodies to utilize cooperative procurement for construction projects not exceeding $200,000. HB 2392 (James) would have eliminated competitive sealed bidding as the preferred method for procuring construction.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Small Business and Microbusiness Procurement Enhancement Program HB 2420 (Ward) and SB 1528 (Locke) would have codified the Governor's Executive Order 20 (2014) establishing a statewide small business and microbusiness procurement enhancement program.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Use of Best Value Contracting HB 1808 (Bell, J.J.), HB 2437 (Davis), and SB 1275 (Ebbin) would have authorized any public body to procure construction on a best value procurement basis using a numerical scoring system.

Virginia Public Procurement Act Report HJ 674 (Massie) would have established a joint subcommittee to study the best method to implement the recommendations of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission concerning the Virginia Public Procurement Act.

Wireless Communications Infrastructure HB 2196 (Kilgore) would have provided a uniform procedure for the way in which wireless communications infrastructure is approved by localities and approved and installed in public rights-of-way.

CONDUCT AND DISCIPLINE - PASSED

Board of Pharmacy to Deschedule or Reschedule Controlled Substances HB 1799 (O’Bannon) authorizes the Board of Pharmacy (Board) to designate, deschedule, or reschedule as a controlled substance any substance 30 days after publication in the Federal Register of a final or interim final order or rule designating such substance as a controlled substance or descheduling or rescheduling such substance. The bill also provides that a person is immune from prosecution for prescribing, administering, dispensing, or possessing pursuant to a valid prescription a substance approved as a prescription drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on or after July 1, 2017, in accordance with a final or interim final rule despite the fact that such substance has not been scheduled by the Board. The immunity provided by the bill will remain in effect until the earlier of nine months from the date of the publication of the interim final rule or, if published within nine months of the interim final rule, the final rule or the substance is scheduled by the Board or by law.

Drug Control Act; Schedule I HB 1610 (Garrett) and SB 1546 (Vogel) add certain chemical substances to Schedule I of the Drug Control Act. The Board of Pharmacy has added these substances to Schedule I in an expedited regulatory process. A substance added via this process will be removed from the schedule after 18 months unless a general law is enacted adding the substance to the schedule. The bill also removes two substances, benzylfentanyl and thienylfentanyl, from Schedule I.

Drugs of Concern; Gabapentin HB 2164 (Pillion) adds any material, compound, mixture, or preparation containing any quantity of gabapentin, including any of its salts, to the list of drugs of concern. NOTE that this bill contained an emergency clause and became effective on February 23 upon the Governor’s signature.

Policies and Procedures Prohibiting Bullying HB 1709 (Filler-Corn) requires the policies and procedures prohibiting bullying that are contained in each school board's code of student conduct to direct the principal to notify the parent of any student involved in an alleged incident of bullying of the status of any investigation within 5 school days of the allegation of bullying.

Student Discipline; Alternatives to Suspensions HB 1924 (Bagby) and SB 829 (Wexton) direct the Board of Education to establish guidelines for alternatives to short-term and long-term suspension for consideration by local school boards.

CONDUCT AND DISCIPLINE - FAILED

Alternatives to Referring Incidents of Assault and Assault and Battery HB 1843 (Mullin) would have permitted principals to refer to the local law-enforcement agency student incidents of assault and assault and battery, without bodily injury, only after such principal had taken appropriate alternative disciplinary action or determines that no such appropriate alternative disciplinary action exists.

Bullying Training Program SB 1537 (McPike) would have required each school board to require each school board employee in the local school division, including student support positions but excluding all other support services positions, to participate in a three-hour in-person or online training program on identifying, preventing, and responding to incidents of bullying.

Decriminalization of Simple Marijuana Possession HB 1906 (Heretick), SB 908 (Lucas), SB 1269 (Ebbin) would have decriminalized marijuana possession and provided civil penalties for violations.

Incident Reports, School Principals HB 1839 (LaRock) and SB 1163 (Reeves) would have provided that school principals are not required to report criminal misdemeanors or status offenses to law enforcement if in the principal's discretion, based on a totality of the circumstances and consistent with Board of Education guidelines, such report is not warranted. The bill would have required the Board of Education, in consultation with the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Office of the Attorney General, and any interested stakeholders, to update its Student Conduct Policy Guidelines to provide guidance for principals in exercising such discretion. SB 1082 (Wexton) would have eliminated the requirement that school principals report certain enumerated acts that may constitute a misdemeanor offense to law enforcement.

Student Discipline; Disruptive Behavior HB 1535 (Bell, R.P.) and SB 996 (Stanley) would have provided that no student shall receive a long-term suspension or expulsion for disruptive behavior unless such behavior involves intentional physical injury or credible threat of physical injury to another person.

Student Discipline; Long Term Suspensions HB 1534 (Bell, R.P.) would have reduced the maximum length of a long-term suspension from 364 calendar days to 90 school days. The bill would have prohibited a long-term suspension from extending beyond any 45 school day period unless the school principal or division superintendent finds that aggravating circumstances exist, as defined by the local school board. The bill would have required the length of any long-term suspension that extends beyond any 45 school day period be reviewed at the end of each such period. SB 995 (Stanley) would have prohibited a long-term suspension from extending beyond 60 school days unless the school board or the superintendent find that the student's behavior could constitute an offense of an enumerated crime if the offense occurred at school, on school property, or at a school-sponsored event. The bill would have required the school board or the superintendent to conduct a review of any suspension that exceeds 60 days at the end of each grading period to determine if the student can return to school early.

Student Discipline, Students Preschool through Grade Three HB 1536 (Bell, R.P.) would have prohibited students in preschool through grade three from being suspended for more than five school days or expelled except for drug offenses, firearm offenses, or certain criminal acts. SB 997 (Stanley) would have prohibited students in preschool through grade three from being suspended for more than ten days or expelled except for drug offenses, firearm offenses, certain criminal acts, or if the underlying conduct involved other weapons, inappropriate sexual behavior, or serious bodily injury.

FINANCE - PASSED

Biennial Review of the Standards of Quality HB 2014 (Keam) changes from even-numbered years to odd-numbered years the biennial review of the standards of quality that is required of the Board of Education. NOTE that an identical bill, HB 2082 (Bulova), did not pass.

Breach of Payroll Data HB 2113 (Keam) and SB 1033 (Howell) require employers and payroll service providers to notify the Office of the Attorney General without unreasonable delay after discovery of a breach of computerized employee payroll data that compromises the confidentiality of such data, regardless of whether the breach triggers other database breach notification requirements. These bills require such notice to provide the affected employer's name and federal employer identification number. Upon receipt of such notice, the Office of the Attorney General will be required to notify the Department of Taxation of the breach.

Budget Bill HB 1500 (Jones) amends Chapter 780, 2016 Acts of Assembly (the 2016-2018 Biennial Budget). The following are some of the education-specific amendments found in the adopted budget package:

1 #6c Workgroup on Private Day Educational Program Options

Directs the staff of the Health and Human Resources and Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittees for the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees to facilitate a workgroup, in cooperation with the Office of Children's Services (OCS), the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), the Department of Planning and Budget, the Department of Social Services, and the Department of Juvenile Justice, to examine options and determine the actions necessary to better manage the quality and costs of private day educational programs currently funded through the Children's Services Act (CSA). A report was issued in November 2016 detailing various options for the General Assembly to consider related to private day educational program placements. This workgroup will move forward with the next step to examine options and determine the actions for consideration by the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees to be included in the 2018-20 biennial budget. In light of cost increases in recent years, various options are being considered to ensure appropriate alignment of decision making and the financial responsibility for private day educational program placements.

1 #12c Joint Subcommittee on Local Government Fiscal Stress

Establishes a joint subcommittee of members from the House Appropriations, House Finance and Senate Finance Committees, tasked with identifying issues and potential solutions related to local fiscal stress. The goals and objectives of the Joint Subcommittee is to review (i) savings opportunities from increased regional cooperation and consolidation of services; (ii) local responsibilities for service delivery of state-mandated or high priority programs, (iii) causes of fiscal stress among local governments, (iv) potential financial incentives and other governmental reforms to encourage increased regional cooperation; and (v) the different taxing authorities of cities and counties.

137 #2c Parental Choice Education Savings Accounts/Personalized Instructional and Academic Planning

Would have provided $380,000 the second year from the general fund to the Department of Education for estimated start-up costs in DOE that is needed to administer the Parental Choice Education Savings Account (ESA) program. However, since the underlying legislation creating such savings account failed (HB 1605), the $380,000 in funding was reallocated to the personalized instructional and academic planning initiative.

138 #2c Computer Science Teacher Training (HB 1663/SB 1493)

Directs Northern Virginia Community College, in consultation with the Department of Education, to contract with a partner organization to develop, market, and implement high-quality and effective computer science training and professional development activities for public school teachers pursuant to passage of House Bill 1663 and Senate Bill 1493.

139 #3c eLearning Backpack Initiative Language

Specifies that supplemental grants allocated to school divisions for participation in the Virginia e-Learning Backpack Initiative prior to fiscal year 2017 will be used in eligible schools for (1) the purchase of a laptop or tablet for a student reported in ninth grade fall membership, as well as (2) the purchase of two content creation packages for teachers per grant. This will ensure that laptops or tablets are included as allowable purchases, consistent with future year issuances. The amounts for such grants remains unchanged.

139 #4c State's Share of 2% Raise for Teachers in the 2016-18 Biennium

Provides funding for the state's share of a 2.0 percent compensation supplement, for SOQ instructional and support positions and Academic Year Governor's School instructional and support positions. The amount of state funding is calculated based on an effective date of February 15, 2018. School divisions have the flexibility to qualify for the funds if they certify that they have provided or will provide an increase of at least 2.0 percent at some point during the 2016-18 Biennium.

139 #6c Sales Tax Revenues - Purchase of Cigarettes for Resale - HB1913/SB1390

Adds a net total of $369,848 the second year from the general fund for additional sales tax revenues collected pursuant to and contingent on the passage of House Bill 1913 and Senate Bill 1390.

139 #8c Increase Lottery PPA

Provides $34.1 million the second year from the general fund to increase the Lottery Per Pupil Allocation (PPA), bringing the total up to $191.3 million in the second year, which is 35 percent of the total Lottery Proceeds Fund.) School divisions will be permitted to spend such funds on both recurring and nonrecurring expenses in a manner that best supports the needs of the schools divisions.

139 #9c Small School Division Enrollment Loss Fund

Provides $7.3 million the first year from the general fund to eligible small school divisions that have had a five percent or more decline in their average daily membership from 2011 to 2016 (applies to 42 jurisdictions).

139 #12c Project Graduation

Reduces funding for Project Graduation remedial education by half ($1.4M) with the intent to phase-out the program.

139 #13c Algebra Readiness Diagnostic

Allocates proportionate shares of a portion of the increased cost of the algebra readiness diagnostic assessment to each school division.

Item 478.30 #1c Revenue Cash Reserve

Sets aside $35,000,000 from the general fund the second year to establish a Revenue Cash Reserve to mitigate any potential revenue shortfalls that may arise during the remainder of the Biennium. This appropriation includes an amount, anticipated to be generated by the Virginia Tax Amnesty Program.

In addition, at the Reconvened Session and with a subsequent line item veto, the Governor restored $500,000 in funding in FY 2018 for the Cybersecurity Public Service Scholarship Program, as approved during the 2016 General Assembly; and authorized the Director, Department of Planning and Budget, to transfer associated appropriations and authorized positions supporting the federal Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and the At-Risk Afterschool Meals Program component of the Child and Adult Care Feeding Program (CACFP) from the Virginia Department of Health to the Department of Education upon the execution of a memorandum-of-understanding between the two agencies and after coordination with the United States Department of Agriculture to ensure a seamless transition.

NOTE that by tradition, while the Senate does consider its own version of the budget bill SB 900 (Norment), only the House version goes forward for final passage.

Comparative Report of Local Government Revenues and Expenditures HB 2003 (Poindexter) requires the submittal of the comparative report by a locality to the Auditor of Public Accounts to include a notarized statement from the chief elected official and the chief administrative officer of the locality that the locality's audited financial report has been presented to the local governing body.

DRIVE SMART Virginia Education Fund HB 2015 (Villanueva) establishes a method by which holders of an account for an electronic toll collection device that is the property of the Commonwealth could make voluntary contributions through electronic means to the DRIVE SMART Virginia Education Fund (the Fund), also as created by the bill. The bill requires that contributions to the Fund be used solely for the purposes of supporting educational projects through DRIVE SMART Virginia focused on safe driving issues such as: work zone safety, sharing the road with bicyclists and pedestrians, teen driver safety, occupant protection, designated driving, and distracted road users.

Student/Teacher Ratios HB 2174 (Murphy) requires each school board to annually report to the public the actual pupil/teacher ratios in middle school and high school in the local school division by school for the current school year.

Teacher Compensation Goal HB 2332 (Tyler) defines, for the purpose of the stated goal of the Commonwealth for teacher compensation that its public school teachers be compensated at a rate that is competitive, the term "competitive" as, at a minimum, at or above the national average teacher compensation. NOTE that an identical bill, HB 2363 (Tyler), did not pass.

Virginia Information Technologies Agency; Procurement of Information Technology HB 2360 (Albo) requires the Chief Information Officer of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency to develop policies, standards, and guidelines that require that any contract for information technology entered into by the Commonwealth's executive, legislative, and judicial branches and independent agencies require compliance with applicable federal laws and regulations pertaining to information security and privacy. The bill applies to contracts for information technology entered into on or after July 1, 2017.

FINANCE - FAILED

Additional Funding for Instructional and Support Personnel HB 2052 (Adams) would have declared it the policy of the Commonwealth that school boards that struggle to attract and retain qualified instructional and support personnel in the school division shall receive, to the extent practicable, funds for instructional and support personnel in addition to those state funds that the school board otherwise receives for public school purposes. NOTE that while this legislation failed, its subject matter was referred to the Joint Committee to Study the Future of Public Elementary and Secondary Education in the Commonwealth for further consideration.

Biennial Appropriation Act SB 843 (McDougle) would have provided that the Commonwealth's biennial appropriations would have started on July 1 of odd-numbered years beginning with the biennial appropriation act for the period July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2021. The bill would have required that the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2018, would not have been a part of any biennial appropriation act (i.e., it would be a single-year transitional budget).

Certain Waivers Under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program HB 2305 (Orrock) would have prohibited the Secretary of Health and Human Resources from applying for, accepting, or renewing any statewide or local waivers of the eligibility requirements for participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Class Size Limits, Grades Kindergarten through Six HB 1498 (LeMunyon) would have reduced from 29 to 28 the maximum class size in kindergarten; from 30 to 28 the maximum class size in grades one, two, and three; and from 35 to 29 the maximum class size in grades four, five, and six.

Class Size Limits, Science Laboratory Classes HB 2173 (Murphy) would have established a maximum class size of 24 students in science laboratory classes in grades six through 12.

Comprehensive Services for At-Risk Youth and Families; Special Education Programs SB 1246 (Stuart) would have granted, for a period of three years, eligibility for funding from the state pool of funds available through the Comprehensive Services for At-Risk Youth and Families program to children and youth placed for purposes of special education in a public school special educational program established and funded jointly by a local governing body and school board pursuant to a Memorandum of Agreement for the purpose of providing special education, related services, or both within a public day program, when the public school special educational program is able to provide services comparable to those of an approved private school special educational program, and the student would require placement in an approved private school special educational program but for the availability of the public school special educational program. NOTE that while the legislation failed, language in the Appropriations Act (1 #6c Workgroup on Private Day Educational Program Options) would create a workgroup to consider related issues.

Department of Planning and Budget; Fiscal Impact Statements HB 2115 (Keam) would have required the Department of Planning and Budget to prepare a fiscal impact statement for any bill, except the Budget Bill and debt bills, that increases or decreases the total revenue available for appropriation or that establishes a new state program or initiative requiring an appropriation.

Estimated Fiscal Impact on a Locality of Relocated Refugees HB 2093 (LaRock) would have allowed the Commission on Local Government to provide, upon the request of any locality, an estimated fiscal impact of the relocation to the requesting locality of individuals admitted to the United States as refugees on the delivery of core services.

Equal Pay Irrespective of Sex SB 1080 (Wexton) would have amended the existing law requiring equal pay for equal work irrespective of sex to prohibit unequal provision of benefits and privileges and prohibited employers from punishing employees for sharing salary information with their coworkers. The measure would have also deleted the exemption for employers covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act from the Commonwealth's prohibition on discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex.

Failure to Pass an Appropriation Act, Constitutional Amendment (first resolution) HJ 543 (Cole) would have provided that if an appropriation act has not been adopted 30 days prior to the expiration of the current appropriation act, a joint session of the General Assembly shall be convened to pass an appropriation act that shall become the state budget without the signature of the Governor.

Full-Day Kindergarten HB 1805 (Bell, J.J.) would have required each local school board that does not offer a full-day kindergarten program for each kindergarten student in the school division to develop a plan to fund and phase in a full-day kindergarten program for each kindergarten student in the school division and submit the plan to the General Assembly in advance of the 2018 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

JLARC to Study Feasibility of Allocating a Larger Portion of Virginia Lottery Prize Money to Localities HJ 627 (Wright) and SJ 248 (Ruff) would have directed the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to study the feasibility of allocating a larger portion of Virginia Lottery prize money to localities. In its study, JLARC is directed to review how the Virginia Lottery would be affected if prizes were reduced by up to five percent to provide a greater return to localities, determine if operation costs could be reduced to provide an alternative way to return more money to localities, and review other related issues and make recommendations as appropriate.

Limited English Proficiency Students HB 2345 (Kory) would have required state funding to be provided pursuant to the appropriation act to support 20 full-time equivalent instructional positions for each 1,000 students identified as having limited English proficiency.

Local Composite Index HB 1991 (Webert) would have repealed a provision that caps the sum of basic aid payments and supplemental basic aid payments received by certain eligible school divisions at a certain historical level of basic aid payments received by the relevant locality. HJ 676 (Webert) would have requested the Department of Education to determine, for each of the 95 localities that have adopted ordinances to provide for the use value assessment and taxation of certain real estate, the use value of all applicable real estate devoted to agricultural use, horticultural use, forest use, and open-space use, as those terms are defined in the Code of Virginia, and recalculate the composite index of local ability to pay for each such locality after taking into consideration such use values.

Local Government Fiscal Stress Study SJ 278 (Hanger) would have established a 15-member joint subcommittee to study local government fiscal stress. The two-year joint subcommittee would have reviewed the taxing authorities of local governments, including the disparity between city and county tax authority; local responsibilities for service delivery of state-mandated or high priority programs, causes of fiscal stress among local governments, the current state tax system, including the future of the car tax; and potential financial incentives and other governmental reforms to encourage increased regional cooperation and consolidation of services. NOTE that while the legislation failed, language in the Appropriations Act (1 #12c Joint Subcommittee on Local Government Fiscal Stress) would create a joint subcommittee to consider similar topics.

Minimum Wage HB 1444 (Rasoul), HB 1771 (Plum), HB 2309 (Simon), SB 785 (Marsden), SB 978 (Dance) all would have increased the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $7.25 per hour to various higher levels on varying time tables.

Public Schools Possession of Glucagon SB 1215 (Stuart) would have required local school boards to adopt and implement policies for the possession and administration of glucagon in every school that one or more students with diabetes attend and requires the Board of Education to adopt and implement policies for the possession and administration of glucagon in every school for students with disabilities that one or more students with diabetes attend.

Register of Funds Expended; Required Posting by Localities and School Divisions SB 795 (Sturtevant) would have required every locality and each school division located within the locality to post on the public government website of the locality a register of all funds expended, showing vendor name, date of payment, amount, and a description of the type of expense, including credit card purchases with the same information. A locality and school division could have been excluded from such posting any information that is exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, any personal identifying information related to a court ordered payment, or any information related to undercover law enforcement officers.

Sale of Lottery Tickets HB 2010 (Robinson) would have repealed the Virginia Lottery prohibition against the sale of lottery tickets over the Internet and would have provided for regulations of sale of lottery tickets over Internet.

School Nurses HB 1757 would have required each local school board to employ at least one full-time equivalent school nurse position in each elementary school, middle school, and high school in the local school division or at least one full-time equivalent school nurse position per 1,000 students in grades kindergarten through 12.

Virginia Preschool Initiative HB 1690 (Dudenhefer) would have removed the requirement for local governing bodies to commit to providing the required matching funds in order to qualify for grants under the Virginia Preschool Initiative.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Competitive Negotiation for Professional Services HB 1880 (Bell, J.J.) would have provide that for competitive negotiation for professional services, a public body may conduct negotiations simultaneously with the top two ranked firms if the public body does not request or discuss nonbinding estimates of total project costs at the discussion stage and as long as such process is set forth in the Request for Proposal.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Cooperative Procurement; Construction HB 2122 (Keam) would have allowed public bodies to utilize cooperative procurement for construction projects not exceeding $200,000. HB 2170 (Simon) would have allowed public bodies to utilize cooperative procurement for construction not exceeding $500,000. HB 2392 (James) would have eliminated competitive sealed bidding as the preferred method for procuring construction.

Virginia Public Procurement Act Study HJ 674 (Massie) would have established a joint subcommittee to study the best method to implement the recommendations of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission concerning the Virginia Public Procurement Act.

Zero Based Budgeting for the Executive Budget SB 803 (Sturtevant) would have required, beginning in the 2018-2020 biennium, that "The Executive Budget" and all "Executive Budgets" be prepared and formulated using zero-based budgeting principles.

INSTRUCTION AND STANDARDS OF LEARNING - PASSED

Academic Credit for American Sign Language Courses HB 1512 (Bell, R.P.) requires each public institution of higher education to develop policies for counting credit received for successful completion of foreign language courses, including American Sign Language courses, either in a secondary school or another institution of higher education toward satisfaction of the foreign language entrance, placement, and course credit requirements of the public institution of higher education. The bill requires each public institution of higher education to count credit received for successful completion of American Sign Language courses at the institution toward satisfaction of its foreign language course credit requirements.

Certification of Driver Education Courses HB 1705 (Greason) provides that any licensed driver training school is authorized to provide the 90-minute parent/student driver education component in Planning District 8 (Northern Virginia) that is currently required in Planning District 8 public schools.

Commission on Civics Education HB 1718 (Anderson) and SB 840 (Marsden) rename the Commission on Civics Education as the Commission on Civic Education and extends the sunset for the Commission to July 1, 2019.

Computer Science Training and Professional Development for Teachers HB 1663 (Greason) and SB 1493 (McClellan) requires Northern Virginia Community College (i) in consultation with the Department of Education, to contract with a partner organization to develop, market, and implement high-quality and effective computer science training and professional development activities for public school teachers throughout the Commonwealth for the purpose of improving the computer science literacy of all public school students in the Commonwealth. The legislation also establishes an advisory committee for the purpose of advising the college and its partner organization on the development, marketing, and implementation of such training and professional development activities.

Driver Education Programs; Instruction Concerning Traffic Stops HB 2290 (Ward) requires each driver education program in the public school system to include instruction concerning traffic stops, including law-enforcement procedures for traffic stops, appropriate actions to be taken by drivers during traffic stops, and appropriate interactions with law-enforcement officers who initiate traffic stops. The bill requires the Board of Education to collaborate with the Department of State Police in implementing the changes to its driver education program.

Economics Education and Financial Literacy SB 1245 (Dunnavant) requires the Board of Education (Board), by July 1, 2018, to include evaluating the economic value of postsecondary studies, including the net cost of attendance, potential student loan debt, and potential earnings, in the Board's objectives for economics education and financial literacy.

Family Life Education; Curriculum Guidelines and Curricula SB 1475 (McClellan) makes changes to family life education curriculum guidelines and curricula, including requiring family life education curriculum guidelines to include instruction as appropriate for the age of the student in the value of family relationships and permitting the age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on sexual violence that are required to be incorporated into any high school family life education curriculum offered by a local school division to include instruction that increases student awareness of the fact that consent is required before sexual activity.

High School Family Life Education Curricula; Elements of Effective and Evidence-Based Programs on Consent HB 2257 (Filler-Corn) provides that any high school family life education curriculum offered by a local school division may incorporate age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the law and meaning of consent.

Licensure Exemptions; Private Preschool and Nursery School Programs HB 1837 (Orrock) modifies licensure exemption requirements for certified preschool programs operated by a private school that is accredited by an organization recognized by the Board of Education. The bill eliminates the current list of accrediting associations from the licensure exemption language and provides a reference to the Code section that establishes the process for recognition of accrediting organizations by the Board of Education. The bill also removes certain licensure exemption requirements that such preschool and nursery school programs must meet and modifies others, including (i) increases the amount of time children may attend such programs per day from four hours to five hours, provided that no more than four hours of instructional time is provided per day; (ii) lowers the minimum age of children permitted to attend the programs from age four to age three; and (iii) requires that the school report to the Commissioner all incidents involving serious injury or death to children attending the school. The bill also empowers the Commissioner of Social Services to inspect such preschool programs to ensure compliance with applicable requirements, either annually or in response to a complaint, and requires such schools to report all incidents involving serious injury to or death of a child attending the school.

National Speech and Debate Education Day HJ 783 (Lopez) designates March 3, in 2018 and in each succeeding year, as National Speech and Debate Education Day in Virginia.

Virginia Board of Workforce Development HB 2106 (Byron) revises the composition of the Virginia Board of Workforce Development (Board) to conform to requirements of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) including requiring one member to be a representative of a private career college. The measure also specifies that funding for a full-time Executive Director position provides by Title I of the WIOA and replaces a requirement that industry credentials that align with high-demand occupations include the Career Readiness Certificate with the requirement that such industry credentials include a credential that determines career readiness. The measure will not become effective if prior to July 1, 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor grants a waiver of the State Board membership composition requirements under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act that permits the Board to continue with its current composition.

Virginia Driver's Manual Course; Age Requirements SB 1041 (Cosgrove) lowers from 19 to 18 the minimum age of persons who have failed the driver knowledge examination three times who are permitted to take the Virginia Driver's Manual course offered by a licensed and approved driver training school as a prerequisite of attempting the driver knowledge examination a fourth time.

INSTRUCTION AND STANDARDS OF LEARNING - FAILED

Child Day Programs; Exemptions from Licensure HB 2232 (Toscano) and SB 1397 (Deeds) would have exempted from licensure any child day program that is offered by a local school division, staffed by local school division employees, and attended by children who are enrolled in public school within such school division. The bill would have provided that such programs shall be subject to safety and supervisory standards established by the local school board.

Dual Enrollment for Home Instruction Students HB 2007 (Bell, R.B.) would have required each school board to permit any student who receives home instruction and resides in the local school division to apply for enrollment as a part-time student, as defined in the general appropriation act, of the local school division in any dual enrollment course offered pursuant to an agreement for postsecondary degree attainment at a public high school in the local school division or at the comprehensive community college. The bill would have specified that no such student shall be required to pay more in tuition or fees than the tuition or fees paid by public school students or the school division of residence on behalf of such students to enroll in such course.

Early Childhood Education HJ 791 (Greason) would have recognized the importance of early childhood brain development and the early childhood profession and recognizes and encourages, among other things, the ongoing efforts of the Virginia Department of Social Services, the Virginia Department of Education, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the Virginia Community College System, other public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth, and other entities that utilize public funds to administer, support, or study early education in the Commonwealth to collaborate to maximize all existing funding streams and develop and implement policies and programs to advance the school readiness of children in the Commonwealth from birth to age five and the school success of children by the critical milestone of third grade.

Educational Improvement Scholarships Tax Credit; Pre-Kindergarten Eligibility HB 1963 (Massie) and SB 1427 (Stanley) would have expanded the educational improvement scholarships tax credit program by including as eligible scholarship recipients children enrolled in or attending nonpublic pre-kindergarten programs. The maximum annual scholarship that a child enrolled in or attending a nonpublic pre-kindergarten program could have received is the lesser of the child's actual educational expenses or the state share of the grant per child under the Virginia Preschool Initiative for the locality in which the child resides.

Electronic Textbooks and Adequate Connectivity SB 1335 (Surovell) would have prohibited local school boards from requiring the use of any electronic textbook in any course in grades six through 12 unless the school board adopts a plan to ensure that by July 1, 2019, each student enrolled in such course will have access to a personal computing device capable of supporting such textbooks and the relevant school has adequate connectivity, which the bill defines as bandwidth of at least one megabit per second per student. NOTE that while this legislation failed, its subject matter was referred to the Joint Committee to Study the Future of Public Elementary and Secondary Education in the Commonwealth for further consideration.

Environmental Education Study HJ 704 (Bulova) would have requested that the Secretary of Natural Resources and the Secretary of Education convene and consult with a group of stakeholders to study the delivery of environmental education in the Commonwealth in light of the elimination of all staff positions within the Department of Conservation and Recreation's Office of Environmental Education and the elimination, transfer, and reduction of many of such office's functions.

Experiential Learning and Workforce Development Opportunities in High-Demand Fields Study HJ 679 (Filler-Corn) would have directed the Joint Committee to Study the Future of Public Elementary and Secondary Education in the Commonwealth to study experiential learning and workforce development opportunities for high school students in high-demand fields.

Family Life Education; Child Sexual Abuse SB 828 (Wexton) would have required the Board of Education to include in its standards of learning for family life education standards for age-appropriate instruction in the prevention, recognition, and awareness of child abduction, child abuse, child sexual exploitation, and child sexual abuse. The bill would also have required such standards to be taught in grades K through 12.

Family Life Education, Personal Privacy and Personal Boundaries HB 2406 (Filler-Corn) would have required any family life education curriculum offered in any elementary school, middle school, or high school to include instruction on the importance of the personal privacy and personal boundaries of other individuals and tools for a student to use to ensure that he respects the personal privacy and personal boundaries of other individuals.

Family Life Education Requirement SB 1235 (Ebbin) would have required each local school board to implement the Standards of Learning for the family life education program developed by the Board of Education or a family life education program consistent with the guidelines developed by the Board.

Federalist Papers HB 1660 (Greason) would have added the Federalist Papers to a list of documents relating to Virginia history and the United States Constitution that are required to be explained and taught to students in public elementary, middle, and high schools. The bill would have required the study of each such document to be incorporated into the appropriate Standards of Learning. The bill would have also required the Department of Education to report biennially to the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health on how such documents have been incorporated into the appropriate Standards of Learning and into curricula.

Full-Day Kindergarten HB 1805 (Bell J.J.) would have required each local school board that does not offer a full-day kindergarten program for each kindergarten student in the school division to develop a plan to fund and phase in a full-day kindergarten program for each kindergarten student in the school division and submit the plan to the General Assembly in advance of the 2018 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Kindergarten Instructional Time SB 1015 (Barker) would have increased from 540 hours to 990 hours the minimum instructional hours in a school year for students in kindergarten. The bill would have directed the Board of Education to promulgate regulations by July 1, 2019, establishing standards for accreditation that include a requirement that the standard school day for students in kindergarten average at least 5.5 instructional hours in order to qualify for full accreditation. The bill would have had a delayed effective date of July 1, 2019.

Sexually Explicit Instructional Materials or Related Academic Activities HB 2191 (Landes) would have required each school board's procedures for handling controversial instructional materials to include (i) notifying, at the beginning of each school year and at such times as an additional notification may have become necessary during the school year, the parent of any student enrolled in a course in which the instructional materials or related academic activities may have included sexually explicit content or the potential for such sexually explicit content in such course and (ii) providing, as a replacement for instructional materials or related academic activities that would have included sexually explicit content, nonexplicit instructional materials or related academic activities to any student whose parent so requested. The legislation would have designated "sexually explicit content" to mean content that involved any criminal sexual assault defined and punishable as a felony or any act defined and punishable as a felony under 18.2-361 (“crimes against nature”). NOTE this legislation passed the General Assembly but was vetoed by the Governor.

Student Internships and Worker Retraining Tax Credit HB 1959 (Yancey) would have provided a $1,000 tax credit to an employer for each intern hired as part of a qualified internship program.

Substitution of Computer Coding Credit for Foreign Language Credit HB 2378 (Davis) would have required the Board, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to provide for the substitution of computer coding course credit for any foreign language course credit required to graduate, except in cases in which such foreign language course credit is required to earn an advanced diploma offered by a nationally recognized provider of college-level courses.

Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority; Career Pathway SB 1504 (Favola) would have directed the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority to develop a curriculum in the field of geriatric health care.

Virtual Virginia; Availability HB 1923 (Bagby) and SB 1570 (Peake) would have required that the Virtual Virginia program, established by the Department of Education, be made available to all public middle and high schools. The bill would have provided that such program may be made available to all public elementary schools. The bill would have also replaced the term "statewide electronic classroom" with "online learning program" to more accurately reflect the Virtual Virginia program.

INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY - PASSED

Computer Trespass; Government Computers and Computers Used for Public Utilities HB 1815 (Yancey) increases the Class 1 misdemeanor computer trespass crimes to a Class 6 felony if the computer targeted is one that is exclusively for the use of, or used by or for, the Commonwealth, a local government within the Commonwealth, or certain public utilities.

Digital Certification of Government Records SB 1341 (Surovell) provides for the Secretary of the Commonwealth, in cooperation with the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, to develop standards for the use of digital signatures by government agencies on electronic records generated by such agencies. Such agencies may provide copies of digital records, via a website or upon request, and may charge a fee of $5 for each digitally certified copy of an electronic record. Any digitally certified record submitted to a court in the Commonwealth shall be deemed to be authenticated by the custodian of the record. The bill defines "agency" to include all state agencies and local government entities, including constitutional officers, except circuit court clerks.

Online Virginia Network Authority HB 2262 (Cox) establishes the Online Virginia Network Authority as a political subdivision in the Commonwealth. The Authority will coordinate the online delivery of courses that facilitate the completion of degrees at George Mason University and Old Dominion University.

School Service Providers; Student Access to Collected Personal Information SB 951 (Ruff) requires school service providers to provide, either directly to the student or his parent or through the school, access to an electronic copy of such student's personal information in a manner consistent with the functionality of the school service. The bill permits contracts between local school boards and school service providers to require that such electronic copy be in a machine-readable format.

INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY - FAILED

Broadband Availability Study HJ 700 (Levine) would have requested the Broadband Advisory Council to develop a system for rating communities where the most people can be served by increased broadband coverage for the least cost.

Computer Trespass HB 1986 (Bell, J.J.) would have expanded the crime of computer trespass to provide that the prohibited actions that constitute computer trespass are criminalized if done through intentionally deceptive means and without authority and specifies that monitoring and interaction involving a subscriber's Internet or other network connection or service is not considered computer trespass unless such monitoring or interaction is done through intentionally deceptive means without authorization or with malicious intent. HB 2288 (Collins) would have made it a Class 5 felony for a person to maliciously install or cause to be installed a computer program that takes control of or restricts access to another computer or computer network, or data therein, and demand money or anything else of value to remove the computer program; restore control of or access to the computer or computer network, or data therein; or remediate the impact of the computer program.

Cybersecurity Standards Study HJ 692 (Murphy) would have directed the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to evaluate the Commonwealth's current policies, procedures, and standards for assessing cybersecurity risks and protecting the electronic information of all branches of state government from unauthorized uses, intrusions, and other security threats and make recommendations for the improvement of such policies, procedures, and standards.

Electronic Textbooks SB 1335 (Surovell) would have prohibited local school boards from requiring the use of any electronic textbook in any course in grades six through 12 unless the school board adopts a plan to ensure that by July 1, 2019, each student enrolled in such course will have access to a personal computing device capable of supporting such textbooks and the relevant school has adequate connectivity, which the bill defines as bandwidth of at least one megabit per second per student. NOTE that while this legislation failed, its subject matter was referred to the Joint Committee to Study the Future of Public Elementary and Secondary Education in the Commonwealth for further consideration.

Regional School Board For Operating Full-Time Virtual Schools HB 1764 (Bulova) and SB 1380 (Petersen) would have required the establishment of eight regional school boards composed of one member of each local school board that governs each local school division in each of the eight superintendent's regions in the Commonwealth and requires each such regional school board to enter into a contract with at least one approved multidivision online provider to operate a full-time virtual school program for students enrolled in each local school division in such region. The bill would have contained provisions relating to student eligibility, educational standards, and funding for such full-time virtual school programs. The bill would have required each local school board to make the option to participate in a full-time online learning program or full-time virtual school program available to at least two percent of students enrolled in the local school division and permits school boards to satisfy such requirement by providing the option to participate in the full-time virtual school program offered by the relevant regional school board.

Register of Funds Expended; Required Posting by Localities and School Divisions SB 795 (Sturtevant) would have required every locality and each school division located within the locality to post on the public government website of the locality a register of all funds expended, showing vendor name, date of payment, amount, and a description of the type of expense, including credit card purchases with the same information. A locality and school division could have excluded from such posting any information that is exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, any personal identifying information related to a court ordered payment, or any information related to undercover law enforcement officers.

Virginia Virtual School HB 1400 (Bell, R.P.) would have established the Board of the Virginia Virtual School (the Board) as a policy agency in the executive branch of state government for the purpose of governing the full-time virtual school programs offered to students enrolled in the Virginia Virtual School (the School). The Secretary of Education would have been responsible for such agency, which would have been operated by a 14-member Board. Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, the bill would have required the School to be open to any school-age person in the Commonwealth and to provide an educational program meeting the Standards of Quality for grades kindergarten through 12, with a maximum enrollment of 5,000 students statewide. The bill would have provided for the transfer of the average state share of Standards of Quality per pupil funding for each enrolled student to the School. NOTE this legislation passed the General Assembly but was vetoes by the Governor.

Virginia Virtual School SB 1240 (Dunnavant) would have established the Board of the Virginia Virtual School (the Board) as a policy agency in the executive branch of state government for the purpose of governing the full-time virtual school programs offered to students enrolled in the Virginia Virtual School (the School). The Secretary of Education would have been responsible for such agency, which would have been operated by a 14-member Board. Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, the bill would have required the School to be open to any school-age person in the Commonwealth and to have provided an educational program meeting the Standards of Quality for grades kindergarten through 12, with a maximum enrollment of 5,000 students statewide. The bill provides for the transfer of the average state share of Standards of Quality per pupil funding for each enrolled student to the School. NOTE this legislation passed the General Assembly but was vetoed by the Governor.

PERSONNEL - PASSED

Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure SB 1160 (Reeves) adds three legislative members, two of whom will be members of the House of Delegates appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates and one of whom will be a member of the Senate appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, to the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure (Advisory Board).

Assistance With Student Insulin Pumps, Certain Public School Employees; SB 1116 (McPike) authorizes, but does not require, local school board employees who are registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, or certified nurse aides and who have been trained in the administration of insulin and glucagon to assist a student who is diagnosed with diabetes and who carries an insulin pump with the insertion or reinsertion of the pump or any of its parts, provided that assistance has been authorized by the prescriber and consented to by the student's parent.

Certification or Training in Emergency First Aid, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, and the Use of Automated External Defibrillators HB 1829 (Dudenhefer) specifies that the certification or training in emergency first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and the use of automated external defibrillators that is required of every person seeking initial licensure or renewal of a license as a teacher includes hands-on practice of the skills necessary to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The requirement becomes effective on September 1, 2017.

Conflicts of Interest; School Board Employees HB 2354 (Rush) removes the prohibition against hiring a school division employee who is related to a member of the school board under certain circumstances for school divisions located in Planning District 4 (New River Valley).

Dyslexia Advisor HB 2395 (Cline) and SB 1516 (Black) require one reading specialist in any school division in which the local school board employs such a specialist to have training in the identification of and the appropriate interventions, accommodations, and teaching techniques for students with dyslexia or a related disorder and to have an understanding of the definition of dyslexia and a working knowledge of several topics relating to dyslexia.

Licensure Revocation of School Personnel; Investigation of Certain Complaints HB 2432 (Bulova) requires the Board of Education to include in its regulations governing the licensure of teachers and other school personnel procedures for the immediate and thorough investigation by the division superintendent or his designee of any complaint alleging that a license holder has engaged in conduct that may form the basis for the revocation of his license, including requirements for the division superintendent to petition for the revocation of the license upon completing such investigation and finding that there is reasonable cause to believe that the license holder has engaged in conduct that forms the basis for revocation of a license; the school board to proceed to a hearing on such petition for revocation within 90 days of the mailing of a copy of the petition to the license holder, unless the license holder requests the cancellation of his license in accordance with Board regulations; and the school board to provide a copy of the investigative file and such petition for revocation to the Superintendent of Public Instruction at the time that the hearing is scheduled. The bill clarifies that in the case of a teacher who is or becomes the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse and neglect, such teacher will be dismissed after all rights to any administrative appeal have been exhausted.

Policy of the Commonwealth Regarding the Employment of Individuals With Disabilities HB 2425 (Anderson) and SB 1530 (Vogel) provide that it is the policy of the Commonwealth to promote and increase the employment of individuals with disabilities To further this policy, the bill establishes a goal to increase by five percent the level of individuals with disabilities employed by state government by fiscal year 2023. The Secretary of Administration is designated to coordinate efforts to achieve the goal and requires the Secretary to establish a reporting system for tracking and reporting the progress of state agencies toward meeting the employment goals and to report annually on the number of individuals with disabilities employed by the state. The bills require each state agency to submit a plan to increase employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities to the Secretary no later than December 31, 2017, and each July 1 thereafter.

School Counselors; Licensure SB 1117 (McPike) requires every person seeking initial licensure or renewal of a license with an endorsement as a school counselor to complete training in the recognition of mental health disorder and behavioral distress, including depression, trauma, violence, youth suicide, and substance abuse.

Teacher Compensation Goal HB 2332 (Tyler) defines, for the purpose of the stated goal of the Commonwealth for teacher compensation that its public school teachers be compensated at a rate that is competitive, the term "competitive" as, at a minimum, at or above the national average teacher compensation. NOTE that an identical bill, HB 2363 (Tyler), did not pass.

Teacher Licensure by Reciprocity HB 2352 (Freitas) exempts from any professional teacher's assessment requirements any individual who has obtained a valid out-of-state license, with full credentials and without deficiencies, that is in force at the time the application for a Virginia license is received by the Department of Education, subject to the approval of the division superintendent or the school board in the school division in which such individual is employed. The bill requires the Department of Education to analyze the current requirements for teacher licensure by reciprocity in the Commonwealth, including the statutory and regulatory requirements for such licensure, and report its findings, including any recommendations for changes to such requirements, to the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than November 1, 2017.

Teacher Licensure Local Waivers for Career and Technical Education HB 1770 (Freitas) and SB 1583 (Sutterlein) permit each local school board or division superintendent to waive certain enumerated licensure requirements for any individual whom it seeks to employ as a career and technical education teacher and who is also seeking initial licensure or renewal of a license with an endorsement in the area of career and technical education.

Teacher Turnover Exit Questionnaire, Pilot HB 2140 (LeMunyon) and SB 1523 (Mason) require the Department of Education to develop and oversee a pilot program to administer across five geographically and demographically diverse school divisions the model exit questionnaire for teachers developed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, analyze the results of each such questionnaire, and include such results and analysis in the Superintendent's annual report beginning in 2018. The bill requires the Department to administer such questionnaire to each teacher who ceases to be employed by the relevant school board for any reason and collect, maintain, and report on the results of each such questionnaire in a manner that ensures the confidentiality of each teacher's name and other personally identifying information.

PERSONNEL - FAILED

Break to Express Breast Milk HB 2210 (Yancey) would have required employers, including the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions, to provide reasonable unpaid break time each day to an employee who needs to express breast milk for the employee's nursing child for one year after the child's birth. An employer would also have been required to make reasonable efforts to provide a room or other location in close proximity to the work area, other than a toilet stall, where such an employee could express breast milk in privacy.

Class Size Limits HB 1498 (LeMunyon) would have reduced from 29 to 28 the maximum class size in kindergarten; from 30 to 28 the maximum class size in grades one, two, and three; and from 35 to 29 the maximum class size in grades four, five, and six.

Class Size Limits in Science Laboratory Classes HB 2173 (Murphy) would have established a maximum class size of 24 students in science laboratory classes in grades six through 12.

Dependent Care Tax Credit for Qualified Teachers SB 1531 (Lewis) would have created a tax credit for the household and dependent care expenses of teachers who teach at public elementary or secondary schools in the Commonwealth at which at least 40% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

Initial Licensure for Certain Teachers HB 1949 (Peace) would have required the Board of Education to waive any fee charged for initial licensure as a teacher for any individual who served in the Armed Forces of the United States, Reserves of the Armed Forces of the United States, Virginia National Guard, or Virginia Defense Force and who was discharged or released from such service under conditions other than dishonorable; member of the Armed Forces of the United States, Reserves of the Armed Forces of the United States, Virginia National Guard, or Virginia Defense Force; or spouse of any member of the Armed Forces of the United States, Reserves of the Armed Forces of the United States, Virginia National Guard, or Virginia Defense Force.

Inquiries by State Agencies and Localities Regarding Criminal Convictions, Charges, and Arrests HB 2323 (Aird) and SB 1171 (Dance) would have prohibited state agencies from including on any employment application a question inquiring whether the prospective employee has ever been arrested or charged with, or convicted of, any crime, subject to certain exceptions.

Insulin Pump Training SB 1214 (Stuart) would have required school employees who are required to have training in the administration of insulin and glucagon to also have training in the use and insertion of insulin pumps.

Nondiscrimination in Public Employment SB 783 (Ebbin) would have prohibited discrimination in public employment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, as defined in the bill. The bill would have also codified for state and local government employment the current prohibitions on discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, or status as a veteran.

Prohibit Certain Local Government Practices That Would Require Contractors to Provide Certain Compensation or Benefits. HB 1753 (Davis) would have prohibited local governing bodies from establishing provisions related to procurement of goods, professional services, or construction that required a wage floor or any other employee benefit or compensation above what was otherwise required by state or federal law to be provided by a contractor to one or more of the contractor's employees as part of a contract with the locality. The prohibition would not have affected contracts between a locality and another party that were executed prior to January 1, 2018, or the renewal or future rebids of services thereof. The bill would have provided that localities would not be prohibited from entering into contracts for economic development incentives in which the company receiving the incentives was required to maintain a certain stated wage level for its employees. NOTE this legislation passed the General Assembly but was vetoed by the Governor.

Prohibited Discrimination in Employment HB 2057 (Kory) would have prohibited discrimination in private or public employment based on sexual orientation or status as a veteran. The bill would have provided that under the Virginia Human Rights Act, such discrimination is actionable if the violating employer has more than five but less than 15 employees. The bill would have defined "sexual orientation" as a person's actual or perceived heterosexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality, or gender identity or expression. The bill would have expressly provided that "sexual orientation" would not have included any person's attraction toward persons with whom sexual conduct would be illegal due to the age of the parties. The bill would have also conformed various provisions prohibiting discrimination in public employment based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, or veteran status.

Public Contracts and Additional Nondiscrimination Provisions HB 1667 (Marshall, R.G.) would have prohibited agencies of the Commonwealth and other public bodies from requiring any contractor entering into a public contract to agree to additional nondiscrimination provisions with respect to gender identity or sexual orientation. The bill would have also provided civil immunity for any business or nonprofit organization that does not provide any benefit or accommodation with respect to gender identity or sexual orientation.

School Attendance Officers HB 1828 (Dudenhefer), HB 2195 (Torian), and SB 1017 (Barker) would have authorized a school attendance officer or local school division superintendent or his designee acting as an attendance officer to complete, sign, and file petitions and motions for the enforcement of certain orders entered by a juvenile and domestic relations district court. The bill would have also provided that a nonattorney attendance officer or local school division superintendent or his designee acting as an attendance officer performing the powers and duties of an attendance officer would not be considered the practice of law.

School Nurses HB 1757 (Dudenhefer) would have required each local school board to employ at least one full-time equivalent school nurse position in each elementary school, middle school, and high school in the local school division or at least one full-time equivalent school nurse position per 1,000 students in grades kindergarten through 12.

Teacher Grievance Procedures HB 1807 (Bell, J.J.) would have permitted a school board to conduct a teacher grievance hearing before a three-member fact-finding panel consisting of one member selected by the teacher, one member selected by the division superintendent, and an impartial hearing officer, selected by the other two panel members, to serve as the chairman of the panel. The bill would have also removed the requirement that a teacher grievance hearing be set within 15 days of the request for such hearing and extends from five days to 10 days the minimum period of advanced written notice to the teacher of the time and place of such hearing.

Teacher Licensure; Industry Certification Credential; Local Waiver SB 1162 (Reeves) would have permitted the division superintendent or the local school board to waive the requirement that prospective teachers in the school division seeking an initial license with an endorsement in the area of career and technical education have an industry certification credential in the area in which the teacher seeks endorsement.

Teaching Profession Study HJ 678 (Filler-Corn) would have directed the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (the Commission) to study the teaching profession in Virginia.

Teacher Shortage Study HJ 571 (Orrock) would have requested Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and Virginia State University to jointly study strategies to mitigate the Commonwealth's shortage of career and technical education teachers in the fields of agricultural education, technology education, and family and consumer sciences.

Training for Hearing Officers in Teacher Dismissal Hearings SB 1476 (McClellan) would have required the Department of Education to develop and make available to each local school board a program of training for hearing officers who preside over teacher dismissal hearings that includes information on the statutory procedure for teacher dismissal hearings and develop, maintain, and make available to each local school board a list of hearing officers who have completed such program of training.

Virginia Human Rights Act; Pregnancy, Childbirth, or Related Medical Conditions HB 2295 (McQuinn) would have provided that no employer may discharge any employee on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, including lactation.

Virginia Human Rights Act; Public Employment, Public Accommodation, and Housing; Prohibited Discrimination; Sexual Orientation HB 2129 (Levine) would have prohibited discrimination in employment and public accommodation on the basis of sexual orientation. The bill would have defined "sexual orientation" as a person's actual or perceived heterosexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality, or gender identity or expression. The bill expressly would have provided that "sexual orientation" does not include any person's attraction toward persons with whom sexual conduct would be illegal due to the age of the parties. The bill also would have codified existing prohibited discrimination in public employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, or status as a veteran. The bill would have also added discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity as an unlawful discriminatory housing practice.

Virginia Human Rights Act; Unlawful Discriminatory Practice; Anti-Semitism HB 2261 (LaRock) would have provided that the terms "because of religion" and "on the basis of religion," and terms of similar import when used in reference to discrimination in the Code of Virginia and acts of the General Assembly, include anti-Semitism. The bill would have required the board of visitors of public institutions of higher education to establish policies or institutional regulations prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, or disability in compliance with state and federal law. In addition, the bill would have codified the definition of "anti-Semitism" established by the U.S. Department of State and would have provided for the investigating authority to consider the definition when investigating alleged violations of unlawful discriminatory practice on the basis of a person's real or perceived Jewish identity.

Virginia Personnel Act; Equal Pay for Equal Work HB 2314 (Boysko) would have provided that it is the policy of the Commonwealth that there shall be no discrimination between state employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to state employees at a rate less than the rate at which it pays wages to state employees of the opposite sex for equal work on jobs, the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions, except where such payment is made pursuant to a seniority system, a merit system, a system that measures earnings by quantity or quality of production, or a differential based on any other factor other than sex. The bill would have also required the Department of Human Resource Management to establish and administer a program to ensure equal pay for equal work to state employees in all incidents of employment as provided in the Virginia Personnel Act.

RETIREMENT AND INSURANCE - PASSED

Health Benefit Plans; Coverage for Hormonal Contraceptives HB 2267 (Filler-Corn) requires any health benefit plan that is amended, renewed, or delivered on or after January 1, 2018, that provides coverage for hormonal contraceptives to cover up to a 12-month supply of hormonal contraceptives when dispensed or furnished at one time for a covered person or at a location licensed or otherwise authorized to dispense drugs or supplies. Such a plan will be prohibited, in the absence of clinical contraindications, from imposing utilization controls or other forms of medical management limiting the supply of hormonal contraceptives that will be dispensed or furnished by a provider or pharmacy, or at a location licensed or otherwise authorized to dispense drugs or supplies, to an amount that is less than a 12-month supply. The measure will not require a provider to prescribe, furnish, or dispense 12 months of self-administered hormonal contraceptives at one time. Also, the measure is not be construed to exclude coverage for hormonal contraceptives as prescribed by a provider for reasons other than contraceptive purposes, such as decreasing the risk of ovarian cancer or eliminating symptoms of menopause, or for contraception that is necessary to preserve the life or health of an enrollee.

Health Insurance; Proton Radiation Therapy Coverage Decisions HB 1656 (Yancey) prohibits health insurance policies and plans from holding proton radiation therapy to a higher standard of clinical evidence for benefit coverage decisions than is applied for other types of radiation therapy treatment. The measure apply to policies and plans that provide coverage for cancer therapy. The bill contains an emergency clause and became effective upon the Governor’s signature on March 3, 2017.

Health Insurance Reform Commission; Bureau of Insurance Assessment HB 2107 (Byron) requires that the Chairman of the standing committee requesting that the Health Insurance Reform Commission (the Commission) assess a proposed mandated health insurance benefit or provider shall send a copy of such request to the Bureau of Insurance of the State Corporation Commission (the Bureau). The bill requires the Bureau to prepare an analysis of the proposed mandate upon receipt of the copy of the request. Current law requires the Commission to request the Bureau to prepare such assessment. The legislation also eliminates a sunset clause for the Health Insurance Reform Commission. The bill also repeals the July 1, 2017, sunset provision for the Health Insurance Reform Commission.

Virginia Retirement System; Stress Testing and Reporting Policies HB 1768 (Garrett) requires the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) to formally adopt stress testing and additional reporting policies. The bill requires VRS to analyze and regularly report on projections of benefit levels, pension costs, liabilities, and debt reduction under various scenarios; to provide a detailed online statement of investment policy and include investment performance data in certain timeframes up to 25 years; and to report investment performance and expenses such as carried interest fees.

Workers' Compensation; Employer's Lien; Third Party Actions HB 1659 (Habeeb) and SB 1175 (Chafin) require that any arbitration proceeding regarding an employer's right of subrogation to an employee's claim against a third party shall be limited solely to arbitrating the amount and validity of the employer's lien and does not affect the employee's rights in any way. Such arbitration will not be held unless any contested expenses remaining have been submitted to the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission (the Commission) for a determination of their validity and the Commission has made such determination of validity prior to the commencement of the arbitration; prior to the commencement of such arbitration the employer has provided the injured employee and his attorney, if any, with an itemization of the expenses associated with the lien that is the subject of the arbitration; upon receipt of the itemization of the lien, the employee will have 21 days to provide a written objection to any expenses included in the lien to the employer, and if the employee does not do so any objections to the lien to be arbitrated shall be deemed waived; and the employer will have 14 days after receipt of the written objection to notify the employee of any contested expenses that the employer does not agree to remove from the lien, and if the employer does not do so any itemized expense objected to by the employee shall be deemed withdrawn and not included in the arbitration.

RETIREMENT AND INSURANCE - FAILED

Family and Medical Leave HB 2126 (Levine) would have entitled individuals to a family and medical leave insurance (FMLI) benefit payment for each month they would have been engaged in qualified caregiving, not to exceed 60 qualified caregiving days per year. SB 847 (Favola) would have directed the Commissioner of Labor and Industry (the Commissioner), in conjunction with the relevant stakeholders, to develop an implementation plan for a paid family leave program for employees of any employer in the Commonwealth.

Health Insurance; Assignment of Benefits SB 1513 (Wagner) would have prohibited insurers issuing individual or group accident and sickness insurance policies providing hospital, medical and surgical, or major medical coverage on an expense-incurred basis, corporations providing individual or group accident and sickness subscription contracts, health maintenance organizations providing health care plans for health care services, and dental services plans offering or administering prepaid dental services from refusing to accept assignments of benefits executed by covered individuals in favor of health care providers and hospitals. The measure would have defined an assignment of benefits as the transfer of health care coverage reimbursement benefits or other rights under an insurance policy, subscription contract, or health care plan by an insured, subscriber, or plan enrollee to a health care provider or hospital.

Health Insurance Coverage for Autism Spectrum Disorder HB 1995 (Greason) would have required health insurers, health care subscription plans, and health maintenance organizations to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder in individuals of any age. The provision would have applied with respect to insurance policies, subscription contracts, and health care plans delivered, issued for delivery, reissued, or extended on or after January 1, 2018.

Health Insurance Credits for Retired School Division Employees. HB 2294 (McQuinn) would have required school divisions to provide a health insurance credit of $4 per year of service to all retired members of local school divisions with at least 15 years of total creditable service. An enactment clause would have provided that this measure apply to any local school division employee who retired on disability prior to July 1, 2017, if this measure would have reduced the monthly credit currently payable to such former member. Eligible employees who retired prior to July 1, 2017, but who did not receive a health insurance credit prior to that date would have only received the $4 per year health insurance credit prospectively.

State Sickness and Disability Program HB 1645 (Loupassi) would have eliminated the one-year waiting period for eligibility for disability benefits for vested local government employees commencing employment in a state position covered under the Virginia Retirement System (VRS), State Police Officers' Retirement System, Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System, or the hybrid retirement program.

Virginia Retirement System; Hybrid Retirement Program HB 1967 (Massie) would have modified the hybrid retirement program by increasing the mandatory employer contribution to the defined contribution component from 1% to 2% of creditable compensation, decreasing the employer's maximum matching contribution to the defined contribution component from 2.5% to 1.5% of creditable compensation, increasing the employee's mandatory contribution to the defined contribution component from 1% to 2% of creditable compensation, decreasing the employee's maximum contribution to the voluntary defined contribution component from 4% to 3% of creditable compensation, decreasing from three years to two years the period in which a new member of the hybrid retirement program is required to make the maximum voluntary contribution to the defined contribution component, and decreasing the employee's contribution to the defined benefit component from 4% to 3% of creditable compensation. The bill would have also set a new employee's voluntary contribution rate to the defined contribution component at 0.5% unless the employee opts out.

Virginia Retirement System; Optional Defined Contribution Retirement Plan HB 2251 (Jones) would have required the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) to establish an optional defined contribution retirement plan for state and local employees.

Virginia Retirement System; Receipt of Retirement Allowance While Employed in a Covered Position SB 881 (Spruill) would have permitted a person who has attained the age of 62 to receive a retirement allowance from VRS and be employed in a VRS covered position. The years of service and the compensation earned during such employment would not have affected the amount of the retirement allowance during or after such employment.

Workers' Compensation; Modifications to Employee's Home and Automobile HB 2155 (Rasoul) would have increased from $42,000 to $50,000 the maximum aggregate cost of bedside lifts, adjustable beds, and modifications and alterations to an injured employee's principal home and modifications to or equipment for an injured employee's automobile that the Workers' Compensation Commission may award on account of any one accident.

Workers' Compensation; Presumption of Compensability for Certain Diseases HB 1722 (Anderson) and SB 1119 (McPike) would have substituted colorectal cancer, which is cancer that starts in the colon or rectum, for rectal cancer on the list of cancers that are presumed to be an occupational disease covered by the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act when certain employees develop the cancer after contact with a known or suspected carcinogen that causes, or is suspected to cause, the specific type of cancer.

Workers' Compensation System Study HJ 544 (Lingamfelter) would have directed the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to study Virginia's workers' compensation system. In its study, JLARC would have been directed to examine whether claims are reviewed and processed in a timely and fair manner; assess whether the dispute resolution process is timely, effective, and fair and equitable toward all parties; compare the structure and administration of workers' compensation programs in other states with that of Virginia's; analyze the rate of growth in medical prices and examine any changes that occur in access to medical care in states that have adopted medical service fee schedules or treatment guidelines; assess the effectiveness of House Bill 378 and Senate Bill 631 of the 2016 Session; and review any other issues and make recommendations as appropriate.

SCHOOL BOARD GOVERNANCE - PASSED

Arlington County School Board; Maximum Salary of Members HB 2306 (Hope) removes the $25,000 cap on the salary of certain members of the Arlington County School Board, thereby permitting each member of such school board to be paid a salary in accordance with the general procedures and limits that are applicable to elected school boards in the Commonwealth.

Board of Education Membership HB 2341 (Landes) requires at least two of the nine members of the Board of Education to represent business and industry in the private sector in the Commonwealth.

Commending Resolutions:

Commending the Chantilly High School baseball team HJ 558 (LeMunyon)
Commending the Chantilly High School boys' tennis team HJ 559 (LeMunyon)
Commending Cherry Run Elementary School HJ 1047 (Filler-Corn)
Commending Falls Church City Public Schools HJ 1044 (Simon)
Commending Glen Forest Elementary School HJ 1020 (Lopez)
Commending Herndon High School HJ 957 (Boysko)
Commending Lake Anne Elementary School HJ 792 (Plum)
Commending the McLean High School Band HJ 714 (Sullivan)
Commending the McLean High School Gymnastics Team HR 473 (Sullivan)
Commending Robinson Secondary School Wrestling Team HJ 1066 (Filler-Corn)
Commending the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology STEM All Stars HJ 1000 (Kory)
Commending the Westfield High School Boys' Basketball Team HJ 825 (LeMunyon)
Commending the Westfield High School Football Team HJ 826 (LeMunyon)

Gubernatorial Appointments to Boards; Membership and Terms HB 2285 (Cole) clarifies and correct the statutory requirements for the membership and terms of several boards. The bill also standardizes the term dates for several appointments to several boards, including the Virginia Board of Education, so that all terms begin on July 1 and end on June 30.

Home Instruction Students Participation in Advanced Placement and Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test Examinations HB 2355 (Pogge) and SB 1414 (Newman) require school boards to make Advanced Placement (AP), Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), and PreACT examinations available to students receiving home instruction; to adopt written policies that specify the date by which such students will register to participate in such examinations; and to notify such students and their parents of such registration deadline and the availability of financial assistance to low-income and needy students to take such examinations.

Immunity of Persons; Defamation; Statements Regarding Matters of Public Concern Communicated to a Third Party; Statements Made at a public Hearing HB 1941 (Kilgore) and SB 1413 (Sturtevant) add defamation to the causes of action from which a citizen will be immune when making statements regarding matters of public concern to a third party or at a public hearing before the governing body of any locality or other political subdivision, or the boards, commissions, agencies, and authorities thereof, and other governing bodies of any local governmental entity. The bill further provides that the immunity would not apply to any statements made with actual or constructive knowledge that they are false, or with reckless disregard for whether they are false.

Legislative Review of Administrative Rules; Constitutional Amendment (first resolution) SJ 295 (Vogel) grants to the General Assembly the authority to review any administrative rule to ensure it is consistent with the legislative intent of the statute that the rule was written to interpret, prescribe, implement, or enforce. The amendment provides that after such review, the General Assembly may approve or reject, in whole or in part, any rule as provided by law and that the approval or rejection of a rule by the General Assembly shall not be subject to veto by the Governor. NOTE that a similar bill, SJ 311 (Carrico), did not pass.

Public Charter School Applications and Charter Agreements HB 2218 (Miyares) permits the Board of Education to communicate any Board finding relating to the rationale for the local school board's denial of a public charter school application or revocation of or failure to renew the charter agreement based on documentation submitted by the school board in any school division in which at least half of the schools receive funding pursuant to Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended.

Report on the Condition and Needs of Public Education HB 2141 (LeMunyon) requires the Board of Education's annual report on the condition and needs of public education in the Commonwealth to include an explanation of the need to retain or maintain the frequency of any report that local school divisions are required to submit to the Board of Education or any other state agency; any recommendation for the elimination, reduction in frequency, or consolidation of such reports when such elimination, reduction in frequency, or consolidation will require an amendment to the laws of the Commonwealth; and a description of any other such report that the Board has eliminated, reduced in frequency, or consolidated.

School Board Members Who Engage in War Service or Are Called to Active Duty in the Armed Forces of the United States; Appointment of Acting School Board Members HB 1490 (Marshall, R. G.) requires each school board member who is relieved from the duties of his office by reason of engaging in the war service of the United States when called forth by the Governor or being called to active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States to submit to the school board a list of names of suitable persons to perform the duties of such office as acting school board member during the period in which the regular school board member is engaged in such war service or active duty, in which case the school board is required to consider appointing and may appoint an acting school board member from such list of names. If the school board does not make an appointment from such list, the school board shall notify the submitting member in writing of the rationale for its decision. The bill provides that during such period, the acting school board member shall be vested with all the powers, authority, rights, and duties of the regular school board member for whom he is acting.

State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act, and the General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act; Lobbyists Reporting Filing HB 1854 (Gilbert) and SB 1312 (Norment) make numerous changes to the laws governing lobbyist reporting, the conflict of interest acts, and the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council (the Council), including (i) allowing the Secretary of the Commonwealth to suspend any penalty that could be assessed against a lobbyist's principal for failing to file the required disclosure if such failure is beyond the control of the principal; (ii) clarifying the procedures for terminating the services of a lobbyist; (iii) requiring that lobbyist registration forms be filed electronically; (iv) eliminating the requirement that a lobbyist list the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all other lobbyists representing the same principal; (v) creating a separate statement for a lobbyist's principal to waive the principal signature requirement on the lobbyist disclosure form; (vi) granting the clerk of the local governing body or school board the same power as the Council to redact from any disclosure form released to the public any residential address, personal telephone number, or signature; (vii) eliminating the minimum duration of the mandatory refresher ethics orientation session for General Assembly members; (viii) allowing written informal advice from the Council to confer immunity from prosecution upon individuals acting in accordance with such advice; (ix) clarifying the Council's authority to grant extensions from the filing deadline and imposing a $250 civil penalty on agency heads or local clerks who fail to provide the disclosure forms to filers in a timely manner; (x) requiring lobbyists to provide a report of gifts made during a regular session of the General Assembly no later than three weeks after adjournment to legislators and certain executive branch officials who are required to file a session gift report; and (xi) directing that candidates for statewide office and the General Assembly are required to file a disclosure form with the State Board of Elections and candidates for a constitutional office are required to file a disclosure form with the local general registrar. The bill extends the filing deadline for disclosure forms from January 15 to February 1 and clarify the reporting period covered by the disclosure forms. The bill eliminates events open to individuals who share a common interest from the definition of a "widely attended event," attendance at which is not subject to the gift cap. The bill also exempts from the definition of a "gift" (a) gifts from a person's child-in-law; (b) gifts related to a person's volunteer service; (c) meals provided for attendance at an official meeting of the Commonwealth, its political subdivisions, or certain other entities; and (d) attendance at a reception or similar function. The bill exempts members of the judiciary from certain provisions governing prohibited gifts and prohibited personal interests in a transaction where such members are already subject to similar or greater prohibitions under the Canons of Judicial Conduct for the State of Virginia. The bill also clarifies that a legislator may have a personal interest in a contract with a government agency, not including a legislative branch agency, when the Virginia Public Procurement Act allows the award of such contract without competition. The bills further clarify the exceptions that allow state and local officers and employees who have a person interest in a transaction to participate in the transaction. The bill contains an emergency clause that applies to the changes described in clauses (x) and (xi) above, which means they became effective on April 26, 2017, the date the legislation was signed by the Governor.

State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act; School Boards and School Board Employees HB 1727 (Ransone) provides that school divisions located in Planning District 17 (the Northern Neck) are not subject to the prohibition against hiring a school division employee who is related to a member of the school board under certain circumstances.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); Freedom of Information Advisory Council; Online Public Comment Form HB 2146 (LeMunyon) requires the Freedom of Information Advisory Council to develop an online public comment form to be posted on its official public government website to enable any requester to comment on the quality of assistance provided to the requester by a public body. The bill also requires all state public bodies subject to the provisions of FOIA and any county or city, and any town with a population of more than 250, to post a link on its official public government website to the online public comment form.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); Public Access to Meetings of Public Bodies HB 1540 (LeMunyon) revises FOIA's various open meeting exemptions relating to legal matters, litigation, certain museums, and the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System Authority. The bill also clarifies where meeting notices and minutes are to be posted, requires copies of proposed agendas to be made available, eliminates reporting to the Joint Commission on Science and Technology when a state public body convenes an electronic communication meeting, and makes technical corrections to several open meeting exemptions to provide context for those meeting exemptions that currently only cross-reference corollary records exemptions. The bill also clarifies closed meeting procedures. This bill is the result of a multi-year study conducted by the Freedom of Information Advisory Council pursuant to the HJR 96 FOIA study (2014-2016).

Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); Public Access to Records of Public Bodies HB 1539 (LeMunyon) clarifies the definition of public record. The bill also defines "personal contact information" that is excluded from FOIA's mandatory disclosure provisions in certain cases; clarifies that a requester has the right to inspect records or receive copies at his option; clarifies language in certain record exclusions under FOIA that certain records will be disclosed at the discretion of the custodian; consolidates the personnel record exclusion with the limitation on the application of that exclusion, and specifically clarifies that the name, in addition to position, job classification, and salary, of a public employee is public information as per opinions of the Attorney General and the FOIA Council; will eliminate, effective July 1, 2018, the exclusion for the Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority relating to operating and marketing strategies; eliminates the exclusion for correspondence of local officials as unnecessary; consolidates various public safety exclusions relating to building plans and drawings and critical infrastructure into a single exclusion; eliminates the exclusion for administrative investigations of the Department of Human Resource Management, as the exclusion is already covered under the personnel records exclusion; expands the exclusion for personal information provided to the Virginia College Savings Plan to cover qualified beneficiaries, designated survivors, and authorized individuals, which terms are defined in the bill; consolidates the various record exclusions for the Department of Health Professions and the Department of Health into single exclusions for each Department; clarifies certain Department of Social Services exclusions; provides an exclusion for local finance boards that provide postemployment benefits other than pensions; and eliminates the record exclusion for Virginia Wildlife Magazine. The bill also limits the application of the working papers exemption by stating that information publicly available or not otherwise subject to an exclusion under FOIA or other provision of law that has been aggregated, combined, or changed in format but does not contain a material revision to such information will not be deemed working papers. This bill is the result of a multi-year study conducted by the Freedom of Information Advisory Council pursuant to the HJR 96 FOIA study (2014-2016).

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; Record and Meeting Exclusions for Multidisciplinary Child Abuse Teams HB 1971 (Massie) excludes the records of a multidisciplinary team as they relate to individual child abuse or neglect cases or sex offenses involving a child from mandatory disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. The bill also provides an exemption from open meeting requirements to such teams and sexual assault response teams.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); Record Exclusion for Personal Contact Information SB 1040 (Hanger) provides that personal contact information provided to a public body for the purpose of receiving electronic mail from the public body is excluded from the mandatory disclosure provisions of FOIA, provided that the electronic mail recipient has requested that the public body not disclose such information. The bill defines "personal contact information" as the home or business address, email address, or telephone number or comparable number assigned to any other electronic communication device.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); Training HB 2143 (LeMunyon) requires the Freedom of Information Advisory Council to maintain on its website a listing of all FOIA officers, including name, contact information, and the name of the public body such FOIA officers serve. The bill requires the name and contact information of FOIA officers trained by legal counsel of a public body to be submitted to the Council by July 1 of each year on a form developed by the Council for that purpose and to be updated in a timely manner in the event of any changes to such information. The bill also provides that training through an online course offered by the Council will satisfy the annual training requirement for FOIA officers.

SCHOOL BOARD GOVERNANCE - FAILED

Authority of Elected School Boards to Impose Taxes; Constitutional Amendment (first resolution) HJ 634 (Cole) would have provided that the General Assembly could authorize any elected school board to impose real property taxes.

Charter Schools; Constitutional Amendment (first resolution) HJ 629 (Bell, R.B.) and SJ 240 (Obenshain) would have granted the Board of Education authority, subject to criteria and conditions prescribed by the General Assembly, to establish charter schools within the school divisions of the Commonwealth.

Class Size Limits in Science Laboratory Classes HB 2173 (Murphy) would have established a maximum class size of 24 students in science laboratory classes in grades six through 12.

Community Schools HB 2434 (Rasoul) would have required the Department of Education to establish an interagency taskforce composed of state and local agencies and entities in the areas of early childhood development, health, social services, community engagement, family engagement, higher education, and workforce development for the purpose of developing a pilot program for the establishment of community schools whereby public elementary and secondary schools would serve as centers for the provision of such community programs and services to students and their families as may be necessary based on the unique needs of the student population to be served.

Criminal Background Checks for School Board Members HB 1914 (Head) would have required each individual who is elected or appointed to a school board to (submit to fingerprinting and provide personal descriptive information to be forwarded along with his fingerprints by the school board through the Central Criminal Records Exchange to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the purpose of obtaining criminal history record information and provide written consent and the necessary personal information for the school board to obtain a search of the registry of founded complaints of child abuse and neglect maintained by the Department of Social Services and to take reasonable steps to obtain information from each state in which the individual has resided within the prior five years to determine whether such individual is the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse and neglect in any such state. The bill would have precluded any individual who is found to have been convicted of a felony or any offense involving the sexual molestation, physical or sexual abuse, or rape of a child in the Commonwealth or an equivalent offense in another state or the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse and neglect in the Commonwealth or another state from serving on any school board. The bill would have required each entity that administers the school board election or appointment process for each local school division to notify each prospective school board member of the foregoing requirements.

Equal Rights Amendment; United States Constitution HJ 712 (Filler-Corn) would have expressed the General Assembly's support of legislation to remove the deadline for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. The resolution would have been transmitted to the Virginia Congressional Delegation so that they would have been apprised of the sense of the Virginia General Assembly on this matter. SJ 221 (Surovell) would have ratified the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution that was proposed by Congress in 1972. The joint resolution would have advocated the position that the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment remains viable and may be ratified notwithstanding the expiration of the 10-year ratification period set out in the resolving clause, as amended, in the proposal adopted by Congress.

Immunity of Persons; Defamation; Statements regarding Matters of Public Concern; Sanctions HB 2446 (Levine) would have added defamation to the causes of action from which a citizen shall be immune when making statements regarding matters of public concern, as defined in the bill, to a third party, including those made at a public hearing before the governing body of any locality or other political subdivision, or the boards, commissions, agencies, and authorities thereof, and other governing bodies of any local governmental entity. The bill would have changed from permissive to mandatory the provision that reasonable attorney fees and costs be awarded to any individual who has a suit against him dismissed pursuant to such immunity. The bill would have required the court to give priority on its docket to any pleading brought invoking such immunity. The bill would have required the court to issue an order staying discovery proceedings related to the underlying claim pending the outcome of the court's ruling on any such pleading invoking immunity. The bill would have further specified that, where a party brings an action to deter someone from exercising his constitutional rights, the court shall award sanctions.

Lobbyist Disclosure; Reporting by Certain Political Subdivisions SB 1157 (Reeves) would have required the governing body of any association or other nonstock corporation that is established by a political subdivision or combination of political subdivisions of the Commonwealth to file a separate registration statement on behalf of their officers and employees who will engage in lobbying. The bill would have also prohibited such political subdivisions from using public funds to support lobbying efforts and would have required funds used for lobbying to be segregated from public funds and held in a separate bank account.

Parental Choice Education Savings Accounts Established HB 1605 (LaRock) would have permitted the parent of a public preschool, elementary, or secondary school student who met certain criteria to apply to the school division in which the student resided for a one-year, renewable Parental Choice Education Savings Account that consisted of an amount that was equivalent to a certain percentage of all applicable annual Standards of Quality per pupil state funds appropriated for public school purposes and apportioned to the resident school division in which the student resided, including the per pupil share of state sales tax funding in basic aid and any state per pupil share of special education funding to which the student was eligible. The bill would have allowed the parent to use the moneys in such account for certain education-related expenses of the student, including tuition, deposits, fees, and required textbooks at a private, sectarian or nonsectarian elementary or secondary school or preschool that is located in the Commonwealth and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin. The bill would have also contained provisions relating to auditing, rescinding, and reviewing expenses made from such accounts. The legislation did include a reenactment clause, meaning it had to pass again during the 2018 Session of the General Assembly to become effective. NOTE that similar legislation, SB 1243 (Dunnavant), failed to pass in the Senate. NOTE this legislation passed the General Assembly but was vetoed by the Governor.

Physical Privacy Act HB 1612 (Marshall, R.G.) would have created the Physical Privacy Act, which would have required that a government entity provide for members of the opposite sex separate restrooms and other facilities in a building owned, leased, or otherwise controlled by the entity. The bill would have provided that, subject to certain exceptions, no individual shall enter a restroom or other facility designated for use by members of the opposite sex. The bill would have created a civil cause of action against a government entity for an individual who accesses a restroom or other facility designated for use by members of such individual's sex and encounters a member of the opposite sex if the government entity allowed the member of the opposite sex to use such restroom or other facility or failed to take reasonable steps to prohibit such use. The bill would have also required that the principal of a public school notify within 24 hours the parent or guardian of a child attending such school if the child requests to be recognized or treated as the opposite sex, to use a name or pronoun inconsistent with the child's sex, or to use a restroom or other facility designated for the opposite sex.

Polling Places, Memorandum of Understanding HB 1698 (Marshall, D.W.) would have directed the Attorney General to develop and make available a template memorandum of understanding to be used by the general registrars when establishing polling places.

Recall Elections for Certain Elected and Appointed Officers HB 1733 (Anderson) would have provided a process by which elected officers and officers appointed to an elected office may be recalled and removed from office.

Regional Charter School Divisions HB 2342 (Landes) and SB 1283 (Obenshain) would have authorized the Board of Education to establish regional charter school divisions consisting of at least two but not more than three existing school divisions in regions in which each underlying school division had an enrollment of more than 3,000 students and one or more schools that had accreditation denied status for two out of the past three years. Such regional charter school divisions would have been supervised by a school board consisting of eight members appointed by the state Board and one member appointed by the localities of each of the underlying divisions. These bills would have authorized the regional charter school board, after a review by the Board, to review and approve public charter school applications in the regional charter school divisions and to contract with any applicants. These bills would have required the state share of Standards of Quality per pupil funding of the underlying school district in which the student resided or transferred to such school. The bill also would have included a provision that a public charter school located in a regional charter school division may have received state funding to replace, in whole or in part, the local share of the Standards of Quality per pupil funding of the underlying school division in which the public charter school was physically located. NOTE this legislation passed the General Assembly but was vetoed by the Governor.

Regional School Board For Operating Full-Time Virtual Schools HB 1764 (Bulova) and SB 1380 (Petersen) would have required the establishment of eight regional school boards composed of one member of each local school board that governs each local school division in each of the eight superintendent's regions in the Commonwealth and requires each such regional school board to enter into a contract with at least one approved multidivision online provider to operate a full-time virtual school program for students enrolled in each local school division in such region. The bill would have contained provisions relating to student eligibility, educational standards, and funding for such full-time virtual school programs. The bill would have required each local school board to make the option to participate in a full-time online learning program or full-time virtual school program available to at least two percent of students enrolled in the local school division and permits school boards to satisfy such requirement by providing the option to participate in the full-time virtual school program offered by the relevant regional school board.

Requests for Information by Members of the General Assembly; Responses Not Subject to Redaction SB 972 (DeSteph) would have required all departments, agencies, and institutions of the Commonwealth and staff and employees thereof to respond to a request for information made by a member of the General Assembly. The bill would have further provided that notwithstanding the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.), a response to a request for information made by a member of the General Assembly would not be subject to redaction. NOTE that while the legislation failed, the subject matter was referred to the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council.

School Calendar HB 1983 (Greason) and HB 2031 (Adams) would have made local school boards responsible for setting the school calendar and determining the opening day of the school year and eliminates the post-Labor Day opening requirement and "good cause" scenarios for which the Board of Education may grant waivers of this requirement. SB 1111 (Edwards) would have added to the "good cause" circumstances for which school divisions may be granted a waiver from the regular post-Labor Day school opening schedule a school division that has entered into a dual enrollment agreement with a comprehensive community college and, in the school year for which the waiver is sought, participating students are required to attend college credit courses that begin prior to Labor Day.

Sexually Explicit Instructional Materials or Related Academic Activities HB 2191 (Landes) would have required each school board's procedures for handling controversial instructional materials to include (i) notifying, at the beginning of each school year and at such times as an additional notification may have become necessary during the school year, the parent of any student enrolled in a course in which the instructional materials or related academic activities may have included sexually explicit content or the potential for such sexually explicit content in such course and (ii) provided, as a replacement for instructional materials or related academic activities that included sexually explicit content, nonexplicit instructional materials or related academic activities to any student whose parent so requested. The legislation would have designated "sexually explicit content" to mean content that involved any criminal sexual assault defined and punishable as a felony or any act defined and punishable as a felony under 18.2-361 (“crimes against nature”). NOTE this legislation passed the General Assembly but was vetoed by the Governor.

State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act; General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act; Certain Gifts Prohibited SB 1294 (Vogel) would have replaced the $100 annual cap on gifts to members of and candidates for the General Assembly and their immediate family members from a lobbyist or lobbyist's principal and state and local officers and employees required to file a statement of economic interests and their immediate family members from a lobbyist or lobbyist's principal or a person, organization, or business who is or is seeking to become a party to a contract with the officer or employee's agency local agency with an absolute ban on gifts from such individuals. The only exceptions to this gift ban would have been gifts from foreign dignitaries received on behalf of the Commonwealth or a locality and travel approved by the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council.

Virginia Administrative Process Act HB 2456 (Hodges) would have required each agency to establish a schedule over a five-year period for the review of all regulations for which the agency is the primary responsible agency. HJ 614 (Ransone) would have directed the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to conduct a two-year study of the Virginia Administrative Process Act exemptions. Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council; Investigative Authority HB 2380 (Simon) would have authorized the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council to investigate alleged violations of the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act and the General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act (the Acts).

Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council; Local Government Officers and Employees Study SJ 289 (Ebbin) would have directed the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council to study the procedures for the filing and review of disclosure forms by local government officers and employees. NOTE that while the legislation failed, the subject matter was referred to the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); Closed Meeting Violations; Civil Penalty SB 1103 (Surovell) would have provided that in addition to any penalties imposed under FOIA, if the court finds that a member of a public body voted to certify a closed meeting and at the time of such certification such certification constituted a departure from the requirements of FOIA, the court would have been required to impose on all members voting to certify in their individual capacity, whether or not a writ of mandamus or injunctive relief is awarded, a civil penalty of $500 each that would have been payable into the State Literary Fund.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; Failure to Respond to Request for Records; Rebuttable Presumption SB 1128 (DeSteph) would have provided that there shall be a rebuttable presumption that a failure to respond to a request for records was willful and knowing.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; Minutes of Closed Meetings Required; Audio Recordings HB 2401 (Morris) would have provided that a public body shall take closed meeting minutes, also make an audio recording of the entirety of every meeting that is closed to the public, and use a means of recording that fully captures and can clearly reproduce all statements made during a closed meeting. The bill would have provided that the minutes or recordings made would not be subject to the disclosure provisions of FOIA.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; Right to Speak at Open Meetings HB 2223 (Kory) would have required that every public body afford an opportunity for public comment during any open meeting and would have required that the public comment periods be noted on the public body's agenda.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; Willful Violations; Grounds for Termination HB 2402 (Morris) would have provided that if the court finds that any officer or employee of a public body receives a request for records that was sent by a requester by certified mail, return receipt requested, and without legal excuse or justification, deliberately, willfully, and knowingly fails to make a response to such request, such officer or employee may be terminated for cause by his appointing authority or agency head.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; Working Papers and Correspondence Exemption for Presidents of Public Institutions of Higher Education SB 931 (Petersen) would have eliminated the working papers and correspondence record exemption for the president or other chief executive officer of any public institution of higher education in Virginia.

Virginia Virtual School HB 1400 (Bell, R.P.) and SB 1240 (Dunnavant) would have established the Board of the Virginia Virtual School (the Board) as a policy agency in the executive branch of state government for the purpose of governing the full-time virtual school programs offered to students enrolled in the Virginia Virtual School (the School). The Secretary of Education would have been responsible for such agency, which would have been operated by a 14-member Board. Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, the bill would have required the School to be open to any school-age person in the Commonwealth and to provide an educational program meeting the Standards of Quality for grades kindergarten through 12, with a maximum enrollment of 5,000 students statewide. The bill would have provided for the transfer of the average state share of Standards of Quality per pupil funding for each enrolled student to the School. NOTE this legislation passed the General Assembly but was vetoed by the Governor.

SPECIAL SERVICES - PASSED

Administration of Medications to Treat Adrenal Crisis HB 1661 (Greason) provides that a prescriber may authorize an employee of a school board, a school for students with disabilities, or an accredited private school who is trained in the administration of injected medications for the treatment of adrenal crisis resulting from a condition causing adrenal insufficiency to administer such medications to a student diagnosed with a condition causing adrenal insufficiency when the student is believed to be experiencing or about to experience an adrenal crisis pursuant to a written order or standing protocol issued within the course of the prescriber's professional practice and with the consent of the student's parents and provides that an employee of a school board, a school for students with disabilities, or an accredited private school who is trained in the administration of injected medications for the treatment of adrenal crisis resulting from a condition causing adrenal insufficiency who administers or assists in the administration of such medications to a student diagnosed with a condition causing adrenal insufficiency when the student is believed to be experiencing or about to experience an adrenal crisis in accordance with the prescriber's instructions shall not be liable for any civil damages for ordinary negligence in acts or omissions resulting from the rendering of such treatment.

Assistance With Student Insulin Pumps, Certain Public School Employees SB 1116 (McPike) authorizes, but does not require, local school board employees who are registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, or certified nurse aides and who have been trained in the administration of insulin and glucagon to assist a student who is diagnosed with diabetes and who carries an insulin pump with the insertion or reinsertion of the pump or any of its parts, provided that assistance has been authorized by the prescriber and consented to by the student's parent.

Certification or Training in Emergency First Aid, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, and the Use of Automated External Defibrillators HB 1829 (Dudenhefer) specifies that the certification or training in emergency first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and the use of automated external defibrillators that is required of every person seeking initial licensure or renewal of a license as a teacher shall include hands-on practice of the skills necessary to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The new requirement becomes effective September 1, 2017.

Comprehensive Community Colleges; Academic Credit HB 1592 (James) and SB 999 (Ruff) require the State Board for Community Colleges to require each comprehensive community college to develop policies and procedures for awarding academic credit to enrolled students who have successfully completed a state-approved registered apprenticeship credential.

Dual Enrollment Courses HB 1662 (Greason) and SB 1534 (Sturtevant) require the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), in consultation with each public institution of higher education, to establish a policy for granting undergraduate general education course credit to any entering freshman student who has successfully completed a dual enrollment course. These bills require SCHEV and each public institution of higher education to make the policy available to the public on their websites.

Dyslexia Advisor HB 2395 (Cline) and SB 1516 (Black) require one reading specialist in any school division in which the local school board employs such a specialist to have training in the identification of and the appropriate interventions, accommodations, and teaching techniques for students with dyslexia or a related disorder and to serve as an advisor on dyslexia and related disorders and to have an understanding of the definition of dyslexia and a working knowledge of several topics relating to dyslexia.

National Suicide Prevention Week HJ 548 (Bell, R.P.) and SJ 251 (Hanger) designate the week of September 10, in 2017 and in each succeeding year, as National Suicide Prevention Week in Virginia.

Persons With Developmental Disabilities; Terminology HB 1775 (Hodges) corrects numerous sections of the Code of Virginia by replacing the term "intellectual disability" with "developmental disabilities" as appropriate.

Sight and Hearing Testing of Public School Students; Exception HB 1437 (Head) excludes from the requirement that the sight and hearing of public school students be tested any student who has an Individualized Education Program or a Section 504 Plan that documents a defect of vision or hearing or a disease of the eyes or ears when the principal determines that such a test would not identify any previously unknown defect of vision or hearing or a disease of the eyes or ears.

State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; Collection and Publication of Wage Data and the Virginia Longitudinal Data System HB 1664 (Greason) authorizes the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (Council) to publish data on the proportion of graduates of each public institution of higher education and each nonprofit private institution of higher education eligible to participate in the Tuition Assistance Grant Program who are employed at 18 months and five years after the date of graduation. The bill directs that the data include the program and the program level, as recognized by the Council, for each degree awarded by each institution; the percentage of graduates known to be employed in the Commonwealth; the average salary and the average higher education-related debt for the graduates on which the data is based; rates of enrollment in remedial coursework for each institution; individual student credit accumulation for each institution; rates of postsecondary degree completion; and any other information that the Council determines is necessary to address adequate preparation for success in postsecondary education and alignment between secondary and postsecondary education. The bill requires each such institution of higher education to provide a link to such published postsecondary education and employment data. The Council is also required to administer the Virginia Longitudinal Data System as a multiagency partnership for the purposes of developing educational, health, social service, and employment outcome data; improving the efficacy of state services; and aiding decision making.

Student Vision Screenings HB 1408 (Ware) requires (i) the principal of each public elementary school to cause the vision of students in kindergarten and grade two or grade three to be tested, unless such students are admitted for the first time to a public elementary school and produce a written record of a comprehensive eye examination performed within the preceding 24 months or the parents or guardians of such students object on religious grounds, and (ii) requires the principal of each public middle school and high school to cause the vision of students in grade seven and grade 10 to be tested, unless such students produce a written record of a comprehensive eye examination performed within the preceding 24 months or the parents or guardians of such students object on religious grounds. Any such screenings could be conducted by a qualified nonprofit vision health organization that uses a digital photoscreening method pursuant to a comprehensive vision program or other methods that comply with Department of Education requirements. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the bill specifies that such screenings may be conducted at any time during the school year; however, the scheduling of such screenings must be completed no later than the sixtieth administrative working day of the school year. The bill defines "qualified nonprofit vision health organization" and "comprehensive vision program." Under current law, the timing and frequency of such vision screenings is determined by the Board of Education pursuant to regulations, and the method and provider of such vision screenings is determined by the local school board.

Substance Abuse, Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth HB 1751 (O’Bannon) and SB 1050 (Edwards) expand the mission of the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth to include the reduction and prevention of substance use by youth in the Commonwealth.

Suicide Prevention HB 2258 (Filler-Corn) directs the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to report to the Governor and the General Assembly on its activities related to suicide prevention across the lifespan by December 1, 2017.

SPECIAL SERVICES - FAILED

Applied Baccalaureate Degrees at Comprehensive Community Colleges Study HJ 611 (Marshall, D.W.) and SJ 254 (Stanley) would have requested that the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia study the feasibility and benefits of comprehensive community colleges offering applied baccalaureate degrees by analyzing and making recommendations on the affordability of obtaining an applied baccalaureate degree at a comprehensive community college as compared to a baccalaureate public institution of higher education.

Certain Waivers Under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program HB 2305 (Orrock) would have prohibited the Secretary of Health and Human Resources from applying for, accepting, or renewing any statewide or local waivers of the eligibility requirements for participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credit; Eligibility Requirements and Benefits for Students With a Disability HB 1966 (Massie) and SB 1428 (Stanley) would have expanded the education improvement scholarships tax credit program by removing the requirement that a child with a disability be a student enrolled or recently enrolled in public school in order to be eligible.

Eligibility for In-State Tuition; Certain Individuals Who Have Applied for Permanent Residency; Certain Individuals Approved Under Deferred Action Programs HB 1857 (Lopez) would have declared eligible for in-state tuition any individual who attended a public or private high school in the Commonwealth for at least three years; graduated from a public or private high school in the Commonwealth or passed a high school equivalency examination approved by the Board of Education; registers as an entering student or is enrolled in a public institution of higher education; provides an affidavit to the public institution of higher education in which he has registered as an entering student or is enrolled stating that he has filed an application to become a permanent resident of the United States and is actively pursuing such permanent residency or will do so as soon as he becomes eligible for such permanent residency; and submits evidence to the institution at which he has registered as an entering student or is enrolled that he, or in the case of a dependent student, at least one parent, guardian, or person standing in loco parentis, has filed, unless exempted by state law, Virginia income tax returns for at least three years prior to the date of registration as an entering student or enrollment. The bill would have provided that any such individual shall remain eligible for in-state tuition for as long as he maintains continuous enrollment in the public institution of higher education and his application for permanent residency has not been denied. The bill would have also prohibited any student who became eligible for in-state tuition as a result of his lawful presence in the United States pursuant to approval under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program or any other federal deferred action program from being deemed ineligible for in-state tuition by virtue of the elimination or modification of any such program. HB 2344 (Kory) would have declared, absent congressional intent to the contrary, that any individual granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would have had the capacity to intend to remain in the Commonwealth indefinitely and is therefore eligible to establish domicile and receive in-state tuition charges at any public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth.

Governing Boards of Public Institutions of Higher Education HB 1410 (Albo) would have required the board of visitors of each baccalaureate public institution of higher education, except Virginia Military Institute, Norfolk State University, and Virginia State University, to adopt policies prohibiting the annual enrollment of full-time equivalent undergraduate non-Virginia students from exceeding 30 percent of the total annual enrollment of full-time equivalent undergraduate students unless the board, after covering the cost to educate each full-time equivalent undergraduate non-Virginia student that exceeds such 30 percent cap with tuition revenue from such students, uses any remaining tuition revenue from such students to lower in equal amounts the rate of tuition and fees charged to each undergraduate Virginia student.

Informal Truancy Plans SB 1356 (Locke) would have provided that a student may have multiple discretionary diversions for truancy so long as no previous diversion occurred during the same school year. The bill would have extended the time frame for an informal truancy plan from 90 days to 120 days.

Insulin Pump Training SB 1214 (Stuart) would have required school employees who are required to have training in the administration of insulin and glucagon to also have training in the use and insertion of insulin pumps.

Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission Free Community College Study SJ 242 (Edwards) would have directed the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study the feasibility of providing Virginians the opportunity to attend comprehensive community college without paying tuition or fees.

Long-Term Effects of Drugs Used to Treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) on Individuals and Populations Study HJ 682 (Marshall, R. G.) would have required that a study be conducted regarding the long-term effects of drugs used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Office of the Children's Ombudsman SB 937 (Edwards) would have created the Office of the Children's Ombudsman to provide ombudsman services, including investigation of complaints, advocacy, and information for children, parents, and citizens involved with child-serving agencies, defined in the bill.

Parental Choice Education Savings Accounts Established HB 1605 (LaRock) would have permitted the parent of a public preschool, elementary, or secondary school student who met certain criteria to apply to the school division in which the student resided for a one-year, renewable Parental Choice Education Savings Account that consisted of an amount that was equivalent to a certain percentage of all applicable annual Standards of Quality per pupil state funds appropriated for public school purposes and apportioned to the resident school division in which the student resided, including the per pupil share of state sales tax funding in basic aid and any state per pupil share of special education funding to which the student was eligible. The bill would have allowed the parent to use the moneys in such account for certain education-related expenses of the student, including tuition, deposits, fees, and required textbooks at a private, sectarian or nonsectarian elementary or secondary school or preschool that is located in the Commonwealth and did not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin. The bill would have also contained provisions relating to auditing, rescinding, and reviewing expenses made from such accounts. The legislation did include a reenactment clause, meaning it would have had to pass again during the 2018 Session of the General Assembly to become effective. NOTE that similar legislation, SB 1243 (Dunnavant), failed to pass in the Senate. NOTE this legislation passed the General Assembly but was vetoed by the Governor.

Parent Resource and Tools or Assessments for Educators Working With Children Who Are Deaf, Deaf-Blind, or Hard-of-Hearing From Birth to Age Five HB 1873 (Pogge) and SB 983 (Favola) would have required the Division of Special Education and Student Services of the Department of Education to select, with input from an advisory committee that it establishes, language development milestones and include such milestones in a resource for use by parents of a child from birth to age five who is identified as deaf, deaf-blind, or hard-of-hearing to monitor and track their child's expressive and receptive language acquisition and developmental stages toward English literacy; disseminate such resource to such parents; select existing tools or assessments for educators for use in assessing the language and literacy development of children from birth to age five who are deaf, deaf-blind, or hard-of-hearing; disseminate such tools or assessments to local educational agencies and provide materials and training on their use; and annually produce a report, using existing data reported in compliance with the federally required state performance plan on students with disabilities, that compares the language and literacy development of children from birth to age five who are deaf, deaf-blind, or hard-of-hearing with the language and literacy development of their peers who are not deaf, deaf-blind, or hard-of-hearing and make such report available to the public on its website. The bill was a recommendation of the Disability Commission.

Public Institutions of Higher Education; Admission of Undergraduate Students Domiciled in the Commonwealth HB 1886 (Hugo) would have required the governing board of each public institution of higher education, except for the Virginia Military Institute, Norfolk State University, and Virginia State University, to establish policies requiring that at least 75 percent of undergraduate students admitted to the institution have established domicile in the Commonwealth. The bill would have required each such governing board to recover any lost revenue caused by this requirement by increasing the tuition charged to undergraduate non-Virginia students.

Rates of In-State and Out-of-State Undergraduate Student Admissions and Enrollment at Public Institutions of Higher Education in the Commonwealth and Each Other State Study HJ 585 (Rasoul) would have requested the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to study rates of in-state and out-of-state undergraduate student admissions and enrollment at public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth and in each other state.

Recognition of Best Practices to Reduce the Negative Consequences of Adverse Childhood Experiences in Developing Policies of the Commonwealth HJ 652 (Carr) would have encouraged the Governor to recognize best practices to reduce the negative consequences of adverse childhood experiences in developing policies of the Commonwealth, take into account the principles of early childhood brain development, and, whenever possible, consider the concepts of toxic stress, early adversity, and nurturing relationships and the role of primary prevention, early intervention, and trauma-informed and resilience-building practices and policies as a means to achieving a lasting foundation for a more prosperous, healthier, and sustainable Commonwealth.

Required Immunizations; Meningococcal Conjugate HB 1533 (Hope) and SB 1519 (McClellan) would have required the Board of Health to include in regulations governing the immunization of school children a requirement for one dose of meningococcal conjugate (MCV4) administered before the child enters the sixth grade.

School Health Advisory Board SB 1500 (Favola) would have established the School Health Advisory Board in the executive branch to advise the General Assembly on pending legislation concerning health policy that affects elementary and secondary schools. NOTE that while this legislation failed, its subject matter was referred to the Joint Committee to Study the Future of Public Elementary and Secondary Education in the Commonwealth for further consideration.

School Immunization Reports Posted on School Websites SB 1028 (Dunnavant) would have required a copy of the report schools are required to provide to local health departments regarding student immunizations to be posted on the individual school's website.

Students With Blindness or Visual Impairments HB 2205 (Stolle) and SB 1477 (McClellan) would have made several changes to provisions relating to students with blindness or visual impairments, including requiring a learning media assessment (LMA) to be administered as part of the initial evaluation and each reevaluation of each student with blindness or visual impairments or more frequently, if such student's Individualized Education Program (IEP) team so determines and requiring instruction in Braille reading and writing and accommodations for materials in Braille to be included in the IEP of a student with blindness or visual impairments commensurate with his IEP team's determination of his needs based upon the results of such LMA and requiring the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired to assist the Board of Education and each local school board with ongoing professional development for teachers of students with blindness or visual impairments, including knowledge of and instruction in Braille and the administration and evaluation of LMAs.

STANDARDS OF QUALITY/STANDARDS OF ACCREDITATION – PASSED

Career and Technical Education Credential; Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery SB 1159 (Reeves) provides that the career and technical education credential, when required for high school graduation, adult education, or an alternative education plan, will be satisfied with the successful completion of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. Under current law, the successful completion of an industry certification, a state licensure examination, a national occupational competency assessment, or the Virginia workplace readiness skills assessment satisfy such credential.

Career and Technical Education Programs; Student and Parent Notification HB 1552 (Bulova) requires each local school board to implement a plan to notify students and their parents of the availability of career and technical education programs and to include annual notice on its website to enrolled high school students and their parents of the opportunity for such students to obtain a nationally recognized career readiness certificate at a local public high school, comprehensive community college, or workforce center.

Graduation Requirements; Verified Units of Credit; PSAT/NSMQT and PreACT HB 1982 (Greason) requires the Board of Education, in establishing graduation requirements, to provide for the award of verified units of credit for a satisfactory score, as determined by the Board of Education, on the Preliminary ACT (PreACT) or Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) examination.

School Divisions of Innovation HB 1981 (Greason) requires the Board of Education to promulgate regulations for the designation of School Divisions of Innovation in which the local school board in the local school division so designated shall, pursuant to a plan of innovation, be exempted from certain regulatory provisions and be permitted to adopt alternative policies for school administrators, teachers, and staff to meet the diverse needs of students and to improve student learning; educational performance; and college, career, and citizenship readiness skills in the local school division or any portion thereof.

Standards for Accreditation; Accreditation Process SB 1098 (Newman) requires that the regulations establishing standards for accreditation adopted by the Board of Education ensure that the accreditation process is transparent and based on objective measurements and that any appeal of the accreditation status of a school is heard and decided by the Board.

Standards of Learning Assessments; Partial Credit HB 1414 (Austin) requires the Department of Education to collaborate with the existing educational advisory committees in the Commonwealth that advise on student assessments to review multipart Standards of Learning assessment questions and determine the feasibility of awarding students partial credit for correct answers on one or more parts of such questions. The bill requires the Department to report its determination to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2017 and prohibits the Department from taking action regarding the awarding of partial credit prior to the 2018 Session of the General Assembly.

STANDARDS OF QUALITY/STANDARDS OF ACCREDITATION - FAILED

Career and Technical Education Credential HB 1421 (Farrell) would have relieved each high school student in the graduating classes of 2018 through 2021 who pursues a standard diploma of the requirement to earn a career and technical education credential when such student earns a score of 4 or better on an Advanced Placement examination. Beginning with the graduating class of 2022, each high school student would have had the option of completing an Advanced Placement, honors, or International Baccalaureate course or earning a career and technical education credential to satisfy a specific graduation requirement.

Computer Coding Credit for Foreign Language Credit HB 2378 (Davis) would have required the Board, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to provide for the substitution of computer coding course credit for any foreign language course credit required to graduate, except in cases in which such foreign language course credit is required to earn an advanced diploma offered by a nationally recognized provider of college-level courses.

Graduation Requirements HB 2142 (LeMunyon) would have delayed by one year the implementation of the redesigned high school graduation requirements established pursuant to Chapter 750 of the Acts of Assembly of 2016. SB 1556 (Newman) would have mandated that the Board of Education's graduation requirements require a student to earn at least one verified credit in each of the following subjects: mathematics, reading, writing, science, and history and social science. The bill would have required a student to achieve a passing score on the associated end-of-course Standards of Learning assessment to earn a verified credit. The bill would have prohibited the associated end-of course Standards of Learning assessment from being diluted or replaced by another assessment. NOTE that while this legislation failed, its subject matter was referred to the Joint Committee to Study the Future of Public Elementary and Secondary Education in the Commonwealth for further consideration.

High School Graduation and Dropout Data Formula HB 2054 (Kory) would have required that the formula that the Board of Education uses to collect, analyze, report, and make available to the public high school graduation and dropout data to exclude any student who fails to graduate on time because of an extenuating circumstance. The bill would have required the Board of Education to enumerate qualifying extenuating circumstances by regulation.

Standards of Accreditation; Industry Certification Credentials HB 1708 (Filler-Corn) would have required the Board of Education (the Board) to consider for inclusion in the student outcome measures included in the Standards of Accreditation the number of industry certification credentials, as defined by the Board, obtained by high school students but would have prohibited the Board from including the number of such credentials in the student outcome measures included in the Standards of Accreditation prior to the 2018 Session of the General Assembly. NOTE that the bill passed the General Assembly, but was vetoed by the Governor.

Standards of Learning Assessments SB 1089 (Sturtevant) would have reduced the total number and type of required Standards of Learning assessments to the minimum requirements established by the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, P.L. 89-10, as amended. NOTE that while this legislation failed, its subject matter was referred to the Joint Committee to Study the Future of Public Elementary and Secondary Education in the Commonwealth for further consideration.

Standards of Quality; Assessment Terms SB 1099 (Newman) would have changed the term used to refer to certain assessments to "locally developed assessments" from "alternative assessments." Under current law, two distinct assessments are referred to as "alternative assessments." To provide further clarity, the bill also would have required local school boards, when administering the locally developed assessments, to distinguish between locally developed assessments and Standards of Learning assessments. NOTE that while this legislation failed, its subject matter was referred to the Joint Committee to Study the Future of Public Elementary and Secondary Education in the Commonwealth for further consideration.

Verified Credit for Locally Selected, Nationally Recognized High School Academic Assessments HB 1607 (Habeeb) and SB 1584 (Suetterlein) would have required the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to provide for the award of verified units of credit for satisfactory scores on locally selected, nationally recognized high school academic assessments approved by the Board in lieu of the correlated Standards of Learning assessments.

STUDENT ACTIVITIES - PASSED

--NONE--

STUDENT ACTIVITIES - FAILED

Participation in Interscholastic Programs by Home Instruction Students HB 1578 (Bell, R.B.) would have prohibited public schools from joining an organization governing interscholastic programs that did not deem eligible for participation a student who received home instruction; had demonstrated evidence of progress for two consecutive academic years; was in compliance with immunization requirements; was entitled to free tuition in a public school; had not reached the age of 19 by August 1 of the current academic year; was an amateur who received no compensation but participated solely for the educational, physical, mental, and social benefits of the activity; complied with all disciplinary rules and was subject to all codes of conduct applicable to all public high school athletes; and complied with all other rules governing awards, all-star games, maximum consecutive semesters of high school enrollment, parental consents, physical examinations, and transfers applicable to all high school athletes. The bill would have provided that no local school board would have been required to establish a policy to permit students who received home instruction to participate in interscholastic programs. The bill would have permitted reasonable fees to be charged to students who received home instruction to cover the costs of participation in such interscholastic programs, including the costs of additional insurance, uniforms, and equipment. The bill had an expiration date of July 1, 2022. NOTE that the General Assembly adopted this legislation, but it was vetoed by the Governor.

Virginia High School League Study HJ 546 (Bell, R.P.) would have directed the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to study the Virginia High School League (VHSL). The resolution would have directed JLARC, in conducting its study, to review the usefulness of the functions currently performed by VHSL; assess how effectively VHSL fulfills its role, including its sanctioning authority; assess whether there is sufficient transparency and accountability in VHSL executive committee, board, and staff decisions, operations, and funding; compare the role and operations of VHSL with those of similar organizations in other states; assess whether VHSL as currently structured is the best model for performing the functions that VHSL currently performs; and (vi) review other issues and make recommendations as appropriate.

STUDENT TESTING - PASSED

Career and Technical Education Credential; Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery SB 1159 (Reeves) provides that the career and technical education credential, when required for high school graduation, adult education, or an alternative education plan, may be satisfied with the successful completion of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. Under current law, the successful completion of an industry certification, a state licensure examination, a national occupational competency assessment, or the Virginia workplace readiness skills assessment satisfy such credential.

STUDENT TESTING - FAILED

TAXATION – PASSED

County Food and Beverage Tax; Referendum SB 1296 (Vogel) prohibits a county from holding a new referendum on the levy of a food and beverage tax in the three calendar years subsequent to its electoral defeat, but only if such referendum is initiated by a resolution of the board of supervisors. The bill also requires the ballot for any such referendum to state the total tax, as a percentage, that will be imposed on food and beverage if the referendum were to pass, based upon a four percent food and beverage tax and any other ad valorem taxes applicable to the purchase of prepared food and beverage in the county.

Neighborhood Assistance Act Tax Credit HB 1433 (Farrell) modifies the requirement that at least 10 percent of all available tax credits be allocated to organizations that have not previously received tax credits by providing that the allocation for such organizations is required only if the General Assembly increases the amount of available credits year over year. The bill requires that the allocation be at least 10 percent of credits created by the increase rather than 10 percent of all available credits. Current law limits credits to $9 million for education proposals approved by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and $8 million for proposals approved by the Commissioner of Social Services. NOTE the Governor added an emergency clause to this bill, so it became effective upon his signature on February 23, 2017.

Neighborhood Assistance Act Tax Credits; Allocation of Credits SB 1165 (DeSteph) requires the Commissioner of Social Services and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to consider, in allocating credits under the Neighborhood Assistance Act tax credit program, the past performance of organizations requesting credits, pursuant to accountability measures established in regulations and guidelines.

Neighborhood Assistance Act Tax Credits; Board of Education HB 1838 (Orrock) requires any neighborhood organization submitting a proposal to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for an allocation of tax credits for the program year beginning July 1, 2017 to include with its proposal a list of all localities in the Commonwealth in which the neighborhood organization provided services during the program year beginning July 1, 2016. Requires the Department of Education to aggregate and report on this information no later than December 1, 2017.

Sales and Use Tax Exemption; Certain Textbooks and Other Educational Materials HB 2377 (Freitas) extends the sunset date from July 1, 2017, to July 1, 2022, for the sales and use tax exemption for textbooks and other educational materials that are withdrawn from inventory at book-publishing distribution facilities for free distribution to professors and other individuals who have an educational focus.

Sales and Use Tax Exemptions; Qualifying Items Including School Supplies HB 1529 (Ward) and SB 1018 (Barker) extend from July 1, 2017, to July 1, 2022, the sunset dates for the sales tax holiday periods for school supplies and clothing, Energy Star and WaterSense products, and hurricane preparedness products.

TAXATION - FAILED

Authority of Elected School Boards to Impose Taxes; Constitutional Amendment (first resolution) HJ 634 (Cole) would have provided that the General Assembly could have authorized any elected school board to impose real property taxes.

Coalfield Region Public Education Tax Credit HB 1672 (Morefield) would have established a tax credit for taxable years 2017 through 2021 for donations to public schools in the coalfield region. The credit would have equaled 65 percent of the value of the donation. The Department of Taxation would have been authorized to issue $5 million in tax credits each fiscal year.

Corporate Income Tax SB 789 (Sturtevant) would have lowered the corporate income tax rate from six percent to 5.5 percent for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2018. SB 835 (Chase) would have lowered the corporate income tax rate from six percent to 2.5 percent, effective January 1, 2017.

County Food and Beverage Tax SB 956 (Locke) would have increased from four percent to eight percent the maximum tax that any county is authorized to impose on food and beverages sold by a restaurant, commonly referred to as the meals tax. The bill would have also removed the requirement that a county hold a referendum before imposing a meals tax.

Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credit HB 1962 (Massie) and SB 1426 (Stanley) would have increased the Education Improvement Scholarships tax credit from 65 percent to 90 percent of the value of donations made to nonprofit scholarship foundations, beginning in taxable year 2018.

Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credit; Eligibility Requirements HB 1756 (Davis) would have eliminated the requirement that a student currently or recently have attended public school in order to qualify for a scholarship from a scholarship foundation that provides tax-credit-derived scholarships.

Individual Income Tax SB 788 (Sturtevant) would have lowered the rate of taxation for each income bracket by one-quarter percent each year for four years beginning in taxable year 2018. For taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2021, income would have been taxed as follows: one percent on income not exceeding $3,000, two percent on income in excess of $3,000 but not in excess of $5,000, four percent on income in excess of $5,000 but not in excess of $17,000, and 4.75 percent on income in excess of $17,000. SB 1029 (Dunnavant) would have increased the deduction, for purposes of computing Virginia taxable income, for personal exemptions. For taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2018, a taxpayer may deduct $1,000 for each personal exemption allowable to the taxpayer on federal income taxes; current law allows a deduction of $930 per exemption. A blind or aged taxpayer would have been able to deduct an additional personal exemption in the amount of $900.

Local Cigarette Tax HB 1925 (Campbell) and SB 1329 (Carrico) would have allowed all localities to impose a cigarette tax by removing the requirement that only those localities that had such authority prior to 1977 are eligible. SB 1329 would additionally have set a maximum rate on the cigarette tax imposed by counties of five cents per pack or the amount levied under state law, whichever is greater.

Neighborhood Assistance Tax Credits SB 1137 (Mason) would have reduced the amount of the tax credit from 65 percent of the value of donations to neighborhood organizations for taxable years 2012 through 2017 to 60 percent of such donations for taxable year 2018, 55 percent of such donations for taxable year 2019, and 50 percent of such donations for taxable years 2020 and thereafter.

Public Hearings for Tax Rate Increases SB 1268 (Ebbin) would have authorized localities to hold hearings on tax rate increases at the same time as the annual budget hearing.

Real Property Tax; Assessed Value; Constitutional Amendment (first resolution) HJ 577 (Cole) would have provided that the General Assembly could authorize any locality to reduce the assessed value of real property, until the property is sold or the owner dies, whose fair market value has increased significantly as a result of public improvements abutting the property.

School Supplies and Hurricane Preparedness Sales Tax Holidays SB 1336 (Surovell) would have added to the existing sales tax holiday for school supplies, clothing, and footwear an exemption for computers sold at $700 or less. The bill would have removed from the hurricane preparedness sales tax holiday the exemption for generators. The bill would also have extended the sunset dates for the school supplies and hurricane preparedness sales tax holidays from 2017 to 2022.

Student Internships and Worker Retraining Tax Credit HB 1959 (Yancey) would have provided a $1,000 tax credit to an employer for each intern hired as part of a qualified internship program.

Tax Credits; Elimination of State-Level Charitable Contribution Deductions When Such Credits Are Claimed HB 1707 (Filler-Corn) would have prohibited a taxpayer from claiming a charitable contribution deduction in calculating Virginia taxable income if a neighborhood assistance tax credit or an education improvement scholarships tax credit is claimed for the same donation.

Tax Credits Related to Education; Aggregate Cap SB 1167 (DeSteph) would have allocated 20 percent of any unissued credits in a fiscal year under the Education Improvement Scholarships tax credit program to the Superintendent of Public Instruction to be allocated to education programs under the Neighborhood Assistance Act tax credit program during the next fiscal year. The 20 percent of unissued credits would have been added to the current $9 million cap for education programs under the Neighborhood Assistance Act tax credit program.

Transient Occupancy Tax; State Parks HB 1681 (Bloxom) would have permitted localities to impose transient occupancy taxes on transient room rentals and travel campgrounds in state parks.

Retail Sales and Use Tax Act HB 1501 (Davis) would have conformed the Commonwealth's sales and use tax laws to the provisions of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement.

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2017 General Assembly Comprehensive Report

Updated May 8, 2017