republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/hb-404.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Enslaved Ancestors College Access Scholarship and Memorial Program; scholarships, administration."
description: "Enslaved Ancestors College Access Scholarship and Memorial Program; parameters. Prohibits any such institution from passing the cost of any scholarship program established in accordance with the provisions of the Enslaved Ancestors College Access Scholarship and Memorial Program to other enrolled students by increasing the rate of tuition or mandatory fees. The bill also requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to (i) establish a work group that consists of a representative of each institution that participates in the Program that meets at least semiannually to discuss Program administration, including sharing best practices on administration and research, coordinating funding and fundraising strategies, developing outreach and marketing plans, collaborating on historical and genealogical research efforts, and aligning government and community engagement initiatives, and (ii) develop and maintain a single statewide online portal that describes each institution's program, criteria, and investments in scholarship students or the community, lists designated points of contact at each institution, shares application timelines and processes, and offers historical context and ongoing memorial updates."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 404"
citation: "Virginia HB 404 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["David A. Reid"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 35
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2026-01-12"
last_action: "2026-04-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/acd71284-f9f6-4e75-9dbe-88fe2fefc52d"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB404"
source_hash: "fa113362a5351a20286e6265150df55dc1632b7cf1343754bf1960b539ed3ea1"
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 404 (2026) — Enslaved Ancestors College Access Scholarship and Memorial Program; scholarships, administration.

Enslaved Ancestors College Access Scholarship and Memorial Program; parameters. Prohibits any such institution from passing the cost of any scholarship program established in accordance with the provisions of the Enslaved Ancestors College Access Scholarship and Memorial Program to other enrolled students by increasing the rate of tuition or mandatory fees. The bill also requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to (i) establish a work group that consists of a representative of each institution that participates in the Program that meets at least semiannually to discuss Program administration, including sharing best practices on administration and research, coordinating funding and fundraising strategies, developing outreach and marketing plans, collaborating on historical and genealogical research efforts, and aligning government and community engagement initiatives, and (ii) develop and maintain a single statewide online portal that describes each institution's program, criteria, and investments in scholarship students or the community, lists designated points of contact at each institution, shares application timelines and processes, and offers historical context and ongoing memorial updates.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1084294.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218830.PDF)
3. **Education Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1116338.PDF)
4. **Higher Education Subcommittee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1107639.PDF)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1200594.PDF)

## Votes

- Reported from Finance and Appropriations — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **8–2** (pass) · lower
- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Education with substitute — **14–7** (pass) · lower
- H VOTE: — **66–27** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Education and Health — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Appropriations — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **7–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- David A. Reid — primary (person)
- Dan I. Helmer — cosponsor (person)
- Virgil Thornton — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-12** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101290D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-12** Referred to Committee on Education `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-30** Assigned HED sub: Higher Education `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-02** House subcommittee offered
- **2026-02-02** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute and referring to Appropriations (8-Y 2-N) `substitution`
- **2026-02-04** Reported from Education with substitute and referred to Appropriations (14-Y 7-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-04** Assigned HAPP sub: Higher Education `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-04** Committee substitute printed 26106202D-H1 `substitution`
- **2026-02-04** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB404)
- **2026-02-11** Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 0-N)
- **2026-02-11** Reported from Appropriations (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-16** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-16** committee substitute agreed to `substitution`
- **2026-02-16** Engrossed by House - committee substitute `substitution`
- **2026-02-17** Read third time and passed House (67-Y 27-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-18** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2026-02-18** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-23** Assigned Education sub: Higher Education `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-26** Reported from Education and Health and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-03** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-03** Rules suspended
- **2026-03-03** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-03-03** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
- **2026-03-04** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-04** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-11** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-11** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB404ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-11** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB404)
- **2026-03-11** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-12** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-14** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 14, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-14** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 606 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-13** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0606)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/acd71284-f9f6-4e75-9dbe-88fe2fefc52d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).