TITLE: Virginia Commerce and Labor (S02) Committee Docket — 2020-02-17 DATE: 2020-02-17T00:00:00 SESSION: 2020 Regular (20201) CHAMBER: Senate SOURCE_API: https://lis.virginia.gov/Calendar/api/GetDocketsByIdAsync?docketID=15562 COMMITTEE_PAGE: https://lis.virginia.gov/committee-details?committeeId=23&sessionCode=20201 COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - Richard L. Saslaw (D) Chair STAFF: Autumn Green, Thomas Stevens DOCKET / AGENDA: [Senate Bills in Committee] 999. HB10 - Student loans; licensing of qualified education loan servicers, civil penalties, report. Patron(s): Simon Summary: Qualified education loan servicers. Prohibits any person from acting as a qualified education loan servicer except in accordance with provisions established by this bill. The bill requires a loan servicer to obtain a license from the State Corporation Commission (SCC) and establishes procedures pertaining to such licenses. Banks, savings institutions, credit unions, nonprofit institutions of higher education, and farm credit systems are exempt from the licensing provisions. The servicing of a qualified education loan encompasses (i) receiving any scheduled periodic payments from a qualified ed 999. HB123 - Nonpayment of wages; cause of action, civil penalty. Patron(s): Carroll Foy Summary: Nonpayment of wages; cause of action; penalties. Provides that an employee has a private cause of action against an employer who fails to pay wages to recover the amount of wages due plus interest at eight percent annually from the date the wages were due. If the court finds that the employer knowingly failed to pay wages to an employee, the court shall award the employee (i) reasonable attorney fees and other costs and (ii) an amount equal to triple the amount of wages due. 999. HB135 - Virginia Consumer Protection Act; assignment of right to receive veterans' benefits. Patron(s): Miyares Summary: Veterans' benefits. Provides that if any person advertises, arranges, offers, or enters into any assignment of right to receive veterans' pension or retirement benefits, such action constitutes a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act if such assignment is prohibited or void under specified federal anti-assignment acts. 999. HB143 - Unemployment compensation; leaving employment to follow military spouse. Patron(s): Ware Summary: Unemployment compensation; leaving employment to follow military spouse. Repeals the sunset provision on the current statutory provision that provides that good cause for leaving employment exists if an employee voluntarily leaves a job to accompany the employee's spouse, who is on active duty in the military or naval services of the United States, to a new military-related assignment established pursuant to a permanent change of duty order from which the employee's place of employment is not reasonably accessible. This provision will presently expire on December 31, 2020. 999. HB154 - Reinsurance credits; conforms Virginia's law regarding credits to insurers for reinsurance, etc. Patron(s): Kilgore Summary: Reinsurance credits . Conforms Virginia's law regarding credits to insurers for reinsurance ceded to approved assuming insurers to the provisions of the Credit for Reinsurance Model Law of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The bill eliminates the reinsurance collateral requirements for assuming insurers that are domiciled in or have their head office in a reciprocal jurisdiction, which is defined in the bill. Under the bill, such assuming insurers are required to maintain a minimum capital and surplus, maintain a minimal solvency or capital ratio, as applicable, and provide 999. HB155 - Banks; trust subsidiaries. Patron(s): Sickles Summary: Banks; trust subsidiaries. Establishes a mechanism by which a subsidiary bank of a Virginia bank holding company that holds trust powers may be substituted in every fiduciary capacity for a trust subsidiary under common ownership with that bank. Such mechanism follows the existing procedures by which (i) a subsidiary bank may be substituted as fiduciary for another bank under common ownership and (ii) a trust subsidiary may be substituted as fiduciary for an owning or affiliated bank. In each case, the determination as to whether the application for substitution will be granted is made by the 999. HB169 - Workers' compensation; occupational disease presumptions. Patron(s): Tyler Summary: Workers' compensation; occupational disease presumption; correctional officers. Adds correctional officers and full-time sworn members of the enforcement division of the Department of Motor Vehicles to the list of public safety employees who are entitled to a presumption that certain infectious diseases are compensable occupational diseases. 999. HB330 - Employment; covenants not to compete, definition of low-wage employees, civil penalty. Patron(s): VanValkenburg Summary: Covenants not to compete; low-wage employees; civil penalty. Prohibits an employer from entering into, enforcing, or threatening to enforce a covenant not to compete between the employer and a low-wage employee. The employer is subject to a civil penalty of $10,000 per violation. The bill defines "low-wage employee" as either (i) an employee, intern, student, apprentice, or trainee whose average weekly earnings are less than the average weekly wage of the Commonwealth or who is employed without pay or (ii) an independent contractor who is compensated for his services at an hourly rate that is 999. HB333 - Virginia Minimum Wage Act; federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Patron(s): Krizek Summary: Virginia Minimum Wage Act; exclusions. Eliminates the exclusion in the Virginia Minimum Wage Act for persons whose earning capacity is impaired by physical deficiency, mental illness, or intellectual disability. 999. HB336 - Nonpayment of wages; investigations. Patron(s): Price Summary: Nonpayment of wages; investigations. Authorizes the Commissioner of Labor and Industry, if he acquires information during an investigation of a complaint of an employer's failure or refusal to pay wages and that information creates a reasonable belief that other employees of the same employer may not have been paid wages, to investigate whether the employer has failed or refused to make a required payment of wages to other employees. The measure also provides that if the Commissioner finds in the course of such investigation that the employer has committed a violation, the Commissioner may ins 999. HB337 - Nonpayment of wages; discriminatory actions prohibited. Patron(s): Price Summary: Nonpayment of wages; discriminatory actions prohibited. Prohibits an employer from discharging or otherwise discriminating against an employee because such employee has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding related to the failure to pay wages, or has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding. The measure authorizes the Commissioner of Labor and Industry to institute proceedings against an employer who has taken such prohibited discriminatory action. Available remedies include reinstatement of the employee, recovery of lost wages, and liquidat 999. HB358 - Public works contracts; definitions, authorization of project labor agreements. Patron(s): Lopez Summary: Project labor agreements; public procurement. Authorizes any public body, including any state or local government, when engaged in procuring products or services or letting contracts for construction, manufacture, maintenance, or operation of public works, to require bidders to enter into or adhere to project labor agreements on the public works projects. The bill has a delayed effective date of May 1, 2021. The bill incorporates HB 122, HB 1202, and HB 1311 and is identical to SB 182. 999. HB395 - Minimum wage; increases to $9.50 per hour effective May 1, 2021. Patron(s): Ward Summary: Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $7.25 per hour to $9.50 per hour effective May 1, 2021; to $11.00 per hour effective January 1, 2022; to $12.00 per hour effective January 1, 2023; to $13.50 per hour effective January 1, 2025; and to $15.00 per hour effective January 1, 2026. For January 1, 2027, and thereafter, the annual minimum wage shall be adjusted to reflect increases in the consumer price index. The measure provides that the increases scheduled for 2025 and 2026 will not become effective unless reenacted by the General Assembly prior 999. HB438 - Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder, law-enforcement officers and firefighters. Patron(s): Heretick Summary: 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, defined as an incident or exposure occurring in the line of duty on or after July 1, 2020, (i) resulting in serious bodil 999. HB440 - Railroads; freight train crew size requirements, civil penalty. Patron(s): Heretick Summary: Railroads; crew size; civil penalty. Requires a train or light engine used in connection with the movement of railroad freight in the Commonwealth to operate with a crew of at least two individuals, unless such movement involves hostler service or utility employees in yard service. The State Corporation Commission shall have discretion to fine a person willfully violating this requirement an amount not to exceed $500 for a first offense and an amount not to exceed $1,000 for a second or subsequent offense. The measure has a delayed effective date of October 1, 2020. 999. HB509 - Security freezes; fees. Patron(s): Bulova Summary: Security freezes on credit reports; fees. Prohibits a credit reporting agency from requiring a consumer to pay a fee to place a security freeze on the consumer's credit report. Currently, a consumer may be required to pay a fee of no more than $5 to place a security freeze on his credit report. Victims of identity theft are currently exempt from the fee. 999. HB576 - Undergrounding electric transmission lines; pilot program. Patron(s): Keam Summary: Undergrounding electric transmission lines; pilot program. Specifies that one of the two projects that may be included in the pilot program for the undergrounding of electric transmission lines shall be for the relocation or conversion of an existing 230-kilovolt overhead line to an underground line. The measure provides that such a project may be approved if the estimated additional cost of placing the line, in whole or in part, underground does not exceed $40 million or, if greater than $40 million, does not exceed 2.5 times the costs of placing the same line overhead, which costs are borne 999. HB582 - Employees of local governments; collective bargaining. Patron(s): Guzman Summary: Labor and employment; collective bargaining; employees of counties, cities, and towns. Permits counties, cities, and towns to adopt local ordinances authorizing them to (i) recognize any labor union or other employee association as a bargaining agent of any public officers or employees, except for Constitutional officers and their employees, and including public school employees and (ii) collectively bargain or enter into any collective bargaining contract with any such union or association or its agents with respect to any matter relating to them or their employment. The bill provides that fo 999. HB689 - Wage payment statements; statement of earnings. Patron(s): Aird Summary: Wage payment statements. Limits the scope of the requirement enacted in 2019 that requires periodic wage payment statements to show the number of hours worked during the pay period. The measure requires the statement (i) to show the number of hours worked if the employee is either (a) paid on the basis of the number of hours worked or (b) paid on the basis of a salary that is less than the standard salary level adopted by the U.S. Department of Labor establishing an exemption from the overtime premium pay requirements of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and (ii) to include sufficient infor 999. HB727 - PSAP dispatchers; definitions, telecommunicator cardiopulmonary resuscitation, EMD program. Patron(s): Hope Summary: E-911 dispatchers; training in telecommunicator cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency medical dispatch. Requires each public safety answering point (PSAP) to provide training and equipment for each of its dispatchers in high-quality telecommunicator cardiopulmonary resuscitation (TCPR) instruction, which is defined in the measure as the delivery by trained 911 telecommunicators of high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation instruction for acute events requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation, including out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. The measure (i) requires the State Board of Health to 999. HB783 - Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for certain diseases, conditions before 7/1/20. Patron(s): Askew Summary: Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for certain diseases. Adds cancers of the colon, brain, or testes to the list of cancers that are presumed to be an occupational disease covered by the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act when firefighters or certain employees develop the cancer. The presumption shall not apply for any individual who was diagnosed with one of the conditions before July 1, 2020. The measure removes the compensability requirement that the employee who develops cancer had contact with a toxic substance encountered in the line of duty. The bill also reduces the n 999. HB789 - Consumer lending; replaces references to payday loans with term "short-term loans." Patron(s): Bagby Summary: Consumer lending. Replaces references to payday loans with the term "short-term loans." The measure caps the interest and fees that may be charged under a short-term loan at an annual rate of 36 percent, plus a maintenance fee; increases the maximum amount of such loans from $500 to $2,500; and sets the duration of such loans at a minimum of four months, subject to exceptions, and a maximum of 24 months. Short-term loan licensees are required to make a reasonable attempt to verify a borrower's income and may not collect fees and charges that exceed 50 percent of the original loan amount if suc 999. HB795 - Health insurance; association health plans. Patron(s): Hurst Summary: Health insurance; association health plans. Provides that for policies of group accident and sickness insurance issued to an association, members of such an association may include (i) a self-employed individual and (ii) an employer member with at least one employee that is domiciled in the Commonwealth. The bill provides that for such policies issued to an association that covers at least 51 members and employees of employer members of such association on the first day of the plan year the policies shall be considered a large group market plan and are required to meet various provisions in th 999. HB800 - Employment; disclosure of terms. Patron(s): Delaney Summary: Employment; disclosure of terms. Requires every employer of employees who are 18 years of age or older who work for daily wages or are employed to work on a project for a total of 10 days or less, with some exceptions specified in the measure, to furnish to such employees, at the time of the employee's hiring, a written disclosure of information regarding the terms of employment, including the name and address of the employer, the rate of pay and basis thereof, and the regular payday. The measure also requires employers to notify its employees in writing of any changes to this information. 999. HB807 - Health care; explanation of benefits, sensitive health care services. Patron(s): Delaney Summary: Health care services; explanation of benefits. Authorizes the State Corporation Commission to adopt regulations that establish alternative methods of delivery of the explanation of benefits, provided that such alternative method is in compliance with the provisions of federal regulations regarding the right to request privacy protection for protected health information. This bill is identical to SB 766. 999. HB813 - Credit unions; board of directors compensation. Patron(s): Ward Summary: Credit unions; director compensation. Provides that compensation of members of a credit union's board of directors and members of the credit and supervisory committees shall be determined by a written policy approved by the board of directors, provided that annual compensation for an individual member does not exceed $6,000. The measure removes the existing prohibition on compensating members of a credit union's board of directors for services as a member of the board. This bill is identical to SB 296. 999. HB831 - Utility easements; location of broadband and other communications facilities. Patron(s): Carroll Foy Summary: Utility easements; location of broadband and other communications facilities. Declares that it is the policy of the Commonwealth that (i) easements for the location and use of electric and communications facilities may be used to provide or expand broadband or other communications services; (ii) the use of easements to provide or expand broadband or other communications services is in the public interest; (iii) the installation, replacement, or use of public utility conduit, including the costs of installation, replacement, or use of conduit of a sufficient size to accommodate the installation 999. HB833 - Virginia Public Procurement Act; public works contracts, prevailing wage rate, penalty. Patron(s): Carroll Foy Summary: Prevailing wage; public works contracts; penalty. Requires contractors and subcontractors under any public contract with a state agency, or with a locality that has adopted an ordinance requiring the payment of prevailing wages, for public works to pay wages, salaries, benefits, and other remuneration to any mechanic, laborer, or worker employed, retained, or otherwise hired to perform services in connection with the public contract for public works at the prevailing wage rate. The provisions of the bill would not apply to any contract for public works of $250,000 or less. The Commissioner of 999. HB835 - Water utility or sewer utility asset acquisitions; fair market valuations. Patron(s): Sullivan Summary: Utility Transfers Act; water and sewer utilities; asset acquisitions. Directs the State Corporation Commission to establish rules governing fair market valuations of water utility or sewer utility asset acquisitions to determine the initial rate base for the purpose of post-acquisition rate recovery. Such rules shall identify information to be filed in addition to all other filing requirements in the Utility Transfers Act (§ 56-88 et seq.). This bill is identical to SB 831. 999. HB840 - Health insurance; formula and enteral nutrition products, definitions. Patron(s): Murphy Summary: Health insurance; formula and enteral nutrition products. Requires health insurers, health care subscription plans, and health maintenance organizations whose policy, contract, or plan includes coverage for medicines to classify medically necessary formula and enteral nutrition products as medicine and to include coverage for medically necessary formula and enteral nutrition products for covered individuals requiring treatment for an inherited metabolic disorder. Such coverage is required to be provided on the same terms and subject to the same conditions imposed on other medicines covered und 999. HB951 - Mutual assessment property and casualty insurers; notice by electronic delivery. Patron(s): Ransone Summary: Mutual assessment property and casualty insurers; notice by electronic delivery. Authorizes a mutual assessment property and casualty insurer to provide notice of assessment by electronic delivery. Under current law, such notice may only be provided personally or by mail. 999. HB984 - Misclassification of workers; cause of action. Patron(s): Delaney Summary: Misclassification of workers; cause of action. Authorizes an individual who has not been properly classified as an employee to bring a civil action for damages against his employer for failing to properly classify the employee if the employer had knowledge of the individual's misclassification. The court may award damages in the amount of any wages, salary, employment benefits, including expenses incurred by the employee that would otherwise have been covered by insurance, or other compensation lost to the individual, a reasonable attorney fee, and the costs incurred by the employee in bringin 999. HB1037 - Health insurance; short-term limited-duration medical plans, definitions, effective date. Patron(s): Rasoul Summary: Health insurance; short-term limited-duration medical plans. Prohibits carriers from issuing in the Commonwealth, on or after July 1, 2021, any short-term limited-duration medical plan with a duration that exceeds three months or that can be renewed or extended beyond six months, or if the plan's issuance would result in a covered person being covered by a short-term limited-duration medical plan for more than six months in any 12-month period. The bill prohibits a carrier from issuing a short-term limited-duration medical plan during an annual open enrollment period. The bill has a delayed ef 999. HB1149 - Virginia Stock Corporation Act; clarifying and technical changes. Patron(s): Keam Summary: Virginia Stock Corporation Act. Makes clarifying and technical changes to the Virginia Stock Corporation Act. Many of the measure's provisions revise the legislation enacted in the 2019 Session that comprehensively updated the Act in accordance with the Model Business Corporation Act. Several of the measure's provisions address the documentation required to be filed when a corporation converts to another type of business entity. The measure also repeals a section that provides that a foreign corporation authorized to transact business in the Commonwealth that domesticates to a domestic corpora 999. HB1199 - Employee misclassification; retaliatory actions prohibited, civil penalty. Patron(s): Tran Summary: Employee misclassification; retaliatory actions prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits an employer from discharging, disciplining, threatening, discriminating against, or penalizing an employee or independent contractor because the employee or independent contractor reported or plans to report that an employer or any officer or agent has failed to properly classify an individual as an employee and failed to pay required benefits or other contributions. The measure also prohibits such actions against an employee or independent contractor who is requested or subpoenaed by an appropriate authority 999. HB1240 - Legal services plans; registration information or fees. Patron(s): Wilt Summary: Legal services plans. Authorizes legal services organizations to provide to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services any registration information or fees on behalf of their legal services plan sellers. Currently, sellers are required to register with the Department individually. The measure also (i) allows legal services plans to be written in Virginia by a foreign corporation that is licensed as an insurer in its state of domicile and authorized to write legal services plans under the laws of any state; (ii) authorizes a foreign insurer issuing legal services plans to file 999. HB1244 - Virginia Telephone Privacy Protection Act; telephone solicitation calls. Patron(s): Heretick Summary: Virginia Telephone Privacy Protection Act. Provides that for the purposes of the Virginia Telephone Privacy Act (the Act), "telephone solicitation call" includes any text message sent to any wireless telephone with a Virginia area code, or to a wireless telephone registered to any natural person who is a resident of the Commonwealth, for the purpose of offering or advertising any property, goods, or services for sale, lease, license, or investment, including offering or advertising an extension of credit or for the purpose of fraudulent activity. The bill prohibits a telephone solicitor from e 999. HB1251 - Health insurance; definitions, payment to out-of-network providers, emergency services. Patron(s): Torian Summary: Health insurance; payment to out-of-network providers. Provides that when an enrollee receives emergency services from an out-of-network health care provider or receives out-of-network surgical or ancillary services at an in-network facility, the enrollee is not required to pay the out-of-network provider any amount other than the applicable cost-sharing requirement and such cost-sharing requirement cannot exceed the cost-sharing requirement that would apply if the services were provided in-network. The measure also provides that the health carrier's required payment to the out-of-network prov 999. HB1266 - Septic system inspectors; requirements to perform a septic system inspection. Patron(s): Hodges Summary: Septic system inspectors; requirements to perform a septic system inspection. Authorizes any individual who holds a valid onsite sewage system operator, onsite sewage system installer, or onsite soil evaluator license pursuant to Chapter 23 (Waterworks and Wastewater Works Operators) of Title 54.1 to perform a septic system inspection in connection with any real estate transaction, including refinancings. 999. HB1273 - Organ, eye, or tissue transplantation; discrimination prohibited. Patron(s): O'Quinn Summary: Organ, eye, or tissue transplantation; discrimination prohibited. Provides that an individual who is a candidate to receive an anatomical gift for organ, eye, or tissue transplantation and who is otherwise eligible to receive such gift shall not be deemed ineligible to receive an anatomical gift or denied services related to organ, eye, or tissue transplantation solely because of his physical, intellectual, developmental, or other disability. The bill also prohibits each insurer proposing to issue individual or group accident and sickness insurance policies providing hospital, medical and surg 999. HB1290 - Pharmacy benefits managers; licensure and regulation definitions. Patron(s): Hodges Summary: Pharmacy benefits managers; licensure and regulation. Provides that no person is authorized to provide pharmacy benefits management services or otherwise act as a pharmacy benefits manager without first obtaining a license from the State Corporation Commission. The measure prohibits a carrier on its own or through its contracted pharmacy benefits manager or representative of a pharmacy benefits manager from (i) causing or knowingly permitting the use of any advertisement, promotion, solicitation, representation, proposal, or offer that is untrue; (ii) charging a pharmacist or pharmacy a fee re 999. HB1334 - Insurance data security; required programs and notifications. Patron(s): Keam Summary: Insurance data security; required programs and notifications. Establishes standards for insurance data security and for the investigation of a cybersecurity event and the notification to the Commissioner of Insurance and affected consumers of a cybersecurity event. The bill requires insurers to develop, implement, and maintain a comprehensive written information security program based on an assessment of its risk and that contains administrative, technical, and physical safeguards for the protection of nonpublic information and its information system. The bill requires investigation of potenti 999. HB1339 - Securities Act; equity crowdfunding exemption. Patron(s): Kilgore Summary: Securities Act; crowdfunding exemption. Repeals the sunset provision on the existing measure that authorizes the State Corporation Commission to adopt an exemption for limited offerings of securities by small and startup companies, known as equity crowdfunding, from the registration provisions of the Securities Act. These crowdfunding provisions, which were enacted in 2015, are currently scheduled to expire on July 1, 2020. The measure also broadens the existing exemption to apply to offerings conducted in accordance with Rule 147A adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 999. HB1376 - Virginia Wireless Service Authority Act; appointments to board. Patron(s): Austin Summary: Virginia Wireless Service Authority Act; appointments to board. Provides that a board established under the Virginia Wireless Service Authority Act may contain either five or seven members, rather than five members as required under current law. This bill is identical to SB 953. 999. HB1380 - Uniform Directed Trust Act; codifies Act. Patron(s): Leftwich Summary: Uniform Directed Trust Act. Codifies the Uniform Directed Trust Act, which expressly validates terms of a trust that provide for a trust director, a term that is defined in the Act, and prescribes a set of rules for directed trusts, including allocation of fiduciary duties. 999. HB1428 - Virginia Health Benefit Exchange; created. Patron(s): Sickles Summary: Virginia Health Benefit Exchange. Creates the Virginia Health Benefit Exchange, which will be established and operated by a new division within the State Corporation Commission (SCC). The Exchange shall facilitate the purchase and sale of qualified health plans and qualified dental plans to qualified individuals and qualified employers. The Exchange shall make qualified plans available to qualified individuals and qualified employers by July 1, 2023, unless the SCC postpones this date. The measure authorizes the SCC to review and approve accident and sickness insurance premium rates applicable 999. HB1457 - Securities Act; exemption for certain nonissuer distributions. Patron(s): O'Quinn Summary: Securities Act; exemption for nonissuer distributions. Exempts certain nonissuer distributions from the registration provisions of the Securities Act. 999. HB1503 - Health insurance; coverage for autism spectrum disorder, individual and small group markets, etc. Patron(s): Ward Summary: Health insurance; coverage for autism spectrum disorder. Requires health insurers, corporations providing health care subscription plans, and health maintenance organizations to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder under insurance policies, subscription contracts, or health care plans issued in the individual market or small group markets. The existing requirement that such coverage be provided for policies, contracts, or plans issued in the large group market is not affected. The provision applies with respect to insurance policies, subscription contrac 999. HB1553 - Debt settlement services providers; licensure and regulation by State Corporation Commission. Patron(s): Willett Summary: Debt settlement services providers; penalties. Provides for the licensure and regulation of debt settlement services providers by the State Corporation Commission. The measure defines "debt settlement services" as any action or negotiation initiated or taken by or on behalf of any consumer with any creditor of the consumer for the purpose of obtaining debt forgiveness of a portion of the credit extended by the creditor to the consumer or reduction of payments, charges, or fees payable by the consumer. The measure prohibits licensees from accepting a fee from consumers prior to providing the co 999. HB1558 - Workers' compensation; Ombudsman program created. Patron(s): Kilgore Summary: Workers' compensation; Ombudsman program. Authorizes the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission to create an Ombudsman program and appoint an ombudsman to administer such program. The program's purpose is to provide neutral educational information and assistance to persons who are not represented by an attorney, including those persons who have claims pending or docketed before the Commission.