Financial institutions; loans and legal rate of interest. Provides that for the purposes of provisions governing usury and the legal rate of interest, "making," when used in reference to a loan, means advancing, offering to advance, or making a commitment to advance funds to a borrower for a loan. The bill provides that the prohibition against a contract for the payment of interest on a loan at a rate that exceeds 12 percent per year applies to any person who seeks to evade its application by any device, subterfuge, or pretense whatsoever, including (i) making loans disguised as personal property sale and leaseback transactions; (ii) disguising loan proceeds as a cash rebate for the pretextual installment sale of goods or services; and (iii) making, offering, assisting, or arranging a debtor to obtain a loan with a greater rate of interest, consideration, or charge than permitted through any method, including mail, telephone, internet, or any electronic means, regardless of whether the person has a physical location in the Commonwealth.
Carrying assault firearms in public areas prohibited; penalty. Prohibits the carrying of certain semi-automatic center-fire rifles, pistols, and shotguns or any firearm modified to be operable as an assault firearm on any public street, road, alley, sidewalk, or public right-of-way or in any public park or any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public, with certain exceptions. Under current law, the prohibition on carrying certain shotguns and semi-automatic center-fire rifles and pistols applies to a narrower range of firearms, only in certain localities, and only when such firearms are loaded. A violation of this prohibition is a Class 1 misdemeanor. This bill was incorporated into SB 727.
Health insurance; ensuring fairness in cost-sharing; pharmacy benefits managers; compensation and duties: civil penalty. Amends provisions related to rebates provided by carriers and health benefit plans to health plan enrollees by defining "defined cost-sharing," "pharmacy benefits management services," and "price protection rebates." The bill requires that an enrollee's defined cost-sharing for each prescription drug 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. The bill prohibits a pharmacy benefits manager from deriving income from pharmacy benefits management services provided to a carrier or health benefit plan except for income derived from a pharmacy benefits management fee. The bill requires the amount of any pharmacy benefits management fees to be set forth in the agreement between the pharmacy benefits manager and the carrier or health benefit plan and that such fee not be based on the acquisition cost or any other price metric of a drug; the amount of savings, rebates, or other fees charged, realized, or collected by or generated based on the activity of the pharmacy benefits manager; or the amount of premiums, deductibles, or other cost-sharing or fees charged, realized, or collected by the pharmacy benefits manager from enrollees or other persons on behalf of an enrollee. The bill requires a pharmacy benefits manager to annually certify to the State Corporation Commission that it has met certain requirements. The Commission is directed to impose a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 per claim for a violation of these provisions. The bill establishes a pharmacy benefits manager duty, which includes the duties of care, good faith, and fair dealing, owed to any enrollee, provider, or health benefit plan that receives pharmacy benefits management services from the pharmacy benefits manager or that furnishes, covers, receives, or is administered a unit of a prescription drug for which the pharmacy benefits manager has provided pharmacy benefits management services. The bill requires the Commission to define by regulation the scope of such duty and provides for a private cause of action for any person aggrieved by the breach of such duty.
Pharmacy benefits managers; various requirements; report. Prohibits a pharmacy benefits manager from (i) reimbursing a pharmacy in an amount less than the national average drug acquisition cost for the prescription drug or pharmacy service at the time the drug is administered or dispensed, plus a professional dispensing fee; (ii) basing pharmacy reimbursement for prescription drugs on patient outcomes, scores, or metrics; (iii) imposing a point-of-sale or retroactive fee on a pharmacy, pharmacist, or covered individual; (iv) receiving deductibles or copayments; (v) redirecting any prescription drug claims submitted by a pharmacy to any third-party discount card program, cash discount program, or any other non-insurance adjudication platform; (vi) using policy agreements incorporation into a pharmacy agreement, to materially change, alter, or modify the pharmacy agreement, reimbursement rates, payment terms, or other financial obligations; (vii) prohibiting a pharmacy from providing an individual certain information; (viii) charging a pharmacy a fee related to participation in a pharmacy network; (ix) requiring multiple specialty pharmacy accreditations as a prerequisite for participation in a pharmacy network that dispenses specialty drugs; or (x) deriving any revenue from a pharmacist, pharmacy, or covered individual in connection with performing pharmacy benefits management services. The bill requires a pharmacy benefits manager to calculate a covered individual's out-of-pocket cost for a covered prescription drug based on the net price of the prescription drug after taking into account all retained rebates associated with the prescription drug. The bill adds certain information to be included in a report that pharmacy benefit managers are currently required to submit and requires such report to be filed quarterly rather than annually. The bill also requires the Commissioner of Insurance to annually prepare and submit a report to the Governor and the General Assembly based on the information submitted by pharmacy benefits managers. Additionally, the bill prohibits a carrier or its pharmacy benefits manager from imposing any payment or condition relating to the purchase of pharmaceutical benefits from any pharmacy that is more costly or more restrictive than that which would be imposed upon such person if the same pharmaceutical services were purchased from a mail order pharmacy provider.
Emergency protective orders; duration. Extends the duration of an emergency protective order from a maximum of three days to a maximum of two weeks. The bill permits a petitioner, prior to the expiration of an emergency protective order, to file a written motion requesting to extend such order and authorizes a court, upon good cause shown, to extend the emergency protective order for an additional period of time not to exceed two weeks after expiration of the original order. Finally, the bill permits a court to continue an emergency protective order to the first hearing date of any related criminal offense. The bill contains technical amendments.
Elections; absentee voting in person; uniform availability. Requires absentee voting in person to be available between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday during early voting, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on the first and second Saturday immediately preceding all elections, and between the hours of 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on the second Sunday immediately preceding all elections. Under current law, local electoral boards have some discretion to decide certain hours and days when absentee voting in person is available.
Forfeiture of certain weapons; petition for return by Commonwealth. Permits the attorney for the Commonwealth to petition a court for the return of a weapon to its lawful owner where such weapon was used by any person in the commission of a criminal offense and forfeited to the Commonwealth by order of the court.
Local authority on requiring water consumption in zoning ordinance; industrial and commercial facilities. Authorizes a locality to include in its zoning ordinance provisions for (i) requiring proposed industrial and commercial facilities to submit water consumption estimates and (ii) considering water consumption from public resources when making rezoning and special use permit decisions related to such facilities.
Data centers; industrial zoning. Requires a locality to review and amend its zoning ordinance to (i) designate data centers as industrial uses for zoning purposes; (ii) review the locations of zones allowing data centers by right, and adjust the zoning map, if needed, considering proximity to residential areas; (iii) review the minimum requirements in the zoning ordinance, such as setbacks and building heights, for the purpose of mitigating negative impacts on residential or other sensitive areas and consider adding requirements specific to data centers as needed; (iv) identify optimal areas for data center development in the locality, including locations that are suitable from the locality's perspective as well as the industry's perspective; (v) consider zoning ordinance changes to reduce the likelihood of noisy data centers, including through limiting allowable locations and requiring sound modeling, and prohibit the constant low-frequency noise of data centers from reaching residential areas; and (vi) require commitments from data centers making zoning requests to sufficiently mitigate negative impacts on any nearby residential areas. The provisions of the bill shall apply only to localities where data centers are already addressed in the locality's zoning ordinance or where a locality is revising its zoning ordinance to include data centers. This bill was incorporated into HB 153.
Carrying a concealed handgun; permit not required. Allows any person who is otherwise eligible to obtain a concealed handgun permit to carry a concealed handgun without a permit anywhere he may lawfully carry a handgun openly within the Commonwealth.
Charter; Town of Rocky Mount. Provides a new charter for the Town of Rocky Mount in Franklin County and repeals the town's current charter, which was enacted in 2000. The charter contains powers typically granted to towns. An untypical provision in the new charter includes term limits for members of town council.
Zoning; manufactured housing. Amends existing provisions that require localities to permit manufactured housing in areas zoned for agriculture by expanding such requirement to all zoning districts where site-built housing is allowed. The bill provides that manufactured housing shall be subject to development standards that are equivalent to those applicable to site-built single-family dwellings but that such standards shall not have the effect of excluding manufactured housing. The bill also removes the authority of localities without a zoning ordinance to designate the areas within the locality in which manufactured housing may be located. This bill was incorporated into HB 655.
