2022 Legislative Agenda
EXPANDING HEALTH CARE
HB 987 - Updates requirements for the dissemination of Medicaid benefits in languages other than English, to match Federal policy.
HB 1012 - Creates a Medicaid-like program for undocumented children in Virginia, about 100,000 of whom currently have no health care coverage.
HB 1221 - Requires certain hospitals to provide information about their charity care programs in languages other than English.
Budget Amendment 287 #4H - To help meet the nursing shortage in Virginia, expands the Mary Marshall Nursing Scholarship to help internally trained nurses cover fees associated with obtaining a Credentials Evaluation Service Professional Report and English Language Proficiency Report as part of Virginia’s licensure process.
Budget Amendment 213 #1H - $2 million in general funds to help meet behavioral health workforce needs by expanding the G3 free community college program to include additional academic programs related to behavioral health.
Budget Amendment 304 #35H - $26.9 million in general funds and $29.6 million in non-general funds to provide overtime pay for live-in services employees in the Medicaid Developmental Disability programs and allow all consumer directed services employees to quality for up to eight hours per day or a total of 72 hours per 7/day work week, per individual served.
STRENGTHENING PUBLIC EDUCATION
HB 979 - Allows internationally-trained teachers to qualify for a provisional license, helping to address Virginia’s teacher shortage and enable qualified immigrants and refugees to fulfill their career potential.
HB 1047 - Establishes the rights of students who uses or needs augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), and requires schools to provide teachers and staff with training on using and adapting curriculum to incorporate AAC to teach and fully engage these students.
HB 1246 - Requires local school districts to purchase accessible educational software and digital tools to ensure that students with disabilities are able to engage with the materials.
PROTECTING OUR ENVIRONMENT
HB 949 - Prohibits the sale and use of pavement sealant that contains coal tar, which has chemical compounds known to cause adverse effects for public health and terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
HB 959 - Updates the threshold by which the Department of Environmental Quality must notify Virginians if harmful substances are spilled into public waters.
HB 965 - Modernizes the tax credit for purchasing energy efficient water heaters, which are the second highest source of energy source in a home.
HB 975 - Directs the Virginia Department of Transportation to collect data on animal carcass collection to inform strategies for reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions, which are a threat to drivers and wildlife.
HB 1029 - Establishes the Wildlife Corridor Grant Fund to provide grants for projects that reduce vehicle crashes involving wildlife and improve habitat connectivity for terrestrial and aquatic wildlife.
INCREASING CONSUMER PROTECTIONS
HB 958 - Limits certain costs associated with towing and improves transparency about towing fees in accidents or other public safety situations.
HB 1013 - Requires long-term care insurance companies to improve notifications about rate increases, and establishes limits on when the State Corporation Commission is able to increase rates.
HB 1027 - Requires companies offering merchant cash advances to register with the State Corporation Commission, offering new protections for small businesses against these predatory lending practices.
HB 1043 - Requires paid staff and certain volunteers in sports leagues to complete background checks, take training on child abuse prevention and response, and to report suspected child abuse and neglect.
HB 1071 - Prohibits hospitals from aggressively collecting debt unless reasonable efforts have been made to determine if the patient is eligible for financial assistance.
BUILDING A COMPETITIVE WORKFORCE AND IMPROVING WORKPLACE SAFETY
HB 1020 - Directs the Secretary of Administration to collect data about telework policies for individuals with disabilities and to disseminate model practices of inclusive telework policies for private industry.
HB 1089 - Requires employers to notify their farmworkers who are applying the pesticide paraquat about its public health risks.
Budget Amendment 125 #2H - $400,000 in general funds for the Virginia Department of Economic Partnership to study and develop recommendations to integrate the state programs under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Title I and Title III under one state entity to improve the efficacy of the Commonwealth’s public workforce system in business needs and help grow our economy.
Budget Amendment 71 #1H- $4.2 million in general funds to enhance and maintain the Workforce Data Trust, which promotes data sharing and coordination to help us meet the needs of employers, workers, and job seekers.
IMPROVING OUR ROADS AND PARK INFRASTRUCTURE
HB 992 - Requires the Commonwealth Transportation Board to develop a plan for using federal funding dedicated to improving at-risk infrastructure.
Budget Amendment 486 #4H - $3.5 million in ARPA funds to connect Pohick Regional Park, located in the 42nd District, to the public water supply.
HONORING OUR VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES
HB 957 - Provides local governments with the option to exempt eligible surviving military spouses from certain personal property tax requirement.
HJ 83 - A Constitutional Amendment to exclude eligible surviving military spouses from certain local personal property tax requirements.
Budget Amendment 98 #1H - $300,000 in general funds to expand the Virginia Center for Veteran Farmer Training at Arcadia Farm in the 42nd District.
Budget Amendment 470 #4H - $3 million in general funds to establish a Veteran Entrepreneur Development Center Pilot Program.
BUILDING A MORE WELCOMING AND INCLUSIVE VIRGINIA
HB 1049 - Requires state agencies to have a language access coordinator and plan to improve language access equity for Virginians who are limited English proficient or who have a disability affecting communication.
Budget Amendment 486 #13h - $5 million in ARPA funds for grants to local governments to translate information about childcare, health care, housing, transportation, taxes, and other government services and benefits into languages commonly spoken in the community.
Budget Amendment 129 #8H - $100,000 in general funds for the Virginia Department of Education to develop model curriculum, resources, and tools to support local school divisions in teaching Asian American history, including the history of Virginians of Asian descent, as part of the Board of Education's 2022 History and Social Science Standards of Learning and Curriculum Framework Revision process.