Virginia 2025 Regular Session

Virginia House Bill HB1951 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	2025 SESSION
2	2
3	3	INTRODUCED
4	4
5	5	25101617D
6	6
7	7	HOUSE BILL NO. 1951
8	8
9	9	Offered January 8, 2025
10	10
11	11	Prefiled January 6, 2025
12	12
13	13	A BILL to amend and reenact 65.2-107 of the Code of Virginia, relating to workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder; dispatchers.
14	14
15	15
16	16
17	17	PatronWachsmann
18	18
19	19
20	20
21	21	Committee Referral Pending
22	22
23	23
24	24
25	25	Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
26	26
27	27	1. That 65.2-107 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
28	28
29	29	65.2-107. Post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder incurred by law-enforcement officers, firefighters, and dispatchers.
30	30
31	31	A. As used in this section:
32	32
33	33	"Anxiety disorder" means a disorder that meets the diagnostic criteria for one or more of the anxiety disorders specified in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association.
34	34
35	35	"Depressive disorder" means a disorder that meets the diagnostic criteria for one or more of the depressive disorders specified in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association.
36	36
37	37	"Dispatcher" means an individual employed by a public safety answering point, an emergency medical dispatch service provider, or both, who is qualified to operate communications systems to receive requests for emergency assistance and provide for the appropriate emergency response either directly or through communication with the appropriate public safety office or emergency medical services provider.
38	38
39	39	"Firefighter" means any (i) salaried firefighter, including special forest wardens designated pursuant to 10.1-1135, emergency medical services personnel, and local or state fire scene investigator and (ii) volunteer firefighter and volunteer emergency medical services personnel.
40	40
41	41	"In the line of duty" means any action that a law-enforcement officer or, firefighter, or dispatcher was obligated or authorized to perform by rule, regulation, written condition of employment service, or law.
42	42
43	43	"Law-enforcement officer" means any (i) member of the State Police Officers' Retirement System; (ii) member of a county, city, or town police department; (iii) sheriff or deputy sheriff; (iv) Department of Emergency Management hazardous materials officer; (v) city sergeant or deputy city sergeant of the City of Richmond; (vi) Virginia Marine Police officer; (vii) conservation police officer who is a full-time sworn member of the enforcement division of the Department of Wildlife Resources; (viii) Capitol Police officer; (ix) special agent of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority appointed under the provisions of Chapter 1 ( 4.1-100 et seq.) of Title 4.1; (x) for such period that the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority voluntarily subjects itself to the provisions of this chapter as provided in 65.2-305, officer of the police force established and maintained by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority; (xi) officer of the police force established and maintained by the Norfolk Airport Authority; (xii) sworn officer of the police force established and maintained by the Virginia Port Authority; or (xiii) campus police officer appointed under Article 3 ( 23.1-809 et seq.) of Chapter 8 of Title 23.1 and employed by any public institution of higher education.
44	44
45	45	"Mental health professional" means a board-certified psychiatrist or a psychologist licensed pursuant to Title 54.1 who has experience diagnosing and treating post-traumatic stress disorder.
46	46
47	47	"Post-traumatic stress disorder" means a disorder that meets the diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder as specified in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association.
48	48
49	49	"Qualifying event" means an incident or exposure occurring in the line of duty on or after July 1, 2020, for post-traumatic stress disorder, and for purposes of subdivisions 1 through 4 of this definition, on or after July 1, 2023, for anxiety disorder or depressive disorder:
50	50
51	51	1. Resulting in serious bodily injury or death to any person or persons;
52	52
53	53	2. Involving a minor who has been injured, killed, abused, or exploited;
54	54
55	55	3. Involving an immediate threat to life of the claimant or another individual;
56	56
57	57	4. Involving mass casualties; or
58	58
59	59	5. Responding to crime scenes for investigation.
60	60
61	61	B. Post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder incurred by a law-enforcement officer or, firefighter, or dispatcher is compensable under this title if:
62	62
63	63	1. A mental health professional examines a law-enforcement officer or, firefighter, or dispatcher and diagnoses the law-enforcement officer or, firefighter, or dispatcher as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder as a result of the individual's undergoing a qualifying event;
64	64
65	65	2. The post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder resulted from the law-enforcement officer's or, firefighter's, or dispatcher's acting in the line of duty and, in the case of a firefighter, such firefighter complied with federal Occupational Safety and Health Act standards adopted pursuant to 29 C.F.R. 1910.134 and 29 C.F.R. 1910.156;
66	66
67	67	3. The law-enforcement officer's or, firefighter's, or dispatcher's undergoing a qualifying event was a substantial factor in causing his post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder;
68	68
69	69	4. Such qualifying event, and not another event or source of stress, was the primary cause of the post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder; and
70	70
71	71	5. The post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder did not result from any disciplinary action, work evaluation, job transfer, layoff, demotion, promotion, termination, retirement, or similar action of the law-enforcement officer or, firefighter, or dispatcher.
72	72
73	73	Any such mental health professional shall comply with any workers' compensation guidelines for approved medical providers, including guidelines on release of past or contemporaneous medical records.
74	74
75	75	C. Notwithstanding any provision of this title, workers' compensation benefits for any law-enforcement officer or, firefighter, or dispatcher payable pursuant to this section shall (i) include any combination of medical treatment prescribed by a board-certified psychiatrist or a licensed psychologist, temporary total incapacity benefits under 65.2-500, and temporary partial incapacity benefits under 65.2-502 and (ii) be provided for a maximum of 52 weeks from the date of diagnosis. No medical treatment, temporary total incapacity benefits under 65.2-500, or temporary partial incapacity benefits under 65.2-502 shall be awarded beyond four years from the date of the qualifying event that formed the basis for the claim for benefits under this section. The weekly benefits received by a law-enforcement officer or a, firefighter, or dispatcher pursuant to 65.2-500 or 65.2-502, when combined with other benefits, including contributory and noncontributory retirement benefits, Social Security benefits, and benefits under a long-term or short-term disability plan, but not including payments for medical care, shall not exceed the average weekly wage paid to such law-enforcement officer or, firefighter, or dispatcher.
76	76
77	77	D. No later than January 1, 2021, each employer of law-enforcement officers or firefighters, and no later than January 1, 2026, each employer of dispatchers, shall (i) make peer support available to such law-enforcement officers and firefighters individuals and (ii) refer a law-enforcement officer or firefighter such individuals seeking mental health care services to a mental health professional.
78	78
79	79	E. Each fire basic training program conducted or administered by the Department of Fire Programs or a municipal fire department in the Commonwealth shall provide, in consultation with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, resilience and self-care technique training for any individual who begins basic training as a firefighter on or after July 1, 2021.