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2023 Priority Legislation

of the Virginia Grassroots Coalition

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Cat	Number	Title	Patron	House	Senate	Governor	updated
2023 Priority Bills Live bills
women	HB 1511 Support	Midwifery; administration of medication. more... Allows licensed midwives to obtain, possess, and administer drugs and devices within the scope of their practice. The bill limits liability of entities that provide or dispense drugs or devices to a licensed midwife and that rely in good faith upon the license information provided by the licensed midwife.	Dawn M. Adams (D-HD68)	Passed	Passed	Signed 02/20/23 House: Enrolled 02/20/23 House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1511ER)	9/14/23
climate	HB 1604 Support	Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act; regulation of rates. more... This bipartisan Act, will lower energy costs and put money back in Virginians' pockets by holding regulated utilities accountable for overcharging customers.	Lee Ware (R-HD65)	Passed	Passed	Signed	8/31/23
rights	HB 1895 Support	Employee protection; prohibited retaliation; prohibited nondisclosure and nondisparagement. more... The Silenced No More Act, to strengthen a statute protecting employees from retaliatory termination by further protecting persons who speak out or discuss/disclose conduct believed to be illegal discrimination (including sexual assault and harassment), or waste, fraud or abuse, and to void and make unenforceable nondisclosure agreements (but for settlement amounts) and nondisparagement agreements (unless otherwise requested by the victim).	Eileen Filler-Corn	Passed	Passed	Signed 02/25/23 Senate: Conference report agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) 02/25/23 House: Conference report agreed to by House (94-Y 1-N) 02/25/23 House: VOTE: Adoption (94-Y 1-N)	9/14/23
education	SB 1043 Support	Public education; student mental health and counseling, definitions, licensure requirements. more... Requires the Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, to develop, adopt, and distribute to each school board a model memorandum of understanding between a school board and a public or private community mental health services provider that sets forth parameters for the provision of mental health services to public school students enrolled in the local school division by such provider.	Jeremy McPike (D-SD29)	Passed	Passed	Signed 02/24/23 Senate: Conference report agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) 02/24/23 House: Conference report agreed to by House (94-Y 0-N) 02/24/23 House: VOTE: Adoption (94-Y 0-N)	9/14/23
climate	SB 1166 Support	Energy planning and electric utility oversight; Commonwealth Energy Research Consortium established. more... Requires the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation (the Commission) to establish the Commonwealth Energy Research Consortium (the Consortium), consisting of public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth, to conduct energy research and policy analysis for the Commonwealth. ...	Scott A. Surovell (D-SD36)	Passed	Passed	Signed 02/25/23 Senate: Conference report agreed to by Senate (31-Y 9-N) 02/25/23 House: Conference report agreed to by House (93-Y 0-N) 02/25/23 House: VOTE: Adoption (93-Y 0-N)	8/31/23
education	SB 1215 Support	Public school teachers and other Standards of Quality-funded positions; compensation. more... Requires the Commonwealth to compensate its public school teachers at a rate that is competitive, defined in current law as at or above the national average teacher salary, in order to attract and keep highly qualified teachers. ...	Louise Lucas (D-SD18)	Passed	Passed	Signed 02/23/23 Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1215ER) 02/23/23 House: House insisted on amendments 02/23/23 House: House requested conference committee	9/14/23
climate	SB 1321 Support	Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act; regulation of rates. more... Affordable Energy Act. This bipartisan bill restores the State Corporation Commission's ability to lower electric rates and prevent monopoly utilities from overcharging customers. Since 2009, Dominion Energy has overcharged Virginians by at least $1.9 billion.	Creigh Deeds (D-SD25)	Passed	Passed	Signed 02/21/23 House: VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) 02/24/23 Senate: Enrolled 02/24/23 Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1321ER)	8/31/23
campaign finance	SB 1427 Support	Campaign finance; political action committees; certain large pre-election expenditures. more... Requires in-state political action committees to file a report for any single expenditure of $1,000 or more made between October 1 and the date of the November general election. ...	David Suetterlein (R-HD19)	Passed	Passed	Signed	8/31/23
climate	HB 1770 Oppose	Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act; retail competitiveness, review proceedings, etc. more... Restricts the ability of the State Corporation Commission to keep energy costs affordable.	Terry Kilgore (R-HD1)	Passed	Passed	Signed 02/25/23 Senate: Conference report agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) 02/25/23 House: Conference report agreed to by House (94-Y 1-N) 02/25/23 House: VOTE: Adoption (94-Y 1-N)	8/31/23
climate	SB 1265 Oppose	Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act; retail competitiveness, review proceedings, etc. more... Allows regulated investor-owned utilities to restrict the ability of the State Corporation Commission to keep energy costs affordable.	Richard L. Saslaw (D-SD35)	Passed	Passed	Signed 02/25/23 Senate: Conference report agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) 02/25/23 House: Conference report agreed to by House (91-Y 1-N) 02/25/23 House: VOTE: Adoption (91-Y 1-N)	8/31/23

No. of bills: 10

Note: The Rules Committees of both Chambers have limited the number of bills that individual members may introduce this Session: Senators have bill limits of 26, and Delegates have bill limits of 15.

General info

Introduced Bills by subject

Education bills

Continued from last session

2023 Session dates

Dec 12: Bills available
Jan 11: Session begins
Feb 8: Crossover*
Feb 15: Budget conferees named

Glossary

Dillon Rule. Restricts local government authority to enact ordinances.

Conference Committee. A temporary committee w. members from both the House and Senate, tasked with reconciling differences in legislation that passed both chambers.

Continued/Carried over. Action taken in an even-numbered year to postpone the consideration of a measure until the next regular session of the General Assembly.

Crossover. The last day for a bill to pass out of the chamber in which it was introduced and move forward for consideration in the opposite chamber. If a bill does not move forward, it is "Left" (dead).

Engrossed. A legislative stage when a bill passes the second reading in the House of origin. Every bill has to be "read" on the floor three times before voting on it. The action or any debate or discussion usually comes on the day of the second reading or the third reading.

Enrolled. Legislation which has passed both the House of Delegates and the Senate, signed by the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate, sent to the Governor, but not yet signed.

Failed to report. Defeated. The rejection of a motion to 'report' a bill to the full chamber.

Incorporated. Rolled into someone another bill. Either because they're identical, or they have incorporated *some* of the language in, and the patron agreed to have her name on the other bill.

Patron. Bill sponsor. There can be many patrons.

PBI. Passed by Indefinitely. Action to allow a committee to reconsider legislation at a later meeting. If the committee takes no further action, the bill is dead. [Usually the bill is dead.]

Referred. The assignment of legislation to another standing committee with no stance on the policy of the measure (neither endorses nor rejects the legislation).

Reported. The approval of a measure by the majority of the committee. The legislation may be reported by the committee with or without amendments. A bill may also be reported and referred to another committee.

Stricken. Legislation removed from a committee's docket, frequently at the request of the patron.

More definitions from League of Women Voters Virginia
More definitions from University of Virginia