SB 134 VA

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Public education; early childhood care and education; child care access calculations; report. Requires the Department of Education to establish and maintain calculations for the provision of early childhood care and education services based on cost of quality rate per child, actual data from the prior year, an estimate of parental demand and choice preferences based on historic growth trends and current eligibility criteria, and an estimate of the number of slots to be added to support local or regional economic development efforts and public-private partnerships focused on increasing the supply of child care services, giving priority to localities or regions identified as child care deserts, as determined by the Department. The bill also contains several provisions relating to the use and appropriation of funds as applicable to such calculations, including (i) providing that the calculations shall not obligate the General Assembly to a specific appropriation, (ii) requiring the calculations to be used to provide information to guide the General Assembly in making decisions about the proportion of parental demand for and supply of early childhood care and education services to be addressed and level of appropriation required to address such demand, and (iii) providing that the annual overall funding available for slots shall be subject to appropriation as determined by the General Assembly. The bill also provides that if waitlists for slots at early childhood care and education sites remain, up to $5 million from prior-year unexpended state general funds appropriated for such purpose in a general appropriation act may be carried forward to the current fiscal year to temporarily provide additional slots during the current fiscal year solely to reduce or eliminate waitlists, unless the general appropriation act authorizes a greater amount to be carried forward and that such prior-year funds shall not be used to increase the base amount of funding required in the subsequent fiscal year and the Department shall monitor program utilization and attrition to ensure that no families will lose access at the end of the current fiscal year. Finally, the bill requires the Department to annually submit to the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education and post on its website a report on the data used to calculate the minimum funding and number of slots for the calculations in accordance with the provisions of the bill. This bill is identical to HB 1208.

• Mamie E. Locke Democratic · primary

1. Jan 6, 2026 Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102085D · upper
2. Jan 6, 2026 Referred to Committee on Education and Health · upper
3. Jan 15, 2026 Assigned Education sub: Public Education · upper
4. Jan 15, 2026 Senate subcommittee offered · upper
5. Jan 22, 2026 Senate committee offered · upper
6. Jan 22, 2026 Reported from Education and Health with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N) · upper
7. Jan 30, 2026 Committee substitute printed 26105480D-S1 · upper
8. Feb 3, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB134) · upper
9. Feb 10, 2026 Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (15-Y 0-N) · upper
10. Feb 11, 2026 Committee substitute printed 26107527D-S2 · upper
11. Feb 11, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB134) · upper
12. Feb 11, 2026 Rules suspended · upper
13. Feb 11, 2026 Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
14. Feb 11, 2026 Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) · upper
15. Feb 12, 2026 Read second time · upper
16. Feb 12, 2026 Education and Health Substitute rejected · upper
17. Feb 12, 2026 Finance and Appropriations Substitute agreed to · upper
18. Feb 12, 2026 Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute Block Vote (Voice Vote) · upper
19. Feb 13, 2026 Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
20. Feb 18, 2026 Placed on Calendar · lower
21. Feb 18, 2026 Read first time · lower
22. Feb 18, 2026 Referred to Committee on Appropriations · lower
23. Feb 18, 2026 Assigned HAPP sub: Elementary & Secondary Education · lower
24. Feb 20, 2026 Reported from Appropriations with substitute (22-Y 0-N) · lower
25. Feb 20, 2026 Committee substitute printed 26108283D-H1 · lower
26. Feb 23, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB134) · upper
27. Feb 24, 2026 Read second time · lower
28. Feb 25, 2026 Moved from Uncontested Calendar to Regular Calendar · lower
29. Feb 25, 2026 Read third time · lower
30. Feb 25, 2026 committee substitute agreed to · lower
31. Feb 25, 2026 Engrossed by House - committee substitute · lower
32. Feb 25, 2026 Passed House with substitute (93-Y 3-N 0-A) · lower
33. Feb 27, 2026 House substitute rejected by Senate · upper
34. Mar 2, 2026 House insisted on substitute · lower
35. Mar 2, 2026 House requested conference committee · lower
36. Mar 4, 2026 Senate acceded to request Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
37. Mar 4, 2026 Conferees appointed by Senate · upper
38. Mar 4, 2026 Senate Conferees: Locke, Favola, Pillion · upper
39. Mar 10, 2026 Conferees appointed by House · lower
40. Mar 10, 2026 House Conferees: Sewell, Askew, Kent · lower
41. Mar 14, 2026 Conference Report released · legislature
42. Mar 14, 2026 Conference report agreed to by House (85-Y 12-N 0-A) · lower
43. Mar 14, 2026 Conference report agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
44. Mar 30, 2026 Enrolled · upper
45. Mar 30, 2026 Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB134ER) · upper
46. Mar 30, 2026 Signed by President · upper
47. Mar 31, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB134) · upper
48. Mar 31, 2026 Signed by Speaker · lower
49. Mar 31, 2026 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 · upper
50. Mar 31, 2026 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 · executive
51. Apr 8, 2026 Approved by Governor-Chapter 457 (effective 7/1/2026) · executive
52. Apr 8, 2026 Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0457) · executive

The published texts of this bill as it moves through the legislature. Each links to the official document on the state legislature site. Data from OpenStates.

• Chaptered · PDF
• Chaptered · HTML
• Enrolled · PDF
• Enrolled · HTML
• Conference Report · HTML
• Conference Report Substitute · PDF
• Conference Report Substitute · HTML
• Appropriations Substitute · PDF
• Appropriations Substitute · HTML
• Finance and Appropriations Substitute · PDF
• Finance and Appropriations Substitute · HTML
• Education and Health Substitute · PDF
• Education and Health Substitute · HTML
• Education and Health Substitute · PDF
• Education and Health Substitute · HTML
• Introduced · PDF
• Introduced · HTML