republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2022/sb-538.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	Nonpayment of wages; defense of contractor.	Nonpayment of wages; defense of contractor. Provides that a general contractor or subcontractor, regardless of tier, may submit as evidence in defending against a claim for nonpayment a written certification, under oath, from any lower-tier subcontractor stating that (i) the subcontractor and each of his sub-subcontractors has paid all employees all wages due for the period during which the wages are claimed for the work performed on the project and (ii) to the subcontractor's knowledge, all sub-subcontractors below the subcontractor, regardless of tier, have similarly paid their employees all such wages. This bill is identical to HB 889.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2022	SB 538	Virginia SB 538 (2022)	bill		enacted	Mark J. Peake	5	44	8	2022-01-12	2022-04-27	openstates	ocd-bill/48aef1c7-6798-4cbf-8f5c-96277f8ac251	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+sum+SB538	6ccb6c1a79c05da330c7b613526c6bfa4a6847ce91cc8fbf0a861d8487e363c4	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia SB 538 (2022) — Nonpayment of wages; defense of contractor.

Nonpayment of wages; defense of contractor. Provides that a general contractor or subcontractor, regardless of tier, may submit as evidence in defending against a claim for nonpayment a written certification, under oath, from any lower-tier subcontractor stating that (i) the subcontractor and each of his sub-subcontractors has paid all employees all wages due for the period during which the wages are claimed for the work performed on the project and (ii) to the subcontractor's knowledge, all sub-subcontractors below the subcontractor, regardless of tier, have similarly paid their employees all such wages. This bill is identical to HB 889.

Version chain

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

1. CHAP0726 (committee substitute) — source
2. Committee substitute printed 22105298D-S1 (committee substitute) — source
3. Committee substitute printed 22106854D-H1 (committee substitute) — source
4. SB538ER (committee substitute) — source
5. SB538ER2 (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• VOTE: Adoption (72-Y 27-N) — 71–27 (pass) · lower
• Rereferred from Judiciary (11-Y 4-N) — 11–4 (pass) · upper
• Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute (14-Y 1-N) — 14–1 (pass) · upper
• Reported from Commerce and Energy with substitute (14-Y 8-N) — 14–8 (pass) · lower
• Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — 40–0 (pass) · upper
• Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (40-Y 0-N) — 40–0 (pass) · upper
• Read third time and passed Senate (37-Y 3-N) — 37–3 (pass) · upper
• VOTE: Passage (65-Y 34-N) — 64–34 (pass) · lower

Sponsors

• Mark J. Peake — primary (person)

Timeline

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

• 2022-01-12 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/12/22 22102773D introduction
• 2022-01-12 Referred to Committee on the Judiciary referral-committee
• 2022-01-26 Rereferred from Judiciary (11-Y 4-N)
• 2022-01-26 Rereferred to Commerce and Labor referral-committee
• 2022-01-28 Assigned C&L sub: Labor and Employment referral-committee
• 2022-02-01 Impact statement from DPB (SB538)
• 2022-02-03 Senate subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
• 2022-02-07 Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
• 2022-02-07 Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute (14-Y 1-N) committee-passage
• 2022-02-07 Committee substitute printed 22105298D-S1 substitution
• 2022-02-08 Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
• 2022-02-09 Read second time reading-2
• 2022-02-09 Reading of substitute waived
• 2022-02-09 Committee substitute agreed to 22105298D-S1
• 2022-02-09 Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB538S1
• 2022-02-10 Read third time and passed Senate (37-Y 3-N) passage, reading-3
• 2022-02-14 Impact statement from DPB (SB538S1)
• 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 House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
• 2022-02-22 Reported from Commerce and Energy with substitute (14-Y 8-N) committee-passage
• 2022-02-22 Committee substitute printed 22106854D-H1 substitution
• 2022-02-24 Read second time reading-2
• 2022-02-25 Read third time reading-3
• 2022-02-25 Committee substitute rejected 22106854D-H1
• 2022-02-25 Passed House (65-Y 34-N) passage
• 2022-02-25 VOTE: Passage (65-Y 34-N)
• 2022-03-01 Enrolled
• 2022-03-01 Signed by Speaker
• 2022-03-02 Impact statement from DPB (SB538ER)
• 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 (72-Y 27-N)
• 2022-04-27 VOTE: Adoption (72-Y 27-N)
• 2022-04-27 Governor's recommendation adopted
• 2022-04-27 Reenrolled
• 2022-04-27 Reenrolled bill text (SB538ER2)
• 2022-04-27 Signed by President as reenrolled
• 2022-04-27 Signed by Speaker as reenrolled
• 2022-04-27 Enacted, Chapter 726 (effective 7/1/22) became-law

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/48aef1c7-6798-4cbf-8f5c-96277f8ac251. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).