Del. Rod Willett

Virginia Minimum Wage Act; exclusions. Eliminatesthe exclusion in the Virginia Minimum Wage Act for persons whoseemployment is covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of1938 (FLSA) and for persons whose earning capacity is impaired byphysical deficiency, mental illness, or intellectual disability.The measure also exempts, until July 1, 2024, from the Virginia MinimumWage Act any person who is paid pursuant to a special certificatethat provides for the employment of individuals whose earning orproductive capacity is impaired by age, physical or mental deficiency,or injury at wages lower than the minimum wage otherwise requiredby the FLSA.

Board of Education; graduation requirements;English as a second language courses. Requires the Board of Education,in establishing high school graduation requirements, to permit Englishas a second language (ESL) courses to satisfy credit requirementsfor graduation.

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.

State, regional, and local planning; climatechange. Establishes a policy of the Commonwealth to prevent andto minimize actions that contribute to the detrimental effects ofanthropogenic climate change in the Commonwealth. The bill requiresany state agency to examine any new regulation or policy involvingstate action or funds in relation to its impact on climate changeand its effects thereof prior to adopting or implementing such regulationor policy. The bill requires local and regional planning commissionsto consider the impacts from and causes of climate change in adoptinga comprehensive plan, regional strategic plan, or zoning ordinance.

Official emblems and designations; state song. Designates "Virginia, the Home of My Heart" by Susan Greenbaum asthe official state folk song.

Policies against workplace harassment; legislative branch. Requires each legislative branch agency to adopt and implement the Commonwealth Workplace Harassment Policy established by the Department of Human Resource Management. The bill provides that the Policy applies to legislative branch employees, including General Assembly members and members-elect, when undertaking meetings with other state employees, contract employees, applicants for employment, customers, vendors, members of the media, members of the public, volunteers, or lobbyists or when conducting or performing election activities in the scope of official duties.Under the bill, a victim of alleged workplace harassment will be able to file a complaint against a legislative branch employee, other than a member of the General Assembly, in accordance with the procedures of the Policy or with the Division of Human Rights in the Office of the Attorney General. The Division of Human Rights is authorized to investigate the complaint and use any other powers with regard to the complaint granted to it under law. The bill requires each house of the General Assembly to adopt rules governing procedures and disciplinary sanctions for General Assembly members and members-elect violating policies against workplace harassment.The 2018 Session of the General Assembly enacted legislation requiring full-time legislative branch employees to complete a sexual harassment training course once every two calendar years beginning January 1, 2020. In addition to other differences, this bill broadens the scope of training for legislative branch employees and provides for punitive damages if a party complaining of workplace harassment demonstrates that the defendant engaged in a discriminatory practice with malice or reckless indifference. The bill contains a reenactment clause and has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2022.

Consumer lending. Replaces references to payday loans with the term "short-term loans." The measure caps the interest and fees that may be charged under a short-term loan at an annual rate of 36 percent, plus a maintenance fee; increases the maximum amount of such loans from $500 to $2,500; and sets the duration of such loans at a minimum of four months, subject to exceptions, and a maximum of 24 months. Short-term loan licensees are required to make a reasonable attempt to verify a borrower's income and may not collect fees and charges that exceed 50 percent of the original loan amount if such amount is equal to or less than $1,500 and 60 percent of the original loan amount if such amount is greater than $1,500. The measure amends the requirements for motor vehicle title loans, including requiring licensed lenders to use a database to determine a prospective borrower's eligibility for a loan and prohibiting loans to a borrower who has an outstanding short-term loan. The measure sets a 36-percent annual interest rate cap on open-end credit plans and allows a $50 annual participation fee. A violation of these provisions is made a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The measure amends provisions of the Consumer Finance Act to, among other things, allow licensed lenders to use the services of access partners and establish requirements that loans be between $300 and $35,000; be repayable in substantially equal installment payments; have a term of no fewer than six and no more than 120 months; charge not more than 36 percent annual interest and a loan processing fee; and require licensees to post a bond. The measure prohibits credit service businesses from advertising, offering, or performing other services in connection with an extension of credit that has an annual interest rate exceeding 36 percent, is for less than $5,000, has a term of less than one year, or is provided under an open-end credit plan. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021, and requires any person who would be required to be licensed under the provisions of the act to apply for a license by October 1, 2020. This bill is identical to SB 421.

Photo speed monitoring devices; civil penalty. Authorizes law-enforcement agencies and localities to operate photo speed monitoring devices, defined in the bill, in or around school crossing zones and highway work zones for the purpose of recording images of vehicles that are traveling at speeds of at least 10 miles per hour above the posted school crossing zone or highway work zone speed limit within such school crossing zone or highway work zone when such highway work zone is indicated by conspicuously placed signs displaying the maximum speed limit and that such photo speed monitoring devices are used in the area. The bill provides that the operator of a vehicle shall be liable for a monetary civil penalty, not to exceed $125, if such vehicle is found to be traveling at speeds of at least 10 miles per hour above the posted highway work zone or school crossing zone speed limit by the photo speed monitoring device. The bill provides that if the summons for a violation is issued by mail, the violation shall not be reported on the driver's operating record or to the driver's insurance agency, but if the violation is personally issued by an officer at the time of the violation, such violation shall be part of the driver's record and used for insurance purposes. The bill provides that the civil penalty will be paid to the locality in which the violation occurred if the summons is issued by a local law-enforcement officer and paid to the Department of State Police if the summons is issued by a law-enforcement officer employed by the Department of State Police. This bill incorporates HB 621 and HB1721.

Creation of the Central Virginia Transportation Authority; funding. Creates the Central Virginia Transportation Authority, comprising the counties and cities located in Planning District 15. The Authority will administer transportation funding generated through the imposition of an additional regional 0.7 percent sales and use tax and a wholesale gas tax of 7.6 cents per gallon of gasoline and 7.7 cents per gallon of diesel fuel. The gas tax rates would be indexed for inflation. The bill requires a local maintenance of effort for transit funding of at least 50 percent of what was provided on July 1, 2020, with such amount to be indexed beginning in 2023. The Authority is directed to review the governance structure of existing transit service in the Richmond region, and evaluate the possibility of creating a transportation district, and report its findings by December 1, 2020 to the Governor and the General Assembly.

Solar energy projects; revenue share assessment. Authorizes any locality by ordinance to assess a revenue share of up to $1,400 per megawatt on any solar photovoltaic (electric energy) project with certain exceptions and expands an existing tax exemption for such projects under certain conditions. The bill authorizes such revenue share to apply to existing projects only if certain conditions are met. This bill is identical to SB 762.