Senate Education and Health Committee advances scores of education and health bills; several referred to Finance
Summary
The Senate Education and Health Committee in Richmond on Jan. 30 moved dozens of education and health bills — including measures on at‑risk student funding, school discipline, career technical education and child care assistance — many reported to the Finance Committee or re‑referred to other panels. Several contested education bills were passed by indefinitely.
RICHMOND — The Senate of Virginia’s Education and Health Committee met Jan. 30 in Committee Room A305 and advanced a broad docket of education and health bills, voting to report many measures to the Senate Finance Committee and to re‑refer others to specialist panels.
Madam Chair opened the session and confirmed a quorum before the committee processed a series of re‑referrals and reporting motions (the clerk recorded multiple unanimous and recorded roll calls during the meeting). Early procedural votes re‑referred Senate Bill 668 to Commerce and Labor and Senate Bill 735 to Rehabilitation and Social Services, each with Ayes 12, No 0.
Subcommittee chairs then presented their reports. Senator Van Valkenburg summarized a slate of public‑education bills the subcommittee recommended for reporting or other action. He described SB 33 as the chair’s bill addressing permissible uses of funding for at‑risk students and explicitly including registered nurses and advanced practice registered nurses; the subcommittee recommended reporting with a 5–0–1 abstention recommendation and the roll later showed Ayes 13, No 0 when the committee reported the bill and re‑referred it to Finance.
The committee also advanced SB 61, a measure to establish a national certified school psychologist program tied to teacher certification incentives, and SB 90, a more comprehensive at‑risk program bill. Van Valkenburg said the SB 90 substitute narrows some earlier requirements — removing a fixed percentage allocation provision and certain compliance and reporting mandates — and the committee reported it as substituted and re‑referred it to Finance.
On student discipline, the committee considered SB 234, which updates bullying, discipline and parental involvement provisions. The subcommittee recommended passing SB 234 by indefinitely on a 3–2 vote; the full committee’s roll call on the motion recorded Ayes 9, No 6, carrying the motion to pass the bill by indefinitely.
Several bills addressing student participation and facilities drew contested recommendations. SB 560 (athletic team designations by biological sex) and SB 561 (rules for bathrooms and changing facilities in public schools, with a civil cause of action) were each recommended to be passed by indefinitely by subcommittee majorities (4–2). Both motions to pass by indefinitely carried in the committee (roll calls recorded Ayes 9, No 6).
Other bills the committee reported to Finance or otherwise moved forward included: - SB 119, an employee child‑care assistance pilot to provide employer matching funds and incentives (reported to Finance); - SB 190, which requires nonprofit student support providers to register and meet data‑protection standards (reported to Finance); - SB 309, adding information about voluntary initiatives for drivers with autism to driver training (reported to Finance); - SB 341, extending certain bullying protections to private schools (reported, with one abstention recorded); - SB 427, allowing an African American history course to count as a verified credit in place of World History I, for which the committee adopted an amendment directing the Board of Education to adjust regulations and then reported the bill as amended (roll: Ayes 12, No 2).
The committee’s health‑related dockets, reported by the health professions subcommittee, included SB 22 (adding bias‑reduction training to continuing education for the boards of medicine and nursing), SB 12x (a substitute allowing certain optometrists limited authority to dispense specified schedule‑IV pharmaceutical products under constrained circumstances), and measures on fentanyl and illicit‑drug cleanup guidance. Senator Boisco and other subcommittee chairs explained changes, substitutes and fiscal analyses where applicable.
Chair’s procedural items included unanimous consent requests (for example, SB 491 was taken “by” for the week at the patron’s request) and several amendments adopted on the floor before reporting. The committee concluded after completing its docket; the chair asked staff whether further discussion was needed and, hearing none, the committee rose.
Votes at a glance (selected items and committee action): - SB 668 — Referred to Commerce and Labor (Ayes 12, No 0) - SB 735 — Referred to Rehabilitation and Social Services (Ayes 12, No 0) - SB 33 — Reported and re‑referred to Finance (subcommittee rec: 5–0–1; committee roll recorded Ayes 13, No 0) - SB 61 — Reported and re‑referred to Finance (Ayes 13, No 0) - SB 63 (substitute) — Substitute adopted and reported (Ayes 11, No 2) - SB 90 (substitute) — Reported and re‑referred to Finance (reported as substituted) - SB 234 — Passed by indefinitely (Ayes 9, No 6) - SB 259 — Amendments adopted; reported and re‑referred to Finance (Ayes 15, No 0) - SB 309 — Reported and re‑referred to Finance (Ayes 15, No 0) - SB 341 — Reported and re‑referred to Finance (Ayes 14, No 0, 1 abstention) - SB 427 — Amended and reported as amended (Ayes 12, No 2) - SB 439 — Reported (Ayes 15, No 0) - SB 560 — Passed by indefinitely (Ayes 9, No 6) - SB 561 — Passed by indefinitely (Ayes 9, No 6)
What this means and next steps Many of the bills advanced to the Finance Committee for subsequent fiscal review and cross‑committee consideration; others were re‑referred to subject‑matter panels (Courts of Justice, Rules, Rehabilitation and Social Services, Commerce and Labor). Several high‑profile education measures (notably bills addressing student athlete participation and school facilities) were effectively paused when the committee passed them by indefinitely. Bills reported to Finance will face additional analysis before any floor action.
— Reporting by the committee was based on subcommittee recommendations and recorded roll calls in the meeting. Direct quotes and detailed explanations in this summary are drawn from the committee record.
