An Overview of Bills Introduced by Local Delegates
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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The 2025 General Assembly session started yesterday. Here’s an overview of bills introduced by local delegates. We’ll preview bills introduced by local state senators in a separate story.
Joshua Cole
Cole, a Democrat, represents the 65th House District, which includes all of Fredericksburg City, part of southern Stafford County, and just under 9,000 voters in Spotsylvania County.
He’s introduced, as chief patron, the following bills that have been referred to committee:
HB 1598: This bill would create a one-time, nonrefundable individual income credit in tax years 2025-2029 for up to $10,000 in first-time homebuyer expenses, “for the purchase of direct ownership in residential real property in an amount equal to the purchase price value of such property detailed on the standard purchase agreement.” This bill has been referred to the Committee on Finance.
HB 1599: This would require the Department of Education to eliminate the end-of-course Standards of Learning assessments for Chemistry and World History II and instead publish guidelines for local school boards to implement alternative end-of-course assessments. This bill has been referred to the Committee on Education.
HB 1610: This legislation would establish a seven-year statute of limitations on the commencement of any action by a state agency or institution to collect past due accounts receivable due to the Commonwealth. This bill has been referred to the Committee on General Laws.
HB 1611: A bill to require that the Department of Human Resource Management develop a policy designed to provide guidance to state agencies on how to remove postsecondary degree requirements from hiring considerations. The bill would prohibit state agencies from rejecting applicants for job positions solely on the basis of the applicant lacking a postsecondary degree, unless the agency substantiates in the job posting and to the Department why such a degree is necessary. This bill has been referred to the Committee on General Laws.
HB 1633: A bill that would require health insurance carriers with plans including coverage for habilitative services and rehabilitative services to cover speech therapy as a treatment for stuttering, beginning on or after January 1, 2026. This bill has been referred to the Committee on Labor and Commerce.
HB 1635: This would permit licensed certified midwives who have completed 1,000 hours of practice to practice without a practice agreement “upon receipt of an attestation from the licensed physician or midwife with whom they entered into a practice agreement.” It would also permit certified nurse midwives and licensed certified midwives to enter into practice agreements with certified nurse midwives or licensed certified midwives who are authorized to practice independently. The bill would direct the Department of Health to clarify that an organized medical staff may include other practitioners, including independent practice midwives, in addition to physicians and dentists. This bill has been referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services.
The following bills introduced by Cole have not been referred to committee as of January 9:
HB 1733: This bill, which is a recommendation of the Virginia Commission on Youth, would require local departments of social services to refer persons petitioning for relif of the care and custody of a child to the local family assessment and planning team and create a written report. The bill would direct the Department of Social Services, in coordination with the Virginia League of Social Services Executives, to create a template for and provide guidance on what should be included in such written report. The bill would also change the evidentiary standard of whether there is good cause to be relieved of care and custody from a finding “based on preponderance of the evidence” to a finding “based on clear and convincing evidence.”
The bill also directs the Office of the Children's Ombudsman to convene a work group composed of relevant stakeholders to determine the factors a court should consider when determining whether there is good cause shown for a petitioner's desire to be relieved of the care and custody of a child. The bill directs the work group to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Virginia Commission on Youth by November 1, 2025.
HB 1735: This bill would reduce from 21 to 10 the number of days during which registration records are closed before primary and general elections, and from 13 to 10 the number of days during which registration records are closed before special elections that are not called by the Governor, Speaker of the House of Delegates, or President pro tempore of the Senate.
HB 1942: This would replace existing state law regulating money transmitters with provisions aimed at standardizing the regulation of money transmitters across the 50 states.
HB 1943: A bill to expand the list of unlawful discriminatory housing practices to include (i) refusing to rent or negotiate for the rental of a dwelling because the income of an applicant renter does not meet a threshold determined by the landlord and (ii) requiring any charges or deposits from a renter prior to the commencement date of a rental agreement for any purpose other than monthly rent, a security deposit, and any other deposit meant to pay for access to a specific service or facility related to the rental of the dwelling.
HB 2164: This would require the Department of Education to calculate the composite index of local ability-to-pay for each school division by excluding the true value of real property that is eligible for certain disabled veteran and surviving spouse property tax exemptions in the locality.
HB 2165: This bill would prohibit candidates from converting contributions to a campaign or campaign committee for personal use. Current law only prohibits this with regard to disbursement of surplus funds at the dissolution of a campaign or political committee.
HB 2520: This legislation would establish a Sexual Offense Prevention and Response Program within the Department of Military Affairs and establish an officer to perform victim advocacy services.
Paul Milde
Milde, a Republican, represents House District 64, which is entirely within Stafford County. He has introduced the following bill that has been referred to committee:
HB 1558: This bill would prohibit anyone younger than age 21 from possessing any retail tobacco product or hemp product intended for smoking, as those terms are defined in relevant law. This has been referred to the Committee for Courts of Justice.
Milde has also introduced the following bills, which have not been referred to committee as of January 9:
HB 2127: This bill would establish a framework for localities to implement a telework policy for local government employees. It would specify that the policy require employees to submit a telework agreement.
HB 2129: A bill authorizing localities to prohibit the exchange of any item between a pedestrian and the occupant of a motor vehicle on a roadway.
HB 2131: This bill would exclude prescription drugs or devices from the definition of “commercial appliances or remedies” as such term relates to the practice of medicine and other healing arts.
HB 2132: This would limit the amount of the performance bond that an agency issuing a permit for a land-disturbing activity under the erosion and sediment control laws for certain localities can require when the final site plan includes a stormwater management facility that is built on top of a sediment basin or other sediment trap. The bill also sets a cap on the amount of the security that must be in the form of a letter of credit or cash required for performance for a sediment basin of 25 percent of the estimated cost.
HB 2141: A bill to increase the civil penalty for placing advertisements and signs within the limits of any highway from $100 to $250.
HB 2142: This would allow someone whose land use application fails to receive approval due to failure to meet a deadline to seek a refund of the application fee.
HB 2144: This would require manufacturers, wholesale distributor, or medical equipment suppliers to submit an annual report of the amount spent on direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs or devices.
HB 2147: This bill would authorize a locality to apply tax revenues from sources other than real estate taxes for use in tax increment financing of development projects.
HB 2148: This bill would reduce from 45 days to 30 days the period of time that a local planning commission or other agent has to act on any proposed plat, site plan, or plan of development that it has previously disapproved after the first time such plat or plan has been modified, corrected, and resubmitted for approval, and provides that such planning commission or other agent has within 15 days after the second or any subsequent time such plat or plan has been resubmitted for approval to act on such plat or plan.
HB 2184: Provides that (i) cash payments proffered pursuant to relevant zoning law and (ii) the transfer of land may be used by an applicant for the purpose of extinguishing development rights elsewhere in the locality if the development rights to be extinguished are greater than the development rights being granted and the extinguishing of those development rights results in a perpetual conservation easement.
Candi Mundon King
King, a Democrat, represents House District 23, which includes part of northern Stafford County. She has introduced the following bills, which are all pending committee referral:
HB 2356: A bill to require public service companies and their contractors and subcontractors to pay the prevailing wage rate set by the Department of Labor and Industry for construction, maintenance, or repair work on “certain electricity generating sources.”
HB 2362: This bill is a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference (a group of civil trial lawyers and judges) and would amend procedures relating to the sale of real estate to recover delinquent real estate taxes.
HB 2368: This would limit the tolls charged per month to state residents for the use of toll bridges, ferries, tunnels, roads to $200.
HB 2371: A bill to require health insurance plans that include coverage for outpatient prescription drugs to provide coverage for contraceptive drugs and contraceptive devices, including those available over the counter.
HB 2383: Provides that an accommodations provider shall not be required to transmit a transient occupancy tax return to a locality if (i) all retail sales of accommodations owned by the accommodations provider are facilitated by an accommodations intermediary and (ii) the accommodations provider attests to the locality that all such sales were facilitated by an accommodations intermediary.
HB 2384: This bill would direct the State Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board to adopt a regulation allowing certain Emergency Medical Services (EMS) vehicles belonging to a combination fire and EMS agency to have the fire department logo and lettering appear larger than the lettering identifying the EMS agency.
HB 2387: Recommended by the Boyd-Graves Conference, this bill would hold the statute of limitations for an action for death by wrongful act during criminal prosecution that arises out of the same facts.
HB 2393: Allows victims of human trafficking to file a petition with circuit court to have certain convictions vacated and police and court records expunged.
HB 2413: Makes various changes related to the content and process for an integrated resource plan (IRP) developed by an electric utility that provides a forecast of its load obligations and a plan to meet those obligations.
HB 2438: Provides that a ground-mounted solar energy generation facility to be located on property zoned agricultural, commercial, industrial, or institutional shall be permitted pursuant to various criteria to be included in a local ordinance, such as specifications for setbacks, fencing, solar panel height, visual impacts, and grading, and a decommissioning plan for solar energy equipment and facilities.
HB 2446: This bill would direct the Department of Health to establish a public awareness campaign, develop and distribute educational materials, and create an online resource hub focused on perinatal and postpartum depression. The bill requires the Department to submit an annual report to the Governor and the General Assembly on the implementation of the bill, with the first annual report due by December 31, 2026.
Phillip Scott
Scott, a Republican, represents the 63rd House District, which includes parts of Spotsylvania and Orange counties. He has introduced 14 bills, which are all pending committee referral.
HB 2399: This bill would require health care entities that provide access to health records of minors through a secure website to make such health records available to the minor's parent or guardian through the same secure website.
HB 2405: This bill clarifies that any driveway used to access land otherwise exempt from real property taxes as being owned by a veteran who has a 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability shall also be exempt from such taxation.
HB 2406: This bill would specify that the definition of law-enforcement officer that currently applies for the crime of assault and battery of a law-enforcement officer shall be used for the purposes of the crimes related to escaping from jail or custody of a law-enforcement officer.
HB 2407: A bill to require owners of waterworks to report any operational anomaly that could affect water quality, public health, or service continuity to the Virginia Department of Health's Office of Drinking Water (the Office) within 24 hours of discovery.
HB 2409: This would restrict a locality from adopting minimum area requirements for agricultural operations involving an animal inconsistent with and more restrictive than standard animal husbandry practices.
HB 2417: Provides that a locality may make an Invitation to Bid, a Request for Proposal, and any other solicitation prior to budgeting an anticipated expenditure for such proposal.
HB 2418: This bill would direct school boards to require official documentation of an individual’s criminal, educational, and employment history for at least the three preceding years on any application for employment for an Indvidual providing direct instruction or support to elementary school students or students with disabilities.
HB 2440: This bill would require health education instruction to include lessons on human development inside the uterus, including (i) a high-definition ultrasound video, at least three minutes in duration, showing the development of the brain, heart, sex organs, and other vital organs in early fetal development and (ii) a high-quality, computer-generated rendering or animation showing the process of fertilization and every stage of human development inside the uterus, noting significant markers in cell growth and organ development for each significant marker of pregnancy until birth.
HB 2443: This would authorize a Virginia resident who has worked as an independent contractor to establish a portable benefit account.
HB 2445: This bill would limit absentee voting in person to beginning 14 days prior to any election, Monday through Saturday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
HB 2460: Requires the Board of Education to consider including media literacy and digital citizenship standards in Standards of Learning.
HB 2463: This bill would permit the requirement for an individual to have completed 18 credit hours of course work in the relevant CTE content area in order to qualify as an instructor of CTE dual enrollment courses to be waived in any case in which the employing comprehensive community college determines that such individual has sufficient and specific occupational experience in such content area.
HB 2513: This bill would require general registrars to cancel the registration of any person for whom a notice has been submitted to the Department of Motor Vehicles in accordance with the Driver License Compact and forwarded to the general registrar that the voter has moved from the Commonwealth.
Bobby Orrock
Orrock, a Republican, represents House District 66, which includes parts of Spotsylvania and Caroline counties. He has introduced 13 bills, which are all pending committee referral:
HB 1783: Provides that any such public middle or high school may establish a chapter of a career and technical student organization.
HB 1784: This bill would establish a tiered fine system for expired vehicle registrations.
HB 1785: This bill would exempt childcare centers operated by religious institutions from licensing requirements.
HB 1786: This bill would make it no longer mandatory for childcare centers operated by religious institutions to file certain statements or implement certain procedures. It would still permit the state superintendent of public instruction to perform on-site inspections to investigate complaints.
HB 1787: This bill would direct the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to review hospitals’ procedures for obtaining informed consent for surgeries every five years.
HB 1788: This bill would allow unexpected excused student absences based on “extenuating circumstances” to be excluded from the calculation of chronic absenteeism.
HB 1789: This would allow a public body to cancel an invitation to bid or request for proposal if all responsive bids exceed by at least 50% the current price offered to the private sector.
HB 1790: This would authorize a locality to include districts specifically designated for affordable housing within residential zoning classifications.
HB 1792: This would raise the assessment threshold at which a local treasurer or other officer responsible for collecting taxes has general authority to sell real property with over three years of delinquent taxes from $10,000 or less to $15,000 or less.
HB 1825: Extends membership in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System to conservation officers of the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
HB 2031: Eliminates the $1 filing fee required for the filing of site visit reports by licensed operators of alternative onsite sewage systems.
HB 2181: Authorizes the issuance of Commonwealth of Virginia state parks and recreational facilities bonds to provide funds for deferred maintenance projects at state parks and recreational facilities.
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