---
type: "Bill"
title: "Local government; authority to reduce the speed limit in a business district or residence district."
description: "Local government authority; reduction of speedlimits. Authorizes local governing bodies to reduce the speedlimit to less than 25 miles per hour, but not less than 15 milesper hour, in a business district or residence district."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 1903"
citation: "Virginia HB 1903 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Betsy B. Carr"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 28
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2021-01-08"
last_action: "2021-03-24"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0b793b5a-2e0f-4fba-8d66-06e91aa76222"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+HB1903"
source_hash: "3c50f7e26ea4712dc4fbada179ccad61cffe97f62230b2de2cece1e99a7d7ba9"
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 1903 (2021) — Local government; authority to reduce the speed limit in a business district or residence district.

Local government authority; reduction of speedlimits. Authorizes local governing bodies to reduce the speedlimit to less than 25 miles per hour, but not less than 15 milesper hour, in a business district or residence district.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0318** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0318)
2. **HB1903ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1903ER)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101800D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1903)

## Votes

- Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Transportation (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (21-Y 17-N) — **21–17** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (9-Y 0-N) — **9–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Transportation (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Transportation (9-Y 5-N) — **9–5** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (93-Y 6-N) — **92–6** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Betsy B. Carr — primary (person)
- Angelia Williams Graves — cosponsor (person)
- Kathleen Murphy — cosponsor (person)
- Patrick A. Hope — cosponsor (person)
- Roslyn C. Tyler — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101800D `introduction`
- **2021-01-08** Referred to Committee on Transportation `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-12** Assigned Transportation sub: Transportation Systems `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-14** Subcommittee recommends reporting (9-Y 0-N)
- **2021-01-14** Reported from Transportation (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-15** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-01-18** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-01-18** Engrossment reconsidered by House
- **2021-01-18** Engrossed by House
- **2021-01-19** Read third time and passed House (93-Y 6-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-01-19** VOTE: Passage (93-Y 6-N)
- **2021-01-20** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2021-01-20** Referred to Committee on Transportation `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-28** Impact statement from DPB (HB1903)
- **2021-02-05** Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Transportation (15-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-11** Reported from Transportation (9-Y 5-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-15** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-16** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-16** Passed by for the day
- **2021-02-17** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-17** Passed Senate (21-Y 17-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-22** Enrolled
- **2021-02-22** Signed by President
- **2021-02-23** Impact statement from DPB (HB1903ER)
- **2021-02-24** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-02-25** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 25, 2021
- **2021-02-25** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-24** Approved by Governor-Chapter 318 (effective 7/1/21) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/0b793b5a-2e0f-4fba-8d66-06e91aa76222`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).