Del. Terry Kilgore

Public elementary and secondary schools and public school-based early childhood care and education programs; student instruction; masks. Requires, except in the case of the 10 unscheduled remote learning days otherwise permitted by law or in certain cases of student discipline, each school board to offer in-person instruction, as defined in the bill, to each student enrolled in the local school division in a public elementary or secondary school for at least the minimum number of required annual instructional hours and to each student enrolled in the local school division in a public school-based early childhood care and education program for the entirety of the instructional time provided pursuant to such program. The bill permits, notwithstanding any other provision of law or any regulation, rule, or policy implemented by a school board, school division, school official, or other state or local authority, the parent of any child enrolled in a public elementary or secondary school, or in any school-based early childhood care and education program, to elect for such child to not wear a mask while on school property. The bill provides that no parent making such an election shall be required to provide a reason or any certification of the child's health or education status and no student shall suffer any adverse disciplinary or academic consequences as a result of this parental election. The bill clarifies that none of the foregoing provisions shall be construed to affect the authority granted to the Governor to achieve the purposes of relevant emergency services and disaster law with regard to a communicable disease of public health threat.

Department of Energy; waste coal piles; report. Directs the Department of Energy, in cooperation with public institutions of higher education serving the coalfield region of the Commonwealth, to identify the approximate volume and number of waste coal piles present in the area and options for cleaning up such waste coal piles, including potential use in electricity generation. The Department of Energy shall report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by December 1, 2022. The bill also directs the Department of Environmental Quality to convene a working group to evaluate opportunities for the development of public infrastructure projects at current or proposed sites for the storage of coal ash in the Commonwealth. The working group shall report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by December 1, 2022. This bill is identical to SB 120.

Board of Health; Statewide Telehealth Plan; Virginia Telehealth Network. Requires the Board of Health (the Board) to consult with the Virginia Telehealth Network in amending and maintaining the Statewide Telehealth Plan. The bill requires the Board to contract with the Virginia Telehealth Network, or another Virginia-based nongovernmental, nonprofit organization focused on telehealth if the Virginia Telehealth Network is no longer in existence, to (i) provide direct consultation to any advisory groups and groups tasked by the Board with implementation and data collection, (ii) track implementation of the Statewide Telehealth Plan, and (iii) facilitate changes to the Statewide Telehealth Plan as accepted medical practices and technologies evolve. This bill is identical to SB 436.

Public institutions of higher education; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; notice to students; SNAP benefits.Requires each public institution of higher education to ensure thatall students have access to accurate information about the SupplementalNutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), including eligibility and howto apply. The bill also directs each institution to advertise theapplication and process for applying for SNAP prominently on the institution's website, in orientation materials that are distributedto each new student, in at least one campus-wide email per academicyear to all students at such institution, and through other means.

Generation of electricity and energy development in the Commonwealth. Prohibits an electric generating unit located in the coalfield region of the Commonwealth capable of generating electricity from waste coal that began commercial operations after January 1, 2010, from being required to retire before such unit reaches the end of its useful life. The bill repeals provisions of the Virginia Clean Economy Act that prohibit the State Corporation Commission from issuing a certificate of public convenience and necessity for any investor-owned utility to own, operate, or construct any electric generating unit that emits carbon as a by-product of combusting fuel to generate electricity until the General Assembly receives a certain report from the Secretary of Natural Resources and the Secretary of Commerce and Trade and that authorize such Secretaries to recommend a future moratorium on the issuing of such certificates. The bill establishes the Southside Virginia Energy Research and Development Authority (the Authority) to promote opportunities for energy development in Southside Virginia, to create jobs and economic activity in Southside Virginia consistent with the Virginia Energy Plan, and to position Southside Virginia and the Commonwealth as a leader in energy workforce and energy technology research and development. The bill provides that the Authority  is composed of 11 nonlegislative members, of whom four are appointed by the Governor, four are appointed by the Speaker of the House, and three are appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules. The Authority is charged with, among other tasks, (i) leveraging the strength in energy research and workforce development of Virginia's public and private institutions of higher education; (ii) supporting the development of pump storage hydropower in Southside Virginia and energy storage generally; (iii) promoting the development of renewable energy generation facilities on brownfield sites, including abandoned mine sites; (iv) promoting energy workforce development; (v) promoting the deployment of broadband in Southside Virginia; and (vi) assisting energy technology research and development by promoting the development of a Southside Virginia Energy Park. The Authority has a sunset date of July 1, 2032. The bill also adds the promotion of the deployment of broadband in Southwest Virginia as a duty of the existing Southwest Virginia Energy Research and Development Authority.The bill requires the Center for Rural Virginia (the Center), to develop and maintain, in coordination with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Virginia Cooperative Extension, a map or repository of prime farmland located in the Commonwealth. The Center is required to provide localities access to the map or repository to aid in the evaluation of siting a solar project or energy storage project. The Board of Trustees of the Center is required to report to the Governor and the General Assembly an initial report on the development of such prime farmland map or repository by December 1, 2022.The bill requires the Department of Energy, in cooperation with the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority, to convene a stakeholder work group to identify strategies and any needed public policies, including statutory or regulatory changes, for (a) promoting the development of advanced small modular reactors in localities in the Commonwealth that formerly hosted fossil fuel electric generation facilities and that have expressed interest in acting as a host site through resolution by their governing board and (b) siting such reactors on brownfield sites or former military sites in such localities.Finally, the bill requires the Department of Energy to consider the economic development of rural Virginia a key priority in completing its update to the Virginia Energy Plan scheduled for 2022.

Advanced Manufacturing Talent Investment Programand Fund. Creates the Advanced Manufacturing Talent InvestmentProgram and Fund to assist qualified institutions, as defined in the bill, in reaching, by 2042, a goal of increasing by at least 25,000new eligible credentials, which are noncredit workforce credentialsawarded by a qualified institution in a high demand advanced manufacturingfield as identified by the Board of Workforce Development. To be eligible for an annual grant, a qualified institution is requiredto enter into a memorandum of understanding setting forth specificcriteria for eligible credentials, eligible expenses, credentialproduction goals, and completion rates.

Commercial mobile radio and cellular telephoneservice providers; Lifeline service. Grants authority to theState Corporation Commission to designate any commercial mobile radioor cellular telephone service provider as an eligible telecommunicationscarrier for purposes of providing Lifeline service, in addition toany such provider designated under federal law, without requiringsuch provider to obtain a certificate otherwise required by the Commissionprior to furnishing exchange telephone service in the Commonwealth.

Group health benefit plans; bona fide associations; formation of benefits consortium. Provides that certain trusts constitute a benefits consortium and are authorized to sell health benefit plans to members of a sponsoring association that (i) has been formed and maintained in good faith for purposes other than obtaining or providing health benefits; (ii) does not condition membership in the sponsoring association on any factor relating to the health status of an individual, including an employee of a member of the sponsoring association or a dependent of such an employee; (iii) makes any health benefit plan available to all members regardless of any factor relating to the health status of such members or individuals eligible for coverage through a member; (iv) does not make any health benefit plan available to any person who is not a member of the association; (v) makes available health plans or health benefit plans that meet requirements provided for in the bill; (vi) operates as a nonprofit entity under § 501(c)(5) or 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code; and (vii) has been in active existence for at least five years. The bill replaces references to "bona fide association," as used in provisions applicable to health care plans in the small employer market, with the term "sponsoring association."The bill requires any health benefit plan issued by a self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangement (MEWA) that covers one or more employees of one or more small employers to (a) provide essential health benefits and cost-sharing requirements; (b) offer a minimum level of coverage designed to provide benefits that are actuarially equivalent to 60 percent of the full actuarial value of the benefits provided under the plan; (c) not limit or exclude coverage for an individual by imposing a preexisting condition exclusion on that individual; (d) be prohibited from establishing discriminatory rules based on health status related to eligibility or premium or contribution requirements as imposed on health carriers; (e) meet the renewability standards set forth for health insurance issuers; (f) establish base rates formed on an actuarially sound, modified community rating methodology that considers the pooling of all participant claims; and (g) utilize each employer member's specific risk profile to determine premiums by actuarially adjusting above or below established base rates, and utilize either pooling or reinsurance of individual large claimants to reduce the adverse impact on any specific employer member's premiums.The bill prohibits a self-funded MEWA from issuing health benefit plans in the Commonwealth until it has obtained a license pursuant to regulations promulgated by the State Corporation Commission. The bill authorizes the Commission to adopt regulations applicable to self-funded MEWAs, including regulations addressing financial condition, solvency requirements, and the exclusion of self-funded MEWAs from the Virginia Life, Accident and Sickness Insurance Guaranty Association. This bill is identical to SB 195.

Veteran-owned small businesses; waiving of fees. Directs the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs and the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, in conjunction with the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity, to examine the waiving of fees associated with permits necessary to establish a small business for veteran-owned small businesses. This bill is identical to SB 572.

Careless driving; vulnerable road users. Provides that a person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor if he operates a vehicle in a careless or distracted manner and causes the death or serious bodily injury of a vulnerable road user. Current law only imposes the penalty if such careless or distracted operation causes serious bodily injury to the vulnerable road user. The bill also allows a court to suspend the driver's license or restrict the driver's license of a person convicted of careless driving for up to six months. This bill is identical to HB 920.