Rules committee adopts amendment clarifying 'shall' creates mandatory duty (HB 1299)

The Rules Committee adopted an amendment to House Bill 1299 intended to clarify that when the General Assembly uses the word "shall" in statute it denotes a mandatory duty unless the statute specifies otherwise.

Delegate Delaney, who offered the amendment, said the bill "creates clarity surrounding the legal meaning of the word shall," and that the change aims to reaffirm the General Assembly’s intent when it uses mandatory language. Delaney told the committee the amendment also adds two enactment clauses: one stating that the first enactment of the act would not become effective unless reenacted by the 2027 session; a second directing the Virginia Code Commission to review how the act would affect the Code of Virginia and to report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by Dec. 1, 2026.

Committee members asked how the Code Commission would approach a mandated review and what would happen if the commission did not complete the work; one questioner noted the amendment uses the word "shall." A staff member from the Division of Legislative Services (DLS) explained that in DLS drafting practice "we use shall for things that are required and may for things that are optional," and described the likely approach: reviewing instances of "shall" where court opinions have altered the effect of statute and proceeding from there.

The committee adopted the amendment by voice vote and then moved to report HB 1299 as amended. The clerk recorded the vote as 14 in favor, 0 opposed; the chair announced the bill as passed by the committee and that it will appear again with the adopted amendments.

What’s next: Because the amendment includes an enactment condition tied to reenactment in 2027 and directs the Virginia Code Commission to report by Dec. 1, 2026, further legislative action is tied to future sessions and to that statutory review.

Provenance: Topic introduced at SEG 204 and concluded at SEG 344.