Virginia House advances wide slate of bills, adopts conference reports and Senate amendments

RICHMOND — The Virginia House of Delegates spent a multi-hour floor session on a block of House bills carrying Senate amendments or substitutes across a range of policy areas, adopting many changes and approving three conference reports that affect flood preparedness, records access and transportation borrowing authority.

Most of the chamber’s action was procedural: sponsors explained Senate changes to their bills and asked the House to accept or reject those amendments. The House agreed to amendments on measures addressing energy and utilities, student discipline and graduation requirements, school safety and accountability measures, and criminal justice topics. Members also approved a high-dollar transportation revenue bond measure in conference and adopted a conference report that expands eligibility for a flood-preparedness grant fund to include federally and state-recognized tribes.

Why it matters: The session packaged many technical and policy changes that will affect state agencies’ rulemaking and local implementation — from guidance for utilities and school divisions to statutory clarifications for public-safety and civil-procedural rules. Passage of the Commonwealth Transportation conference report clears the way for the Commonwealth Transportation Board to issue revenue bonds to fund special-structure repairs and replacements.

The House accepted Senate amendments or substitutes on a large number of bills; some substitutes were rejected when members preferred to send the bills to conference with the Senate. Several measures drew little floor debate and were decided by roll-call tallies; others were held for further negotiation.

Votes at a glance (bill — subject — House action — recorded tally if provided)

- House Bill 18 21 — Electric utilities / renewable energy buyers & storage — Senate amendments agreed to — Ayes 52, Noes 46.

- House Bill 18 24 — High school graduation substitutions for African American history/AP African American studies — Senate amendments adopted — Ayes 52, Noes 46.

- House Bill 18 83 — Renewable portfolio standard / power purchase agreements — Senate amendments adopted — Ayes 58, Noes 39.

- House Bill 18 88 — Immunity for persons making certain statements in proceedings (technical amendments) — Senate amendments adopted / bill passed — Ayes 55, Noes 42.

- House Bill 19 15 — Notice and due-process for public school teachers (substitute) — Senate substitute adopted — Ayes 51, Noes 47.

- House Bill 19 1942 — Regulation of money transmitters (State Corporation Commission changes; delayed enactment clause) — Senate substitute adopted — Ayes 89, Noes 9.

- House Bill 19 61 — Student discipline; cell phone/smart device policies in schools — Senate substitute adopted — Ayes 75, Noes 22.

- House Bill 19 89 (medical cannabis technical updates) — Senate substitute adopted — Ayes 84, Noes 14.

- House Bill 2,036 — Reckless driving / exhibition driving / street takeovers (enhanced penalties) — Senate substitute adopted / bill passed — Ayes 92, Noes 5.

- House Bill 20 84 — State Corporation Commission review of certain customer classifications (conforming language) — Senate substitute rejected — Ayes 4, Noes 94 (substitute rejected; bill to go to conference).

- House Bill 2,090 — Multifamily shared solar program/minimum bill (clarifications and SCC guidance) — Senate substitute agreed to — Ayes 51, Noes 44.

- House Bill 2,094 — High-risk artificial intelligence (definitions, consumer tools, link to VA Data Protection Act) — Senate substitute adopted — Ayes 52, Noes 46.

- House Bill 21 17 — Protections for reporting sexual or domestic violence (technical amendments) — Senate amendment adopted — Ayes recorded as adopted (roll shows overwhelming support).

- House Bill 21 23 — Protective orders; maximum time valid (juvenile and domestic relations cases) — Senate substitute agreed to — Ayes 97, Noes 0.

- House Bill 21 36 — Office of the Public Utility Ombudsman; delay of effective date — Senate amendment adopted — Ayes 56, Noes 42.

- House Bill 21 77 — Use of unmanned aircraft systems by public bodies (clarifying law enforcement authority; investigation of unauthorized drone use near critical sites) — Senate amendment adopted — Ayes 97, Noes 0.

- House Bill 22 40 (hunger-free campus / campus food pantry grants) — Senate substitute adopted (funded as grants as appropriated) — Ayes 74, Noes 24.

- House Bill 22 41 / HB 22 41‑style measures — (public housing unlawful detainer protections; posting rent-calculation info) — Senate substitute adopted — Ayes 54, Noes 44.

- House Bill 24 41 — Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center security officers / firearms eligibility — Senate amendment adopted — Ayes 98, Noes 0.

- House Bill 24 62 / 24 69 (overtime/domestic workers; carve-outs) — Senate amendment adopted for carve-outs to eliminate fiscal impact — Ayes 50, Noes 46.

- House Bill 24 76 — Public officers’ vacancy substitution (Boyd-Graves Conference recommendation; clarifying language) — Senate amendment adopted — Ayes 92, Noes 1.

- House Bill 25 46 — Access to certain electronic-communications records for imminent-threat responses to schools (clarifying subscriber data) — Senate amendment adopted — Ayes 97, Noes 0.

- House Bill 25 65 — Subpoena Duces Tecum modification / related rules — Senate substitute rejected — Ayes 0, Noes 98.

- House Bill 25 99 — Designation of cases in the Twelfth Judicial District (memorandum of understanding requirement for certain localities) — Senate amendment adopted — Ayes 96, Noes 1.

- House Bill 26 18 — Indoor air quality inspections and evaluations for public school buildings (conforming to Senate bill text) — Senate substitute adopted — Ayes 57, Noes 40.

- House Bill 26 21 / HB 26 21‑style utilities / annual rate review proposals — Several Senate substitutes were rejected where members sought conference (results varied; some substitutes were rejected to send measures to conference).

- House Bill 27 118 — Photo speed monitoring in school crossing zones (activation evidence documentation options) — Senate amendment adopted — Ayes 95, Noes 2.

- House Bill 27 23 — Criminal-records expungement/sealing (Senate reenactment/data timing issues) — Senate substitute rejected — Ayes 0, Noes 97; sponsors sought conference.

- House Bill 27 38 — Mental-health/substance-abuse coverage standard updates (technical/definitional changes at sponsor request) — Senate amendments adopted — Ayes 83, Noes 15.

Key conference reports adopted

- Conference report, House Bill 2,077 — Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund: expands eligibility to federally and state‑recognized tribes — conference report adopted — Ayes 91, Noes 7.

- Conference report, Senate Bill 846 — Access to minors’ records stored on secure websites (technical changes; reenactment clause removed) — conference report adopted — Ayes 98, Noes 0.

- Conference report, Senate Bill 1082 — Commonwealth Transportation Special Structures Program Revenue Bond Act of 2025: authorizes up to $1,000,000,000 in revenue bonds for VDOT special structures — conference report adopted — Ayes 95, Noes 1.

What did not happen or remains unsettled: Several Senate substitutes were explicitly rejected so the measures can go to conference committee (for example, HB 20 84, HB 26 21‑series, and several others). A handful of items were held or moved for reconsideration earlier in the day and will require additional floor action once Senate-conference results are exchanged between the chambers.

Ending: The House recessed to reconvene later in the day to receive Senate conference replies and to take up page‑resolution ceremonies; members were reminded that conference deadlines were imminent and that outstanding matters remained subject to conference negotiations.