republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/sb-291.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Health, State Board of, regulations; standards for levels of neonatal care."
description: "State Board of Health regulations; standards for levels of neonatal care. Directs the State Board of Health to establish standards for designation of care in neonatal services consistent with, but not necessarily identical to, standards published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The bill directs the Board of Health to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the bill by July 1, 2027, and prohibits enforcement of such regulations until July 1, 2029. This bill is identical to HB 456."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 291"
citation: "Virginia SB 291 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Lashrecse D. Aird"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 35
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-01-13"
last_action: "2026-04-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/347c35d7-d604-46d3-ab0c-a2125367a30b"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB291"
source_hash: "684d6bd618a0fc79deb1a9bc500455aa3916e8ee0969f74966e8fe37fd786237"
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 291 (2026) — Health, State Board of, regulations; standards for levels of neonatal care.

State Board of Health regulations; standards for levels of neonatal care. Directs the State Board of Health to establish standards for designation of care in neonatal services consistent with, but not necessarily identical to, standards published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The bill directs the Board of Health to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the bill by July 1, 2027, and prohibits enforcement of such regulations until July 1, 2029. This bill is identical to HB 456.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1088551.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216681.PDF)
3. **Education and Health Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1095511.HTML)
4. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1096481.PDF)
5. **Health and Human Services Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1169910.PDF)
6. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1186733.PDF)

## Votes

- Reported from Health and Human Services with substitute — **21–0** (pass) · lower
- Concur House Substitute R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Education and Health with amendment — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **39–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Lashrecse D. Aird — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-13** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104866D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-13** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-20** Assigned Education sub: Health `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-22** Reported from Education and Health with amendment (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-23** Rules suspended
- **2026-01-23** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-01-23** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
- **2026-01-23** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB291)
- **2026-01-23** Passed by for the day
- **2026-01-26** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-01-26** Education and Health Amendment agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2026-01-26** Engrossed by Senate Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-01-27** Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-03** Placed on Calendar
- **2026-02-03** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-03** Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-13** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB291)
- **2026-02-19** Reported from Health and Human Services with substitute (21-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-19** Committee substitute printed 26108254D-H1 `substitution`
- **2026-02-20** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB291)
- **2026-02-23** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-24** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-02-24** committee substitute agreed to `substitution`
- **2026-02-24** Engrossed by House - committee substitute `substitution`
- **2026-02-24** Passed House with substitute (98-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-02-26** House substitute agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `substitution`
- **2026-03-02** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-02** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB291ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-02** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB291)
- **2026-03-02** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-02** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-10** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-10** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-06** Approved by Governor-Chapter 146 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-06** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0146)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/347c35d7-d604-46d3-ab0c-a2125367a30b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).