Fairfax County Public Schools, Office of Government Relations

Final Report - Personnel, Retirement, and Insurance

This report describes all Personnel, Retirement, and Insurance-related legislation considered during the 2024 General Assembly Regular and Special Sessions. Bills are listed as “Passed”, “Failed” or “Continued to 2025”.

Passed legislation will go into effect on July 1, 2024, unless otherwise specified in the legislation itself.

Bills identified as Continued to 2025 are no longer active for the 2024 Session but can be picked back up by the continuing committee where they were left off in the legislative process during the 2025 Session.  While possible, it is rare for a continued bill to be picked back up. Typically, such legislation is simply reintroduced in the next Session.

UPDATED: 06/03/2024

Personnel, Retirement, and Insurance – Passed

Unemployment compensation; employer failure to respond to requests for information; claim determination; notice requirements.  HB 14 (Ware) and  SB 381 (Ebbin) provide that an employer's account shall not be relieved of charges relating to an erroneous payment if the Virginia Employment Commission determines that (i) the employer has failed to respond timely or adequately to a written request for information related to the claim and (ii) the employer has established a pattern of failing to respond timely or adequately to such requests, as described in the bill. The bills require the Commission to provide written notice for each instance of untimely or inadequate employer response to such requests. The bills provide that upon the Commission's third determination, and for each subsequent determination, within the applicable review period that an employer failed to respond timely or adequately to such a request, the employer shall be considered to have waived all rights in connection with the claim, including participation and appeal rights. The bills require a deputy examining a claim to provide the reasoning behind the decision, as described in the bill, and a short statement of case-specific facts material to the determination together with any notice of determination upon a claim. The provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025. 

Virginia Retirement System; plan credits and accounts.  HB 70 (Bulova) and  SB 458 (Marsden) allow members of the Virginia Retirement System to purchase service credit for prior full-time active duty military service of at least 180 consecutive days in any federally established branch of the armed services. Under current law, such purchases are restricted to prior full-time active duty military service of at least 180 consecutive days in the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, or Coast Guard.  The bills also provide that any funds or other property held in a Virginia Retirement System defined contribution plan, deferred compensation plan, or cash match plan remaining unclaimed for more than five years shall be presumed abandoned under the Virginia Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act and may escheat to the state treasury. Under current law, the Act does not apply to any Virginia Retirement System defined benefit plan funds or other property. 

Workers' compensation; prompt payment; limitation on claims.  HB 205 (Simonds) prohibits an employer or workers' compensation carrier from seeking recovery of a payment made to a health care provider for health care services rendered to a claimant unless such recovery is sought less than one year from the date payment was made to the health care provider. Under current law, such prohibition only applies to services rendered after July 1, 2014.  The bill also prohibits a health care provider from submitting a claim to the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission contesting the sufficiency of payment for health care services rendered to a claimant unless such claim is filed within one year of the date the last payment is received by the health care provider. Under current law, such prohibition only applies to services rendered after July 1, 2014.

Health insurance; coverage for colorectal cancer screening.  HB 238 (McQuinn) requires health insurers to provide coverage for examinations and laboratory tests related to colorectal cancer screening in accordance with the most recently published recommendations established by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force for colorectal cancer screening for which a rating of A or B is in effect with respect to the individual involved. The bill requires such coverage to include coverage of a follow-up colonoscopy after a positive noninvasive stool-based screening test or direct visualization screening test. The bill prohibits such coverage from being subject to any deductible, coinsurance, or any other cost-sharing requirements for services received from participating providers. The provisions of the bill apply to individual or group accident and sickness insurance policies, individual or group accident and sickness subscription contracts, or health care plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in the Commonwealth on and after January 1, 2025.

Board of Education; Provisional (Career Switcher) License; special education.  HB 269 (McQuinn) requires the Board of Education to amend its relevant regulation to permit any career switcher who seeks a teaching endorsement preK through grade 12, including any career switcher who seeks a teaching endorsement in special education, to pursue a Provisional (Career Switcher) License through the career switcher alternate route to licensure program in accordance with all of the requirements set forth in such regulation, provided that the individual completes at least 60 percent of the endorsement requirements for special education general curriculum K-12 as part of Level I preparation and the remainder of such requirements as part of Level II and Level III preparation.

Social Work Licensure Compact.  HB 326 (Glass) and  SB 239 (Hashmi) authorize Virginia to become a signatory to the Social Work Licensure Compact. The Compact allows social workers who have or are eligible for an active, unencumbered license in the compact member state where they reside to apply for a multistate license. After verifying eligibility, the social worker is granted a multistate license that authorizes practice in all other compact member states. Per the  Social Work Licensure Compact , while the Compact has reached activation status, multistate licenses are not yet being issued. The implementation process for the compact will take 12 to 24 months before multistate licenses are able to be issued.

School boards; employment verification; timing.  HB 355 (Cole) and  SB 441 (Durant) require each school board to respond within 10 working days of receiving a request for employment verification of a former employee of the school board when such verification is sought by another school board. The bills define working day as every day except Saturdays, Sundays, and legal state and federal holidays.

Investment of public funds.  HB 356 (Fowler) and  SB 510 (Stanley) Allow any qualified public entity of the Commonwealth to invest in asset-backed securities that are guaranteed by the United States or any agency thereof.

Virginia Rap Back Service; criminal history record monitoring.  HB 444 (Williams) and  SB 169 (Reeves) change the time frame for which a participating entity in the Virginia Record of Arrest and Prosecution (Rap) Back Service is required to disenroll any individual who is deceased or no longer qualifies as an individual for the purposes of the Virginia Rap Back Service from within 30 days to within five business days. The bills also remove the provision stating that an individual who moves from one participating entity in the Virginia Rap Back Service to another need not be refingerprinted. 

Department of Education; background checks for child day program employees and volunteers; dissemination of information in certain circumstances.  HB 508 (Cohen) requires the Department of Education, upon receiving a written request for a written certification from an individual, to provide written certification to an entity designated by the Department that provides staffing for child day programs that such individual satisfies all requirements set forth in relevant law and is eligible to serve as an employee, temporary employee, or volunteer in a child day program. The bill further provides that (i) each such written certification shall also state the date by which the individual is required to complete a new background check in accordance with the periodic requirement for such background checks, (ii) no such written certification shall reveal the nature of any disqualifying barrier crime committed by or founded complaint of child abuse or neglect against the individual, and (iii) any such written certification may be shared among child day programs for the purpose of facilitating the creation and maintenance of a child day program substitute staff pool system.

Public school teachers; daily lunch breaks; data collection; report.  HB 583 (Simonds)requires the Department of Education to annually collect and present in the Virginia School Survey of Climate and Working Conditions school-level and division-level data on the share of teachers that are provided each working day a lunch break of at least 30 minutes in length and unencumbered by any teaching or supervisory duties.

Health insurance; emergency services; mobile crisis response services.  HB 601 (Kilgore) and  SB 543 (Bagby) provide that emergency services, with respect to an emergency medical condition, include, as it relates to any mental health services or substance abuse services rendered at a behavioral health crisis service provider, (i) a behavioral health assessment that is within the capability of a behavioral health crisis service provider, including ancillary services routinely available to evaluate such emergency medical condition, and (ii) such further examination and treatment, to the extent that they are within the capabilities of the staff and facilities available at the behavioral health crisis service provider, as are required so that the patient's condition does not deteriorate.

Teacher licensure; universal licensure by reciprocity.  HB 632 (Rasoul) and  SB 352 (Peake) establish universal licensure by reciprocity as a category of teacher licensure in the Commonwealth for teachers who hold a valid out-of-state teaching license with full credentials and without deficiencies that has been in force and in use by the individual as an employed teacher in a non-virtual classroom setting at a public or private elementary or secondary school for at least three years prior to and is in force at the time of application and meet other provisions set forth in the bills. The bills also permit the division superintendent rather than the Board of Education, as in current law, to issue a career and technical education teacher a provisional license to allow time for the teacher to attain the industry certification credential required by law. Finally, the bills direct the Department of Education to compile, publicly post on its website, and update as necessary, data on teacher licensure standards and requirements for each state for the purposes of facilitating the determination of the compatibility of out-of-state teacher licenses with requirements for teacher licensure and licensure by reciprocity in the Commonwealth and increasing transparency of such licensure requirements.

Teachers; renewable licenses; requirements; assessments.  HB 731 (Sewell) requires the Board of Education to eliminate the requirement for any individual to take and receive a passing score on the Virginia Communication and Literacy Assessment as a condition of the initial award or renewal of a renewable license as a teacher in the Commonwealth.

Health insurance for local employees.  HB 1019 (Wilt) permits any locality to allow participation in its group health insurance program by any non-benefitted employee, including members of governing bodies, if such non-benefitted employee or governing body member is not otherwise entitled to participate, provided that such non-benefitted employees reimburse the locality for the full cost of their participation. The bill provides that reimbursement may include forgoing all or a part of a local government salary.

Long-term care insurance; rate increases; notice requirements.  HB 1060 (Tran) requires an insurer providing long-term care insurance policies to issue a written notice to each policyholder of the insurer's filing for a rate increase with the State Corporation Commission within 60 days of making such filing. Additionally, the bill requires the insurer to (i) if the Commission denies the rate increase, issue a written notice to each policyholder of the Commission's final decision to deny the rate increase within 90 days of such decision or (ii) if the Commission approves the rate increase, issue a written notice to each policyholder of the rate increase at least 90 days before its effective date that includes certain information listed in the bill. The bill requires the Commission, in reviewing requests to increase long-term care insurance rates, to consider, to the extent practicable, how the rate increase will impact policyholders.

Health insurance; prior authorization.  HB 1134 (Willett) and  SB 98 (Favola) require that any provider contract between a carrier and a participating health care provider contain specific provisions that require that if a prior authorization request is approved for prescription drugs and such prescription drugs have been scheduled, provided, or delivered to the patient consistent with the authorization, the carrier shall not revoke, limit, condition, modify, or restrict that authorization unless (i) there is evidence that the authorization was obtained based on fraud or misrepresentation; (ii) final actions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, other regulatory agencies, or the manufacturer remove the drug from the market, limit its use in a manner that affects the authorization, or communicate a patient safety issue that would affect the authorization alone or in combination with other authorizations; (iii) a combination of drugs prescribed would cause a drug interaction; or (iv) a generic or biosimilar is added to the prescription drug formulary. The bills provide that such provisions do not require a carrier to cover any benefit not otherwise covered or cover a prescription drug if the enrollee is no longer covered by a health plan on the date the prescription drug was scheduled, provided, or delivered. 

Unemployment compensation; continuation of benefits; repayment of overpayments.  HB 1261 (Tran) and  SB 536 (Bagby) reinstate provisions of the Code that expired on July 1, 2022, relating to unemployment compensation. The bills provide that when a claimant has had a determination of initial eligibility for unemployment benefits, as determined by the issuance of compensation or waiting-week credit, payments shall continue, subject to a presumption of continued eligibility, until a determination is made that provides the claimant notice and an opportunity to be heard. The bills require the Virginia Employment Commission to waive the obligation to repay any overpayment if (i) the overpayment was made without fault on the part of the individual receiving benefits and (ii) requiring repayment would be contrary to equity and good conscience. Conditions for when overpayments are considered "without fault on the part of the individual" are outlined in the bill. The bills further provide that the Commission shall notify each person with an unpaid overpayment of benefits that he may be entitled to a waiver of repayment and provide 30 days to request such a waiver. This applies to outstanding overpayments established for claim weeks commencing on or after March 15, 2020. Finally, the bills add overpayments that the Commission has waived the requirement to repay to the list of situations where specific employers are not responsible for benefit charges. The bills have an expiration date of July 1, 2028.

Child care; background checks.  HB 1277 (Laufer) allows applicants for employment and applicants to serve as volunteers to work in certain child day centers, family day homes, and family day systems pending the results of a full background check, provided that (i) the applicant has received qualifying results on a fingerprint-based background check through the Central Criminal Records Exchange or the Federal Bureau of Investigation and (ii) the applicant is supervised at all times by a person who received a qualifying result on a full background check within the past five years.

Local government employee insurance programs.  HB 1392 (Jones) authorizes any locality to include in its group life, accident, and health insurance programs any person to whom coverage could be extended under the provision of current law that sets out who may be covered under a private group accident and sickness insurance policy.

Contractors; workers' compensation requirements.  HB 1417 (Kilgore) removes the requirements that the governing body of a locality shall forward a signed certification to the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission and the Commission shall conduct periodic audits of selected contractors to whom such body has issued business licenses, thereby eliminating the need for commissioners of the revenue to send the Commission 61A forms.

Child abuse and neglect; mandatory reporters; statute of limitations; penalties.  HB 1542 (Mundon King) adds aggravated sexual battery of a child and attempted rape, sodomy, aggravated sexual battery, or object sexual penetration of a child to the list of offenses for which a failure to report subjects a mandatory reporter to criminal liability.  Note t his legislation incorporates  HB 449 (Obenshain).

Public school teachers; licensure requirements; one-year local eligibility license; alternate routes and flexibility.  SB 142 (Ruff) requires the Board of Education to include in its teacher licensure regulations provisions authorizing each school board, upon recommendation of the division superintendent or the school board and in accordance with the criteria set forth in the bill, to issue a one-year, nonrenewable local eligibility license that is only valid within the issuing school division to any individual who (i) received a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education, (ii) has experience or training in a subject or content area as the school board and division superintendent may deem appropriate for the applicable teaching position or endorsement area, and (iii) is not seeking to provide instruction in special education or eligible for collegiate professional or postgraduate professional licensure. The bill establishes several requirements, criteria, and conditions relating to a local eligibility license. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2030.

Workers' compensation; notice of right to dispute claim.  SB 241 (McPike) requires that when an employee's workers' compensation claim is denied, an employer or insurer shall include in its letter denying benefits a notice that the employee has a right to dispute the claim denial through the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission.

Unemployment compensation; collection of overpayments; limitations.  SB 382 (Ebbin) provides that collection activities for an overpayment, provided that such overpayment was not caused by fraud on the part of the claimant, shall be suspended and that the Virginia Employment Commission shall determine as uncollectable and discharge the overpayment if it remains unpaid after the earliest of the following: (i) after the expiration of five years from the last day of the benefit year in which the overpayment was made, (ii) immediately upon the death of the claimant, (iii) upon the claimant's discharge in bankruptcy occurring subsequently to the determination of payment, or (iv) at any time where the Commission finds such overpayment to be uncollectible or the recovery of such overpayment to be administratively impracticable. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Commission on Unemployment Compensation.

Personnel, Retirement, and Insurance – Passed Bills with a Reenactment Clause

Bills in this category will not go into effect unless they are reenacted by the 2025 Session of the General Assembly.

Health insurance; coverage for doula care services.  HB 935 (Bolling) and  SB 118 (Locke) requires health insurers, corporations providing health care subscription contracts, and health maintenance organizations whose policy, contract, or plan includes coverage for obstetrical services to provide coverage for doula care services provided by a state-certified doula. The bill requires such coverage to include coverage for at least eight visits during the antepartum or postpartum period and support during labor and delivery. The bill provides that health insurance carriers are (i) not required to pay for duplicate services actually rendered by both a state-certified doula and another health care provider and (ii) prohibited from requiring supervision, signature, or referral by any other health care provider as a condition of reimbursement for doula care services, except when those requirements are also applicable to other categories of health care providers. Such provisions of the bill are subject to a reenactment clause. The bill also requires the Health Insurance Reform Commission to consider coverage for doula care services in its review of the essential health benefits benchmark plan and to include such coverage in its recommendation to the General Assembly unless a compelling reason for excluding such coverage is identified.  The policy provisions of this legislation shall not become effective unless reenacted by the 2025 Session of the General Assembly.

Personnel, Retirement, and Insurance – Continued to 2025 and Failed

Study; State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; offering reduced rate in-state tuition rates at public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth to dependents of public school instructional, administrative, and support personnel in the Commonwealth; report.  HJ 15 (Helmer) would have requested the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to study, in collaboration with the Department of Education, the feasibility and efficacy of offering the dependents of public school instructional, administrative, and support personnel in the Commonwealth reduced rate in-state tuition at public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth for the purpose of improving retention rates of public school instructional, administrative, and support personnel in the Commonwealth. This resolution was Continued to 2025 in House Rules .

Study; JLARC; effect of salaries, employment benefits, and other relevant factors on teacher recruitment and retention; report.  HJ 53 (Batten),  HJ 56 (Cordoza) and SJ 9 (Sturtevant) would have directed the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study the effect of salaries, employment benefits, and other relevant factors on recruiting and retaining high-quality, fully licensed teachers, including (i) examining salaries, employment benefits, and other financial benefits and incentives available to teachers in relation to teacher recruitment and retention in each local school division; (ii) identifying disparities in salaries, employment benefits, and other financial benefits and incentives available to teachers in relation to teacher recruitment and retention rates between high-poverty and rural school divisions, high-income school divisions, and the Commonwealth on average; (iii) reviewing salaries, employment benefits, and other financial benefits and incentives available to teachers in relation to the rates of teacher recruitment and retention and the numbers of fully licensed teachers in adjoining states and the District of Columbia; and (iv) identifying factors that positively impact the recruitment and retention of high-quality, fully licensed teachers.

Unemployment compensation; maximum duration of benefits.  HB 82 (Fowler) would have provided that the maximum duration for which a claimant may receive unemployment compensation benefits shall be calculated based on the average, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the Commonwealth for the three months preceding the month in which such claimant files his first claim in a benefit year.

Virginia Teacher Residency Training Corps established.  HB 145 (Reid) would have established the Virginia Teacher Residency Training Corps for the purposes of attracting and retaining public elementary and secondary school teachers in school divisions in the Commonwealth by awarding scholarships to students seeking to obtain teaching degrees and certifications at participating institutions and requiring such students upon completion of their degree or certificate to fill teaching positions for one year for each year of scholarship receipt at a high-need school, as defined pursuant to federal law. The bill would have also created the Virginia Teacher Residency Training Corps Scholarship Fund and Program for the purpose of funding such scholarships at the participating institutions of Longwood University, Norfolk State University, Radford University, and Virginia Commonwealth University. Finally, the bill would have established the 12-member Virginia Teacher Residency Training Corps Commission to administer the Program and directed the Commission to begin meeting on or after September 1, 2024, and to establish the parameters for the Program and award the first scholarships prior to the beginning of the 2025-2026 academic year.

Financial reports by retirement systems; annual disclosures.  HB 162 (Reid) would have required retirement systems to provide disclosures describing the process and criteria used for selecting third-party fund managers, advisers, or consultants and other persons providing services to the retirement system. Such information shall be included in a retirement system's annual report. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House Appropriations .

Income tax deduction; union dues.  HB 165 (Keys-Gamarra) would have provided an income tax deduction beginning in taxable year 2024 for the amount paid by an individual for union dues for participation in a labor organization.

Public schools; teachers and other relevant personnel; mental health awareness training.  HB 224 (Henson) would have required each teacher and other relevant personnel, as determined by the applicable school board, employed on a full-time basis to complete mental health awareness training that addresses the needs of youth populations that are at a high risk of experiencing mental health challenges and disorders in accordance with evidence-based best practices developed by the American Psychological Association. Current law requires such teachers and personnel to complete mental health awareness training but does not contain any requirements relating to the specific topics such training must address. The bill would have prohibited any of its provisions or any policy adopted in accordance with its provisions from being construed to permit biased or discriminatory treatment of any youth population deemed to be at a high risk of experiencing mental health challenges and disorders . Note that HB 224passed the General Assembly but was vetoed by the Governor. 

Health insurance; cost sharing for breast examinations.  HB 230 (Simonds) would have prohibited health insurance carriers from imposing cost sharing for diagnostic breast examinations and supplemental breast examinations, as those terms are defined in the bill, under certain insurance policies, subscription contracts, and health care plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in the Commonwealth on and after January 1, 2025. The bill provided that such examinations include examinations using diagnostic mammography, breast magnetic resonance imaging, or breast ultrasound. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House Appropriations .

Minimum wage and overtime wages; civil actions.  HB 325 (Thomas) would have provided that an employer that violates minimum wage or overtime provisions is liable to the employee for the applicable remedies, damages, or other relief available in an action brought pursuant to the civil action provisions currently available for the nonpayment of wages. Such provisions currently available provide that an employee may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction to recover payment of the wages, and the court is required to award the wages owed, an additional equal amount as liquidated damages, plus prejudgment interest thereon, and reasonable attorney fees and costs. If the court finds that the employer knowingly failed to pay wages to an employee, the court is required award the employee an amount equal to triple the amount of wages due and reasonable attorney fees and costs. Such actions are required to be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrued.

Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact.  HB 328 (Glass) and SB 407 (Durant) would have entered the Commonwealth into the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact, the purpose of which is to facilitate the mobility of teachers across the member states, with the goal of supporting teachers through a new pathway to licensure. The Compact is presently in effect, as it has reached the enactment threshold of 10 state members. HB 328was Continued to 2025 in House Education, while SB 407was stricken from the docket in Senate Education and Health.

School board employees; civil cause of action against principals, division superintendents, and school boards for workplace injuries. HB 347 (Green) would have permitted any school board employee who suffers bodily injury in the course of his employment on school board property after notifying the appropriate school principal, division superintendent, or school board that a working condition or situation was reasonably likely to lead to such bodily injury to bring a civil cause of action in a court of competent jurisdiction for appropriate relief, including damages, against any such school principal, division superintendent, or school board that acted negligently, recklessly, or willfully in failing to remedy the condition or situation that led to such bodily injury. This legislation was Continued to 2025 with amendments in House Courts of Justice .

Employment; paid sick leave; civil penalties.  HB 348 (Ward) would have expanded provisions of the Code that currently require one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked for home health workers to cover all employees of private employers and state and local governments. The bill would have required that employees who are employed and compensated on a fee-for-service basis accrue paid sick leave in accordance with regulations adopted by the Commissioner of Labor and Industry. The bill provided that employees transferred to a separate division or location remain entitled to previously accrued paid sick leave and that employees retain their accrued sick leave under any successor employer. The bill allowed employers to provide a more generous paid sick leave policy than prescribed by its provisions. Employees, in addition to using paid sick leave for their physical or mental illness or to care for a family member, may use paid sick leave for their need for services or relocation due to domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking. The bill would have provided that certain health care workers who work no more than 30 hours per month may waive the right to accrue and use paid sick leave. The bill also provided that employers are not required to provide paid sick leave to certain health care workers who are employed on a pro re nata, or as-needed, basis, regardless of the number of hours worked. The bill would have required the Commissioner to promulgate regulations regarding employee notification and employer recordkeeping requirements. The bill would have authorized the Commissioner, in the case of a knowing violation, to subject an employer to a civil penalty not to exceed $150 for the first violation, $300 for the second violation, and $500 for each successive violation. The Commissioner may institute proceedings on behalf of an employee to enforce compliance with the provisions of this bill. Additionally, an aggrieved employee is authorized to bring a civil action against the employer in which he may recover double the amount of any unpaid sick leave and the amount of any actual damages suffered as the result of the employer's violation. The bill had a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House Appropriations .

Employment; training and education; harassment and workplace discrimination.  HB 370 (Martinez) would have required each employer with 50 or more employees, including the Commonwealth and its agencies, institutions, and political subdivisions, to provide annual interactive training and education regarding harassment and workplace discrimination, as both terms are defined in the bill, by July 1, 2025. The bill included specific training and education requirements for supervisory and nonsupervisory employees, seasonal and temporary employees who are hired to work for less than six months, and migrant and seasonal agricultural workers. The training and education required under the bill must be provided by an educator or human resources professional with knowledge and expertise in the subject matter and must include a method for employees to electronically save a certificate of completion of such training and education. The bill would have required the Department of Labor and Industry to make online courses for the required training available on its website beginning January 1, 2025.

Virginia Retirement System; investments; diversity, equity, and inclusion investing restricted.  HB 388 (Griffin) would have provided that unless the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Retirement System can demonstrate that a social investment, defined in the bill, would provide a superior rate of return compared to a similar investment that is not a social investment with a similar time horizon and risk, neither the Board nor any external fiduciary utilized by the Board may invest or make recommendations regarding state funds for the purpose of social investment on or after July 1, 2024.

Reports of certain arrests and convictions of school employees; timing; method.  HB 482 (Garrett) would have required any probation and parole officer who is supervising a person employed by a local school division in the Commonwealth, upon discovering that such supervised person has been arrested for or convicted of a felony offense or an equivalent offense in another state, to report such arrest or conviction to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the designated division safety official in the local school division in which such supervised person is employed as soon as practicable but no later than 48 hours after such arrest. Current law requires such report to be made as soon as practicable. The bill also would have removed the requirement to report certain arrests and convictions of school employees enumerated in law via fax to the fax number identified for the division superintendent or the designated division safety official, as the case may be. However, the requirements in current law to make such reports via certified mail and email are preserved.

School boards; employee criminal history records checks and applications; penalty for noncompliance.  HB 485 (Garrett) would have clarified that certain school board employees who are (i) employed in an in-person or remote capacity or some combination thereof or (ii) fully licensed, provisionally licensed, or unlicensed are subject to the requirements in existing law to undergo a criminal history records check and a search of the registry of founded complaints of child abuse and neglect and to disclose certain criminal history information at the employment application stage and upon arrest. The bill provided that in the event that any school board fails or refuses to perform its duty to require any employee to undergo a criminal history records check as set forth in relevant law, each individual member of such board is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and his position on such school board shall be deemed vacant. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House Education .

Teachers for Tomorrow Grant Program established.  HB 506 (Cohen) would have required the Department of Education, with such funds as may be appropriate for such purpose pursuant to the general appropriation act, to establish and administer the Teachers for Tomorrow Grant Program whereby any school board may apply for a grant in an amount up to $250,000, to be awarded on a competitive basis, with which to expose and attract high school students in the local school division to careers in teaching through curricula, courses, and hands-on experiential learning opportunities, which may include early opportunities to earn course credit at an institution of higher education or take and pass assessments required for licensure as a teacher in the Commonwealth.

Workers' compensation; injuries caused by repetitive and sustained physical stressors.  HB 531 (Krizek) would have provided that, for the purposes of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act, "occupational disease" includes injuries or diseases from conditions resulting from repetitive and sustained physical stressors, including repetitive and sustained motions, exertions, posture stresses, contact stresses, vibrations, or noises. The bill provides that such injuries or diseases are covered under the Act and that such coverage does not require that such repetitive or sustained physical stress occurred over a particular time period, provided that the time period over which such physical stress occurred can be reasonably identified. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House Appropriations .

Health insurance; coverage option for fertility services; essential health benefits benchmark plan.  HB 560 (Helmer) would have required health insurance policies, subscription contracts, and health care plans to offer and make available coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of infertility and for standard fertility preservation procedures, as defined in the bill. Such coverage includes coverage for in vitro fertilization, provided that procedures are performed at medical facilities or clinics that conform to guidelines published by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology or the American Fertility Society for in vitro fertilization procedures. The bill also would have required the Health Insurance Reform Commission to consider such coverage in its 2025 review of the essential health benefits benchmark plan. The bill directed the Commission to include such coverage in its recommendation to the General Assembly for a new essential health benefits benchmark plan unless the Commission identifies a compelling reason to exclude such coverage.

Board of Education; procedure for adjusting grievances; definition of "classified instructional support staff."  HB 563 (Askew) would have required the Board of Education, for the purpose of its regulations that establish the procedure for adjusting grievances, to define "classified instructional support staff" to mean any nonlicensed teacher, both nonexempt and exempt, who is employed in a local school division and involved in classroom instruction and any other full-time or part-time employee who works more than 90 days total in a 200-day school year and to include teaching assistants, long-term substitutes, site-based substitutes, temporary teachers, and other nonlicensed instructors who substitute in the place of licensed teachers. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House Education .

Public schools; classified instructional support staff; competitive compensation; biennial review.  HB 564 (Askew) would have declared that it is a goal of the Commonwealth that its classified instructional support staff, defined in the bill as any individual who works more than 90 days total in a 200-day school year as a substitute for a licensed teacher, be compensated at a rate that is competitive in order to provide a quality education in the absence of a licensed teacher. The bill would have required the Department of Education to conduct a biennial review of the compensation for classified instructional support staff and to consider the Commonwealth's compensation for classified instructional support staff relative to the national average teacher salary and report the results of such review to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Board of Education by June 1 of each odd-numbered year. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House Education .

Employment discrimination; employee notification of federal and state statute of limitations.  HB 569 (Henson)would have required 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 would have required 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. Note that HB 569passed the General Assembly but was vetoed by the Governor. 

Health insurance; coverage for polycystic ovary syndrome.  HB 604 (Price) would have required health insurers, health maintenance organizations, and corporations providing health care coverage subscription contracts to provide coverage for the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome, as defined in the bill, diagnosed by a licensed physician or health care provider, including diagnosis by a gynecologist, endocrinologist, primary care physician, pediatrician, nurse practitioner, dermatologist, or infertility specialist. The bill specified the types of treatment covered for polycystic ovary syndrome and applies to policies, contracts, and plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on or after January 1, 2025.

Board of Social Work; licensure of clinical social workers; examination alternative; regulation amendments.  HB 606 (Price) would have directed the Board of Social Work to amend the regulations for the licensure of clinical social workers to allow applicants to utilize an examination alternative, which shall consist of at least 1,500 hours of supervised experience that is obtained within the five calendar years immediately preceding the date of application. The bill clarified that the examination alternative shall be in addition to any other supervised clinical experience required for licensure.

Health insurance; coverage for diabetes.  HB 610 (Price) would have required that each insurer providing coverage for diabetes shall include benefits for FDA-approved insulin, continuous blood glucose monitoring, and regular foot care and eye care exams in addition to equipment, supplies, and self-management training and education. The bill allowed for such self-management training and education to be provided either in-person outpatient or through telemedicine. Under the bill, such coverage for self-management training and education shall include up to three outpatient visits upon an individual receiving an initial diagnosis of diabetes and up to two medically necessary visits to a qualified provider upon a significant change in the patient's symptoms or medical condition. The bill also would have repealed certain provisions of law related to cost-sharing for insulin and provides that the coverage required by the bill shall be exempt from any deductible or cost-sharing payment requirement. The provisions of the bill applied to insurance policies, contracts, and plans issued for delivery, reissued, extended, or amended on and after January 1, 2025. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House Appropriations .

Public school staffing and funding; National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund; At-Risk Program; English language learner students  HB 624 (Rasoul) and  SB 105 (Lucas) would have renamed the National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund as the National Board Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund, expanded eligibility for incentive grant awards from such Fund pursuant to such Program from solely teachers who have obtained national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to all public school staff who are candidates for initial national certification or maintenance of national certification to cover certain costs of obtaining or maintaining such certification and all public school staff who have successfully obtained or maintained such certification, and permitted certain teachers to apply for additional incentive grants pursuant to such Program and Fund. The bills also would have established the At-Risk Program for the purpose of supporting programs and services for students who are educationally at risk, including prevention, intervention, or remediation activities required pursuant to relevant law, teacher recruitment programs and initiatives, programs for English language learners, the hiring of additional school counselors and other support staff, and other programs relating to increasing the success of disadvantaged students in completing a high school degree and providing opportunities to encourage further education and training. The bills also contained provisions relating to certain funding requirements for the At-Risk Program. Finally, the bills would have required state funding to be provided pursuant to the general appropriation act to support ratios of instructional positions to English language learner students based on each such student's English proficiency level, as established in the general appropriation act.  Note that both HB 624and SB 105passed the General Assembly but were vetoed by the Governor.

Virginia Retirement System; additional service credit.  HB 687 (O’Quinn) would have allowed an individual who serves concurrently as a full-time primary or secondary school teacher and as a full-time school bus driver to receive additional service credit in the Virginia Retirement System for providing such services. The bill specified that the amount of credit allowable shall be equivalent to the amount of credit that the individual would earn if he were employed only as a full-time school bus driver.

National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund; eligibility; incentive grant awards.  HB 708 (Maldonado) would have renamed the National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund as the National Board Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund, expands eligibility for incentive grant awards from such Fund pursuant to such Program from solely teachers who have obtained national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to (i) all public school staff who are candidates for initial national certification or maintenance of national certification to cover certain costs of obtaining or maintaining such certification and (ii) all public school staff who have successfully obtained or maintained such certification. The bill would have also declared as eligible for an annual incentive grant award in the amount of $7,500 all public school staff who have obtained or maintained such certification. Current law declares as eligible for an annual incentive grant award of $5,000 in the first year and $2,500 in each subsequent year all teachers who have obtained or maintained such certification.

Health insurance; cost-sharing payments for insulin and diabetes equipment and supplies; limit.  HB 760 (Delaney) would have decreased the cap on the cost-sharing payment that a covered person is required to pay for a covered prescription insulin drug from $50 to $35 for a 30-day supply of the prescription insulin drug and provides such cap is an aggregate cap that applies in situations where the covered person is prescribed more than one insulin drug. The bill also would have established such an aggregate cap of $35 for a 30-day supply of diabetes equipment and supplies.

Health insurance; coverage for contraceptive drugs and devices.  HB 819 (Mundon King) and  SB 238 (Hashmi) would have required health insurance carriers to provide coverage, under any health insurance contract, policy, or plan that includes coverage for prescription drugs on an outpatient basis, for contraceptive drugs and contraceptive devices, as defined in the bills, including those available over-the-counter. The bills would have prohibited a health insurance carrier from imposing upon any person receiving contraceptive benefits pursuant to the provisions of the bill any copayment, coinsurance payment, or fee, except in certain circumstances. Note that both HB 819and SB 238passed the General Assembly but were vetoed by the Governor. 

Health insurance; coverage for therapeutic day treatment services.  HB 864 (Clark) would have required health insurers providing health care plans to provide coverage for therapeutic day treatment services for children with serious emotional disturbances, defined in the in bill as children who have a mental illness diagnosis and have experienced functional limitations due to emotional disturbance, including experiencing a school shooting or the loss of a loved one in a school setting, over the past 12 months on a continuous or intermittent basis. Under the bill, "therapeutic day treatment services" are treatment programs that combine psychotherapeutic interventions with education and mental health and may include evaluation; medication education and management; opportunities to learn and use daily living skills and to enhance social and interpersonal skills; and individual, group, and family counseling. The bill applied to plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on and after January 1, 2025. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House Labor and Commerce .

Local government employees; expression of certain opinions protected.  HB 867 (Earley) would have provided that an employee of a locality shall not be penalized by his employer for expressing his opinion regarding a current or proposed regulation, rule, policy, position, or other action or purpose of a public body at an open meeting of such public body when such employee is speaking on his own behalf. The bill excludes any speech that is unprotected under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, including speech that (i) incites violence; (ii) is obscene, defamatory, or fraudulent; or (iii) discloses privileged and confidential information. The bill specifies that for purposes of this provision an employee of a locality does not include any person appointed to a position in a locality by an elected official or by a government body composed in whole or in part of elected officials.

Health insurance; coverage for contraceptive drugs and devices.  HB 902 (Srinivasan) would have required health insurance carriers to provide coverage, under any health insurance contract, policy, or plan that includes coverage for prescription drugs on an outpatient basis, for any contraceptive drug or contraceptive device, as defined in the bill, available for purchase with or without a prescription. The bill would have prohibited a health insurance carrier from imposing upon any person receiving contraceptive benefits pursuant to the provisions of the bill any copayment, coinsurance payment, or fee, except in certain circumstances. The provisions of the bill would have applied to health insurance contracts, policies, or plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on and after January 1, 2025.

Health insurance; cost-sharing requirements for the treatment of cancer; prohibited for individuals 18 years of age or younger.  HB 903 (Srinivasan) would have prohibited any (i) insurer proposing to issue individual or group accident and sickness insurance policies providing hospital, medical and surgical, or major medical coverage on an expense-incurred basis; (ii) corporation providing individual or group accident and sickness subscription contracts; and (iii) health maintenance organization providing a health care plan for health care services from imposing (a) any cost-sharing requirement for the treatment of cancer and (b) if the policy, contract, or plan, including any certificate or evidence of coverage issued in connection with such policy, contract, or plan, includes coverage for medicines, any cost-sharing requirement for a covered prescription drug for the treatment of cancer in an enrollee who is 18 years of age or younger under such policy, contract, or plan delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in the Commonwealth. The bill would have applied with respect to health plans and provider contracts entered into, amended, extended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2025.

Unemployment insurance; benefit eligibility conditions; lockout exception to labor dispute disqualification.  HB 938 (Bolling) and  SB 542 (Bagby) would have amended the Virginia Unemployment Compensation Act's labor dispute disqualification to provide that a lockout by an employer shall not constitute a labor dispute and that locked-out employees who are otherwise eligible for benefits shall receive such benefits unless (i) the recognized or certified collective bargaining representative of the locked-out employees refuses to meet under reasonable conditions with the employer to discuss the issues giving rise to the lockout, (ii) there is a final adjudication under the federal National Labor Relations Act that such representative has refused to bargain in good faith with the employer, or (iii) the lockout is the direct result of such representative's violation of an existing collective bargaining agreement. Note that both HB 938and SB 542passed the General Assembly but were vetoed by the Governor. 

Building service employees; public contracting.  HB 951 (Lopez)would have permitted any county, city, or town in the Commonwealth to provide for certain requirements concerning incumbent and successor service employers, defined in the bill, by local ordinance or resolution. For example, such local ordinance or resolution may require that successor service employers retain incumbent service employees during a transition period of 90 days. Under the bill, service employees are those who perform work in connection with the care or maintenance of property, services at an airport, or food preparation services at schools. The bill provided that a employer that violates the provisions of a local ordinance or resolution enacted pursuant to the bill may be subject to a civil action and monetary damages. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in Senate Finance and Appropriations .

Workers' compensation; presumption that certain injuries arose out of employment.  HB 974 (Keys-Gamarra)would have provided that in any claim for workers' compensation, where the employee suffers an unexplained fall in the course of employment, such employee may satisfy the burden of proof by circumstantial evidence, testimony of others, other evidence, or any combination thereof. Note that HB 974passed the General Assembly but was vetoed by the Governor.

Prohibiting employer seeking wage or salary history of prospective employees; wage or salary range transparency; cause of action.  HB 990 (Maldonado) and  SB 370 (Boysko) would have prohibited a prospective employer from (i) seeking the wage or salary history of a prospective employee; (ii) relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in determining the wages or salary the prospective employee is to be paid upon hire; (iii) relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in considering the prospective employee for employment; (iv) refusing to interview, hire, employ, or promote a prospective employee or otherwise retaliating against a prospective employee for not providing wage or salary history; and (v) failing or refusing to disclose in each public and internal posting for each job, promotion, transfer, or other employment opportunity the wage, salary, or wage or salary range. The bill would have established a cause of action for an aggrieved prospective employee or employee and provides that an employer that violates such prohibitions is liable to the aggrieved prospective employee or employee for statutory damages between $1,000 and $10,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater, reasonable attorney fees and costs, and any other legal and equitable relief as may be appropriate. Note that both HB 980and SB 370passed the General Assembly but were vetoed by the Governor.

Collective bargaining by public employees; labor organization representation.  HB 1001 (Tran)would have repealed the existing prohibition on collective bargaining by public employees. The bill would have created the Public Employee Relations Board, which shall determine appropriate bargaining units and provide for certification and decertification elections for exclusive bargaining representatives of state employees and local government employees. The bill would have required public employers and employee organizations that are exclusive bargaining representatives to meet at reasonable times to negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. The bill would have repealed a provision that declares that, in any procedure providing for the designation, selection, or authorization of a labor organization to represent employees, the right of an individual employee to vote by secret ballot is a fundamental right that shall be guaranteed from infringement. This bill incorporated  HB 780 (Callsen).

Sex offenses prohibiting working on school property; penalty. HB 1026 (Wilt) would have added certain offenses involving children, including kidnapping, trafficking, sex crimes, and prostitution and commercial sex crimes, to the list of offenses that would prohibit an adult if convicted of such offense from working or engaging in any volunteer activity on property he knows or has reason to know is a public or private elementary or secondary school or child day center. A violation of any such offense is a Class 6 felony.

Health insurance; employee welfare benefit plans; pharmacy audit protections.  HB 1136 (Hodges)would have required contracts and provider contracts between an entity providing or administering self-insured or self-funded employee welfare benefit plans and an intermediary or a participating pharmacy provider or its contracting agent, pursuant to which such entity or intermediary has the right or obligation to conduct audits of participating pharmacy providers, to contain certain terms and provisions relating to such audits.

Health insurance; coverage for physical therapy; outpatient visit limit.  HB 1142 (Cordoza) would have prohibited (i) insurers proposing to issue individual or group accident and sickness insurance policies providing hospital, medical and surgical, or major medical coverage on an expense-incurred basis; (ii) corporations providing individual or group accident and sickness subscription contracts; and (iii) health maintenance organizations providing a health care plan for health care services, whose policies, contracts, or plans include coverage for physical therapy from imposing a limit on the number of outpatient visits for physical therapy for an insured individual with chronic disease, as defined in the bill.

Teacher compensation; at or above national average; various annual salary adjustments.  HB 1152 (Cordoza) would have required that public school teachers be compensated at a rate that is at or above the national average for each step or level on a years of experience-based pay scale. Under current law, compensation at such rate is aspirational, and such aspirational rate is silent on compensation variations based on experience. The foregoing provisions of the bill had a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025. The bill also would have provided that (i) effective for the 2024-2025 school year, each teacher in each school division, Academic Year Governor's School, and Regional Alternative Education Program shall be awarded a cost-of-living compensation adjustment in an amount or percentage to be determined in the general appropriation act and (ii) effective beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, state funding shall be provided pursuant to the general appropriation act in a sum sufficient to fund a 12 percent annual increase for teacher salaries in each school division, Academic Year Governor's School, and Regional Alternative Education Program.

Benefits consortium for localities.  HB 1153 (Cordoza) would have authorized the governing bodies of three or more cities, counties, or school boards to form a benefits consortium for the purpose of establishing a self-funded employee welfare benefit plan. Under current law, such governing bodies or school boards are authorized to form such a benefits consortium if they comprised the membership of a multiple employer welfare arrangement as of December 31, 2014. Such a benefits consortium is required to be a nonstock corporation established to operate a benefits plan. Each member of the benefits consortium is contractually liable for its allocated share of the consortium's liabilities, and the benefits consortium is exempt from taxation and from insurance regulations.

Virginia Human Rights Act; dual-filed civil actions.  HB 1329 (Simon) would have clarified timelines for dual-filing complaints alleging unlawful discrimination under the Virginia Human Rights Act and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The bill would have allowed either the complainant or the respondent for any charge of discrimination to request a notice of the right to file a civil action after the Commission has closed its file on such charge of discrimination.

Employee protection; prohibited retaliation; prohibited nondisclosure and nondisparagement provisions; civil action.  HB 1344 (McQuinn) would have prohibited the inclusion of a provision in any employment contract that has the purpose or effect of concealing illegal activity or activity an employee believes to be unlawful, including unlawful sexual harassment, discrimination, wage theft, and protected whistleblowing, as those terms are described in existing law. Under the bill's provisions, no employer shall discharge or otherwise retaliate against an employee, prospective employee, or independent contractor for disclosing or discussing conduct that such employee reasonably believes to be discrimination, including harassment, retaliation, a wage or hour violation, sexual assault, fraud against taxpayers, shareholders, the government, consumers, or other employees, or other conduct that is against a clear mandate of public policy. An employer that violates the provisions of the bill shall be liable for the greater of actual damages or statutory damages of $10,000, as well as reasonable attorney fees and costs. The bill also would have required employers to include in any settlement agreement or employment agreement with an employee a disclaimer that such agreement does not prohibit an employee from disclosing conduct as protected under the bill. The provisions of the bill applied to contracts entered into, renewed, modified, or amended on or after July 1, 2024. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House Labor and Commerce .

School boards; teachers; terms of employment; employment verification; requirement.  HB 1384 (Milde) would have required each school board to provide written verification of employment within 10 days of receipt of any request for employment verification from a former employee of the school board.

Income tax deduction; union dues.  HB 1470 (Keys-Gamarra) would have provided an income tax deduction beginning in taxable year 2024 for the amount paid by an individual for union dues for participation in a labor organization. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House Finance .

E-Verify program.  SB 185 (Sturtevant) would have required every employer to enroll in the E-Verify program by January 1, 2025, and to use the program for each newly hired employee who is to perform work within the Commonwealth. Under current law, only state agencies and certain employers with contracts with state agencies are required to use the program. The bill also would have required the Attorney General to request the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, once each calendar quarter, to provide a list of agencies and employers that are enrolled and participate in the E-Verify program and to make such list available on the Attorney General's website.

Health insurance; disclosure of summary health information.  SB 202 (Diggs) would have required, 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.

Building service employees; public contracting.  SB 247 (McPike) would have permitted any county, city, or town in the Commonwealth to provide for certain requirements concerning incumbent and successor building service employers, defined in the bill, by local ordinance or resolution. For example, such local ordinance or resolution may require that successor building service employers retain incumbent employees during a transition period of 90 days. Under the bill, building service employees are those who perform work in connection with the care or maintenance of property, services at an airport, or food preparation services at schools. The bill provided that a building service employer that violates the provisions of a local ordinance or resolution enacted pursuant to the bill may be subject to a civil action and monetary damages. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in Senate Finance and Appropriations .

Paid family and medical leave insurance program; notice requirements; civil action.  SB 373 (Boysko) would have required the Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer a paid family and medical leave insurance program with benefits beginning January 1, 2027. Under the program, benefits are paid to covered individuals, as defined in the bill, for family and medical leave. The bill specified that covered individuals shall not include state employees, constitutional and other local officers, and employees of local school divisions and that funding for the program is provided through premiums assessed to employers and employees beginning January 1, 2026. The bill provided that the amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee's average weekly wage, not to exceed 80 percent of the state weekly wage, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the statewide average weekly wage. The bill capped the duration of paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year and provides self-employed individuals the option of participating in the program. Finally, the bill would have required the Commission to update its 2021 Paid Family and Medical Leave study to include an assessment of the budgetary impacts of extending the benefits of the program to exempt individuals. Note that SB 373passed the General Assembly but was vetoed by the Governor.

Collective bargaining by public employees; labor organization representation.  SB 374 (Boysko) would have repealed the existing prohibition on collective bargaining by public employees. The bill creates the Public Employee Relations Board, which shall determine appropriate bargaining units and provide for certification and decertification elections for exclusive bargaining representatives of state employees and local government employees. The bill requires public employers and employee organizations that are exclusive bargaining representatives to meet at reasonable times to negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. The bill repeals a provision that declares that, in any procedure providing for the designation, selection, or authorization of a labor organization to represent employees, the right of an individual employee to vote by secret ballot is a fundamental right that shall be guaranteed from infringement.

Health insurance; limit on cost-sharing payments for prescription drugs under certain plans.  SB 376 (Boysko)would have required each carrier that offers a health plan in either the individual or small group market to ensure that at least 50 percent of all health plans offered by the carrier, or at least one health plan if the carrier offers fewer than two health plans, in each rating area and in each of the bronze, silver, gold, and platinum levels of coverage in the individual and small group market conform with the following: (i) a plan that offers a silver, gold, or platinum level of coverage limits a person's cost-sharing payment for prescription drugs covered under the plan to an amount that does not exceed $100 per 30-day supply of the prescription drug and (ii) a plan that offers a bronze level of coverage limits a person's cost-sharing payment for prescription drugs covered under the plan to an amount that does not exceed $150 per 30-day supply of the prescription drug. The bill provided that such limits apply at any point in the benefit design, including before and after any applicable deductible is reached. The bill requires that any plans offered to meet its requirements are (a) clearly and appropriately named to aid the consumer or plan sponsor in the plan selection process and (b) marketed in the same manner as other plans offered by the health insurance carrier. The provisions of the bill applied with respect to health plans entered into, amended, extended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2025. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in Senate Commerce and Labor. .

Workers' compensation; injuries caused by repetitive and sustained physical stressors.  SB 520 (Williams Graves)would have provided that, for the purposes of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act, "occupational disease" includes injuries or diseases from conditions resulting from repetitive and sustained physical stressors, including repetitive and sustained motions, exertions, posture stresses, contact stresses, vibrations, or noises. The bill would have provided that such injuries or diseases are covered under the Act and that such coverage does not require that such repetitive or sustained physical stress occurred over a particular time period, provided that the time period over which such physical stress occurred can be reasonably identified. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in Senate Finance and Appropriations .

Virginia Retirement System; return to work; break in service.  SB 548 (Craig)would have reduced, from six months to one month, the length of the required break in service after retirement for a teacher, bus driver, specialized student support instructor, or law-enforcement officer before such person may return to work full time and continue to receive his pension under the Virginia Retirement System (VRS). This legislation was Continued to 2025 in Senate Finance and Appropriations .