As you may know, the Virginia Constitution specifies that newly enacted laws take effect on July 1 of each year, with some exceptions permitted.
Brief summaries of some new laws that may be of interest to you are listed below. A more complete list with links to the text of each may be found at http://dls.virginia.gov/pubs/summary/2017/summary2017.pdf.
As you may know, I had more bills signed into law by Governor McAuliffe since the last election than any other Virginia legislator. Three of those are included in the list below, and more information about other laws I authored may be found at http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+mbr+H0223C.
Included in amendments to the state budget that take effect July 1 are increases for K-12 education, with record levels of funding returned from Richmond for Fairfax and Loudoun County schools, $653 million and $347 million, respectively, for the 2017-18 school year. These amounts include funding for teacher pay raises, should local school boards elect for raises.
HB 1825 – Establishes a right to re-sell electronic tickets in Virginia (not D.C. or other states, as Virginia law applies to Virginia only). The law prohibits any person or organization that issues tickets for admission to a professional concert, professional sporting event, or professional theatrical production, open to the public for which tickets are ordinarily sold, from issuing the ticket solely through a delivery method that substantially prevents the ticket purchaser from lawfully reselling the ticket on the Internet ticketing platform of the ticket purchaser’s choice.
HB 1709 – Requires public school principals to notify the parents of any student involved in a bullying case within five days, including the status of the investigation.
HB 2136 - Washington Metrorail Safety Commission Interstate Compact. The law establishes a safety oversight authority for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Rail System to review, approve, oversee, and enforce the safety of the WMATA Rail System. This bill, which I introduced, took effect in March so that work toward making the Commission operational could start as soon as possible.
HB 2138 – Requires better coordination between transportation planning and local government land use, zoning and development decisions, to prevent the creation of more traffic congestion. I authored this law.
HB 2139 – Requires VDOT to report annually on the extent to which it is (or is not) keeping up with paving streets and roads rated in “poor” or “very poor” condition. I authored this law.
HB 1549/SB 1005 - Provides that core services provided by Community Services Boards and behavioral health authorities shall include (i) same-day access to mental health screening services and (ii) outpatient primary care screening and monitoring services for physical health indicators and health risks and follow-up services. The bill is intended to help people with overcoming barriers to accessing primary health services. This law takes effect in 2019 (some portions as late as 2021) so that CSBs have time to comply.
HB 1885/SB 1232 – Creates limits on the prescription of controlled substances containing opioids. The law requires a registered prescriber to request information about a patient from the Prescription Monitoring Program upon initiating a new course of treatment that includes the prescribing of opioids to last more than seven consecutive days. An exception is provided from this requirement if the opioid is prescribed as part of treatment for a surgical or invasive procedure and such prescription is for no more than 14 consecutive days.
If you have any questions or issues you would like me to address, please contact me at 703-264-1432 or deljlemunyon@gmail.com.