Legislative Update: 25 February 2024

With two weeks left in the General Assembly session before Sine Die, the official conclusion of the session, the House and Senate Committees are beginning to slow their pace. One notable bill (HB 742), that is still active in this session, proposes to change the authority to appoint the Commissioner of Elections to the State Board of Elections instead of leaving it in the hands of the Governor. In a suspenseful vote, the motion to kill this bill was unsuccessful in the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee this week on Tuesday; one or more committee members of both parties voted to keep the bill alive. After that, one committee member requested delaying the decision of the committee on the bill and that request was agreed to by the committee. 

Also of note, last week the Senate and House both made public their proposals for Virginia’s budget and analyses have been produced by various organizations of these budget proposals. 

Here’s a reminder of the key dates during the 2024 General Assembly session: 

• First day: Wednesday, January 10th
• Last day for a legislator to submit a bill: 3pm Friday, January 19th
• Crossover deadline: Tuesday, February 13th
• Last day of session (also known as Sine Die): Saturday, March 9th
• Reconvene Session: Wednesday, April 17

2024 Session Overview Numbers
(Total # of bills and resolutions)

• Introduced: 2910
• Passed the House: 1279
• Passed the Senate: 962
• Continued to next session: 348
• Failed: 826
• Vetoed: 0

The report below includes bills that fall into alignment with Virginia Institute’s policy recommendations, either for good policy or bad policy, and received a vote in a committee or on the House or Senate Floor last week. See the bottom of the page for a full list of bills we are following.

EDUCATION

HB 659 – Open Enrollment
The original version of this bill would have established open enrollment for public schools in Virginia. After being amended, the bill directs the Department of Education to publish guidelines and best practices about open enrollment for the localities that choose to offer open enrollment within their district. It also reiterates that Virginia law already prohibits charging tuition for students participating in open enrollment.

• Status: On Thursday, 2/22, this bill died in the Senate Education and Health Committee. 
• To see bill text and info: Click HERE

ELECTIONS

HB 1454 (similar to SB 246) – Driver Privilege Card Extention
This bill eliminates identifying features used to distinguish between citizen and non-citizen state-issued driver’s permits and ID cards, which could facilitate non-citizens voting. – PASSED

• Status: On Thursday, 2/22, this bill was passed in the Senate Transportation Committee. Next, this bill will be sent to the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee for a vote. 
• To see bill text and info: Click HERE

SB 246 (similar to HB 1454) – Driver Privilege Card Extention
This bill eliminates identifying features used to distinguish between citizen and non-citizen state-issued driver’s permits and ID cards, which could facilitate non-citizens voting. 

• Status: Thursday, 2/22, this bill was passed in the House Transportation Committee. This bill previously passed in the Senate and will now be sent to the House floor for a vote. 
• To see bill text and info: Click HERE

HB 441 – More Curbside Voting
This bill expands the practice of curbside voting to not only individuals with a physical impairment but also those who have a mental impairment; this could significantly increase the use of curbside voting. When used at all, we believe the best practice is for curbside voting to be available only for individuals who need physical accommodations.

• Status: Tuesday, 2/20, this bill passed in the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee. Next, it will be sent to the Senate floor for a vote. 
• To see bill text and info: Click HERE

SB 364 – Protection of Election Officials & Increased Penalities
This bill proposes to create higher criminal penalties for intimidation, harassment, and other offenses against election officials and election office staff, continuing a debunked narrative that election officials frequently experience harassment and threats. Although there was an amendment to clarify that communication like politely asked questions couldn’t be considered intimidation, there have been differing opinions about whether the language of the bill is clear that it would only apply to imminent harm and threats of bodily injury to election officials and couldn’t be applied to benign communications. To protect citizens from inaccurate or subjective allegations, this bill.

• Status: Monday, 2/19, this bill passed in the House Election Administration Subcommittee. This bill will now be sent to the full House Privileges and Elections Committee and previously passed on the Senate floor.
• To see bill text and info: Click HERE
• Radio interview discussing this bill

HB 939 – Firearms at Precincts
If passed, this bill would prohibit a person from carrying a firearm within 100 feet of a voting location, including a ballot drop box. In addition to the problem of restricting the right to bear arms, this bill could create a situation where someone accidentally violates the law simply by walking on the sidewalk near a drop box. The original text of this bill would have also prohibited a firearm in a vehicle that was within 100 feet of a voting location, but the bill was amended to eliminate that problem. – VOTE DELAYED

• Status: On Tuesday, 2/20, this bill was on the agenda of the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee, but a vote on the bill was delayed through a motion to pass the bill by for the week. 
• To see bill text and info: Click HERE

HB 1177 (companion SB 606) – ERIC
This bill would require Virginia to re-join the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). Although ERIC claims to be a service to help states keep accurate voter rolls, Virginia left ERIC last year after serious concerns over data privacy breaches and partisanship influence within the organization.  – PASSED

• Status: On Tuesday, 2/20, this bill passed in the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee. Next, it will be sent to the Senate floor for a vote. 
• To see bill text and info: Click HERE

HB 1534 (similar to SB 196) – Voter Challenge Oversight Changes
This bill would alter the procedure for challenging a voter registration. Currently, local registrars handle these cases, but this bill proposes court system oversight which would prevent any Election Day challenges. Registrars, who maintain up-to-date, accurate voter registration lists for their areas, should retain control over this process. – PASSED

• Status: On Tuesday, 2/20, this bill passed in the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee. Next, it will be sent to the Senate floor for a vote. 
• To see bill text and info: Click HERE

SB 270 – Ranked Choice Voting
This bill would have allowed ranked choice voting for presidential primary elections. Ranked choice voting creates unnecessary barriers for voters by making voting confusing and prone to errors, making vote counting extremely complicated and ensuring audits for these elections are difficult (if not impossible) to conduct. – KILLED

• Status: On Monday, 2/19, this bill died in the House Election Administration Subcommittee through the motion to continue the bill to 2025. 
• To see bill text and info: Click HERE

SB 315 – Automatic DMV Updates
Although the intent of this bill was to provide the Department of Elections with current information for registered voters who visit the DMV by updating their information automatically, passing this bill would have created errors in registered voter information. Visitors to the DMV often register vehicles that are not housed at their primary residence, but at a secondary residence. There is already a known problem where voters accidentally become registered at the wrong location, where they house a vehicle, after getting that vehicle registered at the DMV. This bill would have exacerbated that problem. – KILLED

• • Status: On Monday, 2/19, this bill died in the House Election Administration Subcommittee through the motion to continue the bill to 2025. 
  • To see bill text and info: Click HERE

HEALTHCARE

HB 570 – Price Setting for Medicine
This bill creates a Prescription Drug Affordability Board. Under this proposed legislation, the Board will be given authority to limit drug payment amounts and reimbursements to an upper payment limit amount for state sponsored and state regulated health plans. – VOTE DELAYED

• On Thursday, 2/22, this bill was on the agenda of the Senate Education and Health Committee, but did not receive a vote. Instead, the committee sent the bill to the Commerce and Labor Committee for a vote. 
• To see bill text and info: Click HERE

LICENSING

SB 22 – Dental Interstate Compact
This bill would enter Virginia into an interstate licensing compact for dentists and dental hygienists. Any dentist or dental hygienist licensed in any state participating in the compact would be able to practice in any compact state, increasing access to dental services. – PASSED

• Status: On Tuesday, 2/20, this bill was on the House third reading calendar and passed in a floor vote. It previously passed the Senate and next will be sent to the Governor’s desk for his approval or veto.  
• To see bill text and info: Click HERE

SB 239 – Social Worker Compact
This bill would enter Virginia into an interstate licensing compact for fully licensed social workers. Social workers licensed in any state participating in the compact would be able to practice in any compact state, filling a need for more social workers. – PASSED

• Status: On Tuesday, 2/20, this bill was on the House third reading calendar and passed in a floor vote. It previously passed the Senate and next will be sent to the Governor’s desk for his approval or veto.  

To see bill text and info: Click HERE

All Bills Virginia Institute is Following