Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Advisory Committee established; sunset. Requires the Department of Environmental Quality to reestablish the Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Advisory Committee, which expired on January 1, 2018, to assist the Department and the State Water Commission in the management of groundwater in the Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Area. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2025.
Comprehensive harm reduction programs. Repeals the sunset on the authority of the Commissioner of Health to establish and operate local or regional comprehensive harm reduction programs that include the distribution of sterile hypodermic needles and syringes and the disposal of used hypodermic needles and syringes; allows a local health department or other organization that promotes scientifically proven methods of mitigating health risks associated with drug use and other high-risk behaviors to establish comprehensive harm reduction programs, if authorized by the Commissioner of Health; and eliminates the requirement that comprehensive harm reduction programs be located in communities for which data indicates an increase in or increased risk of transmission of HIV, viral hepatitis, or other blood-borne disease as a result of injection drug use.
Food stamps; Restaurant Meals Program. Directsthe Department of Social Services to participate in the RestaurantMeals Program (RMP) of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The bill requires the Department to develop and implementa plan to begin such participation no later than January 1, 2021.
Wetlands protection; living shorelines. Requires the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to promulgate and periodically update minimum standards for the protection and conservation of wetlands and to approve only living shoreline approaches to shoreline stabilization where the best available science shows that such approaches are feasible. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
Absentee voting; voter satellite offices for absentee voting in person. Authorizes the establishment of voter satellite offices by governing bodies of counties and cities for purposes of absentee voting in person. No change in any voter satellite office, including the creation of a new voter satellite office or abolishment of an existing voter satellite office, may be enacted within the 60 days immediately preceding a general election. The bill requires general registrars to post notice of the locations of all voter satellite offices within the locality, and their days and hours of operation, not later than 55 days prior to any election. Requirements for polling places, including accessibility for persons with disabilities, changes of location due to emergency circumstances, and funding, apply to voter satellite offices. The provisions of the bill are applicable to elections beginning with the general election on November 3, 2020.
State plan for medical assistance; perinatal birth workers. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to convene a work group to (i) evaluate the potential costs and benefits, including potential reductions in maternal and infant mortality rates, of amending the state plan for medical assistance services to include a provision for the payment of medical assistance for antepartum, intrapartum, or postpartum services provided to a pregnant person or to a person who is up to one year postpartum for labor and delivery support by a certified doula and at least four visits during the antenatal period and at least seven visits during the postpartum period with a certified doula and (ii) develop recommendations related to an appropriate reimbursement rate for such services provided by certified doulas. The work group shall report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations by December 1, 2020.
Department of Education; guidance and resources; applied behavior analysis services. Requires the Department of Education to develop and publish no later than November 16, 2020, guidance and resources relating to the provision of applied behavior analysis services in public schools for students who are in need of such services.
Electric utilities; on-bill tariff programs.Authorizes electric utilities to establish on-bill tariff programsunder which the utility and a customer enter into an agreement thatprovides for the costs, including financing costs, of energy efficiencymeasures to be paid by or through the utility and repaid by the customerby means of an energy savings charge on the customer's monthly bill.Under the bill, energy efficiency measures can include heating andair conditioning systems, water heaters, weatherization, insulation,window and door modifications, appliances, and automatic or Internet-connectedcontrol systems. The bill provides terms for such on-bill tariff programs for investor-owned utilities and utility consumer services cooperatives. Additionally, the bill authorizes electric utilitiesto establish similar on-bill tariff programs for electrificationand renewable facilities, which include equipment, facilities, Internetconnectivity, electric vehicle charging, backup generators, and storagefacilities.
Debt settlement services providers; penalties. Provides for the licensure and regulation of debt settlement services providers by the State Corporation Commission. The measure defines "debt settlement services" as any action or negotiation initiated or taken by or on behalf of any consumer with any creditor of the consumer for the purpose of obtaining debt forgiveness of a portion of the credit extended by the creditor to the consumer or reduction of payments, charges, or fees payable by the consumer. The measure prohibits licensees from accepting a fee from consumers prior to providing the consumers' requested debt settlement services. The requirements imposed by this measure on licensed providers of debt settlement services are similar to those applicable to agencies providing debt management plans. The measure provides for civil penalties against licensees that violate these requirements, grants consumers a private right of action against licensees, and makes a violation a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The licensing and regulation of debt settlement services providers has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021. The measure directs the State Corporation Commission to establish a procedure to be in effect by March 1, 2021, for any person to apply prior to July 1, 2021, for a license that will become effective when the licensing requirements of this measure become effective on July 1, 2021.
Common interest communities; Virginia Condominium Act; termination of condominium; respective interests of unit owners. Provides that the respective interests of condominium unit owners upon the termination of a condominium shall be as set forth in the termination agreement, unless the method of determining such respective interests is other than the relative fair market values, in which case the association shall provide each unit owner with a notice stating the result of that method for the unit owner's unit and, no later than 30 days after transmission of that notice, any unit owner disputing the interest to be distributed to his unit may require that the association obtain an independent appraisal of the condominium units. The bill provides a method of adjusting the respective interests of the unit owners if the amount of such independent appraisal of an objecting unit owner's unit is at least 10 percent more than the amount stated in the association's notice.
Voter registration; notification of denial. Requires notice of a denial of an application for voter registration to be provided by the general registrar to the applicant within five days of the denial. This notice is required to be given in writing and in whatever form selected by the applicant on the voter registration application. The bill requires the registration application to request that the applicant provide his telephone number and email address and to allow the applicant to indicate a preferred method of communication. If the general registrar is able to reach the applicant by telephone, corrections may be made by the applicant by telephone. The bill contains technical amendments.
Alzheimer's disease and related dementias; early detection and diagnosis; risk reduction and care planning. Provides that the Department of Health, in consultation with the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, shall have the lead responsibility for taking actions to address and reduce the risks and impairments associated with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias within the Commonwealth.
