Virginia Commerce and Labor (S02) Committee Docket — 2026-02-02

Summary

This is the docket for the Virginia Commerce and Labor (S02) Committee Senate meeting dated 2026-02-02 at 16:30, in the 2026 Regular session, with Creigh Deeds listed as Chair. The agenda lists Senate bills in committee, among them SB1 (patron Lucas), which increases the minimum wage incrementally to $15.00 per hour by January 1, 2028. SB2 (patron Boysko) requires the Virginia Employment Commission to administer a paid family and medical leave insurance program with benefits beginning April 1, 2028. SB199 (patron Favola) requires one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, with certain exceptions.

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TITLE: Virginia Commerce and Labor (S02) Committee Docket — 2026-02-02
DATE: 2026-02-02T16:30:00
SESSION: 2026 Regular (20261)
CHAMBER: Senate

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
  - R. Creigh Deeds (D) Chair

STAFF: Lehman, Hobie                 , Bricourt, Kat, Thomas Stevens, Kinzer, Sarah                 , Ali, Marvi

DOCKET / AGENDA:

[Senate Bill in Committee]
  1. SB1 - Minimum wage; increases incrementally to $15.00 per hour by January 1, 2028.
       Patron(s): Lucas
       Summary: Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage incrementally to $15.00 per hour by January 1, 2028. The bill codifies the adjusted state hourly minimum wage of $12.77 per hour that is effective January 1, 2026, and increases the minimum wage to $13.75 per hour effective January 1, 2027, and to $15.00 per hour effective January 1, 2028. Effective January 1, 2029, and annually thereafter, the bill requires the minimum wage to be adjusted to reflect increases in the consumer price index. This bill is identical to HB 1.
  2. SB2 - Paid family & med. leave insurance program; definitions, notice requirements, civil action, report.
       Patron(s): Boysko
       Summary: Paid family and medical leave insurance program; notice requirements; civil action. Requires the Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer a paid family and medical leave insurance program with benefits beginning April 1, 2028. Under the program, benefits are paid to covered individuals, as defined in the bill, for family and medical leave. Funding for the program is provided through premiums assessed to employers and employees beginning April 1, 2028. The bill provides that the amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee's average weekly net earnings, not to exceed 100
  3. SB10 - Employment prohibition exceptions; apprenticeship program for children 16 years of age or older.
       Patron(s): Suetterlein
       Summary: Employment prohibition exceptions; apprenticeships; children 16 years of age or older. Permits a child 16 years of age or older to serve in an apprenticeship program or other work-based learning experience related to culinary arts or information technology, provided that (i) the child is continuously enrolled in an accredited secondary school, (ii) the child is a registered apprentice, (iii) the child is employed in a work-training program administered under the Board of Education, and (iv) the work being performed is not in violation of federal or state laws. The bill requires that a child 16
  3. SB10 - Employment prohibition exceptions; apprenticeship program for children 16 years of age or older.
       Patron(s): Suetterlein
       Summary: Employment prohibition exceptions; apprenticeships; children 16 years of age or older. Permits a child 16 years of age or older to serve in an apprenticeship program or other work-based learning experience related to culinary arts or information technology, provided that (i) the child is continuously enrolled in an accredited secondary school, (ii) the child is a registered apprentice, (iii) the child is employed in a work-training program administered under the Board of Education, and (iv) the work being performed is not in violation of federal or state laws. This bill is identical to HB 275.
  4. SB28 - Overtime for certain employees; pay for domestic workers, delayed effective date.
       Patron(s): Carroll Foy
       Summary: Overtime for certain employees; domestic workers. Adds domestic workers, as defined in the bill, to provisions related to overtime pay. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2028, and its provisions do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2027 Session of the General Assembly. This bill is identical to HB 27.
  5. SB100 - Volunteer emergency responders; protection of employees, civil action.
       Patron(s): Stanley
       Summary: Protection of employees; volunteer emergency responders; civil action. Prohibits an employer from discharging, disciplining, threatening, discriminating against, or penalizing an employee or taking other retaliatory action regarding an employee's compensation, terms, conditions, location, or privileges of employment solely because the employee fails to report for work because such employee is serving as a voluntary emergency responder, as defined in the bill, and is actively responding to an emergency alarm or during a state of emergency, provided that certain requirements are met. The bill pr
  6. SB120 - Warehouse distribution center; requirements, protection of employees, civil penalty, civil action.
       Patron(s): Carroll Foy
       Summary: Protection of employees; warehouse distribution center requirements; civil penalty; civil action. Provides that a warehouse employer, as defined in the bill, that violates the bill's provisions shall be liable to an impacted warehouse employee, as defined in the bill, for certain remedies, damages, and other relief as specified in the bill. The bill requires a warehouse employer to provide each warehouse employee a written description of each performance standard to which such employee is subject and of any potential adverse employment action that may result from such employee's failure to mee
  7. SB121 - Minimum wage; farm laborers or farm employees, temporary foreign workers.
       Patron(s): Carroll Foy
       Summary: Minimum wage; farm laborers or farm employees. Eliminates the exemption from Virginia's minimum wage requirements for persons employed as farm laborers or farm employees. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027, and is identical to HB 20.
  8. SB128 - Covenants not to compete; includes health care professionals, civil penalty.
       Patron(s): VanValkenburg
       Summary: Covenants not to compete; health care professionals; civil penalty. Adds health care professionals as a category of employee with or upon whom no employer shall enter into, enforce, or threaten to enforce a covenant not to compete. The bill defines "health care professional" as any person licensed, registered, or certified by the Board of Medicine, Nursing, Counseling, Optometry, Psychology, or Social Work. The bill provides that any employer that violates the prohibition against covenants not to compete with a health care professional is subject to the civil penalty in current law of $10,000
  9. SB161 - Health insurance; limit on cost-sharing payments for prescription drugs under certain plans.
       Patron(s): Perry
       Summary: Health insurance; limit on cost-sharing payments for prescription drugs under certain plans. Requires each carrier that offers a health plan in either the individual or small group market to ensure that at least one health plan in each of the bronze, silver, gold, and platinum levels of coverage in each rating area in the individual and small group market conform with the following: (i) a plan that offers a platinum level of coverage shall limit a person's cost-sharing payment for prescription drugs covered under the plan to an amount that does not exceed $150 per 30-day supply of the prescrip
  10. SB170 - Protection of employees; covenants not to compete, discharged employees.
       Patron(s): McPike
       Summary: Protection of employees; covenants not to compete; discharged employees. Provides that no covenant not to compete, as such term is defined in existing law, between an employer and an employee is enforceable if such employer discharges such employee from employment without providing severance benefits or other monetary payment to such employee that is disclosed upon execution of the covenant not to compete, unless the employee is discharged for cause. This bill incorporates SB 569.
  11. SB199 - Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.
       Patron(s): Favola
       Summary: Employment; paid sick leave; civil penalties; civil actions. Requires one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked for all employees of private employers and state and local governments, with certain exceptions. The bill requires that employees who are employed and compensated on a fee-for-service basis accrue paid sick leave in accordance with regulations adopted by the Commissioner of Labor and Industry. The bill provides that employees transferred to a separate division or location remain entitled to previously accrued paid sick leave and that employees retain their accrued paid si
  12. SB215 - Prospective employer; prohibited from seeking wage or salary history of prospective employees.
       Patron(s): Boysko
       Summary: Prohibiting employer seeking wage or salary history of prospective employees; wage or salary range transparency; cause of action. Prohibits a prospective employer from (i) seeking the wage or salary history of a prospective employee; (ii) relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in considering the prospective employee for employment; (iii) relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in determining the wages or salary the prospective employee is to be paid upon hire; (iv) refusing to interview, hire, employ, or promote or otherwise retaliating against
  13. SB233 - Fire Programs Fund; distribution of fund.
       Patron(s): Head
       Summary: Fire Programs Fund; work group; report. Directs the Department of Fire Programs to establish a work group to evaluate the funding formula for the distribution of aid to localities through the Fire Programs Fund.
  14. SB240 - Retail franchise agreements; governing law, competition restrictions.
       Patron(s): Head
       Summary: Retail franchise agreements; governing law; competition restrictions. Provides that retail franchise agreements shall be governed by the laws of the Commonwealth and prohibits any person from offering or entering into a franchise agreement that includes competition restrictions that extend beyond termination or expiration of the franchise agreement, except as a term of sale in the event that a franchisee sells a franchise to a third party or back to the franchisor. This bill is identical to HB 69.
  15. SB257 - Health insurance; requirements for certain opioid antagonists.
       Patron(s): Favola
       Summary: Health insurance; requirements for certain opioid antagonists. Requires each health insurer, corporation providing health care subscription plans, and health maintenance organization whose policy, contract, or plan includes coverage for prescription drugs to include coverage for at least one opioid antagonist used for overdose reversal dispensed pursuant to an oral, written, or standing order of a prescriber and ensure that cost-sharing for at least one opioid antagonist used for overdose reversal is included on the lowest cost tier of the insurer's, corporation's, or health maintenance organi
  16. SB288 - Protection of employees; standards for heat illness prevention, report.
       Patron(s): Aird
       Summary: Protection of employees; standards for heat illness prevention; Safety and Health Codes Board. Requires the Safety and Health Codes Board (the Board) to adopt regulations designed to protect workers from heat illness, as defined in the bill, during indoor and outdoor work. The bill provides that such regulations shall be enforced by the Board's existing authority. The bill directs the Board, in consultation with the Department of Labor and Industry, to develop and adopt regulations that require employers to implement heat illness prevention plans and to convene an advisory panel to assist in d
  17. SB319 - Migrant labor camp permits; removes expiration date.
       Patron(s): Perry
       Summary: Migrant labor camp permits; expiration. Removes the annual December 31 expiration date for all issued migrant labor camp permits and provides that such permits expire 12 months from the date of issuance. This bill is identical to HB 340.
  18. SB361 - Health insurance; coverage for contraceptive drugs & devices, including over-the-counter.
       Patron(s): Carroll Foy
       Summary: Health insurance; coverage for contraceptive drugs and devices. Requires health insurance carriers to provide coverage, under any health insurance contract, policy, or plan that includes coverage for prescription drugs on an outpatient basis, for contraceptive drugs and contraceptive devices approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including those available over-the-counter. The bill prohibits a health insurance carrier from imposing upon any person receiving prescription contraceptive benefits pursuant to the provisions of the bill any copayment, coinsurance payment, or fee, except
  19. SB370 - Prevailing wage rate for public works contracts; civil penalties.
       Patron(s): Carroll Foy
       Summary: Prevailing wage rate for public works contracts; civil penalties. Provides that the prevailing wage rate required to be paid under certain contracts for public works shall not be less than the applicable prevailing wage rate determined by the U.S. Secretary of Labor under federal law. The bill subjects any contractor or subcontractor who fails to pay the prevailing wage rate for public works contracts as required by existing law to a civil penalty of $500 for each day on which such underpayment occurs and disqualifies such contractor or subcontractor from bidding on public contracts until thre
  20. SB372 - Employment; expands provisions for paid sick leave, civil penalties.
       Patron(s): Carroll Foy
       Summary: Employment; paid sick leave; civil penalties. Expands provisions of the Code that currently require one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked for home health workers to cover all employees of private employers and state and local governments. The bill requires that employees who are employed and compensated on a fee-for-service basis accrue paid sick leave in accordance with regulations adopted by the Commissioner of Labor and Industry. The bill provides that employees transferred to a separate division or location remain entitled to previously accrued paid sick leave and that empl
  21. SB378 - Public employees; repeals existing prohibition on collective bargaining, etc.
       Patron(s): Surovell
       Summary: Collective bargaining by public employees; individual home care providers; Virginia Home Care Council established; Public Employee Relations Board established; exclusive bargaining representatives. Repeals the existing prohibition on collective bargaining by public employees. The bill creates the Public Employee Relations Board, which shall determine appropriate bargaining units and provide for certification and decertification elections for exclusive bargaining representatives of state employees and local government employees. The bill requires public employers and employee organizations that
  22. SB433 - Unemployment insurance; benefit eligibility conditions, etc.
       Patron(s): Bagby
       Summary: Unemployment insurance; benefit eligibility conditions; lockout exception to labor dispute disqualification. Amends the Virginia Unemployment Compensation Act's labor dispute disqualification provision to provide that a lockout by an employer shall not constitute a labor dispute and that locked-out employees who are otherwise eligible for benefits shall receive such benefits unless (i) the recognized or certified collective bargaining representative of the locked-out employees refuses to meet under reasonable conditions with the employer to discuss the issues giving rise to the lockout, (ii) t
  23. SB518 - Public works contracts; prevailing wage rate, definitions, civil penalty.
       Patron(s): Rouse
       Summary: Prevailing wage rate for public works contracts; localities. Requires each state agency or locality, when procuring services or letting contracts for public works paid for in whole or in part by state or local funds, or when overseeing or administering such contracts for public works, to ensure that its bid specifications or other public contracts applicable to the public works require bidders, offerors, contractors, and subcontractors to pay wages, salaries, benefits, and other remuneration to any mechanic, laborer, or worker employed, retained, or otherwise hired to perform services in conne
  24. SB527 - Pharmaceutical Substance Manufacturing Grant Fund; created.
       Patron(s): Deeds
       Summary: Pharmaceutical Substance Manufacturing Grant Fund. Establishes the Pharmaceutical Substance Manufacturing Grant Fund to provide grant installment awards between July 1, 2026, and July 1, 2045, in an amount not to exceed $34 million per fiscal year and in an aggregate amount not to exceed $191,255,000, to a qualified company that (i) engages in the manufacture of pharmaceutical substances, (ii) executes a memorandum of understanding with the Commonwealth, and (iii) is expected to make a capital investment of at least $4 billion and create and maintain at least 500 new full-time jobs. This bill
  25. SB569 - Protection of employees; covenants not to compete, involuntarily separated employees.
       Patron(s): Sturtevant
       Summary: Protection of employees; covenants not to compete; involuntarily separated employees. Prohibits the enforcement of a covenant not to compete, as such term is defined in existing law, between an employer and an employee if such employee is involuntarily separated from employment, as defined in the bill. The bill provides that for its purposes, an employee that is separated from employment shall be presumed to be involuntarily separated from employment unless the employer provides documentation establishing that such separation is voluntary or due to the employee's inadequate job performance or
  26. SB586 - Health carriers; use of artificial intelligence, disclosures.
       Patron(s): Salim
       Summary: Health carriers; use of artificial intelligence; disclosures. Requires health carriers to disclose to the State Corporation Commission's Bureau of Insurance how artificial intelligence is used to manage claims coverage and to submit all information enabling decisions made by artificial intelligence to the Bureau upon request. The bill also requires health carriers to provide notice to enrollees and health care providers when artificial intelligence has been used to issue an adverse determination and to provide a clear and timely process for appeal of such determination.
  27. SB644 - Minimum wage and overtime wages; payment, misclassification of workers, civil actions.
       Patron(s): Surovell
       Summary: Labor and employment; payment of wages; minimum wage and overtime wages; misclassification of workers; prevailing wage rate; civil actions. Provides that an employer that violates provisions relating to minimum wage, overtime wages provisions, the misclassification of workers, or the prevailing wage rate is liable to the employee for the applicable remedies, damages, or other relief available in an action brought pursuant to the civil action provisions currently available for the nonpayment of wages. Such provisions currently available provide that an employee may bring an action in a court of
  28. SB667 - Public service company; prevailing wage rate, apprenticeship requirements, penalties.
       Patron(s): Rouse
       Summary: Prevailing wage rate; apprenticeship requirements; RPS-eligible source work; penalties. Requires each public service company, including its contractors and subcontractors, or third-party developer to ensure payment at the prevailing wage rate set by the Department of Labor and Industry for any mechanic, laborer, or worker employed, retained, or otherwise hired to perform construction, maintenance, or repair work for certain electricity generating sources. The bill requires each public service company to (i) ensure that 15 percent of the total labor hours of such work is performed by a qualifie
  29. SB668 - State pharmacy benefits manager; contractual provisions, report.
       Patron(s): Rouse
       Summary: State pharmacy benefits manager; contractual provisions; report. Requires the Department of Medical Assistance Services' contract with the state pharmacy benefits manager to (i) require that that ingredient-cost reimbursement is based on the national average drug acquisition cost, or if unavailable, the wholesale acquisition cost minus a discount set by the Department, plus a professional dispensing fee, determined by the Department; (ii) require real-time or near real-time transparency in drug costs, rebates collected and paid, dispensing fees paid, administrative fees, and all other charges,
  30. SB758 - Solar energy facility work; prevailing wage rate, apprenticeship requirements, civil penalties.
       Patron(s): Rouse
       Summary: Solar energy facilities; prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements; report; civil penalties. Requires each solar developer, including its contractors and subcontractors, to ensure payment at the prevailing wage rate set by the Department of Labor and Industry for any mechanic, laborer, or worker employed, retained, or otherwise hired to perform construction, maintenance, or repair work for certain electricity generating sources. The bill requires each solar developer to (i) ensure that a percentage of the total labor hours of such work is performed by qualified apprentices and (ii) emplo
  31. SB759 - Unemployment benefits; increase weekly benefit amount.
       Patron(s): Ebbin
       Summary: Unemployment benefits; increase weekly benefit amount. Provides that, for unemployment compensation claims effective on or after July 1, 2026, an eligible individual's weekly benefit amount shall be $48 higher than the current weekly benefit amount, as denoted in the table in the printed bill. This bill is identical to HB 1320.
  32. SB760 - Unemployment benefits; maximum duration.
       Patron(s): Ebbin
       Summary: Unemployment benefits; maximum duration. Provides that, beginning July 1, 2026, for claims effective on or after July 1, 2026, an eligible individual's weekly unemployment compensation benefit amount shall be paid for a maximum duration of 26 weeks.
  33. SB767 - Motor vehicles; glass repair and replacement, emissions inspections, penalties, repeals.
       Patron(s): Cifers
       Summary: Motor vehicle glass repair and replacement; emissions inspection; penalties. Establishes various notice requirements for motor vehicle glass repair shops, defined in the bill, and provides that a violation of such requirements is subject to enforcement by the Attorney General under the authority and procedures applicable to violations of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The bill permits a motor vehicle to qualify for an emissions inspection waiver if such vehicle has failed an inspection and the vehicle's onboard diagnostic system is in a not-ready condition to be tested when presented fo
  34. SB771 - Workers' compensation; burial expenses, annual adjustment.
       Patron(s): McPike
       Summary: Workers' compensation; burial expenses; annual adjustment. Increases from $10,000 to $15,000 the amount required to be paid by an employer under workers' compensation provisions for burial expenses. The bill directs the Commissioner of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission to adjust the amount of burial expenses and reasonable transportation expenses required to be paid by an employer by a percentage equivalent to the percentage increase of the United States Average Consumer Price Index published by the U.S. Department of Labor beginning January 1, 2028, and annually thereafter.
  34. SB771 - Workers' compensation; burial expenses, annual adjustment.
       Patron(s): McPike
       Summary: Workers' compensation; burial expenses; annual adjustment. Increases from $10,000 to $15,000 the amount required to be paid by an employer under workers' compensation provisions for burial expenses. The bill directs the Commissioner of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission to adjust the amount of burial expenses and reasonable transportation expenses required to be paid by an employer by a percentage equivalent to the percentage increase of the United States Average Consumer Price Index published by the U.S. Department of Labor beginning January 1, 2028, and annually thereafter.
  35. SB774 - Financial institutions; processing fee on taxes prohibited, civil penalty.
       Patron(s): Mulchi
       Summary: Financial institutions; processing fee on taxes prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits any payment card network from imposing or receiving any processing fee on the portion of any transaction comprising sales and use tax on any electronic payment transaction, defined in the bill as any transaction in which a person uses a debit card, credit card, or other payment code or device issued or approved through a payment card network to debit a deposit account or use a line of credit, whether authorization is based on a signature, personal identification number, or other means. The bill imposes a civil
  36. SB775 - Insurance; increases fees for vehicles, etc.
       Patron(s): Hackworth
       Summary: Insurance; Fire Programs Fund; fees for vehicles; Virginia At Risk Fire Grant Program established; Firefighter Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Fund established. Increases the fire insurance assessment from one percent of total direct gross premium income for such insurance to (i) 1.5 percent on and after July 1, 2026, but before July 1, 2027, and (ii) two percent on and after July 1, 2027. The bill also increases the vehicle registration fee used to provide support for emergency medical services from $4.25 to $6.25 for each pickup or panel truck and each motor vehicle. The bill also establ
  37. SB782 - Corporations; limited liability decentralized autonomous organizations (LLDs).
       Patron(s): Salim
       Summary: Corporations; limited liability decentralized autonomous organizations (LLDs). Creates the Limited Liability Decentralized Autonomous Organization (LLD) Act, which establishes requirements for an LLD, defined as a distinct legal entity that operates through decentralized governance using blockchain technology and smart contracts that execute decentralized decision-making mechanisms. The bill permits the formation of an LLD by filing articles of formation with the State Corporation Commission (the Commission), and, if certain requirements are met, the Commission may issue a certificate of forma
  38. SB790 - Health insurance; mandated benefits, coverage for treatment of menopause and perimenopause.
       Patron(s): McDougle
       Summary: Health insurance; mandated benefits; treatment of menopause and perimenopause. Requires each insurer proposing to issue individual or group accident and sickness insurance policies providing hospital, medical and surgical, or major medical coverage on an expense-incurred basis; each corporation providing individual or group accident and sickness subscription contracts; and each health maintenance organization providing a health care plan for health care services to provide coverage for medically necessary treatment and care for menopause and perimenopause, as described in the bill.

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