SB 832 Virginia Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Rental assistance voucher pilot program; established, report.

Summary

Department of Housing and Community Development; rental assistance voucher pilot program. Establishes the rental assistance voucher pilot program within the Department of Housing and Community Development for the purpose of providing direct rental assistance to qualifying households, as defined by the bill, in the form of rental assistance vouchers. The bill directs the Department to submit an annual report to the General Assembly on the implementation and impact of the rental assistance voucher program. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2028.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Dec 2024

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Dec 31, 2024 Last action Feb 5, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → General Laws and Technology Substitute · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended from its original introduced version to a Senate substitute version, primarily adding stakeholder consultation requirements, expanding voucher usage to include security deposits and application fees, and clarifying that housing must be safe and habitable. These changes aim to improve program oversight and broaden assistance beyond just rent payments.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include security deposits and application fees as eligible costs, and added mandatory consultations with multiple state agencies and community stakeholders before establishing program guidelines.

REQUIREMENT

Added requirement for the Department to consult with stakeholders including Department of Social Services, Virginia Housing Commission, Department of Education, McKinney-Vento liaisons, Continuum of Care lead agencies, housing providers, tenants, and others before establishing guidelines.

Added requirement that the Department develop a process to ensure each dwelling unit for which a rental assistance voucher is used is safe and habitable.

ELIGIBILITY

Expanded voucher usage to cover housing costs other than rent, including security deposits and application fees.

TECHNICAL

Changed section title from 'Rental assistance voucher pilot program' to 'Rental assistance pilot program' and removed specific reference to 'voucher' in the title.

Removed the requirement that the Department establish regulations and guidelines, changing it to establish guidelines only.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jan 15, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported from General Laws and Technology with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 4-N)

upper

Dec 31, 2024

Committee

Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology

upper

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor