---
type: "Bill"
title: "Motorboats; means of propulsion, wakesurfing."
description: "Allows a motorboat that is propelled by a means that is below the water line and forward of either the transom or an integrated swim platform to be accompanied by a person in the water. Current law allows a motorboat to be accompanied by such a wakesurfer only if the motorboat is propelled by an inboard motor. This bill is identical to"
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2018"
identifier: "HB 751"
citation: "Virginia HB 751 (2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Game", "Inland Fisheries and Boating"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["James A. \"Jay\" Leftwich"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 20
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2018-01-09"
last_action: "2018-03-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b1323531-1bf3-4f87-bc68-e15328f96ddb"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+sum+HB751"
source_hash: "55560ddeab95c0724a5f26337cdc7bff306c7cd75d73e7f45ce145a9b1563985"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 751 (2018) — Motorboats; means of propulsion, wakesurfing.

Allows a motorboat that is propelled by a means that is below the water line and forward of either the transom or an integrated swim platform to be accompanied by a person in the water. Current law allows a motorboat to be accompanied by such a wakesurfer only if the motorboat is propelled by an inboard motor. This bill is identical to

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB751ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+HB751ER)
2. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/18 18101538D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+HB751)
3. **House: Printed as engrossed 18101538D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+HB751E)

## Votes

- Reconsideration of Senate passage agreed to by Senate — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with amendments — **22–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passed Senate — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Read third time and passed House — **97–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources — **13–0** (pass) · legislature
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments — **7–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passed Senate — **40–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- James A. "Jay" Leftwich — primary (person)
- Barry D. Knight — cosponsor (person)
- Timothy D. Hugo — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2018-01-09** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/18 18101538D `introduction`
- **2018-01-09** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2018-01-23** Assigned ACNR sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-02** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2018-02-05** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2018-02-05** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2018-02-05** Passed by for the day
- **2018-02-06** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2018-02-06** Engrossed by House as amended HB751E
- **2018-02-06** Printed as engrossed 18101538D-E
- **2018-02-07** Read third time and passed House (97-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2018-02-08** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2018-02-08** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-20** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2018-02-22** Enrolled
- **2018-02-22** Signed by Speaker
- **2018-02-23** Signed by President
- **2018-02-26** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 26, 2018
- **2018-02-26** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 5, 2018
- **2018-03-02** Approved by Governor-Chapter 117 (effective 7/1/18) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b1323531-1bf3-4f87-bc68-e15328f96ddb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).