Fabio
129 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
129 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: "Bill"
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title: "Public schools; right to free public elementary and secondary education, discrimination, etc."
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description: "Public schools; right to free public elementary and secondary education; discrimination based on immigration status prohibited; civil cause of action. Prohibits any child in the Commonwealth from being denied a free public education through secondary school on the basis of the actual or perceived immigration or citizenship status of the child or the child's parents, in accordance with the Constitution of Virginia and consistent with the requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The bill also, among other things, prohibits any school board, public elementary or secondary school, school resource officer employed by a local law-enforcement agency in any public elementary or secondary school, or any individual who is an employee, contractor, or agent of a school board from engaging in certain enumerated actions and practices that involve or result in the denial of a free public education, or denial of the benefits or exclusion from participation in any program or activity thereof, of a child on the basis of the actual or perceived immigration or citizenship status of the child or the child's parents. The bill establishes a civil cause of action for violations of the foregoing prohibitions. The bill requires the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Office of the Attorney General, to develop and make available to each school board by August 1, 2026, guidance and resources on developing policies and procedures to implement the requirements set forth in the bill and requires each school board to develop and implement by December 31, 2026, such policies and procedures and to require each public elementary and secondary school principal and administrator in the school division to complete training on compliance with the provisions of the bill as soon as is practicable but not later than the beginning of the 2027–2028 school year, consistent with the guidance and resources developed and made available by the Department of Education. This bill incorporates HB 912 and is identical to SB 491."
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jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
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legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
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session: "2026"
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identifier: "HB 836"
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citation: "Virginia HB 836 (2026)"
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classification: ["bill"]
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subjects: []
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status: "enacted"
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primary_sponsors: ["Sam Rasoul"]
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version_count: 8
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action_count: 47
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vote_count: 10
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first_action: "2026-01-13"
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last_action: "2026-04-13"
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source: "openstates"
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source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6a065edf-f577-4e5a-bd95-0abce9cff038"
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source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB836"
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source_hash: "f2f7cb9434c23e8c360bcb54838a508c1ecc7b3f541dbf2248692c5e57fa22dc"
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vintage: "2026-07-01"
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source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
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retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
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confidence: "reported"
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tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
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---
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# Virginia HB 836 (2026) — Public schools; right to free public elementary and secondary education, discrimination, etc.
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Public schools; right to free public elementary and secondary education; discrimination based on immigration status prohibited; civil cause of action. Prohibits any child in the Commonwealth from being denied a free public education through secondary school on the basis of the actual or perceived immigration or citizenship status of the child or the child's parents, in accordance with the Constitution of Virginia and consistent with the requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The bill also, among other things, prohibits any school board, public elementary or secondary school, school resource officer employed by a local law-enforcement agency in any public elementary or secondary school, or any individual who is an employee, contractor, or agent of a school board from engaging in certain enumerated actions and practices that involve or result in the denial of a free public education, or denial of the benefits or exclusion from participation in any program or activity thereof, of a child on the basis of the actual or perceived immigration or citizenship status of the child or the child's parents. The bill establishes a civil cause of action for violations of the foregoing prohibitions. The bill requires the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Office of the Attorney General, to develop and make available to each school board by August 1, 2026, guidance and resources on developing policies and procedures to implement the requirements set forth in the bill and requires each school board to develop and implement by December 31, 2026, such policies and procedures and to require each public elementary and secondary school principal and administrator in the school division to complete training on compliance with the provisions of the bill as soon as is practicable but not later than the beginning of the 2027–2028 school year, consistent with the guidance and resources developed and made available by the Department of Education. This bill incorporates HB 912 and is identical to SB 491.
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## Version chain
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The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
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1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086102.PDF)
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2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1221707.PDF)
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3. **Conference Report** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1209241.HTML)
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4. **Conference Report Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1209237.PDF)
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5. **Education Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139929.PDF)
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6. **Education and Health Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1186360.PDF)
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7. **K-12 Subcommittee Subcommittee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139410.PDF)
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8. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1213662.PDF)
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## Votes
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- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **7–3** (pass) · lower
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- Adopt Conference Committee Report R — **21–18** (pass) · upper
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- H VOTE: — **62–34** (pass) · lower
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- Reported from Education with substitute — **14–7** (pass) · lower
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- Insist & Request R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
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- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
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- Reported from Education and Health with substitute — **9–6** (pass) · upper
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- H VOTE: — **0–95** (fail) · lower
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- Passage R — **21–19** (pass) · upper
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- H VOTE: — **60–34** (pass) · lower
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## Sponsors
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- Sam Rasoul — primary (person)
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- Adele Y. McClure — cosponsor (person)
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- Destiny LeVere Bolling — cosponsor (person)
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- Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker — cosponsor (person)
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- Irene Shin — cosponsor (person)
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- Karen Keys-Gamarra — cosponsor (person)
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- Kathy K.L. Tran — cosponsor (person)
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- Marcia S. "Cia" Price — cosponsor (person)
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- Patrick A. Hope — cosponsor (person)
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- Rae Cousins — cosponsor (person)
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## Timeline
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The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
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- **2026-01-13** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104919D `filing, introduction`
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- **2026-01-13** Referred to Committee on Education `referral-committee`
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- **2026-01-29** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB836)
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- **2026-02-05** Assigned HED sub: K-12 Subcommittee `referral-committee`
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- **2026-02-10** House subcommittee offered
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- **2026-02-10** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute and referring to Appropriations (7-Y 3-N) `substitution`
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- **2026-02-11** Incorporates HB912 (Lopez)
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- **2026-02-11** Reported from Education with substitute (14-Y 7-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2026-02-11** Committee substitute printed 26107335D-H1 `substitution`
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- **2026-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
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- **2026-02-16** Read second time `reading-2`
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- **2026-02-16** committee substitute agreed to `substitution`
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- **2026-02-16** Engrossed by House - committee substitute `substitution`
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- **2026-02-17** Read third time and passed House (61-Y 34-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
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- **2026-02-18** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
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- **2026-02-18** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
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- **2026-02-26** Reported from Education and Health with substitute (9-Y 6-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2026-02-27** Rules suspended
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- **2026-02-27** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (37-Y 0-N 0-A)
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- **2026-02-27** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
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- **2026-02-27** Committee substitute printed 26108790D-S1 `substitution`
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- **2026-03-02** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB836)
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- **2026-03-02** Read third time `reading-3`
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- **2026-03-02** Education and Health Substitute agreed to
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- **2026-03-02** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute `substitution`
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- **2026-03-02** Passed Senate with substitute (21-Y 19-N 0-A) `passage`
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- **2026-03-04** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB836)
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- **2026-03-04** Senate substitute rejected by House (0-Y 95-N 0-A)
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- **2026-03-06** Senate insisted on amendments (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
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- **2026-03-06** Senate requested conference committee `referral-committee`
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- **2026-03-09** House acceded to request
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- **2026-03-10** Conferees appointed by House
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- **2026-03-10** House Conferees: Rasoul, Cousins, Runion
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- **2026-03-10** Conferees appointed by Senate
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- **2026-03-10** Senate Conferees: Pekarsky, Favola, Craig
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- **2026-03-12** Conference Report released
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- **2026-03-13** Conference report agreed to by House (62-Y 34-N 0-A) `committee-passage-favorable`
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- **2026-03-13** Conference report agreed to by Senate (21-Y 18-N 0-A) `committee-passage-favorable`
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- **2026-03-30** Enrolled `enrolled`
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- **2026-03-30** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB836ER) `passage`
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- **2026-03-30** Signed by President `passage`
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- **2026-03-31** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB836)
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- **2026-03-31** Signed by Speaker `passage`
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- **2026-03-31** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
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- **2026-03-31** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
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- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 680 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
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- **2026-04-13** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0680)
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## Source
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OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6a065edf-f577-4e5a-bd95-0abce9cff038`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).
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