Below you will find a list of legislation passed during the 2015 Virginia General Assembly Session that will have an influence on Virginia’s fire and emergency medical services. The following legislations will become effective on July 1, 2014, unless otherwise indicated.
• HB1544 (Fariss) – This legislation allows emergency vehicles to be equipped with illuminated identification systems that assist aircraft in reading numbers and other identifying markings on the roofs of the emergency vehicles.
• HB1553 (Marshall, D.W) – This legislation grants any locality the authority to establish a system to deliver emergency notifications to residents by email or text message. The local ordinance must be adopted only after a public hearing and shall contain an opt-in provision for non–emergency notifications.
• HB1570 (Orrock) and SB1168 (Hanger) – These bills make comprehensive modifications to day care centers, assisted living facilities and family day homes in response to the three children fire fatalities during the fall of 2014. In short, this legislation will require fingerprint–based national criminal history records checks for licensed child day centers and family day homes. The final text requires family day homes providing care for five or more children for compensation to be licensed by the Department of Social Services. However, children related to the family day home provider still will not be counted. This legislation has delayed enactment clause and its provision will not become effective until July 1, 2016.
• HB1584 (Stolle) and SB938 (Stuart) – These bills revise terminology related to fire and emergency medical services and reorganizes provisions to ensure consistency throughout the Code of Virginia.
• HB1808 (Herring) and SB1184(McDougle) – These bills implement comprehensive modifications to improve the current state of readiness of Virginia’s law enforcement and search and rescue efforts for rapid and well–coordinated deployment in all missing, endangered, and abducted person cases. More specifically, the legislation defines a critically missing adult as any missing individual 21 years of age or older whose disappearance indicates a credible threat to the health and safety of the adult as determined by a law-enforcement agency. Additionally, the bill requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish training standards and publish a model policy for missing children, missing adults, and search and rescue protocol.
• HB2125 (Cline) and SB1301 (McEachin) – These bills outline an absolute prohibition on the use of unmanned aircraft systems by law enforcement and regulatory entities unless a search warrant has been obtained prior to such use. The warrant requirement does not apply to certain search and rescue operations, certain Virginia National Guard and U.S. Armed Forces functions, research and development conducted by institutions
of higher education or other research organizations, or the use of unmanned aircraft systems for private, commercial, or recreational use.
• HB2204 (Jones) – This legislation transfers the overall administration of the Line of Duty Act program from the Department of Accounts to the Virginia Retirement System and transfers the administration of the health insurance benefits under the Act to the Department of Human Resource Management. The bill also directs the Virginia Retirement System and the Department of Human Resource Management to meet with stakeholders to develop additional recommendations to ensure the program’s long–term fiscal viability and improve the way in which the Act serves line of duty personnel. This legislation has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2016, which would allow time for broader reform efforts.
• HJ597 (Hugo) – This resolution allows the General Assembly to provide for a local option to exempt from taxation the primary residence of the surviving spouse of any
law–enforcement officer, firefighter, search and rescue personnel, or emergency medical services personnel killed in the line of duty. This legislation has a reenactment clause and requires successful passage by the 2016 General Assembly Session.
• SB845 (Stanley) – This legislation provides civil liability to all volunteer first responders.
The bill cites that no volunteer firefighter or volunteer emergency services personnel shall be liable for any injury to persons or property arising out of the operation of a motor vehicle when such volunteer is en route to render emergency care or assistance to any person at the scene of an accident, fire, or life-threatening emergency, unless such injury results from gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct.
• SB997 (Stuart) – This legislation seeks to amend the procedures for obtaining a criminal background check of an individual seeking to become a volunteer with or employee of an emergency medical services agency. More specifically, this bill will allow local
governments to forward fingerprints and personal descriptive information directly to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation instead of forwarding fingerprints and accompanying information through the Virginia State Police’s Central Criminal Records Exchange.
Below you will find a list of legislation passed during the 2015 Virginia General Assembly Session that will have an influence on Virginia’s fire and emergency medical services. The following legislations will become effective on July 1, 2014, unless otherwise indicated.
• HB1544 (Fariss) – This legislation allows emergency vehicles to be equipped with illuminated identification systems that assist aircraft in reading numbers and other identifying markings on the roofs of the emergency vehicles.
• HB1553 (Marshall, D.W) – This legislation grants any locality the authority to establish a system to deliver emergency notifications to residents by email or text message. The local ordinance must be adopted only after a public hearing and shall contain an opt-in provision for non–emergency notifications.
• HB1570 (Orrock) and SB1168 (Hanger) – These bills make comprehensive modifications to day care centers, assisted living facilities and family day homes in response to the three children fire fatalities during the fall of 2014. In short, this legislation will require fingerprint–based national criminal history records checks for licensed child day centers and family day homes. The final text requires family day homes providing care for five or more children for compensation to be licensed by the Department of Social Services. However, children related to the family day home provider still will not be counted. This legislation has delayed enactment clause and its provision will not become effective until July 1, 2016.
• HB1584 (Stolle) and SB938 (Stuart) – These bills revise terminology related to fire and emergency medical services and reorganizes provisions to ensure consistency throughout the Code of Virginia.
• HB1808 (Herring) and SB1184(McDougle) – These bills implement comprehensive modifications to improve the current state of readiness of Virginia’s law enforcement and search and rescue efforts for rapid and well–coordinated deployment in all missing, endangered, and abducted person cases. More specifically, the legislation defines a critically missing adult as any missing individual 21 years of age or older whose disappearance indicates a credible threat to the health and safety of the adult as determined by a law-enforcement agency. Additionally, the bill requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish training standards and publish a model policy for missing children, missing adults, and search and rescue protocol.
• HB2125 (Cline) and SB1301 (McEachin) – These bills outline an absolute prohibition on the use of unmanned aircraft systems by law enforcement and regulatory entities unless a search warrant has been obtained prior to such use. The warrant requirement does not apply to certain search and rescue operations, certain Virginia National Guard and U.S. Armed Forces functions, research and development conducted by institutions
of higher education or other research organizations, or the use of unmanned aircraft systems for private, commercial, or recreational use.
• HB2204 (Jones) – This legislation transfers the overall administration of the Line of Duty Act program from the Department of Accounts to the Virginia Retirement System and transfers the administration of the health insurance benefits under the Act to the Department of Human Resource Management. The bill also directs the Virginia Retirement System and the Department of Human Resource Management to meet with stakeholders to develop additional recommendations to ensure the program’s long–term fiscal viability and improve the way in which the Act serves line of duty personnel. This legislation has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2016, which would allow time for broader reform efforts.
• HJ597 (Hugo) – This resolution allows the General Assembly to provide for a local option to exempt from taxation the primary residence of the surviving spouse of any
law–enforcement officer, firefighter, search and rescue personnel, or emergency medical services personnel killed in the line of duty. This legislation has a reenactment clause and requires successful passage by the 2016 General Assembly Session.
• SB845 (Stanley) – This legislation provides civil liability to all volunteer first responders.
The bill cites that no volunteer firefighter or volunteer emergency services personnel shall be liable for any injury to persons or property arising out of the operation of a motor vehicle when such volunteer is en route to render emergency care or assistance to any person at the scene of an accident, fire, or life-threatening emergency, unless such injury results from gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct.
• SB997 (Stuart) – This legislation seeks to amend the procedures for obtaining a criminal background check of an individual seeking to become a volunteer with or employee of an emergency medical services agency. More specifically, this bill will allow local
governments to forward fingerprints and personal descriptive information directly to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation instead of forwarding fingerprints and accompanying information through the Virginia State Police’s Central Criminal Records Exchange.