SB 22 Virginia Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Medicine and Nursing, Boards of; continuing education, bias reduction training.

Summary
Board of Medicine and Board of Nursing; continuing education; bias reduction training. Directs the Board of Medicine and Board of Nursing to require certain licensees to complete continuing learning activities on implicit and explicit bias reduction in health care as part of their continuing education and continuing competency requirements for licensure and authorizes the Board of Nursing to require certain continuing learning activities or courses in a specific subject area. Under current law, the Board of Medicine has such authority.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Nov 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Feb 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Feb 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Nov 17, 2025 Signed Apr 8, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Enrolled Chaptered · 3 edits
MINOR
This bill formalizes the requirement for medical and nursing professionals in Virginia to complete bias reduction training every two years as part of their license renewal. It updates the official session dates and chapter number to reflect the final enactment of the law.
Scope change
The scope of applicability remains the same, targeting licensed practitioners of medicine and nursing in Virginia.
TIMELINE

The bill's session year was updated from 2026 to 2026 (no change in year, but format adjusted), and the approval date was set to April 8, 2026.

TECHNICAL

The bill was assigned Chapter 451 of the Virginia Acts of Assembly, replacing the placeholder 'CHAPTER'.

REQUIREMENT

The text was finalized to mandate that the Boards of Medicine and Nursing require bias reduction training for all license renewals, with a maximum frequency of once every two years.

Floor votes · Senate Jan 30, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 24, 2026

How they voted

370
Passed · 2 other
Total votes 39
Jan 30, 2026
D Democratic20
20 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican19
17 Yea 2
89% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
32
Key actions
11
Committee
7
Apr 8, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 451 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Feb 26, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Feb 26, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Feb 26, 2026
Upper · Passed
Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB22ER)
upper
Feb 24, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House (63-Y 34-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 19, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Health and Human Services (15-Y 6-N)
lower
Feb 6, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services
lower
Feb 3, 2026
Upper · Passed
Read third time and passed Senate (30-Y 8-N 0-A)
upper
Jan 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Jan 29, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Education and Health with substitute (13-Y 2-N)
upper
Jan 29, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate committee offered
upper
Jan 23, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate subcommittee offered
upper
Jan 23, 2026
Committee
Assigned Education sub: Health Professions
upper
Nov 17, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on Education and Health
upper
1 primary · 2 co-sponsors

Sponsors