Corporate income tax; sourcing of sales other than sales of tangible personal property. Implements market-based corporate income tax sourcing for attributing sales, other than sales of tangible personal property, to Virginia beginning with taxable year 2025.
Early childhood care; Child Care Subsidy Program expansion; provision of free child care to certain child care provider employees. Requires the Child Care Subsidy Program, established pursuant to applicable regulations, to be expanded to assist employees of any licensed child care provider in the Commonwealth with the costs of child care by providing any such employee who meets the eligibility criteria set forth in the bill child care at no cost to and with no copayment required of such employee. The bill directs the Board of Education to adopt any regulations and the Department of Education to implement any policies and procedures necessary for the implementation and administration of the provisions of the bill.
Board of Pharmacy; pharmacy technician profession; work group; report. Requires the Board of Pharmacy to convene a work group of relevant stakeholders to review and make recommendations related to the regulatory framework for the pharmacy technician profession, educational barriers to the pharmacy technician profession, compensation of pharmacy technicians, and the educational requirements of pharmacy technicians. The bill requires the Board to report its findings and recommendations 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 Board to promulgate emergency regulations within 280 days of the work group's completion based on the work group's recommendations.
Health insurance; 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," "price protection rebates," and "pharmacy benefits management services." 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 bill establishes a pharmacy benefits manager duty, which includes the duties of care and 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.
Study; JLARC; creation of Secretariat of Rural Affairs; report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study the need for and feasibility of creating a Secretariat of Rural Affairs in the Commonwealth.
Virginia Consumer Protection Act; prohibited practices; mandatory fees disclosure. Prohibits a supplier in connection with a consumer transaction from advertising, displaying, or offering any pricing information for goods or services without prominently displaying the total price, which shall include all mandatory fees or charges other than taxes imposed.
Judicial Council of Virginia; work group to study conservatorship; report. Directs the Judicial Council of Virginia to convene a work group of relevant stakeholders to study issues relating to conservatorship in the Commonwealth and to develop recommendations for a best practices model. The bill requires the work group to submit its findings and recommendations by November 1, 2024, to the Chairmen of the House Committee for Courts of Justice and the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity; guidance to small businesses; identification of enforcement actions; work group; report. Requires the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity to develop and provide guidance to businesses with newly approved permits and established businesses regarding responsibilities and requirements for maintaining such business that includes information identifying any regularly occurring required report to a state agency and any associated fees, penalties, or waivers. The bill requires each state agency to annually report any enforcement action taken by the agency against a small business in the previous calendar year that specifies each infraction and the enforcement action taken by the agency. The bill requires the Department to post de-identified aggregated data by state agency and infraction type from such reports on its website. The bill requires the Department to convene a work group to identify and recommend means to provide relief to small businesses regarding regularly occurring required reports to state agencies. The work group is required to identify each such report and consider (i) if such report can be required less frequently or eliminated; (ii) if the required information has not changed since the previous report, allowing the small business to satisfy the reporting requirement by indicating that there has been no change; (iii) establishing a waiver or lowering the threshold to qualify for an existing waiver; (iv) reducing or eliminating any penalty for noncompliance; and (v) any other means to reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses. The Department is required to report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by November 1, 2024.
Electric utilities; State Corporation Commission; energy policy of the Commonwealth. Requires the State Corporation Commission to ensure that the Commonwealth implements the energy policy of the Commonwealth, as defined by relevant law, at the lowest reasonable cost, taking into account all cost-effective demand-side management options and the security and reliability benefits of the regional transmission entity that each incumbent electric utility has joined. The bill establishes a rebuttable presumption that plans, petitions, or proposals from utilities that do not ensure such implementation at the lowest reasonable cost are not in the public interest.
Study; Department of Taxation; tax policy options for reforming the litter tax; report. Directs the Department of Taxation, in conjunction with the Department of Environmental Quality, to study tax policy options for reforming the litter tax.
Imposition of income tax. Establishes a new income tax bracket beginning on and after January 1, 2024, that taxes income in excess of $1 million at a rate of 10 percent. The bill provides that 50 percent of revenues generated by the new tax bracket will be dedicated to providing additional basic aid funding for public schools, 30 percent of such revenues will be dedicated to the Child Care Subsidy Program, and 20 percent of such revenues will be dedicated to the Virginia Housing Trust Fund.
Public utilities; classification of customers. Requires that a public electric utility or a public utility authorized to furnish water or water and sewer service include a separate classification for data centers when satisfying the existing requirement that any rate, toll, charge, or schedule of a public utility is only considered to be just and reasonable by the State Corporation Commission if the public utility has demonstrated that such rates, tolls, charges, or schedules contain reasonable classifications of customers.
