Impact in Virginia
Each fall, BHC members vote on a range of policy options and recommendations to develop a list of BHC-supported legislative recommendations. Each recommendation is introduced by a BHC member as a bill or budget amendment, as appropriate. The policy options and recommendations originate from BHC staff research, as well as from research conducted by other legislative study commissions. Legislative action pertaining to the structure of the Commission may also be taken.
The Behavioral Health Commission measures its performance using two categories of indicators: (1) the proportion of options generated through staff research that was implemented, and (2) the proportion of BHC-supported bills and budget amendments that was adopted during the legislative session.
More information on BHC report options and on the bills introduced to implement the BHC’s legislative recommendations for the 2023 session can be found here. Legislative recommendations for the 2024 session can be found here. Legislative impact will be updated once session adjourns.
| BHC staff-developed options implemented | |
|---|---|
| Options offered to Commission Options adopted by Commission Percentage of options adopted by Commission |
6 6 100% |
| Options implemented, in whole or in part, by legislative action Percentage of options implemented by legislative action |
4 67% |
| BHC legislative actions adopted in 2023 | |
|---|---|
| BHC bills introduced1,2 BHC bills passed3,4 Percentage of BHC bills passed |
17 14 82% |
| BHC budget amendments offered5,6 BHC budget amendments adopted6,7 Percentage of BHC budget amendments adopted |
15 1 7% |
1Of the 17 introduced, six bills implemented options offered in BHC reports, and seven bills implemented recommendations contained in two JLARC reports entitled CSB Behavioral Health Services and Pandemic Impact on K-12 Public Education. The remaining four bills pertained to the structure of the BHC.
2Multiple report options and recommendations may be included in one bill and multiple bills may be introduced to support a single option or recommendation.
3Of the 14 bills passed, four bills implemented recommendations from BHC reports, and six bills implemented recommendations contained in two JLARC reports entitled CSB Behavioral Health Services and Pandemic Impact on K-12 Public Education. The remaining four bills that passed pertained to the structure of the BHC.
4Two of the BHC bills introduced were incorporated into another non-BHC bill that passed and are therefore considered “passed” as well.
5Of the 15 recommendations for which a budget amendment was introduced, fourteen implemented recommendations contained in two JLARC reports entitled CSB Behavioral Health Services and Pandemic Impact on K-12 Public Education. The remaining budget amendment pertained to the staffing of the BHC.
6Only one budget amendment is counted per recommendation.
7The budget amendment included in the final budget implemented a recommendation contained in the JLARC report entitled CSB Behavioral Health Services.