Virginia Legislative Update: What to Watch During the General Assembly’s Off-Season

As of the writing of this article, budget negotiations are still ongoing. When there are updates on how the looming shutdown is averted, we will provide an update on that matter. For the time being, let us take a look at some of the major legislative commissions and workgroups that will be meeting throughout the “off-season.”

There are roughly 300 boards and commissions with varying levels of authority. Additionally, each Session, multiple temporary workgroups are established with the intent of bringing stakeholders together to carry over work from the legislative session. Below are some of the legislative matters that will be discussed leading up to the 2027 General Assembly Session.

Commissions

Virginia Commission on Electric Utility Regulation ( Energy Commission of Virginia starting 7/1/26)

• State Oversight of Public Utility Mergers and the NextEra Acquisition of Dominion Energy
• Public Schools as Energy Centers and Addressing the Interconnection Cost Barrier
• RGGI Proceeds, Ratepayer Refunds and Modeling Virginia’s Participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)
• Cooperative Geothermal (Thermal Energy) Networks

Virginia Housing Commission

• HB1518 (Convirs-Fowler): Review of Buyer Beware disclosures.
• HB278/SB355 (Clark/Boysko): Local anti-rent gouging authority.
• HB1252/SB585 (Anthony/Salim):  Algorithmic pricing.
• HB1409 (Schmidt): Prohibition on fees for services in rental agreements
• SB349 (VanValkenburg): Pre-tenancy Fees
• HB1394 (Cole): Prohibiting a locality from discriminating against unhoused status by imposing a civil or criminal penalty against any unhoused person
• Home Inspectors; Insurance Requirements and Prohibited Contract Provisions (Surovell)
• Notice of Change in Assessment; Resource Protection Area Disclosure (Surovell)
• Study of 2026 legislation that impacts the VRLTA
• Tracking and analyzing eviction data in Virginia

Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission

• Virginia’s agricultural best management practices cost-share program. The expected publication date is September 2026.
• Artificial intelligence in the Commonwealth. The expected publication date is October 2026.
• Assisted living and in-home care. The expected publication date is November 2026.
• Virginia’s judicial allocation methodology. The expected publication date is December 2026.
• Oversight of managed care organizations. The expected publication date is December 2026.

Joint Commission on Health Care

• Information brief on the impact of H.R. 1 (2025) on Virginia’s Medicaid program (July 2026)
• HB 605 (Willett): requires an evaluation Virginia’s nursing facility workforce and options for staffing standards.
• HB 1357 (McQuinn): requires a comprehensive assessment of the quality of care, resident safety, and operational practices for Virginia’s nursing facilities (1/12/27)
• Financial condition of rural hospitals in Virginia
• Impacts of HR1 on Virginia’s Medicaid program and health care system, including rural hospitals
• Liquid nicotine and nicotine vapor products; certification

Joint Commission on Technology and Science

• HB635 (Maldonado): Artificial Intelligence Chatbots Act; established, prohibited practices, penalties.
• HB707 (Hayes): State government; transaction of public business; prohibited website domains.
• HB 782 (Hayes): Health care providers; caller identification information, civil penalty.
• HB797/SB384 (Hayes/Williams-Graves): intelligence; framework for person/entity acting as an independent verification organization
• HB1170 (Carrol): Law-enforcement agencies & sheriff’s dept.; policy on use of covered AI system.
• SB85 (VanValkenburg): CDPA; social media platforms & model operators, interoperability interfaces.
• SB237 (Head): App Store Accountability Act; civil penalties, civil action.
• SB365 (Pekarsky): Fostering Access, Innovation, and Responsibility in Artificial Intelligence Act; established.
• SB796 (Durant):  AI Companion Chatbots and Minors Act; established, enforcement, civil penalty.

Workgroups

• HB190 (Convirs-Fowler): Directs the Office of the Attorney General to convene a work group to review the Electronic Funds Transfers Act, develop recommendations to aid individuals in the Commonwealth in preventing and mitigating fraudulent activity in electronic fund transfers. This report is due December 1, 2026.
• HB319/SB658 (Hernandez/Rouse): Directs the Department of Elections to convene a work group for the purpose of studying the implementation of back-end, opt-out automatic voter registration (AVR) in the Commonwealth. This report is due November 1, 2026.
• HB323 (Sullivan): Directs the Department of Energy to study how to accelerate the use of waste heat by data centers. This report is due September 1, 2026.
• HB1353 (Cohen): Directs the Commissioner of Health to convene a work group to evaluate the feasibility of a statewide maternal health safety initiative. An interim report is due November 1, 2026. The final recommendations are due July 1, 2027.