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HB 1385 VA
To Executive

Higher educational institutions, public; membership of governing boards.

VA · session 2026 · Assembly / House · bill

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Introduced Jan 21, 2026

Latest action (Apr 13, 2026) Governor's recommendation received by House

Summary

Public institutions of higher education; governing boards; membership and duties; work groups. Revises the membership and duties of the governing board of each public institution of higher education by, among other things, increasing from four years to six years the terms of each member of the governing board and requiring the governing board of each public institution of higher education to adopt policies defining and implementing shared governance among the components of the institution's organizational structure. The bill also directs the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to convene work groups for the purpose of developing model shared governance policies, in accordance with the provisions of the bill, and for the purpose of studying and making recommendations on (i) institutional structures and processes relating to legal counsel; (ii) the current selection and use of outside legal counsel by public institutions of higher education; (iii) a process by which (a) the governing board of any public institution of higher education, the Governor, or the General Assembly or a committee thereof with relevant oversight responsibility, upon determining that the legal counsel of a public institution of higher education is not acting in the best interests of the institution, including due to a conflict of interest, failure to defend the lawful authority of the public institution of higher education, or failure to comply with state law, may request the Attorney General to review the adequacy of such legal representation and (b) upon a determination by the Attorney General or the General Assembly or a committee thereof with relevant oversight responsibility that such institution is not receiving adequate legal representation, the governing board of any public institution of higher education may request additional representation or approve alternate counsel as necessary to protect the interests of the institution; and (iv) policies for requiring any individual member of a governing board of a public institution of higher education to recuse himself from or not participate in any vote or decision of the governing board on any matter in which he has a personal or pecuniary interest or any partisan or ideological interest that would compromise his ability to vote or act objectively and in accordance with the primary duties set forth in relevant law. This bill incorporates HB 780, HB 939, and HB 1069 and is identical to SB 494.

Sponsor (1)

  • Lily V. Franklin · primary
1 coauthor / cosponsor

Action history (50)

  1. Jan 21, 2026 Presented and ordered printed 26105297D · lower
  2. Jan 21, 2026 Referred to Committee on Education · lower
  3. Feb 5, 2026 Assigned HED sub: Higher Education · lower
  4. Feb 6, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1385) · lower
  5. Feb 9, 2026 House subcommittee offered · lower
  6. Feb 9, 2026 Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (7-Y 3-N) · lower
  7. Feb 11, 2026 Incorporates HB1069 (Laufer) · lower
  8. Feb 11, 2026 Incorporates HB780 (Callsen) · lower
  9. Feb 11, 2026 Incorporates HB939 (Franklin, L.V.) · lower
  10. Feb 11, 2026 Reported from Education with substitute (14-Y 7-N) · lower
  11. Feb 11, 2026 Committee substitute printed 26107251D-H1 · lower
  12. Feb 13, 2026 Read first time · lower
  13. Feb 16, 2026 Read second time · lower
  14. Feb 16, 2026 committee substitute agreed to · lower
  15. Feb 16, 2026 Engrossed by House - committee substitute · lower
  16. Feb 17, 2026 Read third time and passed House (62-Y 35-N 0-A) · lower
  17. Feb 18, 2026 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) · upper
  18. Feb 18, 2026 Referred to Committee on Education and Health · upper
  19. Feb 19, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1385) · lower
  20. Feb 26, 2026 Reported from Education and Health with substitute (10-Y 5-N) · upper
  21. Feb 27, 2026 Rules suspended · upper
  22. Feb 27, 2026 Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (37-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
  23. Feb 27, 2026 Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) · upper
  24. Feb 27, 2026 Committee substitute printed 26108794D-S1 · upper
  25. Mar 2, 2026 Read third time · upper
  26. Mar 2, 2026 Education and Health Substitute agreed to · upper
  27. Mar 2, 2026 Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute · upper
  28. Mar 2, 2026 Passed Senate with substitute (20-Y 20-N 0-A) · upper
  29. Mar 3, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1385) · lower
  30. Mar 4, 2026 Senate substitute rejected by House (1-Y 94-N 0-A) · lower
  31. Mar 6, 2026 Senate insisted on amendments (40-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
  32. Mar 6, 2026 Senate requested conference committee · upper
  33. Mar 9, 2026 House acceded to request · lower
  34. Mar 10, 2026 Conferees appointed by Senate · upper
  35. Mar 10, 2026 Senate Conferees: Deeds, Locke, Pillion, Surovell · upper
  36. Mar 11, 2026 Conferees appointed by House · lower
  37. Mar 11, 2026 House Conferees: Franklin of Montgomery, Carr, Zehr · lower
  38. Mar 14, 2026 Conference Report released · legislature
  39. Mar 14, 2026 Passed by temporarily · lower
  40. Mar 14, 2026 Conference report agreed to by Senate (21-Y 18-N 0-A) · upper
  41. Mar 14, 2026 Passed by temporarily · lower
  42. Mar 14, 2026 Conference report agreed to by House (62-Y 34-N 0-A) · lower
  43. Mar 30, 2026 Enrolled · lower
  44. Mar 30, 2026 Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1385ER) · lower
  45. Mar 30, 2026 Signed by President · upper
  46. Mar 31, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1385) · lower
  47. Mar 31, 2026 Signed by Speaker · lower
  48. Mar 31, 2026 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 · lower
  49. Mar 31, 2026 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 · executive
  50. Apr 13, 2026 Governor's recommendation received by House · executive

Text versions (20)

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.

  • Governor Substitute · PDF
  • Governor Substitute · HTML
  • Governor's Recommendation · HTML
  • Enrolled · PDF
  • Enrolled · HTML
  • Conference Report · HTML
  • Conference Report Substitute · PDF
  • Conference Report Substitute · HTML
  • Education and Health Substitute · PDF
  • Education and Health Substitute · HTML
  • Education and Health Substitute · PDF
  • Education and Health Substitute · HTML
  • Education Substitute · PDF
  • Education Substitute · HTML
  • Education Substitute · PDF
  • Education Substitute · HTML
  • Higher Education Subcommittee Substitute · PDF
  • Higher Education Subcommittee Substitute · HTML
  • Introduced · PDF
  • Introduced · HTML

Full text

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Data from OpenStates. View on OpenStates →