SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2014 SESSION

  • print version
Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor

Chairman: John C. Watkins

Clerk: Maribeth Turner
Staff: Frank Munyan
Date of Meeting: January 20, 2014
Time and Place: 1/2 Hour after Adjournment, Senate Room B

S.B. 40 Personal Information Privacy Act; use of driver's license information.

Patron: Marsden

Scanning information from driver's license. Prohibits any merchant in the Commonwealth from scanning the machine-readable zone of an individual's identification card or driver's license issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles, except to (i) verify authenticity of the identification card or driver's license or to verify the identity of the individual if the individual pays for goods or services with a method other than cash, returns an item, or requests a refund or an exchange; (ii) verify the individual's age in certain circumstances; (iii) prevent fraud or other criminal activity if the individual returns an item or requests a refund or an exchange and the merchant uses a fraud prevention service company or system; or (iv) record, retain, or transmit information as required by state or federal law. Similar restrictions are imposed on a merchant's ability to retain or sell information obtained from such a scan. A person aggrieved by a violation may bring an action to recover damages of $100 per violation, reasonable attorney fees, and court costs.

S.B. 74 Real estate loans; flood insurance.

Patron: Puckett

Real estate loans; flood insurance. Prohibits a lender from requiring a borrower to provide flood insurance coverage against risks to improvements on real property securing its loan in an amount that exceeds the replacement value of the improvements.

S.B. 76 Florist business; misrepresentation of of geographic location, penalty.

Patron: Puckett

Trade and commerce; misrepresentation of geographic location of florist business; penalty. Prohibits the misrepresentation of the geographical location of a florist business in the listing of the business in a telephone directory or other directory assistance database, on a website, or in a print advertisement. A misrepresentation of the geographical location of a florist business exists if the name of the business indicates that the business is located in a geographical area and (i) the business is not located within the area indicated; (ii) the listing fails to identify the locality and state of the business's geographical location; and (iii) a telephone call to the telephone number provided routinely is forwarded or transferred to a location that is outside the calling area covered by the directory or database in which the number is listed or outside the geographical area as indicated by the name of the business. A violation is a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.

S.B. 119 State Corporation Commission; availability of records.

Patron: Watkins

State Corporation Commission; availability of records. Requires the State Corporation Commission to make available for public inspection records that are related to matters related to the Commission's operational responsibilities and operational functions, including revenues, expenditures, financial management and budgetary practices, personnel policies and practices, and procurement policies and practices. Disclosure of the records is not required if the records are otherwise covered by applicable legal privileges; disclosure of such records could threaten the safety or security of the Commission’s employees, physical plant or information technology assets or data; or the records are not publicly available from other public entities. In addition, the requirement does not apply to records related to the Commission's formal or informal regulatory or legal proceedings or activities. Records held by the clerk of the Commission related to business entities shall be made public or held confidential in accordance with laws and regulations applicable specifically to such records.

S.B. 197 Judgment; rate of interest, cap.

Patron: Puckett

Judgment rate of interest, cap. Provides that the interest rate on a money judgment entered on or after July 1, 2014, in an action arising from a contract shall be the rate provided by the contract until the judgment date and six percent thereafter. Currently, the judgment rate of interest for a money judgment is the rate provided by the contract or six percent, whichever is higher.

S.B. 201 Health insurance; prescription drug formularies, notices.

Patron: Puller

Health insurance; prescription drugs; formularies. Requires any health insurer, corporation providing individual or group accident and sickness subscription contracts, or health maintenance organization that applies a formulary to prescription drug benefits provided under its policy, contract, or plan to provide 60 days' prior written notice to each insured, subscriber, enrollee, participant, beneficiary, or other individual covered under the policy, contract, or plan of a modification to the formulary that results in the movement of a prescription drug to a tier with higher cost-sharing requirements.

S.B. 222 Solar panels; community association's authority to prohibit.

Patron: Petersen

Solar panels in community associations. Clarifies a community association's authority to prohibit or restrict the installation of solar power devices.

S.B. 266 Unemployment benefits; financial literacy course, volunteer service.

Patron: Stanley

Unemployment benefits; financial literacy course; volunteer service. Allows recipients of unemployment benefits to extend their benefits through completion of a financial literacy course and volunteer service at a nonprofit organization.

S.B. 275 Health insurance; victims of sexual assault, cost-sharing requirement for HIV medication.

Patron: Favola

Health insurance; victims of sexual assault; cost-sharing requirement for HIV prevention medication. Prohibits certain insurance policies, subscription contracts, and health maintenance organization contracts from imposing on an insured, subscriber, or enrollee who is the victim of sexual assault any cost-sharing requirement, including a co-payment, coinsurance, deductible, or other dollar limit provision, with respect to any medication prescribed to prevent HIV. If the insured, subscriber, or enrollee does not report the sexual assault to the police, the prohibition shall not apply unless an examination conducted under a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program or equivalent program results in a determination that there is a high probability that the sexual assault has resulted in the transmission of HIV. The prohibition applies to those contracts, policies, or plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in the Commonwealth on and after July 1, 2014, that include coverage for the prescribed medication.

S.B. 339 Secondhand fixtures and scrap metal; payment for materials to be in form of check.

Patron: Lucas

Secondhand fixtures and scrap metal; payment. Requires persons acquiring secondhand building fixtures, scrap, metal articles, and proprietary articles to make payments for the materials in the form of a check. Currently, purchasers of certain secondhand metal articles are required to make payments by check when the amount paid equals or exceeds $1,000.

S.B. 477 Noncompliant health benefit plans.

Patron: Newman

Noncompliant health benefit plans. Authorizes a health carrier to continue offering, issuing, issuing for delivery, delivering, selling, or renewing any health benefit plan that provides the same coverage, limits, conditions, restrictions, and benefits as a health benefit plan that the State Corporation Commission had approved prior to July 1, 2013. The measure also directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources (HHR) to obtain from the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services a waiver from the requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in order to have all federal funds allocated for navigators in the Commonwealth be paid into the general fund and to allow the Secretary of HHR to establish criteria for, select, and award grants to navigators for the Commonwealth.

S.B. 484 Pediatric oral health benefits; reasonable assurance of provision.

Patron: Stuart

Pediatric oral health benefits; reasonable assurance of provision. Declares that a health carrier that makes available in the small group market or individual market a health benefit plan that does not include the minimum essential pediatric oral health benefits required under the federal Affordable Care Act shall be deemed to have obtained reasonable assurance that the pediatric oral health benefits are provided to the plan's purchaser if (i) at least one qualified dental plan offers such benefits and is available for purchase, (ii) the health carrier prominently discloses that its plan does not provide the required benefits, and (iii) the entity offering the qualified dental plan providing the required benefits is licensed to provide them in the Commonwealth.

S.B. 519 Natural gas utilities; upstream supply infrastructure projects.

Patron: Wagner

Natural gas utilities; upstream supply infrastructure projects. Authorizes a natural gas utility to recover eligible costs of eligible natural gas supply infrastructure projects. A plan for recovery of such costs may provide the utility with an option to receive the gas or sell the gas at market prices. The measure also (i) provides that the transportation of natural gas by pipeline, without providing service to end users within the territory, shall not be considered operating in the territory of another certificate holder; (ii) bars the State Corporation Commission from approving the construction of a natural gas compressor station in an area without the locality's certification only if the area is zoned exclusively for residential use; and (iii) expands the definition of a strategic natural gas facility to include a natural gas transmission company that adds design day deliverability or designed send out of at least 100,000 dekaTherms per day in the aggregate. The bill exempts open season capacity acquisitions or releases between a public service company and an affiliated interest from the requirement that the Commission approve contracts entered into by a public service company.

S.B. 542 Navigator regulation.

Patron: Martin

Navigator regulation. Creates registration and reporting procedures for health care insurance navigators. The measure prohibits a person from acting as or holding himself out to be a navigator unless he registers with the State Corporation Commission and meets certain requirements that include having a high school diploma or general equivalency diploma and passing a state and federal criminal history background check. A person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor involving fraud or dishonesty or any felony shall not be registered as a navigator. The Commission may deny, suspend, or revoke a registration of a navigator if he is charged with a felony or a misdemeanor involving fraud or dishonesty, if the Commission receives credible reports that the navigator has provided false or fraudulent information to consumers, or person has engaged in intentional or negligent conduct that has resulted in the release of a consumer's personally identifiable information. The measure prohibits navigators from selling, soliciting, or negotiating insurance when assisting individuals with enrollment or any other navigator activities or duties through a health care exchange. Navigators and their administrative staff are required to secure personal health information in accordance with health care industry standards. Finally, the measure requires the Commission to maintain a website for the purpose of providing the public with a complete list of all currently registered navigators.

S.B. 584 Competitive telephone companies; establishes procedure for regulation.

Patron: Saslaw

Regulation of competitive telephone companies. Establishes a procedure by which certain telephone companies may elect to be regulated as competitive telephone companies. A competitive telephone company will be exempt from the Securities Act and the Utility Transfer Act. The SCC shall continue to have jurisdiction over wholesale telephone services and issues, including the payment of switched network access rates or other intercarrier compensation, interconnection, porting, and numbering. A competitive telephone company in its incumbent territory will continue to be obligated to extend or expand its facilities to furnish retail voice service and facilities when the person, firm, or corporation does not have service available from one or more alternative providers of wireline or terrestrial wireless communications services at prevailing market rates. A competitive telephone company shall have the obligation to provide access to emergency 911 service to its end-user retail customers. The SCC will continue not to have power to regulate contracts between telephone companies and the Commonwealth and its agencies.

S.B. 590 Minimum wage; increases wage from its current federally mandated level.

Patron: Marsden

Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $7.25 per hour to $8.25 per hour effective July 1, 2014, and to $9.25 per hour effective July 1, 2015, unless a higher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

S.B. 598 Health Spa Act; dojos.

Patron: Locke

Health Spa Act; dojos. Deletes the exclusion from the definition of a health spa for organizations primarily operated for the purpose of teaching a particular form of self-defense such as judo or karate. The bill makes such an organization subject to the requirements of the Virginia Health Spa Act.