Senate committee advances dozens of House bills across health, transport, energy and procurement
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Summary
The Senate committee reported a large package of House bills—most were recommended for reporting to the floor, several were continued or carried over for more review, and a few had substitutes adopted; a smaller number of bills prompted letters or further study requests.
The Senate reviewed a wide slate of House bills spanning health, transportation, energy, procurement and workforce issues and took action on most measures.
Health and Human Resources subcommittee recommendations included reporting bills on corrective action plans for local social services (HB 1366), creation of an autism advisory council (HB 231), maternal-health initiatives and telemedicine reimbursements (HB 1353, HB 1284), doula services for Medicaid (HB 838), and multiple hospital and behavioral health measures. Several bills were reported with committee substitutes where noted. Many items recorded unanimous or near-unanimous committee votes.
The capital outlay and transportation subcommittee reported bills related to an infrastructure coordination framework for Hampton Roads (HB 1241), special issuance license plates, autonomous-vehicle work-group assessment (HB 1124), and photo speed monitoring device conformity (HB 1220), among others. The resources subcommittee advanced bills on procurement for goods transported by private vessels, offshore wind workforce development, prevailing wage conformity, energy-efficiency standards, and multiple bills that were continued for further study.
Where the committee had substantive questions or fiscal concerns, it often carried bills over or requested letters. For example, HB 66 (DMAS and DSS IT systems study) was carried over with a request that ITAC review the proposal because of fiscal implications. The committee concluded its business without final votes on the few items it carried over.
Votes at a glance (selected items noted in the hearing): - HB 1366 (corrective action plans): reported as amended (committee report); subcommittee 5–0; committee 14–0. - HB 231 (autism advisory council): reported; committee 14–0. - HB 1284 (Medicaid telemedicine consultations): reported; committee 14–0. - HB 424 / HB 425 (maternal-health reimbursements / insurance referrals): reported or reported with substitute; committee recorded votes as noted. - HB 66 (DMAS/DSS IT systems study): carried over with letter to ITAC for further review. - HB 606 (charity-care reporting): carried over for additional information and stakeholder letters after discussion and public testimony.
The committee rose with no further business and returned to the full Senate session.