General Laws subcommittees advance 30+ bills; delegate seeks ABC stickers with human-trafficking hotline

Delegate K. Price sought immediate, practical action on a bill that she said had strong intent but was not workable in its current form, asking the committee to pursue a nonlegislative fix with the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control authority.

Price, identified herself as a member who had heard House Bill 2589 in the Housing and Consumer Protection subcommittee and described testimony from a human-trafficking survivor. She said the bill as drafted was “not workable in any way, shape, or form” but that she and subcommittee leadership had arranged to ask ABC to produce stickers carrying the national human-trafficking hotline and distribute them to licensees to reach the law’s intended beneficiaries. “It is really important that we bring forth good bills, not just good ideas,” Delegate Price said.

The bulk of the meeting was routine committee business: subcommittee chairs presented substitutes, amendments and committee recommendations and the clerk recorded roll calls. Several bills of note were advanced with unanimous support; others passed on narrower margins. The session included a referral to appropriations for a bill that would establish the Virginia Gaming Commission as an independent agency and multiple procurement, FOIA and housing-related bills that the committees recommended for further action.

Votes at a glance (committee action and final roll-call/reporting result as recorded in the committee record):

- HB 2589 — human-trafficking outreach (discussion only): Delegate Price reported she will work with ABC and stakeholders to produce hotline stickers; no committee roll call on the bill was recorded during this session.

- HB 2166 — substitute (gaming revenue/breakage): reported with substitute, 22–0.

- HB 2493 — raises minimum age to 21 for charitable Texas Hold’em and fantasy sports participation: reported, 20–0.

- HB 2498 — establishes Virginia Gaming Commission as independent agency (Virginia Gaming Commission bill): reported with substitute and re-referred to Appropriations, 20–0.

- HB 1802 (patron: Elliot Cohen) — Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity / employment services organizations: reported with substitute, 13–7.

- HB 1922 (patron: Delegate Ward) — SWaM procurement enhancement program (small, women-, minority-owned business goals): reported, 11–9.

- HB 2024 (patron: Delegate Seabolt) — Virginia Procurement Act: environmental/product safety standards for solar PV materials: reported with substitute, 15–6.

- HB 2150 — public procurement contract terms; requires Virginia law to govern certain contracts: initial report recorded with amendments; following a motion to reconsider the committee later recorded the bill as reported with amendments, 20–0.

- HB 2482 — Public Procurement Act: competitive sealed bidding criteria; apprenticeship hours requirement for certain construction projects: reported with substitute, 11–9.

- HB 2502 (patron: Delegate Wiley) — FOIA exclusion for Department of Workforce Development and Advancement: reported with substitute, 20–0.

- HB 2751 (patron: Delia Fagan) — Public Procurement Act: prohibition on discrimination concerning military-spouse–owned businesses: reported with substitute, 20–0.

Housing and consumer protection subcommittee highlights (selected bills advanced):

- HB 1684 (Delegate Sewell) — requires written brokerage agreements in certain buyer showings: reported with substitute, 20–0.

- HB 1872 — landlord actions and dismissed/expunged detainer cases (amendment narrowed scope to landlords owning more than four units): reported with amendments, 11–9.

- HB 1973 (Delegate Bennett Parker) — local right of first refusal to preserve publicly supported affordable housing for at least 15 years: reported with substitute, 12–9.

- HB 2153 (Vice Chair Carr) — local strategies to encourage affordable housing development on tax-exempt nonprofit-owned property: reported with substitute (committee record: “17 to 14 to 7 with substitute” as entered in the committee roll record).

- HB 2163 — modifications to the enterprise zone program, new grant tiers, and other technical updates: reported with substitute, 21–0.

- HB 2210 — increases experience requirement for certain real estate board members from five to 10 years: reported, 21–0.

- HB 2229 — tenant-escrow changes during eviction proceedings (amended): reported with amendments, 20–1.

- HB 2750 (incorporation of HB 2292/HB 2750) — common-interest community management-contract termination and transfer of books and records (substitute adopted): reported with substitute, 21–0.

- HB 2642 — prohibits sale of unsafe or counterfeit lighters: reported, 21–0.

Professions, occupations and administrative processes subcommittee (selected actions and block votes):

- HB 1610 — seven-year statute of limitations for state collection of past-due accounts receivable: reported with amendments, 12–9.

- HB 1611 (incorporating HB 2572) — statewide direct-experience recruitment policy (DHRM); limits the use of postsecondary degree requirements unless justified; committee substitute reported, 21–0.

- HB 1835 (Delegate Wiley) — licensure for professional geologists (changes from certification to licensure; penalty for unlicensed practice): reported with substitute, 19–2.

- HB 2195 (renaming board and adding mold inspection/remediation licensing; includes emergency clause and direction for emergency regulations): reported with committee substitute, 21–0.

- HB 2779 — establishes Office of New American advisory board and expands membership (incorporated HB 2280): reported with substitute, 21–0.

- Blocked bills advanced by unanimous or near-unanimous votes included HB 2503 (state plane coordinate system update / international foot), HB 2553 (Board for Professional and Occupational Regulation review duties), HB 2557, HB 2573, HB 2680 (ear piercing licensure and definitions), HB 2695, HB 2736 and others; the committee reported the block 21–0. One bill pulled from the block, HB 2669, was reported with amendments, 18–2 with 1 abstention.

Meeting end and next steps

The committee adjourned after completing the agenda and recording roll calls. Several bills that advanced with substitutes were re-referred to the Appropriations Committee or otherwise moved forward to the next legislative steps per committee rules.

Ending: The clerk closed the roll on the final items and the chair adjourned the session late in the evening.