---
type: "Bill"
title: "License tax; retired police or military dogs, exemption."
description: "License tax; retired police or military dogs; exemption. Allows a locality by ordinance to exempt any dog that served as a police or law-enforcement dog or military working dog from the license tax on the ownership of dogs. Such ordinance must include a verification process for the vaccination records of such a dog."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 299"
citation: "Virginia HB 299 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jason S. Ballard"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 25
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2024-01-05"
last_action: "2024-03-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4496a6be-4da4-4761-b65d-58d2a82fdd05"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+HB299"
source_hash: "dcce0ba8cc20dde8b5a55a813a5f4f0b5363a6080511ebb6307e69de64850e97"
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 299 (2024) — License tax; retired police or military dogs, exemption.

License tax; retired police or military dogs; exemption. Allows a locality by ordinance to exempt any dog that served as a police or law-enforcement dog or military working dog from the license tax on the ownership of dogs. Such ordinance must include a verification process for the vaccination records of such a dog.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0187** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0187)
2. **HB299ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB299ER)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24102274D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB299)
4. **Printed as engrossed 24102274D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB299E)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Local Government (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Finance with amendment(s) (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (5-Y 3-N) — **5–3** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Jason S. Ballard — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-05** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24102274D `filing, introduction`
- **2024-01-05** Referred to Committee on Finance `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-16** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (5-Y 3-N)
- **2024-01-24** Reported from Finance with amendment(s) (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-01-26** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-01-29** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-01-29** Committee amendments agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2024-01-29** Engrossed by House as amended HB299E
- **2024-01-29** Printed as engrossed 24102274D-E
- **2024-01-30** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-01-30** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-01-31** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2024-01-31** Referred to Committee on Local Government `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-19** Reported from Local Government (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-20** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2024-02-21** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-21** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-27** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-02-27** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB299ER) `passage`
- **2024-02-27** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-03-01** Signed by President `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 11, 2024 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-28** Approved by Governor-Chapter 187 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-03-28** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0187)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4496a6be-4da4-4761-b65d-58d2a82fdd05`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).