HB 231 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Autism Advisory Council; name change, membership, staffing, powers and duties.

Summary

Autism Advisory Council; name change; membership; staffing; powers and duties. Provides for the Autism Advisory Council to be reconstituted as a permanent, independently staffed agency in the legislative branch of state government. Currently, the Autism Advisory Council is set to expire on July 1, 2027. The bill repeals the expiration date and renames the agency as the Autism Commission. The bill also modifies the membership of the Commission to more closely align with the membership makeup of other independently staffed legislative agencies and directs the Commission to appoint and employ an executive director and other staff to assist in carrying out the duties of the Commission.

Bill status failed 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

Governor

Introduced Jan 8, 2026 Last action Mar 14, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Rules Substitute → Studies Subcommittee Subcommittee Substitute · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill text was reformatted and reorganized from a 'Rules Substitute' version to a 'Studies Subcommittee Substitute' version. The substantive policy language regarding the Autism Advisory Council's membership, powers, and duties remains largely unchanged, though there are minor formatting adjustments and some text inconsistencies that appear to be artifacts of the markup process.

TECHNICAL

Header formatting changed from 'OFFERED FOR CONSIDERATION' to 'HOUSE SUBSTITUTE' with additional spacing and line breaks added throughout the document.

Bill identification numbers and version markers were added (e.g., '26105307D', 'HB231HC2') indicating this is a House Committee substitute version.

Line numbering and spacing were reorganized to match standard House substitute formatting conventions.

Some text inconsistencies remain in the membership composition section (e.g., '25 12 members', 'six include nine legislative members') that appear to be markup artifacts rather than intentional policy changes.

Introduced → Rules Substitute · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended from its original introduced version to a Rules Substitute version, primarily involving formatting cleanup and minor substantive changes to membership composition and appointment procedures. The most significant policy change involves expanding the Council's purpose to include 'other developmental disabilities' alongside autism spectrum disorders, and adjusting how certain citizen members are selected to include parents of individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Several technical corrections were made to clarify membership counts and appointment authority.

Scope change

The scope of the Autism Advisory Council Commission was expanded to include services for individuals with other developmental disabilities in addition to autism spectrum disorders, broadening the Council's mission beyond just autism-related services.

SCOPE

Expanded the Council's purpose to include coordination of services for 'other developmental disabilities' in addition to autism spectrum disorders, broadening the advisory council's focus.

ELIGIBILITY

Changed appointment criteria for citizen members to allow the Speaker of the House to select either 'one individual with an autism spectrum disorder or a parent of an individual with autism spectrum disorder' instead of requiring separate selections for each category.

REQUIREMENT

Corrected membership composition language from 'six include nine legislative members, 12 and three nonlegislative citizen members' to 'nine legislative members, 12 and three nonlegislative citizen members' for clarity.

TECHNICAL

Changed reimbursement approval authority from 'the chairman chair of the Council Commission and the respective Clerk' to 'the chairman chair of the Council Commission and the respective Office of the Clerk of the chair of the Commission' for procedural clarity.

Removed the requirement that ex officio members be 'appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates' and changed to 'appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates and one shall be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules' for consistency.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 9, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 6, 2026

How they voted

39–0

Passed

Total votes 39

Mar 9, 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

Mar 12, 2026

Committee

Senate requested conference committee

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Senate with substitute Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A)

upper

Mar 9, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N)

upper

Feb 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from Rules with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N)

upper

Feb 9, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Rules

upper

Feb 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time and passed House (93-Y 4-N 0-A)

lower

Feb 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from Appropriations (22-Y 0-N)

lower

Jan 30, 2026

Lower · Passed

Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 0-N)

lower

Jan 27, 2026

Committee

Assigned HAPP sub: General Government and Capital Outlay

lower

Jan 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from Rules with substitute and referred to Appropriations (18-Y 0-N)

lower

Jan 23, 2026

Lower · Passed

House subcommittee offered

lower

Jan 22, 2026

Committee

Assigned HRUL sub: Studies Subcommittee

lower

Jan 8, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Rules

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor