Rep. Kathy J. Byron

Provides that, notwithstanding any voluntary agreement between the U.S. Department of Labor and the franchisee or franchisor, neither a franchisee nor a franchisee's employee shall be deemed to be an employee of the franchisee's franchisor. The measure also provides that this exclusion does not apply with respect to a specific claim for relief made by a franchisee or a franchisee's employee if the franchisor has been found by a court of competent jurisdiction to have exercised a type or degree of control over the franchisee or the franchisee's employees not customarily exercised by a franchisor for the purpose of protecting the franchisor's trademarks and brand.

Provides that the real property tax exemption for the principal residence of the surviving spouse of a disabled military veteran applies without any restriction on the spouse's moving to a different principal place of residence.

Establishes the Online Virginia Network Authority (the Authority) as a political subdivision of the Commonwealth for the purpose of establishing the Online Virginia Network to coordinate the online delivery of courses that facilitate the completion of degrees at George Mason University and Old Dominion University. The bill requires the Authority to be governed by a 15-member board that consists of four members of the House of Delegates appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates, three members of the Senate appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, three nonlegislative citizen members appointed by the Governor, one nonlegislative citizen member appointed by the board of visitors of George Mason University, one nonlegislative citizen member appointed by the board of visitors of Old Dominion University, the President of George Mason University, the President of Old Dominion University, and the Director of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. The bill sets forth several duties of the Authority and grants the Authority operational flexibility in the areas of procurement and information technology, provided that the Authority adopts and complies with certain policies.

Provides that unless an exception has been granted by the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, moneys in the Commonwealth's Development Opportunity Fund shall not be used for any economic development project involving a business that relocates or expands its operations in one or more Virginia localities while simultaneously closing its operations or substantially reducing the number of its employees in another Virginia locality. Under current law, this limitation on the use of the Fund is stated as a general policy rather than as a requirement. The bill also requires the Secretary of Commerce and Trade to provide written notice to the Chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees at least 48 hours prior to the final approval of the grant or loan. Currently, the notice must be provided promptly, and a time frame is not specified.

Requires each insurer domiciled in the Commonwealth, or the insurance group of which the insurer is a member, to submit to the State Corporation Commission (SCC) a Corporate Governance Annual Disclosure (CGAD). The CGAD is a confidential report containing material information related to an insurer or insurance group's internal operations that permits the SCC to gain an understanding of the insurer's or insurance group's corporate governance structure, policies, and practices,. The measure sets out requirements for completing and submitting a CGAD with the SCC and provides for the confidential treatment of the CGAD and related information. The measure has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2018.

Provides that the Virginia Historical Society shall plan and lead the commemoration of the centennial anniversary of women's right to vote in 2020. The bill creates a 12-member task force to assist the Virginia Historical Society, in collaboration with the Library of Virginia, the Department of Education, the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy, the VCU Libraries Special Collections and Archives, and interested civic and community organizations, in planning, developing, and performing programs and activities appropriate to commemorate the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote and the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The provisions of the bill expire on January 1, 2021.

Provides that a wireless services authority may fix rates, fees, and charges for services provided, or facilities owned, operated, or maintained by the authority, for which the authority has received loan funding. Currently, an authority may do so only if it has issued revenue bonds. A similar change authorizes rates to be set at levels to provide for payment of loans. The measure also requires each authority to maintain records demonstrating compliance with certain provisions and to make the records available for inspection and copying by the public pursuant to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

Requires the general registrars to consider the number of active registered voters and historical election data, including voter turnout, when determining the number of ballots to order to be printed for an election. This bill is identical to

Prohibits any person that issues tickets for admission to a professional concert, professional sporting event, or professional theatrical production, open to the public for which tickets are ordinarily sold, from issuing the ticket solely through a delivery method that substantially prevents the ticket purchaser from lawfully reselling the ticket on the Internet ticketing platform of the ticket purchaser's choice. The measure also prohibits a person from being discriminated against or denied admission to an event solely on the basis that the person resold a ticket, or purchased a resold ticket, on a specific Internet ticketing platform. A person violating these prohibitions is subject to a civil penalty of not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000. This bill is identical to