Virginia Commerce and Labor (S02) Committee Docket — 2024-02-26

Summary

Docket for the Virginia Commerce and Labor (S02) committee dated February 26, 2024, in the 2024 Regular session (20241), listing R. Creigh Deeds as Chair. The agenda is headed Senate Bill in Committee and lists HB-numbered bills, each with its patron and a summary. Items include HB14 on unemployment compensation and employer failure to respond to requests for information (patron Ware), HB106 on shared solar programs applicable to Dominion Energy Virginia (patron Sullivan), HB157 on minimum wage for farm laborers (patron McClure), HB570 on a Prescription Drug Affordability Board (patron Delaney) and HB1491 on small modular nuclear facility development costs (patron O'Quinn).

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TITLE: Virginia  (S02) Committee Docket — 2024-02-26
DATE: 2024-02-26T00:00:00
SESSION: 2024 Regular (20241)
CHAMBER: Senate

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
  - R. Creigh Deeds (D) Chair

STAFF: Horton, Andrew, Hobie Lehman, Thomas Stevens

DOCKET / AGENDA:

[Senate Bill in Committee]
  999. HB14 - Unemployment compensation; employer failure to respond to requests for information; claim determination; notice requirements.
       Patron(s): Ware
       Summary: Unemployment compensation; employer failure to respond to requests for information; claim determination; notice requirements. Provides that an employer's account shall not be relieved of charges relating to an erroneous payment if the Virginia Employment Commission determines that (i) the employer has failed to respond timely or adequately to a written request for information related to the claim and (ii) the employer has established a pattern of failing to respond timely or adequately to such requests, as described in the bill. The bill requires the Commission to provide written notice for ea
  999. HB106 - Shared solar programs; amends existing program provisions to apply to Dominion Energy Virginia.
       Patron(s): Sullivan
       Summary: Shared solar programs; Dominion Energy Virginia; minimum bill; capacity. Amends existing shared solar program provisions applicable to Dominion Energy Virginia. The bill provides that a customer's net bill for participation in the shared solar program means the resulting amount a customer must pay the utility after the bill credit, defined in relevant law, is deducted from the customer's monthly gross utility bill. The bill divides the shared solar program into two parts, the first of which has an aggregate capacity of 200 megawatts. The bill provides that upon a determination that at least 90
  999. HB108 - Shared solar programs; SCC to establish by regulation, etc.
       Patron(s): Sullivan
       Summary: Shared solar programs; American Electric Power; minimum bill; capacity. Requires the State Corporation Commission to establish by regulation a shared solar program, as defined in the bill, through which customers of American Electric Power may purchase electric power through a subscription in a shared solar facility, as defined in the bill. The bill requires the Commission to establish a minimum bill, which shall include the costs of all utility infrastructure and services used to provide electric service and administrative costs of the shared solar program, taking into account certain conside
  999. HB139 - Underground infrastructure works by public service companies; payment of prevailing wage rate.
       Patron(s): Simonds
       Summary: Prevailing wage rate for underground infrastructure works by public service companies. Directs the Department of Labor and Industry to determine and make available the prevailing wage rate for underground infrastructure work. Under the bill, each public service company shall ensure that its bid specifications or other contracts applicable to underground infrastructure works require payment at the prevailing wage rate. The bill requires contractors and subcontractors to post the prevailing wage rate in a prominent and accessible place at the work site. The bill also requires each public service
  999. HB157 - Minimum wage; farm laborers or farm employees, temporary foreign workers.
       Patron(s): McClure
       Summary: Minimum wage; farm laborers or farm employees; temporary foreign workers. Eliminates the exemptions from Virginia's minimum wage requirements for (i) persons employed as farm laborers or farm employees and (ii) certain temporary foreign workers. This bill incorporates HB 866.
  999. HB205 - Workers' compensation; prompt payment, limitation on claims.
       Patron(s): Simonds
       Summary: Workers' compensation; prompt payment; limitation on claims. Prohibits an employer or workers' compensation carrier from seeking recovery of a payment made to a health care provider for health care services rendered to a claimant unless such recovery is sought less than one year from the date payment was made to the health care provider. Under current law, such prohibition only applies to services rendered after July 1, 2014. The bill also prohibits a health care provider from submitting a claim to the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission contesting the sufficiency of payment for health c
  999. HB218 - Health insurance; health care provider panels, continuity of care.
       Patron(s): Orrock
       Summary: Health insurance; health care provider panels; continuity of care. Requires a provider to continue to render health care services to any of the carrier's enrollees who have an existing provider-patient relationship with the provider for a period of at least 90 days from the date of a provider's termination from the carrier's provider panel, except when a provider is terminated for cause. The bill provides that for an enrollee who has an existing provider-patient relationship with a provider, and, at the time of the provider's termination, (i) has been medically confirmed to be pregnant, the pr
  999. HB277 - Consumer protection; transparency in ticket fees, civil penalties.
       Patron(s): Helmer
       Summary: Consumer protection; transparency in ticket fees; civil penalties. Requires any person selling or reselling a ticket to an event to clearly and conspicuously display the total cost of the ticket from the first time a price is displayed and any time thereafter. The bill allows for a civil penalty of not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000 for each violation.
  999. HB335 - Tipped employees; DOLI to study increasing wages and address wage theft by employers.
       Patron(s): Gardner
       Summary: Department of Labor and Industry; tipped employee wages; work group. Directs the Department of Labor and Industry to convene a work group to study (i) options for increasing tipped employee minimum cash wages, (ii) circumstances related to wage theft or payment inequities by employers of tipped wage employees, and (iii) amending the penalty provisions related to employee remedies and employer penalties for violations of minimum wage requirements. The bill directs the work group to submit a report of its findings no later than December 1, 2024.
  999. HB385 - Railroad safety; use of train, locomotive, etc., for movement of freight, minimum train crew.
       Patron(s): Simonds
       Summary: Railroad safety; civil penalties. Requires a crew of at least two qualified individuals on all trains, locomotives, or light engines used in connection with moving freight. This bill is identical to SB 143.
  999. HB392 - Virginia Petroleum Products Franchise Act; agreements between jobber/distributors and dealers.
       Patron(s): Reaser
       Summary: Virginia Petroleum Products Franchise Act; agreements between jobber/distributors and dealers; market valuation study. Provides that a term of an initial agreement between a jobber/distributor and a dealer relating to specific marketing premises shall not be less than one year and that the term of all subsequent agreements between the jobber/distributor and the dealer relating to the same marketing premises shall not be for less than three years. The bill provides that rental provisions in any such agreement or franchise shall be based on commercially fair and reasonable standards at a fair ma
  999. HB489 - Fire Programs Fund; increases annual assessment used to fund.
       Patron(s): Garrett
       Summary: Insurance; Fire Programs Fund; purposes. Provides that the portion of the Fire Programs Fund allocated to localities may be used for the additional purposes of (i) constructing, improving, or expanding fire station facilities, (ii) providing mental health resources, or (iii) hiring additional fire personnel and funding recruitment and retention programs. The bill also prohibits such funds from being used, except as provided, for the purposes of investments, operating expenses, debt repayment, taxes, or fees.
  999. HB570 - Prescription Drug Affordability Board; established, drug cost affordability review, report.
       Patron(s): Delaney
       Summary: Prescription Drug Affordability Board established; drug cost affordability review. Establishes the Prescription Drug Affordability Board for the purpose of protecting the citizens of the Commonwealth and other stakeholders within the health care system from the high costs of prescription drug products. The bill requires the Board to meet in open session at least four times annually, with certain exceptions and requirements enumerated in the bill. Members of the Board are required to disclose any conflicts of interest, as described in the bill. The bill also creates a stakeholder council for th
  999. HB601 - Health insurance; patient access to emergency services, mobile crisis response services.
       Patron(s): Kilgore
       Summary: Health insurance; emergency services; mobile crisis response services. Provides that emergency services, with respect to an emergency medical condition, include, as it relates to any mental health services or substance abuse services rendered at a behavioral health crisis service provider, (i) a behavioral health assessment that is within the capability of a behavioral health crisis service provider, including ancillary services routinely available to evaluate such emergency medical condition, and (ii) such further examination and treatment, to the extent that they are within the capabilities
  999. HB736 - Veterans; examining practice of persons receiving compensation for providing certain services, etc.
       Patron(s): Sewell
       Summary: Department of Law; compensation for veterans' benefits matters; work group; report. Directs the Department of Law's Division of Consumer Counsel to convene a work group to examine and make recommendations regarding the practice of persons receiving compensation for preparing, presenting, prosecuting, advising, consulting, or assisting any individual regarding any veterans' benefits matter, as defined in the bill.
  999. HB744 - Consumer protection; automatic renewal or continuous service offers.
       Patron(s): Maldonado
       Summary: Consumer protection; automatic renewal or continuous service offers. Requires a supplier making automatic renewal or continuous service offers that automatically renew after more than 30 days and extend the automatic renewal or continuous service offer for a period of more than 12 months to notify the consumer, as defined in the bill, of the option to cancel no less than 30 days and no more than 60 days before the cancellation deadline or the end of the current contract term.
  999. HB746 - Energy efficiency programs; definitions, incremental annual savings.
       Patron(s): Webert
       Summary: Energy efficiency programs; incremental annual savings. Provides that for the 2029 program year and all subsequent years, "in the public interest" for the purpose of assessing energy efficiency programs means that the State Corporation Commission determines that the program is cost-effective. The bill directs the Commission to promulgate regulations no later than September 30, 2025, establishing a single, consistent cost-effectiveness test for use in evaluating proposed energy efficiency programs. The bill requires Dominion Energy Virginia and Appalachian Power Company to track, quantify, and
  999. HB800 - Public service companies; pole attachments to accommodate cable TV systems & telecommunications.
       Patron(s): Herring
       Summary: Public service companies; pole attachments; cable television systems and telecommunications service providers. Requires a public utility, as defined in the bill, to establish and adhere to pole attachment practices and procedures that comply with certain requirements, including determining whether an attachment request is complete before reviewing such request on its merits, complying with certain timelines, and providing notice of a rearrangement to affected existing attachers. The bill provides that a public utility shall not apportion to a telecommunications service provider or cable televi
  999. HB862 - Electric utilities; integrated resource plans, grid-enhancing technologies and advanced conductors.
       Patron(s): Hernandez
       Summary: Electric utilities; integrated resource plans; grid-enhancing technologies and advanced conductors. Requires an electric utility to include in an integrated resource plan (i) a comprehensive assessment of the potential application of grid-enhancing technologies and advanced conductors, as those terms are defined in the bill, in a manner that ensures grid reliability and safeguards the cybersecurity and physical security of the electric distribution grid and (ii) if applicable, a detailed explanation of why such technologies or conductors are not included in such plan.
  999. HB974 - Workers' compensation; employee may satisfy burden of proof by circumstantial evidence.
       Patron(s): Keys-Gamarra
       Summary: Workers' compensation; presumption that certain injuries arose out of employment. Provides that in any claim for workers' compensation, where the employee suffers an unexplained fall in the course of employment, such employee may satisfy the burden of proof by circumstantial evidence, testimony of others, other evidence, or any combination thereof.
  999. HB1069 - Liquid nicotine and nicotine vapor products; certification, removal of exclusion from directory.
       Patron(s): Willett
       Summary: Liquid nicotine and nicotine vapor products; certification and directory; penalties. Requires every manufacturer of liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor products that are sold for retail sale in the Commonwealth to certify to the Attorney General that (i) the manufacturer has received a marketing authorization or similar order for the liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor product from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or (ii) (a) the liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor product was marketed in the United States as of August 8, 2016, or (b) the manufacturer submitted a premarket tobacco product
  999. HB1098 - Family bereavement leave; employee restoration of position, etc.
       Patron(s): Rasoul
       Summary: Unpaid family bereavement leave; required; remedies. Requires that an employer that employs 50 or more employees provide eligible employees, defined in the bill, with up to 10 days of unpaid family bereavement leave in any 12-month period to (i) attend the funeral or funeral equivalent of a covered family member; (ii) make arrangements necessitated by the death of a covered family member; (iii) grieve the death of a covered family member; or (iv) be absent from work due to (a) a miscarriage, (b) an unsuccessful round of intrauterine insemination or of an assisted reproductive technology proced
  999. HB1132 - Insurance; annual actual loss ratio report by dental carriers.
       Patron(s): Hayes
       Summary: Insurance; dental carriers; annual report. Requires each dental carrier, beginning in 2025, to annually, on or before April 30, file with the State Corporation Commission a report that includes the actual loss ratio, defined in the bill, for the preceding calendar year and any such other information as the Commission may require. The bill requires the Commission to post such reports on its website. The bill requires the Bureau of Insurance to evaluate the effectiveness of informing the public on the information being reported and to make recommendations, if any, on the continuation or modifica
  999. HB1134 - Health insurance; if prior authorization request is approved for prescription drugs.
       Patron(s): Willett
       Summary: Health insurance; prior authorization. Requires that any provider contract between a carrier and a participating health care provider contain specific provisions that require that if a prior authorization request is approved for prescription drugs and such prescription drugs have been scheduled, provided, or delivered to the patient consistent with the authorization, the carrier shall not revoke, limit, condition, modify, or restrict that authorization unless (i) there is evidence that the authorization was obtained based on fraud or misrepresentation; (ii) final actions by the U.S. Food and D
  999. HB1261 - Unemployment compensation; continuation of benefits, repayment of overpayments.
       Patron(s): Tran
       Summary: Unemployment compensation; continuation of benefits; repayment of overpayments. Reinstates provisions of the Code that expired on July 1, 2022, relating to unemployment compensation. The bill provides that when a claimant has had a determination of initial eligibility for unemployment benefits, as determined by the issuance of compensation or waiting-week credit, payments shall continue, subject to a presumption of continued eligibility, until a determination is made that provides the claimant notice and an opportunity to be heard. The bill requires the Virginia Employment Commission to waive
  999. HB1284 - Firefighters and emergency medical services; collective bargaining by providers, definitions.
       Patron(s): Askew
       Summary: Collective bargaining by firefighters and emergency medical services providers. Authorizes firefighters and emergency medical services providers employed by a political subdivision of the Commonwealth to engage in collective bargaining through labor organizations or other designated representatives. The bill provides for the appointment of a three-member board of arbitration regarding any dispute arising between an employer and firefighters or emergency medical services providers. Under the bill, determinations made by such board of arbitration are final on a disputed issue and are binding on
  999. HB1301 - Virginia Post-Disaster Anti-Price Gouging Act; clarifies definition of consumer transaction, etc.
       Patron(s): Kilgore
       Summary: Virginia Post-Disaster Anti-Price Gouging Act ; definitions. Provides that for the purposes of the Virginia Post-Disaster Anti-Price Gouging Act, "consumer transaction" includes transactions involving the advertisement, sale, lease, license, or offering for sale, lease, or license of goods or services to be used for business purposes and the advertisement, sale, lease, license, or contract of employment services to be provided or procured for business purposes. The bill also amends the definition of "time of disaster" to mean the longer of (i) the period of time when a state of emergency decla
  999. HB1417 - Contractors; workers' compensation requirements.
       Patron(s): Kilgore
       Summary: Contractors; workers' compensation requirements. Removes the requirements that the governing body of a locality shall forward a signed certification to the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission and the Commission shall conduct periodic audits of selected contractors to whom such body has issued business licenses, thereby eliminating the need for commissioners of the revenue to send the Commission 61A forms.
  999. HB1418 - Administrative Process Act; exempts certain rules of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission.
       Patron(s): Kilgore
       Summary: Administrative Process Act; rules of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission. Exempts certain rules of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission from the requirements of the Administrative Process Act, provided that the Commission provides an opportunity for public comment on the rules prior to adoption.
  999. HB1453 - Virginia Employment Commission; appeals proceedings, appeal tribunals and Board of Review.
       Patron(s): Price
       Summary: Virginia Employment Commission; appeals proceedings; appeal tribunals and Board of Review; repeal. Specifies that any determination made by the Virginia Employment Commission in regard to any amount required to be deducted and withheld from unemployment compensation for purposes of child support obligations is final. The bill contains a number of technical amendments related to the Commission's appeals proceedings. The bill also repeals provisions related to appeal tribunals and the Commission-appointed Board of Review and contains technical amendments. This bill is identical to SB 655.
  999. HB1491 - Phase I Utility; recovery of development costs associated with small modular nuclear facility.
       Patron(s): O'Quinn
       Summary: Phase I Utility; recovery of development costs associated with small modular nuclear facility. Permits American Electric Power, prior to the filing of an application for a certificate to construct a small modular nuclear facility, to request the State Corporation Commission to review such utility's decision to incur project development costs, as defined in the bill. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2034.

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