Sen. Joe Morrissey

Health insurance; cost-sharing payments for prescription insulin drugs. Prohibits health insurance companies and other carriers from setting an amount exceeding $30 per 30-day supply that a covered person is required to pay at the point of sale in order to receive a covered prescription insulin drug. The measure also prohibits a provider contract between a carrier or its pharmacy benefits manager and a pharmacy from containing a provision (i) authorizing the carrier's pharmacy benefits manager or the pharmacy to charge, (ii) requiring the pharmacy to collect, or (iii) requiring a covered person to make a cost-sharing payment for a covered prescription insulin drug in an amount that exceeds such limitation. This bill incorporates HB 1403.

Paid family and medical leave program. Requiresthe Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer apaid family and medical leave program with benefits beginning January1, 2023. Under the program, benefits are paid to eligible employeesfor family and medical leave. Funding for the program is providedthrough premiums assessed to employers and employees beginning in2022. The amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee's averageweekly wage, not to exceed 80 percent of the state weekly wage, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflect changesin the statewide average weekly wage. The measure caps the durationof paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year. The bill provides self-employed individuals the option of participating in the program.

Firearms; removal from persons posing substantial risk; penalties. Creates a procedure by which any attorney for the Commonwealth or two law-enforcement officers may apply to a general district court, circuit court, or juvenile and domestic relations district court judge or magistrate, who must consult with the attorney for the Commonwealth, for an emergency substantial risk order to prohibit a person who poses a substantial risk of injury to himself or others from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm. Upon service of an emergency substantial risk order, the person who is subject to the order shall be given the opportunity to voluntarily relinquish any firearm. An emergency substantial risk order shall expire on the fourteenth day following issuance of the order. The bill requires a court hearing in the circuit court for the jurisdiction where the order was issued within 14 days from issuance of an emergency substantial risk order to determine whether a substantial risk order should be issued. Seized firearms shall be retained by a law-enforcement agency for the duration of an emergency substantial risk order or a substantial risk order or, for a substantial risk order and with court approval, may be transferred to a third party 21 years of age or older chosen by the person from whom they were seized. The bill allows the complainant of the original warrant to file a motion for a hearing to extend the substantial risk order prior to its expiration. The court may extend the substantial risk order for a period not longer than 180 days. The bill provides that persons who are subject to a substantial risk order, until such order has been dissolved by a court, are guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor for purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm; are disqualified from having a concealed handgun permit; and may not be employed by a licensed firearms dealer. The bill also provides that a person who transfers a firearm to a person he knows has been served with a warrant or who is the subject of a substantial risk order is guilty of a Class 4 felony. The bill creates a computerized substantial risk order registry for the entry of orders issued pursuant to provisions in the bill.

Additional transient occupancy tax in Prince George County. Authorizes Prince George County to impose an additional transient occupancy tax at a rate of up to two percent, for a total maximum rate of seven percent. The revenue from the additional tax shall be used solely for tourism purposes.

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 is identical to HB 1547.

Primary ballot; certain required statements as qualification for candidacy; failure to timely file. Provides that the name of any person who does not file his written statement of qualification or statement of economic interests by the relevant deadline, or by the end of an extension period if an extension of the deadline has been granted by the State Board of Elections, shall not be printed on the primary election ballot.

Subpoena duces tecum; attorney-issued subpoena duces tecum; criminal cases. Provides that in any criminal case a subpoena duces tecum may be issued by the attorney of record who is an active member of the Virginia State Bar at the time of issuance, as an officer of the court. The bill provides that any such subpoena duces tecum shall be on a form approved by the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia, signed by the attorney as if a pleading, shall include the attorney's address, and shall be mailed or delivered to the adverse party. The bill also provides that the law governing subpoenas duces tecum issued pursuant to Rule 3A:12(b) shall apply and provides a process for objection to such attorney-issued subpoenas.

Sudden cardiac arrest prevention in student-athletes. Directs the Board of Education to develop, biennially update, and distribute to each local school division guidelines on policies to inform and educate coaches, student-athletes, and student-athletes' parents or guardians about the nature and risk of sudden cardiac arrest, procedures for removal from and return to play, and the risks of not reporting symptoms. The bill also requires local school divisions to develop and biennially update policies and procedures regarding the identification and handling of symptoms that may lead to sudden cardiac arrest in student-athletes.

Health care providers; screening of patientsfor prenatal and postpartum depression; training. Directs theBoards of Medicine and Nursing to adopt regulations requiring licenseeswho provide primary, maternity, obstetrical, or gynecological healthcare services to complete a training program on prenatal and postnatal depression in women. Such training program shall include informationon risk factors for and signs and symptoms of prenatal and postnatal depression, resources for the treatment and management of prenataland postnatal depression, and steps the practitioner can take tolink patients to such resources. The bill also requires the Boardof Medicine to adopt regulations requiring licensees who provide primary,maternity, obstetrical, or gynecological health care services toscreen all patients who are pregnant or who have been pregnant withinthe previous five years for prenatal or postnatal depression or other depression, as appropriate.

Autism Advisory Council; sunset. Extendsthe sunset provision of the Autism Advisory Council from July 1,2020, to July 1, 2022.