2017 Virginia General Assembly Session Overview

The 2017 General Assembly Session adjourned sine die on February 25^th.  This was a “short session” lasting only 45 days.  Although time was compressed, the legislature considered more than 2,700 pieces of legislation. As is typically the case, only about one-third of the legislation introduced was passed into law.

As always, the legislature considered a wide variety of bills.  Some of the most high-profile topics included:

• Curbing the opioid crisis;
• COPN reform;
• Mental health reform;
• Regulation of short-term rentals (Airbnb);
• Virginia Broadband Deployment Act;
• Capping the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit;
• Redistricting reform; and
• Regulatory reform (“Red Tape Reduction Act”).

Of the many issues considered by the legislature, your lobbyists tracked 60 bills of general interest to the VSA this Session.  We sent weekly updates on this bill list to members of the VSA Board.  Please see attached for a copy of that list (please note that this list was last updated on February 22^nd, three days before the adjournment of the 2017 Session). You may get more information on any of the bills listed through this link: http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+men+BIL

Below are brief recaps of the most pressing issues this Session:

Opioids: Multiple bills were introduced this year to curb the opioid crisis.  Some of the most troubling legislation introduced sought to impose day limits on opioid prescriptions. Together with the MSV, your lobbyists worked to negotiate a compromise on these bills.  In exchange for forgoing prescriber day limits, the legislature agreed to require physicians to check the Prescription Monitoring Program for evidence of controlled substance abuse when prescribing an opioid for more than 7 days (14 days post-op).  This bill will “sunset” in 2022, allowing the legislature to determine if this restriction helps to stem the tide of opioid misuse.

Additionally, Virginia’s Board of Medicine approved new emergency regulations that will give it authority to specifically regulate the prescribing of opioids for pain. Those regulations will go into effect in about a month, after the Governor signs them.

COPN:  For the third year in a row, legislators attempted to repeal or revise Virginia’s COPN laws to make it easier for hospitals to offer more services without getting permission from the state.  Once again, that effort has failed amid intense lobbying from the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, which argues that COPN reform should only be considered as part of a larger plan that addresses healthcare coverage and access, among other items. Nevertheless, there continues to be significant interest in COPN reform, making it likely that the effort will be revived in 2018.

Scope of Practice: Once again, the Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners attempted to have legislation introduced to broaden the scope of practice of NPs throughout the Commonwealth.  Fortunately, that effort was halted before Session even began by legislators who wanted stakeholders to have more substantive discussions before introducing legislation.  The stakeholders, including your VSA lobbyists, will meet on April 5^th to set a series of meetings throughout this spring and summer.  Although nurse anesthetists have thus far not been included in this discussion, we will remain vigilant about any attempts to include them in the future.

CAAs: As a reminder, the VSA will be promoting proactive legislation in the 2018 Session have Certified Anesthesiology Assistants (CAAs) licensed in the Commonwealth.  The Virginia Department of Health Professions will be conducting a study about CAAs this spring and summer, which is a standard prerequisite to new licensure in Virginia. Your lobbyists will continue meeting with stakeholders, legislators and others over the next several months to prepare for this effort.

*Note – last updated 2/27/2017
All bills may be accessed at: http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+men+BIL

If you have any questions/comments, please feel free to reach out to Katie Payne: 804-420-6492 or [email protected].