The 2015 session of the Virginia General Assembly ended on February 27, 2015. The Governor is now reviewing legislation that was approved by both Houses. For most of the legislation that we are monitoring, he has a deadline of March 29, 2015 to either sign, veto, or make suggested changes. If he does not act...
Category: Legislative Highlights
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March 2, 2015 – After the session: Budget highlights
The 2015 session has come to a close, one day early. The Governor now has an opportunity to review all bills that passed both the House and the Senate. He will also have 30 days to review the budget amendments approved by both the House and the Senate. In his review of legislative items, he...
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February 27, 2015 – Observation Status
The Virginia General Assembly is on track to end the 2015 session by Saturday, February 28th. They have adopted mutual amendments to the Governor’s budget, and have completed work on most of the bills that will be approved by the legislature. Once such bill dealt with a hospital’s duty to notify a patient when they...
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February 24, 2015 – Medical marijuana in Virginia
The 2015 session is scheduled to end on Saturday, February 28 at noon. Legislators seems to be well on track for a timely close of the session. An interesting bill has been approved by both houses, allowing for the use of marijuana for limited medical reasons. HB 1445 was patroned by Delegate Albo. It states...
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February 20, 2015 – Children’s Issues
The end of the 2015 session is still a week away, but most bills of interest to the disability community have already been addressed. There were several bills that related to children with mental health issues and other disabilities. These include: Mental Health Treatment of Objecting Minors HB 1717 (LeMunyon) was approved by the full...
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February 19, 2015 – Stun Guns in School
A Senate committee killed a bill today that would have allowed school security officers to have stun guns, batons or pepper spray. HB 1309 (Cole) had been approved by subcommittee earlier this week. Advocates raised concerns that the approved weapons would be used against children and especially against children with disabilities. The patron stated, in...
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February 18, 2015 – Training Center Bills
The last of the bills that would impede the closure of the training centers was killed in subcommittee yesterday. SB 1446 (Miller) was defeated in a subcommittee of the House Health, Welfare and Institutions committee on Tuesday, February 17th. As originally drafted, the bill would have prohibited the development of a new discharge plan for...
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February 17, 2015 – Hospitals and Sign Language Interpreter
The Virginia General Assembly is entering the final stretch now, with just over a week to go. Delegate Bobby Orrock introduced a bill at the beginning of the session that would have required hospitals to provide sign language interpreters or other effective communication to patients who are deaf or hard of hearing. The original bill,...
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February 12, 2015 – “Observation Status”
The Legislature considered two identical bills concerning a hospital’s duty to notify a patient when they are on “observation” status only and have not been formally admitted to a hospital. Advocates for the elderly and for people with disabilities noted that some hospitals have a practice of placing patients on “observation” status, rather than officially...
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February 10, 2015 – Budget Amendments
The two “money” committees released their proposed amendments to the Governor’s budget on Sunday, February 8th. We expect to see the details of those proposals over the next few days, as legislative services releases what are known as the “half sheets.” Both the Senate and the House must debate and vote on the proposed amendments...