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.

I ask you to please fully support HB 1344. It is bad enough to have to go through this experience, but then to also have to worry about losing your job a demotion or any other form of retaliation for speaking up is heartbreaking. You should not have to worry about being penalized for being the victim ever. Thank you for taking the time to read my comments and again I asked you to fully support 1344 as written.

I am currently a college student, and will enter the workforce in a few years. I want to know that my rights to report any wrongdoing, abuse, harassment, etc, are protected by the law, as I know employers can take advantage of these situations. A close friend of mine was greatly wronged by her employer for speaking out about wrongdoing occurring inside her company, something which she would have been protected from if this legislation would have been in place at the time. For myself, and for all other workers in Virginia, I ask that you please affirm your commitments to your constituencies by guaranteeing workers' rights to be free from retaliation in cases like these. Thank you for your time.

Members of House Labor and Commerce Subcommittee 2: Thank you for the opportunity to provide this comment in support of HB 1344. I live in Annandale and I am employment lawyer—a partner at Murphy Anderson PLLC—who has been practicing law in Virginia for 23 years. I have spent my entire career practicing on behalf of Virginia workers, and a large percent of my work is representing Virginia whistleblowers. HB 1344 provides modest, necessary amendments to Virginia's whistleblower and non-disclosure laws. The sum result of these fixes is that employees will more freely be able to disclose illegal activity in the workplace. In other words, if an employer is engaged in potentially illegal activity, the bill makes it especially clear that the public policy of Virginia is that employees should not be retaliated against for disclosure of such activity. This bill does nothing to impede the ability of employers to have and enforce non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) about trade secrets. I note that due to a decision of the National Labor Relations Board in 2023, federal law matches many of the protections that this bill seeks to codify. Specifically, federal law currently prohibits NDAs for most employees. And, the changes to Virginia's whistleblower law match the whistleblower provisions in many federal and state statutes. Since the National Labor Relations Board decision, settlement agreements have not been more difficult to attain. In fact, it has become easier to settle these cases, as practitioners understand that NDAs seeking to hide illegal activity are preemptively illegal. This means there is less to negotiate and the settlement process is more efficient. HB 1344 is important to pass notwithstanding the protections in federal law, as many of these matters are litigated in Virginia state courts, which are more accessible to workers and provide more efficient resolution for both workers and employers. This bill will provide a stable and clear foundation to ensure that Virginia whistleblowers are protected from retaliation for reporting illegal employer practices. Best, Mark Hanna Murphy Anderson PLLC mhanna@murphypllc.com