Uyghurs; human rights crisis. Recognizesthe human rights crisis related to the internment of Uyghurs andother Central Asian ethnic minorities.
Prohibited discrimination; public accommodations, employment, credit, and housing: causes of action; sexual orientation and gender identity. Creates explicit causes of action for unlawful discrimination in public accommodations and employment in the Virginia Human Rights Act. Currently, under the Act there is no cause of action for discrimination in public accommodations, and the only causes of action for discrimination in employment are for (i) unlawful discharge on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, including lactation, by employers employing more than five but fewer than 15 persons and (ii) unlawful discharge on the basis of age by employers employing more than five but fewer than 20 persons. The bill allows the causes of action to be pursued privately by the aggrieved person or, in certain circumstances, by the Attorney General. The bill prohibits discrimination in public and private employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill also codifies for state and local government employment the current prohibitions on discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, or status as a veteran. Additionally, the bill (a) prohibits discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran; (b) prohibits discrimination in credit on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, disability, and status as a veteran; and (c) adds discrimination on the basis of an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran as an unlawful housing practice. The bill makes technical amendments. This bill incorporates HB 3, HB 21, HB 23, HB 217, HB 1050, HB 1200, and HB 1512.
Redistricting; Virginia Redistricting Advisory Commission; standards and criteria. Establishes the Virginia Redistricting Advisory Commission (the Commission), a statutory legislative commission tasked with proposing districts for the United States House of Representatives and for the Senate and the House of Delegates of the General Assembly that adhere to certain constitutional and statutory criteria and that will be submitted for consideration and adoption by the General Assembly. The Commission will consist of eight legislative commissioners and eight citizen commissioners. The legislative commissioners consist of four members of the Senate of Virginia and four members of the House of Delegates, with equal representation given to the political parties having the highest and next highest number of members in their respective houses. The citizen commissioners are chosen by a selection committee consisting of five retired judges of the circuit courts of Virginia, from lists submitted to the selection committee by the Speaker of the House of Delegates, the leader in the House of Delegates of the political party having the next highest number of members in the House of Delegates, the President pro tempore of the Senate of Virginia, and the leader in the Senate of the political party having the next highest number of members in the Senate. The bill contains eligibility requirements for the citizen commissioners, including restrictions on holding or having held partisan national or state public office. As part of the application process for service on the Commission, the Division of Legislative Services acts as a repository for applications submitted by interested persons and is tasked with screening out applicants who are ineligible or submit incomplete applications. The applications of the citizen candidates selected by political leadership and submitted for consideration to the selection committee are public records.The bill also directs the Division of Legislative Services to provide staff support to the Commission in the redistricting of congressional and state legislative districts. The Commission is required to submit to the General Assembly plans of districts within certain time periods, and the bill sets out criteria by which the districts are to be drawn, including equal population, racial and ethnic fairness, communities of interest, contiguity, and compactness. The bill prohibits a map of districts from unduly favoring or disfavoring any political party when considered on a statewide basis.The bill provides for the preparation and use of adjusted population data for redistricting and reapportionment purposes to reflect the reallocation of persons incarcerated in federal, state, and local correctional facilities. Persons incarcerated in such a facility whose address at the time of incarceration was in the Commonwealth are to be counted at that address and persons incarcerated in such a facility whose address at the time of incarceration was outside of the Commonwealth or cannot be determined are to be counted at the facility.Provisions to ensure public participation in the redistricting process are included, including requirements that meetings are video recorded and transcribed and the archived videos and transcripts be made available on the Commission's website. The bill also requires a series of public hearings to be conducted prior receipt of Census data and at least public hearings to be held prior to voting to submit any plan to the General Assembly. The General Assembly may reject initial plans developed by the Commission and provide information to the Commission regarding the reasons for rejecting such plans. The General Assembly is limited in its ability to amend plans until multiple plans have been submitted and rejected.
Recounts; procedure for certain ballots.Requires recount officials to segregate all ballots for which thereis a question regarding the ballot's validity prior to the conclusionof the recount of each precinct. The bill provides that the recountcourt may not consider the validity of any ballots not set asideprior to the conclusion of the recount of each precinct.
Teledentistry. Defines "teledentistry,"establishes requirements for the practice of teledentistry, establishesrequirements for the taking of dental scans for use in teledentistryby dental scan technicians, and clarifies requirements related tothe use of digital work orders for dental appliances in the practiceof teledentistry. The bill also requires the Board of Dentistry toreview all applications for renewal of a license to identify thoseapplicants who are engaged in the practice of teledentistry and reportsuch information annually, by October 1, to the Chairmen of the HouseCommittee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, the Senate Committeeon Education and Health, and the Joint Commission on Health Care.
Records of marriages; identification of race. Eliminates the requirement that the race of married parties be included in marriage records, divorce reports, and annulment reports filed with the State Registrar. The bill also removes the requirement that the State Registrar include race data in the compilation and posting of marriage, divorce, and annulment data. This bill incorporates HB 141, HB 1158, and HB 1425 and is identical to SB 62 and SB 1066.
Child support; reasonable cost of health care coverage. Modifies the definition of "reasonable cost" for purposes of health care coverage in child support arrangements by capping the maximum amount to five percent of the gross income of the parent responsible for providing health care coverage. Under current law, such costs are capped at five percent of the parents' combined gross income.
Pharmacy benefits managers; licensure and regulation. Provides that no person is authorized to provide pharmacy benefits management services or otherwise act as a pharmacy benefits manager without first obtaining a license from the State Corporation Commission. The measure prohibits a carrier on its own or through its contracted pharmacy benefits manager or representative of a pharmacy benefits manager from (i) causing or knowingly permitting the use of any advertisement, promotion, solicitation, representation, proposal, or offer that is untrue; (ii) charging a pharmacist or pharmacy a fee related to the adjudication of a claim other than a reasonable fee for an initial claim submission; (iii) reimbursing a pharmacy or pharmacist an amount less than the amount that the pharmacy benefits manager reimburses a pharmacy benefits manager affiliate for providing the same pharmacist services, calculated on a per-unit basis using the same generic product identifier or generic code number and reflecting all drug manufacturer's rebates, direct and indirect administrative fees, and costs and any remuneration; or (iv) penalizing or retaliating against a pharmacist or pharmacy for exercising rights provided by this measure. The measure also prohibits a carrier from (a) imposing provider accreditation standards or certification requirements inconsistent with, more stringent than, or in addition to requirements of the Virginia Board of Pharmacy or other state or federal entity; (b) including any mail order pharmacy or pharmacy benefits manager affiliate in calculating or determining network adequacy; or (c) conducting spread pricing in the Commonwealth. The measure also imposes recordkeeping and reporting requirements. The bill has a delayed effective date of October 1, 2020. This bill incorporates HB 1292, HB 1459, HB 1479, and HB 1659 and is identical to SB 251.
Study; barrier crimes and criminal history records checks; report. Establishes a joint subcommittee to study the Commonwealth's requirements related to barrier crimes and criminal history records checks. The resolution directs the joint subcommittee to, in conducting its study, develop recommendations related to (i) whether statutory provisions related to criminal history records checks, barrier crimes, and barrier crime exceptions should be reorganized and consolidated into a central location in the Code of Virginia; (ii) whether certain crimes should be removed from the list of barrier crimes; (iii) whether barrier crime exceptions and waiver processes should be broadened; (iv) whether the required amount of time that must lapse after conviction of certain barrier crimes should be shortened; and (v) other changes that could be made to criminal history records check and barrier crimes requirements that would improve the organization, effectiveness, and fairness of such provisions.
Commending the Telugu Association of North America.
