Del. Karrie Delaney

Department of Motor Vehicles; information for veterans. Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to offer information on veteran services available in the Commonwealth to any person who identifies himself as a veteran on a document submitted to the Department for the purpose of a driver or vehicle transaction. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021.

Misclassification of employees as independent contractors; Department of Taxation to investigate and enforce; civil penalties. Prohibits an employer from classifying an individual as an independent contractor if he is an employee. An individual shall be considered an employee of the party that pays the remuneration for purposes of Titles 40.1 (Labor and Employment), 58.1 (Taxation), 60.2 (Unemployment Compensation), and 65.2 (Workers' Compensation) unless it is demonstrated that such individual is an independent contractor. The Department of Taxation shall determine whether an individual is an independent contractor by applying Internal Revenue Service guidelines. Violators are subject to civil penalties and debarment from public contracts. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021.

Health care services; explanation of benefits. Requires health carriers and Medicaid managed care organizations to provide an explanation of benefits to covered persons or recipients. The measure requires the State Corporation Commission to adopt regulations that establish alternative methods of delivery of the explanation of benefits that permit the receipt of an explanation of benefits by an alternative method, provided that such alternative method is in compliance with the provisions of federal regulations regarding the right to request privacy protection for protected health information. The measure requires health carriers and Medicaid managed care organizations to take all reasonable actions to ensure that their internal processes and systems prohibit the identification or description of sensitive health care services in their explanations of benefits. The measure requires a health carrier that requires a covered person to make a request for confidential communications in writing in accordance with federal law to accept the form of the explanation of benefits approved by the Commission. The measure also requires the Commission to define "sensitive health care services." The measure will take effect 90 days after the Commission has adopted the required regulations. The measure is a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Health Care.

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.

Comprehensive plan. Extends the time by which a governing body is required to approve or disapprove a locality-initiated comprehensive plan amendment for more than 25 parcels from 90 to 150 days. This bill is identical to HB 726.

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.

Prostitution; touching the unclothed genitals or anus of another; penalty. Provides that any person who touches the unclothed genitals or anus of another with the intent to sexually arouse or gratify for money is guilty of prostitution, which is punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also provides that any person who receives any money on account of procuring for or placing in a house of prostitution any person for the purpose of causing such person to engage in the touching of the unclothed genitals or anus of another person with the intent to sexually arouse or gratify is guilty of a Class 4 felony. As introduced, this bill is a recommendation of the Virginia State Crime Commission.

Coal ash ponds; private wells and public water supply wells; resident notification. Requires a utility, defined in the bill as the owner or operator of a coal ash pond in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, to complete a survey of all private wells and public water supply wells within 1.5 miles of each of its ponds by October 1, 2020, and to notify residents via mail and a local newspaper posting that the survey will be conducted.

Department of Emergency Management; responsibilitiesof political subdivisions; provision of emergency preparedness informationto individuals with limited English proficiency, disabilities, orother special needs. Directs the Department of Emergency Management(the Department) to ensure that the model school crisis and emergencymanagement plan developed by the Board of Education in consultationwith the Department is designed to include and reach individualswith limited English proficiency, disabilities, and other specialneeds. The bill also directs the Department to develop an emergencyresponse plan to (i) address the needs of such individuals in theevent of a disaster, including the provision of competent interpretationservices and translated documents, and (ii) assist and coordinatewith local agencies in developing similar emergency response plansfor such individuals. The bill requires that every local and interjurisdictionalemergency management agency include in its emergency operations planprovisions to ensure that adequate and timely emergency relief assistance,including competent interpretation services and translated documents,is provided to such individuals. The bill requires the governingbody of each locality that is required to establish an alert and warningplan to ensure that such plan provides adequate and timely warningsfor such individuals. The bill contains technical amendments.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; library records. Clarifies that information contained in library records that can be used to identify any library patron who has borrowed or accessed material or resources from a library as well as the material or resources such patron borrowed or accessed is exempt from disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. This bill is identical to HB 313.