Covenants not to compete; includes health care professionals, civil penalty.
Summary
Covenants not to compete; health care professionals; civil penalty. Adds health care professionals as a category of employee with or upon whom no employer shall enter into, enforce, or threaten to enforce a covenant not to compete. The bill defines "health care professional" as any person licensed, registered, or certified by the Board of Medicine, Nursing, Counseling, Optometry, Psychology, or Social Work. The bill provides that any employer that violates the prohibition against covenants not to compete with a health care professional is subject to the civil penalty in current law of $10,000 for each violation. This bill is identical to HB 627.
Bill status
vetoed
4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Vetoed
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 6, 2026
Vetoed Apr 11, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
Commerce and Labor Substitute
→
Enrolled
·
2 edits
·
Mar 12, 2026
MINOR
The bill was finalized as an enrolled act, removing draft metadata and standardizing formatting. The substantive policy text remains unchanged, with no new definitions, penalties, or exemptions added.
TECHNICAL
Removed draft headers, dates, and committee notes; replaced them with official enrolled act language.
Standardized spacing and formatting for section references and legal text throughout the document.
Floor votes · Senate Feb 4, 2026 · House of Delegates Mar 6, 2026
How they voted
39–0
Passed
Total votes 39
Feb 4, 2026
D
Democratic20
100% Yea
R
Republican19
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
34
Key actions
10
Committee
7
Apr 11, 2026
Vetoed
Governor's recommendation received by Senate
executive
Mar 12, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 12, 2026
Upper · Passed
Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB128ER)
upper
Mar 6, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House (92-Y 6-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 26, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Labor and Commerce (20-Y 1-N)
lower
Feb 18, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce
lower
Feb 13, 2026
Upper · Passed
Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Feb 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 5, 2026
Committee
Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations
upper
Feb 4, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Feb 2, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute (13-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 2, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate committee offered
upper
Jan 6, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Schuyler VanValkenburg
DDemocratic
Ask Maddy
·
AI policy assistant
Ask Maddy about SB 128
Scope: VA
Hi! I can help you understand SB 128. What would you like to know?
Try one of these
i
Maddy answers using official bill text and legislative records. Always verify before sharing.
Sources cited inline