The first full week following Crossover has seen several bills acted on already. Below are the bills that have been acted on since our Crossover Report last week.
SB 1146 - Howell - Income tax, state; conformity with the Internal Revenue Code (Reported from House Finance Committee with a Substitute (conformed to House version) 13-Y 9-N)
HB 1848 - Sickles - Virginia Human Rights Acts; adds discrimination on the basis of disability. (Passed the Senate 39-Y 0-N)
HB 2032 - Gooditis - Employees providing domestic service; application of laws applicable to employee safety. (Reported Senate Commerce and Labor Committee and Referred to Finance Committee 12-Y 3-N)
HB 2140 - Guzman - Alternative application for employment for persons with a disability; DHRM, to create a process. (Passed the Senate 39-Y 0-N)
HB 2161 - Tran - Active military or a military spouse; prohibits discrimination in public accommodations, etc. (Passed the Senate 39-Y 0-N)
SB 1410 - Bell - Prohibited discrimination; status as active military or a military spouse. (Reported from House General Laws Subcommittee with Substitute 22-Y 0-N)
Defeated:
HB 1754 - Carter - Employer or other person; retaliatory discharge of employee prohibited. (Passed by Indefinitely (defeated) in Senate Commerce and Labor Committee 10-Y 5-N)
HB 1864 - Price - Virginia Human Rights Act; expands definition of employer. (Failed to report (defeated) in Senate General Laws and Technology 7-Y 7-N)
HB 1897 - Jenkins - Summons for unlawful detainer; notice to tenant, adverse employment actions prohibited. (Failed to report (defeated) in Senate Judiciary 7-Y 8-N)
HB 2290 - Plum - Larceny; repeals punishment for conviction of second or subsequent misdemeanor. (Passed the Senate 21-Y 18-N)
SB 1398 - Norment - Retail sales and transient occupancy taxes on room rentals. (House Finance Subcommittee #2 recommends reporting with amendments 8-Y 2-N)
SB 1403 - Pillion - Sales tax; exemption for personal protective equipment; emergency. (Passed the House 100-Y 0-N)
HB 2040 - Hudson - Unemployment compensation; failure to respond, continuation of benefits, repayment of overpayments. (Reported from Senate Commerce and Labor Committee with Substitute and referred to Senate Finance Committee 12-Y 2-N)
Defeated:
HB 2037 - Tran - Unemployment compensation; benefits, suitable work, benefits charges. (Passed by Indefinitely (defeated) in Senate Commerce and Labor Committee 9-Y 6-N)
HB 1820 - Helmer - Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; food stamp program, eligibility, postsecondary education. (Reported from Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services 15-Y 0-N, and Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations Committee)
HB 1859 - Guy - Clean energy and other programs; local financing when owner costs are incurred. (Passed both the House and the Senate and is now before the Governor for Signature)
HB 1907 - Sullivan - Electric utilities; advanced renewable energy buyers. (Reported from Senate Commerce and Labor Committee 15-Y 0-N)
HB 1919 - Kory - Local green banks; authorizes a locality, by ordinance, to establish. (Reported from Senate Committee on Local Government with substitute 8-Y 5-N)
SB 1420 - Edwards - Electric utilities; non-jurisdictional customers; third party power purchase agreements. (Reported from Labor and Commerce 21-Y 0-N)
Defeated:
HB 1914 - Helmer - Electric utilities; triennial review, period costs, rate reductions. (Passed by Indefinitely (defeated) in Senate Commerce and Labor Committee 8-Y 7-N)
HB 1984 - Hudson - Electric utilities; triennial review, proceeding by SCC, fair rates of return. (Passed by Indefinitely (defeated) with letter to the commission 11-Y 4-N)
HB 2048 - Bourne - Electric utility regulation; purchasing from competitive suppliers. (Passed by indefinitely (defeated) with letter to the commission 11-Y 4-N)
HB 2049 - Bourne - Electric utilities; eliminates customer credit reinvestment offsets. (Passed by indefinitely (defeated) with letter to the commission 11-Y 4-N)
HB 2200 - Jones - Electric utilities; triennial review. (Passed by indefinitely (defeated) with letter to the commission 11-Y 4-N)
HB 1965 - Bagby - State Air Pollution Control Board; low-emissions and zero-emissions vehicle program. (Reported from Senate Commerce and Labor Committee 11-Y 4-N)
SB 1282 - Morrissey - Greenhouse gas emissions inventory; regulations. (House Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Subcommittee recommends reporting 6-Y 2-N)
SB 1284 - Favola - Commonwealth Clean Energy Policy. (House Labor and Commerce Subcommittee Recommends Reporting 6-Y 4-N)
HB 1985 - Hurst - Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for COVID-19. (Reported from Senate Commerce and Labor Committee and Referred to Finance and Appropriations 15-Y 0-N)
HB 2207 - Jones - Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for COVID-19. (Reported from Senate Commerce and Labor Committee and Referred to Finance and Appropriations 15-Y 0-N)
SB 1375 - Saslaw - Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for COVID-19. (Reported from House Labor and Commerce with Substitute 21-Y 0-N)
ABC legislation that is still active:
HB 1845 - VanValkenburg - Alcoholic beverage control; license fee reform. (Reported from Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services 14-Y 0-N)
HB 1879 - Bulova - Alcoholic beverage control; sale and delivery of mixed beverages and pre-mixed wine. (Reported from Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee 14-Y 0-N)
HB 2131 - Lopez - Alcoholic beverage control; license application, locality input. (Reported from Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee 14-Y 0-N)
HB 2266 - Ayala - Alcoholic beverage control; local outdoor refreshment areas. (Reported from Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee 14-Y 0-N)
SB 1299 - Bell - Alcoholic beverage control; sale and delivery of mixed beverages and pre-mixed wine. (Reported from House General Laws Committee 20-Y 2-N)
HB 2250 - Kory - Humane Cosmetics Act; civil penalties. (Rereferred from Commerce and Labor to Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources 14-Y 0-N)
SB 1379 - Boysko - Humane Cosmetics Act; civil penalties. (Reported from House Labor and Commerce Committee 14-Y 7-N)
HB 1830 - Head - Virginia Small Business Financing Authority; members to have small business lending experience. Passed the Senate 39-Y 0-N)
HB 2172 - Mundon King - Small, women-owned, and minority-owned businesses; right to appeal denial of initial certification (Passed the Senate 39-Y 0-N)
HB 1814 - Krizek - Garnishment of wages; a protected portion of disposable earnings. (Passed the Senate 39-Y 0-N)
SB 1296 - Spruill - State Coordinator of Emergency Management; establishment of Emergency Management Equity. (Reported from House Public Safety Committee 19-Y 3-N)
SB 1298 - Bell - Tourism improvement districts. (Reported from House Counties, Cities and Towns Committee 21-Y 1-N)
We have reached the point of Crossover in the 2021 General Assembly Session. This year looks a little different than past years, because both the House and the Senate are moving all legislation that has “crossed over” into the 2021 Special Session 1, rather than dealing with these bills in the Regular Session. The reason for this is that the Regular Session was only going to last 30 days, and the Governor has called a Special Session in order for the 2021 Session to last a total of 46 days. Therefore, we anticipate that the Special Session will adjourn Sine Die on February 26th.
In addition, because of the circumstances explained above, we will be sending out a separate budget report. The budget will not be presented by both the House and Senate until later this week. Once we have reviewed each budget, we will send a report with pertinent information to all members.
Below you will find a list of major legislation that we are tracking and the status of that legislation at the point of crossover. To view our complete tacking list of bills, click here.
We just wrapped up the second full week of the 2021 General Assembly Session. Over the last week several issues that impact our members have been heard. We expect this week to be even more eventful for the Retail Industry. Below you will find a breakdown of the major issues that were acted on last week. To find the full list of legislation that we are tracking, click here.
Paid Leave
As you saw in our report last week, several paid leave bills have been introduced this session in both the House and the Senate. Senate Commerce and Labor Committee heard all of the bills on the issue, other than SB 1159 which went by for the day. The only bill that passed so far was Senator Favola’s study on the sale of individual and group paid leave plans in Virginia. Senator Boysko’s legislation, which would have established a Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance program was defeated.
Requires employers with a sick leave program to allow an employee to use his or her sick leave for the care of an immediate family member. The measure applies only to employers that have 25 or more employees and that provide paid sick leave that allows an employee to be absent from work in the event of the employee's own incapacity, illness, or injury. The measure applies only to employees who work at least 30 hours per week, and it caps the amount of sick leave that may be used for the care of immediate family members at five days per calendar year.
Directs the State Corporation Commission's Bureau of Insurance (the Bureau) to review and make recommendations, including any necessary statutory and regulatory changes, to authorize the State Corporation Commission to approve the sale of individual and group paid family leave plans in Virginia.The bill requires the Bureau to also identify options and make recommendations for encouraging or incentivizing employers to voluntarily offer 12 weeks of paid family leave. The bill requires the Bureau to convene a stakeholder group to participate in the process, which is required to include representatives from the insurance industry and the business community, advocates for paid family leave, and other interested parties.The bill requires the Bureau to report its findings and recommendations to the Senate Committees on Commerce and Labor and Finance and Appropriations and the House Committees on Labor and Commerce and Appropriations by November 30, 2021.
Requires the Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer a paid family and medical leave program with benefits beginning January 1, 2024. 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 2023. 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.
Equal Pay Bill
Senator Boysko’s Equal Pay bill was defeated in Senate Commerce and Labor by a pretty substantial margin. This legislation was extremely broad in the way it was enforced and what it applied to, and would have created a huge mandate on businesses across Virginia. You can find a full summary of the legislation below.
Prohibits public and private employers from discriminating between employees on the basis of membership in a protected class in the payment of wages or other compensation, including benefits, by paying wages or other compensation to employees who are members of a protected class at a rate less than the rate at which it pays wages or other compensation to employees who are not members of the protected class for substantially similar work.The measure also prohibits an employer from discriminating between employees by providing less favorable employment opportunities on the basis of membership in a protected class, limiting an employee's right to discuss wages, relying on the wage history of a prospective employee in considering the prospective employee for employment or determining the wages that the prospective employee is to be paid by the employer upon hire, or taking certain retaliatory actions against an employee.The measure also establishes criteria for when wage differentials between employees are permitted, but requires an employer to (i) provide a prospective employee with the wage range for the position for which the prospective employee is applying upon request or prior to inquiring about the prospective employee's wage expectations or providing an offer of compensation and (ii) maintain records of the wages and wage rates, job classifications, and other terms and conditions of employment for a period of three years.The measure gives an employee who is the subject of a violation a right of action to recover, for certain violations, the greater of compensatory damages or $10,000, liquidated damages, punitive damages, and attorney fees. Violations are also subject to civil penalties.
Polystyrene
Delegate Carr’s legislation to ban the use of single-use expanded polystyrene food service containers was back again this year. You may remember that it passed the General Assembly last year, but it contained a reenactment clause, which means it must pass the General Assembly again this year for it to become effective. This legislation creates a burdensome and costly ban for the food service industry, which is struggling due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.Many restaurants that have never provided take out for customers, have now had to pivot to that model in an effort to survive this economic crisis. Instituting a ban on this product will cause these restaurants to incur even more costs in order to sustain their take-out service. You can find a full summary of the legislation below.
Prohibits the dispensing by a food vendor of prepared food to a customer in a single-use expanded polystyrene food service container, as defined in the bill. The bill requires certain chain restaurants to stop using such containers by July 1, 2023, and sets the date for compliance by all food vendors as July 1, 2025.The bill exempts nonprofit organizations from the definition of "food vendor" and provides a process by which a locality may grant consecutive one-year exemptions to individual food vendors on the basis of undue economic hardship.The bill provides a civil penalty of not more than $50 for each day of violation, to be collected in a civil action brought by the Attorney General or the relevant locality. The penalties collected are to be deposited in the Litter Control and Recycling Fund or to the treasury of the relevant locality, as appropriate. A portion of the penalties deposited in the Fund are to be used for public information campaigns to discourage the sale and use of expanded polystyrene products.Finally, the bill directs the Department of Environmental Quality to post to its website information on compliance and the filing of complaints. This bill is a reenactment of Chapter 1104 of the Acts of Assembly of 2020.
Mandatory Retirement Program
Delegate Torian’s legislation to create a State run retirement program has passed House Appropriations Committee and will now be heard on the House floor. This legislation requires all employers, with five or more employees, and who do not offer an eligible retirement program, to participate.The bill was amended in full committee to make it clear that participating employers will not be required to contribute. Employees of participating employers, will be automatically enrolled in the program unless they opt out. If this bill passes, enrollment in the program will begin no later than July 1, 2023. You can find a full summary of the legislation below.
Directs the governing board of the Virginia College Savings Plan (the Board) to establish an automatic enrollment payroll deduction individual retirement account (IRA) retirement savings program, to be known as the VirginiaSaves Program (the Program). The Board shall administer the Program and develop requirements, procedures, and guidelines for the Program, including default contribution rates, procedures for enrollment and withdrawal, and procedures for noncompliance. Moneys in the Program shall be invested in a manner deemed appropriate by the Board.
Participation in the Program is mandatory for eligible employers, defined in the bill as self-employed individuals, sole proprietors, and nongovernmental employers having five or more employees that do not offer a qualified retirement plan to their employees. Each eligible employee, defined generally as an individual employed by an eligible employer, shall be enrolled in the Program unless the employee elects not to participate in the Program.
The bill contains provisions limiting the liability of the Board, the Plan, and the Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions, for obligations associated with the Program. The Commonwealth shall have no duty or liability to any party for the payment of any retirement savings benefits accrued by any individual under the Program.Participating employers shall not (i) have any liability for an employee's decision to participate in or opt out of the Plan, (ii) be a fiduciary over the Program, or (iii) have any liability or responsibility related to the operation of the Program.
The Program shall be established, and enrollment shall begin, no later than July 1, 2023.
Retaliatory Discharge
Delegate Carter’s legislation regarding the discharge or retaliatory actions against employees who have filed or intend to file a Workers Compensation claim is now on the House Floor. The concern with this legislation is that it could cause an issue for employers who are disciplining an employee for poor performance, but just happen to have filed a Worker’s Compensation Claim. You can find a full summary of the legislation below.
Prohibits an employer or other person from discharging or taking other retaliatory action against an employee if such action is motivated by the knowledge or belief that the employee has filed a claim or taken or intends to take certain actions under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act.Currently, retaliatory discharges are prohibited only if the employer discharges an employee solely because the employee has taken or intends to take such an action.
We wrapped up the first week of the 2021 General Assembly Session, which consisted of both the House and the Senate organizing and adopting the rules that will govern throughout this most unusual Session. The House will be meeting virtually for all meetings, and the Senate will be meeting in person at the Science Museum of Virginia so that Senators can be appropriately socially distanced.
Your VRF lobbyists will be able to represent your voice by testifying virtually and “meeting” with legislators virtually as well. This is why it is so imperative, as was said in last week's email, to participate in any Action Alerts you receive from VRF. Our Action Alerts are just one more way for your voice to be heard directly by legislators on issues that impact your business.
When it comes to the legislation that will have an impact on the retail industry, there has been a huge number of bills that have been introduced so far. Virginia Retail Federation currently has close to 150 bills in our tracking list. This list will continue to grow as bills hit the system. To find a complete list of bills we are tracking, click here.
In addition, Virginia Retail Federation is a member of the Coalition for a Strong Virginia Economy along with 30 other business groups, in order to create a unified business voice on many of the VRF’s priority issues for the 2021 session.
Paid Leave
Multiple bills have been introduced that mandate business provide one form of paid leave or another. There are bills that create a payroll tax/insurance program that would provide a certain amount of leave for employees if they met specific criteria; and there are bills that require flat number of days per year of leave for each employee.
What does this mean for you?
Not only will these mandates potentially be costly for your business, but they could also limit the flexibility you have to work with each employee on an as needed basis. In the retail industry, you will not only be paying for the employee who takes paid leave; but you will mostly likely have to pay someone to cover that employee's shift while they are out, which would mean you will be paying two people for one job.
What can you do?
When you see an Action Alert on this issue, please make sure to click through to contact your legislator for the district where your business is located, as well as for the district where your residence is to let them know how this will impact your business.
Mandated State Run Retirement Program
A bill has been introduced that directs the governing board of the Virginia College Savings Plan to establish the VirginiaSaves Program. This will be an automatic enrollment payroll deduction individual retirement account (IRA) retirement savings program. Participation in the program is mandatory for all employers with five or more employees that don’t already offer a qualifying retirement savings program for employees.
What does this mean for you?
If you have five or more employees and do not already offer a qualified retirement savings program, as delineated in the legislation, you will be required to participate in this state-run program. Creating an added cost of doing business during an already difficult economic time.
What can you do?
When you see an Action Alert on this issue, make sure to click through to contact your legislator for the district where your business is located as well as for the district where your residence is to let them know how this will impact your business.
Hazard Pay
Legislation has been introduced that requires employers of “essential workers” to pay hazard pay after an executive order is issued which includes a stay-at-home or shelter-in-place order. This means that employers must compensate essential workers at a rate of at least one and one-half times that workers regular rate of pay for any hours worked during the closure order. In addition, PPE must be provided for essential workers as well. Under this legislation, an essential worker is an individual employed as a health care provider, home care provider, airport worker, or employed by an essential retail business.
What this means for you?
This means that if you qualified as an essential retail business during the COVID-19 pandemic, you would be required to pay hazard pay for all employees during a stay at home order. This legislation will apply to future pandemics or states of emergency as well.
What can you do?
When you see an Action Alert on this issue, make sure to click through to contact your legislator for the district where your business is located as well as for the district where your residence is located to let them know how this will impact your business.
ABC
Privacy
Worker Classification
Employer Mandates
Civil Liability Immunity - COVID 19 Claims
Public Health Emergency
Right to Work
Tax
Unemployment Compensation
Minimum Wage
TANF
Energy
Environmental
Transportation
Workers Compensation
Food Delivery
Tobacco
Product Ban
Small Business
Miscellaneous