---
type: "Bill"
title: "Solar photovoltaic projects; extension of land use approvals, extends sunset provision."
description: "Solar photovoltaic projects; extension of land use approvals, extends sunset provision."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 1944"
citation: "Virginia HB 1944 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Hodges"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 31
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2023-01-10"
last_action: "2023-03-24"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8776097b-d124-486f-af66-0594426db4a8"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+sum+HB1944"
source_hash: "aba17eba19f7e974d06a49738fa713838c88f06694b6379612498991d0939352"
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 1944 (2023) — Solar photovoltaic projects; extension of land use approvals, extends sunset provision.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0499** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+CHAP0499)
2. **Committee substitute printed 23105749D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+HB1944H1)
3. **HB1944ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+HB1944ER)
4. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23103896D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+HB1944)

## Votes

- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with substitute (22-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Reported from Local Government (14-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (9-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Hodges — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-10** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23103896D `filing, introduction`
- **2023-01-10** Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-20** Impact statement from DHCD/CLG (HB1944)
- **2023-01-23** Assigned CC & T sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-26** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2023-01-26** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2023-01-26** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2023-01-26** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2023-01-26** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (9-Y 0-N) `substitution`
- **2023-01-27** Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with substitute (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-27** Committee substitute printed 23105749D-H1 `substitution`
- **2023-01-31** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2023-02-01** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2023-02-01** Committee substitute agreed to 23105749D-H1 `substitution`
- **2023-02-01** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1944H1 `substitution`
- **2023-02-02** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-02** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-03** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2023-02-03** Referred to Committee on Local Government `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-13** Reported from Local Government (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-14** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2023-02-15** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2023-02-15** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-20** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2023-02-20** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1944ER) `passage`
- **2023-02-20** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-02-21** 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`
- **2023-03-24** Approved by Governor-Chapter 499 (effective 7/1/23) `executive-signature`
- **2023-03-24** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0499)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/8776097b-d124-486f-af66-0594426db4a8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).