General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2005>Trade and Commerce


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Trade and Commerce

Passed

P HB2033

Semiconductor manufacturing performance grants. Updates the Semiconductor Memory or Logic Wafer Manufacturing Performance Grant Program to make a qualified manufacturer eligible for total grant payments of up to $27 million if certain investment and job creation criteria are met. The measure also updates the Semiconductor Memory or Logic Wafer Manufacturing Performance Grant Program II to make a qualified manufacturer eligible for grant payments of (i) $15 million if $1.1 billion of new capital investment is made by January 1, 2007, that results in the creation of a new manufacturing module in Henrico County; (ii) $35 million if an additional 1,000 new full-time jobs are created by January 1, 2008; and (iii) $5 million if 200 new full-time jobs are created by January 1, 2009.
Patron - Miles

P HB2055

Virginia Telephone Privacy Protection Act; telephone solicitation. Provides that telephone solicitors using a version of the National Do Not Call Registry obtained from their administrator no more than 31 days prior to the date of a telephone solicitation call constitutes a reasonable practice and procedure to effectively prevent telephone solicitation calls that would violate the Virginia Telephone Privacy Protection Act. The establishment and implementation of reasonable practices and procedures to effectively prevent such telephone solicitation calls is an affirmative defense to an action claiming a violation of the Act. Currently, such defense is available to telephone solicitors that use a version of the National Do Not Call Registry obtained within three months preceding the date of the call. Reducing the period from three months to 31 days makes the Act consistent with federal regulations.
Patron - Nixon

P HB2130

Purchase of handguns by certain law-enforcement officers. Allows certain law-enforcement agencies to sell service handguns to its current law-enforcement officers when the agency has purchased new service handguns and the handguns subject to sale are no longer used in the course of duty.
Patron - Gear

P HB2218

Gift certificates; disclosures; penalty. Requires a gift certificate issued by a merchant in Virginia to have permanently affixed to it either an expiration date for the certificate or electronic card or a telephone number or Internet address at which information about the certificate's expiration and any diminution in value over time may be obtained. A violation of the disclosure requirement is a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. This bill is identical to SB 1241.
Patron - Albo

P HB2286

Extended Service Contract Act. Increases the fee for registering or renewing a registration under the Extended Service Contract Act from $100 to $300. The measure also imposes late fees of $100 per 30-day period or portion thereof that an obligor is late in registering and $50 per 30-day period or portion thereof that an obligor is late in renewing its registration. A registration or renewal is not to be considered filed until all required information and fees are submitted. Finally, the measure specifies that registrations be renewed annually on July 1.
Patron - Brink

P HB2470

Uniform Electronic Transactions Act; local constitutional officers. Includes locally elected constitutional officers in the definition of public body for purposes of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act.
Patron - May

P HB2482

Personal Information Privacy Act; restricting the use of social security numbers. Prohibits any person from (i) intentionally communicating an individual's social security number to the general public; (ii) printing an individual's social security number on any card required for the individual to access or receive products or services; (iii) requiring an individual to use his social security number to access an Internet website, unless an authentication device is also required; or (iv) mailing a package with the social security number visible from the outside. The bill exempts public bodies and public records. A violation is a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The measure also requires the state employee's health insurance plan to use identification numbers that are not the employee's social security number.
Patron - May

P HB2570

Enterprise zones. Establishes new processes and procedures relative to enterprise zones. The bill's effective date is July 1, 2005. This bill is identical to SB 983.
Patron - Dudley

P SB707

Influenza vaccine price gouging; penalties. Prohibits any person from selling or administering influenza vaccine at unconscionable prices during periods when the Governor has declared that an influenza vaccine shortage exists. To determine whether the price of vaccine is unconscionable, the court must consider, among other factors, whether the price charged during the time of the declared shortage grossly exceeded the price at which the vaccine was readily obtainable during the 10 days prior to the declared shortage period. A violation constitutes a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act, though aggrieved persons will not be able to assert a private cause of action.
Patron - Puller

P SB912

Virginia Consumer Protection Act; fees and costs upon settlement. Provides that if the parties wish to settle a case brought under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act, the court may determine the amount of any award of attorneys' fees or court costs to the plaintiff.
Patron - Norment

P SB983

Enterprise zones. Establishes new processes and procedures relative to enterprise zones. The current enterprise zone act expires on July 1, 2005 This bill is identical to HB 2570.
Patron - Watkins

P SB1241

Gift certificates; disclosures; penalty. Requires a gift certificate issued by a merchant in Virginia to have permanently affixed to it either an expiration date for the certificate or electronic card or a telephone number or Internet address at which information about the certificate's expiration and any diminution in value over time may be obtained. A violation of the disclosure requirement is a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. This bill is identical to HB 2218.
Patron - Devolites Davis

P SB1270

Virginia Racing Commission. Clarifies the authority of stewards appointed by the Virginia Racing Commission to enforce and interpret the Commission's regulations. The bill also adds a definition of "participant" and provides that certain individuals associated with a horse that is entered to run in Virginia shall be considered as participants and come under the jurisdiction of the Commission. In addition, the bill (i) provides the authority of the Commission to take disciplinary actions through stewards or at a meeting at which a quorum is present, (ii) clarifies that such disciplinary actions must be determined by a preponderance of the evidence, and (iii) requires the Commission's annual report to be filed on or before March 1.
Patron - Norment

Failed

F HB1809

Sale of or other traffic in fetal body parts; civil penalty. Makes the sale of or other traffic in fetal body parts a prohibited business practice. Violators of the statute may be assessed a $1,000 civil penalty per fetal body part sold or otherwise trafficked but are not subject to criminal prosecution.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

F HB1835

Horse racing; local referenda for racetracks and satellite facilities. Increases from three to 10 the number of years between local referenda that may be held for approval of a racetrack or satellite facility.
Patron - Parrish

F HB1952

Enterprise zones; extension of authority. Extends the expiration date for the statutes governing enterprise zones and extends the 20-year time limitation for selected enterprise zones by two years. The provisions extending the 20-year time limitation are made retroactive to January 1, 2005. This bill has been incorporated into HB 2207.
Patron - Kilgore

F HB1964

Enterprise zones; extension of authority. Extends the expiration date for the statutes governing enterprise zones and extends the 20-year time limitation for selected enterprise zones by two years. The provisions extending the 20-year time limitation are made retroactive to January 1, 2005. This bill has been incorporated into HB 2207.
Patron - Ingram

F HB2001

Enterprise zones. Extends the expiration deadline for enterprise zones by one year, from July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2006. This bill has been incorporated into HB 2207.
Patron - Dudley

F HB2181

Virginia Consumer Protection Act; return of goods. Makes it a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act for a supplier of goods to fail to disclose, on a sign attached to the goods or placed in a conspicuous area, that it limits the number or frequency of returns, exchanges, or credits for return of goods. The details of the supplier's return policy must be made available to the customer upon request.
Patron - Tata

F HB2207

Trade and commerce; enterprise zones. Extends the sunset provision of the Enterprise Zone Act to expire July 1, 2007, and changes the "qualified zone resident" definition to eliminate the requirement that the owner or tenant of the property actually conduct the business. This bill incorporates HB 1952, HB 1964, HB 2001, and HB 2279.
Patron - Marrs

F HB2279

Enterprise zones; extension of authority. Extends the expiration date for the statutes governing enterprise zones and extends the 20-year time limitation for selected enterprise zones by two years. The provisions extending the 20-year time limitation are made retroactive to January 1, 2005. This bill has been incorporated into HB 2207.
Patron - Spruill

F HB2285

Unsolicited transmission of advertising materials by facsimile machine; identification of sender. Requires senders of advertising material by facsimile to include on the transmission the date and time of the transmission, the name of the person or entity sending the message and the telephone number of the sending machine of such person or entity.
Patron - Brink

F HB2350

Virginia Consumer Protection Act; prohibited practices; performing abortion services. Provides that abortion services are consumer transactions subject to the provisions of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act, and declares that the performance of an abortion under specified circumstances is unlawful. Prohibited acts or practices include performing abortions at facilities that do not comply with requirements relating to facility cleanliness, sterilization, fire protection, evacuation, staff credentials, equipment, maintenance of facilities and equipment, and allowable procedures, and facility procedures and policies.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

F HB2351

Public procurement; SWAM businesses. Requires that each public body's program to facilitate the participation of small, women- and minority-owned (SWAM) businesses in procurement transactions include a goal that 40 percent of the public body's procurement expenditures be for transactions with SWAM businesses. To count toward meeting this goal, the SWAM business must be certified by the Department of Minority Business Enterprise. Public bodies are required to file annual reports detailing efforts to meet the goal of 40 percent SWAM business procurement.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

F HB2352

Virginia Consumer Protection Act; prohibited practices; abortions. Declares that performing an abortion, or allowing an abortion to be performed, by a physician who does not have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, is an unlawful practice committed in connection with a consumer transaction. The measure also declares that it is an unlawful practice committed in connection with a consumer transaction if a physician fails to screen the patient for risk factors that would indicate whether the patient is susceptible to physical or psychological complications.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

F HB2467

Online dating safety; penalty. Requires online dating services to conduct criminal background checks on its members and make specific disclosures and warnings. Aggrieved parties and the Attorney General can bring actions for damages. In addition, this bill makes violations Class 4 misdemeanors. Services that conduct criminal background checks are immune from liability under the provisions of this bill.
Patron - May

F HB2593

Horse racing; local referenda for racetracks and satellite facilities. Increases from three to 10 the number of years between local referenda that may be held for approval of a racetrack or satellite facility.
Patron - Weatherholtz

F HB2721

Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act; Personal Information Privacy Act; notice of database breaches. Requires agencies and businesses that maintain computerized data that includes personal information to notify the subject of that information when a breach of the database containing that information is discovered. No notice is required if an investigation determines that there is no reasonable belief that the information has been or will be used in an unlawful manner. The bill provides for various means of notifying the owner or licensee of that information and requires the agency or business to coordinate notification with consumer reporting agencies if they indicated that the affected individual can obtain a credit report. Damages for an agency violating this requirement are provided in the Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act (§ 2.2-3800 et seq.). Damages for a business violating this requirement are provided in the Personal Information Privacy Act or PIPA (§ 59.1-442 et seq.). The bill expands the damages available for violations of PIPA to include actual damages, if greater than $100 per violation, and injunctive relief.
Patron - Scott, J.M.

F SB733

Enterprise zones; extension of authority. Extends the expiration date for the statutes governing enterprise zones and extends the 20-year time limitation for selected enterprise zones by two years. The provisions extending the 20-year time limitation are made retroactive to January 1, 2005.
Patron - Reynolds

F SB735

Enterprise zone designations. Allows one enterprise zone in any county, city, or town to consist of three noncontiguous zone areas. Currently, one enterprise zone may consist of two noncontiguous zone areas. The bill also extends the expiration of the Enterprise Zone Act from July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2010.
Patron - Reynolds

F SB848

Enterprise zones; extension of authority. Extends the expiration date for the statutes governing enterprise zones and extends the 20-year time limitation for selected enterprise zones by two years. The provisions extending the 20-year time limitation are made retroactive to January 1, 2005.
Patron - Quayle

F SB1182

Enterprise zones; extension of authority. Extends the expiration deadline for enterprise zones by two years, from July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2007.
Patron - Rerras

F SB1336

Health; price gouging of vaccines; penalties. Adds vaccine to the definition of "necessary goods and services" and thereby prohibits fraudulent consumer transactions in which a supplier engages in price gouging of any vaccine when such vaccines are in high demand. The bill further prohibits any person from selling or administering vaccine at unconscionable prices during periods when the Governor has declared that a vaccine shortage exists. To determine whether the price of vaccine is unconscionable, the court must consider, among other factors, whether the price charged during the time of the declared shortage grossly exceeded the price at which the vaccine was readily obtainable during the 10 days prior to the declared shortage period. A violation constitutes a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act, though aggrieved persons will not be able to assert a private cause of action.
Patron - Rerras

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