2023 Priority Legislation

of the Virginia Grassroots Coalition

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All

Climate

Cat	Number	Title	Patron	House	Senate	Governor	updated
2023 Priority Bills Education
education	HB 1497 Support	Teachers; required to be compensated at or above national average. more... Requires public school teachers to be compensated at a rate that is at or above the national average. Under current law, compensation at such rate is aspirational. ...	Kelly Convirs-Fowler (R-HD21)	Tabled			1/29/23
education	HB 1560 Support	High school students; development of Title IX and sexual harassment prevention training modules. more... Requires the Department of Education to develop culturally appropriate, age-appropriate, and trauma-informed Title IX and sexual harassment prevention training modules concerning Title IX rights and protections, consent, and sexual harassment prevention and reporting and to make such training modules available to each school board for the education of high school students. ...	Vivian E. Watts (D-HD39)	Failed			1/18/23
education	HB 1566 Support	Public school teachers and other Standards of Quality-funded positions; compensation. more... Requires the Commonwealth to compensate its public school teachers at a rate that is competitive, defined in current law as at or above the national average teacher salary, in order to attract and keep highly qualified teachers. Current law declares it the policy of the Commonwealth to compensate public school teachers at such competitive rate but does not require it. ...	Sam Rasoul (D-HD11)	Left			2/8/23
education	HB 1938 Support	Public schools; staffing ratios; school counselors with training or experience in mental health. more... Requires each school board to employ, in addition to the school counselors that it employs as otherwise required by law, at least one full-time school counselor with specialized training or experience in mental health per 1,000 students in grades kindergarten through 12.	Kenneth Plum (D-HD36)	Tabled			2/1/23
education	HB 2111 Support	Standards of Quality; work-based learning, teacher leaders and mentors, principal mentors. more... Makes several changes to the Standards of Quality, including requiring the establishment of units in the Department of Education to oversee work-based learning and principal mentorship statewide and requiring the Board of Education to establish and oversee the local implementation of teacher leader and teacher mentor programs in Standard 5. ...	Jeffrey Bourne(D-HD71)	Left			2/8/23
education	HB 2145 Support	Standards of Learning assessments; English language learner students; parental opt out. more... Requires each local school board to ensure that the parent of each English language learner student is notified of the option to not have his child take any Standards of Learning assessment. ...	Elizabeth R. Guzman (D-HD31)	Tabled			1/25/23
education	SB 818 Support	Public elementary and secondary schools; programs of instruction on mental health education. more... Requires each public elementary, middle, and high school to provide at each grade level, in addition to health instruction, an additional age-appropriate course of instruction on mental health. ...	Lionell Spruill (D-SD5)	Defeated	Passed		2/13/23
education	SB 819 Support	Public schools; Standards of Quality, early intervention services for reading and mathematics. more... Provides that each local school division is permitted to use any nationally recognized, research-based assessment or screener in identifying and assessing the progress of any student in need of reading or algebra readiness intervention services as an alternative to a diagnostic test that must be approved by the Department of Education.	Barbara Favola (D-SD31)		Stricken		2/2/23
education	SB 856 Support	Public elementary and secondary schools; comprehensive school counseling program. more... Requires each local school board to develop and implement a written plan for a comprehensive school counseling program for the purpose of providing support that meets the mental and emotional health needs of all students and guiding students in academic progress, postsecondary planning, and social-emotional learning. ...	Lionell Spruill (D-SD5)		PBI		1/29/23
education	SB 1043 Support	Public education; student mental health and counseling, definitions, licensure requirements. more... Requires the Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, to develop, adopt, and distribute to each school board a model memorandum of understanding between a school board and a public or private community mental health services provider that sets forth parameters for the provision of mental health services to public school students enrolled in the local school division by such provider.	Jeremy McPike (D-SD29)	Passed	Passed	Signed 02/24/23 Senate: Conference report agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) 02/24/23 House: Conference report agreed to by House (94-Y 0-N) 02/24/23 House: VOTE: Adoption (94-Y 0-N)	9/14/23
education	SB 1118 Support	Employment of teachers; English as a Second Language Incentive Reward Program and Fund;established. more... Provides that each local school board shall adopt employment policies and practices designed to promote the employment of highly qualified teachers to effectively serve the educational needs of students who are English language learners, including providing financial support for teachers seeking and obtaining an endorsement in English as a second language pre-kindergarten through grade 12. ...	Ghazala F. Hashmi (D-HD10)	Defeated	Passed		2/13/23
education	SB 1215 Support	Public school teachers and other Standards of Quality-funded positions; compensation. more... Requires the Commonwealth to compensate its public school teachers at a rate that is competitive, defined in current law as at or above the national average teacher salary, in order to attract and keep highly qualified teachers. ...	Louise Lucas (D-SD18)	Passed	Passed	Signed 02/23/23 Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1215ER) 02/23/23 House: House insisted on amendments 02/23/23 House: House requested conference committee	9/14/23
education	SB 1257 Support	School counselors; staff time. more... Defines the terms "direct counseling" and "program planning and school support" for the purpose of the provision of law that requires each school counselor to spend at least 80 percent of his staff time during normal school hours in the direct counseling of individual students or groups of students and clarifies that each school counselor may also spend up to 20 percent of his staff time during normal school hours on program planning and support.	Barbara Favola (D-SD31)		Incorp		1/29/23
education	SB 1268 Support	School psychologists; staffing flexibility. more... Provides that in order to fill vacant school psychologist positions, any local school board may employ, under a provisional license issued by the Department of Education for three school years with an allowance for an additional two-year extension with the approval of the division superintendent, clinical psychologists licensed by the Board of Psychology, provided that any such individual makes progress toward completing the requirements for full licensure as a school psychologist during such period of employment.	Barbara Favola (D-SD31)		Incorp		1/29/23
education	SB 1325 Support	Standards of Quality; work-based learning, teacher leaders and mentors, principal mentors. more... Makes several changes to the Standards of Quality, including requiring the establishment of units in the Department of Education to oversee work-based learning and principal mentorship statewide and requiring the Board of Education to establish and oversee the local implementation of teacher leader and teacher mentor programs in Standard 5	Jennifer McClellan \| Ghazala Hashmi	Tabled	Passed		2/13/23
education	SB 1334 Support	Board of Education; Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting participant code of ethics. more... Directs the Board of Education to develop and enforce a code of ethics relating to appropriate participation and collaboration at Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings among school staff, parents, students, and any other invited participants. ...	Ghazala F. Hashmi (D-SD10)	Tabled	Passed		2/15/23
education	SJ 228 Support	Students; qualification & training requirements of school personnel who administer health services. more... Directs the School Health Services Committee to study the feasibility of implementing the recommendations of the Department of Education relating to standardizing the qualification and training requirements for school personnel, such as school nurses, who administer health services to students in order to improve the equity, consistency, and quality of school health services, including mental health services, provided in public schools in the Commonwealth.	Barbara A. Favola (D-SD31)	Tabled	Passed		2/13/23
education	HB 1371 Oppose	Education Savings Account Program established; Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits. more... Establishes the Education Savings Account Program .. whereby the parent of any individual who is a resident of the Commonwealth and who is eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school may apply for an Education Savings Account for his child into which the Department of Education deposits certain state and local funds and from which the parent makes certain enumerated qualifying expenses to educate his child in a setting and a manner other than full-time education in a public school.	Phillip A. Scott (R-HD88)	Left			2/8/23
education	HB 1379 Oppose	Public elementary and secondary school libraries; catalog of printed and audiovisual materials, etc. more... Requires the principal of each public elementary or secondary school or his designee to (i) maintain in an electronic spreadsheet or a substantially similar electronic format a catalog of all printed and audiovisual materials ...	Timothy Anderson(R-HD83)	Passed	PBI		2/16/23
education	HB 1387 Oppose	K-12 schools/higher ed. institution; designation of interscholastic, etc., sports based on sex, etc. more... Requires each interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport sponsored by a public elementary or secondary school or by a public institution of higher education to be expressly designated as one of the following based on biological sex: (i) males, men, or boys; (ii) females, women, or girls; or (iii) coed or mixed if participation on such team or sport is open to both (a) males, men, or boys and (b) females, women, or girls....	Karen Greenhalgh (R-HD85)	Passed	PBI		2/16/23
education	HB 1396 Oppose	Education Savings Account Program; established, Education Improvement Scholarships tax credits. more... Establishes the Education Savings Account Program .. whereby the parent of any individual who is a resident of the Commonwealth and who is eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school may apply for an Education Savings Account for his child into which the Department of Education deposits certain state and local funds and from which the parent makes certain enumerated qualifying expenses to educate his child in a setting and a manner other than full-time education in a public school.	Marie E. March (R-HD7)	PBI			1/25/23
education	HB 1399 Oppose	Elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education; interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, and club athletic teams and sports; student participation; certain requirements. more... Requires each interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport that is sponsored by a public elementary or secondary school or a public institution of higher education to be expressly designated as one of the following based on each team member's biological sex at birth ...	Marie March (R-HD7)	Passed	PBI		2/16/23
education	HB 1434 Oppose	Student records; name change, court order required. more... Prohibits any school board member or school board employee from changing the name of a student enrolled in the local school division on any education record relating to such student unless the member or employee receives a change of name order for such student that was issued in accordance with relevant law.	Jason Ballard (R-HD12)	Tabled			1/29/23
education	HB 1448 Oppose	Public school library materials; DOE to make recommendations, model policies, selection and removal. more... Requires the Department of Education, in consultation with local school boards, public school librarians, parents of public school students, and other interested stakeholders, to make recommendations to the General Assembly, the Board of Education, and local school boards ... on the adoption of model policies for the selection and removal of books ...	Robert D. Orrock (R-HD54)	Passed	PBI		2/16/23
education	HB 1508 Oppose	Virginia Education Success Account Program; established, report. more... Permits the parents of qualified students, defined in the bill, to apply for a one-year, renewable Virginia Education Success Account that consists of an amount that is equivalent to a certain percentage of all applicable annual Standards of Quality per pupil state funds appropriated for public school purposes and apportioned to the school division in which the qualified student resides, including the per pupil share of state sales tax funding in basic aid and any state per pupil share of special education funding for which the qualified student is eligible. ...	Glenn Davis (R-HD84)	Left			2/8/23
education	SB 787 Oppose	Public school libraries; printed or audiovisual materials, selection, evaluation, & checkout proced. more... Requires each local school board to adopt policies addressing the selection and evaluation of all printed or audiovisual materials purchased by, donated to, or otherwise made available to the school division that will be made available to students in school libraries, with clear procedures for (i) mandatory prior written parental consent before a student is permitted to check out from the school library any such printed or audiovisual materials that depict a child engaged in the fondling of the	Bill DeSteph (R-SD8)		PBI		1/23/23
education	SB 823 Oppose	Parental Choice Education Savings Accounts; established, report. more... Diverts funding form public schools to parents in the name of school choice.	Amanda F. Chase (R-SD11)		PBI		1/29/23
education	SB 911 Oppose	K-12 schools/higher ed. institutions; interscholastic, etc., sports, teams based on biological sex. more... Requires each public elementary or secondary school and each public institution of higher education to expressly designate all interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic teams and sports sponsored by such school based on biological sex ...	John A. Cosgrove (R-SD14)		Incorp		2/2/23
education	SB 962 Oppose	Elementary and secondary schools; participation in female sports, civil cause of action. more... ... the bill creates a civil cause of action for students and schools that suffer harm as a result of a violation of the provisions of the bill, provided that such action is initiated within two years of the harm occurring.	Mark Peake(R-SD22)		PBI		2/2/23

No. of bills: 29

Note: The Rules Committees of both Chambers have limited the number of bills that individual members may introduce this Session: Senators have bill limits of 26, and Delegates have bill limits of 15.

General info

Introduced Bills by subject

Education bills

Continued from last session

2023 Session dates

Dec 12: Bills available
Jan 11: Session begins
Feb 8: Crossover*
Feb 15: Budget conferees named

Glossary

Dillon Rule. Restricts local government authority to enact ordinances.

Conference Committee. A temporary committee w. members from both the House and Senate, tasked with reconciling differences in legislation that passed both chambers.

Continued/Carried over. Action taken in an even-numbered year to postpone the consideration of a measure until the next regular session of the General Assembly.

Crossover. The last day for a bill to pass out of the chamber in which it was introduced and move forward for consideration in the opposite chamber. If a bill does not move forward, it is "Left" (dead).

Engrossed. A legislative stage when a bill passes the second reading in the House of origin. Every bill has to be "read" on the floor three times before voting on it. The action or any debate or discussion usually comes on the day of the second reading or the third reading.

Enrolled. Legislation which has passed both the House of Delegates and the Senate, signed by the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate, sent to the Governor, but not yet signed.

Failed to report. Defeated. The rejection of a motion to 'report' a bill to the full chamber.

Incorporated. Rolled into someone another bill. Either because they're identical, or they have incorporated *some* of the language in, and the patron agreed to have her name on the other bill.

Patron. Bill sponsor. There can be many patrons.

PBI. Passed by Indefinitely. Action to allow a committee to reconsider legislation at a later meeting. If the committee takes no further action, the bill is dead. [Usually the bill is dead.]

Referred. The assignment of legislation to another standing committee with no stance on the policy of the measure (neither endorses nor rejects the legislation).

Reported. The approval of a measure by the majority of the committee. The legislation may be reported by the committee with or without amendments. A bill may also be reported and referred to another committee.

Stricken. Legislation removed from a committee's docket, frequently at the request of the patron.

More definitions from League of Women Voters Virginia
More definitions from University of Virginia