republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/hb-544.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "School Construction and Modernization, Commission on; revisions, elimination of sunset."
description: "Commission on School Construction and Modernization; revisions; elimination of sunset. Eliminates the expiration date of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization, which, pursuant to current law, is set to expire on July 1, 2026. The bill also directs the Commission to (i) meet at least four times each year and post notice of the date, time, and location of each meeting on the central, publicly available electronic calendar maintained by the Commonwealth in accordance with applicable law; (ii) update annually the statewide needs estimate for construction and modernization of school facilities; (iii) develop and deliver by November 1, 2026, a 10-year capital roadmap; and (iv) collaborate with early childhood care and education Ready Regions and comprehensive community colleges in the Commonwealth to collect and evaluate data relating to Ready Region and comprehensive community college facility usage, availability, and needs. Finally, the bill directs the Department of Education, in order to assist the Commission with its work, to update and make available to the Commission an inventory of all public school facilities in the Commonwealth by September 1, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 498."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 544"
citation: "Virginia HB 544 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Alex Q. Askew"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 27
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-01-13"
last_action: "2026-04-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7e13ad15-4e1c-4903-b596-941bfe833c08"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB544"
source_hash: "d83ad4f76cf1e6b24aa343871caecb207798e7c5dd767b66e7f6143cde4c7c00"
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 544 (2026) — School Construction and Modernization, Commission on; revisions, elimination of sunset.

Commission on School Construction and Modernization; revisions; elimination of sunset. Eliminates the expiration date of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization, which, pursuant to current law, is set to expire on July 1, 2026. The bill also directs the Commission to (i) meet at least four times each year and post notice of the date, time, and location of each meeting on the central, publicly available electronic calendar maintained by the Commonwealth in accordance with applicable law; (ii) update annually the statewide needs estimate for construction and modernization of school facilities; (iii) develop and deliver by November 1, 2026, a 10-year capital roadmap; and (iv) collaborate with early childhood care and education Ready Regions and comprehensive community colleges in the Commonwealth to collect and evaluate data relating to Ready Region and comprehensive community college facility usage, availability, and needs. Finally, the bill directs the Department of Education, in order to assist the Commission with its work, to update and make available to the Commission an inventory of all public school facilities in the Commonwealth by September 1, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 498.

## 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/1084896.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216965.PDF)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1197784.PDF)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **5–0** (pass) · lower
- H VOTE: — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Rules — **18–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Rules — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **39–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Alex Q. Askew — primary (person)
- Shelly A. Simonds — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-13** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103231D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-13** Referred to Committee on Rules `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-22** Assigned HRUL sub: Studies Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-23** Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 0-N)
- **2026-01-26** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB544)
- **2026-01-27** Reported from Rules (18-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-29** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-01-30** Passed by for the day
- **2026-02-02** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2026-02-03** Read third time and passed House (98-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-04** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2026-02-04** Referred to Committee on Rules `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-27** Reported from Rules (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-02** Rules suspended
- **2026-03-02** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-03-02** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
- **2026-03-03** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-03** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-10** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-10** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB544ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-10** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB544)
- **2026-03-10** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-10** Signed by President `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`
- **2026-04-06** Approved by Governor-Chapter 165 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-06** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0165)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/7e13ad15-4e1c-4903-b596-941bfe833c08`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).