Virginia House adopts, rejects dozens of Senate amendments; names conferees for multiple bills

RICHMOND — On Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, the Virginia House of Delegates met in supplemental session at the State Capitol to take up more than three dozen pieces of legislation returned from the Senate. Members accepted some Senate substitutes, rejected others and appointed House conferees so bills could move to conference committees ahead of the chamber’s deadline.

The supplemental calendar matters because the decisions determine which bills go to conference for final negotiations and which will be returned to their patrons for further work or effectively stalled. The House recorded roll-call tallies on many items and announced conferee appointments for both House and Senate companion measures.

House leaders said the chamber was working to finish conference appointments before tonight’s procedural deadline. Clerk announcements and a series of motions governed the flow of the long supplemental calendar; many of the measures were handled in quick succession with brief floor statements from the bills’ patrons and floor managers.

Several bills with policy significance were adopted with Senate amendments. For example, House Bill 20 50, establishing a PFAS reduction program for the Occoquan Reservoir region, was adopted with Senate technical amendments reflecting Department of Environmental Quality recommendations. Delegate Elliot Sullivan, speaking for the bill, said the amendments were technical and urged acceptance. The House approved the measure, recorded as "substitute adopted," by a vote of 95-0.

The House also accepted a Senate substitute with amendments for House Bill 20 87, on electric utilities and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Delegate Tran described changes that expand utility assistance for gas stations entering the electric refueling market, require utilities to propose fair rate designs and add a sunset of July 1, 2030; the House adopted that substitute 60-36.

Privacy and public-safety measures also advanced. A bill regulating law-enforcement use of automatic license plate readers — reducing data-retention periods, restricting routine sharing with other states or the federal government absent a warrant, and requiring searchable audits and logging — was taken up and its Senate substitute was adopted 71-24. Delegate Herring, who moved acceptance on the floor, said the bill imposes limits and monitoring where none existed.

Other measures were rejected and sent toward conference. Several bills were returned by the Senate as study bills or with other substantive changes the House did not accept; where the House rejected the Senate substitute the motion typically directs the bill to conference. The record shows numerous rejections (many by wide margins) on matters that the Senate had substantially rewritten, leaving negotiations to conferees.

On appointments, Speaker-designated conferees were announced for a long list of bills and their Senate companions. The clerk read an extended list of House conferees for dozens of bills, from higher-education and workforce measures to public-safety, environmental and procurement matters, so the two chambers can meet to resolve differences before final passage or failure.

Votes at a glance (selected items from the supplemental calendar)

- House Bill 15 95 — Virginia National Guard tuition assistance program: Senate substitute rejected; recorded vote Ayes 1, Noes 95 (senate substitute rejected). - House Bill 16 10 — State debt collection/statute of limitations study substitute: senate substitute rejected; recorded vote Ayes 0, Noes 96. - House Bill 16 26 — Training requirements for public K–12 teachers: senate substitute rejected; recorded vote Ayes 0, Noes 96. - House Bill 16 27 — Discovery; criminal-record responsibility (commonwealth’s attorney): senate substitute accepted; recorded vote Ayes 96, Noes 0. - House Bill 16 30 — Discovery by electronic means: senate substitute adopted; recorded vote Ayes 87, Noes 6. - House Bill 17 00 (1700) — Bleeding-control kits and school-board implementation: senate substitute adopted; recorded vote Aye 77, Noes 19. - House Bill 17 60 — Work group on early-childhood mental-health screening: Senate amendment adopted (Ayes 64, Noes 31). - House Bill 17 82 — Newborn screening rulemaking: senate substitute rejected; recorded vote Ayes 0, Noes 94. - House Bill 17 96 — Private and out-of-state institutions; State Council of Higher Education study: Senate amendments adopted; recorded vote Ayes 85, Noes 10. - House Bill 18 68 — Real-property tax exemption for surviving spouses (added language on deaths by suicide line-of-duty determinations): Senate substitute adopted; recorded vote Ayes 95, Noes 0. - House Bill 19 19 — Workplace violence policy for certain employers: Senate amendment adopted; recorded vote Ayes 51, Noes 45. - House Bill 19 29 — Pregnancy mobile app; transfer to Department of Medical Assistance Services, restrict scope to Medicaid enrollees, implementation tied to the budget: Senate substitute adopted; recorded vote Ayes 83, Noes 13. - House Bill 19 35 — Income-qualified energy-efficiency task force: Senate amendment adopted (Ayes 60, Noes 35). - House Bill 19 57 — Standards of Learning (Board of Education/SOL) technical changes: Senate substitute adopted; recorded vote Ayes 59, Noes 37. - House Bill 19 95 — State Council of Higher Education study substitute rejected; recorded vote Ayes 0, Noes 96 (senate substitute rejected). - House Bill 20 39 — Encrypted telecommunications and statewide standards: Senate amendment adopted; recorded vote Ayes 61, Noes 35. - House Bill 20 50 — Occoquan Reservoir PFAS reduction program: Senate substitute adopted; recorded vote Ayes 95, Noes 0. - House Bill 20 71 — Department of Veterans Services identification of incarcerated veterans: senate substitute rejected; recorded vote Ayes 1, Noes 95. - House Bill 20 87 — Electric utilities/electric vehicle charging (transportation electrification): Senate substitute with amendments adopted; recorded vote Ayes 60, Noes 36. - House Bill 20 98 — Labor and employment protections; effective-date change to 7/1/2026: Senate amendment adopted; recorded vote Ayes 51, Noes 44. - House Bill 21 13 — Solar interconnection program changes: Senate amendment adopted; recorded vote Ayes 65, Noes 31. - House Bill 21 34 — Definitions for Virginia-recognized tribes and sovereignty language: Senate substitute adopted; recorded vote Ayes 96, Noes 0. - House Bill 21 98 — Pediatric extended-care centers; Senate substitute (study) rejected; recorded vote Ayes 0, Noes 96. - House Bill 22 76 — Voter-registration list maintenance; Senate substitute rejected; recorded vote Ayes 0, Noes 96. - House Bill 22 78 — Local school accessibility review; Senate substitute rejected; recorded vote Ayes 0, Noes 95. - House Bill 23 22 — Appointment of counsel in certain felony cases; Senate substitute rejected; recorded vote Ayes 0, Noes 96. - House Bill 24 26 — DEQ permitting-by-rule for small renewable projects; Senate amendment adopted; recorded vote Ayes 89, Noes 6. - House Bill 24 58 — Vehicles used for agricultural purposes/lighting rules: Senate amendments adopted; recorded vote Ayes 92, Noes 3. - House Bill 24 66 — Hampton Roads transportation fund language change (sales & use tax stricken from title): Senate amendment adopted; recorded vote Ayes 56, Noes 39. - House Bill 24 82 — Virginia Public Procurement Act; public-works contract requirements (Senate amendment puts bill in posture with companion SB 962): Senate amendment adopted; recorded vote Ayes 51, Noes 44. - House Bill 25 20 — Military forces sexual-offense prevention changes: Senate substitute rejected; recorded vote Ayes 0, Noes 95. - House Bill 25 37 — Energy storage, model ordinances: Senate substitute adopted; recorded vote Ayes 56, Noes 40. - House Bill 25 39 — Dental care expansion for pregnant women (DMAS state plan provisions): Senate amendment adopted; recorded vote Ayes 95, Noes 1. - House Bill 25 41 — Information Technology Access Act (digital accessibility) technical amendments: Senate amendment adopted; recorded vote Ayes 96, Noes 0. - House Bill 25 50 — Noise-abatement monitoring systems: Senate substitute rejected; recorded vote Ayes 0, Noes 96. - House Bill 25 94 — Standards and training for private nonprofit security at certain institutions: Senate substitute rejected; recorded vote Ayes 0, Noes 96. - House Bill 27 20 — Student-transportation flexibility for some local divisions: Senate substitute adopted; recorded vote Ayes 96, Noes 0. - House Bill 02/2024 (automatic license plate readers rule/retention limits): Senate substitute adopted; recorded vote Ayes 71, Noes 24. - House Bill 2 777 — Textbooks and high-quality instructional materials: Senate substitute rejected; recorded vote Ayes 1, Noes 95. - House Joint Resolution 443 — Study of consolidation/scheduling of general elections (DLS technical fixes requested): Senate substitute rejected; recorded vote Ayes 0, Noes 95. - House Joint Resolution 497 — Joint commission on retail cannabis transition (technical clarification of administrative staff): Senate amendment adopted; recorded vote Ayes 50, Noes 45.

The clerk and speaker also read a comprehensive list of House conferees for dozens of bills; those appointments will allow negotiation with Senate conferees on the companion measures. The clerk said the conferee lists will appear in the House journal and be available online.

The House recessed and will reconvene tomorrow at 11 a.m., with conferees expected to begin negotiating differences between chambers this evening and overnight.