HB 865 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for certain cancers.

Summary

Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for certain cancers. Expands the workers' compensation presumption of compensability for certain cancers causing the death or disability of certain employees who have completed five years of service in their position to include lung cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma for any individual diagnosed with such a condition on or after July 1, 2027.

Issues: ✓ Labor & Employment

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Mar 4, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Engrossed · 3 edits · Feb 13, 2026

MINOR

The bill moved from its initial introduction to an engrossed version with committee amendments. The substantive policy content regarding workers' compensation presumptions for firefighters, law enforcement, and emergency services personnel remains unchanged. The primary differences are formatting, session information updates, and the addition of a House Amendment date stamp indicating legislative processing.

TECHNICAL

Session information was updated from 'Introduced' to 'Engrossed' with new session identifiers and formatting adjustments.

Patron list was reduced from multiple sponsors to a single patron (Delegate Cousins) reflecting committee processing.

Added House Amendment date stamp (February 12, 2026) and bill identifier (HB865E) to track legislative progress.

Floor votes · House of Delegates Feb 13, 2026

How they voted

84–0

Passed · 4 other

Total votes 88

Feb 13, 2026

D Democratic53

50 Yea 3

94% Yea

R Republican35

34 Yea 1

97% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Feb 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from Commerce and Labor and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)

upper

Feb 16, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor

upper

Feb 13, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time and passed House (96-Y 0-N 0-A)

lower

Feb 12, 2026

Introduced

Engrossed by House as amended

lower

Feb 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

committee amendments agreed to

lower

Feb 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from Appropriations (22-Y 0-N)

lower

Feb 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 0-N)

lower

Feb 3, 2026

Committee

Assigned HAPP sub: Compensation and Retirement

lower

Feb 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from Labor and Commerce with amendment(s) and referred to Appropriations (22-Y 0-N)

lower

Jan 29, 2026

Lower · Passed

Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) and referring to Appropriations (7-Y 0-N)

lower

Jan 29, 2026

Lower · Passed

House subcommittee offered

lower

Jan 22, 2026

Committee

Assigned HCL sub: Subcommittee #2

lower

Jan 13, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce

lower

1 primary · 15 co-sponsors