Rep. Liz Guzmán

Motor vehicle glass repair and replacement; emissions inspection; penalties. Establishes various notice requirements for motor vehicle glass repair shops, defined in the bill, and provides that a violation of such requirements is a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The bill permits a motor vehicle to qualify for an emissions inspection waiver if such vehicle has failed an inspection and the vehicle's onboard diagnostic system is in a not-ready condition to be tested when presented for reinspection. This bill is identical to SB 767.

Elections; absentee voting; cure process. Removes the requirement that absentee ballots be received by the Friday immediately preceding the day of the election for the general registrar to implement the process of curing errors or failures in such absentee ballots. The bill also moves the deadline for curing errors or omissions in absentee ballot applications from noon on the third day after the election to noon on the Monday after the election. This bill has a delayed effective date of September 1, 2026.

Pharmacy benefits managers; requirements; scope; report. Requires all health insurance carriers to use the pass-through pricing model and may limit a pharmacy benefits manager from deriving income from pharmacy benefits management services provided to a carrier except for income derived from a pharmacy benefits management fee. The bill prohibits a pharmacy benefits manager from (i) reversing and or resubmitting the claim of a pharmacist or pharmacy without meeting certain requirements, (ii) reducing any payment to a pharmacist or pharmacy to an effective rate of reimbursement, or (iii) retroactively denying or reducing a claim or aggregate of claims except under certain circumstances. The bill requires the State Corporation Commission (the Commission) to examine the practice of carriers or pharmacy benefits managers requiring or inducing covered individuals to utilize pharmacy services at an affiliated pharmacy. The Commission is required to report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by December 1, 2027. Certain provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. This bill is identical to SB 669.

Department of Environmental Quality; industrial wastewater; publicly owned treatment works; PFAS monitoring. Directs every publicly owned treatment works (POTW) to require certain new or industrial users of such POTW to perform and report to such POTW no later than 30 days after receipt from a laboratory the results as received of quarterly discharge monitoring for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for an initial characterization period of one year, provided, however, that such POTW may discontinue remaining quarterly monitoring by an industrial user with proper monitoring results that are below the method detection level for the first two quarters. If an industrial user detects PFAS in any amount above the detection method limit in its initial year of quarterly monitoring, the bill requires such industrial user to continue to perform and report to the POTW no later than 30 days after receipt from the laboratory the results as received of quarterly discharge monitoring for PFAS. The bill requires a POTW that receives PFAS monitoring results to report such results to the Department of Environmental Quality on a quarterly basis. Finally, the bill directs any POTW to notify an owner or operator of an industrial user subject to the monitoring requirements of the bill of the requirement to submit the initial quarterly monitoring results for PFAS within 30 days of the effective date of the bill. This bill is identical to SB 138.

Absentee voting; emergency application for absentee ballot. Provides that a qualified voter may apply for an emergency absentee ballot if he has applied to receive an absentee ballot by the deadline but has not received his ballot within 10 days of the election and will be unable to vote on election day due to his hospitalization or illness, the hospitalization, illness, or death of a spouse, child, or parent, or other emergency found to justify receipt of an emergency absentee ballot.

Paid family and medical leave insurance program; notice requirements; civil action. Requires the Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer a paid family and medical leave insurance program with benefits beginning April 1, 2028. Under the program, benefits are paid to covered individuals, as defined in the bill, for family and medical leave. Funding for the program is provided through premiums assessed to employers and employees beginning April 1, 2028. The bill provides that the amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee's average weekly net earnings, not to exceed 100 percent of the statewide average weekly net earnings, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the statewide average weekly wage. The bill caps the duration of paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year and provides self-employed individuals the option of participating in the program. This bill is identical to SB 2.

Department of Education; culturally responsive and language-appropriate mental health support and services; guidance and policies. Requires, no later than October 1, 2027, the Department of Education to develop, adopt, and provide to each local school board guidance on the adoption of policies governing the provision of culturally responsive and language-appropriate mental health support and services for students in the local school division and permits any school board to develop and adopt policies in the local school division that are consistent with the guidelines adopted and provided by the Department of Education.

Manufacturing or sale of cosmetic products with certain ingredients prohibited. Prohibits any person from manufacturing, selling, delivering, offering for sale, or using in connection with a consumer transaction any cosmetic product that contains certain ingredients that are listed in the bill. The bill exempts retailers that do not (i) manufacture cosmetics containing prohibited ingredients or (ii) knowingly sell or offer for sale cosmetics containing prohibited ingredients. The bill provides that a violation of its provisions constitutes a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act and specifies that its provisions do not apply to or restrict the continued sale by a retailer of cosmetics in existing inventory before July 1, 2026. This bill incorporates HB 864.

Siting of data centers; site assessment; high energy use facility. Provides that, prior to any approval of a rezoning application, special exception application, or special use permit for the siting of a new high energy use facility (HEUF), as defined in the bill, a locality shall require that an applicant perform and submit a site assessment to examine the sound profile of the HEUF on residential units and schools located within 500 feet of the HEUF property boundary. The bill also allows a locality to require that a site assessment examine the effect of the proposed facility on (i) ground and surface water resources, (ii) agricultural resources, (iii) parks, (iv) registered historic sites, and (v) forestland on the HEUF site or immediately contiguous land. The provisions of the bill shall not apply to a site with an existing legislative or administrative approval where an applicant is seeking an expansion or modification of an already existing or approved facility and such expansion does not exceed an additional 100 megawatts or more of electrical power. Finally, the bill provides that its provisions shall not be construed to prohibit, limit, or otherwise supersede existing local zoning authority. This bill incorporates HB 511 and is identical to SB 94.

Prohibiting employer seeking wage or salary history of prospective employees; wage or salary range transparency; cause of action. Prohibits a prospective employer from (i) seeking the wage or salary history of a prospective employee; (ii) relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in considering the prospective employee for employment; (iii) relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in determining the wages or salary the prospective employee is to be paid upon hire; (iv) refusing to interview, hire, employ, or promote or otherwise retaliating against a prospective or current employee for not providing wage or salary history or requesting a wage or salary range; (v) failing or refusing to disclose in each public and internal posting for each job, promotion, transfer, or other employment opportunity the wage, salary, or wage or salary range; and (vi) failing to set a wage or salary range in good faith. The bill establishes a cause of action for an aggrieved prospective employee or employee and provides that an employer that violates such prohibitions is liable to the aggrieved prospective employee or employee for statutory damages between $1,000 and $10,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater, reasonable attorney fees and costs, and any other legal and equitable relief as may be appropriate. This bill incorporates HB 1164 and is identical to SB 215.