republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2021/hb-2159.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Balloons; release of nonbiodegradable balloons outdoors prohibited, civil penalty.	Release of balloon prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits any individual 16 years of age or older or other person, including a corporation, from intentionally releasing, discarding, or causing to be released or discarded any nonbiodegradable balloon outdoors and provides that any person convicted of such violation is liable for a civil penalty of $25 per balloon, to be paid into the Game Protection Fund. The bill provides that if a person under the age of 16 releases a balloon at the instruction of an adult, the adult shall be liable for the civil penalty. Current law prohibits a person from knowingly releasing 50 or more such balloons within an hour and sets the civil penalty at $5 per balloon, with the proceeds deposited into the Lifetime Hunting and Fishing Endowment Fund.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2021	HB 2159	Virginia HB 2159 (2021)	bill		enacted	Nancy D. Guy	4	31	9	2021-01-12	2021-03-30	openstates	ocd-bill/fbf453a3-b866-4191-aac4-951e3b245d93	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+HB2159	61a0271232b850c3c9d670884d827a1a780c88dcc234b7253b5f7d083c21c53a	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia HB 2159 (2021) — Balloons; release of nonbiodegradable balloons outdoors prohibited, civil penalty.

Release of balloon prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits any individual 16 years of age or older or other person, including a corporation, from intentionally releasing, discarding, or causing to be released or discarded any nonbiodegradable balloon outdoors and provides that any person convicted of such violation is liable for a civil penalty of $25 per balloon, to be paid into the Game Protection Fund. The bill provides that if a person under the age of 16 releases a balloon at the instruction of an adult, the adult shall be liable for the civil penalty. Current law prohibits a person from knowingly releasing 50 or more such balloons within an hour and sets the civil penalty at $5 per balloon, with the proceeds deposited into the Lifetime Hunting and Fishing Endowment Fund.

Version chain

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

1. CHAP0420 (committee substitute) — source
2. HB2159ER (committee substitute) — source
3. Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21102435D (committee substitute) — source
4. Printed as engrossed 21102435D-E (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• VOTE: Passage (59-Y 40-N 1-A) — 58–40 (pass) · lower
• Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — 39–0 (pass) · upper
• Passed Senate (22-Y 17-N) — 22–17 (pass) · upper
• Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (14-Y 0-N) — 14–0 (pass) · upper
• Reconsideration of Senate passage agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N) — 39–0 (pass) · upper
• Passed Senate (22-Y 17-N) — 22–17 (pass) · upper
• Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (8-Y 7-N) — 8–7 (pass) · upper
• Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with amendment(s) (14-Y 8-N) — 14–8 (pass) · lower
• Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 3-N) — 5–3 (pass) · lower

Sponsors

• Nancy D. Guy — primary (person)
• Betsy B. Carr — cosponsor (person)
• Kathleen Murphy — cosponsor (person)

Timeline

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

• 2021-01-12 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21102435D introduction
• 2021-01-12 Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources referral-committee
• 2021-01-15 Assigned ACNR sub: Natural Resources referral-committee
• 2021-01-18 Impact statement from DPB (HB2159)
• 2021-01-20 Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 3-N)
• 2021-01-20 House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
• 2021-01-20 Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with amendment(s) (14-Y 8-N) committee-passage
• 2021-01-21 Read first time reading-1
• 2021-01-22 Read second time reading-2
• 2021-01-22 Committee amendments agreed to
• 2021-01-22 Engrossed by House as amended HB2159E
• 2021-01-22 Printed as engrossed 21102435D-E
• 2021-01-25 Impact statement from DPB (HB2159E)
• 2021-01-25 Read third time and passed House (59-Y 40-N 1-A) passage, reading-3
• 2021-01-25 VOTE: Passage (59-Y 40-N 1-A)
• 2021-01-26 Constitutional reading dispensed
• 2021-01-26 Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources referral-committee
• 2021-02-05 Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (14-Y 0-N)
• 2021-02-16 Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (8-Y 7-N) committee-passage
• 2021-02-17 Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
• 2021-02-18 Read third time reading-3
• 2021-02-18 Passed Senate (22-Y 17-N) passage
• 2021-02-18 Reconsideration of Senate passage agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N)
• 2021-02-18 Passed Senate (22-Y 17-N) passage
• 2021-02-22 Enrolled
• 2021-02-22 Impact statement from DPB (HB2159ER)
• 2021-02-22 Signed by President
• 2021-02-24 Signed by Speaker
• 2021-02-25 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 25, 2021
• 2021-02-25 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
• 2021-03-30 Approved by Governor-Chapter 420 (effective 7/1/21) executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/fbf453a3-b866-4191-aac4-951e3b245d93. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).