Subcommittee reports bill to create Virginia Home Health Care Authority and permit collective bargaining for consumer-directed personnel

A House subcommittee on Feb. 20 voted to report House Bill 12 63 as substituted. The bill, introduced to allow collective bargaining for consumer-directed personnel under the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS), would create the Virginia Home Health Care Authority and designate that authority as the employer of record for collective-bargaining purposes only.

The substitute presented to the committee clarifies that the Authority would be the employer of record solely for bargaining and exempts institutions of higher education from the bill's provisions. It also delays elections and petitions related to collective bargaining until regulations are developed by the public employee relations board established by the bill. The substitute places that board at the Department of Labor and Industry and retains legislative prerogative to effectuate any funding agreements related to collective bargaining.

Presenters told the panel that startup costs for the Authority are estimated at about $20,000,000; the transcript records that figure. The subcommittee reported the bill as substituted by a vote of 5 to 2.

What happens next

With the committee report, the bill will move forward in the House process carrying the substitute language; the transcript does not specify implementation timelines or how the startup costs would be allocated.