2016 Virginia General Assembly
February 19, 2016
The State budget process will soon be front and center in the legislature. On Sunday, the money committees of both houses will release their proposed amendments to the Governor’s budget. Those committee reports are not easy to decipher until they release what is known as the “half sheets,” which we anticipate on Tuesday.
Both houses will then debate the amendments, with a goal of a complete set of amendments in each house by the end of the day Thursday. At that point, each house begins to review the proposed amendments of the other side.
Meanwhile, each house is also considering substantive legislation that was approved by the other side. Here are some of the bills we are watching:
Juvenile Justice
SB 215 (Favola) requires the development of regulations that will restrict the use of room seclusion in juvenile detention facilities. It was approved by the full Senate and will be heard by the House Committee on Courts of Justice, criminal subcommittee, probably on Monday.
Mental Health
HB 675 (Peace) would allow the use of Auxiliary Grants in Supportive Housing. On Friday, House Appropriations amended it to say that the grants will be available for supportive housing only when someone has lived in an ALF for a year. The House approved it as amended. Senate Rehabilitation approved the bill this morning, but sent it to Senate Finance for review.
HB 811 (Bell) requires that notice of a commitment hearing be given to a family member. The amended bill narrows the group who must be given notice to an immediate family member who is involved in the care of the person subject to hearing. The bill will be in Senate Courts of Justice, probably on Wednesday. The Senate equivalent, SB 568 (Barker) did not pass the Senate.
HB 1110 (Bell) and SB 567 (Barker) require that when an elevator in a TDO process concludes that the individual does not meet commitment criteria, a magistrate must still hear and consider information from the person who asked for the emergency custody order. Both bills limit the right to be heard to only those persons present. The proposals do not allow the additional testimony to be a reason to extend the period of emergency custody. SB 567 will be considered by the House Courts of Justice Mental Health Subcommittee today. HB 1110 will be considered by Senate Courts of Justice, probably on Wednesday.
Training centers
SB 683 (Miller) – would have prohibited the Department of Behavioral Health and the Community Services Boards from communicating with any family member, except in writing, about transition planning if the family member has sent a letter saying that they want no further communication. Communication would have been permitted iwithin six months of the closure of the training center. The bill passed the Senate, but was tabled in a subcommittee in House Health, Welfare and Institutions.
Visitation during guardianship
HB 342 (Pogge) establishes a duty for a guardian to allow visitors without limitation. It was approved by the House and has been assigned to the Senate Committee on Courts of Justice for review.
SB 466 (Wagner) establishes a right to visitors for persons under guardianship. It passed the Senate and has been assigned to the House Committee on Courts of Justice, civil law subcommittee.
Service Animals
SJ 27 (Reeves) designates the first week in August as International Assistance Dog week. The resolution passed the Senate and was approved by the House committee on rules yesterday.
SB 363 (Reeves) makes it a misdemeanor for a person to claim to have a service dog that is not a real service dog, but limits the questions that an entity may ask about the dog to those questions permitted by the ADA. The bill passed the Senate and has been assigned to the House Courts of Justice civil subcommittee. It could be heard as early as Monday.
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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 monitors 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.