republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/hb-129.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	Deer; permit may be issued to kill if damaging residential plants and certain property.	Killing of deer damaging residential plants and certain property. Allows the Director of the Department of Wildlife Resources or his designee to issue a permit to kill a limited number of antlered deer when such deer cause damage to residential plants and the Director or his designee determines, upon inspection, that there is clear and convincing evidence that the damage was done by antlered deer. Upon a landowner or lessee's request, the bill also requires the Director or his designee to issue a permit to kill antlerless deer on commercial agricultural production lands when such deer cause damage to fruit trees, Christmas trees, crops, horticultural plants, or personal property utilized for commercial agricultural production within the Commonwealth. When such damage is caused by antlered deer, the bill requires the Director or his designee to issue a permit to kill a limited number of antlered deer if the Director or his designee determines that there is clear and convincing evidence that the damage was done by antlered deer. The bill also changes the extent to which a person can assist in hunting when his hunting license has been revoked or suspended in the Commonwealth by prohibiting such person from assisting in hunting until the hunting restriction has been lifted. Current law allows such a person to assist in hunting after a certain period of time.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2026	HB 129	Virginia HB 129 (2026)	bill		enacted	Mitchell Cornett	5	38	7	2026-01-02	2026-04-13	openstates	ocd-bill/1295bd3c-89ca-4766-87a2-5c3579e0bbee	https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB129	fced3bf6ff3dcf377983fff6fd7d67e5c1c406bbd9669f10536a9ffba8aee095	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia HB 129 (2026) — Deer; permit may be issued to kill if damaging residential plants and certain property.

Killing of deer damaging residential plants and certain property. Allows the Director of the Department of Wildlife Resources or his designee to issue a permit to kill a limited number of antlered deer when such deer cause damage to residential plants and the Director or his designee determines, upon inspection, that there is clear and convincing evidence that the damage was done by antlered deer. Upon a landowner or lessee's request, the bill also requires the Director or his designee to issue a permit to kill antlerless deer on commercial agricultural production lands when such deer cause damage to fruit trees, Christmas trees, crops, horticultural plants, or personal property utilized for commercial agricultural production within the Commonwealth. When such damage is caused by antlered deer, the bill requires the Director or his designee to issue a permit to kill a limited number of antlered deer if the Director or his designee determines that there is clear and convincing evidence that the damage was done by antlered deer. The bill also changes the extent to which a person can assist in hunting when his hunting license has been revoked or suspended in the Commonwealth by prohibiting such person from assisting in hunting until the hunting restriction has been lifted. Current law allows such a person to assist in hunting after a certain period of time.

Version chain

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

1. Introduced (filed) — source
2. Agriculture Subcommittee Substitute (committee substitute) — source
3. Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Substitute (committee substitute) — source
4. Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Substitute (committee substitute) — source
5. Enrolled (enrolled) — source

Votes

• H VOTE: — 91–8 (pass) · lower
• H VOTE: — 88–9 (pass) · lower
• Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with substitute — 13–2 (pass) · upper
• Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with substitute — 21–1 (pass) · lower
• Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — 39–0 (pass) · upper
• Passage R — 33–7 (pass) · upper
• Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — 10–0 (pass) · lower

Sponsors

• Mitchell Cornett — primary (person)

Timeline

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

• 2026-01-02 Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102876D filing, introduction
• 2026-01-02 Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources referral-committee
• 2026-01-19 Assigned HACNR sub: Agriculture referral-committee
• 2026-01-28 House subcommittee offered
• 2026-01-28 Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (10-Y 0-N) substitution
• 2026-02-04 Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with substitute (21-Y 1-N) committee-passage
• 2026-02-04 Committee substitute printed 26106494D-H1 substitution
• 2026-02-06 Read first time reading-1
• 2026-02-09 Read second time reading-2
• 2026-02-09 committee substitute agreed to substitution
• 2026-02-09 Engrossed by House - committee substitute substitution
• 2026-02-10 Read third time and passed House (88-Y 9-N 0-A) passage, reading-3
• 2026-02-11 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
• 2026-02-11 Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources referral-committee
• 2026-02-11 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB129)
• 2026-02-24 Senate subcommittee offered
• 2026-02-25 Assigned HACNR sub: Rural Affairs referral-committee
• 2026-03-03 Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with substitute (13-Y 2-N) committee-passage
• 2026-03-04 Committee substitute printed 26108431D-S1 substitution
• 2026-03-04 Substitute bill reprinted 26108431D
• 2026-03-05 Rules suspended
• 2026-03-05 Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
• 2026-03-05 Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
• 2026-03-06 Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
• 2026-03-06 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB129)
• 2026-03-09 Read third time reading-3
• 2026-03-09 Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Substitute agreed to
• 2026-03-09 Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute substitution
• 2026-03-09 Passed Senate with substitute (33-Y 7-N 0-A) passage
• 2026-03-10 Senate substitute agreed to by House (91-Y 8-N 0-A) substitution
• 2026-03-30 Enrolled enrolled
• 2026-03-30 Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB129ER) passage
• 2026-03-30 Signed by President passage
• 2026-03-31 Signed by Speaker passage
• 2026-03-31 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 enrolled, executive-receipt
• 2026-03-31 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 executive-receipt
• 2026-04-02 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB129)
• 2026-04-13 Approved by Governor-Chapter 912 (effective 7/1/2026) executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/1295bd3c-89ca-4766-87a2-5c3579e0bbee. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).