---
type: "Bill"
title: "Child abuse or neglect; prenatal use of a controlled substance or drug as prescribed."
description: "Child abuse or neglect; prenatal use of a controlled substance or drug as prescribed. Clarifies that a pregnant woman's prenatal use of a controlled substance or drug as prescribed by such woman's health care provider for opioid addiction recovery shall not solely be a reason to suspect that a child is abused or neglected."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 283"
citation: "Virginia HB 283 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Debra D. Gardner"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 31
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2026-01-09"
last_action: "2026-04-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/84df33d5-ec14-4c37-90f2-ccfa5be9c54f"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB283"
source_hash: "fed23a17b1f227d331dd0bcdd7869184e4b48a04c9fe78d0695fa01de4845a77"
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 283 (2026) — Child abuse or neglect; prenatal use of a controlled substance or drug as prescribed.

Child abuse or neglect; prenatal use of a controlled substance or drug as prescribed. Clarifies that a pregnant woman's prenatal use of a controlled substance or drug as prescribed by such woman's health care provider for opioid addiction recovery shall not solely be a reason to suspect that a child is abused or neglected.

## 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/1083404.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218928.PDF)
3. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139890.PDF)
4. **Health and Human Services Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1137086.HTML)
5. **Social Services Subcommittee Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1132530.HTML)
6. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1210646.PDF)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) — **7–1** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Health and Human Services with amendment(s) — **20–2** (pass) · lower
- Rereferred from Education and Health — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **21–19** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services — **11–4** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **73–25** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Debra D. Gardner — primary (person)
- Bonita G. Anthony — cosponsor (person)
- Charlie Schmidt — cosponsor (person)
- Jessica L. Anderson — cosponsor (person)
- Karen Keys-Gamarra — cosponsor (person)
- Karen R. "Kacey" Carnegie — cosponsor (person)
- Nadarius E. Clark — cosponsor (person)
- Nicole Cole — cosponsor (person)
- Rodney T. Willett — cosponsor (person)
- Rozia A. Henson, Jr. — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-09** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101372D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-09** Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-13** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB283)
- **2026-01-16** Assigned sub: Social Services `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-05** House subcommittee offered
- **2026-02-05** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (7-Y 1-N)
- **2026-02-10** Reported from Health and Human Services with amendment(s) (20-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-12** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-13** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-13** committee amendment agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2026-02-13** Engrossed by House as amended
- **2026-02-16** Read third time and passed House (73-Y 25-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-17** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB283)
- **2026-02-17** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2026-02-17** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-26** Rereferred from Education and Health to Rehabilitation and Social Services (13-Y 0-N) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-06** Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services (11-Y 4-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-09** Rules suspended
- **2026-03-09** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-03-09** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-03-10** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-10** Passed Senate (21-Y 19-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-30** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-30** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB283ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-30** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-31** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB283)
- **2026-03-31** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-31** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-31** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 585 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-13** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0585)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/84df33d5-ec14-4c37-90f2-ccfa5be9c54f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).