---
type: "Bill"
title: "Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for COVID-19."
description: "Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for COVID-19. Establishes a presumption that COVID-19 causing the death or disability of health care providers is an occupational disease compensable under the Workers' Compensation Act. The bill provides that the COVID-19 virus is established by a positive diagnostic test for COVID-19, an incubation period consistent with COVID-19, and signs and symptoms of COVID-19 that require medical treatment. The bill provides that such presumption applies to any death or disability occurring on or after March 12, 2020, caused by infection from the COVID-19 virus, provided that for any such death or disability that occurred on or after March 12, 2020, and prior to December 31, 2021, the claimant received a positive diagnosis of COVID-19 from a licensed physician, after either a presumptive positive test or a laboratory-confirmed test for COVID-19, and presented with signs and symptoms of COVID-19 that required medical treatment. The bill provides that such presumptions do not apply to any person offered by his employer a vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 unless the person's physician determines in writing that immunization would pose a significant risk to the person's health."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 1985"
citation: "Virginia HB 1985 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Chris L. Hurst"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 60
vote_count: 16
first_action: "2021-01-11"
last_action: "2021-03-31"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0ade3673-3ce4-4012-b09d-c322ea7d790c"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+HB1985"
source_hash: "9c492e8ab0982f6a0582ffca830a920ad48154e3545f1972838cf412dd3d0ed2"
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 1985 (2021) — Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for COVID-19.

Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for COVID-19. Establishes a presumption that COVID-19 causing the death or disability of health care providers is an occupational disease compensable under the Workers' Compensation Act. The bill provides that the COVID-19 virus is established by a positive diagnostic test for COVID-19, an incubation period consistent with COVID-19, and signs and symptoms of COVID-19 that require medical treatment. The bill provides that such presumption applies to any death or disability occurring on or after March 12, 2020, caused by infection from the COVID-19 virus, provided that for any such death or disability that occurred on or after March 12, 2020, and prior to December 31, 2021, the claimant received a positive diagnosis of COVID-19 from a licensed physician, after either a presumptive positive test or a laboratory-confirmed test for COVID-19, and presented with signs and symptoms of COVID-19 that required medical treatment. The bill provides that such presumptions do not apply to any person offered by his employer a vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 unless the person's physician determines in writing that immunization would pose a significant risk to the person's health.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0507** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0507)
2. **Committee substitute printed 21103301D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1985H1)
3. **Committee substitute printed 21200277D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1985S1)
4. **Conference substitute printed 21200647D-H2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1985H2)
5. **HB1985EH1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1985EH1)
6. **HB1985ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1985ER)

## Votes

- Passed Senate with substitute (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (98-Y 0-N 1-A) — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 2-N) — **6–2** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: REJECTED (0-Y 95-N 2-A) — **0–94** (fail) · lower
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations (16-Y 0-N) — **16–0** (pass) · upper
- Reconsideration of Senate passage agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate with substitute (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Commerce and Labor (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Conference report agreed to by Senate (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Senate insisted on substitute (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Appropriations with amendment(s) (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (21-Y 0-N) — **21–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Agreed To (95-Y 0-N 2-A) — **94–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Chris L. Hurst — primary (person)
- Alex Q. Askew — cosponsor (person)
- Angelia Williams Graves — cosponsor (person)
- Betsy B. Carr — cosponsor (person)
- C. Matthew Fariss — cosponsor (person)
- Candi Mundon King — cosponsor (person)
- Charniele L. Herring — cosponsor (person)
- Clinton L. Jenkins — cosponsor (person)
- Dan I. Helmer — cosponsor (person)
- Danica A. Roem — cosponsor (person)
- Dawn M. Adams — cosponsor (person)
- Elizabeth R. Guzman — cosponsor (person)
- Hala S. Ayala — cosponsor (person)
- Ibraheem S. Samirah — cosponsor (person)
- Jeffrey M. Bourne — cosponsor (person)
- Joshua G. Cole — cosponsor (person)
- Kathleen Murphy — cosponsor (person)
- Kaye Kory — cosponsor (person)
- Kenneth R. Plum — cosponsor (person)
- Lashrecse D. Aird — cosponsor (person)
- Lee J. Carter — cosponsor (person)
- Marcus B. Simon — cosponsor (person)
- Mark H. Levine — cosponsor (person)
- Mark L. Keam — cosponsor (person)
- Patrick A. Hope — cosponsor (person)
- Sally L. Hudson — cosponsor (person)
- Sam Rasoul — cosponsor (person)
- Shelly A. Simonds — cosponsor (person)
- Suhas Subramanyam — cosponsor (person)
- Vivian E. Watts — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-11** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101723D `introduction`
- **2021-01-11** Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-14** Assigned L & C sub: Subcommittee #1 `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-19** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-01-19** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-01-19** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 2-N)
- **2021-01-21** Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (21-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-21** Committee substitute printed 21103301D-H1 `substitution`
- **2021-01-21** Referred to Committee on Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-22** Assigned App. sub: Compensation & General Government `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-25** Impact statement from DPB (HB1985H1)
- **2021-01-29** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-01-29** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (8-Y 0-N)
- **2021-01-29** Reported from Appropriations with amendment(s) (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-01** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-02-02** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-02-02** Committee on Labor and Commerce substitute agreed to 21103301D-H1
- **2021-02-02** Committee on Appropriations amendments agreed to
- **2021-02-02** Engrossed by House - committee substitute with amendments HB1985EH1
- **2021-02-02** Printed as engrossed 21103301D-EH1
- **2021-02-03** Read third time and passed House (98-Y 0-N 1-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-03** VOTE: Passage (98-Y 0-N 1-A)
- **2021-02-04** Impact statement from DPB (HB1985EH1)
- **2021-02-04** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2021-02-04** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-05** Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Commerce and Labor (15-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-15** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-02-15** Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-15** Committee substitute printed 21200277D-S1 `substitution`
- **2021-02-15** Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-17** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-17** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (16-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-18** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-18** Reading of substitute waived
- **2021-02-18** Committee substitute agreed to 21200277D-S1
- **2021-02-18** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute HB1985S1
- **2021-02-18** Passed Senate with substitute (38-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-18** Reconsideration of Senate passage agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-18** Passed Senate with substitute (39-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-22** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-02-22** Senate substitute rejected by House 21200277D-S1 (0-Y 95-N 2-A)
- **2021-02-22** VOTE: REJECTED (0-Y 95-N 2-A)
- **2021-02-23** Senate insisted on substitute (39-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-23** Senate requested conference committee
- **2021-02-24** House acceded to request
- **2021-02-24** Conferees appointed by House
- **2021-02-25** Conferees appointed by Senate
- **2021-02-25** Amended by conference committee
- **2021-02-25** Conference substitute printed 21200647D-H2
- **2021-02-25** Conference report agreed to by House (95-Y 0-N 2-A)
- **2021-02-25** VOTE: Agreed To (95-Y 0-N 2-A)
- **2021-02-27** Conference report agreed to by Senate (38-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-27** Impact statement from DPB (HB1985H2)
- **2021-03-09** Enrolled
- **2021-03-09** Signed by President
- **2021-03-11** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-03-12** Impact statement from DPB (HB1985ER)
- **2021-03-15** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 15, 2021
- **2021-03-15** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-31** Approved by Governor-Chapter 507 (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/0ade3673-3ce4-4012-b09d-c322ea7d790c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).