Summary: Virginia Motor Vehicle Warranty Enforcement Act; definitions. Expands the definition of "motor vehicle" in the Virginia Motor Vehicle Warranty Enforcement Act to include a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight under 10,000 pounds that is bought or used primarily for business purposes by a person or certain legal business entities to which not more than five motor vehicles are registered. The bill expands the definition of "consumer" to include the purchaser, other than for purposes of resale, or the lessee, of a motor vehicle used primarily for business purposes if the purchaser or lessee is a person, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, association, or other legal entity to which not more than five motor vehicles are registered. The bill also adds electronic mail communications to the definition of "notify" or "notification" in the Act.

Summary: Paid sick leave; health care providers and grocery store workers. Requires employers to provide paid sick leave to health care providers and grocery store workers.  Under current law, employers are only required to provide paid sick leave to certain home health workers. The bill removes requirements that workers work on average at least 20 hours per week or 90 hours per month to be eligible for paid sick leave. Under the bill, an employee of an employer with fewer than 25 employees is not considered a grocery store worker. The bill provides that certain health care providers may waive their right to accrue and use paid sick leave and provides an exemption for employers of certain other health care providers. The bill requires the Department of Labor and Industry to develop guidelines for retail employers that sell groceries to provide sick leave and to publish such guidelines by December 1, 2023. The provisions of the bill other than the requirement for the Department of Labor and Industry to develop guidelines have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2024.

Summary: Prescription Drug Affordability Board and Fund established; drug cost affordability review. Establishes the Prescription Drug Affordability Board for the purpose of protecting the citizens of the Commonwealth and other stakeholders within the health care system from the high costs of prescription drug products. The bill directs the Governor to appoint the members and alternate members of the Board and requires the Board to meet in open session at least four times annually, with certain exceptions and requirements enumerated in the bill. Members of the Board are required to disclose any conflicts of interest, as described in the bill. The bill also creates a stakeholder council for the purpose of assisting the Board in making decisions related to drug cost affordability. The bill tasks the Board with identifying prescription, generic, and other drugs, as defined in the bill, that are offered for sale in the Commonwealth and, at the Board's discretion, conducting an affordability review of any prescription drug product. The bill lists factors for the Board to consider that indicate an affordability challenge for the health care system in the Commonwealth or high out-of-pocket costs for patients. The bill also provides that any person aggrieved by a decision of the Board may request an appeal of the Board's decision and that the Attorney General shall have authority to enforce the provisions of the bill. The bill also creates the Prescription Drug Affordability Fund to be used for funding the operations of the Board and reimbursing state agencies for implementing the provisions of the bill. The bill requires the Board to report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly twice annually, beginning on July 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024. Provisions of the bill shall apply to state-sponsored and state-regulated health plans and health programs and obligate such policies to limit drug payment amounts and reimbursements to an upper payment limit amount set by the Board, if applicable, following an affordability review. The bill specifies that Medicare Part D plans shall not be bound by such decisions of the Board. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.Finally, the bill contains a severability clause and has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2024.  

Summary: Virginia Petroleum Products Franchise Act; definition of refiner. Provides that for the purposes of the Virginia Petroleum Products Franchise Act, "franchisor" includes a supplier, as defined in the bill, who authorizes or permits, under a franchise, a dealer to use a trademark in connection with the sale, consignment, or distribution of motor fuel.

Summary: Shared solar programs; Phase I Utility; report. Requires the State Corporation Commission to establish by regulation a shared solar program that allows customers of a Phase I Utility to purchase electric power through a subscription in a shared solar facility, defined in the bill as a facility that, among other criteria, generates electricity by means of a solar photovoltaic device with a nameplate capacity that does not exceed 5,000 kilowatts. The bill provides that a customer's net bill for participation in the shared solar program shall not exceed the minimum bill that the State Corporation Commission is required to establish, provides considerations for the Commission in establishing such minimum bill, such as minimizing the costs shifted to non-participating customers, and provides that the calculation of a customer's minimum bill shall be based on the percentage of shared solar capacity attributable to each of the subscribers in accordance with the subscriber's portion of the output of the shared solar facility. The bill provides that the Commission shall approve a shared solar program of 150 megawatts with a minimum requirement of 30 percent low income customers and that an additional 50 megawatts shall be approved by the Commission upon determining that at least 45 megawatts of the aggregated shared solar capacity in the Commonwealth are subscribed to by low-income customers. The bill requires the Commission's regulations for the shared solar program to allow all jurisdictional and non-jurisdictional customer classes to participate in the program. The bill also directs the Department of Energy to convene a stakeholder workgroup to evaluate incentives for certain shared solar projects and submit a report of its recommendations by November 30, 2023.

Summary: Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stressdisorder incurred by dispatchers. Allows dispatchers, as definedin the bill, to claim workers' compensation benefits relating to post-traumatic stress disorder under the Virginia Workers' CompensationAct. Currently, only law-enforcement officers and firefighters may claim such benefits.

Summary: Paid family and medical leave program. Requires the Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer a paid family and medical leave program with benefits beginning January 1, 2026. Under the program, benefits are paid to eligible employees for family and medical leave. Funding for the program is provided through premiums assessed to employers and employees beginning in 2025. The amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee's average weekly wage, not to exceed 80 percent of the state weekly wage, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the statewide average weekly wage. The measure caps the duration of paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year. The bill provides self-employed individuals the option of participating in the program.

Summary: Health insurance; coverage for prescriptioncontraceptives. Requires health insurance carriers to providecoverage, under any health insurance contract, policy, or plan thatincludes coverage for prescription drugs on an outpatient basis,for any prescribed contraceptive drug or contraceptive device. Thebill prohibits a health insurance carrier from imposing upon any person receiving contraceptive benefits pursuant to the provisionsof the bill any copayment, coinsurance payment, or fee, except incertain circumstances. The provisions of the bill apply to healthinsurance contracts, policies, or plans delivered, issued for delivery,or renewed on and after January 1, 2024.

Summary: Wage or salary history inquiries prohibited;civil penalty. Prohibits a prospective employer from (i) seekingthe wage or salary history of a prospective employee; (ii) relyingon the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in determiningthe wages or salary the prospective employee is to be paid upon hire;(iii) relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employeein considering the prospective employee for employment; (iv) refusingto interview, hire, employ, or promote a prospective employee orotherwise retaliating against a prospective employee for not providingwage or salary history; (v) failing or refusing to provide a prospectiveemployee the wage or salary range for the position for which the prospective employee is applying prior to discussing compensationand at any time upon the prospective employee's request; and (vi)failing to set a wage or salary range in good faith. The bill establishesa cause of action for an aggrieved prospective employee or employeeand provides that an employer that violates such prohibitions isliable to the aggrieved prospective employee or employee for statutorydamages between $1,000 and $10,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater; reasonable attorney fees and costs; and any other legaland equitable relief as may be appropriate. The bill also providesfor civil penalties for violations not to exceed $1,000 for a firstviolation, $2,000 for a second violation, and $4,000 for a third orsubsequent violation.

Summary: Public utilities; shared solar; minimum bill. Provides that a customer's net bill for participation in the shared solar program shall not exceed the minimum bill that the State Corporation Commission is required to establish, provides considerations for the Commission in establishing such minimum bill, such as minimizing the costs shifted to non-participating customers, and provides that the calculation of a customer's minimum bill shall be based on the kilowatt hours billed by the utility rather than the subscriber's portion of shared solar facility generation. The bill increases the shared solar facility program capacity from 150 megawatts to 700 megawatts with an additional 300 megawatts of capacity to be approved by the Commission upon determining that at least 210 megawatts of the aggregated shared solar capacity in the Commonwealth are subscribed to by low-income customers. Under current law, the Commission is required to approve a program of 150 megawatts with an additional 50 megawatts. The bill requires the Commission's regulations for the shared solar program to allow all jurisdictional and non-jurisdictional customer classes to participate in the program. The bill also directs the Commission to implement through regulation the provisions of the bill within 180 days of enactment and require each utility to file any tariffs, agreements, or forms to implement the provisions of the bill within 60 days of the effective date of such regulations.

Summary: State Corporation Commission; limitations on disconnection ofutility service by certain utilities. Directs the State Corporation Commissionto conduct a proceeding for the purpose of establishing regulatory limitations onthe authority of an investor-owned electric utility, natural gas utility, waterutility, wastewater utility, or electric cooperative subject to regulation by theCommission to disconnect service to any customer for the nonpayment of bills orfees during a statewide emergency declared by the Governor in response to awidespread communicable disease of public health threat, during temperatureweather extremes, or on a Friday, weekend, state holiday, or day immediatelypreceding a state holiday. The bill requires the Commission to ensure that suchregulations are effective by November 1, 2023. The bill encourages certainutilities not subject to regulation by the Commission to adopt an internaloperating policy to suspend service disconnections for nonpayment of bills or feesfor 30 days in the case of a statewide emergency declared by the Governor inresponse to a widespread communicable disease of public health threat and to avoiddisconnecting service to residential customers for nonpayment of bills or fees ona Friday, weekend, state holiday, or day immediately preceding a state holiday orduring temperature weather extremes.