Senate committee adopts substitutes, reports multiple bills and carries several over after subcommittee reviews
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Summary
The Senate Finance committee received subcommittee reports on Feb. 5, 2026, adopted committee substitutes on numerous bills (including measures on firearm violence intervention, land conservation, energy programs, and health care) and voted to carry several bills over for further review.
The Senate Finance committee met Feb. 5, 2026, to hear Resources and Health and Human Resources subcommittee reports and took action on a broad slate of bills, adopting committee substitutes on many measures and reporting several to the full Senate while carrying others over for additional review.
The committee adopted a substitute for SB 364, a bill introduced as Senator Carol Foy’s proposal to create a Virginia Center for Firearm Violence Intervention and Prevention, but the substitute assigns the proposed duties to the Office of Safer Communities and delays the effective date to July 1, 2027. Speaker 3, who presented the Resources subcommittee report, summarized the change: “The first bill is senate bill 364… the duties would be performed by the Office of Safer Communities and it would have a delayed effective date of 07/01/2027.” The committee reported the substitute to the full Senate (electronic roll: Eyes 10, Noes 4).
The committee also considered a bill on microchip and semiconductor manufacturing and supply-chain tax credits that had not completed the MEI (fiscal-impact) process; the subcommittee recommended carrying the measure over and the committee voted to carry the bill over for further review (electronic roll: Eyes 14, No 0). Similarly, SB 465, a data-center sales-and-use tax exemption, was passed by for the day on the subcommittee’s unanimous recommendation.
On environmental policy, the committee adopted a committee substitute for SB 519 (Sen. Deeds) directing the Department of Conservation and Recreation to produce a plan examining costs tied to land-conservation goals; after discussion about whether the substitute shifted the proposal from a mandate to a review, the full committee reported the bill as amended (electronic roll: Eyes 15, No 0). Senator McDougall said she moved from abstaining to supporting the substitute after hearing that the change reframed the measure as a cost and implementation review rather than an immediate mandate.
Several health and safety measures were acted on. The panel adopted a substitute for SB 308 (Pekarski) instructing the Department of Health to create a strategic plan addressing opioid overdose and deaths, funded by core funds, and reported the substituted bill (electronic roll: Eyes 15, No 0). The committee also reported SB 536 (medical malpractice prejudgment-interest limits) after adopting a patron amendment that reduced the state fiscal impact (Eyes 15, No 0).
Legislative process actions included incorporating Senator McPike’s SB 434 into Senator Perry’s SB 398; the combined substitute for SB 398 added auditing requirements, allowed the Workers’ Compensation Commission to recover costs from the fund, and removed the state as fiduciary; the substitute was adopted and reported (Eyes 15, No 0).
Tax and fiscal items were often carried over for additional review. Speaker 3 noted SB 933 (Rome) on bank franchise tax and tangible personal property for data centers raised double-taxation concerns and was carried over for interim staff review (subcommittee recommendation 4–0). SB 702 (individual income tax bracket indexing and exemptions) was referred to the tax-policy group for further work and carried over (full committee vote where recorded: Eyes 10, No 5).
On process and clarifications, the committee debated SB 224 (Sarville) — a whistleblower award program for tax underpayment detection — where a committee substitute removed the whistleblower’s right to appeal award amounts to the courts while preserving taxpayer appeal rights. Committee members sought and received clarification that the removed appeal right applied to whistleblowers, not taxpayers; the substitute was adopted and reported (electronic roll: Eyes 13, No 0, with two abstentions recorded).
The Health and Human Resources subcommittee reported on SB 790 (McDougall), which would remove prohibitions that allowed insurers to require prior authorization or step therapy for medications to treat menopause and perimenopause; the subcommittee recommended and the committee reported the substitute (subcommittee vote 5–0; full committee roll Eyes 15, No 0).
Votes at a glance (selected items recorded by electronic roll): SB 364 (substitute) — reported (Eyes 10, No 4); microchip/semiconductor credits — carried over (Eyes 14, No 0); SB 519 (substitute) — reported (Eyes 15, No 0); SB 308 (substitute) — reported (Eyes 15, No 0); SB 536 (amendment adopted) — reported (Eyes 15, No 0); SB 398 (substitute, SB 434 incorporated) — reported (Eyes 15, No 0); SB 224 (substitute) — reported (Eyes 13, No 0, 2 abstentions); SB 225 (Clean Energy Innovation Bank substitute) — reported (Eyes 15, No 0); SB 745 (in-network referral restrictions) — reported (Eyes 15, No 0). Several bills were passed by for the day or carried over for interim staff review, as described above.
Meeting participants repeatedly noted the difference between subcommittee recommendations (typically reported as the subcommittee vote) and the full committee electronic roll call results recorded during this session. Speaker 3 closed the Resources subcommittee report and Speaker 8 presented the Health and Human Resources subcommittee action before the meeting concluded.
What’s next: reported bills will proceed to further Senate action per chamber rules; items carried over will receive additional staff review or be considered in specialized working groups (for example, tax-policy review). The committee adjourned after the HHR subcommittee report.
