Adult abuse; financial exploitation; required report by financial institution. Requires financial institutions to report to the local department of social services or the adult protective services hotline within five business days any refusal to execute a transaction, delay of a transaction, or refusal to disburse funds based on a good faith belief that such transaction or disbursement may involve financial exploitation of an adult.
Landlord and tenant; tenant rights and responsibilities; explanation and remedy for material noncompliance. Requiresthe Director of the Department of Housing and Community Developmentto develop a statement of tenant rights and responsibilities explainingin plain language the rights and responsibilities of tenants underthe Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (§ 55.1-1200 etseq.) and maintain such statement on the Department's website alongwith a form to be signed by the parties to a rental agreement. The bill requires that the statement be provided to any prospectivetenant and that the form developed by the Department be signed by the parties to the rental agreement. Failure to provide the statementof tenant rights and responsibilities to a prospective tenant orto provide a signed copy of the form with the copy of the signed rentalagreement creates a rebuttable presumption that a landlord who hasan assertion made against him of material noncompliance with the lease agreement has failed to maintain the dwelling unit in a fit and habitable condition.
Office of the Attorney General; Division of Human Rights; compensation discrimination information. Directs the Division of Human Rights of the Department of Law to develop recommendations regarding the type of information about businesses and their employees and the accompanying methodology that would be required for the Division to proactively enforce provisions of the Code of Virginia requiring equal pay of similarly situated employees irrespective of sex and race. The bill requires the Division to also develop recommendations regarding appropriate enforcement mechanisms, including causes of action and civil remedies, to address discrimination in compensation based on sex and race. In developing such recommendations, the bill directs the Division to engage stakeholders representing employers and employees in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Division to report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly no later than November 30, 2020.
Clinical social workers; patient records; involuntary detention orders. Adds clinical social workers to the list ofeligible providers that includes treating physicians and clinicalpsychologists who can disclose or recommend the withholding of patientrecords, face a malpractice review panel, and provide recommendationson involuntary temporary detention orders.
Foster care; termination of parental rights; independent living needs assessments; supervisory spans of control. Requires local boards of social services and child-placing agencies, if the child has been in the custody of a local board or child-placing agency for 15 of the most recent 22 months and no petition for termination of parental rights has been filed with the court, to include in the petition for a permanency planning hearing the reasons why a petition to terminate parental rights has not been filed and the reasonable efforts made regarding reunification or transfer of custody to a relative. The bill requires that local boards and child-placing agencies provide information to birth parents regarding the parent's option to voluntarily terminate parental rights, and that the Commissioner of Social Services develop clear guidance documents regarding the manner in which such information should be relayed. The bill requires the Board of Social Services to promulgate regulations related to termination of parental rights, independent living needs assessments and plans, and reporting requirements for local boards and child-placing agencies. The bill requires the Commissioner to (i) provide training to local boards and child-placing agencies regarding common errors made related to termination of parental rights and (ii) establish a work group to assess the feasibility and costs of establishing supervisory spans of control for foster care supervisors. The work group shall report its findings by November 30, 2020.
Covenants not to compete; low-wage employees; civil penalty. Prohibits an employer from entering into, enforcing, or threatening to enforce a covenant not to compete between the employer and a low-wage employee. The employer is subject to a civil penalty of $10,000 per violation. The bill defines "low-wage employee" as either (i) an employee, intern, student, apprentice, or trainee whose average weekly earnings are less than the average weekly wage of the Commonwealth or who is employed without pay or (ii) an independent contractor who is compensated for his services at an hourly rate that is less than the median hourly wage for the Commonwealth for all occupations as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. The bill defines "covenant not to compete" as an agreement that restrains, prohibits, or otherwise restricts an individual's ability to compete with his former employer. The bill allows any low-wage employee subject to such a covenant not to compete to bring a civil action against an employer and seek appropriate relief, including enjoining the conduct of any person or employer, ordering payment of liquidated damages, and awarding lost compensation, damages, and reasonable attorney fees and costs. The bill provides that if the court finds a violation of the bill's provisions, the plaintiff is entitled to recover reasonable costs, including reasonable fees for expert witnesses, and attorney fees from the former employer or other person who attempts to enforce a covenant not to compete against such plaintiff. The bill requires all employers to post in the workplace a notice of the prohibition or a summary of the notice approved by the Department of Labor and Industry and provides that an employer is subject to a warning for a first offense and to a civil penalty for a subsequent offense for failure to post such notice or approved summary. The provisions of the bill are applicable to covenants not to compete entered into on or after July 1, 2020. This bill is identical to SB 480.
Naloxone; possession and administration; employee or person acting on behalf of a public place. Authorizes an employee or other person acting on behalf of a public place, as defined in the bill, who has completed a training program on the administration of naloxone or other opioid antagonist to possess and administer naloxone or other opioid antagonist, other than naloxone in an injectable formulation with a hypodermic needle or syringe, in accordance with protocols developed by the Board of Pharmacy in consultation with the Board of Medicine and the Department of Health. The bill also provides that a person who is not otherwise authorized to administer naloxone or other opioid antagonist used for overdose reversal may administer naloxone or other opioid antagonist used for overdose reversal to a person who is believed to be experiencing or about to experience a life-threatening opioid overdose. The bill provides immunity from civil liability for a person who, in good faith, administers naloxone or other opioid antagonist used for overdose reversal to a person who is believed to be experiencing or about to experience a life-threatening opioid overdose, unless such act or omission was the result of gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct. This bill incorporates HB 650, HB 1465, and HB 1466.
Charitable Gaming Board; Texas Hold'em poker events. Allows certain qualified organization to conduct Texas Hold'em poker events in conjunction with its charitable gaming activities. The conditions under which a qualified organization may manage, operate, or contract with operators of or conduct Texas Hold'em poker games and tournaments shall be prescribed by the Charitable Gaming 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 provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
DBHDS; work group to study expanding the categoryof individuals who may conduct evaluations for temporary detention; report. Directs the Commissioner of the Department of BehavioralHealth and Developmental Services to establish a work group to (i)review the current process for conducting evaluations of personswho are subject to emergency custody orders to determine whetherthey meet the criteria for temporary detention, including any challengesor barriers to timely completion of such evaluations and factorsgiving rise to delays in completion of such evaluations, and (ii)develop a comprehensive plan to expand the categories of individualswho may conduct evaluations of persons who are subject to emergency custody orders to determine whether they meet the criteria for temporary detention in order to expedite the evaluation process. The work groupshall report its findings and conclusions and the comprehensive planto the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health,Welfare, and Institutions, Senate Committee on Education and Health,and Joint Subcommittee to Study Mental Health Services in the Commonwealthin the 21st Century by December 1, 2020.
Alcoholic beverage control; winery license privileges. Allows winery licensees to sell at retail the brands of wine thatthe winery owns (i) at premises described in the winery license foron-premises consumption or in closed containers for off-premisesconsumption or (ii) in approved areas at four special events peryear for on-premises consumption or in closed containers for off-premisesconsumption, provided that not less than 20 percent of the volumeof wine sold for on-premises consumption in any calendar year ismanufactured on the licensed premises.
Provisional voting; persons voting in splitprecincts. Provides that any voter who is assigned to a precinctthat is split between two or more election districts and who believeshe was given a ballot for the district of which he is not a qualifiedvoter may request, prior to casting the ballot, and shall be permittedto cast a provisional ballot for the district of which he believeshe is a qualified voter and for the district in which the pollbookindicates he is registered. The bill requires the ballots to besealed in envelopes labeled with the corresponding district numberand then sealed in the green envelope provided for all provisionalballots. At the meeting to determine the validity of all provisionalballots offered in the election, the electoral board shall verifyin which district the voter is qualified and count that ballot.
Jurisdiction of civil claims; amending amountof claim; concurrent jurisdiction. Provides that, for civil actionsin which the circuit court and the general district court have concurrentjurisdiction, where a matter is pending in the circuit court, upon motion of the plaintiff seeking to decrease the amount of the claim,the circuit court shall order transfer of the matter to the generaldistrict court having jurisdiction over the claim without requiringa dismissal of the claim or a nonsuit. The bill provides that thetolling of the applicable statutes of limitations governing the pendingmatter shall be unaffected by the transfer. The bill further providesthat, except for good cause shown, no such order of transfer shallissue unless the motion to amend and transfer is made at least 10days before trial and requires that the plaintiff shall pay filingand other fees to the clerk of the court to which the case is transferred,prepare and present the order of transfer to the transferring courtfor entry, and provide a certified copy of the transfer order to the receiving court.
