SB 494 VA

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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 SB 381 and is identical to HB 1385.

• R. Creigh Deeds Democratic · primary

1. Jan 13, 2026 Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104667D · upper
2. Jan 13, 2026 Referred to Committee on Education and Health · upper
3. Feb 4, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB494) · upper
4. Feb 9, 2026 Assigned Education sub: Higher Education · upper
5. Feb 9, 2026 Senate subcommittee offered · upper
6. Feb 11, 2026 Senate subcommittee offered · upper
7. Feb 12, 2026 Reported from Education and Health with substitute (12-Y 0-N 3-A) · upper
8. Feb 12, 2026 Senate committee offered · upper
9. Feb 12, 2026 Incorporates SB381 (Surovell) · upper
10. Feb 12, 2026 Committee substitute printed 26107584D-S1 · upper
11. Feb 13, 2026 Rules suspended · upper
12. Feb 13, 2026 Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (36-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
13. Feb 13, 2026 Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) · upper
14. Feb 16, 2026 Read second time · upper
15. Feb 16, 2026 Committee substitute agreed to (Voice Vote) · upper
16. Feb 16, 2026 Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute (Voice Vote) · upper
17. Feb 17, 2026 Read third time and passed Senate (22-Y 18-N 0-A) · upper
18. Feb 23, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB494) · upper
19. Feb 24, 2026 Placed on Calendar · lower
20. Feb 24, 2026 Read first time · lower
21. Feb 24, 2026 Referred to Committee on Education · lower
22. Feb 26, 2026 Assigned HED sub: Higher Education · lower
23. Mar 2, 2026 House subcommittee offered · lower
24. Mar 2, 2026 Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (7-Y 3-N) · lower
25. Mar 4, 2026 Reported from Education with substitute (15-Y 6-N) · lower
26. Mar 4, 2026 Committee substitute printed 26108796D-H1 · lower
27. Mar 5, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB494) · upper
28. Mar 6, 2026 Read second time · lower
29. Mar 9, 2026 Read third time · lower
30. Mar 9, 2026 committee substitute agreed to · lower
31. Mar 9, 2026 Engrossed by House - committee substitute · lower
32. Mar 9, 2026 Passed House with substitute (61-Y 35-N 0-A) · lower
33. Mar 10, 2026 House substitute rejected by Senate (0-Y 40-N 0-A) · upper
34. Mar 11, 2026 House insisted on substitute · lower
35. Mar 11, 2026 House requested conference committee · lower
36. Mar 12, 2026 Senate acceded to request Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
37. Mar 12, 2026 Conferees appointed by Senate · upper
38. Mar 12, 2026 Senate Conferees: Deeds, Locke, Surovell, Pillion · upper
39. Mar 12, 2026 Conferees appointed by House · lower
40. Mar 12, 2026 House Conferees: Franklin of Montgomery, Carr, Zehr · lower
41. Mar 12, 2026 House Conferees: Franklin, L.V., Feggans, Austin · lower
42. Mar 14, 2026 Passed by temporarily · lower
43. Mar 14, 2026 Conference Report released · legislature
44. Mar 14, 2026 Conference report agreed to by Senate (21-Y 18-N 0-A) · upper
45. Mar 14, 2026 Conference report agreed to by House (62-Y 35-N 0-A) · lower
46. Mar 30, 2026 Enrolled · upper
47. Mar 30, 2026 Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB494ER) · upper
48. Mar 30, 2026 Signed by President · upper
49. Mar 31, 2026 Signed by Speaker · lower
50. Mar 31, 2026 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 · upper
51. Mar 31, 2026 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 · executive
52. Apr 2, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB494) · upper
53. Apr 13, 2026 Governor's recommendation received by Senate · 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.

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