republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2019/hb-2490.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Tech Talent Investment Program and Fund; created, report."
description: "Creates a grant program to assist qualified public institutions of higher education, defined in the bill, in reaching, by 2039, a goal of increasing by at least 25,000 degrees the number of bachelor's and master's degrees awarded in computer science, computer engineering, and closely related fields, or that otherwise align with traded-sector, technology-focused growth opportunities identified by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority. To be eligible for an annual grant, a qualified institution is required to enter into a memorandum of understanding setting forth specific criteria for eligible degrees, eligible expenses, degree production goals, and graduation rates. Failure to meet criteria would result in the adjustment of future awards."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 2490"
citation: "Virginia HB 2490 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Administration of Government", "Study Commissions", "Committees and Reports"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Nick Rush"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 29
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2019-01-09"
last_action: "2019-03-19"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/12e1bc90-a346-4fef-886c-b64ad0d574d7"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+sum+HB2490"
source_hash: "b8defa5f3f3541eb07b6e8e91eb012c07c88745398e1ee38dade6c6af29cf340"
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 HB 2490 (2019) — Tech Talent Investment Program and Fund; created, report.

Creates a grant program to assist qualified public institutions of higher education, defined in the bill, in reaching, by 2039, a goal of increasing by at least 25,000 degrees the number of bachelor's and master's degrees awarded in computer science, computer engineering, and closely related fields, or that otherwise align with traded-sector, technology-focused growth opportunities identified by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority. To be eligible for an annual grant, a qualified institution is required to enter into a memorandum of understanding setting forth specific criteria for eligible degrees, eligible expenses, degree production goals, and graduation rates. Failure to meet criteria would result in the adjustment of future awards.

## Version chain

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

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0638)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+CHAP0638)
2. **House subcommittee amendments and substitutes adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://committees.lis.virginia.gov/subcommitteeaction.aspx?ses=191&bil=HB2490)
3. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2490ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2490ER)
4. **House: Committee substitute printed 19105488D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2490H1)
5. **House: Conference substitute printed 19107704D-H2** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2490H2)
6. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19102503D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2490)
7. **Senate: Committee substitute printed 19106603D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2490S1)

## Votes

- Passed Senate with substitute — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **5–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Conference report agreed to by Senate — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Conference report agreed to by House — **95–2** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Appropriations with substitute — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Senate substitute rejected by House 19106603D-S1 — **4–94** (fail) · lower
- Read third time and passed House — **92–5** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Finance with substitute — **16–0** (pass) · upper
- Senate insisted on substitute — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Nick Rush — primary (person)
- Lashrecse D. Aird — cosponsor (person)
- Matthew James - Resigned 5/19 — cosponsor (person)
- S. Chris Jones — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-09** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19102503D `introduction`
- **2019-01-09** Referred to Committee on Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-28** Assigned App. sub: Special Subcommittee on Amazon `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-01** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2019-02-04** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2019-02-04** Committee substitute agreed to 19105488D-H1
- **2019-02-04** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB2490H1
- **2019-02-05** Read third time and passed House (92-Y 5-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-02-06** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2019-02-06** Referred to Committee on Finance `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-15** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2019-02-15** Reading of substitute waived
- **2019-02-15** Committee substitute agreed to 19106603D-S1
- **2019-02-15** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute HB2490S1
- **2019-02-19** Placed on Calendar
- **2019-02-19** Senate substitute rejected by House 19106603D-S1 (4-Y 94-N)
- **2019-02-20** Senate requested conference committee
- **2019-02-21** House acceded to request
- **2019-02-21** Conferees appointed by House
- **2019-02-21** Conferees appointed by Senate
- **2019-02-23** Amended by conference committee
- **2019-02-23** Conference substitute printed 19107704D-H2
- **2019-02-23** Conference report agreed to by House (95-Y 2-N)
- **2019-03-07** Enrolled
- **2019-03-07** Signed by Speaker
- **2019-03-09** Signed by President
- **2019-03-11** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 11, 2019
- **2019-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 26, 2019
- **2019-03-19** Approved by Governor-Chapter 638 (effective 7/1/19) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/12e1bc90-a346-4fef-886c-b64ad0d574d7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).