republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2024/hb-149.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Employee protections; medicinal use of cannabis oil."
description: "Employee protections; medicinal use of cannabisproduct. Amends the provision that prohibits an employer from discriminatingagainst an employee for such employee's lawful use of cannabis productpursuant to a valid written certification issued by a practitionerfor the treatment or to eliminate the symptoms of the employee'sdiagnosed condition or disease, with certain exceptions, by specifyingthat such use must conform to the laws of the Commonwealth and thatsuch protections extend to the employees of the Commonwealth andother public bodies."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 149"
citation: "Virginia HB 149 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Dan I. Helmer"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 38
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2024-01-02"
last_action: "2024-04-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/07bad6d2-e17e-434a-8564-e1a837146090"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+HB149"
source_hash: "49809f8c9deec5ac055cb881ef664f739a87b7561819836dbe777e48a2d05e10"
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 149 (2024) — Employee protections; medicinal use of cannabis oil.

Employee protections; medicinal use of cannabisproduct. Amends the provision that prohibits an employer from discriminatingagainst an employee for such employee's lawful use of cannabis productpursuant to a valid written certification issued by a practitionerfor the treatment or to eliminate the symptoms of the employee'sdiagnosed condition or disease, with certain exceptions, by specifyingthat such use must conform to the laws of the Commonwealth and thatsuch protections extend to the employees of the Commonwealth andother public bodies.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0632** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0632)
2. **Committee substitute printed 24108207D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB149S1)
3. **HB149ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB149ER)
4. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24100935D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB149)
5. **Printed as engrossed 24100935D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB149E)

## Votes

- Rereferred from Commerce and Labor (14-Y 0-N) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate with substitute (26-Y 13-N) — **26–13** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (78-Y 20-N) — **77–20** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services with substitute (10-Y 5-N) — **10–5** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Adoption (82-Y 17-N) — **81–17** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Labor and Commerce with amendment(s) (19-Y 2-N) — **19–2** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Dan I. Helmer — primary (person)
- Joshua G. Cole — cosponsor (person)
- Laura Jane Cohen — cosponsor (person)
- Nadarius E. Clark — cosponsor (person)
- Phil M. Hernandez — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-02** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24100935D `filing, introduction`
- **2024-01-02** Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-15** Assigned L & C sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-18** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2024-01-18** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (8-Y 0-N)
- **2024-01-23** Reported from Labor and Commerce with amendment(s) (19-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-01-25** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-01-26** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-01-26** Committee amendments agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2024-01-26** Engrossed by House as amended HB149E
- **2024-01-26** Printed as engrossed 24100935D-E
- **2024-01-29** Read third time and passed House (78-Y 20-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-01-29** VOTE: Passage (78-Y 20-N) `passage`
- **2024-01-30** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2024-01-30** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-31** Impact statement from DPB (HB149E)
- **2024-02-19** Rereferred from Commerce and Labor (14-Y 0-N) `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-19** Rereferred to Rehabilitation and Social Services `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-23** Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services with substitute (10-Y 5-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-23** Committee substitute printed 24108207D-S1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-26** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2024-02-27** Impact statement from DPB (HB149S1)
- **2024-02-27** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-27** Reading of substitute waived
- **2024-02-27** Committee substitute agreed to 24108207D-S1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-27** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute HB149S1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-27** Passed Senate with substitute (26-Y 13-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-29** Senate substitute agreed to by House 24108207D-S1 (82-Y 17-N) `substitution`
- **2024-02-29** VOTE: Adoption (82-Y 17-N)
- **2024-03-06** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-03-06** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB149ER) `passage`
- **2024-03-06** Impact statement from DPB (HB149ER)
- **2024-03-06** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-03-07** Signed by President `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 11, 2024 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-04-08** Approved by Governor-Chapter 632 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-08** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0632)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/07bad6d2-e17e-434a-8564-e1a837146090`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).