republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/sb-315.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Safeguarding American Veteran Empowerment Act; created, prohibited practices, penalties."
description: "Safeguarding American Veteran Empowerment Act; prohibited practices; penalties. Creates the Safeguarding American Veteran Empowerment Act to regulate the practices of persons seeking to receive compensation for preparing, presenting, prosecuting, advising, consulting, or assisting any individual regarding any veterans' benefits matter, as defined in the bill. The bill provides that a violation of its provisions constitutes a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. This bill is identical to HB 398."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 315"
citation: "Virginia SB 315 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Adam P. Ebbin"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 34
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-01-13"
last_action: "2026-04-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/fbce9e70-14b1-4185-8f32-9be0df2efdb5"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB315"
source_hash: "e33f3c7d388a3ca6b5ff7e6bc7c58fb3e7173aa77655b5fbebcf86a0f2e7676e"
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 315 (2026) — Safeguarding American Veteran Empowerment Act; created, prohibited practices, penalties.

Safeguarding American Veteran Empowerment Act; prohibited practices; penalties. Creates the Safeguarding American Veteran Empowerment Act to regulate the practices of persons seeking to receive compensation for preparing, presenting, prosecuting, advising, consulting, or assisting any individual regarding any veterans' benefits matter, as defined in the bill. The bill provides that a violation of its provisions constitutes a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. This bill is identical to HB 398.

## 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/1088868.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1219009.PDF)
3. **Labor and Commerce Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1170842.PDF)
4. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1186669.PDF)

## Votes

- Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute — **19–0** (pass) · lower
- Passage R — **34–4** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **91–5** (pass) · lower
- Reported from General Laws and Technology — **11–2** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Concur House Substitute R — **38–2** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Adam P. Ebbin — primary (person)
- Angelia Williams Graves — cosponsor (person)
- Bryce E. Reeves — cosponsor (person)
- Christie New Craig — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-13** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100649D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-13** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-21** Reported from General Laws and Technology (11-Y 2-N 2-A) `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** Passed by for the day
- **2026-01-26** Engrossed by Senate (Voice Vote)
- **2026-01-26** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-01-26** Engrossed by Senate
- **2026-01-27** Read third time and passed Senate (34-Y 4-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 Labor and Commerce `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-10** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB315)
- **2026-02-19** Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (19-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-19** Committee substitute printed 26108164D-H1 `substitution`
- **2026-02-23** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-24** Moved from Uncontested Calendar to Regular Calendar
- **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 (91-Y 5-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-02-26** House substitute agreed to by Senate (38-Y 2-N 0-A) `substitution`
- **2026-02-26** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB315)
- **2026-03-02** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-02** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB315ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-02** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-02** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-02** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB315)
- **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`
- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 603 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-13** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0603)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/fbce9e70-14b1-4185-8f32-9be0df2efdb5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).