SB 444 Virginia Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Offenses relating to gift cards; penalties.

Summary
Offenses relating to gift cards; penalties. Adds the offenses of gift card theft, gift card forgery, gift card fraud, and criminally receiving goods and services fraudulently obtained to the existing provisions of law related to credit cards. This bill is identical to HB 662.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Signed Apr 6, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Enrolled Chaptered · 2 edits
MINOR
This bill finalizes the legislative process for SB 444, converting the enrolled version into an official chapter of the Virginia Code. The primary change is the addition of the approval date (April 6, 2026) and the assignment of a chapter number (197), which are standard procedural steps to make the law effective. No substantive policy changes regarding offenses, penalties, or gift card regulations were made in this specific diff.
TECHNICAL

Added the official approval date and chapter number to finalize the bill's enactment.

Removed the placeholder text indicating the session year and the generic 'Chapter' label.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 12, 2026 · House of Delegates Mar 4, 2026

How they voted

390
Passed
Total votes 39
Feb 12, 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
36
Key actions
12
Committee
6
Apr 6, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 197 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Mar 31, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB444ER)
upper
Mar 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House Block Vote (99-Y 0-N 0-A)
lower
Mar 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House Block Vote (97-Y 0-N 0-A)
lower
Mar 2, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 18, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
lower
Feb 13, 2026
Upper · Passed
Read third time and passed Senate Block Vote (38-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Feb 12, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Feb 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 2, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 2, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate committee offered
upper
Jan 13, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
upper
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors