HB 1603 Virginia House of Delegates · 2025 Regular Session

Commonwealth Rail Fund; funds applied to Shortline Railway Preservation and Development Fund.

Summary
Commonwealth Rail Fund; Shortline Railway Preservation and Development Fund. Removes the $4 million cap on those Commonwealth Rail Fund (Fund) moneys distributed to the Department of Rail and Public Transportation that may be applied to the Shortline Railway Preservation and Development Fund and instead provides that up to 50 percent of such Fund moneys may be applied to the Shortline Railway Preservation and Development Fund. The bill retains the current provisions granting 93 percent of Fund moneys to the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority and seven percent to the Department of Rail and Public Transportation. This bill is identical to SB 1144.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
House of Delegates Passage
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Feb 2025
Signed into Law
Mar 2025
Introduced Jan 3, 2025 Signed Mar 18, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Enrolled Chaptered · 1 edit
MINOR
The bill was formally enacted into law as Chapter 4 of the 2025 Virginia Acts of Assembly. The substantive policy content of the Commonwealth Rail Fund section remained unchanged, with only formatting adjustments made to align with the enrolled bill format. No new funding amounts, eligibility criteria, or operational requirements were added or removed.
TECHNICAL

Formatting changes to convert the bill from enrolled draft format to final chaptered format, including adding chapter number, approval date, and adjusting line breaks for publication.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 6, 2025 · House of Delegates Jan 30, 2025

How they voted

400
Passed
Total votes 40
Feb 6, 2025
D Democratic21
21 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican19
19 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
30
Key actions
11
Committee
6
Amendments
2
Mar 18, 2025
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 4 (Effective 07/01/25)
executive
Feb 13, 2025
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Feb 10, 2025
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Feb 10, 2025
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1603ER)
lower
Feb 7, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 6, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day
upper
Feb 5, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported from Finance and Appropriations (13-Y 0-N)
upper
Jan 31, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on Finance and Appropriations
upper
Jan 30, 2025
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (96-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 29, 2025
Introduced
Engrossed by House as amended
lower
Jan 29, 2025
Lower · Passed
Appropriations Amendment agreed to
lower
Jan 24, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported from Appropriations with amendment(s) (22-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 22, 2025
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (8-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 11, 2025
Committee
Assigned Approps sub: Transportation & Public Safety
lower
Jan 3, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on Appropriations
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Chris Runion
Chris Runion
RRepublican
VA
35