Prohibiting employer seeking wage or salary history of prospective employees; wage or salary range transparency; cause of action. Prohibits a prospective employer from (i) seeking the wage or salary history of a prospective employee; (ii) relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in considering the prospective employee for employment; (iii) relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in determining the wages or salary the prospective employee is to be paid upon hire; (iv) refusing to interview, hire, employ, or promote or otherwise retaliating against a prospective or current employee for not providing wage or salary history or requesting a wage or salary range; (v) failing or refusing to disclose in each public and internal posting for each job, promotion, transfer, or other employment opportunity the wage, salary, or wage or salary range; and (vi) failing to set a wage or salary range in good faith. The bill establishes a cause of action for an aggrieved prospective employee or employee and provides that an employer that violates such prohibitions is liable to the aggrieved prospective employee or employee for statutory damages between $1,000 and $10,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater, reasonable attorney fees and costs, and any other legal and equitable relief as may be appropriate. This bill incorporates HB 1164 and is identical to SB 215.
Sponsored bills
Prescription Drug Affordability Advisory Panel established; maximum fair price; annual reports; civil penalties. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to establish the Prescription Drug Affordability Advisory Panel to conduct data analyses, develop policy recommendations, and identify implementation barriers related to strategies to improve prescription drug affordability, enhance price transparency, and strengthen data collection practices for prescription drugs across public and private payers. The bill requires the Panel to (i) report annually on prescription drug pricing trends and any policy recommendations on legislation to improve prescription drug affordability and (ii) provide quarterly updates on prescription drug pricing trends. The bill requires each pharmacy benefits manager to provide to the Panel, upon request, certain information relating to the dispensation of a referenced drug, as defined in the bill.The bill prohibits prescription drug manufacturers or wholesale distributors permitted or licensed in the Commonwealth from accepting payment at an amount higher than the maximum fair price established by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services pursuant to federal law for the sale of a referenced drug intended for use by individuals in the Commonwealth. Under the bill, an entity that violates such prohibition is subject to a civil penalty of $10,000 per violation. The bill also prohibits a manufacturer subject to its provisions from removing a referenced drug from sale distribution in the Commonwealth for the purpose of avoiding the impact of the bill's rate limitations without providing certain prior notice. Under the bill, a manufacturer that violates such prohibition on removing a referenced drug without the required notice is subject to a civil penalty equal to the greater of $100,000 or the total amount of annual savings for the referenced drug, as determined by the Board of Pharmacy. This bill is identical to SB 271.
Elections; general provisions; electoral board members to wear identification; civil penalty. Requires the Department of Elections to issue a standardized identification badge to the acting electoral board members of each locality. Electoral board members are required to wear such identification badge while conducting their official duties on the day of an election subject to a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $1,000.
Virginia Consumer Protection Act; prohibited practices; kratom products. Prohibits selling or offering for sale (i) any kratom product to a person younger than 21 years of age; (ii) any kratom product that does not include a label listing all ingredients and the required disclosure; (iii) any kratom product not stored in an area that is not directly accessible to consumers, including behind a retail counter or in a locked display case, except for kratom products required to be refrigerated which may be stored, in accordance with relevant Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority regulations, in the same beverage cooler or refrigerator as wine and beer; (iv) any kratom product containing any synthesized material, semi-synthetic alkaloid, or synthetic kratom-like compound; (v) any kratom product containing 7-hydroxymitragynine in an alkaloid fraction exceeding one percent of total alkaloids in the container or providing more than one milligram of 7-hydroxymitragynine per serving; (vi) any kratom product adulterated with any dangerous, poisonous, or otherwise deleterious non-kratom ingredient, including any substance listed as a controlled substance under state or federal law; (vii) any kratom product that is combustible or intended for vaporization or injection; (viii) any kratom product that is manufactured, packaged, or marketed in a manner attractive to children; or (ix) any kratom extract product containing residual solvent levels exceeding applicable statutory or pharmacopeial limits.
Department of Education; compliance with and enforcement of prohibition on false statements as to school division or attendance zone residency; evaluation; report. Directs the Department of Education, in consultation with the Virginia State Crime Commission and such other stakeholders as the Department deems appropriate, to evaluate and make recommendations on compliance with and enforcement of the provisions of applicable law prohibiting any person from knowingly making a false statement concerning the residency of a child in a particular school division or school attendance zone for the purpose of improving the efficacy of enforcing statutory residency requirements for enrollment in a particular school division while ensuring consequences or penalties for violations of such requirements are commensurate with such violations. The bill directs the Department to submit to the Chairs of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Education by November 1, 2026, a report on its findings and recommendations.
Sheriff Javier J. Smith Memorial Bridge. Designates the bridge on Roxbury Road/State Route 106 at the border of Charles City County and New Kent County in Charles City County the "Sheriff Javier J. Smith Memorial Bridge."
Community service work in lieu of payment of fines and costs; work performed while incarcerated. Requires a court to establish a program and allow any person upon whom a fine and costs have been imposed to discharge all or part of the fine or costs by earning credits for the performance of (i) community service work performed before or after imprisonment or (ii) work performed while incarcerated, defined in the bill as any work done on or after July 1, 2023, by a person confined in any local, regional, or state correctional facility who is paid a wage that is less than the Virginia minimum wage.The bill requires such program to be available during such person's imprisonment in a local, regional, or state correctional facility. The bill provides that a person who is performing work while incarcerated shall be credited at the same rate as the community service work rate less any wages received. Under current law, a court is required to establish a program for providing an option for community service work in lieu of payment of fines and costs but offering such option is not mandatory. The bill also requires the local, regional, or state correctional facility to provide confirmation of the hours worked and the credits earned for such work upon request of any person who has performed work while incarcerated or his representative.
Employee Child Care Assistance Program established. Establishes the Employee Child Care Assistance Program to provide matching funds in order to incentivize employers to contribute to the child care costs of their employees. The Program shall be administered by the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation. To participate in the Program, an employer shall agree to make child care contributions to the eligible mixed delivery provider on behalf of the employee or to a third-party administrator, as defined by the bill, and shall provide any other information deemed necessary by the Foundation. The bill specifies that, to the extent funds are available, the Foundation shall issue a state match to a third-party administrator. Program funds shall be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis; however, the bill clarifies that the Foundation is encouraged to prioritize awards to proposals involving contributions from small businesses. The bill requires the Foundation to provide an interim report to the General Assembly by September 1, 2028, and a summative report to the General Assembly by September 1, 2030, on the effectiveness and impact of the Program.
Common-law crime of suicide. Abolishes the common-law crime of suicide. Suicide is currently a common-law crime in Virginia, although there is no statutorily prescribed punishment. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027, and also requires the Bureau of Insurance of the State Corporation Commission to review the effect and implication of abolishing the common-law crime of suicide on insurance throughout the Commonwealth and submit its findings and any recommendations by November 1, 2026, to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice.
Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; enforcement by localities. Provides that if a condition exists in a dwelling unit that constitutes a material noncompliance by the landlord with the rental agreement or with any provision of law that, if not remedied within a reasonable time frame, constitutes a fire hazard or serious threat to the life, health, or safety of a tenant or occupant of the premises, a locality may institute an action on behalf of any tenant or occupant of the premises who is injured by such material noncompliance for injunction and damages to enforce the landlord's duty to maintain the dwelling unit in a fit and habitable condition, provided that (i) the premises where the violation occurred is within the jurisdictional boundaries of the locality and (ii) the locality has notified the landlord who owns the premises, either directly or through the managing agent, of the nature of the violation and the landlord has failed to remedy the violation to the satisfaction of the locality within a reasonable time after receiving such notice. This bill is identical to SB 290.