---
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 SB 155 and is identical to HB 566."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 124"
citation: "Virginia SB 124 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mamie E. Locke"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 29
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2019-12-16"
last_action: "2020-03-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/bf716be2-c243-468f-b83c-cadcd629e584"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB124"
source_hash: "5aa9346dbdb8cd248109e39ca8a6a35acfcadcab0de7ebd23ff2e620873a3b36"
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 SB 124 (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 SB 155 and is identical to HB 566.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0221)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0221)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB124ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB124ER)
3. **Impact statement from DPB (SB124S1)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB124S1)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (SB124S1)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB124)

## Votes

- Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services with substitute (9-Y 6-N) — **9–6** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (53-Y 43-N) — **52–43** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (22-Y 17-N) — **22–17** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations (13-Y 2-N) — **13–2** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions (13-Y 9-N) — **13–9** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Mamie E. Locke — primary (person)
- Barbara A. Favola — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-12-16** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20101203D `introduction`
- **2019-12-16** Referred to Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-10** Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services with substitute (9-Y 6-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-10** Incorporates SB155 (Favola)
- **2020-01-10** Committee substitute printed 20105548D-S1 `substitution`
- **2020-01-10** Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-20** Impact statement from DPB (SB124S1)
- **2020-01-22** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (13-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-23** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-24** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-01-24** Reading of substitute waived
- **2020-01-24** Committee substitute agreed to 20105548D-S1
- **2020-01-24** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB124S1
- **2020-01-27** Read third time and passed Senate (22-Y 17-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-13** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-13** Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-18** Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions (13-Y 9-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-20** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-21** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-21** Passed House (53-Y 43-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-21** VOTE: Passage (53-Y 43-N)
- **2020-02-25** Enrolled
- **2020-02-25** Impact statement from DPB (SB124ER)
- **2020-02-25** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-02-26** Signed by President
- **2020-03-03** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on February 3, 2020
- **2020-03-03** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 10, 2020
- **2020-03-10** Approved by Governor-Chapter 221 (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/bf716be2-c243-468f-b83c-cadcd629e584`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).