Sen. Monty Mason

Public auction of personal property to satisfy lien; advertisement requirement alternative contact. Removes the provisions regarding the content of and publishing requirements for an advertisement for a public auction of personal property for the purposes of satisfying a lien. The bill also requires a rental agreement for an individual storage space in a self-service storage facility to provide the occupant with the option to designate an alternative contact to receive any notices required by law and provides that no alternative contact shall have any right to access the leased space or any personal property stored within unless expressly stated otherwise in the rental agreement.

Department of General Services; state fleet managers to use total cost of ownership calculations; report. Requires the Department of General Services, beginning October 1, 2022, to procure a total cost of ownership calculator prior to procuring any light-duty vehicles. Beginning January 1, 2023, the Department and all agencies of the Commonwealth shall utilize the calculator prior to purchasing or leasing light-duty vehicles and to purchase electric vehicles unless the calculator clearly indicates that purchasing or leasing an internal combustion-engine vehicle has a lower cost of ownership. The bill requires the Department to provide technical assistance to all public bodies in the use of such calculator. The bill requires the Department to report a summary of such procurements to the Governor and the General Assembly by January 1, 2026, and every three years thereafter. The bill exempts emergency vehicles and vehicles used by agencies of the Commonwealth for law-enforcement, incident response, or other emergency response activities from its provisions. The bill requires the Department of General Services Public Body Procurement Workgroup to (i) evaluate the appropriateness of requiring the Department to use a total cost of ownership calculator to, prior to purchasing or leasing any medium-duty or heavy-duty vehicle, assess and compare the total cost to purchase, own, lease, and operate such internal combustion-engine vehicles versus comparable electric vehicles and (ii) report its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology on or before December 1, 2022.

Local health director; qualifications. Amends the qualification requirements for local health directors to provide that a person may be a local health director if he possess a master's or doctoral degree in the area of public health and has at least three years of professional experience in a full-time position in either a public health agency or public health-related position or is otherwise qualified for the position as determined by the Commissioner of Health. Currently, only a person who is a physician licensed to practice medicine in the Commonwealth may be a local health director. The bill provides that if a local health director is not a physician licensed to practice medicine and there is no licensed physician on staff, the local health director shall enter into a consulting agreement with a licensed physician to execute prescribing duties, consult on clinical matters, and perform all other duties as requested.

Criminal history background checks; children's residential facilities. Provides that a person who is required to undergo a background check as a condition of employment at a children's residential facility may work at such children's residential facility pending the results of all background check components required by this section provided that (i) the applicant has received qualifying results on the fingerprint-based criminal history background check and (ii) the person is supervised at all times by a person who received qualifying results on a background check conducted in accordance with this section within the past five years. Currently, no person who is required to undergo a background check as a condition of employment at a children's residential facility may work at the children's residential facility until the criminal history background check and a check of the central registry of records of child abuse and neglect investigations maintained by the Department of Social Services are complete.

Board of Health; Statewide Telehealth Plan; Virginia Telehealth Network. Requires the Board of Health (the Board) to consult with the Virginia Telehealth Network in amending and maintaining the Statewide Telehealth Plan. The bill requires the Board to contract with the Virginia Telehealth Network, or another Virginia-based nongovernmental, nonprofit organization focused on telehealth if the Virginia Telehealth Network is no longer in existence, to (i) provide direct consultation to any advisory groups and groups tasked by the Board with implementation and data collection, (ii) track implementation of the Statewide Telehealth Plan, and (iii) facilitate changes to the Statewide Telehealth Plan as accepted medical practices and technologies evolve. This bill is identical to HB 81.

Health insurance; association health plan for real estate salespersons. Provides that a licensed insurer may issue a policy of group accident and sickness insurance to an association of real estate salespersons (association), which association shall be deemed the policyholder, and that such association health plan is not considered to be insurance and is not subject to the existing requirements for insurance if certain requirements are met. The bill requires that (i) all members of the association be eligible for coverage and membership, including employer members with at least one employee that is domiciled in the Commonwealth or self-employed individuals; (ii) membership in the association not be conditioned on any health status–related factor; (iii) the coverage offered through the association be available to all members regardless of any health status–related factor; (iv) the association not make health insurance coverage offered through the association available other than in connection with a member of the association; and (v) premiums for the policy be paid from funds contributed by the association or associations, or by employer members, or by both, or from funds contributed by the covered persons or from both the covered persons and the association, associations, or employer members. The bill also requires that the association (a) has at the outset a minimum of 25,000 members; (b) has been organized and maintained in good faith for purposes other than that of obtaining insurance; (c) has been in active existence for at least five years; and (d) has a constitution and bylaws that provide that the association hold regular meetings not less than annually to further purposes of the members, that the association collects dues or solicits contributions from members, and that the members have voting privileges and representation on the governing board and committees.The bill provides that any such policy shall (1) be considered a large group market plan subject to all coverage mandates applicable to a large group market plan, (2) be subject to the group health plan coverage requirements under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, (3) be prohibited from denying coverage under the policy on the basis of a pre-existing condition, (4) be guaranteed issue and guaranteed renewable, (5) provide essential health benefits and cost-sharing requirements, and (6) offer a minimum level of coverage designed to provide benefits that are actuarially equivalent to 60 percent of the full actuarial value of the benefits provided under the plan.The bill requires an insurer issuing such policy to an association to (A) treat all of the members and employees of employer members who are enrolled in coverage under the policy as a single risk pool; (B) set premiums on the basis of the collective group experience of the members and employees of employer members who are enrolled in coverage under the policy; (C) not vary premiums by age, except that the rate shall not vary by more than four to one for adults; (D) not vary premiums on the basis of gender; (E) not vary premiums on the basis of the health status of an individual employee of an employer member or a self-employed individual member; and (F) not establish discriminatory rules based on the health status of an employer member, an individual employee of an employer member, or a self-employed individual for eligibility or contribution.Finally, the bill provides that a policy that meets certain requirements of the bill is considered to be compliant with the large group market insurance regulations under the federal Public Health Service Act and, as such, the Commonwealth is considered to be substantially enforcing the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act with regard to such policy. The bill requires the State Corporation Commission to regulate the policy in a manner that is consistent with such provisions. The bill provides that, in any case in which a federal agency renders a decision that is contrary to such provisions, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Attorney General may resolve any difference between federal law and the laws of the Commonwealth. This bill incorporates SB 397 and is identical to HB 768.

Sales tax; Historic Triangle regional tax; dedicationof funds. Requires the City of Williamsburg, James City County,and York County to appropriate annual amounts to entities promotingtourism and recreation in the Historic Triangle. Under current law,such localities receive state funds from the imposition of an extraone percent sales tax in the Historic Triangle. Thebill establishes the Williamsburg Tourism Council (the Council) asan advisory board in the legislative branch of state government, removesthe Chief Executive Officer of the Virginia Tourism Alliance fromthe membership of the Council, and replaces him with the Chair ofthe Greater Williamsburg Chamber of Commerce.

Kinship foster care; notice and appeal. Requires local boards of social services (local boards), upon receiving a request from a child's relative to become a kinship foster parent, to provide the relative with any forms and materials that must be submitted to become a kinship foster parent within 15 days. The bill requires local boards, upon denying a relative's request to become a kinship foster parent, to provide to the relative (i) a clear and specific explanation of the reasons for denial, (ii) a statement that such denial is appealable, and (iii) information regarding the procedure for filing such appeal. The bill allows relatives to file an appeal regarding such decisions with the Commissioner of Social Services and requires the Board of Social Services to adopt certain regulations regarding the timeline of such appeals. This bill is identical to HB 716.