Rep. Lee Ware

Provides that a direct agreement between a patient, the patient's legal representative, or the patient's employer and a health care provider for ongoing primary care services in exchange for the payment of a monthly periodic fee is not health insurance or a health maintenance organization, if patients are not required to pay monthly periodic fees prior to initiation of the direct agreement coverage period. The measure also provides that a health care provider who participates in a direct primary care practice may participate in a health insurance carrier network so long as the provider is willing and able to meet the terms and conditions of network membership set by the health insurance carrier. The measure establishes requirements for disclosures regarding direct primary care agreements, including a list of the services covered under the agreement. This bill is identical to

Authorizes any person to carry a switchblade knife concealed when such knife is carried for the purpose of engaging in a lawful profession or lawful recreational activity the performance of which is aided by the use of a switchblade knife. The bill removes switchblade knives from the list of weapons the selling, bartering, giving, or furnishing of which is a Class 4 misdemeanor. This bill is identical to

Provides that, notwithstanding any voluntary agreement between the U.S. Department of Labor and the franchisee or franchisor, neither a franchisee nor a franchisee's employee shall be deemed to be an employee of the franchisee's franchisor. The measure also provides that this exclusion does not apply with respect to a specific claim for relief made by a franchisee or a franchisee's employee if the franchisor has been found by a court of competent jurisdiction to have exercised a type or degree of control over the franchisee or the franchisee's employees not customarily exercised by a franchisor for the purpose of protecting the franchisor's trademarks and brand.

Increases the grace period after which collection activity for unpaid court fines, costs, forfeitures, penalties, and restitution may be commenced from 30 days to 90 days after sentencing or judgment. The bill also establishes the requirements for deferred or installment payment agreements that a court must offer a defendant who is unable to pay court-ordered fines, costs, forfeitures, and penalties. The bill requires that a court take into account a defendant's financial circumstances, including whether the defendant owes fines and costs to other courts, in setting the terms of a payment agreement, but such decision shall not be based solely on the amount of fines and costs owed. The bill fixes the maximum down payments that a court may require as a condition of entering a payment plan and provides that payments made within 10 days of their due date are timely made. The bill precludes a court from denying a defendant the opportunity to enter into a payment agreement solely because of the crime committed, the total amount owed or that such amount has been referred to collections, any previous default by the defendant or failure to establish a payment history, or the defendant's eligibility for a restricted driver's license. The bill allows all costs and fines owed by a defendant to any one court to be incorporated into one payment agreement and allows a defendant to request a modification of the terms of the agreement, which shall be granted upon a good faith showing of need. The bill requires a court to consider a request by a defendant who has defaulted on a payment agreement to enter into a subsequent agreement and requires the court to fix a down payment for subsequent payment agreements. Finally, the bill provides that the payment agreement includes restitution unless the court has entered a separate order regarding the payment of restitution. This bill is identical to

Requires the president or any one of the vice presidents of the board of visitors of Virginia Military Institute, the chairman or the vice-chairman of the State Board, and the rector or vice-rector of the governing board of each other public institution of higher education to be a resident of the Commonwealth. This bill is identical to

Establishes the Online Virginia Network Authority (the Authority) as a political subdivision of the Commonwealth for the purpose of establishing the Online Virginia Network to coordinate the online delivery of courses that facilitate the completion of degrees at George Mason University and Old Dominion University. The bill requires the Authority to be governed by a 15-member board that consists of four members of the House of Delegates appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates, three members of the Senate appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, three nonlegislative citizen members appointed by the Governor, one nonlegislative citizen member appointed by the board of visitors of George Mason University, one nonlegislative citizen member appointed by the board of visitors of Old Dominion University, the President of George Mason University, the President of Old Dominion University, and the Director of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. The bill sets forth several duties of the Authority and grants the Authority operational flexibility in the areas of procurement and information technology, provided that the Authority adopts and complies with certain policies.

Requires the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules, beginning November 1, 2017, on a schedule to be established by the Commission, to conduct a review of the exemptions authorized by the Administrative Process Act (APA). The bill also requires agencies having APA exemptions, other than the courts, any agency of the Supreme Court, and any agency that by the Constitution of Virginia is expressly granted any of the powers of a court of record, beginning August 1, 2017, to submit a written report to the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules, which report includes the date the exemption was enacted, a summary of the necessity for the exemption, and a summary of any rule or regulation adopted pursuant to the exemption in the immediately preceding two fiscal years. The bill provides that in the event that an agency having an exemption fails to submit the report required, the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules shall recommend to the Governor and the General Assembly that such agency's exemption be discontinued. The bill also requires general notice of the provisions of this requirement to be posted on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall and published in the Virginia Register of Regulations by the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules to advise agencies of their obligations under the bill.

Directs the Department of Human Resource Management (the Department) to administer training programs to familiarize agency directors with state human resource policies, such as compensation management, benefits administration, and resources available at the Department. The bill requires (i) the Department to offer training programs at least twice per year, (ii) each agency director to attend a training program with the agency chief human resource officer within six months after the director's appointment and thereafter at least once every four years, (iii) the agency chief human resource officer to provide subsequent training on agency-specific human resource policies, and (iv) each agency director to develop and submit annually to the Department an agency succession plan for key personnel, executive positions, and employees nearing retirement. The bill also requires public institutions of higher education to prepare a succession plan for presentation to the board of visitors with a copy to the Department.