Fabio
133 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
133 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 is identical to HB 836."
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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: "SB 491"
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citation: "Virginia SB 491 (2026)"
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classification: ["bill"]
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subjects: []
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status: "enacted"
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primary_sponsors: ["Stella G. Pekarsky"]
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version_count: 9
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action_count: 54
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vote_count: 11
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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/3eabfa3c-99c5-4ba4-9068-e97e508e8ec1"
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source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB491"
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source_hash: "39e6cbb43c078ad7bb097c5782bf044110df7a6d502edc94bc3b4a65fcaed21c"
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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 SB 491 (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 is identical to HB 836.
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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/1090482.PDF)
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2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1221719.PDF)
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3. **Conference Report** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1209248.HTML)
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4. **Conference Report Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1209244.PDF)
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5. **Education Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1192124.PDF)
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6. **Education and Health Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1132389.PDF)
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7. **Finance and Appropriations Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139523.PDF)
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8. **K-12 Subcommittee Subcommittee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1190148.PDF)
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9. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1213774.PDF)
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## Votes
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- Reported from Education with substitute — **14–7** (pass) · lower
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- Concur House Substitute R — **0–40** (fail) · upper
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- Accede Conference Committee R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
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- H VOTE: — **64–31** (pass) · lower
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- Reported from Education and Health with substitute — **9–6** (pass) · upper
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- Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute — **10–5** (pass) · upper
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- Passage R — **21–18** (pass) · upper
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- Adopt Conference Committee Report R — **21–18** (pass) · upper
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- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
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- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **7–3** (pass) · lower
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- H VOTE: — **63–34** (pass) · lower
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## Sponsors
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- Stella G. Pekarsky — primary (person)
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- Angelia Williams Graves — cosponsor (person)
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- Jennifer B. Boysko — cosponsor (person)
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- Jennifer D. Carroll Foy — cosponsor (person)
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- Lashrecse D. Aird — 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 26104918D `filing, introduction`
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- **2026-01-13** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
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- **2026-01-22** Assigned Education sub: Public Education `referral-committee`
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- **2026-01-22** Senate subcommittee offered
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- **2026-01-29** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB491)
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- **2026-02-05** Senate committee offered
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- **2026-02-05** Reported from Education and Health with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 6-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2026-02-06** Committee substitute printed 26106599D-S1 `substitution`
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- **2026-02-06** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB491)
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- **2026-02-10** Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (10-Y 5-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2026-02-11** Committee substitute printed 26107531D-S2 `substitution`
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- **2026-02-11** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB491)
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- **2026-02-11** Rules suspended
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- **2026-02-11** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
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- **2026-02-11** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
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- **2026-02-12** Read second time `reading-2`
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- **2026-02-12** Committee substitute rejected (Voice Vote)
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- **2026-02-12** Committee substitute agreed to (Voice Vote) `substitution`
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- **2026-02-12** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute (Voice Vote) `substitution`
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- **2026-02-13** Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 18-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
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- **2026-02-18** Placed on Calendar
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- **2026-02-18** Read first time `reading-1`
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- **2026-02-18** Referred to Committee on Education `referral-committee`
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- **2026-02-26** Assigned HED sub: K-12 Subcommittee `referral-committee`
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- **2026-03-03** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (7-Y 3-N) `substitution`
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- **2026-03-03** House subcommittee offered
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- **2026-03-04** Reported from Education with substitute (14-Y 7-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2026-03-04** Committee substitute printed 26108808D-H1 `substitution`
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- **2026-03-04** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB491)
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- **2026-03-06** Read second time `reading-2`
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- **2026-03-09** Read third time `reading-3`
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- **2026-03-09** committee substitute agreed to `substitution`
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- **2026-03-09** Engrossed by House - committee substitute `substitution`
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- **2026-03-09** Passed House with substitute (63-Y 34-N 0-A) `passage`
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- **2026-03-10** House substitute rejected by Senate (0-Y 40-N 0-A)
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- **2026-03-11** House insisted on substitute `substitution`
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- **2026-03-11** House requested conference committee `referral-committee`
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- **2026-03-12** Senate acceded to request Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
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- **2026-03-12** Conferees appointed by Senate
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- **2026-03-12** Senate Conferees: Pekarsky, Favola, Craig
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- **2026-03-12** Conferees appointed by House
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- **2026-03-12** House Conferees: Rasoul, Cousins, Runion
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- **2026-03-12** Conference Report released
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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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- **2026-03-13** Conference report agreed to by House (64-Y 31-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 Senate and House (SB491ER) `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 (SB491)
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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 681 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
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- **2026-04-13** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0681)
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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/3eabfa3c-99c5-4ba4-9068-e97e508e8ec1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).
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