Group health benefit plans; sponsoring associations; formation of benefits consortium. Provides that sponsoring associations, including self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangements, mayprovide health benefit plans for small employers in the form of atrust benefit consortium, subject to certain requirements. The billincludes conditions for qualifying as a sponsoring association, requirementsfor the formation of a trust benefits consortium, and provisionsto establish a board of trustees. Under the bill, such trust benefitsconsortium is subject to the federal Employee Retirement Income SecurityAct of 1974 (ERISA) and U.S. Department of Labor regulations and suchtrust shall not include certain words or terms in its name that areuniquely descriptive of insurance companies or business, and a statementto this effect is required to be included on the first page of thehealth benefit plan documents. A benefits consortium or sponsoringassociation is exempt from the requirements of the Virginia Life,Accident and Sickness Insurance Guaranty Association and exempt fromannual license taxes under the bill.
State parks; Disabled Veteran's Passport.Expands the Disabled Veteran's Passport program to all U.S. veteranswith a service-connected disability. Currently, a veteran must be100 percent disabled to be eligible for the program, which providesfree entry into state parks and a 50 percent discount on campingand swimming fees, picnic shelter rentals, and other equipment rentalsprovided by the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Board of Directors of the Virginia CannabisControl Authority; Cannabis Public Health Advisory Council; membershipcriteria; allocation of revenue. Requires that one member ofthe Board of Directors of the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority(the Board) be a person who has recovered from a substance use disorderand is not employed by a government entity. The bill increases from21 to 25 the number of members on the Cannabis Public Health AdvisoryCouncil and requires that four members be persons who have recoveredfrom a substance use disorder and are not employed by a governmententity. The bill requires that 40 percent of the Board's net profitsdistributed to the Department of Behavioral Health and DevelopmentalServices be allocated to private certified recovery residences thatprovide low-cost evidence-based substance use disorder treatment and recovery services and satisfy certain other requirements set forthin the bill.
Opioid Abatement Authority; Board of Directors;members. Increases from 11 to 15 the membership of the Board of Directors of the Opioid Abatement Authority by increasing fromone to five the number of representatives of the addiction and recoverycommunity.
Credit unions; expansion of field of membershipto underserved areas. Authorizes a credit union to expand itsfield of membership to include individuals or organizations in oneor more underserved areas to the same extent, and subject to thesame conditions, as is authorized for federally chartered creditunions.
Constitutional amendment (voter referendum);marriage; repeal of same-sex marriage prohibition; affirmative rightto marry. Provides for a referendum at the November 8, 2022, election to approve or reject an amendment that would repeal the constitutional provision defining marriage as only a union between a man and womanas well as the related provisions that are no longer valid as a resultof the United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015). The amendment provides that the right to marryis a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of persons and requiresthe Commonwealth and its political subdivisions and agents to issuemarriage licenses, recognize marriages, and treat all marriages equallyunder the law, regardless of the sex or gender of the parties tothe marriage. Religious organizations and clergy acting in theirreligious capacity have the right to refuse to perform any marriage.
Issuing citations; marijuana and certain trafficoffenses; exclusion of evidence. Removes provisions that no law-enforcementofficer may lawfully stop a motor vehicle for operating (i) withan expired safety inspection or registration sticker until the firstday of the fourth month after the original expiration date; (ii)with defective and unsafe equipment; (iii) without a light illuminatinga license plate; (iv) without brake lights, a high mount stop light,or headlights; or (v) without an exhaust system that prevents excessiveor unusual levels of noise, and the accompanying exclusionary provisions.The bill also removes the exclusionary provisions for operating amotor vehicle (a) in violation of certain restrictions on peoplewith a learner's permit, (b) while smoking with a minor present,(c) with certain sun-shading materials and tinting films, (d) withcertain objects suspended in the vehicle, and (e) without the requireduse of seat belts, and for certain violations involving pedestrians crossing a highway. The bill also removes the exclusionary provisionthat no law-enforcement officer may lawfully stop, search, or seizeany person, place, or thing solely on the basis of the odor of marijuana.
Virginia student environmental literacy; plan; grant fund and program. Requires the Board of Education, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Health, any other stakeholder that it deems appropriate, and the public, and in order to assist each local school board in developing and implementing a program of instruction for grades kindergarten through 12 that is aligned to the Standards of Learning and emphasizes environmental literacy as an essential skill and concept of citizenship that is necessary for responsible participation in American society and in the international community, to establish and update at least once every five years a Virginia student environmental literacy plan (the plan) that (i) prepares students to understand, analyze, and address the major environmental challenges facing the Commonwealth and the United States; (ii) provides field experiences as part of regular school curricula and creates programs that contribute to healthy lifestyles through outdoor recreation and sound nutrition; and (iii) creates opportunities for the enhanced and ongoing professional development of teachers that improves teachers' environmental subject matter knowledge and pedagogical skills in teaching about environmental issues, including the use of interdisciplinary, field-based, and research-based learning and innovative technology in the classroom. The bill requires the plan to include a description of (a) how the Board will measure the environmental literacy of students, including relevant Standards of Learning and related curricula and courses or subjects where environmental education instruction will be integrated throughout grades kindergarten through 12 curricula, and the relationship of the plan to the high school graduation requirements established by the Board; (b) programs for the professional development of teachers to improve teachers' environmental subject matter knowledge and pedagogical skills in teaching about environmental issues, including the use of interdisciplinary, field-based, and research-based learning and innovative technology in the classroom; and (c) how the Board will implement the plan, including securing funding and other necessary support. The bill establishes the Virginia Student Environmental Literacy Plan Grant Fund and Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, for the purpose of awarding grants on a competitive basis to any local school board that seeks assistance to initiate, expand, or improve teacher professional development opportunities or student environmental education programs that align with the content and objectives of the plan.
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; charges for production of public records. Prohibits a public body from charging a requester for any costs incurred during the first two hours spent accessing or searching for requested records when such requester has made four or fewer individual record requests to such public body within 31 consecutive days. The bill provides that for any additional time spent accessing or searching for such records, or when such requester makes five or more individual record requests to such public body within any 31-consecutive-day period, the public body shall not charge an hourly rate for accessing or searching for the records exceeding the lesser of the hourly rate of pay of the lowest-paid individual capable of fulfilling the request or $33 per hour. The bill allows a public body to petition the appropriate court for relief from the $33 per hour fee cap upon showing by a preponderance of the evidence that there is no qualified individual capable of fulfilling the request for $33 per hour or less and requires such petition to be heard within seven days of when the petition is made, provided that the public body has sent and the requester has received a copy of the petition at least three working days prior to filing. The bill also provides that in certain instances a hearing on any petition shall be given precedence on a circuit court's docket over all cases that are not otherwise given precedence by law and that the time period the public body has to respond to a record request shall be tolled between the requester's receipt of the petition and the final disposition of the court. Finally, the bill prohibits a public body from charging a requester for any court costs or fees resulting from a petition and requires a public body to post on its website or otherwise publish a written policy (i) explaining how the public body assesses charges for accessing or searching for requested records and (ii) noting the current fee charged, if any, by the public body for accessing and searching for the requested records. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council.
Hospitals; charity care policies; meaningfulaccess; individuals with low English proficiency. Requires everyhospital that is subject to the requirements of Title VI of the CivilRights Act to make available information about the hospital's charitycare policies, including information regarding specific eligibilitycriteria and procedures for applying for charity care, to individualswith low English proficiency in the same manner and languages, andto the same degree, as the hospital makes available other informationregarding hospital programs and services.
Elections; voter identification containing photographrequired; who may register up to and including the day of the election;availability of absentee voting in person; return of absentee ballots.Requires presentation of a form of identification containing a photograph inorder to vote and provides that a voter who does not have one of the requiredforms of identification is entitled to cast a provisional ballot. The billrepeals a provision that would permit any person who is qualified to registerto vote to do so in person up to and including the day of the election andlimits the persons who are entitled to register to vote after the close ofregistration records to members of a uniformed service of the United States onactive duty, persons who are residing temporarily outside of the United States,and their spouses and dependents. The bill limits the period during whichabsentee voting in person is available from 45 days to the 10 days immediatelypreceding the date of the election, including both Saturdays. The bill requiresthat absentee ballots returned by mail be returned to the office of the generalregistrar by the close of polls on election day and be postmarked on or beforethe Saturday preceding the date of the election. The bill eliminates the use ofdrop-off locations for the return of absentee ballots. The bill requiresabsentee ballot applications to contain the last four digits of the applicant'ssocial security number and provides that the failure of an absentee ballot toinclude a witness signature is a material omission, rendering the ballot void.
Elections; photo identification required; timefor in-person absentee; absentee ballots not accepted after electionday; repeal of permanent absentee voter list. Requires presentationof a form of identification containing a photograph in order to vote.The bill repeals the provisions of law permitting a voter who doesnot have one of the required forms of identification to vote aftersigning a statement, subject to felony penalties for false statements,that he is the named registered voter he claims to be. Instead, thebill provides that such voter is entitled to cast a provisionalballot. The bill also limits absentee voting in person to the weekimmediately preceding an election. The bill repeals the provisionsof law by which any registered voter may apply to receive absenteeballots for all elections in which he is eligible to vote and remainson the list until the voter requests in writing to be removed fromthe list, the voter's registration is canceled or placed on inactivestatus pursuant to law, or the voter moves to a different addressnot in the same county or city of his registration. The bill alsoremoves provisions allowing absentee ballots received after the close of polls to be counted.
