The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) met July 6 to approve a plan of work and schedule of reports for the remainder of 2020, and to receive briefings on the status of the Virginia Retirement System and the Virginia529 program. JLARC will be conducting several studies of particular interest to local governments this year, including a study of the Children’s Services Act; JLARC staff are scheduled to report on the results of that study in November 2020.
JLARC’s planned list of studies for 2020 is as follows:
- Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity: JLARC staff will review programs administered by the Department, to include small, women-owned, and minority-owned business certification, disadvantaged business enterprise certification, small business financing programs, and business technical assistance programs. (Report date: September 2020)
- Virginia Information Technologies Agency: JLARC staff will conduct a follow-up review to the 2019 study of VITA’s transition to a new model of contracting with multiple vendors to provide the state’s information technology services. (Report date: October 2020)
- Virginia Department of Education: JLARC will be reviewing the Department’s oversight and support of local school divisions. (Report date: October 2020)
- Marijuana legalization: JLARC was charged by the General Assembly with developing recommendations for how the state should regulate the growth, sale, and possession of marijuana, should Virginia move to full legalization. VACo staff have provided information to JLARC staff regarding current local tax structures, existing revenue-sharing models, and local land use authority, and JLARC will be surveying counties for additional feedback. (Report date: November 2020)
- Children’s Services Act: JLARC is reviewing the administration and oversight of CSA, with a particular focus on private special education day placements. In response to questions from JLARC members at the July 6 meeting, staff explained that the review will also be examining how Medicaid-funded services interact with CSA. VACo staff met with JLARC staff in the spring to provide a local perspective on these issues. (Report date: November 2020)
- Insurance coverage for behavioral health: JLARC was directed by the General Assembly to determine whether current reporting requirements for insurance plans allow for an assessment of parity in insurance coverage of behavioral health services relative to other medical care, and to evaluate whether insurance plans are meeting this standard. (Report date: November 2020)
- Special education: JLARC will be reviewing the special education system, to include identification of children for services, school divisions’ capacity to provide special education, student outcomes, state oversight and support, and special education spending. (Report date: December 2020).
In addition, JLARC will conduct its continuing oversight, as required by statute, and will be reporting on its reviews of economic development incentives, state spending on the Standards of Quality, Medicaid spending and enrollment, and other periodic oversight activities. JLARC’s workplan is available at this link.
VACo Contact: Katie Boyle