How Effective Are Your Legislators?
The General Assembly is at the finish line, and the Advance is tracking the bills local legislators put forth and whether they succeeded, failed, or are still in process.
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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The 2025 Virginia General Assembly is adjourned. What have local legislators accomplished?
The Advance is exploring that question in a two-part series.
Today, we introduce Part I — The Scorecard.
Next week, we introduce Part II — The Bills.
Part I explores local legislators, the bills they proposed, the ones that passed, the ones that died along the way, and the ones that are currently awaiting the governor’s action.
Part II will take a closer look at the bills that passed, and the impact they may have on the commonwealth.
Part I - The Scorecard
Each of our area’s eight legislators — five members of the House and three members of the Senate — are assigned a scorecard that details:
Bills each put forward as the chief patron (excluding bills that celebrate individuals or commend or recognize special events)
Bills that failed to come before the full General Assembly
Bills that passed the House and Senate
Bills awaiting the governor’s signature, communication, or action
Bills designated as “other”
The data for the scorecard was taken from the Virginia Legislative Information System and reflects the information displayed there as of Sunday, February 23, 2025, at noon. The system is dynamic, so data is updated regularly.
This scorecard, though rudimentary, provides some insights into how well each of our legislators is doing their jobs in Richmond.
Executive Summary
The eight legislators from our area — Joshua Cole (D-HD 65); Tara Durant (R-SD 27); Candi King (D - HD 23); Paul Milde (R - HD 64); Bobby Orrock (R - HD 66); Bryce Reeves (R - SD 28); Phillip Scott (R - HD 63); and Richard Stuart (R - SD 25) — were responsible for the following:
131 bills introduced
79 of those bills failed
27 of those bills are awaiting the governor’s signature, communication, or action
24 bills have passed the House and the Senate
1 bill is still in the House
To help put our legislators’ numbers in context, there were:
1,236 Total House Bills Introduced
758 Total Senate Bills Introduced
895 Total House Bills Failed
487 Total Senate Bills Failed
486 Total House Bills Passed
336 Total Senate Bills Passed
Looking at the area’s 8 local legislators:
Richard Stuart served as chief patron for 21 bills and Tara Durant served as chief patron for 20 bills — the most of any legislators in this region.
Bryce Reeves had the most bills (7) among legislators in our area that are awaiting either the governor’s signature, communication, or action.
Paul Milde is the only legislator from our area to have no bills before the governor for a signature, communication, or action.
Candi King (20%) in the House and Bryce Reeves (50%) in the Senate are the legislators from our area with the lowest percentage of introduced bills in their respective chambers that failed to come before the full General Assembly.
Paul Milde (93%) in the House and Richard Stuart (66%) in the Senate are the legislators from our area with the highest percentage of introduced bills in their respective chambers that failed to come before the full General Assembly.
The Legislators’ Records - Alphabetical Order
Del. Joshua Cole - HD 65
For the 2025 legislative session, Cole put forward three bills that are currently awaiting the governor’s signature, communication, or action. They are:
HB1611 - Prohibits any state agency from requiring as a condition of eligibility for hire to a position in state employment that an applicant have a baccalaureate degree. The bill provides an exception to such prohibition if the knowledge, skills, or abilities required for the position for which an applicant is applying can only reasonably be obtained, as determined by the appointing authority, through a course of study in pursuit of, and culminating in the award of, a baccalaureate degree.
HB1733 - Requires a local department of social services, as a part of its investigation after the referral of a request for a petition for relief of the care and custody of a child, to (i) refer the parent to the local family assessment and planning team and (ii) create a written report. The bill directs 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.
HB1735 - Reduces from 21 to 10 days the number of days during which registration records are closed before primary and general elections and from 13 to 10 days 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.
Six other bills have passed both the House and the Senate
Sen. Tara Durant - SD 27
For the 2025 legislative session, Durant put forward five bills that are currently awaiting the governor’s signature, communication, or action. They are:
SB1251 - Provides that the Commissioner of the Department of Veterans Services shall assist the Department of Corrections, sheriffs, and local and regional jails in utilizing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Veterans Re-Entry Search Services system to identify veterans incarcerated in state, local, or community correctional facilities to prepare such veterans for release and reentry, reduce recidivism and homelessness, provide behavioral health resources, and refer eligible veterans to behavioral health dockets.
SB1282 - Requires localities receiving funds from the Fire Programs Fund to report all emergency incidents through the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS) while sharing data with the Department of Fire Programs in its capacity as state manager of NERIS. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.
SB1438 - Directs each health regulatory board regulated by the Department of Health Professions to enact regulations to provide a licensure by endorsement pathway for qualified applicants as practitioners of the particular profession or professions regulated by such board. The bill specifies that the Board of Medicine shall be the first health regulatory board to enact regulations to provide a licensure by endorsement pathway. This bill is identical to HB 1861.
SB1439 - Requires the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to include provisions for the protection of patient privacy and data security pursuant to state and federal law and regulations in contracts with private entities for the administration of the acute psychiatric bed registry. The bill requires the Commissioner to create the Bed Registry Advisory Council to advise th Commissioner and any such private entity on the administration of such registry and to review and approve requests for access to data from the registry. The bill also creates a Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) exemption for information submitted to such registry. This bill is identical to HB 1937.
SB1238 (Incorporated into SB1436 - Awaiting Governor’s action) - Prohibits health insurance carriers from imposing cost sharing for diagnostic breast examinations and supplemental breast examinations, as those terms are defined in the bill, under certain insurance policies, subscription contracts, and health care plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in the Commonwealth on and after January 1, 2026. The bill provides that such examinations include examinations using diagnostic mammography, breast magnetic resonance imaging, or breast ultrasound. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Health Insurance Reform Commission.
One other bill has passed both the House and the Senate
One additional bill is in process:
SB1437 (In House)
Del. Candi King - HD 23
For the 2025 legislative session, King put forward four bills that are currently awaiting the governor’s signature, communication, or action. They are:
HB2352 - Makes numerous amendments to the charter for the Town of Dumfries in Prince William County. Proposed changes (i) broaden the statement of the town's general grant of powers; (ii) provide for a runoff election in the case of a tie vote for a town council election, notwithstanding general law; (iii) reference general law for procedures for removing members of the town council who are convicted of certain crimes; (iv) clarify the duties of the mayor and vice mayor; (v) create the position of chair pro tem on the town council; (vi) clarify how vacancies on the town council will be filled; (vii) clarify the procedure for introducing and passing town ordinances and emergency ordinances; (viii) specify that members of town committees, boards, and commissions serve at the pleasure of the town council; (ix) clarify the duties of various town officers; (x) specify that there is a town clerk and describe the town clerk's duties; (xi) provide that town departments include departments concerning recreation and civic engagement; (xii) add a reference to town authority to impose civil penalties and cap any such civil penalties at $5,000; and (xiii) make numerous technical changes to update the town's charter, first enacted in 1994.
HB2383 - 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. Such attestation shall be effective for 12 months beginning with the month in which the attestation is made, and annual attestations shall be due thereafter on a date set by the locality. However, such accommodations provider shall be required to transmit returns for the retail sale of any accommodations not facilitated by an accommodations intermediary.
HB2387 - Provides that the statute of limitations for an action for death by wrongful act shall be tolled during the pendency of any criminal prosecution that arises out of the same facts as such action. The bill provides that its provisions only apply to causes of action accruing on or after July 1, 2025. This bill is a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.
HB2393 - Amends the procedure that allows victims of human trafficking, defined in the bill, to file a petition of vacatur in circuit court to have certain convictions vacated and the police and court records expunged for such convictions.
Eight other bills have passed both the House and the Senate
Del. Paul Milde - HD 64
For the 2025 legislative session, Milde has no bills that are currently awaiting the governor’s signature, communication, or action.
One bill has passed the House and Senate:
Del. Bobby Orrock - HD 66
For the 2025 legislative session, Orrock put forward one bill that is currently awaiting the governor’s signature, communication, or action. It is:
HB1792 - Raises 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. The bill also raises the assessment range at which such officer may sell parcels of real property with over three years of delinquent taxes and that meet certain criteria from more than $10,000 but no more than than $25,000 to more than $15,000 but no more than $30,000. The bill also increases the assessment threshold for the nonjudicial sale of real property with over three years of delinquent taxes when such property is (i) unimproved, (ii) one-half acre or less in size, and (iii) located within a designated urban redevelopment or revitalization zone from properties assessed at more than $25,000 but no more than $40,000 to more than $30,000 but no more than $40,000.
Two bills have passed the House and Senate:
Sen. Bryce Reeves - SD 28
For the 2025 legislative session, Reeves put forward seven bills that are currently awaiting the governor’s signature, communication, or action. These are:
SB861 - Specifies 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.
SB866 - Increases from five to 10 years the amount of time a licensed real estate broker or salesperson must be actively engaged in the profession in order to serve as a member of the Real Estate Board. The bill also provides additional qualifications and requirements specific to those members who are licensed real estate brokers or salespersons.
SB868 - Adds an exception to the prohibition on mixed beverage licensees or any agent or employee of such licensees delivering to a consumer an original bottle of an alcoholic beverage purchased under such license for the delivery of the entire contents of an original container of spirits for on-premises or off-premises consumption provided that the (i) container is 16 ounces or less and (ii) alcohol content is no greater than 15 percent by volume.
SB867 - (Incorporated into SB996) Authorizes the State Treasurer or his designee to make payments relating to unclaimed property without receiving a claim if the property is cash property, the apparent owner is a natural person and the sole owner of such property, the apparent owner has been identified by the State Treasurer or his designee, and the amount to be paid does not exceed $5,000. The bill contains an emergency clause.
SB1407 - Directs the State Air Pollution Control Board to adopt administrative regulations to allow any affected emergency generator to operate up to 50 hours per year for nonemergency purposes, including planned outages and switch gear and related electrical system testing, so as to be consistent with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's regulations for such generators. The bill directs the Department of Environmental Quality to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill, and the bill contains an emergency clause.
SB1408 - Requires owners of waterworks that already submit a monthly operating report to the Department of Health's Office of Drinking Water to include any noncritical equipment failure or malfunction that could adversely affect water quality, public health, or service continuity that occurred during the applicable reporting month. The bill requires any critical equipment failure or malfunction or contaminant release to be reported to the Office as soon as practicable but no more than six hours after discovery.
SB1495 - Directs the State Air Pollution Control Board to amend its regulations relating to permit exemptions for poultry or swine incinerators to include bovine incinerators. The bill contains an emergency clause.
Three bills have passed the House and the Senate:
Del. Phillip Scott - HD 63
For the 2025 legislative session, Scott put forward one bill that is currently awaiting the governor’s signature, communication, or action. This is:
HB2406 - Specifies 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.
Three bills have passed the House and the Senate:
Sen. Richard Stuart - SD 25
For the 2025 legislative session, Stuart put forward six bills that are currently awaiting the governor’s signature, communication, or action. These are:
SB896 - Removes the requirement that a copy of a notice of appeal to the Court of Appeals in a criminal case be mailed or delivered to the Attorney General.
SB933 - Allows the Marine Resources Commission to issue licenses or permits to any person to take or catch fish, shellfish, or marine organisms with a trawl net, drag net, or similar device within the three-mile limit of the Virginia Atlantic shoreline for the shrimp and horseshoe crab fisheries. The bill specifies that such license or permit shall be accompanied by a fee of $100 or as subsequently revised by the Commission for each boat so employed. Current law allows any person to fish with trawl nets and drag nets for fish, shellfish, or marine organisms, provided such person has a license issued by the Commission to trawl within the three-mile limit from Cape Charles north to the Maryland line, except during September and October and from 36° 40' north latitude south to the North Carolina line at any time, and from Cape Henry south to 36° 40' north latitude between October 1 and May 1.
SB969 - Amends the definition of "surface mineral mine" in the Mineral Mine Safety Act to exclude excavation or grading when conducted solely in aid of onsite farming or construction and under certain conditions enumerated in the bill. The bill amends the definition of "mining" in existing law, relating to the exemption from permits for a mining operation, to extend the required completion time from six months to one year for excavation or grading conducted to construct or expand a farm pond for agricultural irrigation or provision of water for livestock. The bill also amends the qualification requirements for mineral mine inspectors, removes references to the defunct Board of Mineral Mining Examiners, and prohibits the issuance of any permit for a mineral mining or processing operation that includes the use of cyanide or a cyanide compound.
SB1000 - Increases the fair market value compensation amounts for livestock and poultry killed or injured by dogs from $750 to $1,000 per animal and from $10 to $25 per fowl.
SB1218 - Provides that, for the purposes of the prohibition in existing law against an employer entering into, enforcing, or threatening to enforce a covenant not to compete with any low-wage employee, "low-wage employee" includes an employee who, regardless of average weekly earnings, is entitled to overtime compensation under federal law for any hours worked in excess of 40 hours in any one workweek. Any employer that violates the bill's provisions would be subject to a civil penalty in existing law of $10,000 for each violation.
SB1392 - Increases the period of time during which a person, as a condition of a restricted license, is prohibited from operating a motor vehicle that is not equipped with an ignition interlock system from not less than six consecutive months to not less than 12 consecutive months without alcohol-related violations of the interlock requirements. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program.
One bill has passed the House and the Senate:
Part II - The Bills (Coming the Week of March 3)
The Advance will explore the most-consequential bills each legislator was involved with, and the potential impacts of each bill.
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