---
type: "Bill"
title: "Polysomnographic technology; students or trainees, licensure."
description: "Provides that a student enrolled in an educational program in polysomnographic technology or a person engaged in a traineeship does not require a license to practice polysomnographic technology, provided that such student or trainee is under the direct supervision of a licensed polysomnographic technologist or a licensed doctor of medicine or osteopathic medicine. The bill requires any such student or trainee to be identified to patients as a student or trainee in polysomnographic technology. The bill also provides that any such student or trainee is required to have a license to practice after 18 months from the start of the educational program or traineeship or six months from the conclusion of such program or traineeship, whichever is earlier."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2018"
identifier: "HB 854"
citation: "Virginia HB 854 (2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Education", "Professions and Occupations"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Christopher K. Peace"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 16
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2018-01-09"
last_action: "2018-03-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/88cc6244-b2e7-4e55-9fc3-5e2592165ef8"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+sum+HB854"
source_hash: "422d823bb64e89bd48dce9dc417e4435cd4ab53a449456cc8eee3435fa7de8c3"
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 854 (2018) — Polysomnographic technology; students or trainees, licensure.

Provides that a student enrolled in an educational program in polysomnographic technology or a person engaged in a traineeship does not require a license to practice polysomnographic technology, provided that such student or trainee is under the direct supervision of a licensed polysomnographic technologist or a licensed doctor of medicine or osteopathic medicine. The bill requires any such student or trainee to be identified to patients as a student or trainee in polysomnographic technology. The bill also provides that any such student or trainee is required to have a license to practice after 18 months from the start of the educational program or traineeship or six months from the conclusion of such program or traineeship, whichever is earlier.

## 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 (HB854ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+HB854ER)
2. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/18 18101578D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+HB854)

## Votes

- Passed Senate — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **38–0** (pass) · legislature
- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **10–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions — **21–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Education and Health — **15–0** (pass) · legislature
- Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE — **98–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Christopher K. Peace — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-01-09** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/18 18101578D `introduction`
- **2018-01-09** Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions `referral-committee`
- **2018-01-23** Assigned HWI sub: Subcommittee #1 `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-05** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2018-02-06** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2018-02-07** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2018-02-08** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2018-02-08** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-09** Assigned Education sub: Health Professions `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-19** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2018-02-21** Enrolled
- **2018-02-21** 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 98 (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/88cc6244-b2e7-4e55-9fc3-5e2592165ef8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).