republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2024/hb-558.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Constitutional amendment; property tax exemption for certain surviving spouses (voter referendum)."
description: "Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); real property tax exemption; surviving spouses of soldiers who died in the line of duty. Provides for a referendum at the November 5, 2024, election to approve or reject an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia that would expand the real property tax exemption that is currently available to the surviving spouses of soldiers killed in action to be available to the surviving spouses of soldiers who died in the line of duty with a Line of Duty determination from the U.S. Department of Defense. This bill is identical to SB 4."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 558"
citation: "Virginia HB 558 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Phil M. Hernandez"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 26
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2024-01-09"
last_action: "2024-04-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1148caea-4901-4d7b-aa70-f41540f0ee1e"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+HB558"
source_hash: "12b3d72832661b21d204647f9f071013662b204651cc9d07dd6380cbd55c547a"
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 558 (2024) — Constitutional amendment; property tax exemption for certain surviving spouses (voter referendum).

Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); real property tax exemption; surviving spouses of soldiers who died in the line of duty. Provides for a referendum at the November 5, 2024, election to approve or reject an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia that would expand the real property tax exemption that is currently available to the surviving spouses of soldiers killed in action to be available to the surviving spouses of soldiers who died in the line of duty with a Line of Duty determination from the U.S. Department of Defense. This bill is identical to SB 4.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0394** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0394)
2. **HB558ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB558ER)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24104020D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB558)

## Votes

- Reported from Privileges and Elections (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N) — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Privileges and Elections (14-Y 0-N) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Phil M. Hernandez — primary (person)
- Bonita G. Anthony — cosponsor (person)
- Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker — cosponsor (person)
- Irene Shin — cosponsor (person)
- Karen Keys-Gamarra — cosponsor (person)
- Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler — cosponsor (person)
- Laura Jane Cohen — cosponsor (person)
- Marty Martinez — cosponsor (person)
- Michael B. Feggans — cosponsor (person)
- Michael J. Jones — cosponsor (person)
- Michelle Lopes Maldonado — cosponsor (person)
- Nadarius E. Clark — cosponsor (person)
- Rozia A. Henson, Jr. — cosponsor (person)
- Shelly A. Simonds — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-09** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24104020D `filing, introduction`
- **2024-01-09** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-28** Assigned P & E sub: Constitutional Amendments `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-30** Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
- **2024-01-30** Subcommittee recommends referring to Committee on Finance `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-02** Reported from Privileges and Elections (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-06** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-07** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2024-02-08** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-02-08** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-09** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2024-02-09** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-20** Reported from Privileges and Elections (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-20** Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-27** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2024-02-27** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-28** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-28** Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-03-05** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-03-05** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB558ER) `passage`
- **2024-03-05** 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`
- **2024-04-04** Approved by Governor-Chapter 394 (effective - see bill) `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-04** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0394)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1148caea-4901-4d7b-aa70-f41540f0ee1e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).