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HB1760: This act, introduced by Debra D. Gardner, advocates for mental health improvements for children five years old or younger. It was made to direct the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and the Department of Education to meet and focus on mental health screening and tools for children five years old and younger. The group will develop screening tools that can detect mental health issues in young children so that issues can be detected and treated early on to prevent issues later in life. This act will also aim to provide mental health consultation resources and training for teachers, doctors, and parents so that these children have more support. The findings of this group is set to be reported to the Chairs of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations by November 1, 2025.

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1) Public middle & high schools; establishing career & technical student organizations, etc.

As a member of a career and technical student organization, I feel that it is heavily beneficial to students. A CTSO is an extension of classroom knowledge that helps a student focus in on a specific topic they enjoy. For example, HOSA is a CTSO and the organization learns more about the medical field and dives deeper into knowledge.

2) Child victims and witnesses; using two-way closed-circuit television.

This bill would allow child victims and whitnesses to testify on a video rather than in person at court. I feel this is important because a lot of the times children get nervous in front of people when trying to convey an important message and they may misspeak or it may cause an emotional toll on them. Testifying through a video in a comfortable environment will not only help gain the most accurate information but would also put less stress on a child.

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HB 48 Higher educational institutions, public; admissions applications, legacy admissions:

Where you cannot choose someone because of their legacy or donor status. Cannot accept someone because they favor them over someone else.

HB 4 Plastic bag tax; distribution to the town

Provides that any town located within a county that has imposed a disposable plastic bag tax shall receive a distribution of revenues collected by the county based on the local sales tax distribution formula for appropriations to towns. The bill requires that towns use such revenues for the same purposes allowable for a county or city.

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Certified Registered Nurse anesthetist; elimination of supervision requirement

This bill eliminates the reuquirement that certified Registered Nurse anesthetists have to work under the supervision of a doctor of medicine, osteopathy, podiatry, or dentistry. Registered Nurse anesthetists will still work in junction with doctors, this bill just allows them to work without being directly supervised by a doctor.

There are complications that accompany this change, especially if something were to go wrong, and I think that there are a lot of different views that would be interesting to unpack in an essay.

Civil immunity; health care professionals, professional prog. related to career fatigue & wellness.

This bill expands civil immunity from people who who participate in professional programs related to career fatigue and wellness for health care professionals to include those who participate in programs for any health care professionals licensed, registered, or certified by the Department of Health Professions or students enrolled in programs that are prerequisites to licensure, registration, or certification by the Department of Health Professions

This shields healthcare professionals from being held liable in a civil lawsuit that would otherwise lead to legal responsibility. This does not cover them from criminal charges, they are still held responsible for breaking the law, but it prevents them for being prosecuted under certain conditions such as acting in good faith or within the scope of their official job duties.

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HB1910 Public elementary and secondary schools food standards: This bill prohibits schools from serving food that contains certain color additives listed in the bill. Having done research myself on the damaging effects of artificial food colors, I think that this bill is very important for the health of our students. Many students get the school lunch every day, and they deserve to be eating a meal that is not actively harming them. Furthermore, I think this bill banning the use of certain damaging artificial food colors in school food is a significant step towards having damaging artificial food colors banned in more than just school food.

HB1946 Retail tobacco and hemp products: This bill bans tobacco for people under the age of 21. I think this bill would be very beneficial to the health of our citizens due to the fact that our brains are not fully developed until we're 25. The way that most companies that produce Tobacco get their life-long customers is by hooking people into smoking when they're young. Though 18 is legally an adult, an 18 year old is undeniably still mentally a teenager. I'd argue that smoking should rather be banned for anyone under 25 rather than 21, since that is when the damage would not be as significant to the growth of our brains. However, I think starting with this bill to ban smoking for peoples under 21 is a great step to get to this point and will prevent thousands of new adults from becoming addicts.

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HB68 Worker's compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder incurred by dispatchers.

This bill allows Allows dispatchers, as defined in the bill, to claim workers' compensation benefits relating to post-traumatic stress disorder. Currently, only law-enforcement officers and firefighters may claim such benefits.

I chose this bill because I believe that dispatchers are a crucial part of the emergency response system, and should receive adequate mental health resources. Dispatchers, just like law enforcement agencies and fire fighters, go through traumatic events on the daily. They are subjected to trauma via phone calls throughout the day, yet they do not get the same benefits as the personal actually on the scene. In an essay, I feel that there are a lot of different points I can make, and there are definitely statements I can argue.

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1. Public schools; guidelines and policies on student-athlete extreme heat safety and protection.

This is relevant, because it is requiring the Board of Education to review and update the weather conditions student-athletes deal with, especially regarding heat. This is a pressing issue, because student-athletes are at high risk for heat-induced illnesses when they are participating in practices or games, having to endure improper weather conditions. It also is ensuring these athletes will have access to water at all times, they will have procedures to deal with the heat, and there will be new processes to deal with student-athletes that experience heat-related illnesses.

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SB1278: Task Force on Fentanyl and Heroin Enforcement; quarterly meetings. Requires the Task Force on Fentanyl and Heroin Enforcement to meet quarterly beginning in July 2025 until the 2025 annual report is provided to the Governor and the General Assembly.

I believe that quarterly meetings will help the Task Force on Fentanyl and Heroin gather accurate information, along with accurate statistics for their annual report that is provided to the Governor and the General Assembly. More information and statistics can lead to more and better solutions for those who are addicted to fentanyl and/or heroin. This bill will be helpful for all communities. Many families suffer due to addiction, this bill can help end it.

SB780: Health insurance; coverage for contraceptive drugs and devices. Requires health insurance carriers to provide coverage, under any health insurance contract, policy, or plan that includes coverage for prescription drugs on an outpatient basis, for contraceptive drugs and contraceptive devices, as defined in the bill, including those available over-the-counter. The bill prohibits a health insurance carrier from imposing upon any person receiving contraceptive benefits pursuant to the provisions of the bill any copayment, coinsurance payment, or fee, except in certain circumstances. This bill is identical to HB 2371.

This bill should not have been vetoed. Everybody with health insurance should have the right of being able to have FDA-approved contraceptive drugs and devices, including over-the-counter options. Without contraceptives, many people would suffer. People use contraceptives not to just prevent pregnancy, but they use it for other things as well. Not having contraceptives will lead to a decreased birth rate. It will also lead to an increase of depression in our society. This bill is very relevant to our present day society because abstinence cannot prevent pregnancy, but contraceptives can.

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SB1254 Comprehensive plan; environmental justice strategy: This document claims that each city with a population over 20,00 and county with a population over 100,000 adopt an environmental justice strategy. this strategies must include: figuring out major pollutants in the area, identity possibly harmful policies, making sure that important building such as health care facilities are easy to get to by means other than cars, and more. This bill was vetoed by the governor of Virginia because it could create unnecessary hardship for local companies and citizens. I feel like this bill should be passed. I feel as though there may be hardship at first, but it will quickly go away as people ease into it. I also feel as though this is a small reproduction to a bill that could help fight the growing climate crisis by targeting areas where pollution occurs the most.

HB2267 Air quality monitoring program for certain communities; DEQ to establish, report: This bill would required the Department of Environmental Quality to run constant air quality checks. Along with this, it enhances research funding, promotes possible solutions to fix air quality, and talks about how it could be integrated. It failed. I think it should have passed because of the growing need to fix the air quality. Air pollution is on the rise and constant monitoring of it could prove to be helpful and we could fix problem as they come up.

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Civic Engagement Topic Ideas - Cooper White

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Civic Engagement Topic Ideas - Cooper White

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1) Prescription Drug Affordability Board established; drug cost affordability review.

The bill establishes a Prescription Drug Affordability Board that reviews common drugs given by prescription and how their costs affect citizens of the commonwealth attempting to purchase them. The board exists to consider existing affordability challenges. The bill tasks the Board with identifying prescription, generic, and other drugs, as defined in the bill, that are offered for sale in the Commonwealth and, at the Board's discretion, conducting an affordability review of any prescription drug product.

I believe this is incredibly important because it provides a important service to the people that is greatly needed. Currently there exists no or a very minuscule system of monitoring the costs of prescriptions drugs, some of which people's lives are dependent on which they cannot afford. Having a board which does provide a system that does not exist would be greatly beneficial for the the commonwealth and possible be a motivating factor for a federal system or review. Unfortunately, this bill was Vetoed by the Governor, so for my essay I would write about how this bill should be reintroduced.

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1) HB582 Public high schools; each school board to employ at least one career coach.

This bill would provide students someone they could meet with to more easily find specific credible internships and career opportunities than what counselors currently provide.

2) HB610 Health insurance; coverage for diabetes.

This bill would have required insurers that provide coverage for diabetes to have benefits for FDA approved insulin as well as foot and eye care as well as training for the patient about self-management. This bill would also repeal some provisions for cost sharing provisions that earlier bills placed.

I think both of these bills could have done good, but they were failed instead.

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Public schools; guidelines and policies on student-athlete extreme heat safety and protection.

This is important because weather conditions are very important to be updated on due to the high risks of student athletes being prone to heat exhaustion and related illnesses.

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Baby Food Protection Act; testing and labeling requirements for toxic heavy metals

The Baby Food Protection Act aims to regulate the presence of toxic heavy metals in baby food. It prohibits the sale of baby food exceeding FDA limits for these metals. Manufacturers must conduct testing, provide information on their websites, and report concerns. The law, effective January 1, 2026, also mandates a work group to study and recommend improvements in enforcing regulations on toxic heavy metals in baby food.

Seizure rescue meds.; administration by certain school employees, possession by certain students

This bill addresses the issue of seizure rescue medications in schools. It allows trained school employees to administer medication to students with a seizure condition, with parental consent and a doctor's order. The bill also permits students to possess medication and allows for the administration of medication to students with a seizure condition.

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1. HB1700 - This bill requires each school board to implement bleeding control programs in public schools. This would require bleeding control kits with band aids and tourniquets. I think this bill would be beneficial because accidents happen everyday, especially with younger kids. Having programs like this can make everyone feel safer and it educates younger children what to do in case of emergencies

2. HB1783 - This bill would implement career and technical student organizations in high schools and middle schools. This is beneficial because it allows teens to get a feel for what they might want to do when they get older. Having these organizations led by students helps them get a deeper understanding of their certain career feel as well.

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HJ440 Public school libraries; JLARC to study removal of books.

This bill examines the decisions made by school divisions in the Commonwealth regarding books that are presented in public libraries for students, and novels that students are required to read for coursework. The establishment of this document would make it so that the ban and removal of certain books could be studied, even though it faces much controversy. There is a large debate about what classifies a book as inappropriate or explicit for students, with some parents agreeing to include these books, while others want them to be removed from the public and made inaccessible for their child. This bill in particular is interesting and relevant in that the need to ban and eliminate certain books from the school curriculum is unnecessary, and prevents students from learning about global and historical events that have shaped society today. I feel that all books, regardless of an individual's or a group's opinions or thoughts about them should be available to students.

HB2024 Virginia Public Procurement Act; solar photovoltaic equipment and facilities.

If passed, this bill would prohibit and outlaw state and local agencies from being able to exclude the use of materials that contain, or are directly associated with solar photovoltaic (Solar Panels) equipment that are produced in the United States. This document in particular is interesting in that the development of clean energy has come a long way, and enables us to receive energy without the mining and drilling for nonrenewable fossil fuels and resources. Solar energy is natural and renewable, which makes this bill relevant in that we are actively advocating to replace harmful resources with clean and abundant ones.

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HB1928: This bill was an attempt to raise minimum wage by one dollar by January of next year; later in January of 2027, they wanted to raise the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour. The Governor vetoed this bill because he claims that it will strain the companies paying the employees, causing them to lay off employees. Prices for goods and services would also rise and, therefore, cause inflation.

HB2260: This bill was passed a few months ago and goes into detail about what should happen to a child when they are abandoned, as a child and newborn, or at risk of sex trafficking, coercion, death, neglect, abuse, etc.. In simpler terms, minors who have risk to their health and safety. It also described how juveniles can be sent to foster homes or adoptive homes. Overall, this bill provides descriptions and limitations for what happens to children when they can no longer stay with their original guardians.

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Bill HB2738 covering "Health insurance; coverage for mental health and substance abuse disorders."

This bill requires all health insurance companies to cover mental health and substance abuse disorders for all ages and to deem these conditions as "medically necessary." This is an amazing step in healthcare, as mental health is part of overall physical wellness. The coverage of these disorders will help people feel comfortable seeking help, as finances can be a key factor in not asking for medical assistance.

This bill was passed and approved by the House and the Virginia Governor, effective July 1, 2025, and was included in the Acts of Assembly chapter in March.

Bill HB2420 covering "Intercollegiate athletics program coaches; Mental Health First Aid or similar training required."

This bill was passed and approved by the House and the Virginia Governor, effective July 1, 2025, and was included in the Acts of Assembly chapter in March.

This bill would require any coach at any collegiate or higher education institution to receive Mental Health First Aid training within one year of coaching. Sports are not just a physical activity, but a mental game as well. This mental health training would allow coaches to best help their athletes with combating poor mental health, self-image, and assist them in performing their best. I support the passing of this bill because I believe it would improve athletes' mental health and performance at the higher level.

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Bill HB1663

This bill requires school boards to develop and update student-athlete extreme heat safety regulations. This is to limit the risks of serious heat related illnesses and establishes a process for reporting and investigating student-athlete illnesses. This can benefit many student-athletes who tend to overheat easily and can also serve as a form of protection for students so that they stay safe from unsafe practice conditions.

Bill HB1928

This bill introduces a way to raise the minimum wage to 13.50 by January 1st 2026 and then eventually raise it to 15.00 dollars an hour by 2027. This would be very beneficial for many people because the current minimum wage is not even enough to pay the rent let alone food and necessities.

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HB1725 This bill prohibits large medical facilities from taking collective action on medical debt or charging interest or fees on medical debt until 90 days following the due date. It also says that interest rates can be no higher than three percent. It constitutes that violation of this will result in a prohibited practice under the Consumer Protection Act. Medical debt is a rising problem. I believe this bill is important because it provides consumers with the option to pay later and caps the interest rate they can be charged. It would allow people who are struggling to have more time to pay back medical debt.

HB1642 Essentially, this bill makes it so that any decisions made by artificial intelligence cannot be the basis for any pretrial determination in criminal cases. This bill is extremely important because, as much as some people might want them to be, AI is not always right. Determinations that can influence harsh decisions, like whether someone goes on probation or gets a criminal sentence, need to be backed by evidence from real people, not AI. AI can not influence us a people so much as to let it take over our courts using evidence provided by them as evidence in court cases.

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HB1626: This act is focused on public elementary schools and secondary school teachers. The act gives information on the ceratain training activities and requirements that teachers must follow. As someone who is shadowing a public elementary school teacher currently, I find this bill to be helpful. It gives loads of information on teachers and the amount of time they need to attend training for non-academic reasons. This bill gives exceptions to mandatory test violations that are determined by the school board or division superintendent. Per state law, the bill also touches on the fact that each state has certain requirements on hours from the school board. Many cannot exceed over twenty-five hours over a five year period.

I chose this bill because it is relavant to me and my life today. While shadowing, it is important to watch the teacher and the understanding of other roles besides teaching material. However, I do believe that teachers should not be fully responsible for the childs behavior. Parents still need to do their part of teaching their child respectful habits as well as social skills. Teachers are amazing resources for keeping up with these habits, but they should not be responsible for the introduction of each habit. This is a statement and issue that should be easy to argue in an essay.