School psychologists; staffing flexibility. School psychologists; staffing flexibility. Provides that in order to fill vacant school psychologist positions, any local school board may employ, under a provisional license issued by the Department of Education for three school years with an allowance for an additional two-year extension with the approval of the division superintendent, clinical psychologists licensed by the Board of Psychology, provided that any such individual makes progress toward completing the requirements for full licensure as a school psychologist during such period of employment. This bill is a recommendation of the Behavioral Health Commission and the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

False emergency communication to emergency personnel; penalties. Provides that it is a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person to knowingly report, or cause another to report in reliance on intentionally false information provided by such person, a false emergency communication to any emergency personnel that results in an emergency response. False emergency communication to emergency personnel; penalties. Provides that it is a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person to knowingly report, or cause another to report in reliance on intentionally false information provided by such person, a false emergency communication to any emergency personnel that results in an emergency response. The bill also provides that it is a Class 6 felony if such false emergency communication results in an emergency response and any person suffers a serious bodily injury as a direct and proximate result of the false emergency communication and a Class 5 felony if any person is killed as a direct and proximate result of the false emergency communication. The bill authorizes any locality to provide by ordinance that a person convicted of such false emergency communication shall be liable for the reasonable expense in responding to such false emergency communication.

Critical National Security Language Grant Fund and Program established. Establishes the Critical National Security Language Grant Fund and Program within the Department of Education for the purpose of awarding grants on a competitive basis to any school division that provides one or more foreign language courses in a foreign language that is currently identified as critical by the National Security Language Initiative for Youth scholarship program. The bill provides that such grants are limited to an annual amount sufficient to provide one or more full-time equivalent teaching positions to provide one or more critical foreign language courses.

Retail sales and use tax; exemptions; data centers. Removes the June 30, 2035, sunset on the local sales and use tax exemption for data centers.

Child victims and witnesses using two-way closed-circuit television; standard. Expands the age range that a child may testify using two-way closed-circuit television in a criminal case to any child younger than 18 years of age at the time of the trial. Under current law, an alleged victim must be 14 years of age or younger at the time of the alleged offense and 16 years of age or younger at the time of the trial and a child witness must be 14 years of age or younger at the time of the trial to testify by two-way closed-circuit television. The bill also provides that the court may order that the testimony of a child be taken by closed-circuit television if it finds that the child is unavailable to testify in open court in the presence of the defendant, the jury, the judge, and the public if the court finds, by a preponderance of the evidence, based upon expert opinion testimony, that the child will suffer emotional trauma that is more than de minimis as a result of testifying in the defendant's presence and not the courtroom generally. Under current law, the court may order such testimony be taken by closed-circuit television if there is a substantial likelihood, based upon expert opinion testimony, that the child will suffer severe emotional trauma from so testifying. Child victims and witnesses using two-way closed-circuit television; standard. Expands the age range that a child may testify using two-way closed-circuit television in a criminal case to any child younger than 18 years of age at the time of the trial. Under current law, an alleged victim must be 14 years of age or younger at the time of the alleged offense and 16 years of age or younger at the time of the trial and a child witness must be 14 years of age or younger at the time of the trial to testify by two-way closed-circuit television. The bill also provides that the court may order that the testimony of a child be taken by closed-circuit television if it finds that the child is unavailable to testify in open court in the presence of the defendant, the jury, the judge, and the public if the court finds, by a preponderance of the evidence, based upon expert opinion testimony, that the child will suffer emotional trauma that is more than de minimis as a result of testifying in the defendant's presence and not the courtroom generally. Under current law, the court may order such testimony be taken by closed-circuit television if there is a substantial likelihood, based upon expert opinion testimony, that the child will suffer severe emotional trauma from so testifying.

Hospital price transparency; private right of action; Hospital price transparency; private right of action; patient payment disputes; noncompliance; prohibition of debt collection. Allows patients to bring an action against a hospital that is not in material compliance with hospital price transparency laws. Under the bill, if a hospital is not in material compliance with hospital price transparency laws on the date that an elective procedure, test, or service is provided to a patient by the hospital, the patient may bring an action, individually or jointly, against the hospital to recover payment of the price of the elective procedure, test, or service. Under the bill, a hospital that is not in material compliance with hospital price transparency laws on the date that an elective procedure, test, or service is provided to a patient is liable for the price of the elective procedure, test, or service provided and an additional equal amount as liquidated damages; interest accruing from the date the elective procedure, test, or service was provided; and reasonable attorney fees and costs. The bill requires the court, if it finds that the hospital knowingly was not in material compliance with hospital price transparency laws, to award the patient an amount equal to triple the amount of the price of the elective procedure, test, or service and reasonable attorney fees and costs. Under the bill, beginning July 1, 2023, whenever a dispute arises between a hospital and a patient over a patient payment amount, the hospital's list of standard charges for all items and services shall be used to determine the correct payment amount and reasonableness of the payment. The bill also prohibits a hospital, defined in the bill, or other person or entity collecting on behalf of the hospital, from initiating or pursuing collection actions against a patient or patient guarantor for debt incurred by the patient on the date or dates of service when the hospital was not in material compliance with federal hospital price transparency laws.

Study; Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure; impact of the Commonwealth joining the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact; report. Requests the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure to study the impact of the Commonwealth joining the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact and report to the General Assembly no later than November 30, 2023, its findings and a recommendation regarding whether the Commonwealth should join such compact.

Pavement sealants containing a high polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon; prohibition; civil penalty. Permits a locality to prohibit the sale and distribution of any pavement sealant that contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations greater than one percent by weight on or after July 1, 2023, except that a retailer may continue to sell any existing inventory that remains in stock on that date. The bill allows a local governing body to prohibit the use of such sealants beginning July 1, 2024, and subject any person who violates either prohibition to a civil penalty of $250, to be paid into the Virginia Environmental Emergency Response Fund.

Geriatric prisoners; conditional release; review hearings. Directs the Parole Board to review annually all petitions for geriatric conditional release. The bill provides that the Parole Board may, however, defer subsequent hearings for up to three years if an initial hearing was held and the petition for conditional release was denied. The bill also requires that, in situations in which a person who is otherwise eligible for parole under current law also files a petition for geriatric conditional release, the Parole Board conduct the reviews for such parole and conditional release at a single hearing.

Policies for the possession and administration of epinephrine at early childhood care and education entities; scope. Limits, in the context of early childhood care and education entities, the requirement for the implementation of policies for the possession and administration of epinephrine to child day centers. Under current law, such requirement applies to all early childhood care and education entities, which include child day centers, family day homes, and family day systems serving children younger than the age of five. The bill also requires the Board of Education to amend its regulations to require each family day home provider or at least one other caregiver employed by such provider in the family day home to be trained in the administration of epinephrine and to notify the parents of each child who receives care in such family day home whether the provider stores an appropriate weight-based dosage of epinephrine in the residence or home in which the family day home operates.

Graduates of foreign nursing education programs; licensure requirements. Requires that applicants for licensure to practice professional nursing who are graduates of a nursing education program in a foreign country have (i) graduated or be eligible to graduate from a licensing board-approved RN or LPN/VN prelicensure education program or have graduated from an approved foreign RN or LPN/VN prelicensure education program and (ii) if a graduate of a foreign RN or LPN/VN prelicensure education program not taught in English or if English is not the applicant's native language, successfully passed an English proficiency examination. The bill requires the Board of Nursing to (a) identify multiple approved entities to provide language examinations and multiple approved entities to evaluate and verify credentials earned from a nursing education program in a foreign country and (b) make the list of approved entities publicly available on the Board of Nursing website.

Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority; eligible site for site development grant; minimum acreage requirement. Reduces from 100 acres to 50 acres the minimum number of contiguous acres required for a site that is not a brownfield to satisfy the acreage requirement to be considered eligible to receive a site development grant from the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program Fund by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority.

School crossing zones. Increases the maximum boundaries of a school crossing zone from 600 feet to 750 feet from the limits of school property. School crossing zones. Increases the maximum boundaries of a school crossing zone from 600 feet to 750 feet from the limits of school property.

Plans and programs; drought evaluation and response plans; Potomac River. Requires the State Water Control Board to recognize service areas for water utilities in the Commonwealth that use the Potomac River as a water supply source as a distinct drought evaluation region. The bill requires the Board to incorporate certain provisions from the Metropolitan Washington Water Supply and Drought Awareness Response Plan: Potomac River System (the Metropolitan Washington Plan) into the existing drought evaluation and response plans that are applicable to the Potomac River drought evaluation region. The bill directs the Board to adopt regulations that further recognize the localities that include any portion of the service area of a water supply utility in the Commonwealth that uses the Potomac River as a water supply source as a distinct regional planning area. The bill requires such regulations to incorporate certain provisions from the Metropolitan Washington Plan. The bill provides that the incorporation of such provisions shall not be construed to limit the authority of the Governor during a declared drought emergency.

Absentee voting; return of absentee ballots; drop-off locations. Repeals the provisions of law providing for the establishment of drop-off locations for the return of absentee ballots.