Del. Rod Willett

Health insurance; cost-sharing payments for prescription insulin drugs. Prohibits health insurance companies and other carriers from setting an amount exceeding $30 per 30-day supply that a covered person is required to pay at the point of sale in order to receive a covered prescription insulin drug. The measure also prohibits a provider contract between a carrier or its pharmacy benefits manager and a pharmacy from containing a provision (i) authorizing the carrier's pharmacy benefits manager or the pharmacy to charge, (ii) requiring the pharmacy to collect, or (iii) requiring a covered person to make a cost-sharing payment for a covered prescription insulin drug in an amount that exceeds such limitation. This bill incorporates HB 1403.

Early childhood care and education; licensing. Requires the Board of Education to establish a statewide unified public-private system for early childhood care and education in the Commonwealth to be administered by the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Department of Education. The bill transfers the authority to license and regulate child day programs and other early child care agencies from the Board of Social Services and Department of Social Services to the Board of Education and Department of Education. The bill maintains current licensure, background check, and other requirements of such programs. Such provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021. The bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a plan for implementing the statewide unified early childhood care and education system and requires the Department of Social Services and the Department of Education to enter into a cooperative agreement to coordinate the transition. The bill also requires the Board of Education to establish, no later than July 1, 2021, a uniform quality rating and improvement system designed to provide parents and families with information about the quality and availability of certain publicly funded early childhood care and education providers and to publish the initial quality ratings under such system in the fall of 2023. This bill is identical to SB 578.

Debt settlement services providers; penalties. Provides for the licensure and regulation of debt settlement services providers by the State Corporation Commission. The measure defines "debt settlement services" as any action or negotiation initiated or taken by or on behalf of any consumer with any creditor of the consumer for the purpose of obtaining debt forgiveness of a portion of the credit extended by the creditor to the consumer or reduction of payments, charges, or fees payable by the consumer. The measure prohibits licensees from accepting a fee from consumers prior to providing the consumers' requested debt settlement services. The requirements imposed by this measure on licensed providers of debt settlement services are similar to those applicable to agencies providing debt management plans. The measure provides for civil penalties against licensees that violate these requirements, grants consumers a private right of action against licensees, and makes a violation a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The licensing and regulation of debt settlement services providers has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021. The measure directs the State Corporation Commission to establish a procedure to be in effect by March 1, 2021, for any person to apply prior to July 1, 2021, for a license that will become effective when the licensing requirements of this measure become effective on July 1, 2021.

Public institutions of higher education; eligibility for in-state tuition. Provides that any student is eligible for in-state tuition who (i) attended high school for at least two years in the Commonwealth and either (a) graduated on or after July 1, 2008, from a public or private high school or program of home instruction in the Commonwealth or (b) passed, on or after July 1, 2008, a high school equivalency examination approved by the Secretary of Education; (ii) has submitted evidence that he or, in the case of a dependent student, at least one parent, guardian, or person standing in loco parentis has filed, unless exempted by state law, Virginia income tax returns for at least two years prior to the date of registration or enrollment; and (iii) registers as an entering student or is enrolled in a public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. The bill states that students who meet these criteria shall be eligible for in-state tuition regardless of their citizenship or immigration status, except students with currently valid visas issued under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(F), 1101(a)(15)(H)(iii), 1101(a)(15)(J) (including only students or trainees), or 1101(a)(15)(M). Information obtained in the implementation of the provisions of the bill shall only be used or disclosed to individuals other than the student for purposes of determining in-state tuition eligibility. This bill incorporates HB 1138 and is identical to SB 935.

Community solar development pilot program; low-income communities. Requires each incumbent electric utility to select for dedication to its community solar development pilot program one or more eligible generating facilities that are located within a low-income community as a condition for the utility's selection for dedication to its program any eligible generating facility that is located outside a low-income community. The bill requires the costs of the selected facilities in low-income communities to equal or exceed the costs of the eligible generating facility that is located outside a low-income community. These requirements apply to facilities selected on or after July 1, 2020. The bill defines a low-income community as a census tract that is designated in 2019 or thereafter as a qualified census tract for purposes of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. Such census tracts are required to have 50 percent of households with incomes below 60 percent of the area median gross income or have a poverty rate of 25 percent or more.

Teachers, other instructional personnel, and support staff; shortages; data; reporting. Requires (i) each school board to report to the Department of Education annually the number and type of teacher, other instructional personnel, and support staff vacancies in the school division and (ii) each approved education preparation program to report to the Department of Education annually the number of individuals who completed the program by endorsement area. The bill requires the Department of Education to (a) establish deadlines for and the format of the reporting of such data and (b) aggregate and report such data annually on the Department's website.

Protected information; newspersons engaged in journalism. Provides that no newsperson engaged in journalism shall be compelled by the Commonwealth or a locality in any criminal proceeding to testify about, disclose, or produce protected information, as defined in the bill, except when the court finds that (i) the protected information is necessary to the proof of an issue material to an administrative or criminal proceeding; (ii) the protected information is not obtainable from any alternative source; (iii) the Commonwealth or locality exhausted all reasonable methods for obtaining the protected information from all relevant alternative sources, if applicable; and (iv) there is an overriding public interest in the disclosure of the protected information, including preventing harm to or death of a person. The bill further provides that any information obtained in violation of the provisions of the bill shall be inadmissible for any purpose in an administrative or criminal proceeding.

Economic development programs; reporting requirements.Eliminates the requirement that the Governor provide a biannualreport that includes information regarding grants and loans awardedfrom the Commonwealth's Development Opportunity Fund during the immediatelypreceding six-month period for economic development projects to theChairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations and Finance andthe Senate Committee on Finance. The bill also clarifies the duedates for plans and reports to be prepared and submitted by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority to various individualsand repeals the requirement that the Secretary of Commerce and Tradeprovide an annual report on the effectiveness of economic developmentprograms in the Commonwealth. The bill contains technical amendments.

Schedule VI controlled substances; hypodermic syringes and needles; limited-use license. Allows the Board of Pharmacy to issue a limited-use license for the purpose of dispensing Schedule VI controlled substances, excluding the combination of misoprostol and methotrexate, and hypodermic syringes and needles for the administration of prescribed controlled substances to a doctor of medicine, osteopathic medicine, or podiatry, a nurse practitioner, or a physician assistant, provided that such limited-use licensee is practicing at a nonprofit facility. The bill requires such nonprofit facilities to obtain a limited-use permit from the Board and comply with regulations for such a permit. This bill directs the Board of Pharmacy to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. This bill is identical to SB 1074.

Department of Emergency Management; responsibilitiesof political subdivisions; provision of emergency preparedness informationto individuals with limited English proficiency, disabilities, orother special needs. Directs the Department of Emergency Management(the Department) to ensure that the model school crisis and emergencymanagement plan developed by the Board of Education in consultationwith the Department is designed to include and reach individualswith limited English proficiency, disabilities, and other specialneeds. The bill also directs the Department to develop an emergencyresponse plan to (i) address the needs of such individuals in theevent of a disaster, including the provision of competent interpretationservices and translated documents, and (ii) assist and coordinatewith local agencies in developing similar emergency response plansfor such individuals. The bill requires that every local and interjurisdictionalemergency management agency include in its emergency operations planprovisions to ensure that adequate and timely emergency relief assistance,including competent interpretation services and translated documents,is provided to such individuals. The bill requires the governingbody of each locality that is required to establish an alert and warningplan to ensure that such plan provides adequate and timely warningsfor such individuals. The bill contains technical amendments.