Consumer Protection Act; prohibited practices; certain advertising related to school quality. Adds as a prohibited practice under the Consumer Protection Act the use in any advertising any information regarding the quality of any public or private elementary or secondary school other than information derived from the school quality indicators contained in the School Quality Profiles established by the Department of Education or information derived from the school's website or the website of the school's district, unless such advertising contains a statement, displayed on its face in a conspicuous manner, that such school quality information is not derived from the school quality indicators contained in the School Quality Profiles established by the Department of Education or endorsed by the Department of Education. The bill provides that such provisions shall not become effective unless reenacted by the 2022 Session of the General Assembly.The bill requires the Department of Law's Division of Consumer Counsel (the Division), to make recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly for any legislation that the Division deems necessary to prevent the misleading or deceiving of consumers by the use of information in advertising regarding the quality of any public or private elementary or secondary school other than information derived from the school quality indicators contained in the School Quality Profiles established by the Department of Education or information derived from the school's website or the website of the school's district. The bill requires the Division to make its recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly by November 1, 2021.
Sponsored bills
Law-enforcement officer; duty to render aid;duty to report wrongdoing by another law-enforcement officer. Requires any law-enforcement officer on duty who witnesses another personsuffering from a serious bodily injury or a life-threatening conditionto render aid and makes it a duty to report acts of wrongdoing, definedin the bill and including bias-based profiling, committed by anotherlaw-enforcement officer on duty. Any law-enforcement officer whofails to render such aid or report such wrongdoing committed by anotherlaw-enforcement officer shall be subject to disciplinary action,including dismissal, demotion, suspension, or transfer of the law-enforcementofficer. The bill also expands the definition of "bias-based profiling,"a practice banned for sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, other local law-enforcement officers, and State Police officers in the performance of their official duties, to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
Common-law crime of suicide. Abolishes thecommon-law crime of suicide. Suicide is currently a common-law crimein Virginia, although there is no statutorily prescribed punishment.
Redistricting; Virginia Redistricting Commission; transparency in redistricting process; reallocation of prison population. Requires meetings and hearings of the Virginia Redistricting Commission to be livestreamed, whether held virtually or in person, and to allow for public comment. Meetings and hearings that are held in person are required to be conducted in different regions of the Commonwealth, including the Northern Virginia region, the Central Virginia region, the Hampton Roads region, the Southside region, and the Southwest region. An additional public hearing is required to be held in the event that the initial plan for districts submitted by the Commission is rejected by the General Assembly. If adjustments are made to a proposed plan at any stage in response to public comment, the adjusted proposed plan is required to be published on the Commission's website and a public hearing is required to be held. The bill subjects the Supreme Court of Virginia and the special masters appointed by the Court for the establishment of districts to the same requirements and restrictions to which the Commission is subject, including provisions related to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and the ban on ex parte communications. Additionally, the bill changes the reallocation of persons incarcerated in federal, state, or local correctional facilities whose address at the time of incarceration was located outside of the Commonwealth or cannot be determined. Currently, such persons are counted as residing at the location of the facility in which he's incarcerated; under the bill, such persons would not be included in the locality's population count and instead would be allocated to a state unit not tied to a specific determined geographic location.
Study; staffing levels, employment conditions,and compensation at the Virginia Department of Corrections; report.Continues the joint committee of the House Committee on Health, Welfareand Institutions; the House Committee on Public Safety; the SenateCommittee on the Judiciary; and the Senate Committee on Rehabilitationand Social Services established by House Joint Resolution 29 (2020)to study staffing levels, employment conditions, and compensationat the Virginia Department of Corrections. The resolution directsthe joint committee to conclude its work by November 30, 2021, andto report its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the 2022 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
Study; joint subcommittee to study comprehensivecampaign finance reform; report. Establishes a joint subcommitteeto study comprehensive campaign finance reform in the Commonwealth.In conducting its study, the joint subcommittee is tasked with examiningthe costs of campaigning in the Commonwealth, the effectiveness ofthe Commonwealth's present disclosure laws and their enforcement,the constitutional options available to regulate campaign finances,and the desirability of specific revisions in the Commonwealth'slaws, including the implementation of contribution limits, all withthe aim of promoting the integrity of, and public confidence in,the Commonwealth's campaign finance system.
Electric utility regulation; purchasing from competitive suppliers. Authorizes individual retail customers of electric energy to purchase electric energy provided 100 percent from renewable energy from any licensed competitive supplier of electric energy, including any incumbent electric utility. Currently, such customers may purchase electric power from such suppliers, other than an incumbent electric utility that is not the incumbent electric utility serving the exclusive territory in which the customer is located, only if their incumbent electric utility does not offer an approved tariff for electric energy provided 100 percent from renewable energy. The measure also provides that a cooperative utility customer eligible to take service under a tariff for electric energy provided 100 percent from renewable energy is prohibited from purchasing electric energy provided 100 percent from renewable energy from a licensed supplier, except such customer is authorized to continue purchasing renewable energy pursuant to the terms of a power purchase agreement in effect on the date the cooperative serving it filed with the Commission such tariff for electric energy provided 100 percent from renewable energy for the duration of such agreement. The measure requires that, within three months after the enactment of this act or within three months after beginning to offer a 100 percent renewable energy product to residential customers, whichever is later, licensed competitive suppliers that offers 100 percent renewable energy to residential customers in the service territory of Dominion Energy Virginia or Appalachian Power, to submit a proposal to the State Corporation Commission for consideration and approval to offer discounted service to low-income customers. The measure requires such proposal to include a 100 percent renewable product to be offered to a minimum number of low-income customers at a rate ten percent lower than the incumbent electric utility’s standard residential rate for non-renewable supply service for a minimum initial term of twelve months.
Electric utilities; triennial review; ratesof return. Provides that the State Corporation Commission, in any triennial review proceeding, including the first triennial review proceeding conducted after January 1, 2021, for Dominion EnergyVirginia, may use any methodology it finds consistent with the publicinterest to determine fair rates of return on common equity for the utility's generation and distribution services. In any such triennialreview, regardless of whether the utility earned above or below itsauthorized rate of return during the test period under review, theCommission also may order any increases or decreases to the utility'srates for generation and distribution that it deems necessary andappropriate, as long as the resulting rates provide the utility with the opportunity to (i) fully recover its costs of providing its servicesand (ii) earn an authorized rate of return.
Electric utilities; period costs. Provides that in a triennial review proceeding, certain utility generation and distribution costs that are not proposed for recovery under various cost recovery mechanisms, at the State Corporation Commission's discretion, may be attributed to the test periods under review and deemed fully recovered or, if the utility has earned below a certain threshold, may be deferred for recovery over future periods. Under current law, such attribution is required unless the utility has earned below a certain threshold, in which case deferred recovery of the costs is required. The bill also eliminates provisions that limit any rate reduction ordered by the State Corporation Commission in the first triennial review of Dominion Energy Virginia after January 1, 2021, to $50 million in annual revenues and provides that in any triennial review, regardless of whether the Commission has ordered bill credits, the utility earned above its authorized rate of return during the test period under review, or the utility has made a request regarding any customer credit reinvestment offsets, the Commission may order any rate reduction it deems necessary and appropriate unless it finds that the resulting rates will not provide the utility with the opportunity to (i) fully recover its costs of providing its services and (ii) earn not less than a fair combined rate of return on its generation and distribution services. The provisions of the bill apply to the first triennial review of Dominion Energy Virginia conducted after January 1, 2021. This bill incorporates HB 1835.
Unemployment compensation; benefits; suitable work; benefits charges. Provides that, under specific conditions related to the COVID-19 virus, work will not be deemed suitable and benefits will not be denied to any otherwise eligible individual for refusing to accept new work if (i) the individual presents satisfactory evidence that such individual (a) has tested positive for COVID-19, (b) has been otherwise directed by a physician to quarantine due to COVID-19, or (c) is providing care for an immediate family member who has tested positive for COVID-19; or (ii) the individual has a reasonable belief, based on satisfactory evidence, that the workplace is unsafe because it does not meet governmental-mandated COVID-19 health and safety standards for the workplace, including standards issued by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Department of Labor and Industry, or the Department of Health, or through an executive order or directive issued by the Governor. The bill provides, that for individuals who refuse to accept an offer of work based on such conditions, no benefits charges will be deemed to be the responsibility of the previous employer, unless the individual has refused an offer to return to work to his previous employer because the individual has a reasonable belief that the workplace is not in compliance with the Department of Labor and Industry's standards for the prevention of COVID-19. The provisions of the bill expire 30 days after the expiration or revocation of all states of emergency declared by the Governor related to the COVID-19 pandemic.