Summary: Department of Medical Assistance Services; eligibility for services under waiver. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to make recommendations regarding changes that provide flexibility to an individual enrolled in a home and community-based waiver to choose his place of residence in the Commonwealth.

Summary: Child day programs; exemptions from licensure. Removes certain programs from the list of child day programs exempt from licensure and clarifies that such programs are not considered child day programs and therefore are not subject to licensure. The bill also modifies the terms of certain child day programs that remain listed as exempt from licensure and requires that such programs (i) file with the Commissioner of Social Services (the Commissioner), prior to beginning operation of a child day program and annually thereafter, a statement indicating the intent to operate a child day program, identifying the Code provision relied upon for exemption from licensure, and certifying that the child day program has disclosed to the parents of children in the program the fact that it is exempt from licensure; (ii) report to the Commissioner all incidents involving serious physical injury or death to children attending the child day program; (iii) have a person trained and certified in first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) present at the child day program; (iv) maintain daily attendance records; (v) have an emergency preparedness plan in place; (vi) comply with all applicable laws and regulations governing transportation of children; (vii) comply with certain safe sleep practices for infants; and (viii) post in a visible location notice that the program is not licensed by the Department of Social Services and only certifies basic health and safety requirements. The bill exempts from licensure any program offered by a local school division, operated for no more than four hours per day, staffed by local school division employees, and attended by school-age children who are enrolled in public school within such school division. The bill also modifies staffing ratios for religious-exempt child day centers. The bill directs the Commissioner to (a) inspect child day programs that are exempt from licensure to determine compliance with the provisions of the bill only upon receipt of a complaint and (b) develop a process to gather and track aggregate data regarding child injuries and deaths that occur at such child day programs. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2019.

Summary: Medical research on dogs and cats; prohibition on use of state funds. Prohibits the use of any funds appropriated, granted, or awarded by the Commonwealth by any person or entity, public or private, to directly fund medically unnecessary research classified under pain and distress category E by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on animal subjects. The direct funding of research shall not include the appropriation, grant, or award of funds for the construction or maintenance of facilities; the purchase or maintenance of general-use equipment; overhead costs; capital improvements; or faculty or employee salaries.

Summary: MEI Commission; report. Clarifies that the annual report of the MEI Commission concerning endorsed incentive packages need only report on those incentive packages for which an offer has been made and publicly announced.

Summary: School bus personnel; training program; autism spectrum disorders. Requires the Board of Education to establish a training program for school board employees who assist in the transportation of students on school buses, including individuals employed to operate school buses and school bus aides, on autism spectrum disorders, including the characteristics of autism spectrum disorders, strategies for interacting with students with autism spectrum disorders, and collaboration with other employees who assist in the transportation of students on school buses. The bill requires each school board employee who assists in the transportation of students with autism spectrum disorders on school buses to participate in such training program.

Summary: Standards of Quality; staffing requirements. Provides that a local school board that is required to employ two full-time librarians for any middle school or high school may meet such requirement by employing two full-time librarians or one full-time librarian and one full-time media specialist or instructional resource teacher. The bill also provides that a local school board that is required to employ a full-time school-based clerical person for the library for any middle school or high school may meet such requirement by employing one full-time school-based clerical person for the library, for instruction, or for assessment or career planning, or by employing one full-time classroom instructional assistant.

Summary: Literary Fund; application for loans by regional and joint schools. Clarifies that school boards of school divisions participating in a regional or joint school may jointly apply to the Board of Education for a loan from the Literary Fund to benefit the regional or joint school.

Summary: Public schools; military children; tuition. Prohibits the child of a person on active military duty who is attending school for free from being charged tuition upon such child's relocation pursuant to orders his parent received to relocate to a new duty station or to be deployed. The bill allows the child to remain enrolled in the current school division free of tuition through the end of the school year. The bill also prohibits the child of a person on active military duty who is eligible to attend a school for free from being charged tuition by a school division that will be that child's school division of residence upon such child's service member parent's relocation to the jurisdiction for that school division pursuant to orders received.

Summary: Female genital mutilation; criminal penalty. Increases from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 2 felony the penalty for any person to knowingly circumcise, excise, or infibulate the labia majora, labia minora, or clitoris of a minor; for any parent or guardian charged with the care of a minor to consent to such circumcision, excision, or infibulation; or for any parent or guardian charged with the care of a minor to knowingly remove or cause or permit the removal of such minor from the Commonwealth for the purposes of performing such circumcision, excision, or infibulation.

Summary: Victims of domestic violence; list of local resources. Provides that upon issuance of an emergency, preliminary, or permanent protective order, the clerk of the court shall make available to the petitioner information that is published by the Department of Criminal Justice Services for victims of domestic violence or for petitioners in protective order cases.

Summary: Department of State Police; recommend options to expedite the process of performing background checks; report. Requests that the Department of State Police (the Department) identify, analyze, and recommend options to expedite and improve the efficiency of its process for performing requested background checks. The bill requires the Department to report its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services by November 1, 2018.

Summary: Overweight permits for hauling Virginia-grown farm produce; bridges and culverts. Provides that no five-axle-combination vehicle shall be issued an overweight permit for hauling Virginia-grown farm produce unless such vehicle has no less than 42 feet of axle space between extreme axles. The bill provides that no vehicle issued an overweight permit for hauling Virginia-grown farm produce shall cross any bridge or culvert in the Commonwealth if the gross weight of such vehicle is greater than the amount posted for the bridge or culvert as its carrying capacity. Current law requires specific weight limitations based upon axle weights or axle spacing. This bill is identical to HB 214.

Summary: Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; Board for Contractors; exemption from licensure. Exempts from licensure any person who is performing work directly under the supervision of a licensed contractor and is (i) a student in good standing and enrolled in a public or private institution of higher education, (ii) a student enrolled in a career training or technical education program, or (iii) an apprentice. The bill expands a current exemption from licensure for work undertaken by a person providing construction, remodeling, repair, improvement, removal, or demolition on behalf of a properly licensed contractor by raising the value threshold from $2,500 or less to $5,000 or less per project and by adding a home improvement building contractor classification to the list of valid licenses the supervising contractor may hold.

Summary: Data collection and dissemination; governance. Amends the Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act (§ 2.2-3800 et seq.) to facilitate the sharing of data among agencies of the Commonwealth and between the Commonwealth and political subdivisions. The bill creates the position of Chief Data Officer of the Commonwealth (CDO), housed in the office of the Secretary of Administration, to (i) develop guidelines regarding data usage, storage, and privacy and (ii) coordinate and oversee data sharing in the Commonwealth to promote the usage of data in improving the delivery of services. The bill also creates a temporary Data Sharing and Analytics Advisory Committee (Advisory Committee) to advise the CDO in the initial establishment of guidelines and best practices and to make recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly regarding a permanent data governance structure.The bill directs the CDO and the Advisory Committee to focus their initial efforts on developing a project for the sharing, analysis, and dissemination at a state, regional, and local level of data related to substance abuse, with a focus on opioid addiction, abuse, and overdose. This bill incorporates SB 459, SB 719, SB 804, and SB 830.

Summary: Historical African American cemeteries and graves; Loudoun County; Belmont. Adds the African-American Burial Ground for the Enslaved at Belmont in Loudoun County, which cemetery contains 44 eligible graves, to the list of those cemeteries for which qualified charitable organizations may receive funds from the Department of Historic Resources for the care of historical African American cemeteries and graves.

Summary: Industrial hemp research programs. Authorizes the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services to undertake research through the establishment of (i) a higher education industrial hemp research program, to be managed by institutions of higher education, and (ii) a Virginia industrial hemp research program. The bill classifies all participants in any research program as either growers or processors and replaces the current licensing requirement, which requires a police background check, with a registration requirement. This bill incorporates SB 333 and is identical to HB 532.

Summary: Expungement of certain offenses. Allows a person to petition for expungement of a deferred disposition dismissal for underage alcohol possession or using a false ID to obtain alcohol when the offense occurred prior to the person's twenty-first birthday; all court costs, fines, and restitution have been paid; and the person seeking the expungement is at least 21 years of age and has no other alcohol-related convictions. The bill provides that any person seeking expungement of an alcohol-related charge shall be assessed a $150 fee, which shall be paid into the state treasury and credited to the Department of State Police. The provisions of the bill are contingent upon funding in a general appropriation act.

Summary: Virginia Waterway Maintenance Fund; Grant Program. Establishes the Virginia Waterway Maintenance Grant Program and Fund, administered by the Virginia Port Authority (the Authority), to provide grants to political subdivisions and local governing bodies that propose certain dredging projects and related activities. The bill directs the Authority to manage the grant program by developing guidelines and procedures for the application process and for the awarding of annual grants.

Summary: Possession of marijuana; first offense; expungement; penalty. Reduces the penalties for possession of marijuana to a fine of not more than $500 and makes a first offense violation that has been deferred and dismissed under § 18.2-251 eligible for expungement. Under current law, possession of marijuana is punishable by confinement in jail for not more than 30 days and a fine of not more than $500, either or both. The bill provides that any person seeking expungement of such first offense violation shall be assessed a $300 fee, of which $150 shall be paid into the Heroin and Prescription Opioid Epidemic Fund, created by the bill, and $150 shall be paid into the state treasury and credited to the Department of State Police. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2019, except for the provisions related to the reduction of penalties for possession of marijuana, which shall become effective July 1, 2018. The provisions of the bill are contingent upon funding in a general appropriation act. The bill contains technical amendments.