republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/hb-617.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Workers' compensation; repetitive motion injuries."
description: "Workers' compensation; repetitive motion injuries.Provides that a physical injury, including the condition of carpaltunnel syndrome, that results from repetitive motion shall be treatedas an injury by accident for purposes of the Virginia Workers' CompensationAct. The bill also removes a provision that declares carpal tunnelsyndrome to be an ordinary disease of life."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 617"
citation: "Virginia HB 617 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Elizabeth R. Guzman"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 35
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2020-01-06"
last_action: "2020-03-31"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a24c2aee-1eac-4568-8ca2-41a646a5184c"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB617"
source_hash: "ca7e5a3bd8b86ce8844a0c05aeada3f763f12bf2e55a10d1e8d25c1ed1550099"
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 617 (2020) — Workers' compensation; repetitive motion injuries.

Workers' compensation; repetitive motion injuries.Provides that a physical injury, including the condition of carpaltunnel syndrome, that results from repetitive motion shall be treatedas an injury by accident for purposes of the Virginia Workers' CompensationAct. The bill also removes a provision that declares carpal tunnelsyndrome to be an ordinary disease of life.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0549)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0549)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB617ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB617ER)
3. **Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB617H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB617H1)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (HB617)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB617)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting (3-Y 2-N) — **3–2** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (21-Y 19-N) — **21–19** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Labor and Commerce (13-Y 9-N) — **13–9** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Appropriations with substitute (14-Y 7-N) — **14–7** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Commerce and Labor (12-Y 3-N) — **12–3** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (55-Y 44-N) — **54–44** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 3-N) — **5–3** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 0-N) — **6–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Elizabeth R. Guzman — primary (person)
- Alfonso H. Lopez — cosponsor (person)
- Ibraheem S. Samirah — cosponsor (person)
- Jeion A. Ward — cosponsor (person)
- Jennifer Carroll Foy — cosponsor (person)
- Joseph D. Morrissey — cosponsor (person)
- Karrie K. Delaney — cosponsor (person)
- Kaye Kory — cosponsor (person)
- Lamont Bagby — cosponsor (person)
- Lashrecse D. Aird — cosponsor (person)
- Lee J. Carter — cosponsor (person)
- Marcia S. "Cia" Price — cosponsor (person)
- Mark H. Levine — cosponsor (person)
- Paul E. Krizek — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-06** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20100192D `introduction`
- **2020-01-06** Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-14** Assigned L & C sub: Subcommittee #1 `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-21** Impact statement from DPB (HB617)
- **2020-01-21** Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 3-N)
- **2020-01-21** Subcommittee recommends referring to Committee on Appropriations
- **2020-01-23** Reported from Labor and Commerce (13-Y 9-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-23** Referred to Committee on Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-24** Assigned App. sub: Compensation & General Government `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-28** Subcommittee recommends reporting (3-Y 2-N)
- **2020-02-04** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-02-04** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-05** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-02-05** Reported from Appropriations with substitute (14-Y 7-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-05** Committee substitute printed 20107419D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-02-06** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-07** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-07** Committee substitute agreed to 20107419D-H1
- **2020-02-07** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB617H1
- **2020-02-10** Read third time and passed House (55-Y 44-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-10** VOTE: Passage (55-Y 44-N)
- **2020-02-11** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-11** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-12** Impact statement from DPB (HB617H1)
- **2020-02-24** Reported from Commerce and Labor (12-Y 3-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-26** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-27** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-27** Passed Senate (21-Y 19-N) `passage`
- **2020-03-04** Enrolled
- **2020-03-04** Impact statement from DPB (HB617ER)
- **2020-03-05** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-05** Signed by President
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
- **2020-03-12** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-03-31** Approved by Governor-Chapter 549 (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/a24c2aee-1eac-4568-8ca2-41a646a5184c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).