HB 849 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Public school employees; suspension, notice and opportunity for a hearing.

Summary
Public school employees; suspension; notice and opportunity for a hearing. Provides that no school board employee shall be suspended without notice and, if applicable, an opportunity to be heard and amends current law to require any individual who has been so suspended, regardless of the length of the suspension, to continue to receive his then applicable salary unless and until the school board, after a hearing, determines otherwise. Under current law, such requirement only applies to any individual who has been suspended for a period in excess of five days.
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 13, 2026 Signed Apr 6, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Enrolled Chaptered · 1 edit
MINOR
The bill was formally enacted and assigned Chapter 233 for the 2026 session. The substantive legal text regarding school employee suspension procedures, grounds for suspension, and escrow account rules remains identical to the previous version, with no changes to policy, eligibility, or financial thresholds.
TECHNICAL

The document was converted from an enrolled bill draft to a final chaptered act, adding official chapter numbering, approval dates, and formatting adjustments while keeping the legislative content unchanged.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 27, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 13, 2026

How they voted

360
Passed · 3 other
Total votes 39
Feb 27, 2026
D Democratic20
18 Yea 2
90% Yea
R Republican19
18 Yea 1
94% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
27
Key actions
10
Committee
7
Apr 6, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 233 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Mar 6, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 6, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 6, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB849ER)
lower
Mar 2, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Feb 27, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Feb 26, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Education and Health (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 19, 2026
Committee
Assigned Education sub: Public Education
upper
Feb 16, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Education and Health
upper
Feb 13, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (96-Y 0-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 9, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Education (21-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (10-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 2, 2026
Committee
Assigned HED sub: K-12 Subcommittee
lower
Jan 13, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Education
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Rae Cousins
Rae Cousins
DDemocratic
VA
79