Food stamps; Restaurant Meals Program. Directsthe Department of Social Services to participate in the RestaurantMeals Program (RMP) of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The bill requires the Department to develop and implementa plan to begin such participation no later than January 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.
Health insurance; nondiscrimination; gender identity or transgender status. Prohibits a health carrier from denying or limiting coverage or imposing additional cost sharing or other limitations or restrictions on coverage, under a health benefit plan for health care services that are ordinarily or exclusively available to covered individuals of one sex, to a transgender individual on the basis of the fact that the individual's sex assigned at birth, gender identity, or gender otherwise recorded is different from the one to which such health services are ordinarily or exclusively available. The measure also prohibits a health carrier from (i) subjecting an individual to discrimination under a health benefit plan on the basis of gender identity or being a transgender individual or (ii) requiring that an individual, as a condition of enrollment or continued enrollment under a health benefit plan, pay a premium that is greater than the premium for a similarly situated covered person enrolled in the plan on the basis of the covered person's gender identity or being a transgender individual. The measure requires health carriers to assess medical necessity according to nondiscriminatory criteria that are consistent with current medical standards.
Plastic Waste Prevention Advisory Council. Establishes in the executive branch of state government the Plastic Waste Prevention Advisory Council to study and make recommendations regarding plastic pollution problems in the Commonwealth, with the mission of eliminating plastic waste and contributing to the achievement of plastics packaging circular economy industry standards. The bill has a sunset date of June 30, 2023.
Multi-jurisdiction grand jury; hate crimes. Adds the following to the list of crimes that a multi-jurisdiction grand jury may investigate: (i) simple assault or assault and battery where the victim was intentionally selected because of his race, religious conviction, gender, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, color, or national origin; (ii) entering the property of another for purposes of damaging such property or its contents or interfering with the rights of the owner, user, or occupant where such property was intentionally selected because of the race, religious conviction, gender, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, color, or national origin of the owner, user, or occupant; and (iii) various offenses that tend to cause violence.
Reporting lost or stolen firearms; civil penalty. Requires that, if a firearm is lost or stolen from a person who lawfully possessed it, such person shall report the loss or theft of the firearm to any local law-enforcement agency or the Department of State Police within 48 hours after such person discovers the loss or theft or is informed by a person with personal knowledge of the loss or theft. The bill requires the relevant law-enforcement agency to enter the report information into the National Crime Information Center. A violation is punishable by a civil penalty of not more than $250. The bill provides that a person who, in good faith, reports the loss or theft is immune from criminal or civil liability for acts or omissions that result from the loss or theft. The immunity does not apply to a person who knowingly gives a false report. The bill does not apply to the loss or theft of an antique firearm.
Restrictive covenants; certificate of release of certain prohibited covenants. Prohibits a deed containing a restrictive covenant from being recorded on or after July 1, 2020, and provides the form for a Certificate of Release of Certain Prohibited Covenants to be recorded to remove any such restrictive covenant.
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.
School boards; school meals; availability to students. Requires each school board to require each public elementary and secondary school in the local school division to participate in the federal National School Lunch Program and the federal School Breakfast Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and to make meals available pursuant to such programs to any student who requests such a meal, regardless of whether such student has the money to pay for the meal or owes money for meals previously provided, unless the student's parent has provided written permission to the school board to withhold such a meal from the student. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021.
Doulas; certification; registry. Provides that no person shall use or assume the title "state-certified doula," as defined in the bill, unless such person is a community-based doula who has received training and education as a doula from an entity approved by a body approved by the Board of Health for such purpose and been certified as a doula by a body approved by the Board of Health for such purpose and that no entity shall hold itself out as providing training and education necessary to meet the requirements for certification as a doula unless its curriculum and training program has been approved by a body approved by the Board of Health for such purpose. The bill also directs the Board of Health to adopt regulations setting forth the requirements for (i) use of the title "state-certified doula" and (ii) training and education necessary to satisfy the requirements for certification by the Department of Health as a state-certified doula.
