SB 777 Virginia Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Income-Qualified Energy Efficiency and Weatherization Task Force; established, definitions, report.

Summary

Department of Housing and Community Development; Income-Qualified Energy Efficiency and Weatherization Task Force established; report. Directs the Department of Housing and Community Development to establish, in collaboration with the Department of Energy, and with assistance from the Department of Social Services, the Income-Qualified Energy Efficiency and Weatherization Task Force to determine barriers to access and enrollment in the current energy efficiency programs for income-qualified energy customers and to evaluate and develop a plan to address any necessary improvements regarding coordination among state and federal government agencies for utility services and resources to more effectively deliver energy-efficient housing, weatherization resources, and energy efficiency upgrades for income-qualified individuals and households in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Task Force to meet at least six times between July 1, 2025, and September 30, 2026, and to submit a report of its findings and recommendations no later than September 30, 2026. The bill specifies that such report shall include policy recommendations and a plan to ensure that weatherization-ready repairs and whole-home energy efficiency retrofits are provided to all eligible income-qualified individuals and households in the Commonwealth residing in multifamily buildings, single-family dwellings, and manufactured homes by December 31, 2033. This bill is identical to HB 1935.

Sub-Topics: Community Development Property Development Energy Efficiency

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Dec 2024

Committee Review

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

House of Delegates Passage

Feb 2025

Vetoed

Mar 2025

Introduced Dec 24, 2024 Vetoed Mar 25, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Engrossed → Enrolled · 3 edits · Feb 20, 2025

MINOR

The bill was finalized as an enrolled act, changing its status from a draft amendment to official law. The primary substantive change moved the Task Force's final report deadline from October 30, 2026, to September 30, 2026, and reorganized the report requirements to separate the policy recommendations from the specific implementation plan.

TIMELINE

The deadline for the Task Force to submit its final report was advanced from October 30, 2026, to September 30, 2026.

REQUIREMENT

The report requirements were split into two distinct items: one for policy recommendations and another for the specific implementation plan including budget and timeline.

TECHNICAL

The bill text was updated from 'Engrossed' to 'Enrolled', indicating it has passed all legislative stages and is ready for the Governor's signature.

Introduced → General Laws and Technology Substitute · 7 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to shift its focus from establishing a general task force to specifically addressing barriers preventing low-income households from accessing existing energy programs. The new version expands the task force's membership to include advocates and consumers directly affected by these barriers, tightens the deadline for the initial report, and adds requirements to publicly disclose data on program participation by location.

Scope change

The bill's scope narrowed from a broad evaluation of resources to a targeted investigation of why income-qualified individuals cannot enroll in current programs, while simultaneously expanding the scope of required reporting to include specific data on waitlists and geographic disparities.

TIMELINE

The deadline for the initial task force report was moved forward from July 1, 2027, to October 30, 2026.

REQUIREMENT

The requirement for the task force to meet six times annually was changed to require meetings only between July 1, 2025, and September 30, 2026, to align with the new report deadline.

New requirements mandate that the task force report include specific data on households on service provider waitlists, the duration of those waits, and implementation barriers like workforce shortages.

The bill now requires the task force to make publicly available data from the last five years showing energy improvements by census tract or zip code, including costs and estimated energy savings.

ELIGIBILITY

The task force composition was expanded to include specific advocates (clean energy, energy burden, ratepayer) and at least one income-qualified resident who has personally sought weatherization assistance.

DEFINITION

New definitions were added for 'manufactured housing,' 'weatherization,' 'weatherization deferral repairs,' and 'weatherization-ready repairs' to clarify program scope.

SCOPE

The task force's primary purpose was changed from evaluating resource coordination to specifically determining barriers to access and enrollment in current programs.

Floor votes · Senate Jan 27, 2025 · House of Delegates Feb 11, 2025

How they voted

38–0

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 40

Jan 27, 2025

D Democratic21

20 Yea 1

95% Yea

R Republican19

18 Yea 1

94% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Apr 2, 2025

Vetoed

Senate sustained Governor's veto

upper

Apr 2, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed by for the day

upper

Mar 25, 2025

Vetoed

Vetoed by Governor

executive

Feb 20, 2025

Upper · Passed

Signed by President

upper

Feb 18, 2025

Lower · Passed

Signed by Speaker

lower

Feb 18, 2025

Upper · Passed

Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB777ER)

upper

Feb 13, 2025

Upper · Passed

House Amendments agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N)

upper

Feb 11, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed House with amendments (73-Y 21-N)

lower

Feb 11, 2025

Introduced

Engrossed by House as amended

lower

Feb 11, 2025

Lower · Passed

Labor and Commerce Amendments agreed to

lower

Feb 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported from Labor and Commerce with amendment(s) (17-Y 4-N)

lower

Feb 4, 2025

Committee

Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce

lower

Jan 27, 2025

Upper · Passed

Read third time and passed Senate (38-Y 0-N)

upper

Jan 24, 2025

Upper · Passed

Finance and Appropriations Amendments agreed to

upper

Jan 24, 2025

Introduced

Reading of amendments waived

upper

Jan 23, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed by for the day

upper

Jan 22, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed by for the day

upper

Jan 21, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported from Finance and Appropriations with amendments (15-Y 0-N)

upper

Jan 15, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported from General Laws and Technology with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)

upper

Dec 24, 2024

Committee

Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors