---
type: "Bill"
title: "Suffocation by blocking or obstructing the airway of another; penalty."
description: "Suffocation by blocking or obstructing the airway of another; penalty."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 1673"
citation: "Virginia HB 1673 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bell"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 40
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2023-01-09"
last_action: "2023-03-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3a5ae330-2bcf-4753-a556-21696c546975"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+sum+HB1673"
source_hash: "4c0ad4fd68641f19983d16ed9c4ff00b3131e0487bd3f16d9b45b5fe196790a2"
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 1673 (2023) — Suffocation by blocking or obstructing the airway of another; penalty.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0709** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+CHAP0709)
2. **Committee substitute printed 23105482D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+HB1673H1)
3. **HB1673ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+HB1673ER)
4. **HB1673H2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+HB1673H2)
5. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23101889D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+HB1673)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations (16-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Reported from Judiciary (14-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (20-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (94-Y 4-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bell — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-09** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23101889D `filing, introduction`
- **2023-01-09** Impact statement from VCSC (HB1673)
- **2023-01-09** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-23** Impact statement from DPB (HB1673)
- **2023-01-24** Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #1 `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-25** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2023-01-25** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) `substitution`
- **2023-02-01** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (20-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-01** Committee substitute printed 23105482D-H1 `substitution`
- **2023-02-02** Impact statement from VCSC (HB1673H1)
- **2023-02-03** Impact statement from DPB (HB1673H1)
- **2023-02-03** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2023-02-06** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2023-02-06** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2023-02-06** Committee Courts of Justice substitute rejected 23105482D-H1
- **2023-02-06** Passed by temporarily
- **2023-02-06** Floor substitute printed 23106349D-H2 (Bell)
- **2023-02-06** Substitute by Delegate Bell agreed to 23106349D-H2
- **2023-02-06** Engrossed by House - floor substitute HB1673H2
- **2023-02-07** Impact statement from VCSC (HB1673H2)
- **2023-02-07** Impact statement from DPB (HB1673H2)
- **2023-02-07** Read third time and passed House (94-Y 4-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-07** VOTE: Passage (94-Y 4-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-08** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2023-02-08** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-15** Reported from Judiciary (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-15** Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-16** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (16-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-20** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2023-02-21** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2023-02-21** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-24** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2023-02-24** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1673ER) `passage`
- **2023-02-24** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-02-25** Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-03-02** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 2, 2023 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2023-03-02** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 27, 2023 `executive-receipt`
- **2023-03-09** Impact statement from DPB (HB1673ER)
- **2023-03-27** Approved by Governor-Chapter 709 (effective 7/1/23) `executive-signature`
- **2023-03-27** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0709)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3a5ae330-2bcf-4753-a556-21696c546975`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).