HB 165 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Contractors, Board for; examinations available in alternative languages.

Summary

Board for Contractors; examinations; alternative languages. Provides that any exam offered by the Board for Contractors that averaged over 50 administrations per year over the preceding four-year period shall be made available in any language that meets the threshold for having election materials printed in that language pursuant to state election law.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

Signed into Law

Apr 2026

Introduced Jan 6, 2026 Signed Apr 6, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Enrolled → Chaptered · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill was formally approved and assigned to Chapter 80 of the 2026 Virginia Acts of Assembly. The substantive policy content regarding contractor examination language requirements remains unchanged, though minor formatting adjustments were made to the section title and text layout.

TECHNICAL

Added official chapter designation (Chapter 80) and approval date (April 6, 2026) to the enacted text.

Adjusted line breaks and spacing in the section title and body text to match standard legislative formatting for the enrolled version.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 20, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 2, 2026

How they voted

39–0

Passed

Total votes 39

Feb 20, 2026

D Democratic20

20 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican19

19 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Apr 6, 2026

Signed into law

Approved by Governor-Chapter 80 (effective 7/1/2026)

executive

Mar 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

Signed by President

upper

Mar 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

Signed by Speaker

lower

Mar 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB165ER)

lower

Feb 25, 2026

Lower · Passed

Senate amendment agreed to by House (92-Y 4-N 0-A)

lower

Feb 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Senate with amendment (31-Y 7-N 0-A)

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Introduced

Engrossed by Senate as amended

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

General Laws and Technology Amendment agreed to

upper

Feb 20, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)

upper

Feb 18, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from General Laws and Technology with amendment (12-Y 0-N 2-A)

upper

Feb 18, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate committee offered

upper

Feb 3, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology

upper

Feb 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time and passed House (92-Y 6-N 0-A)

lower

Jan 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from General Laws (21-Y 0-N)

lower

Jan 22, 2026

Lower · Passed

Subcommittee recommends reporting (9-Y 0-N)

lower

Jan 19, 2026

Committee

Assigned HGL sub: Professions/Occupations and Administrative Process

lower

Jan 6, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on General Laws

lower

1 primary · 12 co-sponsors