Virginia Consumer Protection Act; prohibited practices, streaming advertisement volume control.
Summary
Streaming advertisement volume control; civil penalty. Requires a video streaming service, social media video service, or third-party advertising manager, as defined in the bill, that serves consumers residing in the Commonwealth to exercise reasonable care to normalize the audio of short-form content, as defined in the bill, so that such audio is not transmitted at a louder volume than the long-form content, also defined in the bill, it accompanies, consistent with the regulations adopted by the Federal Communications Commission pursuant to the federal Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act for television broadcast stations, cable operators, and other multichannel video programming distributors. The bill provides that the Office of the Attorney General shall enforce the provisions of the bill. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.
Bill status
vetoed
4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Vetoed
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 13, 2026
Vetoed Apr 11, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons
What changed between versions
Housing/Consumer Protection Subcommittee Substitute
→
General Laws and Technology Substitute
·
6 edits
MODERATE
The bill was transferred from the House to the Senate, and the enforcement section was completely rewritten to shift authority from the Attorney General to the Commonwealth. The new version allows the Attorney General to issue investigative demands, seek injunctions, and recover legal fees, while also establishing a private right of action for violations.
Scope change
The bill's scope regarding enforcement mechanisms was significantly expanded to include investigative powers and fee recovery, while the private right of action was retained.
TIMELINE
The bill's origin was changed from the House Committee to the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology.
ENFORCEMENT
The previous requirement for a 45-day written notice before taking action was removed.
New powers were added allowing the Attorney General to issue civil investigative demands and recover reasonable expenses, including attorney fees.
A new provision explicitly allows the Attorney General to seek injunctions and civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation.
The definition of a violation was moved from subsection B to subsection A, but the definition itself remains unchanged.
A new subsection F was added to clarify that the chapter does not provide a basis for a private right of action, reversing the previous removal of this clause.
Floor votes · Senate Feb 27, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 16, 2026
How they voted
36–0
Passed · 3 other
Total votes 39
Feb 27, 2026
D
Democratic20
90% Yea
R
Republican19
94% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
37
Key actions
11
Committee
7
Apr 11, 2026
Vetoed
Governor's recommendation received by House
executive
Mar 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 11, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB518ER)
lower
Mar 2, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate with substitute Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Feb 27, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Feb 25, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from General Laws and Technology with substitute (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 25, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate committee offered
upper
Feb 17, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology
upper
Feb 16, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House (97-Y 0-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 16, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (96-Y 0-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from General Laws with substitute (21-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 5, 2026
Lower · Passed
House subcommittee offered
lower
Jan 19, 2026
Committee
Assigned HGL sub: Housing/Consumer Protection
lower
Jan 13, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on General Laws
lower
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor
Sponsors
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