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2008 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor

Chairman: Richard L. Saslaw

Clerk: Martha Turner
Staff: Frank Munyan
Date of Meeting: February 18, 2008
Time and Place: Monday, 1/2 hour after adjournment; Senate Room B; GAB

H.B. 96 Unemployment compensation; provides benefits based on service in employ of an Indian tribe.

Patron: Purkey

Unemployment compensation; Indian tribes. Provides that unemployment compensation benefits based on service in the employ of an Indian tribe are payable to the same extent as benefits payable to other employees covered by the Virginia Unemployment Compensation Act. The measure provides Indian tribes with the option to make reimbursement payments to the unemployment trust fund, in lieu of tax payments, to the same extent currently allowed for local governments. If an Indian tribe fails to make required payments, the tribe will become liable for the FUTA tax and the Virginia Employment Commission may remove tribal services from unemployment coverage. SB 359 is identical.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 60.2-507.1, relating to unemployment compensation benefits and the financing thereof for employees of Indian tribes.

080025692

H.B. 116 Foreign title insurance companies; unearned premium reserves.

Patron: Ware, R.L.

Foreign title insurance companies; unearned premium reserves.  Authorizes foreign title insurance companies to establish and maintain unearned premium reserves on title insurance policies issued on Virginia properties pursuant to the reserving laws of the companies' domiciliary regulator, if the domiciliary regulator is accredited under the National Association of Insurance Commissioner's Financial Regulation Standards and Accreditation Program.  Currently, foreign title insurance companies are required to maintain unearned premium reserves at the higher of the amount required of domestic title insurance companies or the amount required in the jurisdiction of domicile.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 38.2-4610.1 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 38.2-4610.1:1, relating to unearned premium reserves of certain title insurance companies.

084493780

H.B. 196 Accident and sickness insurance, group; coverage for full-time students.

Patron: Alexander

Group health insurance; coverage for students. Clarifies that when a group health insurance policy provides coverage for a dependent child who is enrolled based upon his status as a full-time student and who becomes unable to continue as a full-time student due to a medical condition, coverage under the policy will continue if the child%92s treating physician certifies that the child%92s absence is medically necessary. Coverage for the child shall continue until (i) the date that is 12 months from the date the child ceases to be a full-time student or (ii) the date the child no longer qualifies under the group policy, whichever first occurs.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 38.2-3525 of the Code of Virginia, relating to group accident and sickness insurance; full-time students.

080046408

H.B. 222 Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act; right to confront and cross-examine witnesses.

Patron: Kilgore

Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act; evidence. Allows all parties to a claim under the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act to confront and cross-examine witnesses, and provides that a party shall not be precluded from conducting depositions of any witness from whom evidence is elicited. The measure also creates a mechanism for voiding an adverse determination in a claim made pursuant to Chapter 919 of the 2006 Acts of Assembly where a party was denied the opportunity to confront and cross-examine witnesses against him. In order to have the adverse determination voided, the party is required to file a petition on or before July 1, 2009. Any new review would be de novo. SB 212 is identical.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 38.2-5008.1 and to amend the second enactment of Chapter 919 of the Acts of Assembly of 2006 by adding a section numbered 2, relating to the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act; right to confront and cross-examine witnesses.

081476588

H.B. 228 Reduced cigarette ignition propensity; prohibits manufacture, etc. thereof unless meets standards.

Patron: Cosgrove

Fire-safe cigarettes; civil penalties.  Prohibits the manufacture, sale, or offer for sale of cigarettes within the Commonwealth, or to persons located in the Commonwealth, unless the cigarettes have been tested to determine that they meet a performance standard for fire safety. The test predicts the likelihood that a cigarette will ignite material with which it comes in contact. Cigarette manufacturers are required to file a certification with the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services that their cigarettes meet the mandated performance standard as measured by the prescribed test. Cigarette packages are required to be marked so that compliant cigarettes may be distinguished from those not certified as compliant. The specific mark is determined by the manufacturer, subject to Commissioner approval. This measure provides that cigarettes compliant with similar New York regulations will be compliant with these requirements and that manufacturers may use the same package markings they use in that state. The requirements do not apply to cigarettes sold in North Carolina or South Carolina, or packaged for sale outside the United States. Manufacturers are assessed a fee of $250 per brand, the proceeds from which are divided between the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the State Fire Marshal. Violators are subject to civil penalties. Fees assessed on manufacturers and civil penalties collected from violators are deposited in a Cigarette Fire Safety Standard and Firefighter Protection Act Fund, to be split between implementation of this measure and use by the State Fire Marshal in carrying out the Statewide Fire Prevention Code. The measure will become effective 13 months after its enactment, and will expire on the effective date of any federal reduced cigarette ignition propensity standard that preempts the measure.  SB 208 is identical. 

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Title 59.1 a chapter numbered 23.1, consisting of sections numbered 59.1-293.1 through 59.1-293.9, relating to the sale of cigarettes with reduced ignition propensity; civil penalties.

080157472

H.B. 250 Health maintenance organization; obtaining HMO license without certificate of quality assurance.

Patron: O'Bannon

Managed Care Health Insurance Plans. Allows a new health maintenance organization to obtain its HMO license contingent upon the Department of Health's issuance of a certificate of quality assurance. Other revisions streamline and update procedures for obtaining MCHIP licenses.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 38.2-5801 and 38.2-5802 of the Code of Virginia, relating to managed care health insurance plans.

080034664

H.B. 298 Surplus lines insurance; diligent effort requirement.

Patron: Hargrove

Surplus lines insurance; "diligent effort" requirement.  Eliminates the requirement that surplus lines brokers make a diligent effort to procure insurance, in a form and at a premium acceptable to the insured, from an insurer licensed in Virginia before he provides a surplus lines policy.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 38.2-4806 of the Code of Virginia, relating to surplus lines insurance; requirement that broker conduct diligent effort to procure insurance.

088663532

H.B. 336 Insurance market analyses; confidentiality. 

Patron: McClellan

Insurance market analyses; confidentiality.  Establishes that (i) market analyses concerning insurance companies and obtained from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, (ii) all market analyses generated by the State Corporation Commission, (iii) working papers, recorded information, and documents generated in the course of a market analysis or market conduct action, and (iv) documents or information received in the course of a market analysis or market conduct action from the NAIC, a law-enforcement official of any state or country, or regulatory officials of any state or country that are confidential in those jurisdictions shall receive confidential treatment by the Commission, shall not be subject to subpoena, and are not public records.  The measure also requires the Commission to consider the results of market analyses in determining the nature, scope, and frequency of insurance company examinations.  Finally, the measure provides that procedures for market conduct examinations shall be subject to provisions regarding confidentiality of ancillary information and immunity from liability.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 38.2-1317.1 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 38.2-1317.2, relating to confidentiality of market analyses of insurance companies and transactions.

080013400

H.B. 349 Insurance licensing; certificates of authority. 

Patron: Plum

Insurance licensing; certificates of authority.  Eliminates the requirement that a foreign or domestic business entity first obtain a certificate of authority, including a certificate of registration, certificate of organization, certificate of limited partnership, or charter, from the State Corporation Commission prior to being eligible to obtain a license as an insurance agent, consultant, surplus lines broker, or viatical settlement broker.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 38.2-1820, 38.2-1822, 38.2-1836, 38.2-1838, 38.2-1845, 38.2-1857.2, 38.2-1857.5, 38.2-1857.9, 38.2-1865.1, and 38.2-1865.4 of the Code of Virginia, relating to insurance licensing; requirement or certificate of authority.

080092864

H.B. 366 Unemployment compensation; testing for controlled substances. 

Patron: Carrico

Unemployment compensation; testing for controlled substances. Disqualifies an individual from receiving unemployment compensation benefits if he is discharged from employment as a result of a confirmed positive test for a nonprescribed controlled substance conducted in a United States Department of Transportation-qualified drug screen, conducted in accordance with an employer's bona fide drug policy. Currently, an individual is ineligible for unemployment benefits if he fails a drug test conducted in accordance with scientifically recognized standards by a laboratory accredited by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, or the College of American Pathology, or the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, or the equivalent.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 60.2-618 of the Code of Virginia, relating to disqualification for unemployment compensation benefits; testing for illegal drugs.

080133460

H.B. 397 Health maintenance organizations; removes certain limitations on deductibles.

Patron: Hamilton

Health maintenance organizations; deductibles. Removes limitations on the deductibles or co-payments, or both, that a health maintenance organization may require enrollees to pay.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 38.2-4303 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the powers of health maintenance organizations; deductibles.

084555528

H.B. 431 Title insurance agents; pre-licensing education course.

Patron: Miller, J.H.

Title insurance agents; pre-licensing education course.  Requires applicants for a resident title insurance agent license to have completed, within the year preceding application and examination, at least 16 hours of instruction through a classroom or distance education. 

A BILL to amend and reenact § 38.2-1814.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to title insurance agents.

086128640

H.B. 504 Health insurance; insurers to offer individual or group exclusive policies or contracts.

Patron: Hamilton

Health insurance; exclusive provider policies or contracts. Authorizes insurers to offer individual or group exclusive provider policies or contracts, which are insurance policies or contracts that condition the payment of benefits on the use of preferred providers. The insurer is required to provide an option in group contracts whereby each enrollee may, at no additional cost to the group contract holder, may select a benefit for preferred and nonpreferred providers. Exclusive provider policies or contracts shall provide out-of-network emergency services at the minimum level required by the preferred provider policy or contract.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 38.2-3407 of the Code of Virginia, relating to health benefit programs; exclusive provider policies and contracts.

084554528

H.B. 542 Insurance agents; notice of appointment. 

Patron: Nixon

Insurance agents; notice of appointment.  Requires the insurer, rather than the State Corporation Commission, to notify an appointed agent of the status of his appointment.  The notice shall be given within five business days of the insurer's receipt of notice from the Commission that the appointment of the agent is valid or invalid.  An agent is prohibited from selling or soliciting insurance after receiving notice of an invalid appointment.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 38.2-1833 of the Code of Virginia, relating to appointments of insurance agents.

080091864

H.B. 543 Natural gas utilities; alternative ratemaking plan, report.

Patron: Nixon

Natural gas utilities; alternative ratemaking plan.  Authorizes any natural gas utility to file a conservation and ratemaking efficiency plan that includes (i) a normalization component that removes the effect of weather from the determination of conservation and energy efficiency results, (ii) cost-effective conservation and energy efficiency programs, and (iii) provisions to address the needs of low-income or low-usage residential consumers. A conservation and ratemaking efficiency plan is a plan that includes a decoupling mechanism that decouples the recovery of a utility's allowed distribution revenue from the level of consumption of natural gas by its customers. Such plans may include one or more residential, small commercial, or small general service classes, but shall not apply to large commercial or large industrial customer classes. The State Corporation Commission (SCC) is required to allow a utility that implements a plan to recover, through its regulated rates, its costs, together with a return thereon, associated with cost-effective conservation and energy efficiency programs. Utilities that demonstrate certain reductions in annualized, weather-normalized usage per customer, will receive the opportunity to earn an incentive of 15 percent share of the independently verified net economic benefits created by the conservation and energy efficiency programs. The SCC is prohibited from reducing a utility's profit as a result of the implementation of a natural gas conservation and ratemaking efficiency plan. The SCC is required to report annually on the implementation of the measure.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Title 56 a chapter numbered 24, consisting of sections numbered 56-597 through 56-599, relating to alternative ratemaking plans for natural gas utilities.

080147656

H.B. 546 Telephone systems, multiline; alternative method of providing emergency calls.

Patron: Nixon

Multiline telephone systems.  Provides that an alternative method of providing call location information exists when a 9-1-1 call to a public safety answering point (PSAP) provides sufficient information to ensure that emergency responders are dispatched to a location at the facility from which the call was placed, where the responders are able to view all of the telephone stations in the contiguous area containing the telephone from which the emergency call was placed.  Currently, an alternative method requires responders to be able to view all of the telephone stations at the facility.  MLTS providers of a system using VOIP services acquired or installed on or after July 1, 2009, shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that emergency calls provide calling party information to the 9-1-1 network or an alternative method of providing call location information.  The measure also provides that the MLTS provider of a multiline telephone system acquired or installed on or after July 1, 2009, is required, if reasonably achievable, to be able to provide calling party information to the 9-1-1 network that connects to the PSAP, or to provide an alternative method of providing call location information.  Calling party information allows equipment at the PSAP to perform automatic location identification (ALI) and automatic number identification (ANI). MLTS providers are required to arrange to update the ALI database with the appropriate master street address guide, valid address and callback information corresponding to the calling party information for each telephone station, and to update the information as soon as practicable for new MLTS installation or within one business day of record completion of the actual changes for previously installed systems.  Currently, such providers are required to ensure that emergency calls provide either ALI and ANI or an alternative method of providing call location information. 

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 56-484.19 and 56-484.23 of the Code of Virginia, relating to 9-1-1 emergency calls on multiline telephone systems.

080164656

H.B. 547 Unemployment compensation; maximum weekly benefit.

Patron: Nixon

Unemployment compensation; minimum earnings; maximum weekly benefit. Increases the wages an employee must have earned in the two highest earnings quarters of his base period in order to be eligible for unemployment benefits from $2,700 to $3,000 for claims effective on or after July 5, 2009. The measure also increases the maximum weekly unemployment compensation benefit from $363 to $378 for claims effective on or after July 6, 2008.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 60.2-602 of the Code of Virginia, relating to unemployment compensation; maximum weekly benefit.

080194656

H.B. 549 Insurance accounts; funding agreements.

Patron: Nixon

Insurance; funding agreements.  Provides that the assets of a separate account to which an insurer has allocated assets under a funding agreement shall not be chargeable with liabilities arising out of any other business that the insurer conducts. If a separate account is not chargeable with liabilities arising out of such other business, a risk charge will be payable from the separate account to the insurer's general account. The measure also provides that funding agreement assets held in the insurer’s general account, and other obligations due under the funding agreement from the general account, will be treated as an insurance contract. In addition, a domestic insurer that has established separate accounts for funding agreements and has allocated funds to such separate accounts shall file with the State Corporation Commission any prescribed periodic or special reports. An insurer shall not make an agreement providing for the allocation of funding agreement amounts to a separate account until a statement as to its methods of operation has been approved by the Commission.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 38.2-1401, 38.2-1443.1, and 38.2-3100.2 of the Code of Virginia, relating to funding agreements; insurance accounts.

080111656

H.B. 677 Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002; public hearing.

Patron: Plum

Public-Private Educational Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002; public hearing prior to interim or comprehensive agreement.  Provides that at least 30 days prior to entering into an interim or comprehensive agreement under the Public-Private Educational Facilities and Infrastructure Act, a responsible public entity must hold a public hearing on the proposals. Currently a responsible public entity is required to provide an opportunity for public comment, which may include a public hearing at the sole discretion of the responsible public entity.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 56-575.17 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Public-Private Educational Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002; public hearing prior to interim or comprehensive agreement.

087784684

H.B. 831 State Corporation Commission; confidentiality of information.

Patron: Hargrove

State Corporation Commission; confidentiality.  Authorizes the State Corporation Commission to share information with local law-enforcement authorities, provided the recipient agrees to maintain its confidential and privileged status.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 6.1-2.27:1 and 38.2-1834.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the confidentiality of information obtained by the State Corporation Commission.

080081864

H.B. 881 Employment Commission; authorizes final orders to be recorded, etc.

Patron: Loupassi

Virginia Employment Commission orders. Authorizes final orders of the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) or circuit court with respect to overpayments of unemployment benefits to be recorded, enforced and satisfied as orders or decrees of a circuit court upon certification of such orders by the Commissioner of the VEC or the court.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 60.2-633 of the Code of Virginia, relating to enforcement of orders of the Virginia Employment Commission; actions to collect overpayment of benefits.

080139606

H.B. 914 Liability, fire, & motor vehicle insurance policies; establishes exceptions to prohibitions.

Patron: Purkey

Nonrenewal of liability, fire, and motor vehicle insurance policies.  Establishes exceptions to prohibitions on the refusal to renew certain liability, fire, and motor vehicle insurance policies.  Such renewal provisions will not apply to an insurer if an affiliated insurer has manifested its willingness to provide coverage at a lower premium than would have been charged for the same exposures on the expiring policy.  SB 612 is identical.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 38.2-231, 38.2-2114, and 38.2-2212 of the Code of Virginia, relating to termination and nonrenewal of certain insurance policies.

088358744

H.B. 925 Employment Commission; employment stabilization.

Patron: Byron

Virginia Employment Commission; employment stabilization. Requires the Virginia Employment Commission to provide Virginia State Job Service services, as described in Title 60.2, according to the provisions of the Wagner-Peyser Act (29 U.S.C. 49f), as amended by the Workforce Investment Act. SB 253 is identical.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 60.2-113 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Virginia Employment Commission; employment stabilization.

081768816

H.B. 955 Public-Private Education Facilities & Infrastructure Act of 2002; definition of qualifying projects.

Patron: Nixon

Public Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002; technology projects; gain sharing.  Authorizes a responsible public entity (RPE) to include a gain-sharing component in any interim or comprehensive agreement for a qualifying project consisting of technology infrastructure, services or applications. “Gain sharing” is defined as a provision of an interim or comprehensive agreement where the RPE and the private entity agree to share a percentage of any savings that are realized and that can be attributed to the efforts of the private entity. The bill also allows an RPE to request the Public-Private Advisory Commission to perform a preliminary review of an unsolicited proposal for a technology-related qualifying project anticipating substantial savings to the responsible public entity and includes a gain-sharing component providing for the private entity to share in a percentage of the savings.  In addition, the bill includes technology applications in the definition of “qualifying project.”

A BILL to amend and reenact § 56-575.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002; definition of qualifying projects.

082405656

H.B. 1319 Underground transmission lines; pilot program established.

Patron: May

Underground transmission lines; pilot program.  Establishes a pilot program for the placement of four new transmission lines, applied for between July 1, 2008, and July 1, 2012, to be placed underground, either in whole or in part. The bill establishes criteria for the State Corporation Commission to consider and procedures for the State Corporation Commission to follow in selecting the four projects.

A BILL to establish a pilot program to place certain transmission lines underground.

085941868

H.B. 1512 Health care sharing ministries; insurance laws do not apply.

Patron: Byron

Health care sharing ministries.  Declares that insurance laws do not apply to a health care sharing ministry. A health care sharing ministry that, through its publication to members, solicits funds for the payment of medical expenses of other members, will not be considered to be engaging in the business of insurance and will not be subject to the jurisdiction of the State Corporation Commission. A health care sharing ministry is a health care cost sharing arrangement among individuals of the same religion, administered by a non-profit, tax-exempt organization that, among other things, acts as an organizational clearinghouse for information about members who have financial or medical needs and matches them with members with the ability to assist those with such needs, and provides for the financial or medical needs of members through payments directly from one member to another.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Title 38.2 a chapter numbered 63, consisting of sections numbered 38.2-6300 and 38.2-6301, relating to health care sharing ministries.

088885448