HB 1287 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Veterinarians; amending applications of licensure, etc.

Summary
Board of Veterinary Medicine; applications for licensure or renewal; indication of interest to serve as a veterinarian for a public or private animal shelter. Directs the Board of Veterinary Medicine to amend its applications for licensure and renewal of licensure to allow applicants to indicate interest in serving as a veterinarian for public or private animal shelters and to provide disclosure that, if the applicant indicates such interest, the Board shall provide the applicant's name and contact information to the State Veterinarian for inclusion on a list distributed to animal shelters quarterly.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 14, 2026 Signed Apr 13, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Health and Human Services Substitute Health Professions Subcommittee Substitute · 1 edit
MINOR
The bill text has been reformatted from a standard layout to a 'House Substitute' version with significant whitespace and line breaks added. The substantive legal language regarding the Board of Veterinary Medicine's duties to include a shelter interest option on applications and share data with the State Veterinarian remains unchanged.
TECHNICAL

The document structure was altered to include a 'House Substitute' header and extensive spacing, likely reflecting a procedural step in the legislative process rather than a change to the law itself.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 6, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 9, 2026

How they voted

380
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 39
Mar 6, 2026
D Democratic20
20 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican19
18 Yea 1
94% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
32
Key actions
10
Committee
8
Apr 13, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 768 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Mar 14, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 14, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 14, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1287ER)
lower
Mar 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Mar 6, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Mar 5, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Education and Health (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 27, 2026
Committee
Assigned Education sub: Health Professions
upper
Feb 24, 2026
Committee
Rereferred from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources to Education and Health (14-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 10, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources
upper
Feb 9, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (98-Y 0-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Health and Human Services with substitute (22-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 28, 2026
Lower · Passed
House subcommittee offered
lower
Jan 23, 2026
Committee
Assigned sub: Health Professions
lower
Jan 14, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services
lower
Jan 14, 2026
Introduced
Presented and ordered printed 26101713D
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Laura Jane Cohen
Laura Jane Cohen
DDemocratic
VA
15