2020 General Assembly Update
Key Education-Related Subjects
Adjournment Sine Die Budget Report, March 12, 2020

Fairfax County Public Schools, Office of Government Relations

Additional information regarding the education-related legislation described below, as well as for all other bills related to education can be found in the thirteen subject categories located on the web pages of the FCPS Office of Government Relations at https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/departments-and-offices/government-relations/virginia-general-assembly.  Bills in these categories are linked to the Virginia Division of Legislative Services web pages, which provide up-to-date summary, fiscal impact and bill status information.

The General Assembly adjourned Sine Die on Thursday, March 12 after finalizing their budget conference report, which now goes to the Governor for his consideration.  As with any other bill, the Governor has the option to sign, amend, or veto the budget as passed by the General Assembly.  The General Assembly is currently scheduled to return for a Reconvened Session on April 22, 2020, which is held for the sole purpose of considering bills that may have been vetoed or returned with amendments by the Governor.  Upon final signature, the budget would become effective July 1, 2020.

Prior to final passage of the conference report, there was extensive discussion that while the General Assembly was sending the conference report to the Governor, that due to current and rapidly changing circumstances that there would be ongoing meetings regarding the state’s fiscal condition between the General Assembly and Governor to inform possible amendments from the Governor to the conference report.  This includes the possibility that the revenue figures on which the budget was predicated would have to be revised, which in turn could mean that spending proposals included in the conference report could have to be adjusted.  A likely shortfall in sales tax revenues as well as the possibility that the revenue forecast contingencies governing salary increases could be triggered were two areas of emphasis.

The following describes the policy aspects of key budget items as included in the General Assembly’s final budget conference report – an analysis of the financial impacts of the budget on FCPS will be available separately from Financial Services.

 

Key Pre-K through 12 Education-Related budget items included in the Conference report

Employee Compensation Package Item 145 #21c would provide funding for the state share of two 2.0 percent salary increases for SOQ instructional and support personnel, the first becoming effective July 1, 2020, and the second becoming effective July 1, 2021. Note that the salary increase is subject to a revenue contingency (Item 477 #5c) which would allow the funding to be withheld if within five days of the preliminary close of the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2020, the Comptroller determines that a revenue re-forecast is required.

English Learner Teacher Ratio Item 145 #13c would provide the state’s share of funding, pursuant to the passage of HB 975 (Guzman) and SB 910 (Hashmi), to increase the English Language Learner student-teacher ratios from 17 positions per 1,000 students to 18.5 positions per 1,000 students in fiscal year 2021, and to 20 positions per 1,000 students in fiscal year 2022 and thereafter.

Cost of Competing Adjustment Support Positions Item 145 #12c - would provide funding to increase the Cost of Competing Adjustment (COCA) for support positions in the school divisions in Planning District 8 and certain adjacent divisions specified in the Appropriation Act that are eligible to receive COCA funds. For the nine Planning District 8 school divisions, this action would increase the adjustment factor from 10.6% to 16%. For the nine adjacent school divisions, this action would increase the adjustment factor from 2.65% to 4.0%.

School Counselor Staffing Ratio Item 145 #14c would provide funding, pursuant to the passage of HB 1508 (McQuinn) and SB 880 (Locke) to provide the state's share of costs to reduce counselor staffing ratios to 375-to-1 in elementary schools, 325-to-1 in middle schools, and 300-to-1 in high schools in FY 2021 and to one counselor for every 325 students in grades kindergarten through 12 in FY 2022. 

Increased Support for At-Risk Students Item 145 #16c would provide funding in the second year to increase the upper range of the at-risk add-on from 25.0 percent (as proposed in the Governor’s Introduced Budget) to 26.0 percent

Infrastructure and Operations Per Pupil Funds Item 145 #17c would establish the Infrastructure and Operations Per Pupil Fund, which would provide $263.0 million the first year and $266.2 million the second year from the Lottery Proceeds fund to provide the state share of per-pupil payments of $375.27 the first year and $378.52 the second year, and payments to ensure that each school division receives at least a $200,000 payment. Localities would not be permitted to use these funds to reduce local expenditures on public education. At least 30% of the funds the first year, and at least 40% of the funds the second year would be required to be used only for non-recurring expenditures. This ensures that at least $78.9 million the first year and $106.5 million the second year is provided to school divisions to meet construction, maintenance, and modernization needs. Note that the funds limited to non-recurring expenditures would be drawn from per-pupil lottery allocations that prior to this amendment would have been available to local school divisions for either operational or non-recurring expenditures.

Staffing Flexibility Item 145 #18c would restore flexibility (in FY2021 only) for school divisions to increase teacher to pupil staffing ratios in grades kindergarten through seven and in English classes for grades six through twelve by one additional student. The flexibility would also allow teacher to pupil staffing ratios for Elementary Resource teachers, Prevention, Intervention and Remediation, Gifted, and Career and Technical funded programs to be waived.  Additionally, instructional and support technology positions and librarian staffing ratios for new hires would be waived. This would not restore previous staffing flexibility provision for school counselors and English language learner positions. The language would also require school divisions to report to the Board of Education the number and type of positions not filled in FY 2020 and FY 2021 upon exercising the flexibility provisions.

History/Social Science High School Verified Credits Item 139 #1c would include technical amendments related to the use of performance assessments to confer verified credits in history and social studies and would require the Department of Education to provide progress reports on the implementation of this practice.

Elementary Teacher Planning Time Item 143 #1c would direct the Department of Education to develop and administer a one-time collection of data from school divisions to determine the prevailing practice of planning time for elementary school teachers, to be completed no later than the beginning of the 2021 General Assembly session.

Retiree Health Credits for School Board Employees Other Than Teachers Item 145 #8c would provide the state share of funding to implement HB 1513 (McQuinn) which would provide a health insurance credit of $1.50 per year for services to retired non-teacher school division employees having at least 15 years of total creditable service.

Reduce Amortization Period for Retiree Health Care Credit Item 477 #3c would fund the state’s share of decreasing the amortization period for the legacy unfunded liability for state employee retiree health credit by five years, which would increase the Retiree Health Care Credit rate from 1.12% to 1.25%.

Adjust Lottery Proceeds Forecast Item 145 #22c would adjust lottery proceeds forecasts to reflect the passage of HB 881 (Bulova) and SB 971 (Howell) banning grey machines and HB 1383 (Bulova) and SB 922 (Norment) repealing the prohibition of online lottery ticket sales. This amendment would also adjust the distribution of Lottery Proceeds used to fund the at-risk add-on program.

Eliminate Games of Skill Per Pupil Allocation Item 145 #25c would remove the games of skill per pupil allocation, as proposed in the introduced budget, pursuant to the passage of HB 881 (Bulova) and SB 971 (Howell) banning the devices.

Early Childhood - Virginia Early Childhood Foundation Mixed-Delivery Slots Item 144 #9c would provide $5.0 million each year to support mixed-delivery pre-kindergarten pilot programs for at least 500 at-risk three- and four-year olds. These slots would not require a local match. The amendment also would require pilot program applications to address how each pilot will transition to a level of state support like the state support provided for VPI slots. This amendment also would ensure that children served by the pilot programs would be assigned student identification numbers to evaluate and compare outcomes.  Note that this amendment would reduce funding for the program from the $10M per year proposed under the Governor’s Introduced budget.

Early Childhood - Mixed Delivery Add-On Grants Item 145 #3c would provide that the mixed-delivery add-on grants would vary by region. In fiscal year 2021, the add-on grants will provide (i) $3,500 per child for divisions in Planning District 8, (ii) $2,500 per child for divisions in Planning District 15, Planning District 23, and for the counties of Stafford, Fauquier, Spotsylvania, Clarke, Warren, Frederick, and Culpeper and the Cities of Fredericksburg and Winchester, and (iii) $1,500 per child in any other division. The Department of Education would be required to establish a schedule designating the amount of the add-on grants for each school division for fiscal year 2022.

 

Pre-K through 12 Education-Related budget items included in the Conference report remaining from Governor’s Introduced

The following items were included in the Governor’s original Introduced Budget and remained unchanged in the final budget conference report as agreed to by the House and Senate.

Re-benchmarking - the introduced budget would include the state’s share of routine re-benchmarking of costs for all Standards of Quality (SOQ) and other Direct Aid programs.  This includes the recalculation of the 2020-2022 Composite Index of Local Ability-to-Pay using 2017 base-year data for adjusted gross income, taxable retail sales, true value of real property, and local population estimates, as well as March 31, 2018, Average Daily Membership (ADM) data; the most recent estimates of sales tax revenue dedicated to public education, including both one percent portion and the one-eighth percent portion that are appropriated for distribution to school divisions based on school-age population; and updated lottery revenue estimates.

Update Employer Contribution Rates for Virginia Retirement System (VRS) Fringe Benefits – the introduced budget would include higher employer contribution rates for instructional retirement benefits in 2020-2022 (16.62 percent for FY 2021 and 2022) than was funded for FY 2020 (15.68 percent). The prevailing non-professional VRS rate would be funded at 6.52 percent for both years of the biennium. This prevailing rate is used for state funding purposes only; the actual non-professional rate charged to school divisions by VRS will vary by school division. For the retiree health care credit, the rates proposed for 2020-2022 would reflect a rate change from FY 2020 for FY 2021 and 2022 (1.20 percent to 1.21 percent).

At-Risk Add-on – the introduced budget would increase the Basic Aid per pupil add-on range from a maximum of the range of 16.0 percent in FY 2020 to 23.0 percent in FY 2021 and to 25.0 percent in FY 2022.

School Meals Expansion - the introduced budget would provide state funding to local school divisions to reduce or eliminate the cost of school breakfast and lunch for students eligible for reduced price meals under the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program.

Diversity of Academic Year Governor’s Schools – the introduced budget would add language to require Academic Year Governor’s Schools to set diversity goals for its student body and faculty and to develop a plan to meet its goals in collaboration with community partners at public meetings. Each school would be required to report on the status of its goals and plan to the Governor on or before October 1 of each year. The report would be required to include (i) utilization of universal screenings in feeder divisions, (ii) admission processes that promote access for historically underserved students, (iii) outreach to recruit historically underserved students, and (iv) racial/ethnic make-up and socioeconomic diversity of its students, faculty, and applicants.

Early Childhood - Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) Non-participation Rate – the introduced budget would assume a projected VPI non-participation rate in FY 2021 and 2022 at 20.0 percent, which would be a decrease from the 25.69 percent rate for FY 2020.

Early Childhood - VPI and VPI+ Per Pupil Amount in FY21 and FY22 – the introduced budget would increase the per pupil amount in FY 2021 and 2022 by 10.0 percent each year. This change would increase the per pupil amount from $6,326 in FY 2020 to $6,959 in FY 2021 and to $7,655 in FY 2022.

Early Childhood - Mixed-Delivery Add-on Grant – the introduced budget would provide state funding for an add-on grant to incentivize mixed-delivery services through private providers and would be intended to reduce the variance between the cost of VPI and the cost to serve a child in a community-based or private setting.

Early Childhood - Pilot Program to Serve At-Risk Three-Year Olds - the introduced budget would provide state funding for a pilot competitive grant program that serves at-risk three-year olds who are Virginia residents and unserved by Head Start. Requirements for pilot program participants would include: (i) broad stakeholder support, (ii) tracking outcomes of participating children, (iii) demonstration of how federal and state support will be maximized to preserve existing birth to five slots, (iv) inclusive practices for children with special needs, and (v) collaboration with social services, program accepting child care subsidy payments, Head Start providers, private child care providers, and early childhood special education and early intervention programs. Grant awards will be based on: (i) communities with limited child care options, (ii) programs that provide a mixed-delivery setting, or (iii) communities that demonstrate full support of public and private providers. Grant awards will be equivalent to the funded per pupil amount in the VPI program.

Early Childhood - Additional Funding for Children on VPI Waitlists – the introduced budget would provide state funding to serve children on VPI waitlists distributed based on guidelines to be established by VDOE. The distribution of slots to the VPI waitlists would be completed by July 1 each year.

Early Childhood - Increase VPI Class Sizes – the introduced budget would provide state funding to increase staffing ratios in VPI classrooms to facilitate the use of allocated slots. For VPI classrooms that exceed the benchmarks set by the Board of Education, classrooms would be able to be staffed at one teacher per ten students or less, or at one teacher and one full-time teacher’s aide per 20 students or less, with a maximum class size of 20 students.

Early Childhood – Re-benchmarking of the VPI Per Pupil Amount – the introduced budget would include language requiring VDOE to develop a plan to biennially re-benchmark the funded per pupil amount for the VPI program. In developing the plan, VDOE would have to (i) identify the needs to implement the plan, (ii) include relevant stakeholders, such as local VPI administrators and local finance staff, (iii) identify necessary legislative or appropriation act amendments, and (iv) implement the plan effective with the introduced 2022-2024 biennial budget to the 2022 General Assembly.

Early Childhood- Local Match for VPI – the introduced budget would amend language related to the local match for the VPI program, reducing the cash local match to at least 50.0 percent and the in-kind local match can be no greater than 50.0 percent.

Early Childhood - Early Childhood Educator Incentive - the introduced budget would provide funding to strengthen quality and reduce turnover in hard-to-serve preschool classrooms. VDOE is responsible for the development of program guidelines and the distribution of state funds.

Early Childhood - Virginia Preschool Initiative Classroom Observations - the introduced budget would provide funding in each year of the biennium to ensure that all VPI and public school-based preschool classroom programs have the quality of teacher-child interactions observed through a rigorous and research-based classroom observation instrument at least once every two years.

Early Childhood - Professional Development for Virginia Preschool Initiative Teachers – the introduced budget would provide additional funding in both years of the biennium to ensure that professional development would be provided to all VPI classroom programs and public school-based preschool teachers to support quality teacher-child interactions and effective research-based curriculum implementation.

Communities in Schools - the introduced budget would provide additional state funding for the Communities in Schools (CIS) program in both FY 2021 and 2022. The additional funding would be intended to strengthen and sustain existing programming in Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia, Petersburg, Richmond, and Southwest Virginia, and expand programming to new schools.

Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan Program – the introduced budget would add language related to the Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan Program (VTSLP) intended to increase the applicant pool. The language would (i) expand the designated critical shortage areas from the top five to the top ten, (ii) allow recipients to fulfill the loan obligation upon completion of the program and becoming eligible for a renewable license in the assigned endorsement, and (iii) allow recipients to teach in a school where 50.0 percent of students eligible for free and reduced price lunch or a school division designated critical shortage subject area, as defined by the Board of Education’s Regulations Governing the Determination of Critical Teacher Shortage Areas.

STEM Recruitment Grants – the introduced budget would add language intended to increase the amount of STEM recruitment grants awarded to school divisions. VDOE would award grants based on new hires instead of vacancies. Eligibility for teachers would be based on the following: (i) full-time employment in a Virginia school division or school where more than 40 percent of the students eligible for free and reduced price lunch, (ii) one, two, or three years of teaching experience, and (iii) hold a five- or ten-year valid Virginia teaching license with an endorsement in Middle Education 6-8: Mathematics, Mathematics-Algebra-I, Mathematics, Middle Education 6-8: Science, Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Space Science, Physics, Engineering, or Technology Education and be assigned to a teaching position in a corresponding STEM subject area. Eligibility for the incentive would be changed from a signed contract to a written commitment to return in the same school division for the following school year.

Wolf Trap STEM Model – the introduced budget would expand the Wolf Trap STEM Model program to first grade students. It also would require the model to support the skills identified by the Profile of a Virginia Graduate. The appropriation may also be used to expand the program to Regions 3, 6, and 8.

School Program Innovation - the introduced budget would expand the existing High School Program Innovation to elementary and middle schools.

 

Additional Pre-K through 12 Education-Related budget items included in the Conference report

Early Childhood - Joint Subcommittee for Early Childhood Care and Education Item 1 #4c would rename the Joint Subcommittee for the Virginia Preschool Initiative to the Joint Subcommittee for Early Childhood Care and Education. The renamed subcommittee would oversee the implementation of reforms to Virginia's early childhood education and childcare licensure system (pursuant to HB 1012 (Bulova) and SB 578 (Howell)) and consider further changes throughout the implementation process.

Commission on Civics Education Operational Costs Item 6 #1c would fund the Commission on Civics Education operational costs, such as travel reimbursements, studies, and an annual Teachers' Summit.

Commission on School Construction and Modernization Item 27.10 #1c would fund the establishment of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization, pursuant to the passage of SB 888 (McClellan)

Children's Ombudsman Office Item 52 #2c would fund the creation of the Office of the Children's Ombudsman, pursuant to the passage of HB 1301 (Hurst).

Early Childhood - Child Care Development Fund Grant Plan Workgroup Item 137 #3c would include the same participants from the work group that would be established pursuant to HB 1012 (Bulova) and SB 578 (Howell) to oversee the planning and implementation of the statewide unified early childhood care and education system.

Early Childhood - Child Care Development Fund Block Grant Reporting Item 137 #2c would require the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Social Services to submit an annual report on Child Care and Development Fund related to financial information, subsidies provided, number of child care providers and other relevant information by October 1 of each year.

Community Schools Item 138 #1c would assist the Department of Education with costs associated with developing the community schools program as provided in HB 1355 (Rasoul).

School Division Vacancy and Teacher Preparation Program Data Collection Item 141 #1c would provide funding to support costs associated with implementing HB 376 (Willett), which would require the Department of Education to collect and report information about vacant positions in school divisions and the number of individuals graduating from education preparation programs, by endorsement area.

Virginia Learner Equitable Access Platform (VA LEAP) Item 141 #2c would re-allocate funding for the proposed learning management system the first year and provide additional funding in the second year for a statewide learning management system. The Department of Education would be directed to convene a workgroup to develop a plan on the development and implementation of a statewide learning management system by December 1, 2020.  Any plan would be required to (i) address the integration of existing school division learning management systems into a statewide system, (ii) address the integration of VA LEAP with existing state investments, including eMediaVA, Virtual Virginia and #GoOpenVA, (iii) consider integrating these systems into a single sign-on system, (iv) include a cost-benefit analysis of various approaches to implementing a statewide learning management system, and (v) provide an update on the estimated costs to implement a learning management system based on anticipated local school division participation and technical requirements.

Teacher Licensure Process Study Item 142 #1c would fund costs associated with studying the teacher licensure process and assessment requirements for any inherent biases that may prevent minority teacher candidates from entering the profession, pursuant to the passage of SJ 15 (Locke).

School Resource Officer Incidents Data Collection Item 143 #2c would support one FTE to implement the collection and reporting of data related to incidents involving students and school resource officers required pursuant to the passage of HB 271 (Van Valkenburg) and SB 170 (Locke).  Item 406 #7c would assist the Department of Criminal Justice Services with the collection and analysis of such data.

Active Learning Grants Item 144 #6c would create competitive grants to school divisions to encourage active learning in students in pre-kindergarten through the second grade.

Chesterfield Recovery High School Item 144 #8c would assist the Chesterfield County School Board with the establishment of a recovery high school, which would serve students who are in the early stages of recovery from substance use disorder or dependency, pursuant to HB 928 (Coyner).

Regional Alternative Education Programs Item 145 #2c would direct the Department of Education to develop a mechanism to allocate regional alternative education program slots to participating school divisions. The Department would develop a mechanism to allocate the existing slots to participating divisions based upon the number of students in a division requiring regional alternative education. An implementation plan would be required by August 1, 2021.

Early Childhood - Maximize Use of Head Start Funding Item 145 #4c would require localities to maximize Head Start slots maximize Head Start slots before accessing additional state funding for VPI slots.

Early Childhood - Reporting on Utilization of Funds and Outcomes Item 145 #7c would direct the Department of Education to report on the utilization of funds and slots for the Virginia Preschool Initiative program and the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation's pilot Mixed-Delivery Preschool Initiative. The comprehensive report would be aggregated in a manner to identify: (i) funding and the number of slots used to serve a student in a public school and non-public school setting, (ii) the number of three-year olds served, (iii) waitlist slots requested, offered, and provided, (iv) the number of students served whose families are at or below 130 percent poverty, above 130 percent but at or below 200 percent of poverty, above 200 percent but at or below 350 percent of poverty, and above 350 percent of poverty. The Department would also be required to develop a plan for comprehensive public reporting on early childhood expenditures, outcomes, and program quality for all publicly-funded providers as defined in HB 1012 (Bulova) and SB 578 (Howell)

Utilization of Remedial Education Payments Item 145 #10c would require school divisions to report on the uses of Prevention, Intervention and Remediation, At-Risk Add-On, and Early Reading Intervention Payments. This amendment would consolidate an existing reporting requirement related to the At-Risk Add-On program.

Consolidate VPI Plus Into VPI Item 145 #11c would eliminate the Virginia Preschool Initiative Plus (VPI+) program and provide funding to hold eight school divisions harmless for the 609 VPI+ slots that were filled during the 2019-2020 school year. This amendment would also transfer the funding that supports the approximately 920 VPI+ slots that VPI+ participating localities did not fill during the 2019-2020 school year into the early childhood reform package to provide supplemental flexible funding if any of the initiatives are oversubscribed. State VPI+ payments were first established in fiscal year 2018 after the federal funding for the program ended.

Enrollment Loss Payments Item 145 #15c would provide funding relief to school divisions experiencing enrollment loss between school years. To qualify for the payments, the school division must have fewer than 10,000 students and lose more than 2.0 percent of its students from the prior year, based on September 30 fall membership counts.

SCHEV - Grow Your Own Teacher Program Item 150 #4c would provide additional funding for the Grow Your Own Teacher pilot program to provide grants to low-income high school graduates who attended an institution of higher education in the Commonwealth and subsequently teach in high-need public schools in the school divisions in which they graduated from high school.  VDOE would be required to establish a process by which local school boards may apply for grants from the Grow Your Own Teacher Pilot Program to provide a grant of $7,500 per academic year for up to four years for individuals who (i) graduated from a public high school in the local school division; (ii) were eligible for free lunch during the individual's attendance at a public high school in the local school division; and (iii) teach, within one year of graduating from an institution of higher education in the Commonwealth for a period of at least four years, at a public school at which at least 50 percent of students qualify for free lunch in the school division in which such individual graduated from high school. In developing such process, the Department would be required to ensure that at least one school division within each of the eight superintendent regions, applying for such grants, be awarded prior to awarding grants to multiple school divisions within a single superintendent region. Each superintendent region would be permitted to apply for up to four tuition grant awards. VDOE would be authorized to offer and award any remaining unallotted awards to other applying school divisions within a superintendent region.

Collective Bargaining Workgroup Item 264 #1c would require the Secretaries of Finance and Administration to convene a workgroup to study collective bargaining for state public sector employees. The workgroup would consist of subject matter experts from legal, human resource, labor, and higher education entities and be tasked with researching policies and public costs in other states and evaluate the implementation of collective bargaining policies for state public sector employees in Virginia. A report of the workgroup’s findings would be required by November 1, 2020.

Remove Private Day Rate Cap in FY 2022 Item 292 #2c would remove the two percent growth cap on private day special education rates due to a companion amendment (Item 293 #1c) that would implement statewide rate setting the second year.

Modify Rate Setting Study, Cap and Process for Private Day Programs Item 293 #1c would add additional evaluation requirements to the existing rate study for special education private day programs and move all the funding to the first year. In addition, it would direct the Office of Children's Services to implement statewide rate setting on July, 1 2021, replacing the two percent rate cap removed by Item 292 #2c.  Such study would be required to, at a minimum: (i) provide definitions and clear delineation between all staff and positions used by private day schools and assessed in the study; (ii) define which staff positions can be included in the classroom staff ratio assessment; (iii) assess all costs associated with regulatory licensing; and (iv) require providers to report costs and distinguish between different locations.

Vaccines for School Children Item 299 #1c would address the fiscal impact of HB 1090 (Hope), which would provide for vaccines for children as determined by the State Board of Health in their regulations for the immunization of school children.

Lead & Mold Testing in Schools and Child Day Care Programs Item 307 #7c would address the state fiscal impact on the Virginia Department of Health for the implementation of legislation (HB 797 and HB 799 (Askew); SB 392 and SB 392 (McPike); and SB 845 (Ebbin)) which would require (i) each local school board, licensed child day programs and certain other programs that serve preschool-age children to develop and implement a plan to test potable water from sources identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as high priority; and (ii) each local school board to develop and implement a plan to test and, if necessary, a plan to remediate mold in public school buildings in accordance with guidance issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Environmental Literacy Program Item 373 #3c would expand the scope of Chesapeake Bay educational programs focused on the environmental literacy of Virginia's youngest citizens with a goal for every student in the region to graduate with the knowledge and skills to act responsibly to protect and restore their local watershed.

Vaping Education and Marketing Item 476 #1c would direct the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth to prioritize in its marketing and education efforts information regarding the health effects of vaping by teens and young adults.

State Funding for Minimum Wage Increase Item 477 #4c would fund the impact on state agencies from the increase in the minimum wage beginning January 1, 2021 as proposed by HB 395 (Ward) and SB 7 (Saslaw).

Retired Law-Enforcement Officers Employed as School SSOs Item 477 #6c would address the state impact of allowing retired law-enforcement personnel to return to work as school security officers, pursuant to HB 1495 (Torian) and SB 54 (Cosgrove).

Workers' Comp. Ombudsman Program Item 496 #1c would fund the creation of an Ombudsman program to provide neutral educational information and assistance to persons not represented by an attorney with claims pending before the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission, pursuant to HB 1558 (Kilgore).