House Labor and Commerce Subcommittee #2_January 29, 2026

The House Labor and Commerce Subcommittee #2 met in the Virginia General Assembly on Thursday, January 29, 2026. This week's docket includes 16 pieces of proposed legislation. 

To view this week's House Labor and Commerce full committee, click here.

Please note that Delegate Tran's collective bargaining bill was passed by for the day. 

Below you will find the bills heard in this week's subcommittee hearing. 

 

HB1263 (Delegate Tran) Public employees; repeals existing prohibition on collective bargaining, etc.

Repeals the existing prohibition on collective bargaining by public employees. The bill creates the Public Employee Relations Board, which shall determine appropriate bargaining units and provide for certification and decertification elections for exclusive bargaining representatives of state employees and local government employees.  

Passed by for the day. 

 

HB1207 (Delegate Sewell) Paid family and medical leave insurance program; notice requirements; civil action.

 Requires the Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer a paid family and medical leave insurance program with benefits beginning January 1, 2029.  The bill provides that the amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee's average weekly wage. The bill caps the duration of paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year and provides self-employed individuals the option of participating in the program. 

 #2 subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute and referring to Appropriations (5‑Y 2‑N)

 

HB923 (Delegate Lopez) Protection of employees; stay or pay contracts prohibited; civil penalty. 

Prohibits an employer from entering into, enforcing, or threatening to enforce a stay or pay contract, as defined in the bill, with any employee, with certain exceptions described. The bill allows an employee to bring a civil action against an employer or other person that attempts to enforce a stay or pay contract. 

#2 subcommittee  recommends reporting with amendment(s) (6‑Y 1‑N). Amendment can be viewed here.

 

HB338 (Delegate Lopez) Building service employees; transition period.

Permits any locality to provide, by ordinance or resolution, for certain requirements concerning successor building service employers, which includes food service employees in public elementary and secondary schools. 

#2 subcommittee  recommends reporting with substitute (5‑Y 2‑N). Substitute can be viewed here.

 

The House Labor and Commerce Subcommittee #2 meets weekly during the session on Thursday, Immediately after Full Committee, House Committee Room A - 008, General Assembly Building. A link to the Live Stream video and recordings of all previously held committee meetings and floor sessions of the House can be viewed by clicking here. 

 

Sofhia Pineda

VSBA Government Relations Specialist

 

Senate Committee on Education and Health_January 29, 2026

The full Senate Committee on Education and Health met during session of the Virginia General Assembly on Thursday, January 29, 2026. This week's docket includes 42 pieces of proposed legislation impacting K-12 education. 

To view this week's Senate Education and Health Subcommittee on Public Education, click here. 

Below you will find a set of highlighted bills heard in this week's subcommittee hearing. 

  

SB33 (Senator Favola) Programs for at-risk students; permissible uses of funding.
Includes as covered programs that are eligible for funding under the At-Risk Program initiatives to support both the physical and mental health of students in public schools, including the hiring of registered nurses and advanced practice registered nurses.  

Reported from Education and Health and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N) 

 

SB63 (Senator Salim) Graduation with an advanced studies diploma; requirements, complet. of Int'l Baccalaureate diploma.

Requires the Board of Education to permit any student who is simultaneously pursuing an advanced studies diploma and an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma to complete certain courses or sequences of courses required for an IB diploma. 

Reported from Education and Health with substitute (12-Y 2-N) 

 

SB90 (Senator Favola) Equity in public school funding and staffing; at-risk Program established, standards of quality.

The bill establishes an At-Risk Program for the purpose of supporting programs and services for students who are educationally at-risk by providing state-funded dollars as an add-on the existing At-Risk funds. 

Reported from Education and Health with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N)

 

SB234 (Senator Head) Student discipline and codes of student conduct; anti-bullying policies and procedures. 

The bill expands requirements relating to parental responsibilities and involvement in preventing and addressing incidents of bullying. It expands requirement for school boards to provide annual training on bullying prevention and intervention for students and parents and workshops for parents and educators. 

Passed by indefinitely in S-Education and Health committee (9‑Y 6‑N) 

 

SB265 (Senator Stanley) Elementary and secondary schools or higher educational institutions; bullying and cyberbullying.

This bill makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to commit an act of aggravated bullying or aggravated cyberbullying. The bill also requires administrator of each to address such incidents, discipline the student guilty thereof, and report such incidents to local law enforcement. It also requires the division superintendent and the principal to report such incidents to law enforcement. 

Rereferred from Education and Health to Courts of Justice (15-Y 0-N)

 

SB341 (Senator Boysko) Private elementary and secondary schools; policies relating to bullying and cyberbullying, etc.

This bill requires private elementary and secondary schools to develop policies currently mandated for public elementary and secondary schools. 

Reported from S-Education and Health committee (14‑Y 0‑N 1‑A) 

 

SB427 (Senator Bagby) High school graduation requirements; history and social studies credits. 

Requires the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to permit any student to substitute the African American History course or the Advanced Placement African American Studies course for the World History I course or the World Geography course for the purpose of satisfying the history and social studies credit requirements. 

Reported from Education and Health with amendment (12-Y 2-N)

 

SB450 (Senator Bagby) Public school teacher licensure requirement; comprehensive review of alt. licensure pathway, report. 

Directs the Department of Education (the Department) to convene a stakeholder work group to conduct a comprehensive review of the alternative licensure pathways and make recommendations on improving the quality, efficacy, and outcomes of such alternative licensure pathways.

Reported from Education and Health with amendment (15-Y 0-N)

 

SB491 (Senator Pekarsky) Public schools; right to free public elementary and secondary education, discrimination, etc. 

Prohibits any child in the Commonwealth from being denied a free public education through secondary school on the basis of the actual or perceived immigration or citizenship status of the child or the child's parents, in accordance with the Constitution of Virginia and consistent with the requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. 

Reported from Education and Health (Fiscal impact can be viewed here)

 

SB685 (Senator Pekarsky) Standards of Quality; school board policies; communication and language accessibility for limited English proficient parents; requirements; report.

Requires each school board to develop, implement, and post in a publicly accessible location on its website a language access plan consisting of policies and procedures designed to ensure meaningful communication with and informational accessibility for limited English proficient (LEP) parents. 

Reported from Education and Health with amendments and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N 1-A) 

 

The Senate Education and Health full committee meets weekly during the session on Thursday, 8:30 a.m., Senate Room A, General Assembly Building. A link to the Live Stream video and recordings of all previously held committee meetings and floor sessions of the Senate can be viewed by clicking here. 

 

Sofhia Pineda

VSBA Government Relations Specialist

House General Laws Subcommittee on Procurement/Open Government_Tuesday, January 27, 2026

The House General Laws subcommittee on Procurement/Open Government met on Tuesday, January 27, 2026. This week's docket includes a few pieces of proposed legislation impacting K-12 education, with 2 bills dealing with FOIA. 

 

To view this week's House General Laws subcommittee click here.

The bills listed below reported out of full committee in the uncontested block. 

HB313 (Delegate Wachsmann) Virginia FOIA; public records to be open to inspection, non-citizen property owners.

Includes non-citizens owning property within the Commonwealth among the list of persons to whom all public records shall be open under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. 

Tabled and forwarded to the FOIA Council for more information. 

HB463 (Delegate Cohen) Virginia Freedom of Information Act; definitions, meetings, quorum and electronic communication.

Amends the definition of "meeting" for purposes of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act such that any assemblage of a quorum of the constituent membership of a public body constitutes a meeting. Under current law, as many as three members or a quorum, if less than three, of the constituent membership of a public body constitutes a meeting. The bill additionally authorizes members of a public body participating through electronic communication in a meeting in which other members are participating in person to count toward the quorum as if the individual were physically present, should such member's physical absence be due to an approved cause of absence. 

Continued to 2027 with a letter to the FOIA Council. Passed unanimously on a voice vote. 

 

The House General Laws subcommittee on Procurement/Open Government meets weekly during the session on Tuesdays, 15 min after the adjournment of General Laws - ABC/Gaming Subcommittee, on House Committee Room B - 205, General Assembly Building. A link to the Live Stream video and recordings of all previously held committee meetings and floor sessions of the House can be viewed by clicking here. 

 

Sofhia Pineda

VSBA Government Relations Specialist

House Rules Full Committee_Tuesday, January 27, 2026

The House Rules full committee met on Tuesday, January 27, 2026. This week's docket includes a few pieces of proposed legislation impacting K-12 education, with 2 bills for school construction and modernization on the uncontested calendar. 

To view this week's House Rules full committee click here.

The bills listed below reported out of full committee on the uncontested block: 

HB264 (Delegate Simonds) School Construction and Modernization, Commission on; extends sunset date.

Extends from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2029, the sunset date for the Commission on School Construction and Modernization. 

HB544 (Delegate Askew) School Construction and Modernization, Commission on; revisions, elimination of sunset. 

 Eliminates the expiration date of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization, which, pursuant to current law, is set to expire on July 1, 2026. The bill also directs the Commission to follow a set of requirements. 

 

The House Rules meets weekly during the session on Tuesdays, immediately upon adjournment of the House, on House Appropriations Committee Room - 1200, General Assembly Building. A link to the Live Stream video and recordings of all previously held committee meetings and floor sessions of the House can be viewed by clicking here. 

Sofhia Pineda

VSBA Government Relations Specialist

House Education Subcommittee on K-12_Tuesday, January 27, 2026

The House Education Subcommittee on K-12 met on Tuesday, January 27, 2026. This week's docket includes 21 pieces of proposed legislation impacting K-12 education, with 3 bills being passed by for the day: HB478 (Watts), HB195 (McQuinn), HB873 (Kent)

To view this week's House Education Subcommittee on K-12 click here.

Below you will find a few of the bills heard in this week's subcommittee hearing. 

HB138 (Delegate Simonds) Public high schools; career coach required. 

Requires each school board to employ at least one career coach in each public high school in the local school division to assist students with securing internships, externships, credentialing opportunities, information on apprenticeship programs, and connecting students to career opportunities. The bill also provides that each such individual shall be employed in addition to and not as a replacement for the required school counselor positions, specialized student support positions, or support services positions.

K‑12  subcommittee recommends reporting and referring to Appropriations

HB139 (Delegate Simonds) School board policies; unpaid educational leave for certain employee association officers.

Requires each school board to adopt a policy to approve unpaid educational leave for school board employees who are state employee association officers and for at least two school board employees who are local employee association officers for a maximum of four years per officer. The bill permits employee association officers approved for such leave to purchase service credit with the Virginia Retirement System for such period of leave. 

Our VSBA Chief Lobbyist raised concerns about the mandate requiring leave to be granted to any state or local association officers. With collective bargaining forthcoming, this mandate could result in significant financial implications and further strain an already existing teacher shortage by requiring leave for officers of any union. VSBA would support the bill with an amendment changing the language from “shall adopt a policy” to “may adopt a policy,” thereby preserving local authority. While VSBA supports the VRS service credit provision of the bill, it does not support the mandated leave requirement. 

K‑12  subcommittee recommends reporting

HB332 (Delegate Rasoul) Teacher licensure; three-year license to teach career and technical education, etc.

Requires the Board of Education to provide for the issuance of a three-year license to teach solely CTE courses or dual enrollment courses at public high schools. The bill requires the Board to require any such instructor to maintain continuous employment in such position at the institution of higher education as a condition of continued licensure. 

K‑12  subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (10‑Y 0‑N)

HB410 (Delegate Reid) School boards; participation in SAT School Day program required, student participation.

Requires each school board to participate in the SAT School Day program or any similar program offered by the College Board whereby high school students are permitted to take the SAT during regular school hours at the high school at which they are enrolled. 

K‑12  subcommittee  recommends reporting with substitute and referring to Appropriations (9‑Y 1‑N)

HB786 (Delegate Austin) School bds.; authority to prohibit sale of caffeinated beverages to students in public high schools.

Permits any school board to prohibit the sale of caffeinated beverages to students in public high schools in the local school division. 

An amendment was added to line 27 to include "F. Any school board may prohibit the sale of all or any variety of caffeinated beverages to students in public high schools in the local school division..."

K‑12  subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (10‑Y 0‑N)

The House Education Subcommittee on K-12 meets weekly during the session on Tuesdays, at 7:30 a.m., on House Room A, and Tuesdays, at 4:00 p.m., House Room C, General Assembly Building. A link to the Live Stream video and recordings of all previously held committee meetings and floor sessions of the House can be viewed by clicking here. 

Sofhia Pineda

VSBA Government Relations Specialist