---
type: "Bill"
title: "Licensed substance abuse treatment practitioners; licensure by endorsement, etc."
description: "Licensed substance abuse treatment practitioners; licensure by endorsement; licensure without examination. Directs the Board of Counseling to establish a pathway to licensure by endorsement as a licensed substance abuse treatment practitioner for applicants who have held certification as a certified substance abuse counselor for at least 10 years without a history of disciplinary action, have completed at least five years of documented supervised experience, hold at least a master's degree in an appropriate field of counseling, and hold a Master Addiction Counselor credential issued by NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals. The bill provides that such pathway to licensure by endorsement does not require examination."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 1282"
citation: "Virginia HB 1282 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Joshua G. Cole"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 29
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-01-14"
last_action: "2026-04-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/507f4f2b-9bd7-4aeb-8311-aa30870219ff"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB1282"
source_hash: "3f6ac542fcda5a8dc97e1fb864ce14669bca8153ad3cdce410359a1c5ec94835"
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 1282 (2026) — Licensed substance abuse treatment practitioners; licensure by endorsement, etc.

Licensed substance abuse treatment practitioners; licensure by endorsement; licensure without examination. Directs the Board of Counseling to establish a pathway to licensure by endorsement as a licensed substance abuse treatment practitioner for applicants who have held certification as a certified substance abuse counselor for at least 10 years without a history of disciplinary action, have completed at least five years of documented supervised experience, hold at least a master's degree in an appropriate field of counseling, and hold a Master Addiction Counselor credential issued by NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals. The bill provides that such pathway to licensure by endorsement does not require examination.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1088008.PDF)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1145664.PDF)
3. **Health Professions Subcommittee Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1136564.HTML)
4. **Health and Human Services Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1143323.HTML)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1209084.PDF)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **96–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Education and Health — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Health and Human Services with amendment(s) — **21–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Joshua G. Cole — primary (person)
- Rodney T. Willett — cosponsor (person)
- Virgil Thornton — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-14** Presented and ordered printed 26104275D `introduction`
- **2026-01-14** Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-23** Assigned sub: Health Professions `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-09** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1282)
- **2026-02-10** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (10-Y 0-N)
- **2026-02-12** Reported from Health and Human Services with amendment(s) (21-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-15** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-16** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-16** committee amendment agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2026-02-16** Engrossed by House as amended
- **2026-02-16** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1282)
- **2026-02-17** Read third time and passed House (97-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-18** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2026-02-18** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-27** Assigned Education sub: Health Professions `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-05** Reported from Education and Health (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-06** Rules suspended
- **2026-03-06** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-03-06** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-03-09** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-09** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-14** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-14** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1282ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-14** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-14** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-17** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1282)
- **2026-03-25** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 25, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-25** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 766 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/507f4f2b-9bd7-4aeb-8311-aa30870219ff`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).