2018 Virginia General Assembly Legislative Highlights March 2, 2018 Much of the committee work on bills has been completed, as the legislature intends to adjourn on Saturday, March 10th. Here is what appears to be the near-final status of some of the bills relating to adults and children with autism. These bills are still in...
Author: Colleen Miller
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February 27, 2018 – Legislative Highlights
2018 Virginia General Assembly Legislative Highlights February 27, 2018 The 2018 General Assembly Session is scheduled to adjourn on Saturday, March 10th. As a result, the various committees are completing their work on remaining bills this week. The legislature considered two measures that address terminating life sustaining treatment when a doctor believes such treatment is...
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Rethinking School Discipline
A few years back, the Center for Public Integrity authored a report on school discipline disparities among students of color and students with disabilities in Virginia and other states.
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February 20, 2018 – Legislative Highlights
2018 Virginia General Assembly Legislative Highlights February 20, 2018 On Sunday, the money committee for the House and for the Senate announced their proposed amendments to the budget that had been submitted in December by then-Governor McAuliffe. Although both packages contain some measure of support for greater medical coverage for people with disabilities, only the...
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February 16, 2018 – Legislative Highlights
2018 Virginia General Assembly Legislative Highlights February 16, 2018 We are more than half way through this “long” session of the Virginia legislature. The money committees of the House and the Senate will announce their budget amendment proposals on Sunday, February 18th. We expect the two packages to contain some plans for expanded medical coverage...
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February 15, 2018 – Legislative Highlights
2018 Virginia General Assembly Legislative Highlights February 15, 2018 SB 287 (McClellan) has been approved by the full Senate and has been approved by the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions. The bill will enable the collection of information about the numbers of people in Virginia who have sustained a spinal cord injury and...
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February 14, 2018 – Legislative Highlights
2018 Virginia General Assembly Legislative Highlights February 14, 2018 All proposed bills that would have impacted the housing rights for people with disabilities are dead as of crossover, end of day yesterday. SB 909 (McClellan) would have prohibited discrimination in housing based on an applicant’s “source of income,” defining source of income as any external...
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February 12, 2018 – Legislative Highlights
2018 Virginia General Assembly Legislative Highlights February 12, 2018 The legislature is considering two measures that address terminating life sustaining treatment when a doctor believes such treatment is unethical or inappropriate. Under current law in Virginia, if a doctor thinks that continuing to provide treatment is inappropriate or unethical, the doctor has 14 days to...
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February 9, 2018 – Legislative Highlights
2018 Virginia General Assembly Legislative Highlights February 9, 2018 The legislature is quickly approaching its official halfway point, known as “crossover.” Every bill must be fully dealt with in its house of origin by Tuesday, February 13th, or it is considered to be dead. Although this does mean that many bills are no longer in...
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February 8, 2018 – Legislative Highlights
2018 Virginia General Assembly Legislative Highlights February 8, 2018 There were two bills in the legislature that would limit the use of “step therapy.” Step therapy is a protocol in health insurance companies of mandating less expensive medications before trying more expensive medications, regardless of the direction of the prescribing doctor. The proposals attempted to...