---
type: "Bill"
title: "Offshore Wind, Division of; established, report."
description: "Division of Offshore Wind; established. Establishes the Division of Offshore Wind in the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy and gives it the following powers and duties: (i) to identify specific measures that will facilitate the establishment of the Hampton Roads region as a wind industry hub for offshore wind generation projects in state and federal waters off the United States coast; (ii) to coordinate state agencies' activities related to offshore wind; (iii) to develop and implement a stakeholder engagement strategy that identifies key groups, sets forth outreach objectives, and outlines a timeline for outreach and engagement; (iv) to identify regulatory and other barriers to the deployment of offshore wind and attraction of offshore wind supply chain businesses; and (v) to provide staff support for the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority and facilitate fulfillment of the Authority's purpose and duties."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 234"
citation: "Virginia HB 234 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Martha M. Mugler"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 32
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2019-12-29"
last_action: "2020-04-07"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/21e50eb9-0b64-4b84-aa2d-dd5fe7c30ef5"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB234"
source_hash: "0e2a019be0f42a9fa27618f12060eddc71deb56e1fa3b9a15be63393a312cf39"
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 234 (2020) — Offshore Wind, Division of; established, report.

Division of Offshore Wind; established. Establishes the Division of Offshore Wind in the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy and gives it the following powers and duties: (i) to identify specific measures that will facilitate the establishment of the Hampton Roads region as a wind industry hub for offshore wind generation projects in state and federal waters off the United States coast; (ii) to coordinate state agencies' activities related to offshore wind; (iii) to develop and implement a stakeholder engagement strategy that identifies key groups, sets forth outreach objectives, and outlines a timeline for outreach and engagement; (iv) to identify regulatory and other barriers to the deployment of offshore wind and attraction of offshore wind supply chain businesses; and (v) to provide staff support for the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority and facilitate fulfillment of the Authority's purpose and duties.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0794)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0794)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB234ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB234ER)
3. **Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB234H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB234H1)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (HB234)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB234)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (10-Y 0-N) — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- Referred from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (14-Y 0-N 1-A) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (39-Y 1-N) — **39–1** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Martha M. Mugler — primary (person)
- Alex Q. Askew — cosponsor (person)
- Clinton L. Jenkins — cosponsor (person)
- Don L. Scott — cosponsor (person)
- Joseph C. Lindsey — cosponsor (person)
- Michael P. Mullin — cosponsor (person)
- Nancy D. Guy — cosponsor (person)
- Shelly A. Simonds — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-12-29** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20102566D `introduction`
- **2019-12-29** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-15** Referred from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources
- **2020-01-15** Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-16** Assigned L & C sub: Subcommittee #3 `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-17** Impact statement from DPB (HB234)
- **2020-01-30** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-01-30** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (10-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-04** Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-04** Committee substitute printed 20107171D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-02-05** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-06** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-06** Committee substitute agreed to 20107171D-H1
- **2020-02-06** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB234H1
- **2020-02-07** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-07** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-10** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-10** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-11** Impact statement from DPB (HB234H1)
- **2020-02-18** Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (14-Y 0-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-18** Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-25** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-26** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-27** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-27** Passed Senate (39-Y 1-N) `passage`
- **2020-03-04** Enrolled
- **2020-03-04** Impact statement from DPB (HB234ER)
- **2020-03-05** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-05** Signed by President
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
- **2020-03-12** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-07** Approved by Governor-Chapter 794 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/21e50eb9-0b64-4b84-aa2d-dd5fe7c30ef5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).