HB 1001 VA

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Introduced

Commonwealth Savers Plan; State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; Virginia College Access and Affordability Scholarship Fund established; work group; report. Directs the transfer of actuarial surplus defined benefit prepaid tuition contract funds from the Commonwealth Savers Plan (the Plan) Fund into a DB529 Fund established by the bill to be deposited into the Virginia College Access and Affordability Scholarship Fund (the Access Fund) established by the bill. Under the bill, the DB529 Fund and the Access Fund operate as subfunds of the Commonwealth Savers Plan Fund. The bill further provides that the Plan shall initially deposit $500 million from the DB529 Fund into the Access Fund to be invested and managed by the Plan. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall no less than biennially complete an independent evaluation and risk assessment of the Plan's risk assessment model, assumptions, and other measures employed by the Plan related to the DB529 Fund and the Access Fund. Funds in the Access Fund shall be used to establish a scholarship program that is managed and administered by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (the Council). The scholarship program provides scholarship awards to students enrolled in an eligible education program, defined in the bill, and a portion of the funds are to be devoted to college access resources or programs to assist low-income students, first generation college students, students from underrepresented communities, or other at-risk students with their introduction to the higher education system in Virginia, college applications, financial aid applications, and resources assisting with a successful transition from high school to college. The Council is required to report on the Access Fund and scholarship program no later than December 31 of each year. Finally, the bill (i) directs the Council to establish a work group of higher education stakeholders to make recommendations on allocations of funds available through the Access Fund and scholarship program and directs the work group to report to the House Committees on Education and Appropriations and Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance and Appropriations no later than November 1, 2026, and (ii) prohibits the Plan from implementing or taking part in any initiatives relating to the aforementioned college access programs on or after July 1, 2026, except for existing access programs related to a prepaid tuition contract entered into on or before June 30, 2026, and existing program offerings made available for SOAR Virginia and GEAR UP Virginia.

• Kathy K.L. Tran Democratic · primary

1. Jan 14, 2026 Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104912D · lower
2. Jan 14, 2026 Referred to Committee on Education · lower
3. Jan 30, 2026 Assigned HED sub: Higher Education · lower
4. Feb 9, 2026 House committee offered · lower
5. Feb 9, 2026 Reported from Education with substitute and referred to Appropriations (14-Y 7-N) · lower
6. Feb 9, 2026 Committee substitute printed 26107450D-H1 · lower
7. Feb 12, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1001) · lower
8. Feb 18, 2026 Left in Committee Appropriations · lower

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.

• Education Substitute · PDF
• Education Substitute · HTML
• Education Substitute · PDF
• Education Substitute · HTML
• Introduced · PDF
• Introduced · HTML