Professional and Occupational Regulation, Department of; universal license recognition.
Summary
Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; universal license recognition. Reduces from three years to one year the number of years an individual is required to have held a professional or occupational license or government certification in another state in order to apply to the regulatory board within the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation and be issued an occupational license or government certification under the universal license recognition program.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Feb 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 14, 2026
Signed Apr 8, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
Enrolled
→
Chaptered
·
2 edits
MINOR
The bill was formally enacted into law as Chapter 448 of the 2026 Virginia Acts of Assembly. The substantive text of the universal license recognition law remains unchanged, though minor formatting adjustments were made to the layout of the statute.
Scope change
The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; it continues to govern the recognition of out-of-state professional licenses within Virginia.
TECHNICAL
The document was converted from a draft 'Enrolled' version to a final 'Chaptered' version, adding the official chapter number (448) and the approval date (April 8, 2026).
Minor formatting and line break adjustments were made to the text of the statute to align with the final publication style of the Virginia Acts of Assembly.
Floor votes · Senate Feb 20, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 9, 2026
How they voted
39–0
Passed
Total votes 39
Feb 20, 2026
D
Democratic20
100% Yea
R
Republican19
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
27
Key actions
10
Committee
6
Apr 8, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 448 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Feb 25, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Feb 25, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Feb 25, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1117ER)
lower
Feb 23, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (38-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Feb 20, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
upper
Feb 18, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from General Laws and Technology (14-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 10, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology
upper
Feb 9, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (97-Y 1-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from General Laws (21-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 29, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (9-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 27, 2026
Committee
Assigned HGL sub: Professions/Occupations and Administrative Process
lower
Jan 14, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on General Laws
lower
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor
Sponsors
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