January 21, 2016 – Legislative Update

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2016 Virginia General Assembly

January 21, 2016

We expect that the General Assembly will be closed on Friday January 22nd due to the severe weather predicted for the state.  The Senate Committee on Rehab and Social Services has rescheduled its meeting to tonight at 6:00pm; all other meetings for tomorrow are cancelled.

At the request of a reader, we offer more detail about a bill we are watching:

HB 255 (Greason) adds licensed behavior analysts (LBA) and licensed assistant behavior analysts (LABA) to the list of designated licensed mental health professionals (LMHP) and adds applied behavior analysis (ABA) to the list of treatments for those with mental health disorders such as but not limited to traumatic brain injury, substance abuse, and depression as it relates to the professional’s scope of practice.  The intent of this bill is to increase the number choices provided to Virginia residents for services that already exist.

We note that some action has already been taken on some bills.  For example, HB 297 (Austin) was “tabled” by a subcommittee today.  It would have changed the definition of an assisted living facility to be more than seven beds.

The mission of the disAbility Law Center of Virginia is to protect and advance the legal, human and civil rights of people with disabilities, to combat and prevent abuse, neglect and discrimination, and to promote independence, choice and self-determination by persons with disabilities.

The disAbility law Center of Virginia will be monitoring bills in the legislature that may be of interest to people with disabilities.  We are available to educate policy makers about the potential impact of legislative proposals.  Please let us know of any legislative proposals or budget issues that you think we should be following.  Contact us at info@dlcv.org or by calling 1-800-552-3962 or 804-225-2042.