republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2022/sb-219.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Va. Employment Commission; administrative reforms, reporting requirements, electronic submissions."
description: "Virginia Employment Commission; administrative reforms; reporting requirements; electronic submissions; Unemployment Compensation Ombudsman established; emergency. Requires the Virginia Employment Commission to calculate and report the (i) average unemployment insurance benefit levels, (ii) average income replacement of unemployment insurance benefits, and (iii) recipiency rate for unemployment insurance benefits in the Commonwealth as part of the Commission's annual balance sheet. The bill also requires the Commission, as part of its biennial strategic plan submitted to the Department of Planning and Budget, to develop and maintain an unemployment insurance Resiliency Plan that describes the specific actions the agency would take, depending on the level of increase in unemployment insurance (UI) claims, to address staffing, communications, and other relevant aspects of operations to ensure continued efficient and effective administration of the UI program.The bill creates within the Commission on Unemployment Compensation a subcommittee that shall be responsible for monitoring the Virginia Employment Commission's management of the unemployment insurance program. The subcommittee shall meet at least once each quarter and shall report annually, beginning on December 1, 2022, to the House Committee on Appropriations, the House Committee on Commerce and Energy, the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor, and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations. The bill also directs the Commission to convene an advisory committee composed of stakeholders and subject matter experts to review information related to UI claims.The bill requires employers to submit claim-related forms and separation information electronically, as well as other information and electronic tax payments upon the Commission's request, unless the employer has received a waiver by the Commission.The bill provides that a claim for unemployment benefits that has been determined invalid by the Virginia Employment Commission as a result of the claimant's monetary ineligibility shall first be reviewed upon a request for redetermination prior to filing an appeal. The bill also creates an Unemployment Compensation Ombudsman position for the purpose of providing information and assistance to persons seeking assistance in the unemployment compensation process and exempts confidential case files of the Unemployment Compensation Ombudsman from the mandatory disclosure provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.The bill directs the Virginia Department of Human Resource Management to lead a multiagency work group to discuss strategies for staffing assistance and support for agencies that might need staffing assistance during emergencies. Additionally, the Virginia Employment Commission is directed to task its internal audit division to review and revise documents and online resources related to unemployment compensation. The bill contains an emergency clause and is identical to HB 270."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2022"
identifier: "SB 219"
citation: "Virginia SB 219 (2022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jeremy S. McPike"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 40
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2022-01-10"
last_action: "2022-04-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0799f4e8-b68e-42ef-bb11-ac3c3e9fa292"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+sum+SB219"
source_hash: "3e8ab3f30eea5942b7e29adb6e3f8fc5dfe21a39eb1e487ef162a6326c6b4cb8"
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 219 (2022) — Va. Employment Commission; administrative reforms, reporting requirements, electronic submissions.

Virginia Employment Commission; administrative reforms; reporting requirements; electronic submissions; Unemployment Compensation Ombudsman established; emergency. Requires the Virginia Employment Commission to calculate and report the (i) average unemployment insurance benefit levels, (ii) average income replacement of unemployment insurance benefits, and (iii) recipiency rate for unemployment insurance benefits in the Commonwealth as part of the Commission's annual balance sheet. The bill also requires the Commission, as part of its biennial strategic plan submitted to the Department of Planning and Budget, to develop and maintain an unemployment insurance Resiliency Plan that describes the specific actions the agency would take, depending on the level of increase in unemployment insurance (UI) claims, to address staffing, communications, and other relevant aspects of operations to ensure continued efficient and effective administration of the UI program.The bill creates within the Commission on Unemployment Compensation a subcommittee that shall be responsible for monitoring the Virginia Employment Commission's management of the unemployment insurance program. The subcommittee shall meet at least once each quarter and shall report annually, beginning on December 1, 2022, to the House Committee on Appropriations, the House Committee on Commerce and Energy, the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor, and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations. The bill also directs the Commission to convene an advisory committee composed of stakeholders and subject matter experts to review information related to UI claims.The bill requires employers to submit claim-related forms and separation information electronically, as well as other information and electronic tax payments upon the Commission's request, unless the employer has received a waiver by the Commission.The bill provides that a claim for unemployment benefits that has been determined invalid by the Virginia Employment Commission as a result of the claimant's monetary ineligibility shall first be reviewed upon a request for redetermination prior to filing an appeal. The bill also creates an Unemployment Compensation Ombudsman position for the purpose of providing information and assistance to persons seeking assistance in the unemployment compensation process and exempts confidential case files of the Unemployment Compensation Ombudsman from the mandatory disclosure provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.The bill directs the Virginia Department of Human Resource Management to lead a multiagency work group to discuss strategies for staffing assistance and support for agencies that might need staffing assistance during emergencies. Additionally, the Virginia Employment Commission is directed to task its internal audit division to review and revise documents and online resources related to unemployment compensation. The bill contains an emergency clause and is identical to HB 270.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0716** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+CHAP0716)
2. **Committee substitute printed 22105060D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+SB219S1)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/12/22 22101014D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+SB219)
4. **SB219ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+SB219ER)
5. **SB219ER2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+SB219ER2)
6. **SB219S2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+SB219S2)

## Votes

- Reported from Commerce and Labor (14-Y 0-N 1-A) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Commerce and Energy (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Adoption (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (16-Y 0-N) — **16–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Jeremy S. McPike — primary (person)
- Adam P. Ebbin — cosponsor (person)
- Jennifer B. Boysko — cosponsor (person)
- Jennifer L. McClellan — cosponsor (person)
- Lynwood W. Lewis, Jr. — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2022-01-10** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/12/22 22101014D `introduction`
- **2022-01-10** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2022-01-17** Reported from Commerce and Labor (14-Y 0-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2022-01-17** Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2022-02-08** Committee substitute printed 22105060D-S1 `substitution`
- **2022-02-08** Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (16-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2022-02-09** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2022-02-10** Floor substitute printed 22106452D-S2 (McPike)
- **2022-02-10** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2022-02-10** Committee substitute rejected 22105060D-S1
- **2022-02-10** Reading of substitute waived
- **2022-02-10** Substitute by Senator McPike agreed to 22106452D-S2
- **2022-02-10** Engrossed by Senate - floor substitute SB219S2
- **2022-02-11** Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2022-02-21** Placed on Calendar
- **2022-02-21** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2022-02-21** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Energy `referral-committee`
- **2022-02-22** Reported from Commerce and Energy (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2022-02-23** Impact statement from DPB (SB219S2)
- **2022-02-24** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2022-02-25** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2022-02-25** Passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2022-02-25** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N)
- **2022-03-01** Enrolled
- **2022-03-01** Signed by Speaker
- **2022-03-02** Impact statement from DPB (SB219ER)
- **2022-03-02** Signed by President
- **2022-03-11** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 11, 2022
- **2022-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2022
- **2022-04-11** Governor's recommendation received by Senate
- **2022-04-27** Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (40-Y 0-N)
- **2022-04-27** House concurred in Governor's recommendation BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N)
- **2022-04-27** VOTE: Adoption (100-Y 0-N)
- **2022-04-27** Governor's recommendation adopted
- **2022-04-27** Emergency clause added by Governor's recommendation
- **2022-04-27** Reenrolled
- **2022-04-27** Reenrolled bill text (SB219ER2)
- **2022-04-27** Signed by President as reenrolled
- **2022-04-27** Signed by Speaker as reenrolled
- **2022-04-27** Enacted, Chapter 716 (effective 4/27/22) `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/0799f4e8-b68e-42ef-bb11-ac3c3e9fa292`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).