TITLE: Virginia Commerce and Labor (S02) Committee Docket — 2020-02-24
DATE: 2020-02-24T00:00:00
SESSION: 2020 Regular (20201)
CHAMBER: Senate
SOURCE_API: https://lis.virginia.gov/Calendar/api/GetDocketsByIdAsync?docketID=15563
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. HB38 - Tanning facilities; prohibits use by persons under age 18.
       Patron(s): Samirah
       Summary: Tanning facilities; use by persons under age 18. Prohibits a tanning facility from allowing individuals under age 18 to use a tanning device at such facility other than a spray tanning device that does not emit ultraviolet light. The bill includes an exception allowing a person licensed by the Board of Medicine to practice medicine or osteopathic medicine to prescribe or use a phototherapy device, as defined in the bill, for any patient regardless of age.
  999. HB46 - Workers' compensation; employer to notify employee of intent.
       Patron(s): Carter
       Summary: Workers' compensation; employer to notify employee of intent. Requires an employer whose employee has filed a claim under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act to advise the employee whether the employer intends to accept or deny the claim or is unable to make such a determination because it lacks sufficient information from the employee or a third party. If the employer is unable to make such a determination because it lacks sufficient information from the employee or a third party, the employer shall so state and identify the needed additional information. If the employer intends to deny th
  999. HB55 - Worker cooperatives; establishes as a category of cooperative associations.
       Patron(s): Carter
       Summary: Worker cooperatives. Establishes worker cooperatives as a category of cooperative associations. A worker cooperative is a stock corporation that has elected to be governed by provisions established by this measure, which include (i) conducting its business primarily for the mutual benefit of its members, (ii) allowing only current and retired employees to be members, (iii) limiting voting rights to current employees, (iv) providing that each employee is entitled to one vote, (v) prohibiting any person from owning more than one membership share, (vi) requiring at least two-thirds of employees t
  999. HB56 - Minimum wage; tipped employees, classification.
       Patron(s): Carter
       Summary: Minimum wage; tipped employees; classification. Prohibits an employer from classifying an individual as a tipped employee if the individual is prohibited by applicable federal or state law or regulation from soliciting tips.
  999. HB66 - Health insurance; cost-sharing payments for prescription insulin drugs.
       Patron(s): Carter
       Summary: Health insurance; cost-sharing payments for prescription insulin drugs. Prohibits health insurance companies and other carriers from setting an amount exceeding $50 per 30-day supply that a covered person is required to pay at the point of sale in order to receive a covered prescription insulin drug. The measure also prohibits a provider contract between a carrier or its pharmacy benefits manager and a pharmacy from containing a provision (i) authorizing the carrier's pharmacy benefits manager or the pharmacy to charge, (ii) requiring the pharmacy to collect, or (iii) requiring a covered perso
  999. HB75 - Electric utilities; electric school bus pilot program.
       Patron(s): Kory
       Summary: Electric utilities; electric school bus pilot program. Authorizes Dominion Energy Virginia to implement a pilot program under which it will deploy electric school buses in participating school divisions in its service territory. The initial phase of the pilot program is limited to the deployment of 50 electric school buses at a cost of up to $13.5 million. In each of the five years thereafter, the pilot program may be expanded by up to 200 additional electric school buses at a cost of up to $54 million per year. The pilot program provides that (i) the utility may use vehicle-to-grid technology
  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. HB167 - Electric utilities; fuel cost recovery.
       Patron(s): Ware
       Summary: Electric utilities; fuel cost recovery. Requires an electric utility, as a condition of approval of any request by an electric utility for recovery through its fuel factor of costs incurred under a natural gas capacity contract not previously subject to review in a fuel factor case, to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the utility has (i) determined that the utility cannot meet its service obligations, giving due regard, in the Commission's sole discretion, to reliability of service and the need to maintain reliable sources of supply, without an additional fuel resource; (ii) reaso
  999. HB416 - Wage or salary history; inquiries prohibited, civil penalty.
       Patron(s): Cole, J.G.
       Summary: Wage or salary history inquiries prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits a prospective employer with 25 employees or more from (i) requiring as a condition of employment that a prospective employee provide or disclose the prospective employee's wage or salary history, (ii) attempting to obtain the wage or salary history of a prospective employee from the prospective employee's current or former employers, (iii) requesting a prospective employee to complete an application for employment that includes a question inquiring about the prospective employee's wage or salary history, or (iv) asking a pro
  999. HB432 - Public utilities; contracting with small, women-owned, or minority-owned businesses.
       Patron(s): Carroll Foy
       Summary: Public utilities; use of small, women-owned, or minority-owned business. Provides that in any proceeding in which the State Corporation Commission is required to determine whether costs incurred by a public utility in its delivery or provision of any goods or service are reasonable or prudent, the incremental portion of the costs incurred as a result of its contracting with a small, women-owned, or minority-owned business to deliver or provide the goods or service will not be found to be unreasonable or imprudently incurred if the costs of contracting with the small, women-owned, or minority-o
  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. HB528 - Electric generation facilities; SCC shall determine retirement of facilities.
       Patron(s): Subramanyam
       Summary: State Corporation Commission; retirement of coal-fired or natural gas-fired electric generation facilities. Requires the State Corporation Commission to determine the amortization period for recovery of any appropriate costs due to the early retirement of any coal-fired or natural gas-fired electric generation facilities owned or operated by any Phase I or Phase II Utility. The bill requires the Commission, in making such determination, to (i) perform an independent analysis of the remaining undepreciated capital costs; (ii) establish a recovery period that best serves ratepayers; and (iii) al
  999. HB572 - Distributed solar & other renewable energy; sales of electricity under third-party agreements.
       Patron(s): Keam
       Summary: Distributed renewable energy. Promotes the establishment of distributed renewable solar and other renewable energy. The measure (i) requires the State Corporation Commission to establish by regulation a shared solar program that allows multifamily customers of investor-owned utilities, other than American Electric Power, to purchase electric power through a subscription in a shared solar facility; (ii) raises the cap on the total amount of renewable energy that can be net metered in a utility's service territory from one percent to six percent, five percent of which is available to all custome
  999. HB573 - Community solar development pilot program; low-income communities.
       Patron(s): Keam
       Summary: Community solar development pilot program; low-income communities. Requires each incumbent electric utility to select for dedication to its community solar development pilot program one or more eligible generating facilities that are located within a low-income community as a condition for the utility's selection for dedication to its program any eligible generating facility that is located outside a low-income community. The bill requires the costs of the selected facilities in low-income communities to equal or exceed the costs of the eligible generating facility that is located outside a lo
  999. HB575 - Electric utilities; energy efficiency programs, stakeholder process.
       Patron(s): Keam
       Summary: Electric utilities; energy efficiency programs; stakeholder process. Requires the stakeholder process to be used by American Electric Power and Dominion Energy Virginia to provide input and feedback on compliance with the total annual energy savings and how such savings affect utility integrated resource plans, recommended policy reforms by which the General Assembly or the State Corporation Commission can ensure maximum and cost-effective deployment of energy efficiency technology across the Commonwealth, and best practices for evaluation, measurement, and verification for the purposes of ass
  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. HB617 - Workers' compensation; repetitive motion injuries.
       Patron(s): Guzman
       Summary: Workers' compensation; repetitive motion injuries. Directs the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission to engage an independent and reputable national research organization to examine the implications of covering workers' injuries caused by repetitive motion through the Virginia workers' compensation system.
  999. HB622 - Limiting employees' sharing of wage information; prohibited, exception, civil penalty.
       Patron(s): Hurst
       Summary: Limiting employees' sharing of wage information prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits an employer from discharging or taking other retaliatory action against an employee because the employee inquired about or discussed with, or disclosed to, another employee any information about either the employee's own wages or other compensation or about any other employee's wages or other compensation. Violations are subject to a civil penalty of $100.
  999. HB714 - Virginia Energy Plan; climate change pressing challenge.
       Patron(s): Reid
       Summary: Virginia Energy Plan; Commonwealth Energy Policy. Adopts findings that climate change is an urgent and pressing challenge for Virginia, that swift decarbonization and a transition to clean energy are required to meet the urgency of the challenge, and that the Commonwealth will benefit from being a leader in deploying a low-carbon energy economy. The measure states that the Commonwealth recognizes that the following objectives will advance the health, welfare, and safety of Virginians: (i) establishing sufficient supply and delivery infrastructure to enable widespread deployment of distributed 
  999. HB798 - Employment; prohibited retaliatory action.
       Patron(s): Delaney
       Summary: Employment; prohibited retaliatory action. Prohibits an employer from discharging, disciplining, threatening, discriminating against, penalizing, or taking other retaliatory action against an employee regarding the employee's compensation, terms, conditions, location, or privileges of employment because the employee (i) reports a violation of any federal or state law or regulation to a supervisor or to any governmental body or law-enforcement official; (ii) is requested by a governmental body or law-enforcement official to participate in an investigation, hearing, or inquiry; (iii) refuses to 
  999. HB822 - Health insurance; credentialing, health care or professional health-related services.
       Patron(s): Head
       Summary: Health insurance; credentialing; health care providers. Requires health insurers and other carriers that credential certain health professionals in their provider networks to establish reasonable protocols and procedures for reimbursing such a professional who has submitted a completed credentialing application to a carrier, within 30 days of being credentialed by the carrier, for services provided to covered persons during the period in which the applicant's completed credentialing application is pending. The bill makes this requirement applicable to a person, corporation, facility, or instit
  999. HB868 - Electric utilities; right to shop.
       Patron(s): Bourne
       Summary: Electric utilities; right to shop. Authorizes individual retail customers of electric energy to purchase electric energy provided 100 percent from renewable energy from any licensed competitive supplier of electric energy, including any incumbent electric utility. Currently, such customers may purchase electric power from such suppliers, other than an incumbent electric utility that is not the incumbent electric utility serving the exclusive territory in which the customer is located, only if their incumbent electric utility does not offer an approved tariff for electric energy provided 100 pe
  999. HB889 - Electric utility regulation and retail competition; SCC to conduct pilot program.
       Patron(s): Mullin
       Summary: Electric utilities; retail competition; pilot program. Requires the State Corporation Commission to conduct a pilot program under which two or more certain nonresidential customers within the service territory of Dominion Energy Virginia, are permitted to purchase electric energy from any supplier of electric energy licensed to sell electric energy within the Commonwealth. The aggregated load participating in the pilot program is limited to 200 megawatts.
  999. HB1133 - Solar and wind energy; projects on previously developed project sites.
       Patron(s): Jones, J.C.
       Summary: Solar and wind energy projects on previously developed project sites. Declares that the construction or purchase by a public utility prior to January 1, 2024, of one or more solar or wind generation facilities located on a previously developed project site in the Commonwealth having in the aggregate a rated capacity that does not exceed 200 megawatts, or the purchase by a public utility of energy, capacity, and environmental attributes from such solar facilities owned by persons other than a public utility, is in the public interest.
  999. HB1184 - Distributed solar & other renewable energy; sales of electricity under third-party agreements.
       Patron(s): Lopez
       Summary: Distributed renewable energy. Promotes the establishment of distributed renewable solar and other renewable energy. The measure (i) requires the State Corporation Commission to establish by regulation a shared solar program that allows multifamily customers of investor-owned utilities, other than American Electric Power, to purchase electric power through a subscription in a shared solar facility; (ii) raises the cap on the total amount of renewable energy that can be net metered in a utility's service territory from one percent to six percent, five percent of which is available to all custome
  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. HB1526 - Electric utility regulation; environmental goals.
       Patron(s): Sullivan
       Summary: Virginia Clean Economy Act. Establishes a schedule by which Dominion Energy Virginia and American Electric Power are required to retire electric generating units located in the Commonwealth that emit carbon as a by-product of combusting fuel to generate electricity and by which they are required to construct, acquire, or enter into agreements to purchase generating capacity located in the Commonwealth using energy derived from sunlight or onshore wind. The measure replaces the existing voluntary renewable energy portfolio standard program (RPS Program) with a mandatory RPS Program. Under the m
  999. HB1576 - Electric utility regulation; energy efficiency programs.
       Patron(s): Kilgore
       Summary: Electric utility regulation; energy efficiency programs; industrial customers. Revises the definition of "large general service customer" from a customer with a verifiable history of demand from 500 kilowatts from a single meter of delivery to one with one megawatt at a single site. Large general service customers are exempt from the costs of certain energy efficiency programs if the State Corporation Commission finds that such customer has implemented energy efficiency programs that have produced or will produce measured and verified results consistent with industry standards and other regula
  999. HB1634 - Shared solar programs; electric utility regulation, etc.
       Patron(s): Jones
       Summary: Shared solar programs. Requires the State Corporation Commission to establish by regulation a shared solar program that allows customers of Dominion Virginia to purchase electric power through a subscription in a shared solar facility, which is defined in the bill as a facility that, among other criteria, generates electricity by means of a solar photovoltaic device with a nameplate capacity rating that does not exceed 5,000 kilowatts. Under the program, a subscriber receives a bill credit for the proportional output of a share solar facility attributable to that subscriber. Subscribers are re
  999. HB1647 - Distributed solar & other renewable energy; sales of electricity under third-party agreements.
       Patron(s): Jones
       Summary: Distributed renewable energy. Promotes the establishment of distributed renewable solar and other renewable energy. The measure (i) requires the State Corporation Commission to establish by regulation a shared solar program that allows multifamily customers of investor-owned utilities, other than American Electric Power, to purchase electric power through a subscription in a shared solar facility; (ii) raises the cap on the total amount of renewable energy that can be net metered in a utility's service territory from one percent to six percent, five percent of which is available to all custome
  999. HB1664 - Electric utilities; offshore wind development.
       Patron(s): Hayes
       Summary: Electric utilities; offshore wind development. Provides that the construction or purchase by a public utility of one or more offshore wind generation facilities located off the Commonwealth's Atlantic shoreline or in federal waters and interconnected directly into the Commonwealth, with an aggregate capacity of up to 5,200 megawatts, is in the public interest. The measure provides that construction by Dominion Energy Virginia of one or more new utility-owned and utility-operated generating facilities utilizing energy derived from offshore wind and located off the Commonwealth's Atlantic shorel