Health insurance; pharmacy benefits managers; reporting requirements; civil penalty. Provides that a person that violates the existing requirement to obtain a license prior to providing pharmacy benefits management services or otherwise acting as a pharmacy benefits manager shall be subject to a civil penalty of $5,000 for each day on which such violation occurs. The bill adds additional requirements to existing reporting requirements for insurance carriers relating to pharmacy benefits managers. Such additional requirements include (i) the aggregate amount of a pharmacy benefits manager's retained rebates, as defined in the bill; (ii) a pharmacy benefits manager's aggregate retained rebate percentage, as defined in the bill; (iii) a pharmacy benefits manager's retained rebate percentage, as defined in the bill, for each health benefit plan; and (iv) the aggregate amount of administrative fees received by a pharmacy benefits manager.
Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; definition of a real estate broker. Adds to the definition of "real estate broker" any individual or business entity who sells or offers to sell, buys or offers to buy, negotiates, or otherwise deals in real estate contracts, including assignable contracts, on two or more occasions in any 12-month period for compensation or valuable consideration. The bill contains technical amendments and is identical to HB 917.
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; definition of "caregiver"; remote participation in meetings by persons with disabilities and caregivers; remote voting. Provides that for purposes of determining whether a quorum is physically assembled, an individual member of a public body who is a person with a disability or a caregiver, defined in the bill, and uses remote participation counts toward the quorum as if the individual was physically present. The bill also provides that the participation policy adopted by a public body, as required by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, shall not prohibit or restrict any individual member of a public body who is participating in an all-virtual meeting or who is using remote participation from voting on matters before the public body. As introduced, the bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council. This bill is identical to HB 1040.
Office of the State Inspector General; investigations of abuse or neglect at state psychiatric hospitals; report. Directs the Office of the State Inspector General to (i) develop a plan to fulfill its statutory obligation to fully investigate all complaints it receives alleging abuse, neglect, or inadequate care at a state psychiatric hospital and (ii) submit such plan to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health and Human Services and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2024. The bill also requires the Office to submit an annual report to the General Assembly on or before November 1 of each year regarding the number of such complaints received and the number of complaints that were fully investigated by the Office.
Restroom Access Act. Requires a retailestablishment that does not have a public restroom but has an employee toilet facility to allow any customer with an eligible medical condition, defined in the bill as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, irritablebowel syndrome, or any other medical condition that requires immediateaccess to a toilet facility, to use such employee toilet facilityduring normal business hours if certain conditions are met. A customer who suffers loss as a result of a violation may bring an action torecover damages not to exceed $100.
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; definition of "caregiver"; remote participation in meetings by persons with disabilities and caregivers; remote voting. Provides that for purposes of determining whether a quorum is physically assembled, an individual member of a public body who is a person with a disability or a caregiver, defined in the bill, and uses remote participation counts toward the quorum as if the individual was physically present. The bill also provides that the participation policy adopted by a public body, as required by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, shall not prohibit or restrict any individual member of a public body who is participating in an all-virtual meeting or who is using remote participation from voting on matters before the public body. As introduced, the bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council. This bill is identical to SB 85.
Temporary detention order; alternative transportation. Provides that when a magistrate is determining whether an alternative transportation provider is available for the purposes of designating a transportation provider for the transportation of a person who is the subject of a temporary detention order, an alternative transportation provider shall be deemed available if the provider states that it is available to take custody of the person from law enforcement within six hours of issuance of the temporary detention order or an order changing the transportation provider. The bill also provides that if (i) no alternative transportation provider is available to provide transportation, willing to provide transportation, and able to provide transportation in a safe manner or (ii) the law-enforcement agency elects to provide transportation, the magistrate shall designate the primary law-enforcement agency and jurisdiction designated to execute the temporary detention order to provide transportation of the person. This bill is identical to SB 497.
Annual retail sales and use tax holiday. Establishes an annual retail sales and use tax holiday that takes place on the first full weekend in August beginning on July 1, 2025, through July 1, 2030. During such weekend, state retail sales and use tax will not apply to certain (i) school supplies, (ii) clothing and footwear, (iii) qualified products designated as Energy Star or WaterSense, (iv) portable generators, or (v) hurricane preparedness equipment. This bill is identical to SB 116.
Prescription of opioids; sickle cell anemia.Exempts prescribers from certain requirements of the PrescriptionMonitoring Program related to prescribing opioids if the opioid isprescribed to a patient for pain management related to sickle cellanemia.
Virginia Petroleum Products Franchise Act; agreements between jobber/distributors and dealers; market valuation study. Provides that a term of an initial agreement between a jobber/distributor and a dealer relating to specific marketing premises shall not be less than one year and that the term of all subsequent agreements between the jobber/distributor and the dealer relating to the same marketing premises shall not be for less than three years. The bill provides that rental provisions in any such agreement or franchise shall be based on commercially fair and reasonable standards at a fair market value of the leased marketing premises under an objectively reasonable analysis, uniformly applied to all similarly situated dealers of the same jobber/distributor in the same geographic area. If a dealer believes the terms of the agreement offered do not meet a fair market value, such dealer may hire, at his expense, an independent third-party appraisal company from a list of appraisal companies provided by the jobber/distributor to provide a market valuation study. The bill provides that such study shall (i) be for informational purposes only, (ii) not require either party to disclose confidential business information, and (iii) not bind either party. The provisions of the bill apply to Planning District 8 and to initial franchise agreements and renewals of franchise agreements entered into after July 1, 2024. This bill is identical to SB 248.
Conservation of trees during land developmentprocess in certain localities. Expands authority of certain localitiesto adopt an ordinance providing for the planting and replacementof trees during the development process by allowing a tree canopyfund that currently applies to the planting of trees on public propertyto include maintenance of trees on public property and planting andmaintenance of trees on private property. The bill removes a provisionthat requires that any funds collected for the purposes of the treecanopy fund be returned to the original contributor if not spent withinfive years but maintains the requirement that such finds be spentwithin five years. The bill also includes an expansion of the canopycredit and a provision that will require a local tree conservationordinance to meet the standards set out in the statute.
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; definitions of meetings and public business. Exempts certain public meetings from the definition of "meeting" under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act to clarify that three or more members of a public body may appear and participate in such public meeting without violating the Act, provided that no public business is transacted or discussed. The bill also exempts members of a public body who attend a public meeting of a second public body without violating the Act, provided that no public business is transacted or discussed. Finally, the bill defines "public business" as activity that a public body has undertaken or proposed to undertake on behalf of the people it represents. The bill states that its provisions are declarative of existing law. This bill is identical to SB 36.
