Professions and Occupations

P Passed

P HB1477
Board for Contractors; exemptions from licensure. Exempts Habitat for Humanity and its local affiliates or subsidiaries from licensure as a contractor.
Patron - Guest

P HB1534
Certain ambulatory surgery services. Allows podiatrists to perform outpatient podiatric surgery on patients under general anesthesia in hospitals accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) or in ambulatory surgery centers accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO), the Accreditation Association of Ambulatory Health Care, Inc. (AAAHC) or the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities, Inc. (AAAASF). Both JCAHO and AAAHC are accorded "deemed" status with the Health Care Financing Administration for the purpose of Medicare reimbursement. The third association, AAAASF, has been approved for "deemed" status, pending publication in the Code of Federal Regulations. "Deemed" status means the granting of automatic certification for reimbursement.
Patron - Orrock

P HB1819
Drug Control Act; definition of marijuana. Modifies the definition of marijuana to include as "marijuana" (i) any oily extract containing less than 12 percent of tetrahydrocannabinal (THC) by weight, when the oily extract is mixed or intermingled with marijuana, and (ii) the mature stalks, fibers, oil, or cake made from the seeds of the plant if mixed with other parts of the plant. The bill also includes every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation of the marijuana plant (Genus Cannabis), its seeds or resin.
Patron - Blevins

P HB1861
Professions and occupations; monetary penalties. Increases the monetary penalty from $1,000 to $2,500 for a violation by a regulant of any regulatory board's statute or regulation, which violation is not criminally prosecuted.
Patron - McQuigg

P HB1886
Board for Contractors; tradesman; unlicensed activity; penalty. Increases from a Class 3 to a Class 1 misdemeanor the penalty for a person convicted of practicing (i) the electrical, plumbing and heating and HVAC trades or (ii) as a liquefied petroleum gas fitter without a license. The bill also contains an exemption from licensure for tradesmen not offering services to the public and where the value of the improvement to a single family residence is less than $250.
Patron - Cranwell

P HB1890
Board for Contractors; exemptions from licensure. Exempts Habitat for Humanity and any of its local affiliates or subsidiaries from licensure as a contractor.
Patron - Abbitt

P HB1892
Health professions; opticians. Changes the nominating entity submitting the list from which appointments by the Governor may be made to the Board of Opticians from the Virginia Society of Prescription Opticians to the Opticians Association of Virginia. Current and continuing language also authorizes the Medical Society of Virginia to submit such nominations for physician appointees to the Board of Opticians. The bill also provides, in a second enactment, that the unexpired terms of current members of the Board will not be affected by this act.
Patron - Diamonstein

P HB1958
Department of Health Professions; prescriptive authority of licensed nurse practitioners. Removes the January 1, 2000, sunset provision of Chapter 506 of the 1995 Acts of Assembly. As a result, physicians can continue to supervise or direct at any one time up to four nurse practitioners. With the sunset, physicians would not be allowed to supervise more than two nurse practitioners.
Patron - Devolites

P HB1972
Health professions; optometry. Provides the Board of Optometry with the authority to revoke or suspend a license or reprimand the licensee for violating, assisting, inducing or cooperating with others in violating any provisions of law relating to the practice of optometry, including the provisions of the optometry practice act or any regulations of the Board of Optometry.
Patron - Hamilton

P HB1974
Health professions; volunteers. Expands the immunity from liability protections for medical officers and dentists on active duty with the U.S. armed services and assigned to any military hospital or medical facility. This bill strikes the requirement for such medical officers and dentists to be serving in a military facility located in Virginia for these professionals to be deemed to be licensed in the Commonwealth for the purpose of providing immunity from liability for services provided free of charge at any clinic which is organized for the delivery of health care services without charge. Current law requires that these individuals must be assigned to a military facility located in the Commonwealth.
Patron - Darner

P HB1976
Health professions; substance abuse practitioners. Provides that the Board may establish a time-limited period, but not less than one year, where it shall issue a license to those persons who wish to apply for licensure based on previous experience and education acceptable to the board and who have completed at least one year of supervised clinical experience in substance abuse treatment.
Patron - Darner

P HB2061
Board of Medicine; practice of acupuncture. Revises the definition of the "practice of acupuncture" to permit the use of herbal preparations and nutritional supplements and removes the requirement for a referral by a licensed practitioner of medicine, osteopathy, chiropractic or podiatry. The patient must still have a diagnostic examination from a practitioner of medicine, osteopathy, chiropractic or podiatry with regard to the ailment or condition to be treated by the acupuncturist.
Patron - Watts

P HB2107
Consent by minors. Deems a minor an adult for the purpose of consenting to the release of medical records relating to medical treatment required for (i) infectious diseases which the State Board of Health requires to be reported or (ii) birth control, pregnancy or family planning. The bill also deems a minor mother of a child an adult for the purpose of consenting to (i) the surgical and medical treatment for herself and her child for the duration of the hospital admission relating to the delivery of the child or (ii) surgical and medical treatment for that child. The bill clarifies that the consent provisions do not alter the requirements of parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor as set forth in § 16.1-241.
Patron - McDonnell

P HB2164
Board for Contractors; Contractor Transaction Recovery Fund. Provides that a claimant under the Contractor Transaction Recovery Act is (i) an individual with an unsatisfied judgment against a regulant of the Board for Contractors involving contracting for the claimant's residence or (ii) a property owners' association whose contract with the regulant involved contracting for improvements to the common area owned by such association.
Patron - Marshall

P HB2246
Real Estate Appraiser Board; membership. Changes the composition of the Real Estate Appraiser Board by increasing from four to six the number of licensed real estate appraisers; decreasing from two to one the number of officers or employees familiar with mortgage lending of a financial institution; and decreasing the citizen representation from three to two. The bill provides that current members of the Real Estate Appraiser Board whose terms have not expired as of July 1, 1999 shall not be affected. The bill also contains technical amendments.
Patron - Reid

P HB2280
Board for Contractors; natural gas fitter providers. Requires, beginning July 1, 1999, all natural gas fitter providers to be licensed. The bill defines "natural gas fitter provider" as any individual who engages in or offers to engage in the incidental repair, testing, or removal of natural gas piping or fitting annexed to real property, excluding new installation of gas piping for hot water heaters, boilers, central heating systems, or other natural gas equipment which requires heating, ventilation and air conditioning or plumbing certification. The bill contains a waiver of the examination for (i) any natural gas fitter who applies for licensure before July 1, 2000, and who has five years' prior experience as a natural gas fitter provider, and (ii) an individual who has five years' experience in an apprenticeship capacity under the direct supervision of a gas fitter.
Patron - Morgan

P HB2281
Drug control: scheduling. Adds the drugs Modafinil and Sibutramine to Schedule IV and clarifies labeling requirements for Schedule VI drugs. These changes are to conform Virginia law to federal changes regarding scheduling and labeling.
Patron - Morgan

P HB2334
Real Estate Appraiser Board; license exemptions. Provides a license exemption for a licensed real estate broker or salesperson who, in the ordinary course of business, provides a valuation or analysis of real estate for a fee. However, such person shall not hold himself out as a real estate appraiser and the valuation shall not be referred to as an appraisal and shall not be used in lieu of an appraisal performed by a licensed real estate appraiser.
Patron - Cranwell

P HB2341
Health professions; prescriptive authority of nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Adds authority for licensed nurse practitioners and physician assistants who have prescriptive authority to receive and dispense manufacturers' professional samples of Schedule VI controlled substances.
Patron - Jones, S.C.

P HB2367
Board of Medicine; athletic trainer certification. Requires athletic trainers to be certified by the Board of Medicine. The "practice of athletic training" is defined as the prevention, recognition, evaluation, and treatment of injuries or conditions related to athletics or recreational activity that requires physical skill and utilizes strength, power, endurance, speed, flexibility, range of motion or agility or substantially similar injuries or conditions; and subsequent treatment and rehabilitation of such injuries or conditions related to physical activity, under the direction of a licensed physical therapist and the patient's physician, or under the direction of any doctor of medicine, osteopathy, chiropractic, podiatry or dentistry, while using heat, light, sound, cold, electricity, exercise, or mechanical or other devices. The Board shall establish criteria for the certification which must include one of three testing programs. An advisory board is established to assist the Board in developing its regulations. Exceptions are provided for (i) coaches, physical education instructors and persons conducting exercise or conditioning programs or classes within the scope of their duties; and (ii) student athletic trainers practicing under the supervision of a certified athletic trainer or a person who is otherwise exempt from the athletic trainer certification requirements. No athletic trainer employed as such prior to June 30, 1999, will be required to comply with the certification requirements until June 30, 2002. The bill also contains technical amendments. This bill is identical to HB 2547 and SB 1191.
Patron - Rust

P HB2428
Health professions; pharmacy. Provides authority for pharmacists to enter into collaborative agreements with practitioners of medicine, osteopathy, or podiatry for the purpose of improving patient outcomes.
Patron - Jones, S.C.

P HB2442
Health professions; rehabilitation providers. Exempts from current certification requirements certain persons who provided rehabilitation services for at least two years immediately prior to July 1, 1997, and have done so since that time without interruption and have passed a Board approved examination.
Patron - Cantor

P HB2461
Automated drug dispensing systems. Establishes definitions and requirements for automated drug dispensing systems in hospitals. "Automated drug dispensing system" means a mechanical or electronic system that performs operations or activities, other than compounding or administration, relating to pharmacy services, including the storage, dispensing, or distribution of drugs and the collection, control, and maintenance of all transaction information, to provide security and accountability for such drugs. "Pharmacist-in-charge" means the person who, being licensed as a pharmacist, signs the application for a pharmacy permit and assumes full legal responsibility for the operation of the relevant pharmacy in a manner complying with the laws and regulations for the practice of pharmacy and the sale and dispensing of controlled substances; the "pharmacist-in-charge" shall personally supervise the pharmacy and the pharmacy's personnel as required by § 54.1-3432. This provision establishes conditions for the operation of automated drug dispensing systems, including having the drugs placed in the system in a hospital and under the control of a pharmacy providing services to the hospital; requiring the pharmacist-in-charge of the pharmacy to establish procedures for assuring the accurate stocking, proper storage, accountability, and security of all drugs utilized in the automated drug dispensing system until the time such drugs are removed from the automated drug dispensing system for administration to the patients; requiring drugs be removed from any automated drug dispensing system for administration to patients only pursuant to a valid prescription or lawful order of a prescriber; requiring adequate security for automated drug dispensing systems to be provided, as evidenced by written policies and procedures for preventing unauthorized access, complying with federal and state regulations on prescribing and dispensing controlled substances, and maintaining patient confidentiality; and assuring compliance with these conditions. In addition, accountability for drugs dispensed from automated drug dispensing systems is vested in the pharmacist-in-charge of the relevant pharmacy; filling and stocking of all drugs in automated drug dispensing systems must be performed under the direction of the pharmacist-in-charge; the task of filling and stocking of drugs into an automated drug dispensing system must be performed by a pharmacist or the designee of the pharmacist-in-charge, who must be an employee of the provider pharmacy and must be properly trained in accordance with established standards set forth in a policy and procedure manual maintained by the provider pharmacy. Delegation of filling and stocking tasks to a nonpharmacist cannot be conditioned on the use of the automated drug dispensing system as a floor stock system or a patient-specific drug dispensing system; however, the filling and stocking must be performed by a person who holds current certification by the National Pharmacy Technician Certification Board as a pharmacy technician. The pharmacist stocking and filling the automated drug dispensing system or, if a nonpharmacist is delegated this task, the pharmacist-in-charge will be responsible for the proper and accurate stocking and filling of the automated drug dispensing system. Drugs placed into and removed from automated drug dispensing systems for administration to patients must be in the manufacturer's or distributor's sealed original packaging or in unit-dose containers packaged by the pharmacy. The relevant pharmacist-in-charge is responsible for establishing procedures for periodically inspecting and auditing automated drug dispensing systems to assure the proper storage, security, and accountability for all drugs placed in and removed from automated drug dispensing systems, and for reviewing the operation and maintenance of automated drug dispensing systems. This monitoring must only be performed by a pharmacist while on the premises of the hospital and in accordance with the pharmacist-in-charge's procedures and the Board of Pharmacy's regulations. Emergency regulations are required.
Patron - Jones, S.C.

P HB2500
Recovery from the Virginia Contractor Transaction Recovery Fund. Clarifies that for a claimant to recover from the Virginia Contractor Transaction Recovery Fund in a matter regarding the claimants residence, the residence must be located in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Patron - Cantor

P HB2501
Recovery from the Virginia Contractor Transaction Recovery Fund. Raises the limitations on the amount recoverable from the Virginia Contractors Transaction Recovery Fund from $20,000 to $40,000 per biennium and excludes amounts that do not constitute actual monetary loss from the amount recoverable.
Patron - Cantor

P HB2503
Real Estate Board; licenses required. Authorizes a business entity salesperson of which a single licensee is an owner or officer to be granted a license in a fictitious name. Currently, no such license may be granted in a fictitious name. Identical to SB 1330.
Patron - Williams

P HB2517
Real Estate Appraiser Board. Provides that each licensed residential real estate appraiser, certified residential real estate appraiser, and certified general real estate appraiser shall authenticate all written appraisal reports with his signature, license designation and license number. Current law requires these appraisers to authenticate written appraisal reports with a seal.
Patron - Wardrup

P HB2547
Board of Medicine; athletic trainer certification. Requires athletic trainers to be certified by the Board of Medicine. The "practice of athletic training" is defined as the prevention, recognition, evaluation, and treatment of injuries or conditions related to athletics or recreational activity that requires physical skill and utilizes strength, power, endurance, speed, flexibility, range of motion or agility or substantially similar injuries or conditions; and subsequent treatment and rehabilitation of such injuries or conditions related to physical activity, under the direction of a licensed physical therapist and the patient's physician, or under the direction of any doctor of medicine, osteopathy, chiropractic, podiatry or dentistry, while using heat, light, sound, cold, electricity, exercise, or mechanical or other devices; the Board of Medicine shall establish criteria for the certification which must include one of three testing programs; and an advisory board is established to assist the Board in developing its regulations. Exceptions are provided for (i) coaches, physical education instructors and persons conducting exercise or conditioning programs or classes within the scope of their duties and (ii) student athletic trainers practicing under the supervision of a certified athletic trainer or a person who is otherwise exempt from the athletic trainer certification requirements. No athletic trainer employed as such prior to June 30, 1999, will be required to comply with the certification requirements until June 30, 2002. The bill also contains technical amendments. This bill is identical to HB 2367 and SB 1191.
Patron - Crittenden

P HB2583
Professions and occupations; regulation of pawnbrokers. Authorizes a pawnbroker to sell, in the event of a default by the pawner, a motor vehicle which has been pawned; provides that an annual percentage rate computed and disclosed under the federal Truth-in-Lending Act is not a violation of the pawnbroker law; and provides that no property received on deposit or pledge by any pawnbroker shall be disfigured or its identity destroyed or affected in any manner in an effort to obtain a serial number or other information for identification purposes.
Patron - Callahan

P HB2621
Board for Contractors; Class A licenses. Provides that if the Board determines that sufficient questions or ambiguities exist in an individual applicant's presentation of his financial information, the Board may require the applicant to provide a balance sheet reviewed by a certified public accountant licensed in accordance with § 54.1-2004.
Patron - Dudley

P SB744
Nurse practitioners' prescriptive authority; supervisory ratios. Continues the authority for physicians to supervise as many as four nurse practitioners with prescriptive authority at one time. This authority expires under the second enactment of Chapter 506 of 1995 and is slated to return to a ratio of no more than two to one on January 1, 2000. This bill is identical to HB 1958.
Patron - Edwards

P SB926
Board for Accountancy. Increases the requirements for an individual to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Under the bill, a person would have to meet additional educational requirements to be licensed as a CPA and to be able to use the term "Certified Public Accountant" or "CPA." The bill defines "firm" and requires any firm practicing public accounting or using the term "Certified Public Accountant" or the designation "CPA" in its title to be registered by the Board. Included under the proposed definition of firm are sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, limited liability companies, limited liability partnerships or any other form of organization permitted by law. Current law requires only professional corporations and professional limited liability companies to be registered. The terms "commission," "contingency fee," "peer review," and "registration" and "substantial equivalency" are also defined in the bill. The bill provides for CPA certificate holders to organize firms in any form permitted by law and authorizes the Board to issue a registration certificate to any firm providing or offering to provide services involving the practice of public accountancy if (i) at least 51 percent of the owners or the voting equity interest of the firm hold a valid CPA certificate; (ii) all non-CPA owners work on a full-time basis; (iii) all public accounting services are performed under the supervision of a person holding a valid CPA certificate meeting the experience requirements established by the Board; (iv) the firm undergoes peer review at least every three years; and (v) the accounting practice is conducted in conformity with the standards of practice and standards of conduct established by the Board. In addition, the bill requires mandatory continuing professional education as a condition of the renewal of all CPA certificates and provides that the Board may impose a monetary penalty of up to $2,500 for an individual CPA certificate holder and $10,000 for a registered firm. Currently, the Board may impose a monetary penalty of up to $1,000 for either individual licensees or firms. Further, the bill allows the Board to require that a registered firm submit to a peer review and that an individual CPA certificate holder complete additional specific continuing education credit hours in lieu of or in addition to the other enforcement authority of the Board. The name of the Board is changed from the Board for Accountancy to the Board of Accountancy. The bill also has technical amendments.
Patron - Stosch

P SB944
Health professions; Health Practitioners Intervention Program. Provides for the release of otherwise confidential information in connection with health practitioners who apply to or participate in the program to the Health Practitioners' Intervention Program within the Department of Health Professions.
Patron - Edwards

P SB975
Data reported to the Board of Medicine. Requires all podiatrists to submit to the Board of Medicine the same data that physicians of medicine and osteopathy are currently required to report, including credentials, insurance and Medicaid participation, practice locations, hospital and faculty affiliations, and disciplinary actions. The Board is authorized to release this information to consumers, upon request.
Patron - Reynolds

P SB977
Professions and occupations; regulation of itinerant merchants. Defines itinerant merchant, sets out their record-keeping requirements, and authorizes federal, state, and local law-enforcement officers to examine their records. The bill is an attempt to reduce larceny by eliminating the point of sale for stolen merchandise.
Patron - Reynolds

P SB991
Health professions; sex offender treatment providers. Removes the sunset clause on the sections regarding the certification of sex offender treatment providers. The sections were to expire on July 1, 1999.
Patron - Quayle

P SB1004
Licensed Social Workers; continuing education requirements. Requires the Board of Social Work of the Department of Health Professions to promulgate regulations establishing continuing education requirements for licensed social workers.
Patron - Miller, Y.B.

P SB1057
Board for Contractors; exemptions from licensure. Exempts Habitat for Humanity and its affiliates and subsidiaries from licensure.
Patron - Hawkins

P SB1129
Certified nurse aide programs. Requires the proprietary schools and other health care entities, e.g., nursing homes, home health care organizations, hospices, and adult care residences, operating certified nurse aide programs, to notify and provide, prior to or upon all students' enrollment in certified nurse aide programs, a copy of applicable Virginia law requiring a criminal history check for employment in certain health facilities. Students and applicants must also be furnished with a list of crimes which pose a barrier to employment in that field. Research indicates that the criminal history records check requirement is not interpreted accurately or consistently around the State. In many instances, persons with criminal records for violations which do not pose a barrier to employment under the law are denied admission to certified nurse aide programs, or dismissed from jobs that they have held for many years due to retroactive application of the law. In addition, other persons are allowed to invest their money and time in such programs, and to complete certified nurse programs only to find that they cannot get a job in the field due to past criminal offenses which do pose a barrier to employment. Further, statistics suggest that low income, ex-felons, and minority populations are disproportionately represented in this field. However, due to the lack of education, skills, and the low socioeconomic condition of many of these persons, they are unable to afford re-training in another field, or to find employment in which the salary will enable them to support themselves and their families. Notice of the criminal history records check requirement for employment in certain health facilities would facilitate consistency in the interpretation and application of the law, and allow these persons to save time and money on training that they cannot use. This is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee Studying the Status and Needs of African-American Males.
Patron - Maxwell

P SB1154
Health professions; pharmacy. Provides authority for pharmacists to enter into collaborative agreements with practitioners of medicine, osteopathy, or podiatry for the purpose of improving patient outcomes. This bill is identical to HB 2428.
Patron - Lambert

P SB1174
Health care decisions. Modifies the provisions on advance directives, Do Not Resuscitate Orders and judicial treatment decisions to clarify judicial health care decision-making authority and to establish a durable Do Not Resuscitate Order which follows the patient to various settings. This bill also confirms the validity of documents issued or consented to under previous law.
Patron - Woods

P SB1191
Board of Medicine; athletic trainer certification. Requires athletic trainers to be certified by the Board of Medicine. The "practice of athletic training" is defined as the prevention, recognition, evaluation, and treatment of injuries or conditions related to athletic or recreational activity that requires physical skill and utilizes strength, power, endurance, speed, flexibility, range of motion or agility or a substantially similar injury or condition resulting from occupational activity immediately upon the onset of such injury or condition; and subsequent treatment and rehabilitation of such injuries or conditions under the direction of a licensed physical therapist and the patient's physician or under the direction of any doctor of medicine, osteopathy, chiropractic, podiatry or dentistry, while using heat, light, sound, cold, electricity, exercise or mechanical or other devices. The Board of Medicine is given the authority to establish criteria for the certification which must include one of three testing programs; and an advisory board is established to assist the Board in developing its regulations. Exceptions to the certification requirement are provided for (i) coaches, physical education instructors and persons conducting exercise or conditioning programs or classes within the scope of their duties as employees or volunteers and (ii) student athletic trainers practicing under the supervision of a certified athletic trainer or a person who is otherwise exempt from the athletic trainer certification requirements. No athletic trainer employed as such prior to June 30, 1999, will be required to comply with the certification until June 30, 2002. This bill also contains technical amendments. The bill is identical to HB 2547 and HB 2367.
Patron - Houck

P SB1243
Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; Real Estate Appraiser Board; membership. Changes the membership of the Real Estate Appraiser Board by (i) increasing from four to six the number of licensed real estate appraisers, (ii) decreasing from two to one the number of members required to be familiar with mortgage lending of a financial institution, and (iii) decreasing from three to two the number of citizen members by deleting the full-time faculty member of a Virginia institution of higher learning. The bill also provides that the changes do not affect the members on the Board whose terms have not expired as of July 1, 1999. The bill contains technical amendments.
Patron - Houck

P SB1258
Board for Contractors; continuing education. Allows the Board for Contractors to establish requirements for continuing education as a prerequisite to renewal of any certificate. In addition, the Board may require continuing education for any individual who is found to be in violation of the statutes or regulations governing the practice of licensed tradesmen or certificate holders. The bill also corrects the license application dates for liquefied petroleum gas fitter to receive a waiver of the examination requirements.
Patron - Hawkins

P SB1276
Irrevocable preneed funeral contracts. Clarifies that an irrevocable inter vivos trust established by funeral directors, to the extent created for the purpose of paying a grantor's funeral and burial expenses, is allowable and not against public policy, notwithstanding the requirement that the purchaser be refunded all consideration paid or delivered pursuant to a preneed funeral contract with any interest or income accrued if the contract is terminated within 30 days of execution.
Patron - Quayle

P SB1330
Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; Real Estate Board; licenses. Allows the Real Estate Board to issue a license in a fictitious name to a business entity which has a single licensee as an owner or officer.
Patron - Martin

F Failed

F HB1939
Certain ambulatory surgery services. Allows podiatrists to perform outpatient podiatric surgery on patients under general anesthesia in hospitals or ambulatory surgery centers accredited by either the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations, the Accreditation Association of Ambulatory Health Care, Inc., or the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities, Inc. Two of these organizations are accorded "deemed" status with the Health Care Financing Administration for the purpose of Medicare reimbursement; the third organization has received approval for "deemed" status, pending publication in the federal regulations. "Deemed" status means the granting of automatic certification for reimbursement.
Patron - Morgan

F HB1978
Board for Contractors; renewal of licenses and certificates. Authorizes the Board to renew a license or certificate for a period of three years if the applicant's record on file with the Board contains, for the five years prior to the expiration date of the license or certificate being renewed, no record of any conviction for a violation of a prohibited act for contractors or grounds for which the Board could revoke, suspend or deny renewal of such license or certificate. This authority is similar to that exercised by DMV.
Patron - Davies

F HB2052
Health professions; report of violations. Requires any person who is licensed or certified by a regulatory board under the Department of Health Professions to report to the Board of Health Professions any known or suspected violations of law or regulation by any person licensed or certified within the Department of Health Professions. The bill provides civil and criminal immunity for reports or participation in judicial proceedings unless the report was made in bad faith or with malicious intent. Currently, some boards require that their licensees report such information only on other practitioners under that board. There are also technical amendments.
Patron - Weatherholtz

F HB2079
Professions and occupations; regulation of itinerant merchants. Defines itinerant merchant, sets out their record-keeping requirements, and authorizes federal, state, and local law-enforcement officers to examine their records. The bill is an attempt to reduce larceny by eliminating the point of sale for stolen merchandise.
Patron - Woodrum

F HB2216
Practice of physical therapy. Revises various provisions relating to the practice of physical therapy, including the definition of "practice of physical therapy" and the authority of the Advisory Board. The bill revises the definition of the practice of physical therapy to include examining, evaluating, and testing of individuals with mechanical, physiological, and developmental impairments, functional limitations, and disability or other health and movement-related conditions in order to determine a diagnosis for testing, treatment, prognosis, plan of therapeutic intervention, and to assess the ongoing effects of intervention; alleviating impairments and functional limitations by designing, implementing, and modifying therapeutic interventions that include therapeutic exercise; functional training in self-care and in home, community or work reintegration; manual therapy including soft tissue and joint mobilization and manipulation; therapeutic massage; use of assistive, adaptive, orthotic, prosthetic, protective, and supportive devices and equipment; broncho-pulmonary hygiene; debridement and wound care; physical agents or modalities; mechanical and electrical modalities; and patient-related instruction; reducing the risk of injury, impairment, functional limitation, and disability; and supervising physical therapy aides and other assistive personnel. This provision adds language intended to prevent unlicensed persons from holding themselves out as able to perform physical therapy. An exemption to the requirement for physician referral and direction is added for children who are being evaluated for special education or are eligible for special education as a result of being identified as disabled pursuant to the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The bill also contains technical amendments.
Patron - Davies

F HB2609
Real estate brokers and salespersons; disclosure of affiliated business relationship. Requires licensed real estate brokers and salespersons to disclose, in addition to any broker relationship the licensee has with another party to a transaction, any affiliate relationship with, or any direct or beneficial interest that the licensee or an associate of the licensee has in an affiliated settlement service provider. The bill defines "settlement services" and "client" to mean the same as those terms are defined in the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA), 12 U.S.C. § 2601, et seq., as amended, and the regulations thereunder. This bill has been incorporated into HB 2600.
Patron - Bennett

F HB2686
Practice of midwifery. Requires the Board to register and permit lay midwifes, after July 1, 1999, in accordance with the regulations promulgated prior to January 1, 1977, and provides an exception to the medical practice provisions for such lay midwifes.
Patron - Davis

F HB2691
CRESPA, enforcement. Designates the Virginia State Bar as the administrative agency responsible for investigating and reporting violations of the Consumer Real Estate Settlement Protection Act.
Patron - Barlow

F SB994
Health professions: optometry. Clarifies the Board of Optometry's authority related to the revocation or suspension of a license, or reprimand of a licensee of the Board. Presently the Boards of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy have similar authority.
Patron - Woods

F SB1005
Health professions; pharmacy personnel. Requires all pharmacists, pharmacy interns, pharmacy technicians and technician-trainees, while on duty, to wear a conspicuously displayed identification badge which clearly advertises their particular professional status.
Patron - Miller, Y.B.

F SB1007
Health professions; registration of pharmacy technicians. Requires pharmacy technicians to receive training as approved by the Board of Pharmacy and to register annually with the Board.
Patron - Miller, Y.B.

F SB1141
Practice of the healing arts. Defines "manual spinal care" as a skillful procedure whereby a person uses a directed thrust, contact or leverage to the articular joints with the intent of affecting the structure and/or function of a person's spine. "Manual spinal care" includes, but is not limited to, uniquely distinct procedures, such as osteopathic manipulative treatments, spinal manipulations, and chiropractic adjusting techniques, and must only be performed by persons who are (i) doctors of osteopathy, chiropractic or medicine, licensed in Virginia and (ii) practitioners of the specific form of care rendered.
Patron - Schrock

F SB1150
Mental health service providers' duty to protect. Broadens such duty to include clients who threaten to kill or seriously injure themselves. The definition of professional counselor includes any person serving as a guidance counselor in a public school in this Commonwealth, regardless of how licensed. The mental health service provider may notify the guardian or parent of any child under the age of 18 who is threatening violence to himself or others, without any breach of confidentiality.
Patron - Newman

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