Rep. Will Wampler

School division maintenance reserve tool; School Construction Fund and Program established. Requires the Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of General Services, to develop or adopt and maintain a data collection tool to assist each school board to determine the relative age of each public school building in the local school division and the amount of maintenance reserve funds that are necessary to restore each such building. The bill requires each school board to provide to the Department of Education in a timely fashion the local data that is necessary to ensure that such tool remains relevant and useful for the determination of maintenance reserve needs. The bill requires the Department of Education to consider converting or using as a template the Department of General Services' Real Estate and Assets Management system for tracking buildings and infrastructure maintenance status to meet the requirement to maintain such tool. The bill also establishes the School Construction Fund and Program for the purpose of awarding grants to local school boards to fund the construction of new public school buildings or the renovation or expansion of existing public school buildings in the local school division. The bill requires any revenues remaining in the Gaming Proceeds Fund after certain enumerated appropriations are made to be appropriated to the School Construction Fund.

Foster care; local boards of social services;collaborative placement program. Directs the Department of SocialServices to establish and implement a collaborative local board placementprogram to increase kinship placements and the number of locallyapproved foster homes. The bill provides that such program shall require local boards of social services (local boards) to enter intopartnership agreements with other local boards to work collaborativelyto (i) facilitate approval of kinship foster parents through engagement,assessment, and training; (ii) increase the capacity of local boardsto recruit, train, and develop foster parents; and (iii) expand thepool of available foster homes within and across the localities ofsuch local boards. The bill also requires local boards, when placinga child, to seek placement with a foster family within the localityof the local board or a nearby locality through the collaborative local board placement program.

School principals; incident reports. Requires that school principals report to law enforcement certain enumerated acts that may constitute a misdemeanor offense and report to the parents of any minor student who is the specific object of such act that the incident has been reported to law enforcement. Under current law, principals are required to make such reports only for such acts that may constitute a felony offense. The bill provides, as an exception to the requirement to report any written threats against school personnel while on a school bus, on school property, or at a school-sponsored activity, that a principal is not required but may report to the local law-enforcement agency any such incident committed by a student who has an individualized education plan. This bill is identical to SB 36.

Department of Energy; waste coal piles; report. Directs the Department of Energy, in cooperation with public institutions of higher education serving the coalfield region of the Commonwealth, to identify the approximate volume and number of waste coal piles present in the area and options for cleaning up such waste coal piles, including potential use in electricity generation. The Department of Energy shall report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by December 1, 2022. The bill also directs the Department of Environmental Quality to convene a working group to evaluate opportunities for the development of public infrastructure projects at current or proposed sites for the storage of coal ash in the Commonwealth. The working group shall report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by December 1, 2022. This bill is identical to SB 120.

Natural gas, biogas, and other gas sources of energy; definitions; energy conservation and efficiency; Steps to Advance Virginia's Energy Plan; biogas supply infrastructure projects; work group. Permits natural gas utilities to include in their fuel portfolios, submitted to the State Corporation Commission to monitor fuel prices and purchases, supplemental or substitute forms of gas sources, defined in the bill, that meet certain standards and that reduce emissions intensity. The bill amends provisions of the Code related to conservation and energy efficiency programs, removes certain cost-effectiveness requirements for conservation and energy efficiency programs, and adds appliance rebates to the types of programs the Commission may consider. The bill expands conservation and ratemaking efficiency provisions of the Code that currently apply to natural gas consumption specifically to instead apply generally to energy consumption.The bill introduces enhanced leak detection and repair programs, defined in the bill, as a type of eligible infrastructure replacement for a natural gas utility facility. The bill provides that the costs of detecting and repairing leaks may be added to a natural gas utility's plan to identify proposed eligible infrastructure replacement projects and related cost recovery mechanisms, known as the utility's Steps to Advance Virginia's Energy (SAVE) Plan.The bill adds provisions to the Code related to biogas supply infrastructure projects, defined in the bill, and specifies that eligible infrastructure costs for such projects include (i) the investment in such projects, (ii) the return on the investment in such projects, (iii) a revenue conversion factor, (iv) operating and maintenance expenses, (v) depreciation, (vi) property tax and other taxes or government fees, and (vii) carrying costs on the over-recovery or under-recovery of the eligible biogas supply infrastructure costs. Under the bill, natural gas utilities can recover these eligible infrastructure costs on an ongoing basis through the gas component of the utility's rate structure or other recovery mechanism approved by the Commission. The bill provides that the biogas supply investment plan submitted by a natural gas utility may include an option to receive the biogas or sell the biogas at market prices and establishes a timeline for the Commission to approve such plan. The bill requires a natural gas utility with an approved biogas supply investment plan to annually file a report of the investments made, the eligible infrastructure costs incurred and the amount of such costs recovered, the volume of biogas delivered to customers or sold to third parties during the 12-month reporting period, and an analysis of the price of biogas delivered to customers and the market cost of biogas during the reporting period.Additionally, the bill directs the Department of Environmental Quality to convene a stakeholder work group to determine the feasibility of setting a statewide methane reduction goal and plan. The recommendations of the work group shall be reported to the General Assembly by July 1, 2023. This bill is identical to SB 565.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; meetings conducted through electronic communication means. Amends existing provisions concerning electronic meetings by keeping the provisions for electronic meetings held in response to declared states of emergency, repealing the provisions that are specific to regional and state public bodies, and allowing certain public bodies to conduct all-virtual public meetings where all of the members who participate do so remotely and that the public may access through electronic communications means. The bill excepts local governing bodies, local school boards, planning commissions, architectural review boards, zoning appeals boards, and any board with the authority to deny, revoke, or suspend a professional or occupational license from the provisions that allow public bodies to conduct all-virtual public meetings. Definitions, procedural requirements, and limitations for all-virtual public meetings are set forth in the bill, along with technical amendments. The bill has a delayed effective date of September 1, 2022.

Advanced Manufacturing Talent Investment Programand Fund. Creates the Advanced Manufacturing Talent InvestmentProgram and Fund to assist qualified institutions, as defined in the bill, in reaching, by 2042, a goal of increasing by at least 25,000new eligible credentials, which are noncredit workforce credentialsawarded by a qualified institution in a high demand advanced manufacturingfield as identified by the Board of Workforce Development. To be eligible for an annual grant, a qualified institution is requiredto enter into a memorandum of understanding setting forth specificcriteria for eligible credentials, eligible expenses, credentialproduction goals, and completion rates.

Group health benefit plans; bona fide associations; formation of benefits consortium. Provides that certain trusts constitute a benefits consortium and are authorized to sell health benefit plans to members of a sponsoring association that (i) has been formed and maintained in good faith for purposes other than obtaining or providing health benefits; (ii) does not condition membership in the sponsoring association on any factor relating to the health status of an individual, including an employee of a member of the sponsoring association or a dependent of such an employee; (iii) makes any health benefit plan available to all members regardless of any factor relating to the health status of such members or individuals eligible for coverage through a member; (iv) does not make any health benefit plan available to any person who is not a member of the association; (v) makes available health plans or health benefit plans that meet requirements provided for in the bill; (vi) operates as a nonprofit entity under § 501(c)(5) or 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code; and (vii) has been in active existence for at least five years. The bill replaces references to "bona fide association," as used in provisions applicable to health care plans in the small employer market, with the term "sponsoring association."The bill requires any health benefit plan issued by a self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangement (MEWA) that covers one or more employees of one or more small employers to (a) provide essential health benefits and cost-sharing requirements; (b) 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; (c) not limit or exclude coverage for an individual by imposing a preexisting condition exclusion on that individual; (d) be prohibited from establishing discriminatory rules based on health status related to eligibility or premium or contribution requirements as imposed on health carriers; (e) meet the renewability standards set forth for health insurance issuers; (f) establish base rates formed on an actuarially sound, modified community rating methodology that considers the pooling of all participant claims; and (g) utilize each employer member's specific risk profile to determine premiums by actuarially adjusting above or below established base rates, and utilize either pooling or reinsurance of individual large claimants to reduce the adverse impact on any specific employer member's premiums.The bill prohibits a self-funded MEWA from issuing health benefit plans in the Commonwealth until it has obtained a license pursuant to regulations promulgated by the State Corporation Commission. The bill authorizes the Commission to adopt regulations applicable to self-funded MEWAs, including regulations addressing financial condition, solvency requirements, and the exclusion of self-funded MEWAs from the Virginia Life, Accident and Sickness Insurance Guaranty Association. This bill is identical to SB 195.