Labor and Commerce Committee reports dozens of bills; several pass with close margins

The Virginia Senate Labor and Commerce Committee convened for an administrative session and moved, amended or reported a slate of bills to the Senate floor, including measures on energy efficiency for low-income households, health-insurance provisions and unemployment benefits.

Senator Locke, the patron for Senate Bill 7 77, described technical changes and an added wording change to align the Senate and House language and said the bill would create a task force to identify barriers to weatherization and recommend solutions. "The purpose of this bill is to provide weatherization repairs and energy efficiency upgrades and create a task force to address those particular issues," Senator Locke said.

The committee voted on, accepted amendments to, or conformed the language of many bills during the session. Most measures were carried out by voice motions or roll-call votes closed by the clerk. The clerk recorded the final tallies for each measure as the committee acted.

Votes at a glance (committee actions and recorded tallies): - "Senate Bill 10 35" — Referred to Health and Human Services (HHS). Motion to refer passed by voice; roll-call tally not specified in transcript. - "Senate Bill 7 77" (energy efficiency / weatherization task force) — Committee accepted technical amendments and reported the bill as amended. Final roll-call: 15 yes, 4 no; measure reported as amended. - "House Bill 7 80" (conforming/technical amendments) — Reported with amendments; final roll-call recorded as 15 yes, 5 no. - "Senate Bill 8 50" (conform/ substitute to House Bill 2,071) — Substitute reported; final roll-call: 19 yes, 1 no. - "Senate Bill 8 53" (identical to House Bill 2,356) — Reported by the committee; final roll-call: 11 yes, 9 no. - "Senate Bill 8 97" (overtime for certain domestic workers) — Reported with amendments; final roll-call: 11 yes, 9 no. - "Senate Bill 9 20" (workers' compensation – throat cancer) — Reported; final roll-call: 20 yes, 0 no. - "Senate Bill 9 25" — Reported; final roll-call: 20 yes, 0 no. - A health-insurance carrier business-practices measure identified in the transcript as "Senate Bill 10 56" (payment/method-of-claims language) — Reported; transcript records a voice/roll tally as 22 yes, 0 no for that item. - A separate item identified as "Senate Bill 10 56" later in the docket (unemployment compensation increase to weekly benefits) — Committee conformed language and reported with amendments; final roll-call: 11 yes, 9 no. - "Senate Bill 11 54" (prohibition on assignment of certain fire-insurance claims) — Reported; final roll-call: 20 yes, 0 no. - "Senate Bill 12 12" (Virginia Consumer Protection Act — prohibited practices / mandatory fees or surcharges; conformed to House substitute) — Conformed and reported; final roll-call recorded as 11 yes, 9 no. - "Senate Bill 12 15" (health-insurance carrier contracts / prior authorization provisions) — Reported; final roll-call: 20 yes, 0 no. - "Senate Bill 12 28" (Board of Barbers and Cosmetology; employment exceptions for ages 16+) — Conformed to House language and reported; final roll-call: 20 yes, 0 no. - "Senate Bill 12 69" (surplus lines / broker taxes language) — Reported; final roll-call: 20 yes, 0 no. - "Senate Bill 13 11" (pharmacy benefit manager / definition of covered entity) — Reported; final roll-call: 20 yes, 0 no. - "Senate Bill 13 14" (coverage for prostate-cancer screening) — Reported; final roll-call: 20 yes, 0 no. - "Senate Bill 13 38" (carbon-free/clean energy definitions) — Reported; final roll-call: 20 yes, 0 no. - "Senate Bill 14 36" (health-insurance cost-sharing for breast examinations) — Reported; final roll-call: 20 yes, 0 no.

Several items were handled by motions to "conform" Senate language to House language, acceptance of technical amendments, or by reporting substitutes. On at least one occasion (the item recorded as SB 14 36 earlier in the transcript), a member moved to reconsider a prior vote; the committee reconsidered and re-voted, leading to a corrected tally noted in the record.

The session was largely procedural: committee members moved and seconded measures, the clerk closed roll-calls, and the committee reported most measures either unanimously or by clear majorities. A minority of bills—most notably measures in the 8XX–10XX ranges noted above—passed by narrow margins (11–9 or 15–5). The committee adjourned after reporting the final measure.