Please pass the substitute HB1301 as it will provide added protections for businesses in our community.

We support HB 1301. This bill extends post-disaster price-gouging protections for Virginia’s businesses providing much needed support, products, and services after a disaster. For Virginia to be a business friendly state, we must have protections for business to business transactions. During the pandemic, we saw bad actors that provided crucial supplies and services to assisted living facilities taking advantage of the pandemic’s immediate need for life protecting products and services. Costs for personal protective equipment (PPE), such as gloves, masks, alcohol wipes, etc., were increased several hundred percent, resulting in significant barriers to protect staff, residents, and guests. Workforce shortages were exacerbated by staffing contractors drastically raising rates for temporary caregivers, which worsened workforce challenges at a time when aging adults needed them most. With a shortage in health care workers, several members of the staffing agency industry excessively raised prices for workers – in some cases, rates inflated as much as 400 percent. Assisted living facilities cannot close, meaning there was no option but to accept these exorbitant rates. Passage of HB 1301 would protect businesses from price gouging by amending the Virginia Post-Disaster Anti-Price Gouging Act to clarify that "consumer transaction" also includes transactions provided or procured for business purposes. The bill also ensures protections are extended for the longer length of period of the pandemic and amends the time of disaster as the longer of 1) the time period of the declared state of emergency OR 2) 30 days after the occurrence of the disaster that resulted in the state of emergency, which is standard in other states. Current law defines it at the shorter of the two – which practically speaking does not protect against price gouging for the entire length of the emergency recovery. For example: during the COVID pandemic, the current protections for individuals ended when Virginia ended its declared state of emergency July 2021 even though the United States was still under a declared state of emergency until May 2023. Again, please support HB 1301.

We support HB 1301. This bill extends post-disaster price-gouging protections for Virginia’s businesses providing much needed support, products, and services after a disaster. For Virginia to be a business friendly state, we must have protections for business to business transactions. During the pandemic, we saw bad actors that provided crucial supplies and services to assisted living facilities taking advantage of the pandemic’s immediate need for life protecting products and services. Costs for personal protective equipment (PPE), such as gloves, masks, alcohol wipes, etc., were increased several hundred percent, resulting in significant barriers to protect staff, residents, and guests. Workforce shortages were exacerbated by staffing contractors drastically raising rates for temporary caregivers, which worsened workforce challenges at a time when aging adults needed them most. With a shortage in health care workers, several members of the staffing agency industry excessively raised prices for workers – in some cases, rates inflated as much as 400 percent. Assisted living facilities cannot close, meaning there was no option but to accept these exorbitant rates. Passage of HB 1301 would protect businesses from price gouging by amending the Virginia Post-Disaster Anti-Price Gouging Act to clarify that "consumer transaction" also includes transactions provided or procured for business purposes. The bill also ensures protections are extended for the longer length of period of the pandemic and amends the time of disaster as the longer of 1) the time period of the declared state of emergency OR 2) 30 days after the occurrence of the disaster that resulted in the state of emergency, which is standard in other states. Current law defines it at the shorter of the two – which practically speaking does not protect against price gouging for the entire length of the emergency recovery. For example: during the COVID pandemic, the current protections for individuals ended when Virginia ended it’s declared state of emergency July 2021 even though the United States was still under a declared state of emergency until May 2023. Again, please support HB 1301.

This is an important amendment for the elderly population in VA. Throughout the pandemic-generated state of emergency, staffing was and continues to be at critical levels. Staffing agencies were able to capitalize on the state of emergency and in an effort to protect the seniors living in assisted living communities, new protections were put into place. As with any fluid situation, the initial protections were found to be wanting in providing adequate protections for the senior living industry. The industry is extremely appreciative of the protections that were put in place, but this amendment will further solidify the ability of communities to provide safe and affordable care for a vulnerable population. Lastly, these protections will allow the industry to not only offer protections from the companies that greatly benefited financially by the pandemic, but also prevent other positions within the industry from becoming hijacked by profiteering minded companies that are focused on financial gains versus the care and support needed for the seniors living in the communities. -The bill would protect businesses from price gouging by amending the Virginia Post-Disaster Anti-Price Gouging Act to clarify that "consumer transaction" also includes transactions provided or procured for business purposes. - The bill also ensures protections are extended for the longer length of period of the pandemic and amends the time of disaster as the longer of: 1) the time period of the declared state of emergency OR 2) 30 days after the occurrence of the disaster that resulted in the state of emergency, which is standard in other states. -Current law defines it at the shorter of the two – which practically speaking does not protect against price gouging for the entire length of the pandemic. For the COVID pandemic, the protections ended when Virginia ended its declared state of emergency July 2021 even though the United States was still under a declared state of emergency until May 2023.