The Virginia House Labor and Commerce Committee on Tuesday heard subcommittee reports that recommended advancing roughly 17 bills on topics including workplace-violence policies, paid sick and family leave, heat-illness prevention, prevailing-wage and apprenticeship rules for renewable-energy work, protections for children appearing in online content, utility authority for electric-vehicle charging, and changes to integrated resource planning for utilities.

The subcommittee reports combined a series of short presentations of bill language and votes. Subcommittee 2, chaired by Delegate Lopez, moved a cluster of employment and labor bills to the full committee, while Subcommittee 3, chaired by Chair Sullivan, advanced several energy and workforce measures. Most measures were reported by margins ranging from narrow to substantial and several were referred to the Appropriations Committee for funding review.

Why it matters: The bills reported would change employer obligations and worker protections across the Commonwealth (including civil penalties, recordkeeping, and overtime and benefit rules), and would change how utilities plan and deploy resources for transportation electrification and renewable generation. Because many measures require regulatory work by state agencies, referral to Appropriations signals potential budget or staffing implications.

Key outcomes and highlights

- Workplace violence policy (HB 19): The subcommittee recommended reporting. The committee vote reported the bill 11–7. The bill, as described in the subcommittee report, would require employers with 100 or more employees to adopt a workplace-violence policy by Jan. 1, 2026; maintain incident documentation for at least five years; bar retaliation for reporting; and allow an employee reporting immunity from civil liability. The subcommittee description said the civil penalty would be not more than $1,000 per violation.

- Paid sick leave expansion (transcribed as “HB 19 21”): The committee reported and referred the measure to Appropriations by a vote of 12–9. According to the subcommittee report, the bill would expand a current requirement for home health workers to all private and public employees, provide paid leave for certain needs related to domestic abuse or stalking, require employer recordkeeping, and authorize civil enforcement and penalties; the bill’s delayed effective date was reported as Jan. 1, 2026.

- Heat-illness prevention (HB 1980): Reported as amended 12–9. The bill would direct the state health codes board, in consultation with the Department of Labor and Industry, to adopt regulations and identify high-hazard industries by Jan. 1, 2026, and to adopt employer standards by May 1, 2026. The subcommittee recommended reporting with amendment 5–1.

- Wage-law coverage for public employers (HB 2098, substitute): Reported as substituted 12–9. The substitute, as described, extends certain wage-protection provisions in Title 40.1 to include public employers and public bodies.

- Dependent allowance for unemployment benefits (HB 2135): Reported and referred to Appropriations 12–9. The bill would add a $25 per-dependent weekly allowance (for up to three dependents) to unemployment payments and require documentation consistent with commission rules.

- Prevailing wage and apprenticeship for renewable-energy work (HB 2356): Reported with substitute and referred to Appropriations 12–9. The substitute would require public service companies and their contractors to pay prevailing wages, require 15% of labor hours be performed by qualified apprentices, and require at least one qualified apprentice when four or more workers are employed on a covered project; penalties to the labor commissioner were noted for noncompliance.

- Child online content trust accounts (HB 2401): Reported 11–9. The bill, as summarized, would require creators who profit from a child’s likeness in content to set aside a portion of gross earnings into a trust for the child until age 18 (or emancipation) and to keep specified records; enforcement by the child or guardian through civil action was described.

- Domestic workers overtime (HB 2469): Reported and referred to Appropriations 11–9. The bill would extend certain overtime protections to domestic service and live-in domestic workers as defined in the text.

- Paid family and medical leave insurance (HB 2531): Reported and referred to Appropriations 11–9. The subcommittee reported that the Virginia Employment Commission would establish a paid family and medical leave insurance program with benefits beginning Jan. 1, 2028, funded by premiums assessed to employers and employees starting Jan. 1, 2027; the reported benefit amount was described as 80% of an employee’s average weekly wage up to a cap tied to the statewide average weekly wage and a 12-week annual cap.

- Employee protections, wage remedies and misclassification (HB 2561): Reported 12–9. The bill would align remedies for minimum-wage and overtime violations to existing civil-action remedies available under wage-collection law and adjust certain filing and statute-of-limitations provisions described in the subcommittee report.

- Private contractors providing public transportation services (HB 2619): Reported 12–9. The bill would require private companies contracting with local transportation districts to provide compensation and benefits at least equivalent to comparable public employees and, where a locality has authorized collective bargaining, to enter into and adhere to a collective-bargaining agreement.

Energy and utility planning and pilots (Subcommittee 3)

- Offshore Wind Industry Workforce Program (HB 1616, substitute): Reported and referred to Appropriations 13–7. The substitute directs the Department of Energy director to identify and develop workforce training resources for the offshore wind industry; the substitute removed language that would have created a specific fund.

- Utility authority for EV fast-charging and related filings (HB 2087, substitute): Reported as substituted 12–9. The bill, as amended, allows Phase 1 and Phase 2 utilities to file tariffs to support electric vehicle charging stations, requires periodic utility filings to accelerate transportation electrification (first by Nov. 15, 2025 and every two years thereafter in the original text, with filing frequency changes noted in the substitute), and the substitute clarified cost-recovery approaches, streamlined filings, and added utility assistance to gasoline retailers wanting to offer EV charging.

- Virtual power plant pilot for grid optimization (HB 2346, substitute): Reported with substitute 16–5. The substitute requires Dominion Energy Virginia to petition the State Corporation Commission for a pilot program to evaluate distributed energy resources (under 5 MW, customer-sited or distribution-interconnected) for grid capacity and peak shaving; APCO was removed in the substitute and a stakeholder process and smart thermostats were added.

- Distribution cost sharing for interconnection (HB 2266, substitute): Reported with substitute 14–7. The substitute limits the program to solar projects, Phase 1 and Phase 2 utilities, and requires separation of costs between jurisdictional and nonjurisdictional customers.

- Integrated Resource Plan changes (HB 2413): Reported 15–5. The bill extends an IRP planning horizon from 15 to 20 years, moves IRP filing frequency toward triennial filings, requires utilities to consider grid-enhancing technologies as alternatives to new transmission, and directs the State Corporation Commission to develop guidelines and convene a work group by July 1, 2026, with periodic reviews thereafter.

- Permit-by-rule definition for small renewable projects (HB 2426, as amended): Reported as amended and referred to Appropriations 16–4. The subcommittee amendments added the word “dedicated” before certain interconnection facilities and the bill was reported with additional amendments and a letter to Appropriations; committee counsel described the added memorandum-of-understanding language to allow DEQ to enter MOUs with other state agencies to implement the act.

Votes at a glance (selected measures and committee outcomes)

- HB 19 (workplace violence policy): Passed committee 11–7 (report).
- HB 1921 (paid sick leave, transcribed as “HB 19 21”): Passed and referred to Appropriations 12–9.
- HB 1980 (heat-illness prevention): Passed as amended 12–9; subcommittee recommended 5–1 with amendment.
- HB 2098 (wage-law coverage/substitute): Passed as substituted 12–9.
- HB 2135 (unemployment dependent allowance): Passed and referred to Appropriations 12–9.
- HB 2356 (prevailing wages/apprenticeship): Passed and referred to Appropriations 12–9.
- HB 2401 (child content trust accounts): Passed 11–9.
- HB 2469 (domestic worker overtime): Passed 11–9.
- HB 2531 (paid family/medical leave insurance): Passed and referred to Appropriations 11–9.
- HB 2561 (employee protections/penalties): Passed 12–9.
- HB 2619 (private public-transportation contractors): Passed 12–9.
- HB 1616 (offshore wind workforce substitute): Passed and referred to Appropriations 13–7.
- HB 2087 (EV charging substitute): Passed as substituted 12–9.
- HB 2346 (virtual power plant pilot): Passed as substituted 16–5.
- HB 2266 (distribution cost sharing substitute): Passed as substituted 14–7.
- HB 2413 (IRP changes): Passed 15–5.
- HB 2426 (small renewable project permitting, amended): Passed as amended and referred to Appropriations 16–4.

What the committee did not decide here

Most measures were reported to the full committee and several were referred to Appropriations; none of the measures in these subcommittee reports were shown to be enacted into law at this meeting. Several bills included requirements that state agencies draft regulations or conduct stakeholder processes (for example, Department of Labor and Industry deadlines for heat-illness rules and the State Corporation Commission’s role in utility filings), indicating additional regulatory and budget steps ahead.

Meeting context and next steps

The items were presented as subcommittee reports; in several cases patrons offered substitutes or amendments that were accepted at committee. Several measures referred to Appropriations for fiscal review or staffing implications. The committee will continue to consider amendments and fiscal recommendations as bills move through the legislative calendar.

Ending note: The committee’s subcommittee reports advanced a broad package of labor protections, wage and leave changes, and energy-sector adjustments; the measures now proceed through the regular legislative process, including Appropriations and further floor consideration as applicable.