Virginia Senate Bill 548 (Prior Session Legislation)

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Completed Legislative Action
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: Passed on April 22 2020 - 100% progression
Action: 2020-04-22 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1261)
Text: Latest bill text (Chaptered) [HTML]

Unemployment compensation. Amends various provisions regarding unemployment compensation and the Virginia Employment Commission. The bill provides that (i) the Commission shall base its determination on whether an individual is an employee on the standard used by the Internal Revenue Service for such determinations; (ii) for the purposes of unemployment compensation, "wages" does not include any payment made to, or on behalf of, an employee or his beneficiary under a cafeteria plan, as defined in § 125 of the Internal Revenue Code, if such payment would not be treated as wages under the Internal Revenue Code; and (iii) in an unemployment compensation claims adjudication matter, each day a person fails to obey a subpoena issued by a court, a court order, or a subpoena issued by the Commission shall be deemed to be a separate offense. Additionally, the bill requires (a) any employing unit to establish an account with the Commission by the end of the calendar quarter in which it becomes subject to the requirements for unemployment compensation, (b) an employer that has become subject to liability under the unemployment compensation provisions to submit the required reports by the due date of the calendar quarter in which the employer has initially become subject to such liability, and (c) all employers to file their quarterly payroll and tax reports on an electronic medium using a format prescribed by the Commission. Under current law, only employers with 100 or more employees are required to file electronically. The bill establishes a short-time compensation program that provides employers with the option of reducing the hours worked by employees while permitting the employees whose hours are reduced to receive partial compensation for lost wages. Program participation requires Virginia Employment Commission approval of a work sharing plan, which must provide that the reduction in hours of work is in lieu of a layoff of an equivalent percentage of employees and that employees' health and retirement benefits cannot be reduced or eliminated under the plan. An individual who satisfies other requirements for unemployment benefits will be eligible for short-term compensation if he is available for the individual's usual hours of work with the participating employer, which may include participating in certain training programs. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2022; however, if adequate funding by the U.S. Department of Labor that covers certain costs of establishing the program is not received by the Commission by January 1, 2021, the bill will expire on that date. Unemployment compensation. Amends various provisions regarding unemployment compensation and the Virginia Employment Commission. The bill provides that (i) the Commission shall base its determination on whether an individual is an employee on the standard used by the Internal Revenue Service for such determinations; (ii) for the purposes of unemployment compensation, "wages" does not include any payment made to, or on behalf of, an employee or his beneficiary under a cafeteria plan, as defined in § 125 of the Internal Revenue Code, if such payment would not be treated as wages under the Internal Revenue Code; and (iii) in an unemployment compensation claims adjudication matter, each day a person fails to obey a subpoena issued by a court, a court order, or a subpoena issued by the Commission shall be deemed to be a separate offense. Additionally, the bill requires (a) any employing unit to establish an account with the Commission by the end of the calendar quarter in which it becomes subject to the requirements for unemployment compensation, (b) an employer that has become subject to liability under the unemployment compensation provisions to submit the required reports by the due date of the calendar quarter in which the employer has initially become subject to such liability, and (c) all employers to file their quarterly payroll and tax reports on an electronic medium using a format prescribed by the Commission. Under current law, only employers with 100 or more employees are required to file electronically. The bill establishes a short-time compensation program that provides employers with the option of reducing the hours worked by employees while permitting the employees whose hours are reduced to receive partial compensation for lost wages. Program participation requires Virginia Employment Commission approval of a work sharing plan, which must provide that the reduction in hours of work is in lieu of a layoff of an equivalent percentage of employees and that employees' health and retirement benefits cannot be reduced or eliminated under the plan. An individual who satisfies other requirements for unemployment benefits will be eligible for short-term compensation if he is available for the individual's usual hours of work with the participating employer, which may include participating in certain training programs. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2022; however, if adequate funding by the U.S. Department of Labor that covers certain costs of establishing the program is not received by the Commission by January 1, 2021, the bill will expire on that date.

Unemployment compensation; amends various provisions regarding compensation.

Sen. John Edwards [D]

2020-04-22 - House - House: VOTE: (79-Y 13-N) (Y: 79 N: 13 NV: 8 Abs: 0) [PASS]
2020-04-22 - Senate - Senate: Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (39-Y 1-N) (Y: 39 N: 1 NV: 0 Abs: 0) [PASS]
2020-04-22 - Senate - Senate: Amendments specific and severable (40-Y 0-N) (Y: 40 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 0) [PASS]
2020-02-28 - House - House: VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) (Y: 100 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 0) [PASS]
2020-02-25 - House - House: Reported from Labor and Commerce (22-Y 0-N) (Y: 22 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 0) [PASS]
2020-01-24 - Senate - Senate: Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) (Y: 39 N: 0 NV: 1 Abs: 0) [PASS]
2020-01-22 - Senate - Senate: Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) (Y: 40 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 0) [PASS]
2020-01-20 - Senate - Senate: Reported from Commerce and Labor (15-Y 0-N) (Y: 15 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 0) [PASS]

Date	Chamber	Action
2020-04-22		Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1261)
2020-04-22	House	Enacted, Chapter 1261 (effective 7/1/20)
2020-04-22	House	Signed by Speaker as reenrolled
2020-04-22	Senate	Signed by President as reenrolled
2020-04-22	Senate	Reenrolled bill text (SB548ER2)
2020-04-22	Senate	Reenrolled
2020-04-22		Governor: Governor's recommendation adopted
2020-04-22	House	VOTE: (79-Y 13-N)
2020-04-22	House	House concurred in Governor's recommendation (79-Y 13-N)
2020-04-22	Senate	Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (39-Y 1-N)
2020-04-22	Senate	Amendments specific and severable (40-Y 0-N)
2020-04-11	Senate	Governor's substitute printed 20110209D-S1
2020-04-11	Senate	Governor's recommendation received by Senate
2020-03-12		Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
2020-03-12	Senate	Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
2020-03-07	Senate	Signed by President
2020-03-06	House	Signed by Speaker
2020-03-05	Senate	Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB548ER)
2020-03-05	Senate	Enrolled
2020-02-28	House	VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
2020-02-28	House	Passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N)
2020-02-28	House	Read third time
2020-02-27	House	Read second time
2020-02-25	House	Reported from Labor and Commerce (22-Y 0-N)
2020-02-18	House	Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce
2020-02-18	House	Read first time
2020-02-18	House	Placed on Calendar
2020-01-24	Senate	Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N)
2020-01-23	Senate	Read second time and engrossed
2020-01-22	Senate	Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
2020-01-20	Senate	Reported from Commerce and Labor (15-Y 0-N)
2020-01-07	Senate	Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor
2020-01-07	Senate	Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20104650D

Chapter	Article	Section	Citation Type	Statute Text
60	2	212	(n/a)	See Bill Text
60	2	229	(n/a)	See Bill Text
60	2	508	(n/a)	See Bill Text
60	2	512	(n/a)	See Bill Text
60	2	513	(n/a)	See Bill Text
60	2	627	(n/a)	See Bill Text

Type	Source
Summary	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB548
Text	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB548+hil
Text	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB548ER+hil
Text	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB548S1+hil
Text	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB548ER2+hil
Text	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP1261+hil
Roll Call	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+vot+S02V0035+SB0548
Roll Call	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+vot+SV0119SB0548+SB0548
Roll Call	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+vot+SV0140SB0548+SB0548
Roll Call	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+vot+H14V0318+SB0548
Roll Call	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+vot+HV1634+SB0548
Roll Call	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+vot+SV1977SB0548+SB0548
Roll Call	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+vot+SV1978SB0548+SB0548
Roll Call	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+vot+HV2276+SB0548