Study; JLARC; reduction or elimination of tollson Midtown and Downtown Tunnels in Hampton Roads; report. Directsthe Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study the feasibilityof reducing or eliminating tolls on the Midtown and Downtown Tunnelsin Hampton Roads.
Relocation of call centers to a foreign country; notification requirements. Requires certain call centers thatintend to relocate operations from the Commonwealth to a foreigncountry to give the Commissioner of Labor and Industry at least 120days' prior notice. The measure requires the Commissioner to compilea semiannual list of all employers that relocate a call center fromthe Commonwealth to a foreign country and to distribute the list to state agencies. Subject to exceptions, an employer that appears onthe list is (i) ineligible for five years for any direct or indirectgrants of state funds, any loans from or guaranteed by the state,or any tax credit or reduction in tax liability and (ii) requiredto repay any financial incentives the employer has previously received.The measure requires new state agency contracts for the performanceof state business-related call center and customer service work toprovide that such work will be performed entirely within the Commonwealth.
Health insurance; payment to out-of-networkproviders. Provides that when a covered person receives coveredemergency services from an out-of-network health care provider or receives out-of-network services at an in-network facility, the coveredperson is not required to pay the out-of-network provider any amountother than the applicable cost-sharing requirement. The measure alsoestablishes a standard for calculating the health carrier's requiredpayment to the out-of-network provider of the services, which standardis the lower of the market-based value for the service or 125 percentof the amount that would be paid under Medicare for the service.If such provider determines that the amount to be paid by the healthcarrier does not comply with the applicable requirements, the measure requires the provider and the health carrier to make a good faitheffort to reach a resolution on the appropriate amount of the reimbursementand, if a resolution is not reached, authorizes either party to request the State Corporation Commission to review the disputed reimbursement amount and determine if the amount complies with applicable requirements.The measure provides that such provisions do not apply to an entitythat provides or administers self-insured or self-funded plans; however, such entities may elect to be subject such provisions. Themeasure requires health carriers to make reports to the Bureau ofInsurance and directs the Bureau to provide reports to certain committeesof the General Assembly.
Health insurance; payment to out-of-network providers. Provides that when a covered person receives covered emergency services from an out-of-network health care provider or receives out-of-network services at an in-network facility, the covered person is not required to pay the out-of-network provider any amount other than the applicable cost-sharing requirement. The measure also establishes a standard for calculating the health carrier's required payment to the out-of-network provider of the services, which standard is the lower of the market-based value for the service or 125 percent of the amount that would be paid under Medicare for the service. If such provider determines that the amount to be paid by the health carrier does not comply with the applicable requirements, the measure requires the provider and the health carrier to make a good faith effort to reach a resolution on the appropriate amount of the reimbursement and, if a resolution is not reached, authorizes either party to request the State Corporation Commission to review the disputed reimbursement amount and determine if the amount complies with applicable requirements. The measure provides that such provisions do not apply to an entity that provides or administers self-insured or self-funded plans; however, such entities may elect to be subject such provisions. The measure requires health carriers to make reports to the Bureau of Insurance and directs the Bureau to provide reports to certain committees of the General Assembly. This bill was incorporated into HB 1251.
General Assembly meetings; streaming and recording. Requires the Clerk of the House of Delegates and the Clerk of theSenate to ensure that every (i) subcommittee or committee meetingof a standing committee of the General Assembly, regardless of meetingdate, and (ii) floor session of the House of Delegates or the Senate,including any joint session of the houses, is streamed with closedcaptioning, recorded and archived. The bill defines "stream" and specifiesthat a qualifying meeting is one the date and time of which havebeen scheduled on a public website of any agency of the General Assemblyfor at least one hour prior to the meeting and that takes place inthe State Capitol, the Pocahontas Building, or the General AssemblyBuilding in Richmond. The bill has a delayed effective date of October1, 2020.
Lottery Board; regulation of casino gaming. Authorizes casino gaming in the Commonwealth to be regulated by the Virginia Lottery Board. Casino gaming shall be limited to certain cities that meet the criteria that is outlined in the bill, and a referendum must be passed in the city on the question of allowing casino gaming in the city. This bill is a reenactment of the first enactment of Senate Bill 1126 of the 2019 legislative session. The bill was incorporated into HB 4.
Virginia Security for Public Deposits Act; collateral for public deposits. Specifies that required collateral of a qualified public depository must be deposited with a qualified escrow agent within two business days of accepting public deposits. Current law requires deposits to be collateralized at the time of deposit.
Marijuana; legalization of simple marijuanapossession; penalty. Eliminates criminal penalties for possessionof marijuana for persons who are 21 years of age or older. The bill also decriminalizes marijuana possession for persons under 21 yearsof age and provides a civil penalty of no more than $50 for a firstviolation, $100 for a second violation, and $250 for a third or subsequentviolation. Under current law, a first offense is punishable by amaximum fine of $500 and a maximum jail sentence of 30 days, and subsequent offenses are a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also modifies severalother criminal penalties related to marijuana. The bill establishesa regulatory scheme for the regulation of marijuana cultivation facilities,marijuana manufacturing facilities, marijuana testing facilities,and retail marijuana stores by the Board of Agriculture and ConsumerServices. The bill imposes a tax on retail marijuana and retail marijuanaproducts sold by a retail marijuana store at a rate of 9.7 percent(for a total sales tax of 15 percent) and provides that 67 percentof the revenues collected from the tax be deposited into the generalfund and 33 percent of the revenues be deposited into a "Retail MarijuanaEducation Support Fund" to be used solely for purposes of public education.
Marijuana; decriminalization of simple marijuana possession; penalty. Decriminalizes marijuana possession and provides a civil penalty of no more than $25. Under current law, a first offense is punishable by a maximum fine of $500 and a maximum jail sentence of 30 days, and subsequent offenses are a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill creates a rebuttable presumption that a person who possesses no more than one-half ounce of marijuana possesses it for personal use and provides that the existing suspended sentence and substance abuse screening provisions apply only to criminal violations or to civil violations by a minor. The bill decreases from a Class 5 felony to a Class 6 felony the penalty for distribution or possession with intent to sell more than one-half ounce but not more than five pounds of marijuana. This bill was incorporated into HB 972.
Flood Insurance Fund; low-income Virginians.Creates a Flood Insurance Fund and directs the Executive Director of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Resources Authority toestablish a program to use the Fund to subsidize the purchase offlood insurance by low-income Virginians. Such program shall includean application process, application guidelines, and a ranking systemthat prioritizes the use of the Fund to support the purchase of floodinsurance in the most flood-prone areas.
