June 18th Newsletter
Yesterday I was honored to join House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee Chairman Mark Sickles at CrossOver Healthcare Ministry to see Governor Northam sign our legislation to improve access to health care and expand our health workforce. My bill HB1976 will enable the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority (VHWDA) to develop strategies to increase diversity in the healthcare workforce, better leverage technology to increase access to workforce training, and partner with the Department of Health Professions to create a healthcare careers roadmap to raise awareness about available career pathways. I serve as vice-chair of the VHWDA and look forward to working with our executive director Keisha Smith and my fellow board members in implementing our new authority.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the essential role that healthcare professionals play in our Commonwealth. Our providers have stepped up to deliver care to our most vulnerable residents and saved countless lives throughout our community. However, the pandemic has created burnout from the exhausting work of caring for the high volume of critically ill patients. Additionally, as our population ages so does our health workforce, and we need to make significant investments to ensure that all Virginians have access to general and specialty care for generations to come.
If you have any questions or need assistance with a state agency, please contact my office at delrwillett@house.virginia.gov or phone at 804-698-1073, and a member of my staff will be happy to assist you. I also will continue to keep you informed with relevant, accurate information via Twitter, Facebook, and my website. Please stay well and stay in touch.
Sincerely,
Rodney
New Information
New “Return to Earn” Program to Help Virginians Transition Back to Work
This week, Governor Northam announced a new $3 million investment to pilot the Return to Earn Grant Program. The initiative will match up to $500 that a qualifying small business pays directly to a new employee hired after May 31, 2021 — for a total of $1000 to support their transition back to the workforce. Bonuses from eligible small businesses may be in the form of a lump sum or in installments to offset the ongoing costs of child care, transportation, or other barriers to re-employment.
Funds will only be reimbursed to businesses for new hires in positions that pay at least $15 per hour and that qualify as W-2 employment, either full- or part-time. To help address workforce shortages in child care, qualifying child care businesses may be eligible for up to $500 per new hire without the match requirement.
While many companies are offering hiring bonuses, the Return to Earn Grant Program will serve businesses with less than 100 employees that may not have the resources to provide this financial support. You can see a list of frequently asked questions about the new program online here. For additional information on requirements and to apply for Return to Earn grant funding, small businesses should contact their local workforce development board.
Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) Will Remain Fare-Free Through June 2022
This Tuesday, GRTC announced that they will remain fare-free through June 2022. GRTC has been able to provide free trips to passengers on local buses, rapid transit, Express Bus, and CARE/Paratransit vans since March of 2022 through federal COVID-19 relief funding.
GRTC operating and capital expenditures are expected to approach $100 million in FY2022, including $5.8 million to enable fare-free operations. The projected revenue loss will be replaced in the budget by federal relief funding as our region continues to recover from the pandemic. You can see more information on the fare-free program online here.
Legislative Changes Coming July 1, 2021
Legislation that the General Assembly passes each winter generally takes effect on July 1, with some exceptions for bills with an emergency clause or delayed enactment. Each year the Division of Legislative Services publishes “In Due Course: Changes to Virginia Laws” as an annual summary on legislation passed that is of interest to the citizens of Virginia and is likely to impact their daily lives. You can read the full publication online here, and see below for highlights of notable legislation taking effect on July 1:
Public Education
SB1303 — Requires all school boards to offer in-person instruction for the 2021-2022 school year. The law requires each school board to provide in-person instruction that adheres (to the maximum extent practicable) to any currently applicable mitigation strategies for education programs to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 that have been provided by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The law also requires all teachers and school staff to be offered access to receive an approved COVID-19 vaccination through their relevant local health district. The law has an expiration date of August 1, 2022.
SB1257 — Modifies the Standards of Quality to require each school board to provide at least three specialized student support positions, including school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, licensed behavior analysts, licensed assistant behavior analysts, and other licensed health and behavioral positions, per 1,000 students.
HB1790 — Allows school divisions to declare unscheduled remote learning days when severe weather conditions or other emergency situations have resulted in the closing of any school in a school division for in-person instruction. The School division must provide instruction and student services, consistent with guidelines established by the Department of Education to ensure the equitable provision of such services. The law prohibits any school division from claiming more than 10 unscheduled remote learning days in a school year unless the Superintendent of Public Instruction grants an extension.
Higher Education
HB2204 — Establishes the Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back (G3) Fund and requires the Virginia Community College System to establish the G3 Program for the purpose of providing financial assistance from the Fund to certain low-income and middle-income Virginia students who are enrolled in an educational program at an associate-degree-granting public institution of higher education that leads to an occupation in a high-demand field.
HB2123 — Effective August 1, 2022, the law provides that students who meet the criteria to be deemed eligible for in-state tuition regardless of their citizenship or immigration status shall be afforded the same educational benefits, including financial assistance programs administered by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the State Board for Community Colleges, or a public institution of higher education, as any other individual who is eligible for in-state tuition.
HB1980 — Establishes the Enslaved Ancestors College Access Scholarship and Memorial Program. Under the Program Longwood University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, the Virginia Military Institute, and The College of William and Mary are required to annually identify and memorialize all enslaved individuals who labored on former and current institutionally controlled grounds and property and provide a tangible benefit such as a college scholarship or community-based economic development program for individuals or specific communities with a demonstrated historic connection to slavery that will empower families to be lifted out of the cycle of poverty.
HB1930 — Effective January 1, 2022, the law prohibits each public institution of higher education from utilizing an institution-specific admissions application that contains questions about the criminal history of the applicant or denying admission to any applicant on the basis of any criminal history information provided by the applicant on any third-party admissions application accepted by the institution.
Elections
HB1888 — Makes several reforms to increase the availability and accessibility of absentee voting, including the establishment of drop-off locations for absentee ballots, and providing an opportunity for voters to make corrections in certain circumstances. The bill also allows election officers to begin processing absentee ballots on election day. Additionally, the law requires a ballot marking tool with screen reader assistive technology to be made available for absentee voters with a print disability.
HB1921 — Clarifies that any voter with a permanent physical disability, temporary physical disability, or injury is entitled to vote outside of the polling place through curbside voting. The law further provides that during a declared state of emergency related to a communicable disease of public health threat, any voter is entitled to vote outside of the polling place.
HB2081 — The law prohibits any person from knowingly possessing a firearm within 40 feet of any building, or part thereof, used as a polling place, including one hour before and one hour after its use as a polling place, except for (i) a qualified law-enforcement officer or retired law-enforcement officer, (ii) any person occupying his own private property that falls within 40 feet of the polling place, or (iii) a licensed armed security officer whose employment or performance of his duties occurs within 40 feet of the polling place.
Transportation and Public Safety
HB1801 — Disposing of litter; penalty. The law increases the minimum fine for dumping or disposing of litter, trash, or other unsightly matter on public or private property from $250 to $500.
HB2262 —The law requires the driver of a motor vehicle to change lanes when overtaking a bicycle or certain other vehicles when the lane of travel is not wide enough for the overtaking motor vehicle to pass at least three feet to the left of the overtaken vehicle. The law also removes the limitations on riding bicycles and certain other vehicles two abreast. The Department of State Police is directed to convene a workgroup to review issues related to allowing bicyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs, and to report any recommendations to the chairmen of the House and Senate Committees on Transportation.
SB1335 — The law eliminates the provisions prohibiting a holder of a learner’s permit or a holder of a provisional driver’s license from operating a vehicle while using a wireless telecommunications device. Such provisions were specific only to the holder of a learner’s permit or a provisional driver’s license. Under a different current law, all drivers, including those with a learner’s permit or a provisional driver’s license, are prohibited from holding a handheld personal communications device while operating a vehicle.
Healthcare
HB1987 — Expands access to telehealth and clarifies that nothing shall preclude health insurance carriers from providing coverage for services delivered through real-time audio-only telephone that are not telemedicine.
HB2218 — Permits pharmaceutical processors to produce and distribute cannabis products other than cannabis oil. The law requires the Board of Pharmacy to establish testing standards for botanical cannabis and botanical cannabis products, establish a registration process for botanical cannabis products, and promulgate emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the law.
HB2219 — Pharmacies; freedom of choice. The law provides that no insurance carrier, corporation providing preferred provider subscription contracts, or health maintenance organization providing health care plans or its pharmacy benefits manager shall prohibit a covered individual from selecting the pharmacy of his choice to furnish specialty pharmaceutical benefits under the covered individual’s policy.
Commerce, Labor, and Taxation
HB2032 — The law provides that individuals who are engaged in providing domestic service are not excluded from employee protection laws.
HB2207 — Establishes a presumption that COVID-19 causing the death or disability of firefighters, emergency medical services personnel, law-enforcement officers, correctional officers, and regional jail officers is an occupational disease compensable under the Workers’ Compensation Act.
HB1902 — Prohibits the dispensing of prepared food to a customer in a single-use expanded polystyrene food service container (styrofoam). The law 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 law provides a process by which a locality may grant consecutive one-year exemptions to individual food vendors on the basis of undue economic hardship.
HB1935 — Tax Conformity. The law, which became effective on March 15, 2021, advances Virginia’s date of conformity with the Internal Revenue Code from December 31, 2019, to December 31, 2020. The law deconforms from the suspension of the overall limitation on itemized deductions and the reduction in the medical expense deduction floor for taxable year 2017 and taxable years on and after January 1, 2019, and from the provisions of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) related to the net operating loss limitation and carryback, a loss limitation applicable to taxpayers other than corporations, the limitation on business interest, and certain loan forgiveness and other business financial assistance. The law provides an individual and corporate income tax deduction or subtraction, as applicable, of up to $100,000 for Rebuild Virginia grants and certain amounts related to Paycheck Protection Program loans.
Marijuana
HB2312 — Marijuana Legalization. The law eliminates criminal penalties for simple possession of up to one ounce of marijuana by persons 21 years of age or older, modifies several other criminal penalties related to marijuana, and imposes limits on dissemination of criminal history record information related to certain marijuana offenses. The law contains social equity provisions that, among other things, provide support and resources to persons and communities that have been historically and disproportionately affected by drug enforcement. The law has staggered effective dates, and numerous provisions of the law are subject to reenactment by the 2022 Session of the General Assembly. The law also creates the following boards and commissions which will stand up on July 1:
Virginia Cannabis Control Authority
Cannabis Oversight Commission
Cannabis Public Health Advisory Council
Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Board and Fund
Virginia Cannabis Equity Business Loan Program and Fund
Juneteenth Celebrations
This Saturday is Juneteenth, a holiday celebrated every June 19th to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people in the US. The holiday was first celebrated in Texas, where on that date in 1865, in the aftermath of the Civil War, slaves were notified that they had been declared free under the terms of the Emancipation Proclamation. The term Juneteenth is a combination of the words June and nineteen and is also referred to as Freedom Day or Juneteenth Independence Day. During the 2020 Special Legislative Session last August, we passed HB5052 sponsored by Delegate Lamont Bagby, recognizing Juneteenth as a legal holiday in Virginia.
I encourage everyone to use this holiday as a way to learn more about the history of enslaved African-Americans in the United States. Henrico County is hosting a Juneteenth festival this Saturday from 1:00 pm -10:00 pm featuring fireworks, live music performances, food trucks, a vendor fair, live history interpreters, and games for kids. The event is free and open to the public — no registration required. See more information online here. I hope to see you there!
Henrico County Juneteenth Celebration
Saturday, June 19th 1:00pm -10:00pm
Dorey Park and Recreation Center
2999 Darbytown Rd, Henrico, VA 23231
Volunteer on My Campaign
It has been the honor of my life to serve my community in the House of Delegates. This year I am running for re-election to continue the progress we have made in Virginia over the past two years. My campaign is about connecting our community and building a stronger, more prosperous future for all Virginians. I have been out knocking doors and making calls to voters — but I need your help to make sure we reach every voter in the 73rd district.
To sign up to knock on doors visit bit.ly/knock4willett, and sign up to phone bank at bit.ly/call4willett. Personalized conversations with voters have been proven to be the most effective way to mobilize our electorate.
