288#6s (DHP) Covenants not to Compete; Health Care Professionals (SB 128). SB30 - Member Request

State Budget

2026 Session

Budget Amendments - SB30 (Member Request)

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Chief Patron: VanValkenburg
Covenants not to Compete; Health Care Professionals (SB 128)

Item 288 #6s

Item 288 #6s	First Year - FY2027	Second Year - FY2028
Health and Human Resources
Department of Health Professions	FY2027 $50,000	FY2028 $50,000	GF

Language
Page 332, line 8, strike "$53,010,551" and insert "$53,060,551".
Page 332, line 8, strike "$53,033,321" and insert "$53,083,321".

Explanation

(This amendment provides $50,000 GF each year for the potential fiscal impact of Senate Bill 128, which adds health care professionals as a category of employee with or upon whom no employer shall enter into, enforce, or threaten to enforce a covenant not to compete. The bill defines "health care professional" as any person licensed, registered, or certified by the Board of Medicine, Nursing, Counseling, Optometry, Psychology, or Social Work. The bill provides that any employer that violates the prohibition against covenants not to compete with a health care professional is subject to the civil penalty in current law of $10,000 for each violation.)

Item 288

Item 288	First Year - FY2027	Second Year - FY2028
Regulation of Professions and Occupations (56000)	$53,010,551	$53,033,321
Technical Assistance to Regulatory Boards (56044)	FY2027 $53,010,551	FY2028 $53,033,321
Fund Sources:
Special	FY2027 $575,000	FY2028 $575,000
Trust and Agency	FY2027 $1,688,791	FY2028 $1,688,791
Dedicated Special Revenue	FY2027 $50,746,760	FY2028 $50,769,530

Authority: Title 54.1, Chapter 25, Code of Virginia.

A. The Board of Counseling shall promulgate regulations that align with the regulations adopted by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services for peer recovery specialist-trainees in accordance with this Act. The department shall have the authority to promulgate emergency regulations to implement these changes within 280 days or less from the enactment of this Act.

B.1. The Department of Health Professions (DHP) shall provide the Virginia Health Care Foundation (VHCF) a useable electronic file (CSV, Excel spreadsheet) with record-level, de-identified data collected via the most recent license renewal period for each individual licensed behavioral health (BH) professional practicing in Virginia as a psychiatrist, child and adolescent psychiatrist, psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner, psychiatric physician assistant, licensed clinical social worker, licensed professional counselor, licensed clinical psychologist and, if available, licensed marriage and family therapist.

2. The following specific data fields shall be provided to VHCF for each licensee: unique record identifier; birthyear; race and ethnicity; gender; practice site information (each locality of practice; number of hours worked/week at each site; hours/week worked virtually at each Virginia work site); forms of payment accepted (with ability to identify the proportion of each type of BH profession accepting only cash, and the proportion of each type of BH profession accepting only Medicaid as a payment source, as well as Medicaid in combination with each other payer source option available to licensees – e.g., Medicaid + Medicare, Medicaid + Medicare + Private Insurance); plans to reduce clinical hours in next two years; and anticipated time to retirement.

3. DHP shall also provide VHCF a code book, data definitions and/or user guides in an electronic format (Word, Excel, PDF) so it can clearly understand the data elements and their structure (alphanumeric, multiple responses – to include all possible options a licensee may select, open/free response). This code book shall also include record length and record count; known data quality issues and related documentation regarding resolution and, to the extent possible, impact on the data set and/or data functionality; and changes to policy and/or administrative practices that may have impacted the data set and implementation date.

4. VHCF shall protect the confidentiality and security of record-level data provided by the DHP and interim or working documents and/or data files consistent with state and federal law.

C. Out of this appropriation, $400,000 the first year and $400,000 the second year from Commonwealth Opioid Abatement and Remediation funds shall be provided for ongoing support and maintenance costs for system changes to the Prescription Monitoring Program pursuant to the provisions of House Bill 1902, passed by the 2025 General Assembly.

D. Out of this appropriation, $153,850 and one position the first year and $176,620 and one position the second year from nongeneral funds, generated by the Board of Nursing, is provided to create and maintain a standalone Virginia Center for the Nursing Workforce under the Department of Health Professions. The Virginia Center for the Nursing Workforce shall: 1) establish and maintain a centralized database to facilitate the scheduling of clinical experiences for nursing students; 2) facilitate and coordinate interagency and public-private efforts to maximize enrollment in Virginia's nursing education programs and to grow and retain the nursing workforce; and 3) explore other strategies to address the shortage of nurses in the Commonwealth. The Virginia Center for the Nursing Workforce shall represent Virginia in the National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers and shall coordinate its efforts with the Board of Nursing, the Virginia Healthcare Workforce Data Center, the Department of Workforce Development and Advancement, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, and the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority.