Three Interesting Bills: Regulating Public Pools, Five Needle Acupuncture and Birth Certificates

Hundreds of bills are filed for General Assembly consideration each year. In this weekly series, the Mercury takes a look at a few of lawmakers’ 2024 proposals that might not otherwise make headlines during the whirlwind legislative session.

A view of the Virginia House of Delegates Chamber in Richmond. (Nathaniel Cline/Virginia Mercury)

House Bill 354: Regulating Public Pools

H.B. 354 from Del Patrick Hope, D- Arlington, would direct the Virginia Board of Health to adopt regulations for the operation, maintenance, and safety of public swimming pools, water parks, and spas.

Hope told the House Health Subcommittee last month the bill is needed because the Virginia Department of Health only has regulatory oversight over swimming areas at campgrounds, summer camps, and hotels. It cannot, he said, regulate neighborhood pools in localities that don’t have regulations for lifeguards, inspection and signage.

“The VDH can’t even require fecal matter to be removed from a public pool or spa,” Hope told the House this month. “Talk about gross.”

If someone is drowning at the bottom of a pool, he has argued, a lifeguard needs to be able to see them. However, there are no state regulations on murky waters. Additionally, he said, of the 26 states east of the Mississippi River, only three states other than Virginia do not have regulations for swimming pools.

“This is commonsense legislation that would protect Virginians, increase safety in public pools and spas, and decrease drownings,” Hope said.

Hope’s bill passed the Senate Education and Health Committee 8 to 6.

House Bill 1278: Permitting the use of the five-needle auricular acupuncture protocol

This bill from Del. Eric Zehr, R-Bedford, would allow anyone to carry out the five-needle auricular acupuncture protocol — a technique where up to five needles are inserted into the outer ear to provide relief from the effects of behavioral health conditions.

Zehr told the House Behavioral Health Subcommittee this month his bill seeks to add a low-cost, non-drug technique to the repertoire of treatment options for those struggling with depression, anxiety, and the effects of trauma.

The bill would require the person who conducts the procedure to have received appropriate training from a certifying body and would prohibit them from implying they are an acupuncturist or that the state of Virginia regulates their practice of the five-needle protocol.

Josey Hull, a licensed professional counselor and trained “Acudetox specialist,” the title used by people who practice the five-needle protocol, told the subcommittee the technique developed from traditional Chinese medicine. She said it stimulates neural pathways associated with the central nervous system, releasing neurotransmitters that help with relaxation, pain relief, and emotional balance.

Current law limits its use to patients with a chemical dependency on substances, she said, which is “inadvertently perpetuating stigma and narrowing its application.”

By amending the law, Hull said Virginia can “acknowledge the full spectrum of behavioral health conditions that can benefit from this treatment, thus allowing our practitioners to support first responders, health care workers, victims of disasters and military veterans that may need this valuable treatment.”

The bill passed the House 97 to 3.

House Bill 550: Allowing adopted adults access to their birth certificates

This legislation from Del. Wendell Walker, R-Lynchburg, would allow any adoptee who is 18 years or older to access their original birth certificate by requesting it from the state registrar of vital records.

Under current law, adult adoptees can only access their birth certificates by obtaining approval from the Department of Social Services or by court order.

Rebecca Ricardo, executive director of nonprofit adoption agency C2Adopt, told the House Social Services Subcommittee last month she knows of numerous adoptees who have attempted to obtain their birth certificate via court order but were denied “because of judges believing they could not demonstrate good cause.”

Even if an adoptee is granted access to their birth certificate, Ricardo said the current process can sometimes take months to years.

Walker said his bill ensures all people equal access to their birth certificate, regardless of whether or not they were adopted.

“Vital records are not the property of the state,” the delegate said. “This bill does what is fair — making the right of your own birth records a right to enjoy by all Virginians, not [just] those who were never adopted.”

Subcommittee Chair Irene Shin, D-Fairfax, voiced concern the bill would mean adoptees could find out the name of their biological parents even in the case of a closed adoption when the parents choose not to be identified.

However, Ricardo said adoptees can already find that information through numerous resources, such as requesting their adoption agency get consent from the biological parents, doing research on Google, or taking DNA tests.

Walker’s bill passed the House 66-32 last month, with much of the opposition from Democrats. The bill is now headed to the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services.

This story has been updated to reflect the status of HB550.

by Meghan McIntyre, Virginia Mercury

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