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Health and Human Services

Thursday, February 5, 2026·35m·▶ Watch / Listen

The Virginia House Health and Human Services Committee advanced a package of bills targeting emergency response failures in disability care settings, with HB 1370 passing 22-1 and the companion enforcement bill HB 1380 advancing to Appropriations after testimony that inadequate staff training has cost lives. The committee also cleared bills on nursing scholarships, dry needling, psilocybin regulation, palliative care, and maternal health, while carrying over one bill to 2027.

Key Actions

·HB 815 – Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority; nursing scholarshipsNo Vote

+ 8 more actions

Controversies

Cost and regulatory burden on private providers under HB 1370

Delegate Griffin raised a specific reservation, asking whether HB 1370 would impose extra costs on private organizations and whether provider groups would oppose it for that reason, stating: 'this is going to apply to private organizations telling them how to run things. Is this extra training that's going to cost them? And are there groups opposed to it for that reason?' When Colleen Miller responded, Griffin pressed further, asking 'not is there a nonprofit that likes it, but the people doing the work and spending the money, are there going to be groups that are opposed to that because it's a larger encumbrance upon them?' Miller acknowledged she was 'a little reluctant to speak on their behalf' regarding provider opposition, noting providers had expected a subcommittee hearing.

+ 3 more controversies

Notable Quotes

“Virginia code. You've selected us for that. And one of the tools that you've given us is access to serious incident reports. We look at about 10,000 of those reports every year, and we try to identify patterns of abuse and neglect so that we can address them on”

Colleen Miller, Executive Director, Disability Law Center of Virginia — Miller was testifying in support of HB 1370, which would require providers of developmental disability services to train employees to respond to medical emergencies, following a study by the Disability Law Center finding that delayed emergency responses contributed to unexpected deaths.

+ 4 more quotes

Votes

Move substitute for HB 267Passed
Report HB 267 with substitute and refer to AppropriationsPassed
Report HB 815Passed
Move amendments for HB 841Passed
Report HB 841 as amendedPassed
Move line amendments for HB 1370Passed
Report HB 1370 as amendedPassed
Yes (5)Tran, Price, Oates, Herring, J. Cole
No (1)Welcome
Report HB 1380 and refer to AppropriationsNo Vote
Yes (15)Tran, Price, Oates, Herring, J. Cole, Henson, Gardner, Cohen, Downey, McGuire, Hodges, Walker, Wachman, Griffin, Durant
Move substitutes and amendments to block (HB 756, HB 1336, HB 1353)Passed
Report block (HB 756, HB 1336, HB 1353)Passed
Report HB 300 with substitutePassed
Carry over HB 81 to 2027 under Rule 22Passed
Move substitute for HB 435Passed
Report HB 435 with substitute and refer to AppropriationsPassed
Report HB 1347Passed
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TranscriptPreview
Good morning and welcome back to the full committee meeting of Health Human Services Chair Rodney Willett. Great to have everyone here and we'll take the role. Excellent. We have the quorum again. Thank you. We had a little overtime on behavioral health, but we're moving fast, trying to get through a lot of really important bills. What I'd like to do this morning is start with the full committee. A couple actions there. Some bills we had to carry over from last time. And I think we can take care of these fairly quickly. Succinctly. I'm going to start with HB 267 that does have a substitute. So if someone can move the substitute, that would be great. We have a motion that's been properly seconded to move the substitute for 267. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? No. That bill, we would need to have a further look from appropriation. So I would appreciate that with reporting the substitute and being referred to Appropriations. So moved. Second, we have a motion that's been properly seconded to report with substitute and Refer to Appropriations HB 267 and go on the board. There we go. Let's see if…
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