Del. Delores McQuinn

Health insurance credits for retired school division employees other than teachers. Requires school divisions to provide a health insurance credit of $1.50 per year of service to non-teacher employees of a local school division with at least 15 years of total creditable service. In addition, localities may elect to provide such individuals an additional health insurance credit of up to $1 per month for each year of creditable service. However, the bill provides that the additional benefits for retired school division employees other than teachers shall not be paid to any such employee prior to July 1, 2021.This measure does not apply to any local school division employee who retired on disability prior to July 1, 2020, if this measure would reduce the monthly credit currently payable to such former member. Eligible employees who retired prior to July 1, 2020, and did not receive a health insurance credit prior to that date will only receive the $1.50 per year of service health insurance credit prospectively.

Chesterfield County School Board; recoveryhigh school. Permits the Chesterfield County School Board, withsuch funds as may be appropriated for such purpose pursuant to thegeneral appropriation act, to establish a recovery high school inthe school division as a year-round high school (i) for which enrollmentis open to any high school student who resides in Superintendent'sRegion 1 and is in the early stages of recovery from substance usedisorder or dependency and (ii) for the purpose of providing suchstudents with the academic, emotional, and social support necessaryto make progress toward earning a high school diploma and reintegratinginto a traditional high school setting.

Commission to Study Slavery and Subsequent De Jure and De Facto Racial and Economic Discrimination Against African Americans; report; sunset. Creates the Commission to Study Slavery and Subsequent De Jure and De Facto Racial and Economic Discrimination Against African Americans to (i) study the current impact and long-term inequities of slavery and the subsequent state-sanctioned de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination practiced against African Americans and (ii) make recommendations to the General Assembly on appropriate remedies. The bill requires the Commission to annually submit a report on its interim activity and work to the Governor and the General Assembly. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2022.

Institutions of higher education; sexual violencepolicies; immunity from disciplinary action; certain students whomake reports. Requires the Virginia Community College System,Richard Bland College, each baccalaureate public institution of highereducation, and each nonprofit private institution of higher educationto include in its sexual violence policy a requirement that any enrolledstudent who (i) reports to any individual employed by the institutionthat an act of sexual violence occurred on campus, in or on a noncampusbuilding or property, or on public property, as such terms are definedin relevant law, and (ii) the institution determines, as a resultof any investigation relating to such alleged act of sexual violence,committed a separate, unrelated, nonviolent act that violates theinstitution's code, rules, or set of standards governing student conduct is immune from disciplinary action for such violation.

Firearm transfers; criminal history record information checks; penalty. Requires a background check for any firearm transfer and directs the Department of State Police (the Department) to establish a process for transferors to obtain such a check from licensed firearms dealers. A transferor who sells a firearm to another person without obtaining the required background check is guilty of a Class 6 felony. The bill also provides that a transferee who receives a firearm from another person without obtaining the required background check is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill exempts transfers (i) between immediate family members; (ii) that occur by operation of law; (iii) by the executor or administrator of an estate or by the trustee of a testamentary trust; (iv) at firearms shows in accordance with law; (v) that are part of a buy-back or give-back program; (vi) of antique firearms; (vii) that occur at a shooting range, shooting gallery, or any other area designed for the purpose of target shooting, for use during target practice, a firearms safety or training course or class, a shooting competition, or any similar lawful activity; or (viii) that are temporary transfers that (a) occur within the continuous presence of the owner of the firearm or (b) are necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm. The bill removes the provision that makes background checks of prospective purchasers or transferees at firearms shows voluntary. The bill also provides that the Department shall have three business days to complete a criminal history record information check before a firearm may be transferred. The bill establishes an appropriation for the fiscal impact of the bill and authorizes the Director of the Department of Planning and Budget to allocate such appropriation among the agencies and programs impacted by the bill. This bill incorporates HB 355.

Virginia Health Benefit Exchange. Creates the Virginia Health Benefit Exchange, which will be established and operated by a new division within the State Corporation Commission (SCC). The Exchange shall facilitate the purchase and sale of qualified health plans and qualified dental plans to qualified individuals and qualified employers. The Exchange shall make qualified plans available to qualified individuals and qualified employers by July 1, 2023, unless the SCC postpones this date. The measure authorizes the SCC to review and approve accident and sickness insurance premium rates applicable to health benefit plans in the individual and small group markets and health benefit plans providing health insurance coverage in the individual market through certain non-employer group plans. The Exchange will be funded by an assessment on health insurers, which is limited to three percent of total monthly premiums, except the SCC may, after a public hearing, adjust the rate as necessary to ensure the Exchange is fully funded. A health plan will not be required to cover any state-mandated health benefit if federal law does not require it to be covered as part of the essential benefits package. The essential health benefits are items and services included in the benchmark health insurance plan, which is the largest plan in the largest product in the Commonwealth's small group market as supplemented in order to provide coverage for the items and services within the statutory essential health benefits categories. The SCC may contract with other eligible entities and enter into memoranda of understanding with other agencies of the Commonwealth to carry out any of the functions of the Exchange, including agreements with other states or federal agencies to perform joint administrative functions. Such contracts are not subject to the Virginia Public Procurement Act (§ 2.2-4300 et seq.). The measure repeals a provision enacted in 2013 that prohibits an agent, employee, officer, or agency of the Commonwealth from taking any action to establish a health benefit exchange.The measure requires the Department of Taxation to include on the appropriate individual tax return forms a checkoff box or similar mechanism for indicating whether the individual, or spouse in the case of a married taxpayer filing jointly, or any dependent of the individual (i) is an uninsured individual at the time the return is filed and (ii) voluntarily consents to the Department of Taxation providing the individual's tax information to the Department of Medical Assistance Services for purposes of affirming that the individual, the individual's spouse, or any dependent of the individual meets the income eligibility for medical assistance. Finally, the measure requires the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to convene a work group that includes representatives from the SCC, the Department of Medical Assistance Services, the Department of Social Services, and the Department of Taxation and a consumer advocate to develop systems, policies, and practices to leverage state income tax returns to facilitate the enrollment of eligible individuals in insurance affordability programs through the Virginia Health Benefit Exchange established in this measure. The Secretary shall report the work group's recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly by September 15, 2020. This measure is identical to SB 732.

Minimum staffing ratio for school counselors. Requires local school boards to employ school counselors in accordance with the following ratios, effective with the 2020-2021 school year: in elementary schools, one hour per day per 75 students, one full-time equivalent at 375 students, one hour per day additional time per 75 students or major fraction thereof; in middle schools, one period per 65 students, one full-time equivalent at 325 students, one additional period per 65 students or major fraction thereof; and in high schools, one period per 60 students, one full-time equivalent at 300 students, one additional period per 60 students or major fraction thereof. The bill also requires local school boards to employ one full-time equivalent school counselor position per 325 students in grades kindergarten through 12, effective with the 2021-2022 school year. This bill incorporates HB 398.

Virginia Food Access Investment Program andFund. Creates the Virginia Food Access Investment Program andFund to provide funding for the construction, rehabilitation, equipmentupgrades, or expansion of grocery stores, small food retailers, andinnovative food retail projects, defined in the bill, in underservedcommunities.

Commissioner of Social Services; work group; plan for licensure of prescribed pediatric extended care centers in the Commonwealth; report. Directs the Commissioner of Social Services to establish a work group to develop a plan for the licensure of prescribed pediatric extended care centers in the Commonwealth. The work group shall report the plan to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2020.

Community Services Efficiency Act; Departmentof Education; community schools. Requires the Department of Educationto establish an interagency task force composed of state and local agencies and entities in the areas of early childhood development, health, social services, community engagement, family engagement,higher education, communities in schools, and workforce developmentfor the purpose of developing a program for the establishment of community schools whereby public elementary and secondary schoolsserve as centers for the provision of such community programs andservices to students and their families as may be necessary on thebasis of the unique needs of the student population to be served. The bill requires such program to include a process by which schoolboards and community partnerships may apply to the Department ofEducation to designate an elementary or secondary school in the localschool division as a community school. The bill also establishesa special nonreverting fund in the state treasury for the purposeof providing planning grants for school boards and community partnershipsthat seek to apply to the Department of Education through such programfor community school designation.