by John Reid

On Friday, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin took action on 84 bills, signing 64 bills into law, while vetoing eight others and amending 12 bills. The full list of signed bills is available here.  

“Today, I am pleased to sign more than 60 bills into law with bipartisan support, a clear demonstration of what can be achieved when we set politics aside and work together for Virginians. These bills cover a wide range of topic areas but demonstrate my continuing commitment to lowering the cost of living for Virginians, streamlining regulations, supporting our veterans, ensuring safe communities, and improving government efficiency. In addition, I have returned several bills to the General Assembly with amendments, hopeful that they will be reviewed with serious consideration,” said Governor Youngkin via press release.

In addition, Youngkin amended 12 bills, among them are the following:

• HB 214, Common interest communities; residents providing certain services exemption. 

Amended to include a reenactment clause. The Virginia Employment Commission and Department of Taxation need additional time to ensure that this bill does not pose issues with the federal Internal Revenue Code or worker classification statutes. 

• SB 35, Renewal of licensure; Boards of Medicine & Nursing to require Bd. of Nursing, etc., cont. ed. Reqd. 

Amended to apply to individuals engaged in healthcare related to pregnancy who follow two-year licensure cycles, who will be required to undergo training on maternal healthcare specifically focusing on women who experience significantly higher maternal mortality rates, including African American, Indigenous, and Hispanic women as well as women in underserved communities, as part of their upcoming license renewal period. 

• HB 738, Space Force; extension of certain benefits and privileges for persons serving in Armed Forces. 

Technical amendments to extend additional benefits and privileges to members of the Space Force. 

• HB 438, Written complaints; felony offenses to be provided. 

Technical amendments to clarify court processes if the complainant is a citizen or law enforcement officer. 

• HB 673, Resilient VA Revolving Fund; distributing loans or grants for projects. 

Amended to provide weighting to low-income communities and those communities that are most at risk of flooding. 

• SB 189, Virginia Beach, City of; amending charter, transition of city council. 

Amended to include a reenactment clause to allow for a reassessment of the legislation pending a potential resolution of the ongoing lawsuit involving Virginia Beach 

• SB 238, Health insurance; coverage for contraceptive drugs and devices. 

Amended to ensure that non-governmental plan sponsors with sincerely held religious or moral beliefs are not required to provide insurance coverage for contraception in accordance with existing federal and state law. 

• HB 597, Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; enforcement by localities. 

Amended to include a reenactment clause and direct the Department of Housing and Community Development to examine the legislation within the framework of multiple bills modifying the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, to individually and collectively assess the impact on proposed changes that align with the shared goal of housing availability, accessibility, and affordability. 

• HB 498, School bd. policy; parental notification of responsibility of safe storage of firearms in household. 

Amended to include a reenactment clause and direct the Department of Education to convene a workgroup to create a comprehensive list of the parental rights and responsibilities and develop an efficient method for distributing such list to parents.

• SB 12, Children’s advocacy centers; definitions, investigations by local departments of social services. 

Amended to clarify that the Child Advocacy Centers of Virginia is the lead qualifying organization for child advocacy centers to aid law enforcement and health professionals in interviewing children whose health and safety may be at risk. 

• SB 196, Voter registration; list maintenance data standards, challenges to a voter’s registration. 

Amended to reinstate longstanding process for voter registration appeals and eliminating certain criteria for unique identifiers. 

• HB 588, VA Residential Landlord &Tenant Act; fire/casualty damage, landlord requirements for termination. 

Amended to include a reenactment clause and direct the Department of Housing and Community Development to examine the legislation within the framework of multiple bills modifying the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, to individually and collectively assess the impact on proposed changes that align with the shared goal of housing availability, accessibility, and affordability. 

Below the bills which were vetoed were:

• SB 235, Sexually explicit content; policies on parental notification of instructional material. 

• HB 833, Child abuse and neglect; custody and visitation, possession or consumption of authorized substances. 

• SB 606, Voter registration; list maintenance, data sharing. 

• SB 143, Railroad safety; requirements for railroad companies. 

• HB 110, Surrogacy brokers; repeals statute of prohibition. 

• HB 46 & SB 47, Firearm; transfers to another person from a prohibited person. 

• HB 651, Cyber civilian corps; Virginia Information Technologies Agency, shall assess creation of corps.