Del. Terry Kilgore

Individual and corporate income tax credit;employers of National Guard members and self-employed National Guardmembers. Provides for taxable years 2020 through 2024 a nonrefundabletax credit against individual and corporate income taxes for (i) wages paid by an employer to an employee who is an active or reserveVirginia National Guard member or (ii) income of a self-employedactive or reserve Virginia National Guard member attributable to his business. The amount of the credit shall be 25 percent if such memberwas in a military pay status for 65 days or more during such taxableyear or 15 percent if such member was in a military pay status forat least 45 days but less than 65 days during such taxable year.The credit shall not be allowed if such member was in a military pay status for less than 45 days during such taxable year. The billallows a taxpayer to carry unused credits over for up to five taxableyears.

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.

Public schools; Standards of Learning assessments.Reduces the total number and type of required Standards of Learningassessments to the minimum requirements established by the federalElementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended.

Health insurance; association health plans. Providesthat for policies of group accident and sickness insurance issued to anassociation, members of such an association may include (i) a self-employedindividual and (ii) an employer member (a) with at least one employee that isdomiciled in the Commonwealth or (b) that has a principal place of businessthat does not exceed the boundaries of a metropolitan area that is at leastpartially in the Commonwealth. The bill provides that for such policies issuedto an association that covers at least 51 members and employees of employermembers of such association on the first day of the plan year the policiesshall be considered a large group market plan and are required to meet variousprovisions in the bill. The bill provides that to determine the size of anassociation all of the members and employees of employer members are aggregatedand treated as employed by a single employer.The bill requires an insurer issuing a policy to anassociation to (1) treat all of the members and employees of employer memberswho are enrolled in coverage under the policy as a single risk pool; (2) setpremiums based on the collective group experience of the members and employeesof employer members who are enrolled in coverage under the policy; (3) varypremiums by age, except that the rate shall not vary by more than 5 to 1 foradults; (4) not vary premiums based on gender; (5) not establish discriminatoryrules based on the health status of an employer member, an individual employeeof an employer member, or a self-employed individual for eligibility orcontribution.The bill requires the Commissioner of Insurance to, within 90days of the enactment of the bill, apply to the U.S. Secretary of Health andHuman Services for a state innovation waiver under the federal PatientProtection and Affordable Care Act, P.L. 111-148, to implement the provisionsof the bill. The provisions of the bill regarding association health plans willbecome effective 30 days following the date the Commissioner of Insurancenotifies the Governor and the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees onCommerce and Labor of federal approval of such waiver.

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.

Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder;law-enforcement officers and firefighters. Provides that post-traumaticstress disorder incurred by a law-enforcement officer or firefighter iscompensable under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act if a mental healthprofessional examines a law-enforcement officer or firefighter and diagnosesthe individual as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result ofthe individual's undergoing a qualifying event, which includes an event occurringin the line of duty on or after July 1, 2020, in which a law-enforcementofficer or firefighter views a deceased minor, witnesses the death of a personor an incident involving the death of a person, witnesses an injury to a personwho subsequently dies, has physical contact with and treats an injured personwho subsequently dies, transports an injured person who subsequently dies, orwitnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss of a vital bodypart or a vital body function that results in permanent disfigurement of thevictim. Other conditions for compensability include (i) if the post-traumaticstress disorder resulted from the law-enforcement officer or firefighter actingin the line of duty and, in the case of a firefighter, such firefightercomplied with certain federal Occupational Safety and Health Act standards;(ii) if the law-enforcement officer's or firefighter's undergoing a qualifyingevent was a substantial factor in causing his post-traumatic stress disorder;(iii) if such qualifying event, and not another event or source of stress, wasthe primary cause of the post-traumatic stress disorder; and (iv) if thepost-traumatic stress disorder did not result from any disciplinary action,work evaluation, job transfer, layoff, demotion, promotion, termination,retirement, or similar action of the officer or firefighter. The measureestablishes procedural requirements on employers that contest a claim for suchbenefits. The measure also establishes requirements for resilience and self-caretechnique training.

Board of Pharmacy; pharmaceutical processors;cannabis oil. Replaces the definitions of cannabidiol oil andTHC-A oil with a definition for cannabis oil. The bill allows pharmaceuticalprocessors to acquire industrial hemp grown and processed in Virginiafrom a registered industrial hemp dealer or processor and allowsa pharmaceutical processor to process and formulate industrial hempwith cannabis plant extract into an allowable dosage.

Virginia National Guard; state active duty for emergency response; pay and allowances for members. Provides that whenever called to state active duty in response to certain emergencies, members of the National Guard and the Virginia Defense Force receive pay and allowance equal to their rank and years of service, as determined by the Department of Military Affairs. The bill also authorizes the Adjutant General to increase state active duty pay on an annual basis by a rate not to exceed the most recent percentage increase in basic pay for members of the Armed Forces. Current law provides that (i) officers of the National Guard receive the same pay and allowances as prescribed for members of like rank in the United States Armed Forces, (ii) members of the National Guard receive the same pay and allowances as if they were on a day of Annual Training, and (iii) members of the Virginia Defense Force called to state active duty receive the same pay and allowances as persons of like grade in the National Guard for a day of Annual Training, capped at 25 years of service. The provisions of the bills are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

Electric utility regulation; energy efficiency programs; industrial customers. Revises the definition of "large general service customer" from a customer with a verifiable history of demand from 500 kilowatts from a single meter of delivery to one with one megawatt at a single site. Large general service customers are exempt from the costs of certain energy efficiency programs if the State Corporation Commission finds that such customer has implemented energy efficiency programs that have produced or will produce measured and verified results consistent with industry standards and other regulatory criteria. The measure requires the Commission to adopt regulations (i) establishing the process for large general service customers to apply for such an exemption, (ii) establishing the administrative procedures by which eligible customers will notify the utility, and (iii) defining the standard criteria that is required to be satisfied by an applicant in order to notify the utility, including means of evaluation measurement and verification and confidentiality requirements. The bill requires such rules and regulations to require that each exempted large general service customer certify to the utility and Commission that its implemented energy efficiency programs have delivered measured and verified savings within the prior five years.

Electric utilities; broadband capacity. Authorizes an electric utility to lease to any third party that is a wholesaler and that is not a government-owned broadband authority, for the purposes of providing broadband connectivity. The leases may extend in length beyond the end of the pilot program under which the utility provides broadband capacity to nongovernmental Internet service providers in areas of the Commonwealth unserved by broadband.