republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2017/hb-2317.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Harm reduction programs; public health emergency, etc."
description: "Authorizes the Commissioner of Health (the Commissioner) to establish and operate local or regional comprehensive harm reduction programs during a declared public health emergency that include the provision of sterile and disposal of used hypodermic needles and syringes. The objectives of the programs are to reduce the spread of HIV, viral hepatitis, and other blood-borne diseases in Virginia, to reduce the transmission of blood-borne diseases through needlestick injuries to law-enforcement and other emergency personnel, and to provide information to individuals who inject drugs regarding addiction recovery treatment services. The programs will be located in at-risk communities, in accordance with criteria established by the Department of Health. The bill requires the Commissioner to establish standards and protocols for the comprehensive harm reduction programs and requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Public Safety to approve such standards and protocols."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "HB 2317"
citation: "Virginia HB 2317 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Health", "Professions and Occupations", "Study Commissions", "Committees and Reports"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["John M. O'Bannon, III"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 19
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2017-01-12"
last_action: "2017-02-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6e6454e7-3b1b-47ef-9f8d-a22b4d194ccf"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+HB2317"
source_hash: "73b1880f99f053d52e8735f7021d30d227043c106773a69d2ff08d7e37e7c8d8"
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 2317 (2017) — Harm reduction programs; public health emergency, etc.

Authorizes the Commissioner of Health (the Commissioner) to establish and operate local or regional comprehensive harm reduction programs during a declared public health emergency that include the provision of sterile and disposal of used hypodermic needles and syringes. The objectives of the programs are to reduce the spread of HIV, viral hepatitis, and other blood-borne diseases in Virginia, to reduce the transmission of blood-borne diseases through needlestick injuries to law-enforcement and other emergency personnel, and to provide information to individuals who inject drugs regarding addiction recovery treatment services. The programs will be located in at-risk communities, in accordance with criteria established by the Department of Health. The bill requires the Commissioner to establish standards and protocols for the comprehensive harm reduction programs and requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Public Safety to approve such standards and protocols.

## Version chain

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

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0183)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+CHAP0183)
2. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2317ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB2317ER)
3. **House: Presented and ordered printed 17101954D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB2317)
4. **House: Printed as engrossed 17101954D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB2317E)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **7–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Education and Health — **14–1** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **39–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Appropriations — **21–1** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions — **20–2** (pass) · legislature
- Passed Senate — **36–4** (pass) · legislature
- Read third time and passed House — **59–36** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- John M. O'Bannon, III — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-01-12** Presented and ordered printed 17101954D `introduction`
- **2017-01-12** Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-19** Referred to Committee on Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-19** Assigned App. sub: Health & Human Resources `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-01** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2017-02-02** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-02-02** Amendments by Delegate O'Bannon agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2017-02-02** Engrossed by House as amended HB2317E
- **2017-02-02** Printed as engrossed 17101954D-E
- **2017-02-03** Read third time and passed House (59-Y 36-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-02-06** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2017-02-06** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-13** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2017-02-15** Enrolled
- **2017-02-15** Signed by Speaker
- **2017-02-17** Signed by President
- **2017-02-17** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on 2/17/17
- **2017-02-17** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, February 24, 2017
- **2017-02-23** Approved by Governor-Chapter 183 (effective 7/1/17) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6e6454e7-3b1b-47ef-9f8d-a22b4d194ccf`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).