Defines "charity care" and "bad debt" as used in the context of certificate of public need, establishes a uniform framework for determining the value of charity care provided, and requires health care providers to report data on (i) the total amount of charity care that the facility provides to indigent persons; (ii) the number of patients to whom charity care is provided; (iii) the specific services delivered to patients that are reported as charity care; and (iv) the portion of the total amount of charity care provided that each service represents. The bill also requires health care providers to report data and information for any parent or subsidiary company of the health care provider that operates in the Commonwealth and requires every hospital that receives a disproportionate share hospital adjustment to report the number of inpatient days attributed to patients eligible for Medicaid but not Medicare Part A and the total amount of the disproportionate share hospital adjustment received. Finally, the bill requires the Commissioner of Health to report to the Chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations and Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committees on Finance and Education and Health, by November 1, 2018, a data analysis comparing the value of certain charity care services under various methods of valuation. The bill has a partial delayed effective date.
Expands the pilot program for renewable energy power purchase agreements authorized under legislation enacted in 2013 by directing that a pilot program be conducted by Appalachian Power. Currently, a pilot program is authorized only within Dominion Power's service territory. The measure provides that within the certificated service territory of Appalachian Power, nonprofit, private institutions of higher education that are not being served under a specific renewable generation tariff provision are deemed to be customer-generators eligible to participate in the pilot program, without the requirement that they participate in the utility's net energy metering program. The aggregated capacity of all generation facilities that are subject to third party power purchase agreements in Appalachian Power's pilot program is capped at seven megawatts. The measure does not apply to Old Dominion Power. Appalachian Power's pilot program expires July 1, 2022.
Provides that storage of inventory in the Commonwealth is sufficient nexus to require out-of-state businesses to collect sales and use tax on sales to customers in the Commonwealth. The bill contains an emergency clause.
Changes from even-numbered years to odd-numbered years the biennial review of the standards of quality that is required of the Board of Education.
Provides that a person charged with a first offense of assault against a family or household member who consents to probation and a deferred disposition of the charge has no right of appeal if he is subsequently found guilty of the original charge for a violation of the terms of his probation. The bill provides that a person may file a motion to withdraw his consent within 10 days of entry of the order deferring proceedings and the court shall schedule a hearing within 30 days of receipt of the motion. The bill provides further that if the person appears at the hearing and requests to withdraw his consent, the court shall grant the request, enter a final order adjudicating guilt, and sentence the person accordingly. If the person fails to appear at the hearing, the court shall deny the motion.
Provides that appointments to the electoral board of each county and city are to be made by the chief judge of the judicial circuit for the county or city or that judge's designee, who shall be any other judge sitting in that judicial circuit. Currently, such appointments are made by a majority of the circuit judges and if a majority of the judges cannot agree, the senior judge makes the appointment. The bill also contains technical amendments.
Requires the Marine Resources Commission (the Commission) to post notice of an application to lease oyster planting grounds for 30 days on its website and to notify by mail any current holders of adjoining leases, and riparian owners within 200 feet of the selected grounds. Current law requires posting of notice at the local courthouse for 60 days. The bill (i) reduces from four weeks to two weeks the period during which the Commission is required to publish weekly notice of the application in a newspaper and (ii) requires all forms of notice to invite written comments. The bill also provides that the applicant shall bear the cost of notice.
Increases the grace period after which collection activity for unpaid court fines, costs, forfeitures, penalties, and restitution may be commenced from 30 days to 90 days after sentencing or judgment. The bill also establishes the requirements for deferred or installment payment agreements that a court must offer a defendant who is unable to pay court-ordered fines, costs, forfeitures, and penalties. The bill requires that a court take into account a defendant's financial circumstances, including whether the defendant owes fines and costs to other courts, in setting the terms of a payment agreement, but such decision shall not be based solely on the amount of fines and costs owed. The bill fixes the maximum down payments that a court may require as a condition of entering a payment plan and provides that payments made within 10 days of their due date are timely made. The bill precludes a court from denying a defendant the opportunity to enter into a payment agreement solely because of the crime committed, the total amount owed or that such amount has been referred to collections, any previous default by the defendant or failure to establish a payment history, or the defendant's eligibility for a restricted driver's license. The bill allows all costs and fines owed by a defendant to any one court to be incorporated into one payment agreement and allows a defendant to request a modification of the terms of the agreement, which shall be granted upon a good faith showing of need. The bill requires a court to consider a request by a defendant who has defaulted on a payment agreement to enter into a subsequent agreement and requires the court to fix a down payment for subsequent payment agreements. Finally, the bill provides that the payment agreement includes restitution unless the court has entered a separate order regarding the payment of restitution. This bill is identical to
Provides that prescriptions for products containing buprenorphine without naloxone shall be issued only (i) for patients who are pregnant, (ii) when converting a patient from methadone to buprenorphine containing naloxone for a period not to exceed seven days, or (iii) as permitted by regulations of the Board of Medicine or the Board of Nursing. The bill contains an emergency clause and has an expiration date of July 1, 2022. This bill is identical to
Increases the share of certain moneys in the Fire Programs Fund to be allocated to localities for the improvement of volunteer and career fire services from 75 percent to 80 percent. The measure does not become effective unless it is reenacted by the 2018 Session of the General Assembly.
Exempts any natural gas utility serving fewer than 2,000 residential customers and fewer than 350 commercial and industrial customers in the year in which the utility makes an investment for qualifying projects from the provision that limits the amount of investment that a natural gas utility may make in qualifying projects to one percent of its net plant investment that was used in establishing base rates in its most recent rate case. The existing exemption to the one percent cap was enacted in 2013 and applies to any natural gas utility serving fewer than 1,000 residential customers and fewer than 250 commercial and industrial customers in such year. Legislation enacted in 2012 established a mechanism for natural gas utilities to recover the eligible infrastructure development costs of a qualifying project through future rates. A qualifying project is an economic development project for which, among other things, the utility has received a binding commitment from the developer or occupant of the proposed project regarding capacity or a financial guaranty from the developer or state or local government in the amount of at least 50 percent of the estimated investment to be made in the proposed project. This bill is identical to
Provides that whenever a home inspector observes the presence of any shade of yellow shaded corrugated stainless steel tubing during an inspection of a home built prior to the adoption of the construction code effective in 2008, his observation must be included in the inspection report along with the following statement: "Manufacturers believe that this product is safer if properly bonded and grounded as required by the manufacturer's installation instructions. Proper bonding and grounding of the product should be determined by a contractor licensed to perform the work in the Commonwealth of Virginia."
