---
type: "Bill"
title: "Food stamps and TANF; eligibility, drug-related felonies."
description: "Eligibility for food stamps and TANF; drug-related felonies. Provides that a person who is otherwise eligible to receive food stamp benefits shall not be denied such assistance solely because he has been convicted of a drug-related felony. Under current law, such individuals may not be denied food stamp benefits based on a felony conviction of possession of a controlled substance in violation of § 18.2-250, provided that such person is complying with, or has already complied with, all obligations imposed by the criminal court, is actively engaged in or has completed a substance abuse treatment program, participates in periodic drug screenings, and meets any other obligations as determined by the Department of Social Services. The bill also provides that a person who is otherwise eligible to receive TANF benefits shall not be denied such assistance solely because he has been convicted of a drug-related felony. This bill incorporates HB 391, HB 786, HB 814, and HB 1130 and is identical to SB 124."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 566"
citation: "Virginia HB 566 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Elizabeth R. Guzman"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 37
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2020-01-06"
last_action: "2020-03-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4fb70700-426a-449d-826f-499299da26f4"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB566"
source_hash: "2ca50235779d516862e3b4d3cb7ca0395e5b92485e5a9f95d9da19431e69ceb0"
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 566 (2020) — Food stamps and TANF; eligibility, drug-related felonies.

Eligibility for food stamps and TANF; drug-related felonies. Provides that a person who is otherwise eligible to receive food stamp benefits shall not be denied such assistance solely because he has been convicted of a drug-related felony. Under current law, such individuals may not be denied food stamp benefits based on a felony conviction of possession of a controlled substance in violation of § 18.2-250, provided that such person is complying with, or has already complied with, all obligations imposed by the criminal court, is actively engaged in or has completed a substance abuse treatment program, participates in periodic drug screenings, and meets any other obligations as determined by the Department of Social Services. The bill also provides that a person who is otherwise eligible to receive TANF benefits shall not be denied such assistance solely because he has been convicted of a drug-related felony. This bill incorporates HB 391, HB 786, HB 814, and HB 1130 and is identical to SB 124.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0361)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0361)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB566ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB566ER)
3. **Impact statement from DPB (HB566)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB566)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (HB566H1)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB566H1)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 0-N) — **6–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 3-N) — **5–3** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Passage (55-Y 44-N) — **54–44** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions with substitute (18-Y 3-N) — **18–3** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services (9-Y 4-N) — **9–4** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Appropriations (14-Y 7-N) — **14–7** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (22-Y 18-N) — **22–18** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Elizabeth R. Guzman — primary (person)
- Alfonso H. Lopez — cosponsor (person)
- Clinton L. Jenkins — cosponsor (person)
- Don L. Scott — cosponsor (person)
- Ibraheem S. Samirah — cosponsor (person)
- Jeion A. Ward — cosponsor (person)
- Kaye Kory — cosponsor (person)
- Lamont Bagby — cosponsor (person)
- Mark H. Levine — cosponsor (person)
- Patrick A. Hope — cosponsor (person)
- Sam Rasoul — cosponsor (person)
- Vivian E. Watts — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-06** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20105131D `introduction`
- **2020-01-06** Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-14** Assigned HWI sub: Social Services `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-20** Impact statement from DPB (HB566)
- **2020-01-23** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-01-23** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-23** Subcommittee recommends referring to Committee on Appropriations
- **2020-01-28** Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions with substitute (18-Y 3-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-28** Committee substitute printed 20105729D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-01-28** Incorporates HB786 (Bagby)
- **2020-01-28** Incorporates HB1130 (Lopez)
- **2020-01-28** Incorporates HB391 (Scott)
- **2020-01-28** Incorporates HB814 (Ward)
- **2020-01-28** Referred to Committee on Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-28** Assigned App. sub: Health & Human Resources `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-03** Impact statement from DPB (HB566H1)
- **2020-02-05** Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 3-N)
- **2020-02-05** Reported from Appropriations (14-Y 7-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-06** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-07** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-07** Committee substitute agreed to 20105729D-H1
- **2020-02-07** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB566H1
- **2020-02-10** Read third time and passed House (55-Y 44-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-10** VOTE: Passage (55-Y 44-N)
- **2020-02-11** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-11** Referred to Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-21** Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services (9-Y 4-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-24** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-25** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-25** Passed Senate (22-Y 18-N) `passage`
- **2020-03-02** Enrolled
- **2020-03-02** Impact statement from DPB (HB566ER)
- **2020-03-02** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-03** 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
- **2020-03-18** Approved by Governor-Chapter 361 (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/4fb70700-426a-449d-826f-499299da26f4`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).