republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2021/sb-1259.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Virginia Highway Corporation Act; alteration of certificate of authority, powers and duties of SCC."
description: "Virginia Highway Corporation Act; alteration of certificate of authority; powers and duties of the State Corporation Commission. Requires any application for a transfer, extension, or amendment of a certificate of authority issued under the Virginia Highway Corporation Act to include information demonstrating the financial fitness of the entity applying to operate the roadway. The bill requires an applicant for a toll increase to provide a forward-looking analysis return that will be reviewed by the Department of Transportation that demonstrates that the proposed rates will be reasonable to the user in relation to the benefit obtained, not likely to materially discourage use of the roadway, and provide the operator no more than a reasonable return. The bill also prohibits the State Corporation Commission from authorizing a toll increase if these criteria are not met or if the proposed increase is for more than one year. The bill requires an operator to receive approval from the Commission prior to refinancing any existing debt."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 1259"
citation: "Virginia SB 1259 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["John J. Bell"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 31
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2021-01-11"
last_action: "2021-03-25"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/89100cc4-cc35-4df4-9fd1-6f790b265562"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+SB1259"
source_hash: "eee6fdf102d7f443947ba52082c03156facea1065131e1d076a095190181212c"
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 SB 1259 (2021) — Virginia Highway Corporation Act; alteration of certificate of authority, powers and duties of SCC.

Virginia Highway Corporation Act; alteration of certificate of authority; powers and duties of the State Corporation Commission. Requires any application for a transfer, extension, or amendment of a certificate of authority issued under the Virginia Highway Corporation Act to include information demonstrating the financial fitness of the entity applying to operate the roadway. The bill requires an applicant for a toll increase to provide a forward-looking analysis return that will be reviewed by the Department of Transportation that demonstrates that the proposed rates will be reasonable to the user in relation to the benefit obtained, not likely to materially discourage use of the roadway, and provide the operator no more than a reasonable return. The bill also prohibits the State Corporation Commission from authorizing a toll increase if these criteria are not met or if the proposed increase is for more than one year. The bill requires an operator to receive approval from the Commission prior to refinancing any existing debt.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0350** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0350)
2. **Committee substitute printed 21103749D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1259S1)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101430D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1259)
4. **SB1259ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1259ER)

## Votes

- Reported from Transportation (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Transportation with substitute (12-Y 3-N) — **12–3** (pass) · upper
- Continued to Special Session 1 in Transportation — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (32-Y 5-N) — **32–5** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (97-Y 1-N 1-A) — **96–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- John J. Bell — primary (person)
- David A. Reid — cosponsor (person)
- Jennifer B. Boysko — cosponsor (person)
- Suhas Subramanyam — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-11** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101430D `introduction`
- **2021-01-11** Referred to Committee on Transportation `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-28** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-01-28** Reported from Transportation with substitute (12-Y 3-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-28** Committee substitute printed 21103749D-S1 `substitution`
- **2021-02-01** Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-02** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-02-02** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-02-02** Reading of substitute waived
- **2021-02-02** Committee substitute agreed to 21103749D-S1
- **2021-02-02** Reading of amendment waived
- **2021-02-02** Amendment by Senator Marsden rejected `amendment-failure`
- **2021-02-02** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB1259S1
- **2021-02-03** Read third time and passed Senate (32-Y 5-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-05** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-02-05** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-02-05** Referred to Committee on Transportation `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-08** Continued to Special Session 1 in Transportation
- **2021-02-11** Reported from Transportation (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-12** Impact statement from DPB (SB1259S1)
- **2021-02-15** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-02-16** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-16** Passed House (97-Y 1-N 1-A) `passage`
- **2021-02-16** VOTE: Passage (97-Y 1-N 1-A)
- **2021-02-19** Enrolled
- **2021-02-19** Impact statement from DPB (SB1259ER)
- **2021-02-22** Signed by President
- **2021-02-22** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-02-24** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on February 24, 2021
- **2021-02-24** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-25** Approved by Governor-Chapter 350 (effective 7/1/21) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/89100cc4-cc35-4df4-9fd1-6f790b265562`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).