Del. Dan Helmer

Commending the Honorable M. Kirkland Cox.

Purchase, possession, or transportation of firearms following conviction for assault and battery of a family or household member; penalties. Prohibits a person who has been convicted of assault and battery of a family or household member, as defined in the bill, from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm. A person who violates this provision is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Sunset of coal tax credits. Sunsets the Coal Employment and Production Incentive Tax Credit and Coalfield Employment Enhancement Tax Credit after tax year 2021 and prohibits the allocation of such credits on and after January 1, 2022. The bill provides that if credits were earned prior to January 1, 2022, the credit holder may claim the credits in subsequent tax years pursuant to the applicable carryover requirements of current law; however, such credit holders would be limited to claiming $1 million in carryover credits per taxable year.

VirginiaSaves Program; establishment. Directs the governing board of the Virginia College Savings Plan (the Board) to establish an automatic enrollment payroll deduction individual retirement account (IRA) retirement savings program, to be known as the VirginiaSaves Program (the Program). The Board shall administer the Program and develop requirements, procedures, and guidelines for the Program, including default contribution rates, procedures for enrollment and withdrawal, and procedures for noncompliance. Moneys in the Program shall be invested in a manner deemed appropriate by the Board.Participation in the Program is mandatory for eligible employers, defined in the bill as self-employed individuals, sole proprietors, and nongovernmental employers having five or more employees that do not offer a qualified retirement plan to their employees. Each eligible employee, defined generally as an individual employed by an eligible employer, shall be enrolled in the Program unless the employee elects not to participate in the Program.The bill contains provisions limiting the liability of the Board, the Plan, and the Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions for obligations associated with the Program. The Commonwealth shall have no duty or liability to any party for the payment of any retirement savings benefits accrued by any individual under the Program. Participating employers shall not (i) have any liability for an employee's decision to participate in or opt out of the Plan, (ii) be a fiduciary over the Program, or (iii) have any liability or responsibility related to the operation of the Program. The bill also adds a requirement that at least one member of the Board have expertise in the management and administration of private defined contribution retirement plans.The Program shall be established, and enrollment shall begin, no later than July 1, 2023.

Unemployment compensation; failure to respond; continuation of benefits; repayment of overpayments. Provides that an employer shall be deemed to have established a pattern of failing to respond timely or adequately to written requests for information relating to claims if the Virginia Employment Commission determines that the employer has failed to respond timely or adequately to a written request for information relating to a claim on two or more occasions within a 48-month window and requires such employer to pay a penalty upon his second such failure to respond timely or adequately. Under current law, such pattern is established after four failures, and the penalty is assessed after the third failure. The bill provides that if an employer fails to respond timely or adequately to a written request by the Commission for information relating to a claim, the employer forfeits any appeal rights to that claim. The bill provides that when a claimant has begun receiving unemployment benefits, such benefits shall continue to be paid under a presumption of continuing entitlement unless or until a deputy determines, in a process providing notice and opportunity to be heard to the claimant, that the claimant is ineligible or disqualified. The bill provides that an individual who receives an overpayment of unemployment benefits is not liable to repay the overpayments to the Commission if the Commission determines that (i) the overpayment was not due to fraud, misrepresentation, or willful nondisclosure on the part of the recipient and its recovery would be against equity and good conscience; (ii) the overpayment was a direct result of inducement, solicitation, or coercion on the part of the employer; or (iii) the overpayment occurred due to administrative error. The bill requires the Commission to waive an overpayment of benefits under a federal unemployment benefit program if the program authorizes the waiver. The bill provides that any person who receives an overpayment of benefits is not required to repay such overpayment if the Commission determines that the overpayment was made because the employer failed to respond timely or adequately to a written request by the Commission for information relating to the claim. Finally, the bill prohibits a determination with respect to benefit overpayments to be issued until after a determination or decision that finds a claimant ineligible or disqualified for benefits previously paid has become final.

Workers' compensation; presumption of compensabilityfor COVID-19. Establishes a presumption that COVID-19 causingthe death or disability of firefighters, emergency medical servicespersonnel, law-enforcement officers, and correctional officers isan occupational disease compensable under the Workers' CompensationAct. The bill provides that the COVID-19 virus is established bya positive diagnostic test for COVID-19, an incubation period consistentwith COVID-19, and signs and symptoms of COVID-19 that require medicaltreatment. The bill provides that such presumption applies to anydeath or disability occurring on or after March 12, 2020, causedby infection from the COVID-19 virus, provided that for any suchdeath or disability that occurred on or after March 12, 2020, andprior to December 31, 2021, the claimant received a diagnosis ofCOVID-19 from a licensed physician, after either a presumptive positivetest or a laboratory confirmed test for COVID-19, and presented withsigns and symptoms of COVID-19 that required medical treatment.