HB 1208 VA

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Became Law

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 SB 134.

• Briana D. Sewell Democratic · primary

1. Jan 14, 2026 Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104909D · lower
2. Jan 14, 2026 Referred to Committee on Education · lower
3. Jan 30, 2026 Assigned HED sub: Early Childhood and Innovation · lower
4. Feb 3, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1208) · lower
5. Feb 4, 2026 Subcommittee recommends reporting and referring to Appropriations (9-Y 1-N) · lower
6. Feb 9, 2026 Reported from Education with substitute (18-Y 3-N) · lower
7. Feb 9, 2026 House committee offered · lower
8. Feb 9, 2026 Committee substitute printed 26107408D-H1 · lower
9. Feb 9, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1208) · lower
10. Feb 11, 2026 Read first time · lower
11. Feb 12, 2026 Read second time · lower
12. Feb 12, 2026 committee substitute agreed to · lower
13. Feb 12, 2026 Engrossed by House - committee substitute · lower
14. Feb 13, 2026 Read third time and passed House (74-Y 22-N 0-A) · lower
15. Feb 16, 2026 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) · upper
16. Feb 16, 2026 Referred to Committee on Education and Health · upper
17. Feb 19, 2026 Reported from Education and Health with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) · upper
18. Feb 19, 2026 Senate committee offered · upper
19. Feb 19, 2026 Committee substitute printed 26108243D-S1 · upper
20. Feb 23, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1208) · lower
21. Feb 25, 2026 Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) · upper
22. Feb 26, 2026 Rules suspended · upper
23. Feb 26, 2026 Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
24. Feb 26, 2026 Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) · upper
25. Feb 27, 2026 Read third time · upper
26. Feb 27, 2026 Education and Health Substitute agreed to · upper
27. Feb 27, 2026 Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute · upper
28. Feb 27, 2026 Passed Senate with substitute Block Vote (37-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
29. Mar 3, 2026 Senate substitute rejected by House · lower
30. Mar 5, 2026 Senate insisted on substitute (38-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
31. Mar 5, 2026 Senate requested conference committee · upper
32. Mar 6, 2026 House acceded to request · lower
33. Mar 9, 2026 Conferees appointed by Senate · upper
34. Mar 9, 2026 Senate Conferees: Locke, Favola, Pillion · upper
35. Mar 10, 2026 Conferees appointed by House · lower
36. Mar 10, 2026 House Conferees: Sewell, Askew, Kent · lower
37. Mar 14, 2026 Conference Report released · legislature
38. Mar 14, 2026 Conference report agreed to by House (76-Y 20-N 0-A) · lower
39. Mar 14, 2026 Conference report agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
40. Mar 30, 2026 Enrolled · lower
41. Mar 30, 2026 Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1208ER) · lower
42. Mar 30, 2026 Signed by President · upper
43. Mar 31, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1208) · lower
44. Mar 31, 2026 Signed by Speaker · lower
45. Mar 31, 2026 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 · lower
46. Mar 31, 2026 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 · executive
47. Apr 8, 2026 Approved by Governor-Chapter 456 (effective 7/1/2026) · executive
48. Apr 8, 2026 Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0456) · 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
• 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
• Introduced · PDF
• Introduced · HTML