Institutional racial segregation and discrimination. Repeals several Acts of Assembly from 1901 to 1960 that contain provisions that implemented and enforced racial segregation and discrimination in public facilities and common carriers, on public documents, and within the office of the State Registrar. This bill is identical to HB 1638.
Obsolete Acts of Assembly; racial inequity. Repeals numerous obsolete and discriminatory Acts of Assembly from the early 20th century. This is a recommendation of the Governor's Commission to Examine Racial Inequity in Virginia Law. The purpose of the Commission was to identify and make "recommendations to address laws that were intended to or could have the effect of promoting or enabling racial discrimination or inequity." This bill is identical to SB 636.
Obsolete Acts of Assembly; racial inequity. Repeals numerous obsolete and discriminatory Acts of Assembly from the early 20th century. This is a recommendation of the Governor's Commission to Examine Racial Inequity in Virginia Law. The purpose of the Commission was to identify and make "recommendations to address laws that were intended to or could have the effect of promoting or enabling racial discrimination or inequity." This bill is identical to HB 1325.
Segregation in transportation. Repeals acts of assembly chapters from 1901, 1906, and 1959 requiring and facilitating segregation on railcars, streetcars, and buses. This bill is identical to SB 896.
Conveyance of right-of-way usage to certain nonpublic service companies. Allows a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization to obtain a land use permit from the Department of Transportation to use rights-of-way to operate a wholesale open-access fiber network. This bill is identical to SB 792.
Segregated accommodations and segregation districts for residences. Repeals Acts of Assembly that implemented (i) separate accommodations for white and African American passengers on steamboats and (ii) designation of segregation districts for residence. This bill is identical to HB 857.
Virginia Gun Violence Intervention and PreventionFund. Establishes the Virginia Gun Violence Intervention andPrevention Fund to be administered by the Department of CriminalJustice Services for the purpose of supporting gun violence interventionand prevention programs, including street outreach, hospital-basedviolence intervention, and group violence intervention programs.
Chapters of Acts of Assembly of previous years repealed. Repeals chapters of the Acts of Assembly of 1914, 1916, and 1920 related to the establishment and expansion of the Central State colony for "feeble-minded colored persons" and repeals a chapter of the Acts of Assembly of 1918 related to the appropriation of money for, among other things, the construction of separate sanatoria for white and non-white persons for the treatment of tuberculosis. This bill is identical to HB 1521.
Health insurance; payment to out-of-network providers. Provides that when an enrollee receives emergency services from an out-of-network health care provider or receives out-of-network surgical or ancillary services at an in-network facility, the enrollee is not required to pay the out-of-network provider any amount other than the applicable cost-sharing requirement and such cost-sharing requirement cannot exceed the cost-sharing requirement that would apply if the services were provided in-network. The measure also provides that the health carrier's required payment to the out-of-network provider of the services is a commercially reasonable amount based on payments for the same or similar services provided in a similar geographic area. If such provider disputes the amount to be paid by the health carrier, the measure requires the provider and the health carrier to make a good faith effort to reach a resolution on the amount of the reimbursement. If the health carrier and the provider do not agree to a commercially reasonable payment and either party wants to take further action to resolve the dispute, then the measure requires the dispute will be resolved by arbitration. The measure establishes a framework for arbitration of such disputes that includes (i) a timeline for the proceedings, (ii) a method for choosing an arbitrator, (iii) required and optional factors for the arbitrator to consider, (iv) non-disclosure agreements, (v) reporting requirements, and (vi) an appeals process for appeals on certain procedural grounds. The measure requires the State Corporation Commission to contract with Virginia Health Information (VHI) to establish a data set and business protocols to provide health carriers, providers, and arbitrators with data to assist in determining commercially reasonable payments and resolving disputes. The measure requires the Commission, in consultation with health carriers, providers, and consumers, to develop standard language for a notice of consumer rights regarding balance billing. The measure authorizes the Commission, the Board of Medicine, and the Commissioner of Health to levy fines and take action against a health carrier, health care practitioner, or medical care facility, respectively, for a pattern of violations of the prohibition against balance billing. Additionally, the measure prohibits a carrier or provider from initiating arbitration with such frequency as to indicate a general business practice. The measure provides that such provisions do not apply to an entity that provides or administers self-insured or self-funded plans; however, such entities may elect to be subject such provisions. The measure authorizes the Commission to adopt rules and regulations governing the arbitration process. The measure has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021. This bill incorporates HB 58, HB 189, HB 901, HB 1494, and HB 1546 and is identical to SB 172.
Local tax exemption; solar energy equipment. Changes the local property tax exemption for solar energy projects from an 80 percent exemption for the life of the project to a step down scale of an 80 percent exemption in the first five years, 70 percent in the second five years, and 60 percent for all remaining years in service. The change applies to solar energy projects that are either (i) projects greater than 20 megawatts and less than 150 megawatts for which an initial interconnection request form has been filed with an electric utility or a regional transmission organization after January 1, 2015, and first in service on or after January 1, 2017, and (ii) projects equaling more than five megawatts and less than 150 megawatts for which an initial interconnection request form has been filed on or after January 1, 2019. The bill provides that if a locality assesses a revenue share on a project, the step down scale shall not apply. The bill extends the sunset date after which new projects may not qualify for the exemption from January 1, 2024, to July 1, 2030. The bill is identical to SB 763.
Income tax; reporting requirements for partnerships. Alters the process by which partnerships report federal tax adjustmentsto the Department of Taxation. The federal Bipartisan Budget Actof 2015, P.L. 114-74, generally shifted the burden of reporting adjustmentsfrom a partnership's investors and owners to the partnership itself.The bill would allow a partnership to report to its owners and investorsany information required under Virginia law or to report such informationon behalf of its owners and investors. The bill establishes processesand deadlines by which partnerships are required to report such information,and pay any associated taxes, to the Department.
Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund; uncompensated medical costs; victims of sexual assault. Adds to those persons invited to participate in the annual meeting of the group led by the attorney for the Commonwealth to coordinate the multidisciplinary response to criminal sexual assault in each political subdivision (i) local health department district directors; (ii) the administrator of each licensed hospital within the jurisdiction; (iii) the director of each health safety net clinic within the jurisdiction; and (iv) any other local health care providers, or their designees, and authorizes attorneys for the Commonwealth to conduct the sexual assault response team annual meetings using other methods, such as electronic communication means, to encourage attendance. The bill also directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to establish a work group to evaluate the feasibility of moving responsibility for the SAFE program from the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission to the Department of Medical Assistance Services and to provide recommendations related to (i) the feasibility and cost of expanding the type of services for which the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund will make awards to include claims or portions of claims based on the claimant's actual expenses incurred for unreimbursed medical costs resulting from sexual abuse, including the cost of physical evidence recovery kit examinations conducted on victims of sexual assault, unreimbursed medical expenses or indebtedness reasonably incurred for medical expenses, expenses attributable to pregnancy resulting from such sexual abuse, and any other reasonable and necessary expenses and indebtedness associated with or attributable to the sexual abuse upon which such claim is based and (ii) the feasibility of transferring responsibility from the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission to the Department of Medical Assistance Services for the Sexual Assault Forensic Examination program (the SAFE program) and related claims for medical expenses related to sexual assault, strangulation, domestic and intimate partner violence, human trafficking, and adult and child abuse. If the work group finds that it is not feasible to move responsibility for the SAFE program and related claims from the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission to the Department of Medical Assistance Services, the work group shall develop recommendations for creation of an efficient, seamless electronic medical claim processing system for hospitals and health care providers that coordinates payments from all available sources, suppresses explanations of benefits, and removes the patient from the medical billing and reimbursement process. The work group's report shall include specific legislative, regulatory, and budgetary changes necessary to implement the work group's recommendations. The work group shall report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, and the Joint Commission on Health Care by September 1, 2020. This bill is identical to SB 949.
