HB 859 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Farm to School Program Task Force; membership requirements.

Summary
Department of Education; Farm to School Program Task Force; membership requirements. Amends the membership requirements of the Farm to School Program Task Force established in accordance with applicable law by requiring the membership to include (i) one member of the Senate, to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules after consideration of the recommendation of the Chair of the Senate Committee on Education and Health; (ii) one member of the House of Delegates, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates after consideration of the recommendation of the Chair of the House Committee on Education; (iii) at least four members to be appointed by the Department of Education, including at least one school board member, one representative of the Department of General Services involved in procurement, one representative of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and one farmer or producer in the Commonwealth who sells only the farm or agricultural products produced or grown by him; and (iv) such additional members as the Department of Education deems necessary or appropriate.
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 13, 2026 Signed Apr 13, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Enrolled Chaptered · 2 edits
MINOR
The bill was formally approved and assigned Chapter 684 for the 2026 session, with the approval date updated to April 13, 2026. The substantive text of the act, which amends the membership requirements for the Farm to School Program Task Force, remains unchanged.
TECHNICAL

Added the specific chapter number (Chapter 684) to the official title of the act.

Updated the approval date from a generic 'Approved' status to the specific date of April 13, 2026.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 5, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 3, 2026

How they voted

380
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 39
Mar 5, 2026
D Democratic20
19 Yea 1
95% Yea
R Republican19
19 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
35
Key actions
13
Committee
9
Apr 13, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 684 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Mar 31, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 30, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB859ER)
lower
Mar 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate with substitute Block Vote (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
Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
upper
Mar 4, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 26, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Education and Health with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 19, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate subcommittee offered
upper
Feb 19, 2026
Committee
Assigned Education sub: Public Education
upper
Feb 4, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Education and Health
upper
Feb 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (93-Y 2-N 0-A)
lower
Jan 28, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Education (18-Y 2-N)
lower
Jan 27, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (10-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 23, 2026
Committee
Assigned HED sub: K-12 Subcommittee
lower
Jan 13, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Education
lower
1 primary · 3 co-sponsors

Sponsors