---
type: "Bill"
title: "Death certificate; veterans, fees."
description: "Death certificate; veterans; fees. Expands list of parties eligible to obtain a free certified copy of a veteran's death certificate for service-connected benefits to include any funeral director or funeral service licensee who provides funeral services for the veteran, if so requested by the surviving spouse of the veteran."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 479"
citation: "Virginia HB 479 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Terry G. Kilgore"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 28
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-03"
last_action: "2020-03-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3678b79f-c6f4-42fe-9c8d-6c2d2a9c82cd"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB479"
source_hash: "b4d4508db24c5abdd1129586abcb6b443b3b3e10b5c292375835e96644eb0dd2"
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 479 (2020) — Death certificate; veterans, fees.

Death certificate; veterans; fees. Expands list of parties eligible to obtain a free certified copy of a veteran's death certificate for service-connected benefits to include any funeral director or funeral service licensee who provides funeral services for the veteran, if so requested by the surviving spouse of the veteran.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0360)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0360)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB479ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB479ER)
3. **Impact statement from DPB (HB479)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB479)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (HB479H1)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB479H1)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions with substitute (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Education and Health (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N) — **32–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Terry G. Kilgore — primary (person)
- Kathleen Murphy — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-03** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20101267D `introduction`
- **2020-01-03** Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-17** Assigned HWI sub: Health `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-20** Impact statement from DPB (HB479)
- **2020-01-21** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-28** Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions with substitute (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-28** Committee substitute printed 20106302D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-01-29** Impact statement from DPB (HB479H1)
- **2020-01-30** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-01-31** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-01-31** Committee substitute agreed to 20106302D-H1
- **2020-01-31** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB479H1
- **2020-02-03** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-03** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-04** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-04** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-17** Assigned Education sub: Health `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-20** Reported from Education and Health (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-21** Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-24** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-24** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-27** Enrolled
- **2020-02-27** Impact statement from DPB (HB479ER)
- **2020-02-27** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-02-27** Signed by President
- **2020-03-06** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 6, 2020
- **2020-03-06** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-03-18** Approved by Governor-Chapter 360 (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/3678b79f-c6f4-42fe-9c8d-6c2d2a9c82cd`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).