TITLE: Virginia Commerce and Labor (S02) Committee Docket — 2021-02-15
DATE: 2021-02-15T00:00:00
SESSION: 2021 Special I (20212)
CHAMBER: Senate
SOURCE_API: https://lis.virginia.gov/Calendar/api/GetDocketsByIdAsync?docketID=18873
COMMITTEE_PAGE: https://lis.virginia.gov/committee-details?committeeId=23&sessionCode=20212

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
  - Richard L. Saslaw (D) Chair

STAFF: Autumn Green, Thomas Stevens

DOCKET / AGENDA:

[Senate Bill in Committee]
  999. HB1754 - Employer or other person; retaliatory discharge of employee prohibited.
       Patron(s): Carter
       Summary: Employment; retaliatory discharge of employee; Workers' Compensation. Prohibits an employer or other person from discharging or taking other retaliatory action against an employee if such action is motivated by the knowledge or belief that the employee has filed a claim or taken or intends to take certain actions under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act. Currently, retaliatory discharges are prohibited only if the employer discharges an employee solely because the employee has taken or intends to take such an action.
  999. HB1807 - Health maintenance organizations; insolvency.
       Patron(s): Kilgore
       Summary: Health maintenance organizations; insolvency. Updates provisions of the Code of Virginia related to insolvency procedures for health maintenance organizations (HMOs) that were inconsistent with the method to address insolvencies provided for members of the Virginia Life, Accident and Sickness Insurance Guaranty Association. HMOs became members of the Association following legislation passed during the 2018 Session.
  999. HB1818 - Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for certain diseases.
       Patron(s): Heretick
       Summary: Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for certain diseases. Provides that the occupational disease presumption for death caused by hypertension or heart disease will apply for salaried or volunteer emergency medical services personnel who have at least five years of service and are operating in a locality that has legally adopted a resolution declaring that it will provide one or more of such presumptions. The provisions of the bill do not apply to any individual who was diagnosed with hypertension or heart disease before July 1, 2021. This bill incorporates HB 2080 and is ident
  999. HB1822 - Health insurance; cost-sharing payments for prescription asthma inhalers.
       Patron(s): Askew
       Summary: Health insurance; cost-sharing payments for prescription asthma inhalers. Prohibits health insurance companies and other carriers from setting an amount exceeding $50 per 30-day supply of a tier one or tier two prescription asthma inhaler that a covered person is required to pay at the point of sale in order to receive a covered prescription asthma inhaler unless the carrier is prohibited from providing the additional benefits under state or federal law. The measure also prohibits a provider contract between a carrier or its pharmacy benefits manager and a pharmacy from containing a provision 
  999. HB1829 - Health insurance; credentialing health care providers.
       Patron(s): Head
       Summary: Health insurance; credentialing; health care providers. Provides that provisions requiring health insurers and other carriers to establish reasonable protocols and procedures for reimbursing a health professional for services provided while such professional's credentialing application is pending also apply to certain health maintenance organizations and to corporations operating dental or optometric plans.
  999. HB1832 - Virginia Highway Corporation Act; alteration of certificate of authority, powers and duties of SCC.
       Patron(s): Subramanyam
       Summary: Virginia Highway Corporation Act; alteration of certificate of authority; powers and duties of the State Corporation Commission. Requires any application for a transfer, extension, or amendment of a certificate of authority issued under the Virginia Highway Corporation Act to include information demonstrating the financial fitness of the entity applying to operate the roadway. The bill requires an applicant for a toll increase to provide a forward-looking analysis return that will be reviewed by the Department of Transportation that demonstrates that the proposed rates will be reasonable to th
  999. HB1834 - Electric generating facility closures; public disclosure, integrated resource plans.
       Patron(s): Subramanyam
       Summary: Electric utilities; closure of carbon-emitting generating units. Requires each owner of a large carbon-emitting power plant to provide notice to relevant localities and state agencies about the decision to close the plant within 30 days of making such decision The bill requires localities in which such facilities are located, and planning district commissions in such localities, to conduct public hearings regarding the impending closure within six months of receipt of such notice. The bill requires the Division of Energy to maintain a public website listing the facilities subject to the requir
  999. HB1884 - Income tax, state; voluntary inclusion of personal & contact information on appropriate forms.
       Patron(s): Sickles
       Summary: Facilitated enrollment program. Directs the Department of Taxation to include space on the appropriate individual income tax forms for voluntary inclusion of personal and contact information. Such information may be shared with the Department of Medical Assistance Services, the Department of Social Services, or the Virginia Health Benefit Exchange, as applicable, for use in determining eligibility for certain programs. Beginning with tax year 2022, the Department of Taxation shall also include a checkoff box for taxpayers to indicate their consent to the sharing of tax information with the Dep
  999. HB1892 - Property and casualty insurance form; approval of form by State Corporation Commission.
       Patron(s): Ayala
       Summary: Property and casualty insurance form approval. Permits an insurer that receives approval of an insurance policy form or endorsement from the State Corporation Commission to use the form as soon as it is approved rather than waiting 30 days after the filing date to use it as is current law.
  999. HB1896 - Essential health benefits; abortion coverage.
       Patron(s): Hudson
       Summary: Essential health benefits; abortion coverage. Removes the prohibition on the provision of coverage for abortions in any qualified health insurance plan that is sold or offered for sale through a health benefits exchange established or operating in Virginia.
  999. HB1907 - Electric utilities; advanced renewable energy buyers.
       Patron(s): Sullivan
       Summary: Electric utilities; advanced renewable energy buyers. Provides that certain accelerated renewable energy buyers that are customers of Dominion Energy Virginia and had subscribed to, as of March 1, 2020, a voluntary companion experimental tariff offering for the purchase of renewable attributes from renewable energy facilities that requires a renewable facilities agreement and the purchase of a minimum of 2,000 renewable attributes annually is exempt from the allocation of the net costs related to procurement of new solar or onshore wind generation capacity, energy, or environmental attributes,
  999. HB1914 - Electric utilities; triennial review, period costs, rate reductions.
       Patron(s): Helmer
       Summary: Electric utilities; period costs. Provides that in a triennial review proceeding, certain utility generation and distribution costs that are not proposed for recovery under various cost recovery mechanisms, at the State Corporation Commission's discretion, may be attributed to the test periods under review and deemed fully recovered or, if the utility has earned below a certain threshold, may be deferred for recovery over future periods. Under current law, such attribution is required unless the utility has earned below a certain threshold, in which case deferred recovery of the costs is requi
  999. HB1923 - Broadband capacity; expands existing pilot program, municipal broadband authorities.
       Patron(s): Ayala
       Summary: Electric utilities; broadband capacity pilot program. Expands an existing pilot program under which Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power are authorized to provide or make available broadband capacity to Internet service providers in areas of the Commonwealth that are unserved by broadband to include municipal Internet service providers. The current program is restricted to nongovernmental Internet service providers. This bill is identical to SB 1334.
  999. HB1925 - Virginia Brownfield and Coal Mine Renewable Energy Grant Fund and Program; established, report.
       Patron(s): Kilgore
       Summary: Virginia Brownfield and Coal Mine Renewable Energy Grant Fund and Program; handbook. Establishes the Virginia Brownfield and Coal Mine Renewable Energy Grant Fund and Program (the Fund and Program). The bill provides that no allocation of funds shall be made to the Fund or Program unless federal funds are available to cover the cost of such allocation. The Fund and Program shall be administered by the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy for the purpose of awarding grants to renewable energy projects that are located on brownfields or previously coal mined lands, both defined in the bill. 
  999. HB1942 - Public adjusters; continuing education requirements.
       Patron(s): Kilgore
       Summary: Public adjusters; continuing education. Provides for continuing education requirements for public adjusters and that the insurance continuing education board (the Board), appointed by the State Corporation Commission, is responsible for establishing and monitoring standards for such requirements. Currently, the Commission is given such responsibility and the Board is responsible for the continuing education requirements for other insurance agents and agencies. The bill maintains the current requirement that a public adjuster complete a minimum of 24 hours of approved credits, including three h
  999. HB1965 - State Air Pollution Control Board; low-emissions and zero-emissions vehicle program.
       Patron(s): Bagby
       Summary: State Air Pollution Control Board; low-emissions and zero-emissions vehicle program. Directs the State Air Pollution Control Board to implement a low-emissions and zero-emissions vehicle program for motor vehicles with a model year of 2025 and later. Regulations adopted by the Board to implement the program are exempt from the Administrative Process Act and shall not become effective prior to January 1, 2024. The bill requires that the regulations adopted by the Board will allow any motor vehicle manufacturer to establish a Virginia-specific zero-emission vehicle credit account and to make an 
  999. HB1984 - Electric utilities; triennial review proceeding by SCC, fair rates of return.
       Patron(s): Hudson
       Summary: Electric utilities; triennial review; rates of return. Provides that the State Corporation Commission, in any triennial review proceeding, including the first triennial review proceeding conducted after January 1, 2021, for Dominion Energy Virginia, may use any methodology it finds consistent with the public interest to determine fair rates of return on common equity for the utility's generation and distribution services. In any such triennial review, regardless of whether the utility earned above or below its authorized rate of return during the test period under review, the Commission also m
  999. HB1985 - Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for COVID-19.
       Patron(s): Hurst
       Summary: Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for COVID-19. Establishes a presumption that COVID-19 causing the death or disability of health care providers is an occupational disease compensable under the Workers' Compensation Act. The bill provides that the COVID-19 virus is established by a positive diagnostic test for COVID-19 and signs and symptoms of COVID-19 that require medical treatment. The bill provides that such presumption applies to any death or disability occurring on or after March 12, 2020, caused by infection from the COVID-19 virus, provided that for any such death or
  999. HB1994 - Small agricultural generators; expands definition.
       Patron(s): Murphy
       Summary: Small agricultural generators; definition. Expands the definition of small agricultural generator to include any business operating a small agricultural generating facility that has been granted a manufacturer license as a distillery, limited distillery, brewery, limited brewery, winery, or farm winery. Under current law, small agricultural generators include only those businesses operating a small agricultural generating facility as part of an agricultural business. This bill incorporates HB 2215.
  999. HB2008 - Health insurance; authorization of drug prescribed for the treatment of a mental disorder, etc.
       Patron(s): Heretick
       Summary: Health insurance; authorization of drug prescribed for the treatment of a mental disorder. Requires that any provider contract between a carrier and a participating health care provider with prescriptive authority, or its contracting agent, contain provisions that require, when a carrier has previously approved prior authorization for any drug prescribed for the treatment of a mental disorder listed in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association, no additional prior authorization can be required if (i) t
  999. HB2032 - Employees providing domestic service; application of laws applicable to employee safety.
       Patron(s): Gooditis
       Summary: Employment; domestic service. Provides that individuals who are engaged in providing domestic service are not excluded from employee protection laws.
  999. HB2034 - Electric utilities; nonjurisdictional customers, third party power purchase agreements.
       Patron(s): Hurst
       Summary: Electric utilities; nonjurisdictional customers; third party power purchase agreements. Provides that for pilot programs under which an owner or operator of a renewable energy generation facility sells electricity to an eligible customer-generator through a third party power purchase agreement, both jurisdictional and nonjurisdictional customers may participate on a first-come, first-serve basis.
  999. HB2036 - Virginia Employment Commission; communications with parties, use of electronic means, report.
       Patron(s): Tran
       Summary: Virginia Employment Commission; communications with parties; report. Authorizes the Virginia Employment Commission to send notices and other communications related to claims brought under the Virginia Unemployment Compensation Act through email or other electronic means in lieu of mail if a party to the claim so elects. The bill requires the Commission, if an electronic communication fails to be transmitted successfully, to send a new notice by first-class mail to the party's alternative address on record. The bill directs the Commission to report the number of unemployment insurance claimants
  999. HB2037 - Unemployment compensation; benefits, suitable work, benefits charges.
       Patron(s): Tran
       Summary: Unemployment compensation; benefits; suitable work; benefits charges. Provides that under specific conditions related to the COVID-19 virus work will not be deemed suitable and benefits will not be denied to any otherwise eligible individual for refusing to accept new work if (i) the individual presents satisfactory evidence that such individual (a) has tested positive for COVID-19, (b) has been otherwise directed by a physician to quarantine due to COVID-19, or (c) is providing care for an immediate family member who has tested positive for COVID-19 or (ii) the individual has a reasonable bel
  999. HB2040 - Unemployment compensation; continuation of benefits, repayment of overpayments.
       Patron(s): Hudson
       Summary: Unemployment compensation; failure to respond; continuation of benefits; repayment of overpayments. 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 the obligation to repay any overpayment if (i) the overpayment was made without fault on the
  999. HB2048 - Electric utility regulation; purchasing from competitive suppliers.
       Patron(s): Bourne
       Summary: Electric utility regulation; purchasing from competitive suppliers. 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 fo
  999. HB2049 - Electric utilities; eliminates customer credit reinvestment offsets.
       Patron(s): Bourne
       Summary: Electric utilities; customer credit reinvestment offsets. Eliminates customer credit reinvestment offsets under which a utility is allowed, upon request, to reduce or eliminate amounts of overearnings that otherwise would be required to be credited to customers by applying a customer credit reinvestment offset for expenses on new solar and wind generation facilities and electric distribution grid transformation projects.
  999. HB2160 - Electric utilities; triennial review, fair rate of return, customer bill credits.
       Patron(s): Tran
       Summary: Electric utilities; fair rate of return; customer bill credits. Provides that the State Corporation Commission may, in any triennial review, establish a range above or below the authorized rate of return such that if the combined rate of return on common equity earned by the generation and distribution services is within that range, such combined return is not to be considered either excessive or insufficient, respectively. The bill provides that during a triennial review period, if a utility's earned return on its generation and distribution services falls below that range due to certain cost
  999. HB2200 - Electric utilities; triennial review.
       Patron(s): Jones
       Summary: Electric utilities; triennial review. Makes various changes to procedures under which the State Corporation Commission reviews the earnings and sets the rates of investor-owned incumbent electric utilities. The bill requires the Commission, in determining a fair rate of return on common equity for an investor-owned utility, to consider the average of either (i) the returns on common equity reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission for the three most recent annual periods for which such data is available by not less than a majority of a selected peer group of the utility or (ii) the au
  999. HB2207 - Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for COVID-19.
       Patron(s): Jones
       Summary: Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for COVID-19. Establishes a presumption that COVID-19 causing the death or disability of firefighters, emergency medical services personnel, law-enforcement officers, correctional officers, and regional jail officers is an occupational disease compensable under the Workers' Compensation Act. The bill provides that such presumption applies to any death or disability occurring on or after July 1, 2020, caused by infection from the COVID-19 virus, provided that for any such death or disability that occurred on or after July 1, 2020, and prior t
  999. HB2219 - Pharmacies; freedom of choice by covered individual.
       Patron(s): Hodges
       Summary: Pharmacies; freedom of choice. Provides that no insurance carrier, corporation providing preferred provider subscription contracts, or health maintenance organization providing health care plans or its pharmacy benefits manager shall prohibit a covered individual from selecting the pharmacy of his choice to furnish specialty pharmaceutical benefits under the covered individual's policy. The bill provides that no pharmacy that meets the terms and conditions of participation shall be precluded from obtaining a direct service agreement or participating provider agreement and that any request for 
  999. HB2250 - Humane Cosmetics Act; civil penalties.
       Patron(s): Kory
       Summary: Humane Cosmetics Act; civil penalties. Prohibits a cosmetics manufacturer from: (i) conducting or contracting for cosmetic animal testing that occurs in the Commonwealth on or after January 1, 2022; (ii) manufacturing or importing for profit into the Commonwealth any cosmetic or ingredient thereof, if the cosmetics manufacturer knew or reasonably should have known that the cosmetic or any component thereof was developed or manufactured using cosmetic animal testing that was conducted on or after January 1, 2022; or (iii) beginning July 1, 2022, selling or offering for sale within the Commonwea
  999. HB2269 - Solar energy projects and energy storage systems; revenue share for projects and systems.
       Patron(s): Heretick
       Summary: Revenue share for solar energy projects and energy storage systems. Allows localities to assess a revenue share of up to $1400 per megawatt on energy storage systems. The bill provides that on July 1, 2026, and every five years thereafter, the maximum amount of the revenue share that a locality may impose on certain solar energy projects and energy storage systems shall be increased by 10 percent. No increase may be made to any revenue share imposed by a locality on a solar energy project or energy storage systems for which an application has been filed with the locality and such application h
  999. HB2282 - State Corporation Commission; transportation electrification, utility recovery of certain costs.
       Patron(s): Sullivan
       Summary: State Corporation Commission; transportation electrification; utility recovery of certain costs; report. Directs the State Corporation Commission (the Commission) to report on policy proposals to accelerate transportation electrification in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Commission to submit, no later than May 1, 2022, a report to the General Assembly recommending policy proposals that could govern public electric utility programs to accelerate widespread transportation electrification in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Commission to utilize a public process, facilitated by a 
  999. HB2304 - Phase I or Phase II electric utilities; provision of broadband capacity.
       Patron(s): Tyler
       Summary: Provision of broadband capacity by Phase I or Phase II electric utilities. Makes permanent the pilot program under which a Phase I or Phase II electric utility is permitted to petition the State Corporation Commission to provide broadband capacity to unserved areas of the Commonwealth. The bill expands the program to allow for the participation of municipalities and government-owned broadband authorities. The bill provides that investor-owned electric utilities may recover costs of and revenue generated from providing broadband capacity that serves as an electric grid transformation project in
  999. HB2330 - Percentage of Income Payment Program and Fund; DHCD & DSS to adopt rules, etc., for adoption.
       Patron(s): Kory
       Summary: Electric utilities; Percentage of Income Payment Program. Requires the Department of Social Services (the Department), in consultation with, as it deems necessary, the Department of Housing and Community Development, to adopt rules or establish guidelines for the adoption, implementation, and general administration of the Percentage of Income Payment Program (PIPP) and the Percentage of Income Payment Fund (Fund). The bill requires the PIPP to commence no later than one year after the Department publishes such rules or guidelines. The bill establishes the Fund for the purposes of implementing 
  999. HB2332 - Commonwealth Health Reinsurance Program; established, report.
       Patron(s): Sickles
       Summary: Commonwealth Health Reinsurance Program. Requires the State Corporation Commission (the Commission) to establish, upon approval of a state innovation waiver request pursuant to § 1332 of the Affordable Care Act, a reinsurance program, known as the Commonwealth Health Reinsurance Program (the Program). The bill provides that the Program is funded through federal funding provided under the state innovation waiver and state appropriations. The bill requires the General Assembly to appropriate a sum sufficient to ensure the operation of the program. The bill provides requirements for payment param