Driver's license suspensions; restricted licenses;drug offenses. Authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles toissue restricted driving credentials to individuals with driver'slicense suspensions resulting from drug-related offenses.
Electric utilities; procurement. Requires a utility, in the construction of certain onshore wind, solar, and energy storage facilities, to procure, subject to a competitive process, equipment from a Virginia-based or United States-based manufacturer using materials or product components made in Virginia or the United States, if reasonably available and competitively priced. Additionally, the bill requires a utility, in the construction of certain offshore wind projects, to develop and submit a plan for review to the State Corporation Commission that includes considerations for the procurement of equipment from a Virginia-based or United States-based manufacturer using materials or product components made in Virginia or the United States, if reasonably available and competitively priced.
Law-enforcement agencies; body-worn camera systems. Creates a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Body-WornCamera System Fund to assist state or local law-enforcement agencieswith the costs of purchasing, operating, and maintaining body-worn camera systems.
Alcoholic beverage control; sale and delivery of mixed beverages and pre-mixed wine for off-premises consumption. Allows distillers that have been appointed as agents of the Board of Directors (the Board) of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (the Authority), mixed beverage restaurant licensees, and limited mixed beverage restaurant licensees to sell mixed beverages for off-premises consumption and deliver such mixed beverages to consumers subject to requirements set forth in the bill. The bill allows the Board to summarily revoke a licensee's privileges to sell and deliver mixed beverages for off-premises consumption for noncompliance with the requirements set forth in the bill or applicable provisions of current law. The bill also allows farm winery licensees to sell pre-mixed wine for off-premises consumption. The bill directs the Authority to convene a work group to study the sale and delivery of mixed beverages and pre-mixed wine for off-premises consumption and report its findings to the Chairmen of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services by November 1, 2021. The provisions of the bill sunset on July 1, 2022. This bill incorporates SB 1388.
Personal property tax exemption; motor vehicleof a disabled veteran. Provides that one motor vehicle of a veteranwho has a 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disabilityshall be exempt from local taxes. This bill is the enabling legislationfor a constitutional amendment ratified by the voters of the Commonwealthat the November 2020 general election.
Study; Secretary of Administration;State Board of Elections; electronic return of voted military-overseasballots; pilot program; report. Requests the Secretary of Administrationto oversee and develop a charter and directives for the State Boardof Elections to form a working group to study implementation of electronicreturn of voted military-overseas ballots. In conducting its study, the State Board of Elections with the working group shall study anddevelop initial instructions and procedures that (i) consider issuesrelated to accessibility, auditability, authentication, verification,and security through encryption, in order to ensure that any processimplemented would guarantee the accuracy and integrity of voted military-overseasballots, and (ii) recommend (a) security measures necessary to reasonablysecure the transmission, processing, and storage of voter data frominterception and unauthorized access; (b) methods for verifying andauthenticating the identity of the voter electronically when registeringto vote and when requesting a ballot from and returning a ballotto the voter's jurisdiction; (c) methods for the encryption of votedballots; and (d) a procedure for security reviews after an election.The study shall focus on implementation of electronic return of votedmilitary-overseas ballots first as a limited pilot program in 2022,and later on a statewide basis.
Parole Board; notice to victim. Requires the Parole Board, within seven days of making any decision regarding the parole of a prisoner, to provide written or electronic notice of such decision to the victim of the crime for which the prisoner was incarcerated, unless the victim has submitted a written request to forgo such notice.
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 the association (a) has at the outset a minimum of 100 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 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) shall 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 the State Corporation Commission retains its regulatory authority over any such association health plan and may impose insurance requirements, as it deems appropriate.
Parole; notice and certification; monthly reports. Provides that the Department of Corrections shall release a prisoner no sooner than 21 business days after the date of notification by the Virginia Parole Board (the Board) to the appropriate attorney for the Commonwealth of the decision to grant parole. The bill authorizes the Board to make such notification electronically and by certified mail; under current law only certified mail may be used. The bill requires that the monthly reports issued by the Board regarding actions taken on the parole of prisoners (i) be published on the last day of the month and (ii) include the offenses of which prisoners considered for parole were convicted, the jurisdictions in which such offenses were committed, and the amount of time served by such prisoners. However, a prisoner's name shall be included on report only if the attorney for the Commonwealth and any victims have been notified; otherwise, inclusion on the report is delayed to the following month. The bill requires that when notice is sent to a victim of the victim's right to present evidence to the Board of the impact that the release of a prisoner will have on the victim, such notice shall also be sent to the attorney for the Commonwealth and the director of the victim/witness program of the jurisdiction in which the prisoner's offense occurred. This bill incorporates SB 1293.
Line of Duty Act; requiring licensed healthpractitioners to conduct medical reviews. Requires that, forany medical review of a claim made pursuant to the provisions ofthe Line of Duty Act, the Virginia Retirement System shall requirethat such review be conducted by a doctor, nurse, or psychologistwho is licensed in the Commonwealth or a contiguous state. The billhas a delayed effective date of July 1, 2022.
