Department of Medical Assistance Services; Preferred Drug List/Common Core Formulary; approval of a nonpreferred drug. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to eliminate the requirement that a patient try and fail a drug from the Preferred Drug List/Common Core Formulary in the six months immediately prior to approval of a nonpreferred drug when such patient has previously tried the drug from the Preferred Drug List/Common Core Formulary and experienced harmful side effects.

Collective bargaining by firefighters and emergency medical services providers. Authorizes firefighters and emergency medical services providers employed by a political subdivision of the Commonwealth to engage in collective bargaining through labor organizations or other designated representatives. The bill provides for the appointment of a three-member board of arbitration regarding any dispute arising between an employer and firefighters or emergency medical services providers. Under the bill, determinations made by such board of arbitration are final on a disputed issue and are binding on the parties involved. Collective bargaining by firefighters and emergency medical services providers. Authorizes firefighters and emergency medical services providers employed by a political subdivision of the Commonwealth to engage in collective bargaining through labor organizations or other designated representatives. The bill provides for the appointment of a three-member board of arbitration regarding any dispute arising between an employer and firefighters or emergency medical services providers. Under the bill, determinations made by such board of arbitration are final on a disputed issue and are binding on the parties involved.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; noncompliance with rental agreement; emergency eviction process. Reduces from 15 to seven the number of days, after the date upon which a tenant is served a landlord's intent to terminate the tenancy due to certain illegal activities by the tenant, within which the initial hearing on the landlord's action for immediate possession of the premises shall be held. The bill also reorganizes certain provisions of the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act to consolidate language and organize the structure of certain provisions of the Act.

Board of Education; through-year growth assessment system; alternatives during 2024-2026 school years. Requires the Board of Education to permit school boards to administer, during the 2024-2026 school years, assessments as alternatives to the through-year growth assessment system established by the Board, provided that any such alternative assessment is aligned to the Standards of Learning.

Health insurance; ethics and fairness in carrier business practices. Makes various changes to requirements governing the business practices of health carriers in the processing and payment of claims. The bill prescribes criteria for what constitutes a "clean claim." The bill prohibits a carrier from imposing any retroactive denial of a previously paid claim or in any other way seeking recovery or refund of a previously paid claim unless the carrier specifies in writing the specific claim or claims for which the retroactive denial is to be imposed or the recovery or refund is sought and the carrier has provided a written explanation of why the claim is being retroactively adjusted. The bill provides that the time limit for a retroactive denial is 12 months; however, a provider and a carrier may agree in writing that recoupment of overpayments by withholding or offsetting against future payments may occur after such 12-month limit. The bill requires carriers, beginning no later than July 1, 2025, to make available an electronic means for providers to determine whether an enrollee is covered by a health plan that is subject to the State Corporation Commission's jurisdiction. The bill provides that the ethics and fairness requirements apply to the carrier and provider, regardless of any vendors, subcontractors, or other entities that have been contracted by the carrier or the provider to perform their duties. The bill provides that if a carrier's claim denial is overturned following completion of a dispute review, the carrier is required to consider the claims impacted by such decision as clean claims and all applicable laws related to the payment of a clean claim apply. The bill prohibits a provider from filing a complaint with the State Corporation Commission for failure to pay claims unless such provider has made a reasonable effort to confer with the carrier in order to resolve the issues related to all claims that are under dispute. Finally, the bill requires all provider contracts, amendments, and notices and certain other communications to be delivered electronically.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; definition of "meeting." Amends the definition of "meeting" as it relates to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act to add an exception for local political party meetings. The bill is a recommendation of the FOIA Council.

Employee protections; employer-sponsored meetings on political matters; civil action. Prohibits an employer from retaliating against an employee (i) because such employee declines to attend or participate in an employer-sponsored meeting or receive an employer's communications conveying an opinion about political matters, as defined in the bill; (ii) as a means of inducing an employee's attendance at such meeting or receipt of such communications; or (iii) because the employee reports a suspected violation of the bill's provisions. The bill permits an employee alleging a violation of the bill's provisions to bring an action in civil court within 90 days after such violation occurs for appropriate relief, including injunctive relief, reinstatement, compensation for lost wages, benefits, and other remuneration, interest, and reasonable attorney fees and costs.

School choice educational School choice educational savings accounts. Permits the parents of qualified students to apply to the Department of Education for a renewable school choice education savings account, consisting of a monetary amount that is equivalent to a certain percentage of all applicable annual Standards of Quality per pupil state funds appropriated for public school purposes and apportioned to the resident school division in which the qualified student resides, from which the parent of such student may use the funds to make education-related qualifying expenditures, including tuition, deposits, fees, and required textbooks and instructional materials, at (i) a private elementary or secondary school located in the Commonwealth, (ii) certain nonpublic online learning programs, and (iii) institutions of higher education and requires the Department of Education to establish certain policies, procedures, and processes relating to the savings accounts. The bill defines the term "qualified student" to provide for the annual expansion of the students who are eligible to receive savings accounts, from including for the 2024–2025 school year only students who meet a limited set of criteria and gradually expanding to declare eligible for the 2028–2029 school year and each year thereafter any student who (a) is deemed to reside in a school division in the Commonwealth, (b) for whom compulsory attendance is required pursuant to relevant law, (c) is eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth, and (d) is entering kindergarten or was enrolled at and attended a public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth during the two semesters immediately preceding the semester for which the child's parent initially applies for a savings account. The bill contains several provisions relating to the terms and conditions to which the parent of any qualified student is required to agree to receive a savings account, requirements relating to renewal of savings accounts and the management of funds remaining when accounts are closed or become inactive, and the consequences of noncompliance with the terms and conditions. The bill also provides that the Department of Education shall be responsible for the administration of the savings accounts, including (1) making quarterly disbursements in the appropriate amount to each savings account and managing retained savings; (2) developing informational materials for interested parents relating to the savings accounts; and (3) developing policies and procedures relating to the administration and management of the savings accounts, the application process, quarterly reviews and annual audits of each savings account, and addressing incidents of intentional and substantial misrepresentation, fraud, or noncompliance in relation to expenditures from savings accounts.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; early termination for military personnel; stop movement order; emergency. Allows certain military personnel to terminate a rental agreement upon receipt of a stop movement order issued in response to a local, national, or global emergency that is effective for either an indefinite period or for a period of not less than 30 days and that prevents the service member from occupying the leased dwelling unit for a residential purpose. The bill also allows such military personnel to terminate a rental agreement after receiving any permanent change of station order or temporary duty order in excess of three months' duration. Current law allows such termination only for orders requiring a departure of 35 miles or more from the dwelling unit.

Employment discrimination; employee notification of federal and state statute of limitations. Requires an employer that employs 10 or more employees and that receives an employee complaint alleging sexual assault, harassment, or any other form of discrimination for which the employee may seek enforcement by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the Office of the Attorney General to notify such employee that a charge may be filed with the EEOC or the Office of the Attorney General within 300 days after the alleged unlawful discriminatory practice occurred. The bill also requires an employer to provide this information as part of any new employee training provided at the commencement of employment or anti-discrimination training provided to an employee. Employment discrimination; employee notification of federal and state statute of limitations. Requires an employer that employs 10 or more employees and that receives an employee complaint alleging sexual assault, harassment, or any other form of discrimination for which the employee may seek enforcement by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the Office of the Attorney General to notify such employee that a charge may be filed with the EEOC or the Office of the Attorney General within 300 days after the alleged unlawful discriminatory practice occurred. The bill also requires an employer to provide this information as part of any new employee training provided at the commencement of employment or anti-discrimination training provided to an employee.

Board of Education; out-of-school time programs; exemptions from licensure; conditions and requirements. Exempts from licensure any out-of-school time program that (i) serves only school-age children; (ii) operates primarily after or before regular school hours, during the summer, or at times when school is not normally in session; (iii) is offered for the purpose of promoting expanded childhood learning and enrichment, child and youth development, or educational, recreational, or character-building activities; and (iv) receives and maintains Board of Education certification to operate without a license. The bill provides that any Board-certified, license-exempt out-of-school time program that fails to comply with the conditions set forth in the bill shall receive from the Superintendent notice of such noncompliance with an explanation that if such noncompliance is not resolved within a reasonable period of the time, as determined by the Board, the Superintendent may, at his discretion, deny, suspend, or revoke such program's certification and require it to be licensed.

Recovery residences; certification requirements; death and serious injury reports; work group; report. Requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to promulgate regulations that require recovery residences to (i) comply with uniform health and safety requirements established by the Department and published on its website and (ii) report to the Department, in the same manner as licensed facilities and programs, any death or serious injury that occurs in the recovery residence. The bill requires the Department to maintain on its website the certification standards of the credentialing entity for each recovery residence. The bill also requires the Department to convene a work group to (a) analyze and make recommendations regarding the creation of a process through which the Department can provide oversight of all recovery residences in the Commonwealth, (b) make recommendations to ensure transparency with the public and residents or potential residents of recovery residences regarding the certification of each recovery residence, and (c) report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by November 1, 2024.

Alcoholic beverage control; annual mixed beverage performing arts facility licenses; on-and-off premises wine and beer licenses. Defines performing arts facility and sports facility and standardizes the eligibility criteria for annual mixed beverage performing arts facility licenses and on-and-off-premises wine and beer licenses for performing arts food concessionaires. Under current law, the eligibility criteria for such licenses varies by location and includes inconsistent ownership, lease, capacity, and seating requirements. The bill also removes provisions that allow the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority to grant annual mixed beverage motor sports facility licenses and motor car sporting event facility licenses and creates an annual mixed beverage sports facility license, which may be granted to persons operating a sports facility or food concessions at a sports facility and would authorize the licensee to sell mixed beverages during any event and immediately subsequent thereto to patrons within all seating areas, concourses, walkways, concession areas, and additional locations designated by the Board (i) in closed containers for off-premises consumption or (ii) in paper, plastic, or similar disposable containers or in single original metal cans for on-premises consumption.

Health insurance; disclosure of summary health information. Requires, to the extent permitted by various protected health information privacy laws, a group health plan that has 50 or more participants to disclose information that summarizes the claims history, claims expenses, or type of claims experienced by individuals for whom a plan sponsor has provided health benefits under a group health plan to the plan sponsor if the plan sponsor requests the summary health information for the purposes of (i) obtaining premium bids from health plans for providing health insurance coverage under the group health plan or (ii) modifying, amending, or terminating the group health plan.

Earned income tax credit. Allows eligible low-income taxpayers to claim a refundable income tax credit equal to 20 percent of the federal earned income tax credit claimed that year by the taxpayer for the same taxable year. The bill also states that individuals who would have been entitled to the federal equivalent of this credit but for the fact that the individual, the individual's spouse, or one or more of the individual's children does not have a valid social security number are eligible to claim this credit. Earned income tax credit. Allows eligible low-income taxpayers to claim a refundable income tax credit equal to 20 percent of the federal earned income tax credit claimed that year by the taxpayer for the same taxable year. The bill also states that individuals who would have been entitled to the federal equivalent of this credit but for the fact that the individual, the individual's spouse, or one or more of the individual's children does not have a valid social security number are eligible to claim this credit.