TITLE: Virginia Commerce and Labor (S02) Committee Docket — 2023-01-30
DATE: 2023-01-30T00:00:00
SESSION: 2023 Regular (20231)
CHAMBER: Senate
SOURCE_API: https://lis.virginia.gov/Calendar/api/GetDocketsByIdAsync?docketID=19278
COMMITTEE_PAGE: https://lis.virginia.gov/committee-details?committeeId=23&sessionCode=20231

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

STAFF: Hobie Lehman, Jasmine VanDyke, Marvi Ali, Thomas Stevens

DOCKET / AGENDA:

[Senate Bill in Committee]
  999. SB840 - Safety & Health Codes Bd. of Dept. of Labor & Industry; regulation regarding cranes & derricks, etc.
       Patron(s): Bell
       Summary: Department of Labor and Industry; Safety and Health Codes Board; Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Program; use of cranes and derricks in construction; report. Requires the Safety and Health Codes Board of the Department of Labor and Industry to adopt regulations to the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Program, regarding cranes and derricks in construction, to allow an active load stabilization mechanism or passive load stabilization mechanism, defined in the bill, to be used if necessary to prevent hazardous rotation of a load as determined by the project manager or safety engine
  999. SB849 - Public utilities; customer consent to install smart meter.
       Patron(s): Chase
       Summary: Public utilities; customer consent to install smart meter. Prohibits a public utility from installing a smart meter, defined in the bill, on the premises of a customer without first obtaining such customer's consent to such installation. The bill requires a public utility, for any smart meter installed by a public utility prior to July 1, 2023, to provide the customer an opportunity to consent to the previous installation. The bill requires a public utility to offer to remove a smart meter without cost to the customer that was installed without obtaining the customer's consent. The bill prohib
  999. SB886 - Health care providers and grocery store workers; employers to provide paid sick leave.
       Patron(s): Surovell
       Summary: Paid sick leave; health care providers and grocery store workers. Requires employers to provide paid sick leave to health care providers and grocery store workers. Under current law, employers are only required to provide paid sick leave to certain home health workers. The bill removes requirements that workers work on average at least 20 hours per week or 90 hours per month to be eligible for paid sick leave. Under the bill, an employee of an employer with fewer than 25 employees is not considered a grocery store worker. The bill provides that certain health care providers may waive their rig
  999. SB927 - Health carrier fair business standards; SCC's Bureau of Insurance to evaluate.
       Patron(s): Favola
       Summary: State Corporation Commission; work group; health carrier fair business standards. Directs the State Corporation Commission's Bureau of Insurance to convene a work group to develop recommendations for regulatory and legislative changes necessary to improve the process for determining if an insurance carrier has failed to implement minimum fair business standards in the performance of its provider contracts for the prompt payment of claims. The Bureau shall submit a report of the findings and recommendations of the work group by December 1, 2023. This bill is identical to HB 1739.
  999. SB1040 - Employee's social security number; prohibited use by employer, civil penalty.
       Patron(s): McPike
       Summary: Employer use of use of employee's social security number; prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits an employer from using an employee's social security number or any derivative thereof as such employee's identification number or including an employee's social security number or any number derived thereof on any identification card or badge, any access card or badge, or any other similar card or badge issued to such employee. The bill imposes a civil penalty of up to $100 for any knowing violation of the prohibition.
  999. SB1083 - Shared solar programs; SCC to establish by regulation
       Patron(s): Edwards, Surovell
       Summary: Shared solar programs; Phase I Utility; report. Requires the State Corporation Commission to establish by regulation a shared solar program that allows customers of a Phase I Utility to purchase electric power through a subscription in a shared solar facility, defined in the bill as a facility that, among other criteria, generates electricity by means of a solar photovoltaic device with a nameplate capacity that does not exceed 5,000 kilowatts. The bill provides that a customer's net bill for participation in the shared solar program shall not exceed the minimum bill that the Commission is req
  999. SB1101 - Paid family and medical leave program; Virginia Employment Commission required to establish.
       Patron(s): Boysko
       Summary: Paid family and medical leave program. Requires the Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer a paid family and medical leave program with benefits beginning January 1, 2026. Under the program, benefits are paid to eligible employees for family and medical leave. Funding for the program is provided through premiums assessed to employers and employees beginning in 2025. The amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee's average weekly wage, not to exceed 80 percent of the state weekly wage, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the statewid
  999. SB1121 - Coal mine methane; options to encourage capture & beneficial use.
       Patron(s): Hackworth
       Summary: Coal mine methane; capture and beneficial use; Department of Energy to evaluate policy options; report. States that it is the policy of the Commonwealth to encourage the capture and beneficial use of coal mine methane, defined in the bill. The bill directs the Department of Energy to evaluate policy options to encourage the capture and beneficial use of coal mine methane and submit a report of its findings by November 15, 2023. This bill is identical to HB 1643.
  999. SB1125 - Renewable energy portfolio standard requirements; State Corporation Commission authority, report.
       Patron(s): Hackworth
       Summary: Renewable energy portfolio standard requirements; State Corporation Commission authority; report. Requires electric utilities to petition the State Corporation Commission for relief from the requirements of certain provisions of the Code that mandate the retirement of electric generating units that are coal-fired or emit carbon as a by-product of combusting fuel to generate electricity if such requirements would threaten the reliability or security of electric service to customers. Under current law, such electric utilities are permitted to petition the Commission for such relief if such requi
  999. SB1136 - Wage or salary history of prospective employees; prohibition on employer seeking history.
       Patron(s): Boysko
       Summary: Wage or salary history inquiries prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits a prospective employer from (i) seeking the wage or salary history of a prospective employee; (ii) relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in determining the wages or salary the prospective employee is to be paid upon hire; (iii) relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in considering the prospective employee for employment; (iv) refusing to interview, hire, employ, or promote a prospective employee or otherwise retaliating against a prospective employee for not providing wage o
  999. SB1189 - Disability insurance; disability arising out of childbirth.
       Patron(s): Dunnavant
       Summary: Disability insurance; disability arising out of childbirth. Requires each insurer proposing to issue individual or group accident and sickness insurance policies providing short-term disability income protection coverage whose policies provide coverage for short-term disability arising out of childbirth to, notwithstanding a disability determination or medical necessity requirement, provide for 12 weeks of income protection coverage for a payable benefit of at least 12 weeks immediately following childbirth. The provisions of the bill apply to any such a policy renewed, delivered, or issued fo
  999. SB1217 - Earned wage access services; the Bureau of SCC to conduct stakeholder process.
       Patron(s): Mason
       Summary: Financial institutions; earned wage access services; stakeholder process; report. Directs the Bureau of Financial Institutions of the State Corporation Commission to convene a stakeholder process regarding the provision or offering of earned wage access services that includes representatives from providers of earned wage access services, consumer advocates, and the Office of the Attorney General. The bill requires the Bureau of Financial Institutions to report its findings and recommendations by November 1, 2023.
  999. SB1249 - Ticket resale; deceptive trade practices prohibited, definitions.
       Patron(s): Bell
       Summary: Internet ticketing platforms and resellers; deceptive trade practices. Prohibits an Internet ticketing platform or reseller, as defined in the bill, from using or displaying any trademarked or copyrighted URL or other mark or symbol of an operator, a rights holder, or a primary ticket provider without the consent of such operator, rights holder, or ticket provider and prohibits the use or display of text, images, website graphics, website display, or website addresses substantially similar to an operator's website in a manner that could reasonably be expected to mislead a potential purchaser. 
  999. SB1265 - Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act; retail competitiveness, review proceedings, etc.
       Patron(s): Saslaw
       Summary: Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act. Authorizes Dominion Energy Virginia, on or before July 1, 2024, to petition the State Corporation Commission (the Commission) for a financing order for deferred fuel costs. The bill sets forth specific transaction terms and other provisions related to the financing order. Before granting a financing order, the Commission is required to find that (i) the proposed issuance of deferred fuel cost bonds is in the public interest and the associated deferred fuel cost charges are just and reasonable and (ii) the structuring and pricing of the deferred fuel co
  999. SB1266 - Public utilities; minimum bill a subscriber to a shared solar program is required to pay.
       Patron(s): Surovell
       Summary: Public utilities; shared solar; minimum bill. Provides that a customer's net bill for participation in the shared solar program shall not exceed the minimum bill that the State Corporation Commission is required to establish, provides considerations for the Commission in establishing such minimum bill, such as minimizing the costs shifted to nonparticipating customers, and provides that the calculation of a customer's minimum bill shall be based on the kilowatt hours billed by the utility rather than the subscriber's portion of shared solar facility generation. The bill increases the shared so
  999. SB1301 - Managed care health insurance plan licensees; network adequacy for mental health care services.
       Patron(s): Deeds
       Summary: Managed care health insurance plan licensees; network adequacy for mental health care services. Requires each managed care health insurance plan licensee (licensee) to (i) provide a sufficient number and mix of services, specialists, and practice sites to meet covered persons' mental health care needs; (ii) ensure that covered persons have telephone access 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to responsible and knowledgeable mental health care practitioners capable of assessing the covered persons' conditions and, as necessary, providing for appropriate services; and (iii) incorporate strategies
  999. SB1311 - Va. Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act; raises cap for an award pursuant to Act.
       Patron(s): Deeds
       Summary: Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act. Raises from $100,000 to $500,000 the cap for an award pursuant to the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act. This bill is a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.
  999. SB1321 - Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act; regulation of rates, proceeding to review base rates.
       Patron(s): McClellan, Deeds
       Summary: Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act; regulation of rates. Provides, that in any proceeding to establish base rates for Appalachian Electric Power or Dominion Energy Virginia conducted by the State Corporation Commission (the Commission), if the Commission determines in its sole discretion that the utility's existing base rates will, on a going-forward basis, either produce (i) revenues in excess of the utility's authorized rate of return or (ii) revenues below the utility's authorized rate of return, then the Commission is required to order any reductions or increases, as applicable and n
  999. SB1323 - Electric utilities; energy efficiency savings targets.
       Patron(s): McClellan, Hashmi
       Summary: Electric utilities; energy efficiency savings targets. Requires the State Corporation Commission to establish for Dominion Energy Virginia annual energy efficiency savings targets for customers who are low-income, elderly, disabled, or veterans of military service. The bill requires the Commission, in establishing such targets, to seek to optimize energy efficiency and the health and safety benefits of utility energy efficiency programs. The bill requires Dominion Energy Virginia to make best efforts to coordinate such energy efficiency programs with any health and safety upgrades provided thr
  999. SB1336 - Health insurance; short-term limited-duration medical plans.
       Patron(s): Reeves
       Summary: Health insurance; short-term limited-duration medical plans. Authorizes a health insurance carrier to issue short-term limited-duration medical plans with an expiration date that is less than 12 months after the original effective date of the contract, policy, or plan and, taking into account renewals or extensions, that has a duration that is no longer than 36 months. Under current law, a carrier is prohibited from selling a short-term limited-duration medical plan that exceeds three months or that can be renewed or extended beyond six months. The bill provides that, notwithstanding any of th
  999. SB1338 - Health insurance; pharmacy benefits managers, employee welfare benefit plans.
       Patron(s): Edwards
       Summary: Health insurance; pharmacy benefits managers; employee welfare benefit plans. Provides that entities providing or administering self-insured or self-funded employee welfare benefit plans are subject to provisions related to pharmacy benefits management, including certain prohibited conduct and recordkeeping requirements.
  999. SB1347 - Health insurance; coverage for mobile crisis response services and residential crisis units.
       Patron(s): Cosgrove
       Summary: Health insurance; mental health benefits; coverage for mobile crisis response services and residential crisis stabilization units. Requires health insurance carriers to provide coverage for mobile crisis response services, defined in the bill, and support and stabilization services provided in a residential crisis stabilization unit, defined in the bill, to the extent that such services are covered in other settings or modalities, regardless of any difference in billing codes. The bill requires the State Corporation Commission, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, 
  999. SB1397 - Health Insurance Reform Commission; review of essential health benefits benchmark plan.
       Patron(s): Surovell
       Summary: Health Insurance Reform Commission; review of essential health benefits plan. Requires that the Health Insurance Reform Commission review the essential health benefits benchmark plan and establish a process for such review. The bill requires the Commission, in coordination with the Bureau of Insurance, to conduct a review of the essential health benefits benchmark plan in 2025 and every five years thereafter. The bill requires during such review (i) the Bureau to convene a stakeholder work group to make recommendations to the Commission, (ii) the Bureau to estimate the effects of certain refer
  999. SB1399 - Essential health benefits benchmark plan; Bureau of Insurance to select a new plan.
       Patron(s): Surovell
       Summary: Health insurance; essential health benefits benchmark plan. Requires the Bureau of Insurance to select a new essential health benefits benchmark plan for the 2025 plan year that includes, in addition to the essential health benefits package included in the existing benchmark plan, coverage for prosthetic devices and components and formula and enteral nutrition products as medicine. The bill contains an emergency clause. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Health Insurance Reform Commission. This bill is identical to HB 2198.
  999. SB1409 - Medicare; supplement policies for certain individuals under age 65.
       Patron(s): Barker
       Summary: Medicare supplement policies for certain individuals under age 65 . Requires each insurer issuing Medicare supplement policies or certificates in the Commonwealth to offer the opportunity of enrolling in at least one of its issued Medicare supplement policies or certificates to any individual under age 65 who resides in the Commonwealth, is enrolled in Medicare Part A and B, and is eligible for Medicare by reason of disability, including individuals with end-stage renal disease. Effective January 1, 2024, the bill also prohibits an insurer from charging individuals who become eligible for Medi
  999. SB1425 - Health insurance; ensuring fairness in cost-sharing.
       Patron(s): Mason
       Summary: Health insurance; ensuring fairness in cost-sharing. Amends provisions related to rebates provided by carriers and health benefit plans to health plan enrollees by defining defined cost-sharing, price protection rebates, and pharmacy benefits management services. The bill requires that an enrollee's defined cost-sharing for each prescription drug shall be calculated at the point of sale based on a price that is reduced by an amount equal to at least 80 percent of all rebates received or expected to be received in connection with the dispensing or administration of the prescription drug.
  999. SB1435 - Unemployment compensation; reduces time to file appeal.
       Patron(s): Bell
       Summary: Unemployment compensation; time to file appeal. Reduces from 30 days to 15 days (i) the time after notice of the determination of a claim within which a claimant is required to file an appeal before such determination becomes final and (ii) the time after the date of notification or mailing of an appeal tribunal's decision on an unemployment compensation claim within which a party is required to file a subsequent appeal before such decision becomes final.
  999. SB1441 - Offshore wind capacity; development, cost recovery.
       Patron(s): Locke
       Summary: Development of offshore wind capacity; cost recovery. Requires the State Corporation Commission, in conducting its review of requests for cost recovery by a Phase II Utility for costs associated with generating facilities utilizing energy derived from offshore wind, to give due consideration to the economic development benefits of the project for the Commonwealth, including capital investments and job creation, arising from project construction and operation and the manufacture of wind turbine generator components and subcomponents. The bill also accelerates the timeline from 2034 to 2032 for 
  999. SB1447 - Disconnections of utility service; SCC to establish limitations, etc.
       Patron(s): Edwards
       Summary: State Corporation Commission; limitations on disconnection of utility service by certain utilities. Directs the State Corporation Commission to conduct a proceeding for the purpose of establishing regulatory limitations on the authority of an investor-owned electric utility, natural gas utility, water utility, wastewater utility, or electric cooperative subject to regulation by the Commission to disconnect service to any customer for the nonpayment of bills or fees during a statewide emergency declared by the Governor in response to a widespread communicable disease of public health threat, du
  999. SB1477 - Electric utility; offshore wind affiliate.
       Patron(s): Lewis
       Summary: Electric utility; offshore wind affiliate. Authorizes Dominion Energy Virginia, in connection with certain offshore wind projects, to establish an offshore wind affiliate, defined in the bill, for the purpose of securing a noncontrolling equity financing partner for the project. Under the bill, such offshore wind affiliate is authorized to operate as a public utility in association with the utility. The bill requires the State Corporation Commission, in acting upon any request for associated cost recovery, to utilize the capital structure and cost of capital of the utility and to disregard the
  999. SB1482 - State Corporation Commission; increases number of members.
       Patron(s): Surovell
       Summary: State Corporation Commission; members. Increases, until the next expiration of a member's term, the number of members of the State Corporation Commission from three to four. The bill provides that the newest member will serve a term of six years that begins July, 1, 2023. The bill provides that upon the next expiration of a term of a member of the Commission or upon the expiration of the remaining term of a vacancy, whichever occurs earlier, no member shall be elected to fill the expired seat, and the Commission shall consist of three members.
  999. SB1485 - Natural gas utilities; retail supply choice.
       Patron(s): Morrissey
       Summary: Natural gas utilities; retail supply choice. Allows every person access to distribution service or retail natural gas from a natural gas company authorized to provide natural gas service to the area where the service will be received. The bill prohibits a public entity from adopting an ordinance, resolution, or any other requirement that limits or prohibits customers from acquiring natural gas service and supply from both utility and non-utility gas companies. The bill prohibits public entities from denying building permits solely based on a proposed utility provider and directs public entitie
  999. SB1496 - Natural gas utility facility replacement projects; exemption from planning, etc.
       Patron(s): Petersen
       Summary: Natural gas utility facility replacement projects; exemption from planning, subdivision of land, and zoning provisions. Revises the definition of "natural gas utility facility replacement project" to specify that such projects are subject to the provisions that govern construction and repair permits within right-of-way lines of public roadways but are exempt from the provisions that govern planning, subdivision of land, and zoning.
  999. SB1509 - Home solicitation sale; clarifies definition.
       Patron(s): Mason
       Summary: Home solicitation sale; definition. Clarifies that the definition of a "home solicitation sale" includes a solicitation of the sale or lease of goods or services in which the seller engages in a solicitation without prior invitation or appointment. The bill excludes from the definition of "home solicitation sale" (i) consumer sales made by an entity regulated by the Bureau of Insurance, an affiliate of any such entity, or a dealer licensed by the Motor Vehicle Dealer Board and (ii) sales made entirely by telephone or electronic means at the initiation of the buyer without any other contact bet
  999. SB1541 - Utilities; SCC shall issue final order on certain projects within a certain timeframe.
       Patron(s): Lewis
       Summary: State Corporation Commission; certain electricity transmission projects. Directs the State Corporation Commission to issue its final order for certificates of public convenience and necessity regarding certain projects no later than 270 days after the filing date by a utility. For such projects filed by a utility prior to January 1, 2023, the bill requires the State Corporation Commission to issue its final order for certificates of public convenience and necessity within 90 days of the bill's effective date. This bill is identical to HB 2482.
  999. SB1545 - Furloughed federal employees & contractors; civil relief.
       Patron(s): Rouse
       Summary: Civil relief; citizens of the Commonwealth furloughed or otherwise not receiving wages or payments due to partial closure of the federal government; emergency. Provides a 30-day stay of eviction and foreclosure proceedings for tenants, homeowners, and owners who rent to a tenant a one-family to four-family residential dwelling unit who request a stay and provide written proof, defined in the bill, that such tenant or homeowner is (i) an employee of the United States government, (ii) an independent contractor for the United States government, or (iii) an employee of a company under contract wit

[Senate Bill in Committee]
  999. SB840 - Safety & Health Codes Bd. of Dept. of Labor & Industry; regulation regarding cranes & derricks, etc.
       Patron(s): Bell
       Summary: Department of Labor and Industry; Safety and Health Codes Board; Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Program; use of cranes and derricks in construction; report. Requires the Safety and Health Codes Board of the Department of Labor and Industry to adopt regulations to the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Program, regarding cranes and derricks in construction, to allow an active load stabilization mechanism or passive load stabilization mechanism, defined in the bill, to be used if necessary to prevent hazardous rotation of a load as determined by the project manager or safety engine
  999. SB849 - Public utilities; customer consent to install smart meter.
       Patron(s): Chase
       Summary: Public utilities; customer consent to install smart meter. Prohibits a public utility from installing a smart meter, defined in the bill, on the premises of a customer without first obtaining such customer's consent to such installation. The bill requires a public utility, for any smart meter installed by a public utility prior to July 1, 2023, to provide the customer an opportunity to consent to the previous installation. The bill requires a public utility to offer to remove a smart meter without cost to the customer that was installed without obtaining the customer's consent. The bill prohib
  999. SB886 - Health care providers and grocery store workers; employers to provide paid sick leave.
       Patron(s): Surovell
       Summary: Paid sick leave; health care providers and grocery store workers. Requires employers to provide paid sick leave to health care providers and grocery store workers. Under current law, employers are only required to provide paid sick leave to certain home health workers. The bill removes requirements that workers work on average at least 20 hours per week or 90 hours per month to be eligible for paid sick leave. Under the bill, an employee of an employer with fewer than 25 employees is not considered a grocery store worker. The bill provides that certain health care providers may waive their rig
  999. SB927 - Health carrier fair business standards; SCC's Bureau of Insurance to evaluate.
       Patron(s): Favola
       Summary: State Corporation Commission; work group; health carrier fair business standards. Directs the State Corporation Commission's Bureau of Insurance to convene a work group to develop recommendations for regulatory and legislative changes necessary to improve the process for determining if an insurance carrier has failed to implement minimum fair business standards in the performance of its provider contracts for the prompt payment of claims. The Bureau shall submit a report of the findings and recommendations of the work group by December 1, 2023. This bill is identical to HB 1739.
  999. SB1040 - Employee's social security number; prohibited use by employer, civil penalty.
       Patron(s): McPike
       Summary: Employer use of use of employee's social security number; prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits an employer from using an employee's social security number or any derivative thereof as such employee's identification number or including an employee's social security number or any number derived thereof on any identification card or badge, any access card or badge, or any other similar card or badge issued to such employee. The bill imposes a civil penalty of up to $100 for any knowing violation of the prohibition.
  999. SB1083 - Shared solar programs; SCC to establish by regulation
       Patron(s): Edwards, Surovell
       Summary: Shared solar programs; Phase I Utility; report. Requires the State Corporation Commission to establish by regulation a shared solar program that allows customers of a Phase I Utility to purchase electric power through a subscription in a shared solar facility, defined in the bill as a facility that, among other criteria, generates electricity by means of a solar photovoltaic device with a nameplate capacity that does not exceed 5,000 kilowatts. The bill provides that a customer's net bill for participation in the shared solar program shall not exceed the minimum bill that the Commission is req
  999. SB1101 - Paid family and medical leave program; Virginia Employment Commission required to establish.
       Patron(s): Boysko
       Summary: Paid family and medical leave program. Requires the Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer a paid family and medical leave program with benefits beginning January 1, 2026. Under the program, benefits are paid to eligible employees for family and medical leave. Funding for the program is provided through premiums assessed to employers and employees beginning in 2025. The amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee's average weekly wage, not to exceed 80 percent of the state weekly wage, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the statewid
  999. SB1121 - Coal mine methane; options to encourage capture & beneficial use.
       Patron(s): Hackworth
       Summary: Coal mine methane; capture and beneficial use; Department of Energy to evaluate policy options; report. States that it is the policy of the Commonwealth to encourage the capture and beneficial use of coal mine methane, defined in the bill. The bill directs the Department of Energy to evaluate policy options to encourage the capture and beneficial use of coal mine methane and submit a report of its findings by November 15, 2023. This bill is identical to HB 1643.
  999. SB1125 - Renewable energy portfolio standard requirements; State Corporation Commission authority, report.
       Patron(s): Hackworth
       Summary: Renewable energy portfolio standard requirements; State Corporation Commission authority; report. Requires electric utilities to petition the State Corporation Commission for relief from the requirements of certain provisions of the Code that mandate the retirement of electric generating units that are coal-fired or emit carbon as a by-product of combusting fuel to generate electricity if such requirements would threaten the reliability or security of electric service to customers. Under current law, such electric utilities are permitted to petition the Commission for such relief if such requi
  999. SB1136 - Wage or salary history of prospective employees; prohibition on employer seeking history.
       Patron(s): Boysko
       Summary: Wage or salary history inquiries prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits a prospective employer from (i) seeking the wage or salary history of a prospective employee; (ii) relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in determining the wages or salary the prospective employee is to be paid upon hire; (iii) relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in considering the prospective employee for employment; (iv) refusing to interview, hire, employ, or promote a prospective employee or otherwise retaliating against a prospective employee for not providing wage o
  999. SB1189 - Disability insurance; disability arising out of childbirth.
       Patron(s): Dunnavant
       Summary: Disability insurance; disability arising out of childbirth. Requires each insurer proposing to issue individual or group accident and sickness insurance policies providing short-term disability income protection coverage whose policies provide coverage for short-term disability arising out of childbirth to, notwithstanding a disability determination or medical necessity requirement, provide for 12 weeks of income protection coverage for a payable benefit of at least 12 weeks immediately following childbirth. The provisions of the bill apply to any such a policy renewed, delivered, or issued fo
  999. SB1217 - Earned wage access services; the Bureau of SCC to conduct stakeholder process.
       Patron(s): Mason
       Summary: Financial institutions; earned wage access services; stakeholder process; report. Directs the Bureau of Financial Institutions of the State Corporation Commission to convene a stakeholder process regarding the provision or offering of earned wage access services that includes representatives from providers of earned wage access services, consumer advocates, and the Office of the Attorney General. The bill requires the Bureau of Financial Institutions to report its findings and recommendations by November 1, 2023.
  999. SB1249 - Ticket resale; deceptive trade practices prohibited, definitions.
       Patron(s): Bell
       Summary: Internet ticketing platforms and resellers; deceptive trade practices. Prohibits an Internet ticketing platform or reseller, as defined in the bill, from using or displaying any trademarked or copyrighted URL or other mark or symbol of an operator, a rights holder, or a primary ticket provider without the consent of such operator, rights holder, or ticket provider and prohibits the use or display of text, images, website graphics, website display, or website addresses substantially similar to an operator's website in a manner that could reasonably be expected to mislead a potential purchaser. 
  999. SB1265 - Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act; retail competitiveness, review proceedings, etc.
       Patron(s): Saslaw
       Summary: Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act. Authorizes Dominion Energy Virginia, on or before July 1, 2024, to petition the State Corporation Commission (the Commission) for a financing order for deferred fuel costs. The bill sets forth specific transaction terms and other provisions related to the financing order. Before granting a financing order, the Commission is required to find that (i) the proposed issuance of deferred fuel cost bonds is in the public interest and the associated deferred fuel cost charges are just and reasonable and (ii) the structuring and pricing of the deferred fuel co
  999. SB1266 - Public utilities; minimum bill a subscriber to a shared solar program is required to pay.
       Patron(s): Surovell
       Summary: Public utilities; shared solar; minimum bill. Provides that a customer's net bill for participation in the shared solar program shall not exceed the minimum bill that the State Corporation Commission is required to establish, provides considerations for the Commission in establishing such minimum bill, such as minimizing the costs shifted to nonparticipating customers, and provides that the calculation of a customer's minimum bill shall be based on the kilowatt hours billed by the utility rather than the subscriber's portion of shared solar facility generation. The bill increases the shared so
  999. SB1301 - Managed care health insurance plan licensees; network adequacy for mental health care services.
       Patron(s): Deeds
       Summary: Managed care health insurance plan licensees; network adequacy for mental health care services. Requires each managed care health insurance plan licensee (licensee) to (i) provide a sufficient number and mix of services, specialists, and practice sites to meet covered persons' mental health care needs; (ii) ensure that covered persons have telephone access 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to responsible and knowledgeable mental health care practitioners capable of assessing the covered persons' conditions and, as necessary, providing for appropriate services; and (iii) incorporate strategies
  999. SB1311 - Va. Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act; raises cap for an award pursuant to Act.
       Patron(s): Deeds
       Summary: Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act. Raises from $100,000 to $500,000 the cap for an award pursuant to the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act. This bill is a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.
  999. SB1321 - Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act; regulation of rates, proceeding to review base rates.
       Patron(s): McClellan, Deeds
       Summary: Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act; regulation of rates. Provides, that in any proceeding to establish base rates for Appalachian Electric Power or Dominion Energy Virginia conducted by the State Corporation Commission (the Commission), if the Commission determines in its sole discretion that the utility's existing base rates will, on a going-forward basis, either produce (i) revenues in excess of the utility's authorized rate of return or (ii) revenues below the utility's authorized rate of return, then the Commission is required to order any reductions or increases, as applicable and n
  999. SB1323 - Electric utilities; energy efficiency savings targets.
       Patron(s): McClellan, Hashmi
       Summary: Electric utilities; energy efficiency savings targets. Requires the State Corporation Commission to establish for Dominion Energy Virginia annual energy efficiency savings targets for customers who are low-income, elderly, disabled, or veterans of military service. The bill requires the Commission, in establishing such targets, to seek to optimize energy efficiency and the health and safety benefits of utility energy efficiency programs. The bill requires Dominion Energy Virginia to make best efforts to coordinate such energy efficiency programs with any health and safety upgrades provided thr
  999. SB1336 - Health insurance; short-term limited-duration medical plans.
       Patron(s): Reeves
       Summary: Health insurance; short-term limited-duration medical plans. Authorizes a health insurance carrier to issue short-term limited-duration medical plans with an expiration date that is less than 12 months after the original effective date of the contract, policy, or plan and, taking into account renewals or extensions, that has a duration that is no longer than 36 months. Under current law, a carrier is prohibited from selling a short-term limited-duration medical plan that exceeds three months or that can be renewed or extended beyond six months. The bill provides that, notwithstanding any of th
  999. SB1338 - Health insurance; pharmacy benefits managers, employee welfare benefit plans.
       Patron(s): Edwards
       Summary: Health insurance; pharmacy benefits managers; employee welfare benefit plans. Provides that entities providing or administering self-insured or self-funded employee welfare benefit plans are subject to provisions related to pharmacy benefits management, including certain prohibited conduct and recordkeeping requirements.
  999. SB1347 - Health insurance; coverage for mobile crisis response services and residential crisis units.
       Patron(s): Cosgrove
       Summary: Health insurance; mental health benefits; coverage for mobile crisis response services and residential crisis stabilization units. Requires health insurance carriers to provide coverage for mobile crisis response services, defined in the bill, and support and stabilization services provided in a residential crisis stabilization unit, defined in the bill, to the extent that such services are covered in other settings or modalities, regardless of any difference in billing codes. The bill requires the State Corporation Commission, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, 
  999. SB1397 - Health Insurance Reform Commission; review of essential health benefits benchmark plan.
       Patron(s): Surovell
       Summary: Health Insurance Reform Commission; review of essential health benefits plan. Requires that the Health Insurance Reform Commission review the essential health benefits benchmark plan and establish a process for such review. The bill requires the Commission, in coordination with the Bureau of Insurance, to conduct a review of the essential health benefits benchmark plan in 2025 and every five years thereafter. The bill requires during such review (i) the Bureau to convene a stakeholder work group to make recommendations to the Commission, (ii) the Bureau to estimate the effects of certain refer
  999. SB1399 - Essential health benefits benchmark plan; Bureau of Insurance to select a new plan.
       Patron(s): Surovell
       Summary: Health insurance; essential health benefits benchmark plan. Requires the Bureau of Insurance to select a new essential health benefits benchmark plan for the 2025 plan year that includes, in addition to the essential health benefits package included in the existing benchmark plan, coverage for prosthetic devices and components and formula and enteral nutrition products as medicine. The bill contains an emergency clause. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Health Insurance Reform Commission. This bill is identical to HB 2198.
  999. SB1409 - Medicare; supplement policies for certain individuals under age 65.
       Patron(s): Barker
       Summary: Medicare supplement policies for certain individuals under age 65 . Requires each insurer issuing Medicare supplement policies or certificates in the Commonwealth to offer the opportunity of enrolling in at least one of its issued Medicare supplement policies or certificates to any individual under age 65 who resides in the Commonwealth, is enrolled in Medicare Part A and B, and is eligible for Medicare by reason of disability, including individuals with end-stage renal disease. Effective January 1, 2024, the bill also prohibits an insurer from charging individuals who become eligible for Medi
  999. SB1425 - Health insurance; ensuring fairness in cost-sharing.
       Patron(s): Mason
       Summary: Health insurance; ensuring fairness in cost-sharing. Amends provisions related to rebates provided by carriers and health benefit plans to health plan enrollees by defining defined cost-sharing, price protection rebates, and pharmacy benefits management services. The bill requires that an enrollee's defined cost-sharing for each prescription drug shall be calculated at the point of sale based on a price that is reduced by an amount equal to at least 80 percent of all rebates received or expected to be received in connection with the dispensing or administration of the prescription drug.
  999. SB1435 - Unemployment compensation; reduces time to file appeal.
       Patron(s): Bell
       Summary: Unemployment compensation; time to file appeal. Reduces from 30 days to 15 days (i) the time after notice of the determination of a claim within which a claimant is required to file an appeal before such determination becomes final and (ii) the time after the date of notification or mailing of an appeal tribunal's decision on an unemployment compensation claim within which a party is required to file a subsequent appeal before such decision becomes final.
  999. SB1441 - Offshore wind capacity; development, cost recovery.
       Patron(s): Locke
       Summary: Development of offshore wind capacity; cost recovery. Requires the State Corporation Commission, in conducting its review of requests for cost recovery by a Phase II Utility for costs associated with generating facilities utilizing energy derived from offshore wind, to give due consideration to the economic development benefits of the project for the Commonwealth, including capital investments and job creation, arising from project construction and operation and the manufacture of wind turbine generator components and subcomponents. The bill also accelerates the timeline from 2034 to 2032 for 
  999. SB1447 - Disconnections of utility service; SCC to establish limitations, etc.
       Patron(s): Edwards
       Summary: State Corporation Commission; limitations on disconnection of utility service by certain utilities. Directs the State Corporation Commission to conduct a proceeding for the purpose of establishing regulatory limitations on the authority of an investor-owned electric utility, natural gas utility, water utility, wastewater utility, or electric cooperative subject to regulation by the Commission to disconnect service to any customer for the nonpayment of bills or fees during a statewide emergency declared by the Governor in response to a widespread communicable disease of public health threat, du
  999. SB1477 - Electric utility; offshore wind affiliate.
       Patron(s): Lewis
       Summary: Electric utility; offshore wind affiliate. Authorizes Dominion Energy Virginia, in connection with certain offshore wind projects, to establish an offshore wind affiliate, defined in the bill, for the purpose of securing a noncontrolling equity financing partner for the project. Under the bill, such offshore wind affiliate is authorized to operate as a public utility in association with the utility. The bill requires the State Corporation Commission, in acting upon any request for associated cost recovery, to utilize the capital structure and cost of capital of the utility and to disregard the
  999. SB1482 - State Corporation Commission; increases number of members.
       Patron(s): Surovell
       Summary: State Corporation Commission; members. Increases, until the next expiration of a member's term, the number of members of the State Corporation Commission from three to four. The bill provides that the newest member will serve a term of six years that begins July, 1, 2023. The bill provides that upon the next expiration of a term of a member of the Commission or upon the expiration of the remaining term of a vacancy, whichever occurs earlier, no member shall be elected to fill the expired seat, and the Commission shall consist of three members.
  999. SB1485 - Natural gas utilities; retail supply choice.
       Patron(s): Morrissey
       Summary: Natural gas utilities; retail supply choice. Allows every person access to distribution service or retail natural gas from a natural gas company authorized to provide natural gas service to the area where the service will be received. The bill prohibits a public entity from adopting an ordinance, resolution, or any other requirement that limits or prohibits customers from acquiring natural gas service and supply from both utility and non-utility gas companies. The bill prohibits public entities from denying building permits solely based on a proposed utility provider and directs public entitie
  999. SB1496 - Natural gas utility facility replacement projects; exemption from planning, etc.
       Patron(s): Petersen
       Summary: Natural gas utility facility replacement projects; exemption from planning, subdivision of land, and zoning provisions. Revises the definition of "natural gas utility facility replacement project" to specify that such projects are subject to the provisions that govern construction and repair permits within right-of-way lines of public roadways but are exempt from the provisions that govern planning, subdivision of land, and zoning.
  999. SB1509 - Home solicitation sale; clarifies definition.
       Patron(s): Mason
       Summary: Home solicitation sale; definition. Clarifies that the definition of a "home solicitation sale" includes a solicitation of the sale or lease of goods or services in which the seller engages in a solicitation without prior invitation or appointment. The bill excludes from the definition of "home solicitation sale" (i) consumer sales made by an entity regulated by the Bureau of Insurance, an affiliate of any such entity, or a dealer licensed by the Motor Vehicle Dealer Board and (ii) sales made entirely by telephone or electronic means at the initiation of the buyer without any other contact bet
  999. SB1541 - Utilities; SCC shall issue final order on certain projects within a certain timeframe.
       Patron(s): Lewis
       Summary: State Corporation Commission; certain electricity transmission projects. Directs the State Corporation Commission to issue its final order for certificates of public convenience and necessity regarding certain projects no later than 270 days after the filing date by a utility. For such projects filed by a utility prior to January 1, 2023, the bill requires the State Corporation Commission to issue its final order for certificates of public convenience and necessity within 90 days of the bill's effective date. This bill is identical to HB 2482.
  999. SB1545 - Furloughed federal employees & contractors; civil relief.
       Patron(s): Rouse
       Summary: Civil relief; citizens of the Commonwealth furloughed or otherwise not receiving wages or payments due to partial closure of the federal government; emergency. Provides a 30-day stay of eviction and foreclosure proceedings for tenants, homeowners, and owners who rent to a tenant a one-family to four-family residential dwelling unit who request a stay and provide written proof, defined in the bill, that such tenant or homeowner is (i) an employee of the United States government, (ii) an independent contractor for the United States government, or (iii) an employee of a company under contract wit