republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/hb-1021.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Personal property tax; farm machinery, classification of forest harvesting."
description: "Personal property tax; farm machinery; classificationof forest harvesting and silvicultural activity equipment. Providesthat for the purposes of local personal property tax exemptions,\"farm machinery\" includes any machinery designed solely for theplanting, production, or harvesting of any agricultural product, asdefined in § 3.2-6400. The bill removes forest harvesting and silviculturalactivity equipment from the list of property that may be classifiedseparately and taxed at a lower rate than general personal property.Forest harvesting and silvicultural activity equipment that is notexempted from property taxes is also added to the list of propertyseparately classified for valuation purposes, but not for rate purposes.The bill contains a nonseverability clause."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 1021"
citation: "Virginia HB 1021 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Les R. Adams"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 28
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-07"
last_action: "2020-03-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0aae4047-ca5b-4d71-acf6-21840ee6df72"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB1021"
source_hash: "c26c6a0d90d1a570637d3e654d485fc663048d53de62bde6d9c33a98d9eab72f"
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 1021 (2020) — Personal property tax; farm machinery, classification of forest harvesting.

Personal property tax; farm machinery; classificationof forest harvesting and silvicultural activity equipment. Providesthat for the purposes of local personal property tax exemptions,"farm machinery" includes any machinery designed solely for theplanting, production, or harvesting of any agricultural product, asdefined in § 3.2-6400. The bill removes forest harvesting and silviculturalactivity equipment from the list of property that may be classifiedseparately and taxed at a lower rate than general personal property.Forest harvesting and silvicultural activity equipment that is notexempted from property taxes is also added to the list of propertyseparately classified for valuation purposes, but not for rate purposes.The bill contains a nonseverability clause.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0251)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0251)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1021ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1021ER)
3. **Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1021H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1021H1)
4. **Impact statement from TAX (HB1021)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1021)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (10-Y 0-N) — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Finance with substitute (21-Y 0-N) — **21–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Les R. Adams — primary (person)
- Roslyn C. Tyler — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20101518D `introduction`
- **2020-01-07** Referred to Committee on Finance `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-23** Assigned Finance sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-24** Impact statement from TAX (HB1021)
- **2020-01-27** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-01-27** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (10-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-29** Reported from Finance with substitute (21-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-29** Committee substitute printed 20105937D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-01-31** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-03** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-03** Committee substitute agreed to 20105937D-H1
- **2020-02-03** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1021H1
- **2020-02-04** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-04** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-05** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-05** Referred to Committee on Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-11** Impact statement from TAX (HB1021H1)
- **2020-02-18** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-19** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-20** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-20** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-25** Enrolled
- **2020-02-25** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-02-26** Impact statement from TAX (HB1021ER)
- **2020-02-26** Signed by President
- **2020-03-03** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 3, 2020
- **2020-03-03** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 10, 2020
- **2020-03-10** Approved by Governor-Chapter 251 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/0aae4047-ca5b-4d71-acf6-21840ee6df72`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).