General Assembly Update – Final Edition

March 27, 2023 marked the final deadline for the Governor to take action on bills passed by the General Assembly. Any bills not vetoed or sent back with proposed amendments by the Governor by March 27th have been deemed passed.

As a result of the 2022 elections, Virginia continues to experience divided political control of government. The Republican Party holds control of the Governor’s Mansion and a majority of the House of Delegates (52-48) with the Democratic Party continuing to retain the Senate (21-19). This means that bills that passed through one chamber easily could meet resistance in the other, and sharp partisan battles were fought over budgetary matters, and other issues that fall along the political divide.

Ironically, this left the area of workers’ compensation law as a place where there was little appetite to enact sweeping changes. As a result, the 2023 session resulted in a relatively small number of bills, most of which passed with near-unanimous bipartisan support.

Each of the bills passed by the General Assembly this year were signed by the Governor without amendment.

I. NEWLY ENACTED LEGISLATION – BILLS ARE EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2023:
HB 1408: Presumption of Compensability for Bladder and Thyroid Cancers – Expands the presumption of compensability of certain cancers for certain employees to include bladder and thyroid cancer. The presumption for these cancers does not apply to individuals diagnosed with such condition before July 1, 2023. (2/02/2023 Passed House 100-Y 0-N) (2/03/023 Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor) (02/13/2023 Reported from Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor 14-Y 0-N) (02/13/2023 Referred to Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations) (02/15/2023 Reported from Finance and Appropriations 14-Y 0-N) (02/17/2023 Passed the Senate 39-Y 0-N) (03/22/2023 Approved by the Governor- Chapter 204, effective July 1, 2023).

HB 1410: Presumption for Arson and Hazardous Materials Investigators – Expands presumptions of compensability for certain cancers to cover arson, bomb, and hazardous materials investigators. (02/02/2023 Passed House 100-Y 0-N) (02/03/2023 Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor) (02/13/2023 Reported from Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor 14-Y 0-N) (02/13/2023 Referred to Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations) (02/15/2023 Reported from Finance and Appropriations 14-Y 0-N) (02/17/2023 Passed the Senate 39-Y 0-N) (03/22/2023 Approved by the Governor – Chapter 104, effective July 1, 2023).

SB 1038: Presumption for Arson and Hazardous Materials Investigators (Identical to HB 1410) – Expands presumptions of compensability for certain cancers to cover arson or bomb investigators and hazardous materials investigators. (02/03/2023 Passed Senate 38-Y 0-N) (02/10/2023 Referred to House Committee on Commerce and Energy) (02/14/2023 Reported from Committee on Commerce and Energy 21-Y 0-N) (02/17/2023 Passed by House in Block Vote 99-Y 0-N) (03/21/2023 Approved by the Governor – Chapter 105, effective July 1, 2023).
HB 1775: Anxiety Disorder or Depressive Disorder Incurred by Law-Enforcement Officers – Provides that anxiety or depressive disorders incurred by law-enforcement officers or firefighters would be compensable under the same basis as post-traumatic stress disorder, except in cases of responding to crime scenes for investigation. (02/02/2023 Passed House 100-Y 0-N) (02/03/2023 Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor) (02/13/2023 Substitute bill Reported from Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor 14-Y 0-N) (02/13/2023 Referred to Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations) (02/15/2023 Reported from Finance and Appropriations 14-Y 0-N) (02/17/2023 Passed the Senate with substitute 39-Y 0-N) (02/21/2023 House vote on Senate substitute 70-Y 28-N) (02/21/2023 House reconsideration of Senate Substitute 0-Y 97-N) (02/22/2023 Senate Insisted on Substitute 40-Y 0-N) (02/24/2023 – Conference Report agreed to by Senate 40-Y 0-N) (02/24/2023 -Conference Report agreed to by House 95-Y 0-N) (03/22/2023 Approved by the Governor – Chapter 243, effective July 1, 2023).

SB 904: PTSD, Anxiety Disorder, Depressive Disorder (Identical to HB 1775) – Anxiety or depressive disorders incurred by law-enforcement officers or firefighters presumed under certain circumstances to be compensable on the same basis, and with the same limitations on benefits as PTSD. (1/30/2023 Passed Senate 39-Y 0-N) (02/09/2023 Referred to House Committee on Commerce and Energy) (02/14/2023 Reported from Commerce and Energy with Substitute 21-Y 0-N) (02/17/2023 Passed House in Block Vote 99-Y 0-N)(02/20/2023 House Substitute agreed to by Senate 40-Y 0-N) (03/22/2023 Approved by the Governor – Chapter 244, effective July 1, 2023).

HB 2418: Group Self-Insurance Associations – Would allow two or more workers’ compensation group self-insurance associations to merge as long as the resulting group self-insurance association assumes in full all obligations of the merged group self-insurance associations. (02/06/2023 Passed House 100-Y 0-N) (02/07/2023 Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor) (02/13/2023 Reported from Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor 15-Y 0-N) (02/16/2023 Passed Senate 40-Y 0-N) (03/23/2023 Approved by the Governor – Chapter 426, effective July 1, 2023).

II. NOTABLE FAILED LEGISLATION
HB 1631: PSTD Incurred by Dispatchers – Would have expanded benefits relating to post-traumatic stress disorder to include dispatchers in addition to law-enforcement officer and firefighters. (02/01/2023 House Subcommittee recommended laying n the table 4-Y 3-N) (02/07/2023 House left in Appropriations).

SB 1088: PTSD Incurred by Dispatchers (Companion Bill to HB 1631) – Would have allowed dispatchers to claim benefits relating to post-traumatic stress disorder, in addition to law-enforcement officers and firefighters. (02/06/2023 Passed Senate 33-Y 6-N) (02/08/2023 Referred to House Committee on Commerce and Energy)(02/22/2023 – Left in Commerce and Energy).

HB 1763: Injuries Caused by Repetitive and Sustained Physical Stressors – Would have included injuries arising from repetitive and sustained physical stressors as compensable occupational disease in Virginia. This would be a full reversal of existing law. (01/10/2023 Referred to House Committee on Commerce and Energy)(01/26/2023 – Subcommittee #2 – Committee Recommends laying on the table 6-Y 4-N).

HB 1905: Presumption for Law-Enforcement Officers with Back, Hip, Knee, etc. – Would have created a presumption of compensability for back, hip, knee, or neck injuries sustained by law-enforcement officers who have to wear a duty belt. (1/26/2023 House Subcommittee recommended laying on the table 10-Y 0-N) (02/07/2023 House left in Commerce and Energy).

HB 1966: Failure to Timely Pay Compensation – Would have expanded the current 20% late payment penalty to include $100 for the first subsequent instance of failure to pay up to $500 for the fifth. (01/10/23 Referred to House Committee on Commerce and Energy) (01/26/2023 Stricken from Docket by Commerce and Energy 22-Y 0-N).

HB 2002: Premium Discounts for Employers – Would provide premium discounts of up to 5% to every employer certified by the Department of Education as a high-quality work-based learning employer. (1/10/2023 Referred to House Committee on Commerce and Energy) (1/26/2023 Stricken from Docket by Commerce and Energy 22-Y 0-N).

HB 2322: PTSD Incurred by Law-Enforcement Officers – Would expand post-traumatic stress disorder presumptions to include correctional officers and dispatchers and provide that anxiety or depressive disorders are compensable on the same basis as PTSD. (1/12/2023 Referred to House Committee on Commerce and Energy) (1/19/2023 Tabled in Commerce and Energy 21-Y 0-N).

The workers’ compensation portion of this year’s legislative session focused on areas where broad consensus could be expected – expanding presumptions for law-enforcement officers and other first responders tends to be popular and this year was no exception.

The upcoming elections in 2023 seem likely to demonstrate that Virginia is a politically balanced state, and as long as the Commonwealth is operating under divided control of the branches of government, we expect future legislative sessions to be similarly modest in scope and scale.

Should you have any questions about the issues discussed here or other legal issues, please do not hesitate to contact the lawyers at Ford Richardson.

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