Below are the contested bills that the House of Delegates passed during their full-floor session on Friday.
HB 2307 Consumer Data Protection Act; establishes a framework for controlling and processing personal data.
Introduced by: C.E. Cliff Hayes, Jr (D)
Establishes a framework for controlling and processing personal data in the Commonwealth. The bill applies to all persons that conduct business in the Commonwealth and either (i) control or process personal data of at least 100,000 consumers or (ii) derive over 50 percent of gross revenue from the sale of personal data and control or process personal data of at least 25,000 consumers. The bill outlines responsibilities and privacy protection standards for data controllers and processors. The bill does not apply to state or local governmental entities and contains exceptions for certain types of data and information governed by federal law. The bill grants consumer rights to access, correct, delete, and obtain a copy of personal data and to opt out of the processing of personal data for the purposes of targeted advertising. The bill provides that the Attorney General has exclusive authority to enforce violations of the law, and the Consumer Privacy Fund is created to support this effort. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2023.
HB 1737 Nurse practitioners; practice without a practice agreement.
Introduced by: Dawn M. Adams (D)
Reduces from five to two the number of years of full-time clinical experience a nurse practitioner must have to be eligible to practice without a written or electronic practice agreement.
HB 2191 Social services, local department of; location of child in local department’s custody.
Introduced by: James A. “Jay” Leftwich (R)
Provides that the local department of social services shall disclose to the parents of a child in the local department’s custody the location of the child, unless the local department finds that such disclosure is not in the best interests of the child.
HB 1854 U.S. Route 29; county manager plan of government.
Introduced by: Richard C. “Rip” Sullivan, Jr. (D)
Authorizes the board of any locality that has adopted the county manager plan of government (Arlington County) to name any section of U.S. Route 29 located within the boundaries of the locality. The bill provides that the Department of Transportation will place and maintain appropriate signs that will be paid for by the locality.
HB 1864 Virginia Human Rights Act; expands definition of employer.
Introduced by: Marcia S. “Cia” Price (D)
Expands the definition of “employer” for all purposes of the Virginia Human Rights Act to include a person employing one or more domestic workers, as defined in the bill.
HB 1889 Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with rental agreement.
Introduced by: Marcia S. “Cia” Price (D)
Removes the sunset date of July 1, 2021, from certain provisions enacted during the 2020 Special Session related to the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. Such provisions (i) changed from five to 14 days the amount of time that a landlord who owns four or fewer rental dwelling units must wait after serving written notice on a tenant notifying the tenant of his nonpayment of rent and of the landlord’s intention to terminate the rental agreement if rent is not paid before the landlord may pursue remedies for termination of the rental agreement; (ii) required a landlord who owns more than four rental dwelling units, or more than a 10 percent interest in more than four rental dwelling units, before terminating a rental agreement due to nonpayment of rent, to serve upon such tenant a written notice informing the tenant of the total amount due and owed and offer the tenant a payment plan under which the tenant must pay the total amount due and owed in equal monthly installments over a period of the lesser of six months or the time remaining under the rental agreement; (iii) outlined the remedies a landlord has if a tenant fails to pay the total amount due and owed or enter into a payment arrangement within 14 days of receiving notice or if the tenant enters into a payment arrangement but fails to pay within 14 days of the due date any rent that becomes due under the payment plan or arrangement after such plan or arrangement becomes effective; and (iv) clarified that a tenant is not precluded from participating in any other rent relief programs available to the tenant through a nonprofit organization or under the provisions of a federal, state, or local law, regulation, or action.
HB 1907 Electric utilities; advanced renewable energy buyers.
Introduced by: Richard C. “Rip” Sullivan, Jr. (D)
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, or energy storage facilities, by Dominion Energy Virginia. The exemption is based on the amount of Renewable Energy Certificates associated with the customer’s renewable facilities agreements associated with the tariff offering in proportion to the customer’s total electric energy consumption, on an annual basis.
HB 1971 Virginia Fair Housing Law; reasonable accommodations, disability-related requests for parking.
Introduced by: Betsy B. Carr (D)
Provides that for the purposes of the Virginia Fair Housing Law, when a person receives a request for accessible parking to accommodate a disability, the person receiving the request shall treat such request as a reasonable accommodation, and any costs, fees, or charges related to the installation, designation, marking, or reconfiguration of a parking space related to such reasonable accommodation request shall be borne by the person receiving the request. The bill provides that it is declarative of existing law.
HB 1993 State agencies and their appointing authorities; diversity, equity, and inclusion strategic plans.
Introduced by: Alex Q. Askew (D)
Requires state agencies to establish and maintain a comprehensive diversity, equity, and inclusion strategic plan in coordination with the Governor’s Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
HB 2046 Virginia Fair Housing Law; unlawful discriminatory housing practices.
Introduced by: Jeffrey M. Bourne (D)
Prohibits any locality, its employees, or its appointed commissions from discriminating (i) in the application of local land use ordinances or guidelines, or in the permitting of housing developments, on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status, or handicap or (ii) in the permitting of housing developments because the housing development contains or is expected to contain affordable housing units occupied or intended for occupancy by families or individuals with incomes at or below 80 percent of the median income of the area where the housing development is located or is proposed to be located. The bill also requires the Fair Housing Board, after determining the existence of an unlawful discriminatory housing practice and after consultation with the Attorney General, to immediately refer the matter to the Attorney General for civil action.
HB 2071 Transportation funding; statewide prioritization process, resiliency.
Introduced by: Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler (D)
Adds resiliency, defined in the bill, to the list of factors to be considered during the statewide transportation funding prioritization process commonly known as SMART SCALE. The bill also requires that the factors of congestion mitigation, economic development, accessibility, safety, resiliency, and environmental quality be considered relative to the anticipated life-cycle cost of the project or strategy under consideration.
HB 2140 Alternative application for employment for persons with a disability; DHRM to create a process.
Introduced by: Elizabeth R. Guzman (D)
Directs the Department of Human Resource Management to create an alternative application process for the employment of persons with a disability. The process must be noncompetitive in nature and provide state agencies using the process an option for converting positions filled through the noncompetitive process into positions that are normally filled through a competitive process. The bill directs the Department of Human Resource Management to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill.
HB 2282 State Corporation Commission; transportation electrification, utility recovery of certain costs.
Introduced by: Richard C. “Rip” Sullivan, Jr. (D)
Directs the State Corporation Commission (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 third party with expertise in transportation electrification, in which the Commission, the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, the Department of Transportation, and appropriate stakeholders participate. The bill requires that the Commission, in developing its policy recommendations, evaluate (i) areas where utility or other public investment may best complement private efforts to effectively deploy charging infrastructure, with particular focus on low-income, minority, and rural communities; (ii) how smart growth policies can complement and enhance the Commonwealth’s transportation electrification goals; (iii) how utility programs, investments, or incentives to customers or third parties to facilitate the deployment of charging infrastructure and related upgrades can support or enhance (a) statewide transportation electrification, including electrification of public transit; (b) the electrification of medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles, school buses, vehicles at ports and airports, personal vehicles, and vehicle fleets; (c) increased access to electric transportation and improved air quality in low-income and medium-income communities; (d) achievement of existing energy storage targets; (e) improvements to the distribution grid or to specific sites necessary to accommodate charging infrastructure; and (f) customer education and outreach programs that increase awareness of such programs and the benefits of transportation electrification. The bill requires that the report also address whether and how transportation electrification can, under current law, (a) reduce total ratepayer rates and costs; (b) assist in grid management and more efficient use of the grid, in a manner that does not increase peak demand, through time-of-use rates, managed charging programs, vehicle-to-grid programs, or other alternative rate designs; (c) utilize increased generation from renewable energy resources; and (d) reduce fueling costs for vehicles. The bill requires that, to the extent that the Commission and stakeholders conclude that transportation electrification cannot currently deliver these benefits, the report include public policy recommendations.
Additionally, the bill requires, beginning July 1, 2021, that any approved costs of any investor-owned electric utility associated with investment in transportation electrification be recovered only through the utility’s rates for generation and distribution, prohibits recovery of such costs through a rate adjustment clause, and provides that such costs are not eligible for a customer credit reinvestment offset.
HB 2089 State Inspector General, Office of the; concurrent distribution of reports.
Introduced by: M. Kirkland Cox (R)
Requires that the reports, information, or documents of the Office of the State Inspector General that are required to be transmitted to the executive and legislative branches be transmitted concurrently.
These bills still have to pass the Senate before going to Governor Northam’s office for his signature.
The Virginia Senate passed 13 contested bills in bipartisan votes on Friday. The House of Delegates will still have to pass these bills before Governor Northam can sign them into law.
SB1447 Buckingham County; fees for disposal of solid waste.
Introduced by: Mark J. Peake (R)
Adds Buckingham County to the list of counties authorized, by ordinance, and after a public hearing, to levy a fee for the management of solid waste not to exceed the actual cost incurred by the county in removing and disposing of solid waste. (This would allow people to get a decal to enter a location for solid waste disposal and also allow those locations to stay open 24 hours.)
SB 1227 Hormonal contraceptives; payment of medical assistance for 12-month supply.
Introduced by: Jennifer B. Boysko (D)
Directs the Board of Medical Assistance Services to include in the state plan for medical assistance a provision for the payment of medical assistance for the dispensing or furnishing of up to a 12-month supply of hormonal contraceptives at one time. The bill prohibits the Department of Medical Assistance Services from imposing any utilization controls or other forms of medical management limiting the supply of hormonal contraceptives that may be dispensed or furnished to an amount less than a 12-month supply and makes clear that the bill shall not be construed to (i) require a provider to prescribe, dispense, or furnish a 12-month supply of self-administered hormonal contraceptives at one time or (ii) exclude coverage for hormonal contraceptives as prescribed by a prescriber, acting within his scope of practice, for reasons other than contraceptive purposes. (This would allow Medicaid to provide a 12-month supply of birth control.)
SB 1438 Combined transient occupancy and food and beverage tax; technical amendments.
Introduced by: Emmett W. Hanger, Jr. (R)
Provides that, for purposes of the combined transient occupancy and food and beverage tax that is currently authorized for Rappahannock and Madison Counties, the rate limit for such tax shall be the same as if the two taxes were imposed separately. The bill also eliminates the referendum requirement for the food and beverage component of the combined tax, consistent with Chapters 1214 and 1263 of the Acts of Assembly of 2020, which eliminated the referendum requirement for the food and beverage tax generally.
SB 1147 Nurse Loan Repayment Program; certified nurse aide.
Introduced by: Jennifer A. Kiggans (R)
Expands eligibility for the Nurse Loan Repayment Program to include certified nurse aides who meet criteria determined by the State Board of Health. Under current law, only licensed practical nurses and registered nurses are eligible for the Nurse Loan Repayment Program.
SB 1195 Motor vehicle insurance; underinsured motor vehicle, uninsured motorist coverage.
Introduced by: Mark D. Obenshain (R)
Provides that a motor vehicle is underinsured when the total amount of bodily injury and property damage coverage applicable to the operation or use of the motor vehicle and available for payment for such bodily injury or property damage, including all bonds or deposits of money or securities, is insufficient to fully compensate any person injured as a result of the operation or use of the vehicle. Currently, a motor vehicle is underinsured when such coverage is less than the total amount of uninsured motorist coverage afforded any person injured as a result of the operation or use of the vehicle.
SB 1207 Solar and energy storage projects; siting agreements throughout the Commonwealth.
Introduced by: George L. Barker (D)
Expands existing provisions related to siting agreements for solar projects located in an opportunity zone to include energy storage projects and makes the provisions statewide. The bill provides that its provisions shall not apply to any energy storage project that has received zoning and site plan approval, preliminary or otherwise, from the host locality before January 1, 2021. The bill also provides that its provisions shall not become effective with respect to energy storage projects unless the General Assembly approves legislation that authorizes localities to adopt an ordinance for taxation of energy storage projects such as solar projects with a local option for machinery and tools tax or solar revenue share.
SB 1223 Virginia Energy Plan; amends Plan to include an analysis of electric vehicle charging infrastructure
Introduced by: Jennifer B. Boysko (D)
Amends the Virginia Energy Plan to include an analysis of electric vehicle charging infrastructure and other infrastructure needed to support the 2045 net-zero carbon target in the transportation sector.
SB 1298 Tourism improvement districts; authorizes any locality to create.
Introduced by: John J. Bell (D)
Authorizes any locality to create a local tourism improvement district plan, consisting of fees charged to businesses and used to fund tourism promotion activities and capital improvements. Under the bill, the locality is authorized to contract with a nonprofit entity to administer the activities and improvements.
SB 1302 Crisis Call Center Fund; created, consistency with federal guidelines.
Introduced by: Jeremy S. McPike (D)
Provides that the crisis call center, which under current law is administered by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Department), shall be designated as the 9-8-8 Crisis Hotline Center for purposes of participating in the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The bill directs the Department, in its development of the crisis call center, community care teams, and mobile crisis teams, to comply with any applicable requirements of the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020, and to provide for consistency with federal guidelines promulgated under such law.
The bill increases from $0.75 to $0.94 the wireless E-911 surcharge and increases from $0.50 to $0.63 the prepaid wireless E-911 charge. The bill provides that part of the revenue attributable to the increase would be distributed to the Crisis Call Center Fund, established by the bill, to fund the Department’s costs in establishing and administering the call center, and that the remainder of the revenue would be distributed to public safety answering points (PSAPs).
SB 1321 Confirmatory adoption; expands the stepparent adoption provisions.
Introduced by: Jennifer B. Boysko (D)
Expands the stepparent adoption provisions to allow a person who is not the child’s stepparent but has a legitimate interest in the child to file a joint petition for adoption with the child’s birth parent or parent by adoption.
SB 1334 Broadband capacity; expands existing pilot program, municipal broadband authorities.
Introduced by: John S. Edwards (D)
Expands the existing broadband pilot program to allow for the participation of municipalities and government-owned broadband authorities in order to provide broadband service to unserved areas of the Commonwealth.
SB 1367 Line of Duty Act; Virginia licensed health practitioners required to conduct medical reviews.
Introduced by: Bill DeSteph (R)
Requires that, for any medical review of a claim made pursuant to the provisions of the Line of Duty Act, the Virginia Retirement System shall require that such review be conducted by a doctor, nurse, or psychologist who is licensed in the Commonwealth or a contiguous state. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2022.
SB 1413 Phase I or Phase II electric utilities; petitions to provide broadband capacity.
Introduced by: Jennifer B. Boysko (D)
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 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 areas unserved by broadband, as defined in the bill. The bill also consolidates the State Corporation Commission petition approval process into one hearing.