Virginia Bills

Prohibits any person from acting as a student loan servicer without first obtaining a license from the State Corporation Commission (SCC) and establishes procedures pertaining to such licenses. Banks and credit unions are exempt from the licensing provisions. The servicing of a student loan encompasses (i) receiving any scheduled periodic payments from a student loan borrower pursuant to the terms of a student education loan; (ii) applying the payments of principal and interest and such other payments with respect to the amounts received from a student loan borrower, as may be required pursuant to the terms of a student education loan; and (iii) performing other administrative services with respect to a student education loan. Student loan servicers are prohibited from, among other things, (a) misrepresenting the amount, nature, or terms of any fee or payment due or claimed to be due on a student loan, the terms and conditions of the loan agreement, or the borrower's obligations under the loan; (b) knowingly misapplying or recklessly applying student loan payments to the outstanding balance of a student loan; and (c) failing to report both the favorable and unfavorable payment history of the borrower to a nationally recognized consumer credit bureau at least annually if the loan servicer regularly reports information to such a credit bureau. The measure also establishes the Office of the Student Loan Ombudsman within the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. The Office of the Student Loan Ombudsman is required to provide timely assistance to any student loan borrower of any student education loan in the Commonwealth. The Office of the Student Loan Ombudsman is further required to establish and maintain a student loan borrower education course, which shall cover key loan terms, documentation requirements, monthly payment obligations, income-based repayment options, loan forgiveness, and disclosure requirements. The bill has a delayed effective date of October 1, 2017.

Authorizes casino gaming in the Commonwealth to be regulated by the Virginia Lottery Board (the Board). The bill specifies the licensing requirements for casino gaming and imposes penalties for violations of the casino gaming law. Casino gaming shall be limited to localities that have passed a referendum on the question of allowing a casino gaming establishment in the locality. The bill requires the Board to establish and implement a voluntary exclusion program allowing individuals to voluntarily list themselves as being barred from entering a casino gaming establishment or other facility under the jurisdiction of the Board. In addition, the bill establishes the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund administered by the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to provide counseling and other support services for compulsive and problem gamblers, develop problem gambling treatment and prevention programs, and provide grants to supporting organizations that provide assistance to compulsive gamblers. The bill requires proceeds of the gross receipts tax and admission tax imposed on casino gaming operators to be paid as follows: (i) one percent into the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund, (ii) 10 percent to the locality in which the casino gaming operation is located, and (iii) 89 percent into the Toll Mitigation Fund, which shall be used to mitigate the tolls established to support construction and maintenance of the Dominion Boulevard Bridge and Roadway Improvement Project and the Downtown Tunnel/Midtown Tunnel/Martin Luther King Freeway Extension Project.

Imposes a state tax on vapor products, defined in the bill, including electronic cigarettes or similar products or devices and the consumable liquid, vapor cartridge, or other container of solution or other form that is intended to be used with or in an electronic cigarette, electronic cigar, electronic cigarillo, electronic pipe, or similar product or device. The bill authorizes cities and towns and certain counties to impose a tax on vapor products. The state tax rate is $0.05 per fluid milliliter of consumable vapor product and 10 percent of the retail price for electronic cigarettes or similar products or devices. The bill requires revenues from the state tax on vapor products to be deposited into the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Fund. The bill also requires that dealers and sellers of vapor products apply for distributor's licenses issued by the Virginia Department of Taxation. Cities and towns may impose the tax at a rate of a number of cents per fluid milliliter of the consumable vapor product or a percentage of the retail cost of the device. The bill authorizes Arlington and Fairfax Counties to impose a vapor product tax at a rate that does not exceed the state tax on vapor products created under the bill. Under current law, Arlington and Fairfax Counties may impose a tax on cigarettes at a rate that does not exceed the state cigarette tax. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2018.

Creates the Virginia Casino Gaming Commission (the Commission) as the licensing body for casino gaming. The bill specifies the licensing requirements for casino gaming and imposes penalties for violations of the casino gaming law. The bill also requires the Commission to establish a voluntary exclusion program allowing persons to voluntarily exclude themselves from the gaming areas of facilities under the jurisdiction of the Commission. Under the bill, casino gaming is limited to localities in which at least 40 percent of the land area is exempt from local real property taxation pursuant to federal law or subdivisions (a) (1) through (a) 5 and (a) 7 of Article X, Section 6 of the Constitution of Virginia. In addition, the bill establishes the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund administered by the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to provide counseling and other support services for compulsive and problem gamblers, develop problem gambling treatment and prevention programs, and provide grants to supporting organizations that provide assistance to compulsive gamblers. The bill requires proceeds of the gross receipts tax and admission tax imposed on casino gaming operators to be paid as follows: (i) one percent into the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund, (ii) 10 percent to the locality in which the casino gaming operation is located, and (iii) 89 percent into the Toll Mitigation Fund, which shall be used to mitigate the tolls established to support construction and maintenance of the Dominion Boulevard Bridge and Roadway Improvement Project and the Downtown Tunnel/Midtown Tunnel/Martin Luther King Freeway Extension Project.