By Del. Carrie Coyner
As I am writing this week’s update, it is Sunday, March 8 at 1 p.m. and the General Assembly is still in session. We left here last night around midnight and returned this morning to address the large number of bills that have still not been agreed to between the House and Senate, as well as final adoption of the state budget. Next week’s column will provide you with details of the budget and major bills that passed from the General Assembly.
The majority of bills I patronized passed out of both the House and Senate and were signed by the governor. I want to thank you all for emailing other legislative members with your support of these bills. Here are some of my bills that will become law on July 1, 2020.
Helping individuals with disabilities:
HB 925 DMAS; steps to facilitate transition between two programs. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) to establish a process for (i) conducting a comprehensive needs assessment of a person who chooses to participate in the Medicaid Works program to determine the services such person may need to live and fully participate in his community and (ii) developing a plan of support for such person to guide the person in selection of the best waiver program for his needs. The bill also requires DMAS to develop processes to (i) enable a person who transitions from a Home and Community-Based Services waiver service to the Medicaid Works waiver program to retain their Home and Community-Based Services waiver slot for up to 180 days following the date of such transition and (ii) give priority to individuals previously receiving services through the Home and Community-Based Services waiver program who transitioned to the Medicaid Works program and who subsequently seek to resume services through the Home and Community-Based Services waiver program.
College affordability:
HB 927 State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; certain institutional goals and criteria; reports; contents. Permits the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to require each public institution of higher education and each nonprofit private institution of higher education eligible for and seeking to qualify for state general funds to include financial data by program and academic discipline, including operational or instructional costs, general fund and nongeneral fund revenue, and planned expenditures, as part of its report to assist the Council in its assessment of the degree to which the institution has satisfied certain goals and criteria developed by the Higher Education Advisory Committee.
K-12 Education and substance abuse recovery:
HB928 Chesterfield County School Board; recovery high school. Permits the Chesterfield County School Board to establish a recovery high school in the school division as a year-round high school (i) for which enrollment is open to any high school student who resides in Superintendent› Region 1 and is in the early stages of recovery from substance use disorder or dependency and (ii) for the purpose of providing such students with the academic, emotional, and social support necessary to make progress toward earning a high school diploma and reintegrating into a traditional high school setting.
Supporting military service members and their spouses:
HB967 Professions and occupations; expediting the issuance of credentials to spouses of military service members. Provides for the expedited issuance of credentials to the spouses of military service members who are (i) ordered to federal active duty under Title 10 of the United States Code or (ii) veterans who have left active duty service within one year of the submission of an application to a board if the spouse accompanies the service member to the Commonwealth or an adjoining state or the District of Columbia. Under current law, the expedited review is provided more generally for active duty members of the military who are the subject of a military transfer to the Commonwealth. The bill also authorizes a regulatory board within the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation or the Department of Health Professions or any other board in Title 54.1 (Professions and Occupations) to waive any requirement relating to experience if the board determines that the documentation provided by the applicant supports such waiver. This bill incorporates my HB 930.
Assisting the elderly:
HB 1222 Notaries; satisfactory evidence of identity; persons in nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Allows expired state issued driver›s licenses or state issued identification cards and expired passports to be used as a means of identification for notarial purposes for individuals residing in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, provided such expired documents expired within five years of the date of use for such identification purposes.
Protecting sexual assault victims on college campuses:
HB 913 Institutions of higher education; sexual violence policies; immunity from disciplinary action; certain students who make reports. Requires the governing board of each public institution of higher education and each nonprofit private institution of higher education to include as part of its policy, code, rules, or set of standards governing sexual violence a provision for immunity from disciplinary action based on personal consumption of drugs or alcohol where such disclosure is made in conjunction with a good faith report of an act of sexual violence.
I will be hosting two end-of-session, legislative town hall meetings to discuss what occurred during this General Assembly Session and to answer your questions. I hope you will attend whichever one is most convenient for you. I look forward to seeing you there.
- March 16, 2020 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. – Chester Library, 11800 Centre Street, Chester
- March 19, 2020 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.- Hopewell Library, 203 E. Cawson Street, Hopewell
- March 23, 2020 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Telephone Town Hall Meeting. An 800 call in phone number will be shared closer to the date. Email our office at [email protected] to be added to our email list for notice of this meeting.
Please contact my office at 804-698-1062 or through email at [email protected], if I can be of assistance to you in any way. You can also follow me on Twitter at @CarrieCoyner or like my Facebook page to receive additional updates on my daily activities. If you’d like to receive email updates or learn more about me, visit my website at www.carriecoyner.com.
Editor’s note: Delegate Carrie Coyner represents the 62nd House District, which covers parts of Chester, Enon, Hopewell, and Prince George. She will provide regular updates in the Village News during the General Assembly session.
