Fabio
135 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
135 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: "Bill"
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title: "Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder, law-enforcement officers and firefighters."
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description: "Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder; law-enforcement officers and firefighters. Provides that post-traumatic stress disorder incurred by a law-enforcement officer or firefighter is compensable under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act if a mental health professional examines a law-enforcement officer or firefighter and diagnoses the individual as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the individual's undergoing a qualifying event, which includes an event occurring in the line of duty on or after July 1, 2020, in which a law-enforcement officer or firefighter views a deceased minor, witnesses the death of a person or an incident involving the death of a person, witnesses an injury to a person who subsequently dies, has physical contact with and treats an injured person who subsequently dies, transports an injured person who subsequently dies, or witnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss of a vital body part or a vital body function that results in permanent disfigurement of the victim. Other conditions for compensability include (i) if the post-traumatic stress disorder resulted from the law-enforcement officer or firefighter acting in the line of duty and, in the case of a firefighter, such firefighter complied with certain federal Occupational Safety and Health Act standards; (ii) if the law-enforcement officer's or firefighter's undergoing a qualifying event was a substantial factor in causing his post-traumatic stress disorder; (iii) if such qualifying event, and not another event or source of stress, was the primary cause of the post-traumatic stress disorder; and (iv) if the post-traumatic stress disorder did not result from any disciplinary action, work evaluation, job transfer, layoff, demotion, promotion, termination, retirement, or similar action of the officer or firefighter. The measure establishes procedural requirements on employers that contest a claim for such benefits. The measure also establishes requirements for resilience and self-care technique training."
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jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
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legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
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session: "2020"
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identifier: "SB 561"
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citation: "Virginia SB 561 (2020)"
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classification: ["bill"]
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subjects: []
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status: "enacted"
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primary_sponsors: ["Jill Holtzman Vogel"]
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version_count: 6
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action_count: 46
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vote_count: 9
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first_action: "2020-01-07"
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last_action: "2020-04-22"
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source: "openstates"
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source_identifier: "ocd-bill/459d3dd7-c0bf-4e91-9441-8907392353df"
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source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB561"
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source_hash: "1547094bf3bd57685652e0fb2464f009b1bd971c1d9de7f22c9ce2e9d05b3b1a"
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vintage: "2026-07-01"
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source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
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retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
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confidence: "reported"
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tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
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---
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# Virginia SB 561 (2020) — Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder, law-enforcement officers and firefighters.
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Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder; law-enforcement officers and firefighters. Provides that post-traumatic stress disorder incurred by a law-enforcement officer or firefighter is compensable under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act if a mental health professional examines a law-enforcement officer or firefighter and diagnoses the individual as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the individual's undergoing a qualifying event, which includes an event occurring in the line of duty on or after July 1, 2020, in which a law-enforcement officer or firefighter views a deceased minor, witnesses the death of a person or an incident involving the death of a person, witnesses an injury to a person who subsequently dies, has physical contact with and treats an injured person who subsequently dies, transports an injured person who subsequently dies, or witnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss of a vital body part or a vital body function that results in permanent disfigurement of the victim. Other conditions for compensability include (i) if the post-traumatic stress disorder resulted from the law-enforcement officer or firefighter acting in the line of duty and, in the case of a firefighter, such firefighter complied with certain federal Occupational Safety and Health Act standards; (ii) if the law-enforcement officer's or firefighter's undergoing a qualifying event was a substantial factor in causing his post-traumatic stress disorder; (iii) if such qualifying event, and not another event or source of stress, was the primary cause of the post-traumatic stress disorder; and (iv) if the post-traumatic stress disorder did not result from any disciplinary action, work evaluation, job transfer, layoff, demotion, promotion, termination, retirement, or similar action of the officer or firefighter. The measure establishes procedural requirements on employers that contest a claim for such benefits. The measure also establishes requirements for resilience and self-care technique training.
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## Version chain
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The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
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1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1262)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP1262)
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2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB561ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB561ER)
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3. **Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB561S2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB561S2)
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4. **Impact statement from DPB (SB561S1)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB561S1)
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5. **Impact statement from DPB (SB561S3)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB561S3)
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6. **Reenrolled bill text (SB561ER2)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB561ER2)
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## Votes
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- Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute (12-Y 3-N) — **12–3** (pass) · upper
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- VOTE: (92-Y 0-N) — **91–0** (pass) · lower
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- Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (14-Y 1-N) — **14–1** (pass) · upper
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- Amendments specific and severable (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
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- Reported from Labor and Commerce (21-Y 0-N) — **21–0** (pass) · lower
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- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N) — **97–0** (pass) · lower
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- Read third time and passed Senate (37-Y 2-N) — **37–2** (pass) · upper
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- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
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- Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
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## Sponsors
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- Jill Holtzman Vogel — primary (person)
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- Adam P. Ebbin — cosponsor (person)
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- Barry D. Knight — cosponsor (person)
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- Bill DeSteph — cosponsor (person)
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- Bryce E. Reeves — cosponsor (person)
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- David W. Marsden — cosponsor (person)
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- J. Chapman Petersen — cosponsor (person)
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- Janet D. Howell — cosponsor (person)
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- Jennifer B. Boysko — cosponsor (person)
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- Jennifer L. McClellan — cosponsor (person)
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- Jeremy S. McPike — cosponsor (person)
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- John A. Cosgrove, Jr. — cosponsor (person)
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- John S. Edwards — cosponsor (person)
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- Kaye Kory — cosponsor (person)
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- Lionell Spruill, Sr. — cosponsor (person)
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- Lynwood W. Lewis, Jr. — cosponsor (person)
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- Mamie E. Locke — cosponsor (person)
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- R. Creigh Deeds — cosponsor (person)
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- Steve E. Heretick — cosponsor (person)
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- Suhas Subramanyam — cosponsor (person)
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## Timeline
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The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
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- **2020-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20104533D `introduction`
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- **2020-01-07** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
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- **2020-01-13** Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute (12-Y 3-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2020-01-13** Incorporates SB924 (Cosgrove)
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- **2020-01-13** Committee substitute printed 20105715D-S1 `substitution`
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- **2020-01-13** Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
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- **2020-01-20** Impact statement from DPB (SB561S1)
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- **2020-02-04** Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (14-Y 1-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2020-02-04** Incorporates SB741 (McPike)
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- **2020-02-04** Committee substitute printed 20106824D-S2 `substitution`
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- **2020-02-05** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
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- **2020-02-06** Read second time `reading-2`
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- **2020-02-06** Committee substitute rejected 20105715D-S1
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- **2020-02-06** Reading of substitute waived
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- **2020-02-06** Committee substitute agreed to 20106824D-S2
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- **2020-02-06** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB561S2
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- **2020-02-07** Passed by for the day
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- **2020-02-10** Read third time and passed Senate (37-Y 2-N) `passage, reading-3`
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- **2020-02-13** Placed on Calendar
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- **2020-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
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- **2020-02-13** Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce `referral-committee`
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- **2020-02-14** Impact statement from DPB (SB561S2)
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- **2020-02-18** Reported from Labor and Commerce (21-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2020-02-20** Read second time `reading-2`
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- **2020-02-21** Read third time `reading-3`
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- **2020-02-21** Passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage`
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- **2020-02-21** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N)
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- **2020-02-26** Enrolled
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- **2020-02-26** Impact statement from DPB (SB561ER)
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- **2020-02-27** Signed by President
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- **2020-02-27** Signed by Speaker
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- **2020-03-04** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 4, 2020
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- **2020-03-04** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 11, 2020
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- **2020-03-12** Governor's recommendation received by Senate
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- **2020-03-12** Governor's substitute printed 20110012D-S3
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- **2020-03-13** Impact statement from DPB (SB561S3)
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- **2020-04-22** Amendments specific and severable (40-Y 0-N)
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- **2020-04-22** Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (40-Y 0-N)
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- **2020-04-22** House concurred in Governor's recommendation (92-Y 0-N)
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- **2020-04-22** VOTE: (92-Y 0-N)
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- **2020-04-22** Governor's recommendation adopted
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- **2020-04-22** Reenrolled
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- **2020-04-22** Reenrolled bill text (SB561ER2)
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- **2020-04-22** Signed by President as reenrolled
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- **2020-04-22** Signed by Speaker as reenrolled
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- **2020-04-22** Enacted, Chapter 1262 (effective 7/1/20) `became-law`
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## Source
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OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/459d3dd7-c0bf-4e91-9441-8907392353df`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).
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