Del. Ken Plum

Celebrating the life of the Honorable AugustusBenton Chafin, Jr.

Celebrating the life of the Honorable AugustusBenton Chafin, Jr.

Alcoholic beverage control; definition of "dayspa." Removes the requirement that in order to qualify as a dayspa for ABC purposes, a commercial establishment must offer to thepublic both licensed massage therapy and licensed barbering or cosmetology services. The bill provides that a commercial establishment qualifiesas a day spa so long as the commercial establishment offers to thepublic licensed barbering or cosmetology services.

General Assembly meetings; streaming and recording. Requires the Clerk of the House of Delegates and the Clerk of theSenate to ensure that every (i) subcommittee or committee meetingof a standing committee of the General Assembly, regardless of meetingdate, and (ii) floor session of the House of Delegates or the Senate,including any joint session of the houses, is streamed with closedcaptioning, recorded and archived. The bill defines "stream" and specifiesthat a qualifying meeting is one the date and time of which havebeen scheduled on a public website of any agency of the General Assemblyfor at least one hour prior to the meeting and that takes place inthe State Capitol, the Pocahontas Building, or the General AssemblyBuilding in Richmond. The bill has a delayed effective date of October1, 2020.

Virginia Minority Business Commission; report. Establishes a 13-member legislative Commission to promote the growthand competitiveness of Virginia minority-owned businesses. The bill provides that the Commission sunsets on July 1, 2023.

Prescription drug price transparency; penalties.Requires pharmaceutical drug manufacturers, pharmacy benefits managers, andhealth carriers to submit reports containing certain information concerningprescription drug costs to the Commissioner of the Bureau of Insurance (theCommissioner). The measure requires pharmaceutical drug manufacturers' reportsto include information on the current wholesale acquisition cost informationfor FDA-approved drugs sold in or into the Commonwealth by the pharmaceuticaldrug manufacturer. The bill also requires such manufacturers to submit a reportfor drugs with a wholesale acquisition cost of at least $50 for a 30-day supplywhen their wholesale acquisition cost increases by 25 percent or more over thepreceding three calendar years or 10 percent or more over the precedingcalendar year. The measure requires pharmacy benefits managers to report dataon the aggregated rebates, fees, price protection payments, and any otherpayments collected from pharmaceutical drug manufacturers and the aggregateddollar amount of rebates, fees, price protection payments, and any otherpayments collected from pharmaceutical drug manufacturers that were healthbenefit plan issuers or enrollees at the point of sale of a prescription drug.The measure requires health carriers to report the names of the 25 mostfrequently prescribed drugs across all plans, percent increase in annual netspending for drugs across all plans, percent increase in premiums attributableto drugs across all plans, percentage of specialty drugs with utilizationmanagement requirements across all plans, and premium reductions that wereattributable to specialty drug utilization management. The measure requires theCommissioner to publish the aggregated data from these reports on a website.The measure authorizes the State Corporation Commission (the Commission) to (i)call public hearings and to subpoena prescription drug manufacturers, pharmacybenefits managers, and health carriers to explain their reports; (ii) conductaudits of data submitted to it; (iii) require these entities to submit acorrective action plan to correct deficiencies in reporting; and (iv) imposepenalties of $30,000 per day on any prescription drug manufacturer, pharmacybenefits manager, or health carrier that fails to make a good faith effort tosubmit a required report within two weeks after receiving written notice fromthe Commission.

Health insurance; mandated coverage for hearing aids for minors. Requires health insurers, health maintenance organizations, and corporations providing health care coverage subscription contracts to provide coverage for hearing aids and related services for children 18 years of age or younger when a licensed audiologist prescribes such hearing aids and related services. The coverage includes one hearing aid per hearing-impaired ear, up to a cost of $1,500, every 24 months. The measure applies to policies, contracts, and plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on and after January 1, 2021.

Transit funding. Raises the existing regional transportation fee, a grantor's tax, from $0.15 per $100 to $0.20 per $100 for localities in the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority that are also members of the Northern Virginia Transportation District. The bill requires half of the revenues to be deposited in the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority Fund and half to be deposited in the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Capital Fund. The rate of tax in the other localities will remain at $0.15 per $100, with one-third of the revenues to be retained by the locality to be used for transportation purposes and the other two-thirds to be deposited in the Northern Virginia Transportation District Fund. The bill also raises the existing transient occupancy tax in the localities located in the Northern Virginia Transportation District from $2 to $3, with all of the revenues from the tax being used to support WMATA. This bill incorporates HB 977.

Virginia Urban Agriculture Advisory Councilcreated; report. Creates the Virginia Urban Agriculture AdvisoryCouncil as an advisory council in the legislative branch of stategovernment to encourage urban agriculture and contribute to buildinga local food economy. The bill has an expiration date of July 1,2023.

Local taxing authority. Equalizes city taxing authority and county taxing authority by granting a county the same authority to impose taxes on cigarettes, admissions, transient room rentals, meals, and travel campgrounds without limitation on the rate that may be imposed.The bill authorizes all counties to impose an admissions tax with no restriction on the rate. Under current law, only certain counties may impose an admissions tax, and the rate generally is capped at 10 percent. Under current law, all cities may impose the tax with no restriction on the rate.The bill authorizes all counties to impose a transient occupancy tax with no limitation on the rate that may be imposed. Under current law, counties generally are limited to a maximum rate of two percent, although certain counties may impose the tax at higher rates. The bill provides that, unless otherwise provided by law prior to January 1, 2020, the revenue from a tax rate above two percent up to five percent is restricted to tourism purposes and tax rates above five percent may be used as general revenue.The bill authorizes all counties to impose a cigarette tax with no restriction on the rate. Under current law, only Arlington County and Fairfax County may impose a cigarette tax, and the rate is limited to 30 cents per pack. Under current law, all cities may impose the tax with no restriction on the rate.The bill eliminates the limit of four percent on a county food and beverage tax (commonly referred to as the meals tax). Under current law, such limit applies to counties but not cities. The bill also removes the requirement that a county hold a referendum before imposing a meals tax. Under current law, such requirement applies to counties but not cities.The bill provides that no county that held a referendum prior to July 1, 2020, that was defeated may impose a certain tax until six years after the date of such referendum, unless a successful referendum was held after the defeated referendum and before July 1, 2020.