HB 187 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Virginia Beach, City of; amending charter, transition to a city council, voting districts.

Summary
An Act to amend and reenact § 3.01, as amended, § 3.01:1, and §§ 3.02:1 and 3.02:2, as amended, of Chapter 147 of the Acts of Assembly of 1962, which provided a charter for the City of Virginia Beach, and to repeal § 3.02:3 of Chapters 127 and 762 of the Acts of Assembly of 2020, relating to city council; voting districts; emergency.
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
Mar 2026
Introduced Jan 7, 2026 Signed Mar 10, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

Reenrolled Chaptered · 4 edits
MODERATE
This bill converts the Virginia Beach City Council charter from a draft proposal into official law, establishing the final structure for the city's 10 single-member election districts and 11-member council. It sets specific election dates and term lengths for council members and the mayor, while also repealing a previous emergency provision related to voting districts.
Scope change
The bill's scope changed from a proposed charter amendment to an enacted statute, making the new district boundaries and election rules legally binding immediately.
TIMELINE

Added an official approval date of March 10, 2026, and declared an emergency to make the act effective immediately upon passage.

Updated specific election years and term start/end dates in the text to reflect the 2026 session and future cycles (e.g., changing references from 1996 to 2024/2026).

REQUIREMENT

Removed the 'Reenrolled' and 'Chapter' headers that were present in the draft version but are now replaced by the final chapter number and approval details.

TECHNICAL

Corrected formatting inconsistencies and removed placeholder text (like repeated plus signs) to finalize the legal document.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 25, 2026 · House of Delegates Mar 6, 2026

How they voted

390
Passed
Total votes 39
Feb 25, 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
38
Key actions
18
Committee
7
Amendments
2
Mar 10, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter11(Effective 3/10/2026)
executive
Mar 10, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 10, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (22-Y 18-N 0-A)
upper
Mar 6, 2026
Lower · Passed
House concurred in Governor's recommendation (66-Y 29-N 1-A)
lower
Mar 4, 2026
Vetoed
Governor's recommendation received by House
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 (HB187ER)
lower
Feb 26, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (31-Y 9-N 0-A)
upper
Feb 25, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day
upper
Feb 24, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Feb 23, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Local Government (10-Y 5-N)
upper
Feb 2, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Local Government
upper
Jan 30, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (83-Y 13-N 1-A)
lower
Jan 29, 2026
Introduced
Engrossed by House as amended
lower
Jan 29, 2026
Lower · Passed
committee amendment agreed to
lower
Jan 28, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed by for the day
lower
Jan 23, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with amendment(s) (15-Y 4-N)
lower
Jan 23, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (4-Y 1-N)
lower
Jan 23, 2026
Lower · Passed
House subcommittee offered
lower
Jan 20, 2026
Committee
Assigned HCCT sub: Subcommittee #1
lower
Jan 7, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns
lower
1 primary · 2 co-sponsors

Sponsors